A Move for Victory
Everyone except Leo himself was stunned.
If Felice had been present, even she—who rarely let her feelings show—would have stood there with her mouth hanging open. That was how shocking Leo’s challenge to a duel had been. Especially for those who knew his true ability.
Once the exchange with Louis Wallenstein ended, Leo and his party started walking again. At his side, the Saintess chattered away.
“I was really moved, Leo! That you’d go this far for me!”
Leo Epsilt wore an arrogant smile.
“I’ve always hated watching that despicable bastard strut around. This time I’ll crush him properly and make sure he can’t hold his head up even outside the academy!”
“Heh. As if that needed saying.”
Elin Nidia watched the two of them spout nonsense and fixed them with a look of pure contempt.
A Hero candidate and a Saintess, acting like this… humans really are the inferior ones after all.
That was what she thought. But right now she still had to find a way to clean up this mess. She could not allow the Hero to lose here and have his spirit broken. The Hero had to grow stronger still. He had to cultivate his power until he could wield it properly—not for humans, but for the elves.
In particular, the sword Leo wore at his side looked extraordinary even to elven eyes. It would be better for his growth if he kept it. If Leo lost here and things took a bad turn…
Elin briefly pictured Louis Wallenstein’s face, then shook her head. She had already resolved to cast aside every personal feeling. She only needed to think of her fellow elves. Having steeled herself once more, she spoke to Leo.
“Leo, if things should happen to go poorly…”
Understanding her meaning, Leo’s face twisted.
“I’m the Hero candidate. There’s no way I’d lose to trash like him.”
Elin barely swallowed the words that rose to her tongue—Then what was that last defeat? Anyone with eyes could see Leo was weaker than Louis. Everyone except the Saintess knew it. Granted, Leo far outstripped him in pure mana reserves and raw strength, and he could use holy power even without being a priest of the Church. But those were gifts of talent, not anything he had earned through effort. He did not even know how to properly wield the power he had simply been born with. As he was now, Leo could never defeat Louis.
While she fretted over what to do, Leo spoke again.
“Well, Elin. Last time the bastard beat me with underhanded tricks, so I suppose I can understand you worrying.”
The sparring match back then had been fair by any measure. Leo continued without a shred of shame.
“He spent the whole match running and dodging, then got lucky and won, didn’t he?”
Elin remembered the fight. Louis had slipped past Leo’s crude, mana-bloated swings with almost insulting ease, landing his own blows while he did so—and Leo was calling that “running away.”
“If he hadn’t fled and fought me fair and square, I would have won easily. One solid hit from me and he wouldn’t have been able to stand.”
That much was true. A direct hit from an attack powered by Leo’s monstrous mana would have finished Louis. The problem was that Louis would never stand still and take a blow that simple. Did he really challenge Louis with logic that pathetic? Elin was beginning to feel genuine fear at Leo’s stupidity. He muttered under his breath.
“I just have to make sure he can’t dodge…”
The way he said it sent a chill down her spine.
Then Leo seemed to notice something at last and asked,
“What? Now that I think about it, where’s Veronica?”
The thief girl was always quiet, but he had felt something missing without Veronica’s voice—and she was gone.
“Now that you mention it, the mage isn’t here. Where did she go?”
“Who knows…”
No one seemed to have an answer. When exactly had she slipped away? Well, mages were all a little eccentric by nature. Leo didn’t bother fretting over it.
“More importantly, shall we go eat?”
the Saintess asked. Leo nodded. Veronica could feed herself. He glanced briefly at Aine. She had said nothing this whole time. When they first met she had been irritatingly cheerful; now she seemed to have learned her place as a commoner and kept quiet, which suited him just fine. Sharing a table with a lowborn girl still grated, but they were party members for the moment. As the Hero candidate he ought to show a little magnanimity.
He headed for the dining hall with the rest of them.
Once the meal was finished, Leo hurried back to his room in the dormitory. That day he had skipped lunch and several afternoon classes to dig into everything concerning Louis. Truth be told, he had never planned on issuing a duel challenge. He had intended to handle it the usual way—with his family’s influence. The sudden intervention of the Imperial Princess had thrown him. Why on earth would the Princess process his expulsion request herself? He couldn’t understand it, but even a princess was still just a student at the academy.
Leo sought out the professor he usually used. He meant to demand an explanation and order the man to process the party expulsion form properly. Strangely, the professor hemmed and hawed and claimed it would be impossible this time. He wouldn’t even give a clear reason.
That bastard… after all the money our house has paid him!
For whatever reason the professor remained stubborn. The odd reaction made Leo briefly recall the man who called himself the headmaster of this academy—the one he had met that morning—but he dismissed the thought at once.
Please. As if someone of the headmaster’s stature would care about a nobody like Louis.
In any case, the professor was no longer usable. When Leo returned to the classroom, students were buzzing that Louis and the Princess had eaten lunch together and talked. Their relationship grew more baffling by the hour. The important point was that shaking things from above to cancel the request had become difficult. Louis himself would have to withdraw it.
Leo thought of the academy’s duels. They were a popular spectacle whenever they were held. And they offered the bonus of humiliating the bastard in public—an excellent idea, he decided. He didn’t say it aloud, but ever since his last defeat he had been grinding his teeth. They had been scheduled to spar again soon anyway; this was better. Unlike that abrupt match, a formal duel would give him time to prepare.
With his calculations finished, he waited until classes ended and called Louis out. The conversation made him lose his temper and raise his voice, but the bastard didn’t back down either and shouted right back. Using the things Louis had said about the Saintess as leverage, Leo set far harsher terms for the duel than he had originally planned. He would have to endure the same stakes himself, of course, but that hardly mattered. There was no chance he would lose.
The idiot Louis had swallowed the bait whole.
“Heh heh heh… what a fool…”
The last victory must have made him complacent. Leo chuckled as he sank into his chair. He had lost that time, yes, but in raw mana, holy power, and physical strength he still outclassed Louis. That was why he genuinely believed he was the stronger of the two. And the reason he had lost to Louis?
If the bastard hadn’t fought by running away like a coward… one clean hit and it would have been over.
Not dodging—running away. And calling that cowardice. Leo had no intention of training hard to beat Louis. He didn’t need to work on landing his attacks. He simply had to make it impossible for Louis to avoid them.
He took out paper and a quill and began writing a letter—to his family, the Epsilt ducal house. A letter filled with the demands he needed to defeat Louis. On the day of the duel he would give that bastard a despair he had never tasted before. Picturing it, Leo Epsilt wore a vile smile.
Leo Epsilt finished speaking and left with his party. Aine seemed to glance my way, but I ignored her. I narrowed my eyes and watched their retreating backs.
Leo Epsilt… what the hell was he plotting?
I had to uncover his scheme before the duel. If I managed that, crushing someone like Leo Epsilt would be trivial.
I thought of the cheap sword I carried. I was still a count’s son, however fallen, and I received a decent stipend—but I had burned through most of it acquiring fortuitous encounters and hidden items. Of course, that was exactly why I had grown this strong, so I had no complaints. Still, the bargain blade I had bought to save money was in even worse shape after the fight with the gargoyle.
I pictured the Epsilt Treasure Sword I was about to win and broke into a wide grin.
“Heh heh…”
I was still chuckling to myself as I started walking again when someone seized my arm.
“Hey. Louis Wallenstein.”
I scowled at the familiar voice. Veronica Eltwin.
“Come with me.”
She didn’t wait for an answer. She just started dragging me away.