Only Eighty-Nine Days Remain
This is completely hopeless.
As a reward for defeating one of the Four Heavenly Kings, I chose the Mirror of Lifespan. Then I used it immediately.
The moment I did, a crushing sense of loss swallowed me whole.
Because the lifespan the mirror revealed was a mere eighty-nine days.
Remaining lifespan: 89 days.
"Damn it...! Because of those fucking slut bitches."
I had expected my remaining time to be short, but less than three months? How the hell had they worked Ronan over so thoroughly that his body was wrecked and his lifespan reduced to this?
All I could think was that they were truly something else.
Disgusting bitches.
They might not have stabbed him with a knife, but this was murder in all but name. Fresh hatred for that pink-haired childhood friend of Ronan's surged through me once again.
So the body I possessed is on a three-month death sentence...
There was no way I could stay sober after that. I started downing the mountains of wine stacked around the banquet hall, cursing both Ronan and the me who had possessed him.
Even so, three months was just too much...
At least it's a relief that a solution isn't completely nonexistent...
Well, if you could call that a comfort. Then again, considering that "solution" was practically a gamble, maybe it wasn't comfort at all.
What the hell was I supposed to do with my life now?
"Gulp. Gulp."
I was deep in my miserable drinking when a voice cut in.
"Looks like you're taking it pretty hard."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Come on, don't be like that. We're friends."
"I never had a friend like you."
"If our hearts connect, aren't we friends?"
"So what do you actually want?"
"Nothing much. Just wanted to share my review."
Why was this guy suddenly acting buddy-buddy?
Golden hair, sun-tanned skin, that cocky look—I knew exactly who he was. I had run into him several times in the game, and the fact that the party members had switched over to him was something I, who had played the game countless times, could never forget.
Just ignore him.
I could already guess why he had come looking for me. This bastard was the classic golden-sun NTR type who got off on stealing other men's women.
I didn't like him one bit, but I decided to ignore him anyway.
No point paying attention. My life isn't long enough for that.
If anything, I should probably feel grateful to this trash-collector for hauling those sluts away for me. I decided to look on the bright side.
"Hey, buddy. Your women tasted fucking amazing."
Okay, that crossed the line.
No matter how I looked at it, there was no way I could let that slide.
"I'm already in a shit mood, so who the hell are you calling 'my women'? You looking to die?"
I could tolerate a lot of things, but hearing those slut bitches called "my women" was not one of them. That was an insult and an attack aimed straight at me. Putting up with it would have been the same as throwing away my dignity.
I slammed Jaxx's head straight into the table.
"...You little shit."
I had put some real force into it, but he was a hero too, after all. He looked annoyed about the food stuck to his face, yet he barely seemed hurt. He immediately went for a counterattack, pulling a dagger from his coat and facing me like he was ready to kill me on the spot.
"You started this, didn't you?"
I met his blade with the sword at my own waist.
So he wanted to go for it?
Sorry, but I had nothing to lose here. At this point in time, I was actually the stronger one.
Maybe I should give him a proper lesson.
Just as the fight was about to explode, voices rang out.
"Kyaa!! What are you doing right now?!"
"Ronan, stop it."
"Ja... Jaxx, are you okay?"
Women came sprinting over through the chaos of the banquet hall—Ronan's former party members. They crowded around Jaxx, checking on him, then turned and glared at me.
"Ronan, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"That's right. Is it really okay to pick a fight in the middle of a banquet hall? I don't think this is right, Lord Ronan."
Charlotte and Tricella started scolding me at once. After looking Jaxx over, they glared as if to say this was completely out of line.
"Ronan... please stop now. I'm begging you. We're sorry. I understand why you're angry. So please, don't do this anymore..."
Beside them, the childhood friend clasped her hands neatly in front of her and looked up at me with teary eyes. That way she had of saying she was sorry while subtly making it sound like I was the one in the wrong never failed to piss me off no matter how many times I saw it.
"Yeah. You're right."
Still, I had to admit what was true. This time the party members had a point. Everything they said was correct.
"You're right. So I guess I need to beat the shit out of someone."
Only a proper thrashing would knock some sense into them. Finding out my lifespan was down to three months because of these party members had already flipped my switch completely. Honestly I hadn't wanted to leave them alone anyway, so this timing was perfect.
"I formally challenge you to a duel."
This seemed like the right moment for one. I was pretty sure throwing a glove was how you issued a challenge, but unfortunately I wasn't wearing any gloves. Anything would do, I figured. After a moment's thought I grabbed a cake sitting on the wrecked table and hurled it.
Splat!
"Argh!! You bastard, you really won't stop until the end!!!"
It hit Jaxx square in the face. Coming out of the lull only to get a cake to the face, he looked ready to charge me in pure rage, but the party members grabbed him and did everything they could to hold him back.
"Lord Jaxx, you can't fight here!!!"
"Yeah. Just hold it in for now. If we talk this through later, the situation will be more advantageous for us anyway."
They were right—this was a sacred banquet hall with royalty present. Starting a duel here was out of the question. If things just drifted on without a duel, the circumstances would pin the blame on me.
"Ronan, you stop too. I understand how you feel, but we can't duel here..."
In many ways the situation looked bad for me, but I didn't care in the slightest. If a duel required royal permission, then I just needed to get that permission. As long as a royal approved it, there was no problem.
"I shall grant permission."
A man who had been watching the whole mess finally spoke up. He was a rather handsome fellow—if I remembered correctly, the Second Prince.
"Resolving disputes through duels is an excellent method. All the more so when the parties involved are heroes."
I recalled him as a prince of no particular ability, yet he was actually useful at a time like this. Of course he had only said it because he thought it would make for entertaining gossip, so I had zero reason to feel grateful.
"So, Hero Jaxx, do you accept this duel?"
"Of course. I can't just let a humiliation like this slide."
The conversation moved quickly after that. Jaxx accepted the duel out of sheer pride, and the sight of him doing it was almost comical. Right now he still thought Ronan was weaker than him. In reality I had long since become far stronger than a guy like him.
Teaching Jaxx a lesson right here wouldn't be bad, but it still felt a little unsatisfying.
"Your Highness. Forgive my presumption, but I would like to add one more condition to the duel."
"What is it? Speak."
I bowed my head politely to the prince. A duel was fine, but if we were going to do this, I wanted a more decisive fight.
"Ha. Getting cold feet already?"
Jaxx sneered, thinking I was scared, but I ignored him and kept going.
"If we're doing this, I want to face not only Jaxx, but his entire hero party as well."
"What are you saying? You want to fight all four of them at once?"
"Yes."
If we were going to duel, might as well thrash the party members while I was at it, right?
The prince looked thoroughly flustered and asked if that even made sense, but I pressed my point without caring.
"I-if that is what you wish, I will allow it. Provided Jaxx accepts, of course."
In the end the prince looked troubled by my proposal and passed the decision to Jaxx.
"Heh. Fine. Of course I'll accept. You're the one who suggested it, so don't go crying about it later. You crazy bastard. Let's see how far that swagger of yours actually goes."
Jaxx stared at me with an expression of pure disbelief, then laughed as if I were ridiculous and accepted the offer. Well, he had no reason to refuse.
"Ronan. I understand you're angry, but now that it's come to this, we won't hold back."
"I don't want to fight you, Lord Ronan, but I'm sorry."
"Ronan... how did it come to this..."
The party members each showed a slightly awkward reaction when they heard the terms, but that was all it was—reactions. Not a single one of them said they wouldn't fight me. In the end they were all planning to stand with Jaxx against me. How could they face the Ronan they had spent three years with and not show even a hint of hesitation?
I hadn't expected anything from them to begin with, yet the fact that they didn't deviate from my expectations by even a single inch was almost impressive.
"Very well. Then let us proceed to the training grounds. The duel will begin the moment we arrive."
The discussion was over. Now it was time for the real duel.
We all followed the Second Prince toward the training grounds.