Enforcement (2)
Duels among students. Given how systematically the competitive system is structured here, one encounters such events at Galimar Academy with surprising frequency. A kind of Spartan education, perhaps. It was the headmaster’s educational policy. Conflict accelerates growth in children and draws out their potential. Suffering becomes the soil from which flowers bloom. Thanks to this atmosphere, the procedures surrounding duels are also meticulously organized—so they can always proceed smoothly.
—I challenge you to a duel.
Duels proceed in sequence. Faculty members in attendance each perform their designated roles, supervising the students. These roles are largely divided into [Judge, Manager, Enforcer]. Roughly speaking:
[Category: General Post] [Title: Roles Professors Play in Duels]
Hello, this is the Strategy Guide. Today I’d like to address something several of you have asked about. Quite a few people have been wondering what roles the professors actually take during the regularly occurring duel events. I think I can answer that simply.
1. Judge → Literally the role of officiating the duel (usually handled by the headmaster)
2. Manager → Prevents accidents and handles the injured during the duel (usually handled by medical faculty or Professor Kadel)
3. Enforcer → After the duel ends, supervises the fulfillment of the stakes that were wagered (randomly assigned regardless of position)
That’s all. If this helped, please give it a like!
“Hmm.”
A post I had uploaded once. It was an informational article I wrote back when I was still active as a game creator, before my possession. I quietly mull over the contents. Perhaps because I’m experiencing the situation right now, the related memories surface one by one. While I’m lost in thought, my gaze suddenly meets a pair of blue eyes.
The blue-haired girl sitting across from me.
“……”
Emilia immediately averts her eyes. Only the two of us remain in the room. A heavy silence has been lingering for a while now. Originally Selena was supposed to be here as well, but she had stepped out at my request. I maintain my silence.
‘After all, the initiative is on this side.’
The final stage of the duel: enforcement. The process of paying the price each had wagered, an unavoidable verdict. The girl’s breath trembles.
—The price of defeat… is expulsion from Galimar Academy, at the victor’s discretion.
Expulsion. All that remained before Emilia now was dismissal. Because the [enforcement] carried out at Galimar was absolute. If Selena merely signed once, the girl would be immediately expelled from the academy.
‘She must be burning up inside.’
Emilia’s complexion gradually hardens. Whether she does or not, I deliberately take my time, leisurely killing it. After all, I wasn’t the one in a hurry. The key to negotiation. You have to drive the other party mad. Until they fall to their knees in desperation, weeping and begging, you don’t release your hold on their weakness. You make them submit completely.
‘There’s no way out for her.’
Emilia had nowhere to return to. Due to internal circumstances, her standing within the Vanity ducal house was that of a kite with its string cut, her position endlessly precarious. If she were expelled because of this incident……
‘It’s over.’
Truly everything would become irreversible. She would die. It wasn’t merely a matter of losing her life as a noble. The thread of her life would be severed. The girl was walking on a blade’s edge.
—I have a proposal I’d like to make to Lady Vanity.
—It concerns the matter of enforcement. I’d like to discuss it with you alone.
I had spoken loudly enough for the other side to hear. Into those wall-like blue eyes filled with despair, I dangle a faint possibility. I was certain. She would have no choice but to bite this bait.
“……Excuse me.”
And the moment those red lips part, my certainty turns into certainty. A sly smile spreads across my lips.
“You said earlier that you had something you wanted to propose.”
“I did.”
“Then why aren’t you saying anything……?”
“Who knows.”
I reply with feigned innocence. My tongue flicks like that of a venomous serpent.
“What kind of proposal would you like to hear, my lady?”
A sentence that sounds as though I’m offering her choices. However, the meaning hidden within is entirely different.
“Please tell me what you want.”
=You can’t do anything.
It was the moment that engraved our respective positions into each other. As long as Emilia’s lifeline rested at my fingertips, I could toy with her however I pleased. In a situation like this, what kind of reaction would our noble lady show? It was an all-too-predictable story, but—
“……Aren’t you afraid of the Vanity family’s name?”
Of course. She would bring up the family name. Emilia naturally assumed I knew nothing. It was a decent enough escape route. But—
“I’d appreciate it if you kept the pathetic threats to yourself.”
=Are you sure you want to threaten me?
“Wh-what did you say……?”
“If it bothers me, I might just proceed straight to [enforcement].”
=I already have your weakness in my grasp, after all.
She had picked the wrong opponent. Right now, I knew more about the internal affairs of the Vanity family than anyone—more deeply than even Emilia herself.
“I happen to know quite a lot.”
=I know exactly what situation you’re in.
Everything had been phrased indirectly, but anyone involved would have understood. An overtly scraping remark. An attitude that clearly maintained the upper hand. Even that ominous smile that didn’t falter despite the mention of Vanity. It was suffocatingly meaningful.
“I merely wish to have an honest conversation.”
Fluster spreads across those blue eyes. She tries to remain composed, but the characteristic trembling refuses to disappear. The girl falls silent for a moment.
“……”
Is she running calculations in her head? She really was quick on the uptake. Most children would have failed to read the atmosphere and continued their shameless act, but Emilia was different. The moment she caught the scent of danger, she changed her judgment. She closed her mouth to avoid making a mistake. She combined the scattered clues and inferred the possibilities.
‘Her mind works at a fairly high level.’
Well, she wouldn’t have survived otherwise. In an environment no different from hell.
“Huhu, have you finished thinking?”
“……Yes.”
Creak—. Emilia quietly pulls out her chair and stands. She takes unsteady steps. After hesitating for a moment, she approaches the seat where I’m sitting. Her shoulders tremble like aspen leaves.
“I beg you, my lord,” the girl stops right in front of me. Her gaze fixed on the floor. The villainess begins to lower her posture, then slowly kneels on the ground. The pupils visible at a glance are lifeless and dead. “Please show mercy and spare me from expulsion.”
“Hmm.”
I hadn’t expected her to go as far as kneeling. Seeing that arrogant noble lady bow her head made me realize anew just how desperate her situation was. Her voice had already lost its venom.
“I…… want to live.”
It was simply pitiable. So she knew after all. That if she returned to the family like this, only death awaited her.
‘She’s struggling in her own way.’
In that case, I should check just how sincere she is. I lean toward the kneeling girl. Our breaths draw closer. I whisper into her ear.
“How does it feel, begging for your life so disgracefully?”
“……”
Emilia cannot give any answer. She only pales further. I continue to poke at her reverse scale.
“You tormented me so much…… and now you’re kneeling, aren’t you?”
“……”
“You also suffered a disgraceful defeat in the duel, didn’t you?”
“……”
“I’m only saying this now, but that was the most trivial sparring match I’ve ever had. It was pathetic.”
“……”
“I even wondered how such a dullard ended up in the top three.”
“……”
Inferiority, pride, the desire for recognition. Even as I mercilessly prodded at her wounds, Emilia did not let out a single groan. She merely nodded obediently. Of course, it wasn’t without impact. Her tightly bitten lips, her faintly disordered breathing, her eyes moist with tears. Emotions were surging backward. Emilia was simply swallowing them down. In order to survive.
‘This level should be acceptable.’
She probably won’t bare her fangs recklessly anymore. I smile in satisfaction. Thinking this would be the last time, I open my mouth.
“My lady.”
“……Yes.”
“Watching that refined attitude of yours is truly entertaining. There’s a certain scene that keeps coming to mind.”
My narrowed eyes twist with malice.
“Are your wet pants all right?”
“Ah.”
“In front of everyone, you wet yourself and then burst into ugly tears right after…… You’re no different from a newborn baby.”
“……”
“Oh my.”
This time, perhaps I went too far. The words I uttered pierce deep into the girl’s heart. Her pale complexion flushes bright red. Plop, plop—. Tears that had gathered heavily at the corners of her eyes begin to fall like rain. A faint sob joins them. In the end, they were tears she vomited up.
“Hic…… sniff, ugh, ah……”
“Oops.”
She ended up crying again. I had only intended to go this far, but it seems there was a miscalculation in the damage output. To think she would collapse immediately at the mention of lemonade.
‘It’s understandable.’
She had been branded as a pants-wetter in front of the entire student body. If the very person responsible for it all was tap-dancing on top of that, even I would have cried from the unfairness. Especially when she couldn’t even complain because of her weakness.
“My, my…… I pushed you too hard.”
I calmly extend my hand. Warm body heat touches my fingertips. Cupping her soft cheek with my palm, I wipe away the moisture. Fingers that gather her tears. The girl seemed unable to resist. “You have a rather displeased expression.”
“N-no…… hic, sniff.”
Emilia hurriedly fixes her expression. The awkward smile she forces contains an indescribable sorrow. Even while crying, she was crushed beneath her own caution.
“I-I’m sorry…… I was just surprised, that’s all.”
She didn’t need to go this far. Strangely, a sense of guilt wells up. After all, I had never intended to expel her in the first place. I had only wanted to get back at her for tormenting our protagonist all this time, by messing with her in revenge. I quietly open my mouth.
“You’re even more desperate than I thought.”
“Hic, ugh…… Because I want to live.”
“Huhu, very well.”
“V-very well……?”
“It means that since you’re this desperate, I can at least grant a small request.”
“……!”
The girl’s pupils widen. As though she had seen hope. Of course, I had no intention of simply giving it away.
“However, there is a condition.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“I’d like to receive a token of sincerity, perhaps.”
“Y……es?”
The blue-haired girl pauses and looks up at me. I twist the corner of my mouth into a grin. Emilia Vanity. In the original story she was merely a supporting villainess, but I could see her potential. She was a character with high utility value. If I brought her to my side, she would prove useful someday. Since I already had her weakness in hand, I intended to bind her completely.
“For the next three years, until graduation……”
I grasp the girl’s chin and lift it. Our gazes cross at close range. Toward those anxiously trembling blue eyes, I smile sinisterly.
“I will make your body mine.”
=I will make you my pawn.
Emilia’s face stiffens.