The Conditions of the Duel
"Can I take it that the duel is agreed upon?"
"A duel? A duel, you say? Are you mocking me right now? How could something as grand as a duel even apply to facing a half-baked nobody like that?"
"If something is wagered on the outcome, then it's a duel no matter what. If you win, I swear never to touch the paperwork again. But if Silvia wins, you and everyone who signed that document must leave the manor immediately."
"Are you serious right now?"
Leon let out a hollow laugh, his lips curling into a sly smile. He looked as though he couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard. That's right. A duel. Between a Sword Expert and a washed-up knight who couldn't even use mana.
"We'll need a notarization for this, I suppose."
"If it's a notarized document you want, I'll draft one right here. The terms and outcome of the duel will be guaranteed by imperial law and must be upheld without fail."
"Excellent! This is perfect!"
Leon's face lit up instantly as he scrawled his signature across the document. He scrutinized the paper with exaggerated care, as if searching for hidden clauses or invisible ink. There were no tricks. There didn't need to be. The duel itself was the trick, as far as Leon was concerned.
"The duel will take place tomorrow morning at eight o'clock in the training grounds of Belmont Manor. Armor is forbidden, and weapons will be limited to wooden swords."
"Hah. Are you sure about that? Since your body can't use mana, you'd at least stand a chance with a real blade, wouldn't you?"
"We'll see how it turns out."
"I'll return tomorrow, then! If I stay here any longer, who knows what might happen to me overnight!"
With a boisterous laugh, Leon turned and left. Only then did Silvia fully emerge from the shadows. Her face had gone deathly pale, her lips trembling as she struggled to speak.
"Uh, um? Eh? Why, why...?"
"Speak clearly. I can't understand you."
"No, why... This is my duel, so why was everything decided without even asking for my opinion?"
"If you don't fight, you'll be branded an embezzler and sentenced to death. You were going to have to duel anyway."
"If I fight, I'll die! Leon Vercus isn't the type to let an opportunity like this slip by! He'll definitely kill me and make it look like an accident...!"
She was worried about dying. But that wasn't the real concern. Silvia should have been worried about killing Leon instead. I, for one, would prefer it if she eliminated him without leaving any loose ends.
"Ah! Aha! That's it, isn't it? The wooden sword you're going to give me is actually some legendary blade, right?"
"No such thing exists."
"Then what...!"
Silvia stared at me with trembling pupils, clearly convinced I had some kind of scheme in mind. At least she'd started to place a little faith in me.
"Your heart was damaged, so you can't generate mana anymore. That doesn't mean you can't handle mana at all."
"Yes. That's correct."
"Then as long as you have mana, you can win, right?"
"Of course! Even if we're both Sword Experts, Leon has no real combat experience. He doesn't even come close to me!"
Silvia flared up slightly, her pride clearly stung. Exactly. With mana, Silvia's victory would be absolute. The problem was how to get that mana to her in the first place. There was no method in this world for transferring one's internal mana to another person.
"But where am I supposed to get mana from...? Ah!? Don't tell me you're planning to give me those precious mana stones?"
"Have I lost my mind? Using strategic resources like mana stones for anything other than their intended purpose is illegal."
Mana stones. Stones that emitted mana. They were treated as strategic resources within the empire. Because of the risk they could be used for military purposes, they required imperial authorization to use. Of course, there was no way permission would be granted for a duel. Besides, we didn't have the economic luxury to waste something so valuable on this.
"Then how am I supposed to obtain mana?"
"There's one thing, isn't there? An existence that generates mana and releases it externally."
"Don't tell me you're talking about spirits? To obtain mana from spirits, you'd need the help of a spirit mage, wouldn't you? I know there are only a handful of those in the entire empire, so where would we even find one...?"
"We have one. Among the people I know."
"...?"
Silvia's expression turned bewildered. Surprisingly, we did have one. And quite close by, at that.
"What? A spirit mage? Me?"
"..."
Julia closed her book with a sharp snap and frowned, looking as though she had no idea what we were talking about. That couldn't be right, could it?
"You. Weren't you holed up in the library all day?"
"Holed up? That's a bit harsh. I was studying... There were just so many books you gave me that I had no choice."
"Then how is it possible you still haven't managed to manipulate mana?"
"S-sorry about that! I'm just a slow learner!"
Julia spun around with a sharp yelp.
[Julia's favorability has decreased by 1.]
The drop in favorability was just a bonus. I hadn't meant to pressure her. Ah, but she was right. Julia needed to awaken as a spirit mage before the duel began tomorrow morning.
'This wasn't part of the plan.'
Julia's awakening was supposed to happen toward the end of Chapter 1—quite early in the game. Even in the original story, she'd managed it despite her poor circumstances. I'd assumed that providing her with all the necessary books would speed things up even more, but apparently I'd been wrong.
'The plan was perfect, too.'
The core of the strategy had been to use a spirit mage's spirit speech to induce spirits into generating mana, which Silvia would then absorb and use in the duel. But everything had gone wrong from the very start.
"Where exactly are you stuck? Tell me."
"H-huh? What does that have to do with you!?"
"Because the sooner you can use magic, the more it benefits me. Speak. Now."
"Ugh. I managed to become aware of and sense the mana inside my body, just like the books said. But the moment I try to touch it, the mana just... explodes and disappears."
Julia explained with her lips pursed in embarrassment. If the mana was exploding and vanishing, that sounded like mana overload. It was a phenomenon that occurred when someone with an exceptionally high-quality mana core accumulated too much mana too quickly.
'It's a hurdle that talented individuals often face when they're young.'
But this wasn't something that could be solved just by teaching her a trick or two. Mana overload only disappeared after spending time steadily acclimating to mana. Even if Julia was a genius, it wasn't a problem that could be resolved in a single day.
"Eat well and sleep well. That's all the advice I can give you."
"What!? That doesn't help at all!"
"It does help. I'm telling you not to stubbornly insist on sleeping alone like you did yesterday."
"Hmph. I tried sleeping without you yesterday, and I fell asleep just fine."
"Wipe off those dark circles before you talk. What's the point of a child not sleeping? You need proper rest if you want to grow up strong and become useful."
"..."
A look of fear quickly spread across Julia's face. I could also feel Silvia's intense glare from behind me. I didn't think I'd said anything strange. Julia hesitated for a moment, then looked up at me with wide eyes and whispered.
"Then... can I take a nap right now?"
"Why are you asking me for permission?"
"Because I can only sleep when you're next to me. Hurry up and give me your hand."
"..."
"Hurry!"
Julia grabbed my hand and pressed it against her forehead. What a rude little thing. With a sigh, I activated the skill Touch of Death. A chill swept through the air, and Julia drifted off to sleep as if she'd fainted.
"Hm?"
"What is it?"
"Master. Just now, for some reason, my mana increased slightly. My mana core was supposed to be broken..."
Silvia emerged from the shadows, looking bewildered. Her mana had increased? Why? Then she saw my hand resting on Julia's forehead and seemed to realize the reason.
'Spirits are beings made of mana. So when you kill a spirit, its body decomposes into mana.'
I'd had a realization. There was no need for spirit speech or any of that complicated nonsense. I could just kill them outright and convert them into mana. Why bother with anything else?
"Silvia. Come closer. Don't you feel something?"
"I feel the creepiness of the young master placing his hand on a sleeping child's face."
"Not that."
"Huh? Mana... mana is rising...!"
Julia was someone who was naturally beloved by spirits. And my skill was an area attack that annihilated all nearby spirits. By luring spirits to Julia and killing them to generate mana, I could create an endless supply. Wasn't this basically perpetual motion?
"How much has it filled?"
"It's already about a quarter full."
"Do you need more?"
"No. This should be more than enough to deal with Leon. But Master... are you sure about this?"
"About what?"
"I meant... are you really okay with giving me your mana?"
Silvia looked at me with wide, startled eyes. Why was she acting like this all of a sudden? It wasn't as if I'd only started doing strange things today or yesterday.
"You have to win the duel, don't you? That's the only way both you and the family survive."
"The... family, you say."
"Is there a problem?"
"...No. It was a slip of the tongue. Please forget I said anything."
[Silvia's favorability has increased by 1.]
Huh? Suddenly? It wasn't like her favorability had gone down and then back up—this was the first time it had purely increased. I couldn't figure out which part had raised it.
"Uh, Mom..."
"...?"
Julia's small hand tightened around my arm.
"Mom... I did something wrong... Please don't be disappointed. I'll do better. I'll do my best, so..."
"..."
She was clinging to my arm and whining. For a moment I'd thought she'd woken up, but it seemed she'd only been having a nightmare. She couldn't even rest peacefully while sleeping. Feeling sorry for her, I gently stroked Julia's hair as she trembled and broke out in a cold sweat.
"You're doing more than enough. I won't be disappointed, so just keep trying your best."
"Ugh..."
Only then did her trembling subside and her breathing even out. The problem was that a new sleeping habit had developed. She kept fussing and whining unless I kept stroking her head.
"What a handful."
Even as I sighed with a wry chuckle, my hand didn't stop moving. It was annoying, but at the same time, endearing. When she was asleep, she almost looked like an angel that had descended from the heavens. I couldn't imagine what kind of person would want to torment a child like this.