A Silent Resolution
A wave of displeasure welled up inside Katarin's mind.
It was a visceral, instinctive revulsion, the kind felt only when beholding something truly disgusting.
...What is this?
She knew what it was. Her family had drilled it into her head countless times, explaining exactly when and why she would experience this sensation.
Dark mages instinctively despised their peers. They could not help but look down on and loathe one another.
Dragging a rival down was always more efficient than cooperating. Destroying them was always the wiser choice than standing together.
Yet, that rule only applied to opponents of a comparable caliber.
Her investigation was already complete. The man was nothing special. His family background was unremarkable, and the demon he had contracted with was likely of a low, predictable rank.
Under normal circumstances, he was a creature so insignificant that she shouldn't have felt even a shred of hostility toward him.
Her guard shouldn't have been triggered at all.
It was natural to be wary of him as someone who possessed the means to win over Kellin, but she shouldn't have felt threatened by Wade as a fellow dark mage.
What exactly did I sense just now?
Closing her eyes, she retraced the events of the duel.
Victor had charged. Wade had fired a Dark Arrow, striking him down. With that single exchange, the duel—which had promised to be fierce—was over in an instant.
...That arrow.
Something had been suppressed. Anyone else might have missed it, but Katarin, who was contracted to the high-ranking Demon Archduke Asmodeus, could tell.
For a dark mage of her caliber, even the stray demonic energy of others could be influenced without their consent. The sheer status of the demon she served naturally overwhelmed the energy of lesser entities.
While she couldn't exert extreme control—like seizing command of another's demonic energy without a specific ritual—she could at least feel a pull, a resonance.
Yet, she had felt absolutely nothing from Wade's Dark Arrow.
Is his energy resisting mine?
It wasn't costly or a grand feat. There were too many variables.
Perhaps the demon he contracted with was of a type that minimized external interference, or perhaps her intuition was simply off.
If she truly set her mind to drawing out his demonic energy and crushing him with sheer terror, both he and his magic might break and kneel before her in an instant.
...Well, there is nothing I can do about it right now.
But taking such a direct approach would defeat her purpose.
There was no way a mediocre man like him could have swayed Kellin on his own. There had to be someone pulling the strings behind him.
Even if she pressured him and broke him now, the same thing would keep happening unless she rooted out the mastermind.
It was plausible for a student to exist who did not fear her, but it was impossible for such a student to win Kellin over so quickly.
A far more logical hypothesis was that someone had witnessed the prior incident and approached Wade afterward.
In the end, she had to bide her time. She needed to uncover his motives and the goals of whoever was backing him.
Katarin turned her head slightly, her gaze landing on the girl who was looking at Wade with deep concern.
...That girl.
She hadn't heard the full story. The moment she entered the Academy, she felt as though she had been stripped of her eyes and ears.
Back at the Erst estate, countless maids and butlers would have served as her informants, but here, the only person she could employ was Kellin.
And even Kellin could not be fully trusted when it came to matters involving that man. Though the probability was low, there was a chance Kellin might choose Wade over her at a critical moment.
Still, even with her limited reach, she could grasp the general flow of events.
They said that girl was the reason for the fight...
She was beautiful and innocent-looking. The kind of girl who, in a matter of days, would likely fall prey to some sleazy playboy and have her pure eyes clouded with despair.
Katarin didn't dislike people like her. Foolish people were easy to exploit, and using them as pawns rarely aroused suspicion.
But that was merely appreciating her as a convenient tool, not liking her as a human being.
If I touch her, how will he react?
She couldn't tell how much Wade valued the girl, nor could she gauge how precisely he calculated the difference in their strength.
However, it was an experiment worth trying.
Wade's daily routine was utterly mundane. He didn't meet with suspicious individuals, nor did he try to show off any special talents.
His emotions were completely masked. It wouldn't be surprising if his entire persona was an act, or if the plain student she saw was indeed his true nature.
She had to shake him. She had to introduce a variable to force his true colors to the surface.
Katarin's cold eyes locked onto Claire.
"Breathe. Stay calm, don't lose consciousness. It's fine to keep your eyes closed!"
Leila treated the fallen Victor, a bright smile plastered on her face.
...This is remarkably clean.
It was a strike lethal enough to subdue a grown man instantly. Yet, even for a novice dark mage, the wound was far too clean.
Novice dark mages often lacked the ability to control their mana, even if their output was low.
The wounds they inflicted were inevitably messy. Unbridled malice always left jagged, ugly scars.
But the wound on Victor's body was meticulously precise. It carried no trace of murderous intent or hostility—only a clear, focused will to subdue him.
Is he a warmer person than he lets on? In the long run, that might be a bit dangerous for a dark mage...
Fine control and delicate mana manipulation were important, of course, but they weren't things a student-level dark mage should be prioritizing.
Those who were more ruthless were faster. And those who were faster naturally stood a higher chance of winning.
If Wade's magic arrow had been even a fraction of a second slower, he would have been the one defeated, not Victor.
Well, it's good for now.
For Leila, who had to clean up the mess left by this duel, the clean resolution was something to be grateful for.
"It was surprisingly quick, wasn't it? He got lucky, but don't expect every duel to end so easily."
After giving the students a stern warning, Leila slowly drew out the residual demonic energy lingering around Victor's neck.
This energy... is also incredibly pure.
It felt devoid of emotion. Instead of a sticky, muddy desire, it possessed a pure mana signature akin to that of a spirit.
He might have contracted with a higher-ranking demon than I thought.
A powerful demon capable of lending its strength effortlessly, without demanding a heavy price or emotional investment for a trivial fight like this, might be backing Wade.
Adjusting her evaluation of him upward, Leila addressed the still-dazed students.
"Please study on your own for a bit! I'll take Victor to the infirmary and be right back!"
Grunting as she hoisted Victor's heavy body, Leila glanced over at the victor of the duel.
He walked back to his seat with an indifferent expression, as if winning this fight was nothing to write home about.
Deep down, Claire knew it too.
Victor's words hadn't been wrong. Just as Wade's words to her hadn't been wrong.
Coming to the Academy was an escape.
She had never been recognized as family. She believed tomorrow, and the day after, would be no different.
She wanted to carve out a place for herself. She wanted to be told that she had a right to live, to have her worth acknowledged.
But with the half-hearted mindset of I'll do whatever it takes to prove my worth, there was very little she could actually achieve.
Dormitory life was miserable. The classes were no better.
Her status as a noble's bastard was a shackle that oppressed her, yet it was also a shield that protected her.
Now that the shield was gone, she had nothing left.
Perhaps she deserved to be scolded.
Perhaps her only path was to seduce a high-born man and become someone's concubine.
But there was someone who had told her she didn't have to do that.
He could have easily ignored her. He could have just minded his own business.
Yet, that man had fought for her. He had respected her choice, telling her, "It's your decision to make."
And he had won.
"Are you okay?"
"It was nothing."
Wade returned to his seat as if nothing had happened.
He could have demanded something in return. He could have bragged about his triumph.
Instead, his expression remained completely indifferent, as if he truly wanted nothing from her.
Perhaps the distance between them wasn't so vast after all.
They were in the same position. The spell he had used was merely a Dark Arrow.
It was a basic spell that, until just two days ago, he couldn't even cast within the class period.
Yet, he hadn't hesitated. He hadn't meticulously calculated how weak he was, what his chances of winning were, or how much he stood to gain from doing this.
He had simply acted.
...I can do it too.
She wanted to prove him wrong. She wanted to become someone who could stand tall, just like him.
Claire steeled her resolve.