The Duke's Challenge
Father.
The completely unexpected words caused my brain to freeze up without me realizing it. Wondering if something was wrong with my ears, I turned my head. There I saw Sherry’s face flushed bright red. Looking at her reaction, it didn’t seem like a lie.
“Miss Sherry?”
“Y-yes?”
“Perhaps I misheard…”
“Wow, it really is exactly like the letter said—super amazingly… mmph!”
At that moment Sherry clapped a hand over Ari’s mouth, cutting her off mid-sentence. Then, wearing a smile full of murderous intent, she spoke.
“Just a moment, Baran. I need to have a quick word with her!”
With that, she forcibly dragged Ari away. A short while later, after the two of them had finished their conversation and returned…
“You didn’t hear that, right, Baran?”
Sherry asked me with the most terrifying smile the world had ever seen. If I admitted I’d heard it here, there was no telling what might happen. She might beat me until I suffered memory loss. In times like these, pretending ignorance was the best move.
“Did you say something?”
“See? You didn’t hear it, right? Yeah. That must be it.”
Sherry nodded firmly and folded her arms. Seeing the cold sweat pouring down Ari’s face beside her, it looked like the poor girl had received a proper scolding.
“More importantly, did Miss Sherry call this person here separately?”
“Now that you mention it… Ari, why are you here? I don’t remember summoning you.”
Sherry stared at Ari with a giant question mark practically hovering over her head. Ari’s expression grew unusually serious, and she finally spoke.
“The head of the family ordered me to greet the two of you. I believe it must be because of the previous incident.”
From the way she spoke, it seemed she knew the circumstances as well. Hmm. It’s a good thing I didn’t forget and skip this. I never imagined Gray would move this proactively. Honestly, I thought he wouldn’t care much.
“Then let us go.”
Following Ari’s lead, we headed toward the Patrick family estate.
The carriage ride didn’t take very long. When we arrived at our destination and stepped down from the carriage, Miroel slipped out of my body and quietly observed the mansion.
Her lukewarm reaction made it seem like there was nothing special about it. But from my perspective, actually seeing it with my own eyes, I was secretly stunned.
The game and reality really are completely different.
In the game it had been nothing more than a chunk of graphics. Even on the screen I’d thought it looked ridiculously large, but I hadn’t truly felt the scale. Seeing it in person, however, the mansion was enormous—on par with the Saintess’s residence.
So that’s why Sherry wasn’t particularly surprised back then.
If you grew up in a house like this, it was only natural not to be overly impressed by the Saintess’s mansion. We followed Ari’s guidance and entered the estate. As expected of a noble daughter, the people inside greeted Sherry warmly.
She’s more popular than I thought.
At the academy she only had us as friends, so I’d assumed she had a loner personality. Apparently that wasn’t the case. A short while later we arrived at our destination.
This must be it.
Just as Ari was about to speak—
“Both of you, come in.”
It was as if he already knew I had arrived. Hearing the voice, Sherry slowly opened the door.
Creeeeak!
The next moment, a man with crimson hair entered my field of vision. He looked so young that no one would believe he had a daughter. Yet judging by his level, he was unmistakably the head of the Patrick family. And for good reason.
Flame Orb (★★★★)
Mana Lv. 8
Certainly worthy of being called the head of the Patrick family. Miroel’s voice echoed in my head. Well, if it were me in my prime, a single flick to the forehead would have been enough.
Her acknowledgment of Gray’s strength only proved how monstrous his power truly was.
“So. You’ve arrived.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Then let us hear what happened during the first semester.”
Sherry nodded, cold sweat beading on her forehead. She then explained everything that had occurred during the past semester. After listening to it all, Gray spoke with an indifferent expression.
“Is that all?”
“Yes, Father.”
“I see. Then—”
“Excuse me.”
I cut Gray off without the slightest hesitation and continued.
“Is that really all you have to say?”
“Hmm. Is there anything else to say? For the young lady of the Patrick family to achieve those results is only natural, is it not?”
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be wrong. But as I had mentioned before, this time the competition had been fierce. Luden, Lillia, Shannon, and finally myself. Against all of us, Sherry had taken first place in pure grades alone. She deserved praise, yet he was acting as if it were only to be expected.
“I told you last time as well. The current Miss Sherry is superior to you during your school days.”
“Yes. You did say that.”
He nodded at my words, then continued.
“So, didn’t we agree that you would prove it to me?”
“Yes, we did.”
“Then how do you intend to prove it? Have you thought of anything?”
“……”
To be honest, I hadn’t prepared anything specific. As if reading my thoughts, he made a suggestion.
“How about this?”
“?”
“You and my daughter will face me in a duel. Just the three of us.”
What a dirty bastard. A man whose level was literally double ours was suggesting a casual massacre of civilians. Honestly, even calling it double was understating it. Considering how much harder it was to raise levels at higher ranks, the actual gap was several times larger. The audacity was unbelievable.
“Of course, I will not use any mana or move from this spot. My only loss condition is taking one valid hit.”
“I see…”
As expected, one should always listen until the end. I’d thought he had no conscience, but it seemed he had at least that much.
“And if I am defeated, you may take one item from the warehouse.”
“?!”
The moment I heard those words, I was inwardly shocked. The Patrick family was one of the four great elemental houses. Even if he spoke lightly, their warehouse surely contained quite valuable items.
And if there’s something I have in mind…
There would definitely be an item useful for the upcoming first awakening episode. Therefore, I absolutely had to win this.
But before that—
“Miss Sherry. Are you okay with this?”
I needed to ask for her opinion. Honestly, I wanted to accept the offer. However, this wasn’t just my decision. In a way, this was about earning recognition for Sherry’s strength. It was only right to hear the person in question’s thoughts.
When I asked, she slowly nodded.
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
Unlike her usual demeanor, she looked rather spirited. Of course, a little cold sweat still trickled down her forehead from nerves.
It was then—
Sub Quest: Gain Gray von Patrick’s Recognition
📍 Objective: Earn his acknowledgment. If he also takes a liking to the player, even better.
🎁 Reward: 5,000 points upon success
I quickly scanned the quest window that had suddenly appeared. My mind spun rapidly.
Gain recognition and make him like me, huh…
Getting recognized was simple enough—just win the duel. But making him take a liking to me was trickier. I had no clear idea how to accomplish that.
Hmm, wait a second.
Thinking about it, Gray wanted his daughter to marry a strong man. And objectively speaking, I was overwhelmingly powerful for my age.
It feels a bit weird thinking this about myself, but…
With my current strength, Gray would probably be satisfied. Still, selling my pride for a single reward felt a little much. Even though I was pretending to be a blind student, I still had my dignity. Acknowledging the man before me as my father-in-law for such a shallow reason didn’t sit right with me.
Well, it wasn’t that I disliked Sherry or anything.
It was right then that the reward amount appeared before my eyes.
I may be broke, but I still have my pride… or so I’d like to say.
With the most serious tone I could muster, I spoke.
“I will accept that proposal, Father.”
The points on offer were simply too massive to refuse.