Chapter 9 - Personal Grudges
I had a few reasons why I stepped forward as a representative, but the most prominent one was my personal grudges. I had a grudge against the capture target boy characters. These were the five that my sister forced me to captivate in the otome game. I had to painstakingly make moves on them and listen to their sweet talk. Just thinking about it riles me up while the memories resurge. Let me do this.
I was in the arena. I pushed away the scattered debris and objects that were in the way, took the box that Arroganz came in, and moved it to the arena’s outside.
Standing in the center while waiting, the situation regarding the prince and the others took a strange turn.
Arroganz’s microphone picked up the voices of the prince and the others. “I’ll go. That wimp Brad was indeed weak, but that thing over there is a behemoth. It’s too much for you guys to handle.”
“──You’re making light of us. Are you trying to say that I’m inferior to you?” While Greg and Chris were arguing, the prince and Jilk looked over at me.
“That Baltfault fellow was someone who conquered a dungeon, wasn’t he. I see, he was that confident since he had this armor.”
“A lost item, I suppose. However, I’ve never heard about armor this strong laying dormant until now. From appearances, it looks like a power-type.”
There was an aura of discomfort that rose from the unexpected result that had happened.
There were loads of students who held no doubts that I would lose and the prince’s side would win. To make matters worse, many of them had bet a large sum of money.
My microphone also picked up voices of relief, like “There would be no point in coming here if we didn’t get to see this much,” or “It’ll probably be over in the next round, though.”
Luxon made some data adjustments.
[I have revised our spear-based battle techniques based on data from the battle just a while ago.]
“Good work. Let’s see, next is Greg.”
Entering his red-painted armor, he got into the arena while holding a large spear.
Luxon checked the state of the opponent.
[I’ve confirmed that there are points on the exterior that had to have been repaired. Judging from the signs of prior damage, it seems that he has a lot of experience using this armor in battle.]
“Aah, this guy is tough. He may be strong, but…”
Greg Fou Seberg had a rough appearance and had the most experience as an adventurer out of the five. He was the type that stresses a lot of importance on actual combat.
That much was fine.
I thought of him as a reliable character during the combat side of the game. Greg pointed his spear at me. “You said you were Baltfault. I will remember that name. However, you’re getting cocky. It seems like you have a lost item with strong power, but the result of the first battle happened because of that armor’s power. It’s not your own power.”
It was quite like he had said, so I couldn’t refute that and even wanted to applaud him. “What’s wrong with that? I thought about this at the party as well, but you open your mouth pretty often. If you want to chitchat, I can invite you to tea next time.”
I agitated him in a roundabout way, and the results were instant. “…I’ll crush you!” The referee announced the start of the duel. “Begin!” While wielding a spear, Greg shortened the distance between him and me. Perhaps after watching the previous battle, it seemed that he didn’t plan on letting me attack. For that reason, he attacked successively, but── “Gah! What’s going on! Why is this happening!” I defended against his continuous spear thrusts, slices, and strokes using my shovel. In addition to the sparks from metal clashing against metal, the faint light coming from the opponent’s spear was indeed quite radiant.
However, there was one thing about this guy──
“Your movements are good. You’ve got the willpower too. But…you need to pay more attention to your tools!” I fling off the spear with my shovel, breaking off the balance between our armor. Since his was the lightweight type, it could slip away from a heavyweight. Greg’s red armor tried to take a distance by flying into the air. Armor were originally weapons meant for flying in the air. However, I reached out with my left hand to seize Greg’s right leg.
“Y, you!” He attacked the left hand of my armor, but it didn’t leave a single scratch, and nothing broke.
The armor Gred used was an older type, a mass produced one that was only dressed up.
It’s red color was only for show. Despite this guy’s abilities, in the game, his setting was that he didn’t pay as much attention to his equipment. It led to him sticking with second-rate tools.
Thanks to that, he often went down during the war part of the game, making me get a game over many times.
Throw away that strange pride! Arroganz’s left hand crushed the right ankle of Greg’s armor. I knew that his actual legs were fine, but I heard shrieks from many girls in the audience who didn’t know that what I crushed was only the structure of his armor.
I took out my shovel and thrusted it into the head. Letting go of the shovel in my right hand, I then used it to crush the arm of Greg’s armor.
“Hey hey, just try and run away now~.”
While I grabbed his other arm this time and crushed it to torment him, I heard Greg yell. “Damn iiiit! Let me go!” “…As if I’d let you go, idiot~.” I relied on the performance of my build to destroy Greg’s armor. While making sure not to injure Greg himself, I tore out the arms of his armor. Greg’s actual arms appeared. Arroganz is one size larger than the usual armor. *”Are you having fun torturing me?! You’re no man! If you’re a knight, then fight like a knight! You’re only able to win because of your armor!” He yelled whatever he pleased to vent his discontent. “Knight? I’m not officially a knight yet. While I’m at it, if you come to a duel with an old model of armor and lose, wouldn’t it be because of your armor? You’re better off lamenting over your insufficient preparation to get a newer one. Actually, you’d be better off feeling ashamed about the fact that you looked down on me before. Though, I suppose it’s fine if you want to keep making excuses. Go ahead and say that you lost because of the difference in the power of our armor!”
When I tore off the chest portion of his armor, Greg’s face appeared. Perhaps frustrated that he couldn’t do anything in face of this overwhelming power, his face was dyed in anger, but also in impatience──it was a very complicated expression. Quite like a child destroying a toy, Arroganz destroyed Greg’s armor. If I were Greg, it would’ve been a scene of trauma. Well…I’m not going stop, though!
When Greg knew that he couldn’t use his armor anymore, he got out and stood in front of me while holding a broken piece of his armor.
“Don’t be stupid! I haven’t lost yet. I’ll fight to the death!” I felt like stopping after being moved by his unwavering heart──not. Stopping would only be bad in my eyes.
“Hmm~, but you see…” “Hurry up and come at meeee!” While Greg was using the piece of his armor to slash me many times over, I didn’t resist. After all, he wasn’t doing any damage. In the first place, the difference between the power of a living being and of armor weren’t at a scale where they could compete. “──I, unlike you guys, am not inclined to bully the weak.” Thereupon, Greg’s move movements stopped. “W, what did you say? What did you say just nooow?!” “I said that I don’t take a liking to bullying the weak like you guys do. Did you not hear me?” “S, stop kidding me! Just when did we bully the──” “Ah ha ha ha! You really do like to chatter, don’t you. Well, since you were making light of others and showing up with an older model of armor, I thought that you had a lot of confidence in your own abilities, but…people at your level are pretty common all across the world. My abilities aren’t at the top either, but since you had a lot of confidence during the time that the duel was proposed, I had some hopes for you, and yet things turned into this sorry state…you’re way too much of a small fry. Tormenting small fry like you is giving me a bad aftertaste, so I’m going to quickly end this. I’m unfamiliar with this feeling~.” I politely told him that he was weak. Oh, how kind I am! “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!” Greg launched an attack while screaming, but it seemed more pitiful than gallant. The opponent, who got called out as a small fry in front of a large audience, was going to be treated as a small fry and lose…It pained my heart to see such misery.
Well, not really. My heart didn’t ache at all. These guys were better off understanding what their strength amounted to. Perhaps not wanting to see any more than this, the referee stepped in to stop us.
“…The winner is Leon Fou Baltfault. Greg Fou Seberg will step down. Clap your hands for the brave fight between these two!” In response to the referee’s voice, which was full of sympathy and lacked spirit, Greg crumbled onto his knees and sat down where he was. There was a sparse clapping in the arena sent towards us. I muttered. “With this, three remain.” Luxon was cold towards me. [Quite the cruel outcome. Any normal person would hesitate from cornering their opponent this much.] “Do you even realize? It’s better off if these guys faced reality. I hate people who get cocky.”
[Should I prepare a mirror? Those words apply perfectly to you, master.] …I was aware about that, but hearing it being said still made me angry.
◇
The students in the arena were no longer excited.
“The match just wasn’t on his side. We aren’t concerned with the knights’ way of fighting.” “What an idiot, it’s supposed to be a duel.” With this, two of them have lost. Well, things will probably wrap up with
Chris…” The spectators in the arena agreed that Greg’s outcome wasn’t any surprise. “Isn’t that guy’s actually weak?” “I wonder how good he is at combat~? He was so noisy, and yet he could only do this much.” “A disappointment to my expectations. I have no interest in weak guys.” Anjelica was in a cold sweat when seeing the results of the match with Greg. “He would go this far to flaunt the difference in power?” Anjelica didn’t think Greg was weak. It’s just that Leon was way too strong. Greg was too unlucky. He lost because of his old armor? That couldn’t have been it. Even if he had prepared the latest model of armor, Greg still would’ve lost. Arroganz held just that much power.
(In the first place, why would he be his opponent using that armor he got from the kingdom?)
Olivia got a little angry. “I’m glad that Leon won, but he went too far. He should apologize to Greg later!”
Anjelica shook her head towards Olivia’s honest beliefs. “He shouldn’t. It would only hurt Greg’s pride even further.” However, Anjelica cast her eyes slightly downward. (…Bullying the weak, was it? I suppose in the eyes of Baltfault, I’m just a young girl.) Leon agitated Greg at that time by saying “I’m not like you guys.” She guessed that had to do with how he found it unpleasant when Julian and the others kept persecuting her at the party venue while she had no allies at her side. She didn’t know if the person himself was aware of that, or if he acted subconsciously. “So…that makes me weak? How miserable. I wanted──” Anjelica looked up at the sky. (I wanted to become stronger for the sake of his Highness.)
After tidying up the arena, Chris and his blue armor came down.
He was holding a large sword in both hands, and had a different kind of sword on his back.
He was a young expert swordsman. Not just a swordsman, an expert swordsman. In the game, his status was higher than any normal swordsman, and had a title that recognized him for his ability.
His father was a master swordsman who had been harshly teaching Chris the sword since he was a young age.
His calmness stemmed from his inability to display his emotions. However, he was unrivaled when he held a sword…I didn’t like this guy either. Not only was he a character that was hard to capture, but he also can only use a sword.
Due to that, he didn’t possess any long ranged attacks, which made things difficult in the war part of the game. The habits of these past three people were too tough to handle, leading to many game overs.
Just thinking back to it made me angry. Readying his large sword and armor, Chris held his weapon to the side, resembling the Waki-gamae stance in terms of my previous life. (TLN: Waki¬gamae is a Japanese martial arts stance involving a sword.) Chris spoke. “──I am not negligent like the other two were. I’m going all out from the onset.” “Is that so? In that case, perhaps I’ll also go all out.” Perhaps still irritated that I was holding a shovel, he flared at me. “How long do you plan on using that tool? That’s not suitable for this place.” “You’re not the one to decide that now, are you?” The referee announced the start.
“Begin!”
──Well, despite what I said, I did think he was a strong character. He actually made sure not to be negligent, unlike the other two. There was no hesitation when he moved in a straight path to slash at me. “Luxon, deploy the drones.” [The drones are being deployed.] Drones successively descended from the weapon containers on my back.
Firearms were installed on the spherical drones. There were eight of them. “──Wha?!” As they were heading towards a surprised Chris, I made my next move. “Open fire.” Pulling a trigger on a joystick, the drones all faced towards Chris and began firing. Chris hurried in an attempt to avoid them, but there wasn’t much he could do when surrounded by eight drones. The damage from the machine gun attacks of the drones piled up. Perhaps thinking that he wouldn’t win if only defended, he tried attacking the drones, but Luxon was operating them. [How futile.] When he tried to attack them, they would go around and attack him from behind. However, Chris responded immediately and took measures to prevent them from going around him by stepping back to the wall. It may have seemed like a good choice, but…
“Alright, checkmate. Will you admit defeat?”
While I was carrying the shovel and didn’t move, Chris got emotional.
“You! Are you satisfied with this method of fighting?! There’s not even a trace of the knights’ way in it! What are you fighting like this for?!”
I knew that with him being particular about the sword, he wanted a knight-like fight, but to be frank, I had no interest.
“Is that all you wanted to say? This isn’t a bout. No matter how much you guys are keeping this up as a duel, it’s still a fight to the death. It’s bad to rely on firearms, you say? I never heard of a rule like that. In the first place, aren’t I, the one going against you five, the one that should be pitied? No wait, perhaps that was out of line. It’s fine if it’s five rounds of one-on-one, so I suppose it can’t be helped if I don’t receive any sympathy. All things considered, the gap between us is too big, so I was thinking about going easy on you. I even thought about going through with that fair-and-square way of the knights that you guys were talking about.”
Chris tried to moved while I kept incessantly talking. Luxon, not overlooking that, began having the eight drones around me all fire.
In order to not take his life, they used special bullets that reduced damage, but soon unable to move, Chris then used his giant sword as a shield while leaning down.
“You’re making light of me…Nobody would acknowledge a fight like this!”
“That’s fine All that matters is the outcome. You guys lose, and I win. There are few people who care about the means to the end. Ah, but you guys will probably say that you’re all those kinds of people. Your standings would worsen if you just said that you clumsily lost, after all.
“Aaaaaaargh!!”
Chris, using his willpower to push his way through the storm of bullets, reached where I was and swung down his sword. Due to Chris’ magic power and sword speed, it looked like he was swinging down a blade of light, but I caught his left hand and crushed the large sword.
“As expected of an expert swordsman, that was superb.”
Smoke was fuming out of Chris’ armor, and the referee announced the winner. “Chris Fier Arkwright is unable to battle! The winner is…Leon Fou
Baltfault.” When the referee said my name, I felt like he had no enthusiasm in his words. I could hear a sobbing voice from the armor. “…Why? Why did I lose? I worked harder than anybody else. I persevered longer than anyone else…I wanted to be recognized.” I had some sympathy for Chris, who was forced to work hard due to circumstances at home, but this matter wasn’t related to that, so I didn’t really care too much. “Boast about your misfortune in front of that prideful girl. You’ll surely receive sympathy, then.” [You’re such heap of garbage, aren’t you?] Luxon’s words stuck to my mind, strangely enough. Well, perhaps I really did overdo it a bit. However, these guys deserved to suffer defeat.
◇
There were voices of anxiety from the audience. “H, hey, Chris lost.” “What the heck. Isn’t that unfair?”
“…Say, that Leon person managed to conquer a dungeon solo and earn the position of a baron, right? Could it be that he’s really strong?” “W, wait a minute. If that’s the case, then has the victor been set in stone? I’m going to lose everything I own!”
The audience started getting impatient after realizing that the bet they thought they would absolutely win might not go as expected. Meanwhile, the students that had looked down on Leon started to change their understanding of him.
Olivia had a face that looked as if she was about to cry. “Anjelica, I’m…really sad. I’m glad that Leon won, but this is too cruel.” Anjelica spoke to Olivia. “Don’t say foolish things. Even Leon might lose if he lets his guard down. He had to take vigilance with his opponent.” “I, is that so?” She nodded and spoke about Chris. “His swordsmanship instructor comes from an earl household. Chris’ father is the number one swordsman in the kingdom, earning him the title of master swordsman. That boy was able to earn the title of expert swordsman, which is only a step lower.”
Olivia was impressed. “How amazing.” “Sure, amazing.” (That boy couldn’t even lift a hand or foot against him, which means…the foster brother, Jilk, is probably getting flustered.) Looking at where Julian and the others were, she couldn’t see Jilk or his armor.
Julian was comforting Marie, who had gone pale, and when Anjelica saw that scene, her chest tightened in bitterness.
(…his Highness.)
◇
While Chris was being taken out of the arena and towards the medical office, Jilk was preparing for the next match.
He gave some instructions to the mechanic of his armor. “Load all the weapons there are. I’m going to use both bullets and magic bullets.”
The mechanic widened his eyes. “They’re not items to be used in a match!” “This is a duel!” The normally kind Jilk was getting impatient and lost his composure. His green armor had feather-like decorations. That armor was equipped with a rifle which gave off a dignified aura, and not a sword, but an axe. It was equipment that made it look quite like he was going to a battlefield. “Can you remove the decorations and install additional armor? Afterwards, prepare hand grenades and similar items.”
The mechanic was troubled. “Jilk, I’m limited on the parts that I have on me right now.” Jilk casted his eyes downward, then lifted his head. “Don’t worry. Just do what you can within the realm of what’s possible.”
While the urgent modifications to the equipment were being done, Jilk thought about the fight while not looking at his surroundings. (I have to stop him by all means necessary. If I don’t do that, his Highness’ reputation will suffer damage.)
Jilk lived for the sake of his foster brother, his close friend. If they lost here, Julian’s reputation would drop significantly. Not accepting that fate, Jilk took all means necessary. He picked up a bomb that was laying nearby.
“…I’m going to head out for a bit.” While the parts on his armor were being exchanged, Jilk stepped out of the room.
◇
“*yawn*~, I’m tired.”
There was a temporary break, so I went out of the arena and into the waiting room to rest. Once I finished my business at the restroom, Olivia and Anjelica rushed over. “Leon, where did you go?!” “I was worried about you.” I tilted my head in response to their reactions. “Huh, what?” The two exchanged glances. “Err, um, we heard that you were in a bad condition.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Me? I was only taking a break.” Anjelica became a bit suspicious. “A girl who called herself your sister appeared. Olivia confirmed that by looking at her face…and she said that you were looking unwell, so she wanted us to see you.”
My sister was worried about me? Not a chance. She didn’t want to meet me since I picked a fight with the prince, but I definitely did cause some trouble for her. However, would she talk to me at this time?
While thinking of such things, Luxon spoke to me. The two people in front of me couldn’t hear it. [Master, an explosive was set on the exterior. Your older sister was the one that set it, but someone ordered her to.]
…I thought so. It’s most likely that she was threatened into it.
She felt ashamed since I had picked a fight with the prince in the academy. This is where Jilk comes in. I may be a heap of garbage, but Jilk was the scum of the earth. Well, I believe that guy would stop at nothing for the sake of Julian, and would do anything. [The one who ordered her was your next opponent.] While hearing Luxon’s report, I breathed a slight sigh while thinking about how my suspicions were on point. The two looked uneasy. “I see…so you know my sister. What actually happened was that I was holding in the urge to go. My stomach started cramping. I thought I was going to leak. That was a more difficult struggle than the duel.” When I said that, Olivia looked flustered and embarrassed. “S, something like that can’t be helped, can it?” Anjelica looked at me with a cold gaze. “Do you think you should speak like that in front of girls?” “I suppose you got a point. I went to go pick flowers then. The arena doesn’t have any flower beds though.” (TLN: “Going to pick flowers” is an indirect way of saying that someone went to the restroom.) When I said that, Olivia made a bitter smile.
Anjelica held her hand against her forehead. “That explanation was…well, never mind. You’re going to make a mistake at some point if you don’t fix your normal way of speaking. Leaving that aside, it’s almost time.”
“In that case, I suppose we should go.” Luxon gave me information as I headed to the arena. [The explosive was set on the back of the exterior. Since the armor of this world contains important mechanisms in that spot, it seems that the perpetrator intends to seriously stop us. After calculating the quantity of explosive powder, it seems that it’s an amount that can take the life of a pilot inside any regular armor.]
The normally kind guy was the most frightening…things like that were a common trope these days.
When I entered the arena, my sister was no longer there.
Well, I was grateful that I didn’t have to talk with her. I didn’t know what I would discuss with her, other than about the bomb, but…it was installed secretly.
Anjelica was watching Jilk’s green armor standing in the arena.
“Oh look, I’ve kept my opponent waiting. It seems that things are finally getting serious.” Jilk came out with equipment that made it look like he was going to a battlefield. As I entered my armor, Luxon made a report to me. [It seems to be the type that detonates in response to a specific magic.] Bombs like these were a means of attack in the game as well. I didn’t use them, though. “Guys like Jilk are the most frightening type. He excels in his marksmanship, but he’s also an all-rounder with average or excellent abilities in other fields. He can adapt no matter the situation.” Julian is better in close range battles, while Jilk is a character that triumphs in long range ones. He had no peculiarities, was easy to work with, and was excellent. He was a reliable character in the game. Well, he was also an irritating character who had a high degree of difficulty in capturing him.
Getting down onto the arena, Jilk voiced out. “──You’re strong. I’ll give you my respect for that.” “Why yes, thank you.” Once the referee signaled that it had begun, Jilk aimed a rifle in his right hand towards me. He soared into the air from the onset and pulled the trigger without any hesitation while throwing a grenade.
[It’s a smokescreen.]
“It seems he’s not playing around.” My surroundings were wrapped in a white smoke.
◇
In the white smoke, Jilk soared up until he reached as high up as he could. Since flying too high results in disqualification, he flew up to the very limit of what he was allowed to, and decided to attack by using his rifle and grenades from overhead. “I hope that he’ll go down with this.” He played a hand that he didn’t want to use that much. He reached out to Leon’s sister and handed her a bomb. He didn’t give it to her directly, but instead had a schoolboy be the middleman.
If the matter became public, it wouldn’t hurt Julian’s reputation, and it would just be seen as a schoolboy acting rashly while worrying about Julian. The arena was encased in smoke, but a magic circle appeared before Jilk.
Inside it, Leon’s figure showed up, which was what Jilk was looking for. “You’re a danger. I will dispose of you here.” He pulled the trigger of the rifle. His rifle was used by the military, and had the ability to pierce through armor. Taking it out during a duel within the academy wouldn’t garner much respect, but his opponent was Leon. He couldn’t say that he was able to play it safe after his opponent had flaunted an overwhelming difference in ability so far.
“…Your life ended the moment you went against his Highness. I will give you a spectacular finish here!”
The bullet hit Leon’s armor, specifically the head. It was clearly a shot meant to take his life. However── “W, what?!” Leon looked up at the sky as if nothing had happened. He showed off by waving while looking calm. “Tsk!” He threw a grenade and readied his rifle. He loaded a bullet into the bolt action mechanism, and fired. Jilk had used his last resort, resulting in the calmly standing armor in front of him getting wrapped up in an explosion. In order to activate the explosive he had set, he released a specific magic towards Leon. The magic itself had no meaning, but its reaction with the bomb caused a large explosion on Leon’s back. “He’ll take damage from this direct hit!” However, he couldn’t find Leon’s figure within the arena. It did not seem like he had disintegrated, it just looked like he had disappeared altogether. “Where is he? Where the hell is he?!” Then, Jilk felt a sense of discomfort when a shadow, one that could block the sun, quickly appeared. There was not a single cloud in the sky, though. When he looked up, he saw Leon’s figure in the rear. “Yo.”
“!”
He readied his rifle while Leon took a nose dive and headed towards him.
He pulled the trigger, but even though it was a shot to the armor at point-blank, the bullet was repelled.
“How did you withstand that explosion?”
“What a heavy blow that was. If you catch my drift.” (TLN: I was a bit confused on what the MCs double meaning was here. Apparently, he was implying that he knew the blow was a lethal one. Thanks, Emperor Shazik)
Jilk, realizing that what he said hinted at multiple meanings, then took out his battleaxe and swung it. Leon stopped it with his shovel, and Jilk began to talk to him while not letting the audience hear.
“──You know nothing.” “Look in mirror and say that. You are not sane.” “Do you plan on dueling with his Highness? Your life as a noble will end.” “That’s fine! The advanced class makes me want to throw up! I’d do anything to be free from it…and be free from people like you!” Ordinary boys could sympathize with what he said. Even though they weren’t too fond of him, they would somehow find room to leave that aside when starting a conversation about their troubles. However, contrary to what Leon said, he showed willpower. Marie’s face popped up in Jilk’s head. What a marvelous woman she was. She understood him quite well, and seemed like his own ideal woman. It didn’t take long for him to become obsessed with her.
She was not from the royal palace. Unlike the usual girls around him, she made his heart feel at ease.
“For the first time! I’ve come across my ideal woman!” “Great, that means I have one less competitor to deal with. You can go enjoy yourself playing around with love to your heart’s content.”
When he received an attack from Leon’s shovel using his rifle, the rifle flew out from his hands and onto the floor. (The difference in power…is too big.)
Julian’s face also popped up in his mind. The figure of his close friend, who would look delighted when talking about Marie.
“What do you know?! His Highness and I truly love her! It’s not like I need to monopolize her. I just want to make her happy!” “In that case, how would you feel about giving up?”
Leon seemed dispassionate, but each and every blow of his was heavy. The armor Jilk was operating would creak each time it received a blow, as if it were screaming.
“I will use whatever I can to not lose to you. If you plan on doing anything to his Highness, I will risk everything I have to make sure that you──no, your family will pay!”
He was just like someone in love.
He was sad at first, and thought about giving up…but it wouldn’t be love if he gave up with just that much. Jilk was prepared to do anything for the sake of not himself, but for Julian and Marie.
“…Such threats are cowardly when in a duel.” “Go ahead and say whatever you want.” The two were fighting in the sky, and the audience in the arena couldn’t hear their voices. Jilk felt something happening, and when he was trying to figure it out── “‘I will use whatever I can to not lose to you. If you plan on doing anything to his Highness, I will risk everything I have to make sure that you──no, your family will pay!'” ──He heard what he had said just a moment ago. “W, what?”
Jilk was soon confused. He had never heard of such a magic like this. Perhaps it existed and he just didn’t know about it, and maybe it was newly discovered.
He thought it was Leon mimicking his voice, but it seemed different from that. Leon began playing back the conversation they had.
Jilk clenched his teeth in regret. “You threatened me just a moment ago. So, I decided to threaten you as well. Let’s see, I can take this over to your household. I wonder what your family would think. Threatening someone when it seemed that you were going to lose in a duel would be tantamount to ending your life as a noble! Ah, on second thought, I wonder what your beloved Highness and Marie would think if they heard this? They would definitely scorn you. No wait, they would definitely report this to the academy! Then, all of the students in the whole school would hear about it!”
Jilk soon reorganized his feelings.
“T, that voice alone isn’t proof.”
In this world, there weren’t any machines or magic mechanisms that could record a voice yet. Due to that, it would be difficult to vouch for this as being evidence. It would be difficult, but there was another factor to consider.
“You doubt that this could be used as evidence, isn’t that right? Even so, everyone would think that my household is suffering from stress. They’ll think ‘That guy really did something to them.’ Then, wouldn’t everyone also start doubting his Highness? They would think ‘Could it be that his Highness does these kinds of things?!’ The reputation of your beloved Highness would sink.”
While Leon continued on in a happy manner, Jilk pretended to be as calm as possible.
He endured Leon’s firece attack while trying to figure out how to break out of the situation.
“His Highness is not involved. This is my own action”
“You’re not the one to decide that, you know? The people around you will get tied into it, even if you don’t want it to happen…Besides, you all decided not to listen to Anjelica back then, right? Why do think that the same thing won’t happen to you guys?”
Jilk found himself flustered and at a loss for words.
It was as he said, they didn’t pay any attention to Anjelica’s arguments back then. They didn’t know about the matter of Marie being bullied, and yet they disregarded Anjelica when she said that she didn’t order for it to happen.
“T, that’s!”
“Enough──lie down.”
Leon’s voice turned cold for an instant, and he trampled on Jilk in the air, causing him to drop down onto the floor.
Like that, his consciousness started fading as he hit the floor. “He even bothered my sister. Now then, I wonder what to do…” Leon had already lost interest in Jilk. In any case, after being thrust into the ground, Jilk’s armor was tattered and likely couldn’t move. The last thing he thought was, (Your Highness, this is dangerous. You cannot…fight…him.) That’s when his consciousness blacked out.
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