Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Roughly the Greatest Isekai Harem - Episode 69
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A lot happened in that short moment.
One after another, we were blocked on our way to our destination, Diana insulted me, and now Tilia Vanguard, who appeared to be the eldest daughter of her family, was demanding compensation, claiming this was a matter of honor.
The price of that compensation? All the horses we had, plus the life of one coachman.
It's easy to imagine how tough it would be for the rest of us if we had to pay that price right in the middle of the road.
But the word "duel" that Tilia brought up turned all my annoyance into joy.
A duel? What a fantastic custom.
It cuts right to the heart of human nature.
The winner takes all, and the loser loses everything.
A private sanction that's been banned due to all the harm caused throughout history's long chain of violence.
It started as a simple accident, but it snowballed out of control with all the talk of honor and such.
I liked this version, though.
In the modern world, when an accident happens, there's so much to argue over and worry about.
By contrast, the rule where the winner is justice lumps all those issues together and settles them neatly.
The downside is that the loser gets a wound that can never be washed away.
"Fine."
"Then..."
"But first, I have a question."
I cut Tilia off.
"A question?"
"I get what happens if we lose. But what if you lose?
What exactly do you mean by apologizing?"
"Ha!"
Diana snorted and jumped in.
"How pitiful. She doesn't even know her place..."
"..."
Tilia let Diana ramble on, her face adorned with a faint smile.
"Tilia sis is ranked 5th in Melbritt. She's the pride of the Vanguard family, bestowed the epithet 'Crimson Flame'!
She could never understand that lofty status, some no-name adventurer who hasn't even taken the entrance exam yet."
Unexpected info.
A top contender among the elite candidates, one of the top five strongest?
At the very least, she wasn't someone I could beat in a fight.
So that's the basis for her little sister's blind confidence.
She figures as long as she has a strong big sis, she can act however she wants without anyone messing with her.
"Diana. This guy's no pushover. You need to learn to read people better."
Tilia gently scolded her sister.
"Sis? You mean this guy's that strong?"
"Not him, but his party's pretty formidable. Not your average enforcers or elves."
Spot on.
Tilia had pinpointed the two strongest in our group, completely ignoring me and Karen.
"Decal. It doesn't matter if you put up your strongest fighter as a proxy.
If I lose, I'll apologize formally. In the name of the Vanguard family."
Apologize in the family name?
What's that different from the "sorry" from earlier?
She must've caught my dissatisfaction because Tilia added,
"While you clean up the scene, we'll lend a hand too. Then we all go our separate ways. How's that?"
No, so originally you planned to make us clean it up alone?
I was so flabbergasted I couldn't even speak.
She said something so absurd like it was the most natural thing, leaving me without the energy to argue.
You're telling me the best we could get out of a duel staking our horses and a coachman's life is that?
"That's not enough."
"Not enough? What more do you want beyond an apology in my family's name?"
Tilia thought words were getting through, but she was mistaken.
She genuinely looked like she had no idea what more there could be.
It just confirmed the irreconcilable gap in perception between this world's nobles and me.
Time for me to set her straight.
I looked at both of them and declared,
"I'll accept the duel. But your idea of a heartfelt apology is worthless, so you'll follow the rules I set."
Snap.
I flicked my fingers, plunging the Vanguard sisters into a trance.
"Tilia. If you lose the duel, you'll eagerly comply with my demands."
"Eagerly, com...ply..."
"This supersedes you yourself and your family's rules. The world of contests is ruthless and solemn."
"..."
Making her apologize under direct control would be pointless.
I planned to teach Diana what a true apology looked like in this situation.
No need for other suggestions. Not yet.
"Oppa. Esty. What's going on? Those two look weird."
Karen asked in a voice trembling with fear.
She must've been scared by this new situation.
"Ah, this?"
I got ready to clap and said,
"Hypnotism."
Clap.
Tilia and Diana, who had been standing still like their souls had been yanked out, snapped back to awareness at the sound of my clap.
"Rules you set? How arrogant. We're not obligated to follow that."
The conversation picked up right where it left off, as if nothing had happened.
"Esty."
Esty stepped forward at my call, like she'd been waiting.
"You can win, right?"
"I won't hold back."
Esty quietly burned with fighting spirit.
"Because you touched Darling. I might kill you."
"Killing a student would be a problem."
Diana, who had been so cheekily defiant, was silenced by Esty's aura.
She was finally realizing this wasn't normal.
That Esty wasn't bluffing.
"I figured you'd step up. Your gaze has been burning into me since earlier—I couldn't hold back. First time hearing the name Esty, though..."
"Don't forget my name. I might end up teaching you."
Tilia's eyes changed in an instant.
The hostility radiating between them swelled taut, creating a suffocating tension.
What was about to happen wasn't some simple fistfight.
No one dared speak as Noah slipped between them like she was splitting them apart.
"This spot isn't suitable. There's an open field right next to the road, so let's move the duel there."
"Good. I don't want any damage to our carriage either."
Tilia readily accepted Noah's suggestion.
Noah took the lead toward the open field beside the road.
It was a plain dotted with short grass and a few rocks, nothing else.
Tilia slung her two-handed sword over her shoulder, rolled her neck, loosened her wrists, stood up and down—warming up.
Esty, meanwhile, stood still with her eyes closed.
Esty was preparing to call upon the wind spirit.
Naturally, we ended up watching the standoff from a slight distance,
While the Vanguard family's servants watched from even farther away.
"Decal."
Tilia suddenly looked at me and said,
"Have you talked to the coachman? Gotta decide whose neck is on the line."
"Don't worry. If the coachman runs, I'll offer my own neck."
"Cool. I don't hate that kind of guts."
Of course, I had no intention of actually offering my neck if we lost.
Karen said anxiously,
"Oppa. What if by some chance Esty loses?"
"I'm wondering too."
Noah said.
"Decal-nim. You could've planted a suggestion to weaken the opponent and made it easy. Why didn't you?"
"Because I trust Esty."
"I trust Esty too, but duels can have anything happen. If something like this got Oppa killed, I'd..."
She couldn't help being anxious.
That's normal. What kind of grand resolve did I have to stay calm with my life on the line?
"..."
Noah stared right through me.
Even with the eyepatch, I could tell.
"Was it obvious?"
"Yes. It wasn't a total lie, but it didn't feel like your true feelings."
"How'd you know?"
"There was a sense of incongruity. Separate from trusting Esty, I think you have the ability to resolve this much more smoothly."
"I was just watching the situation until the duel came up."
In the meantime, amid that seemingly trivial back-and-forth, there were a few key clues.
First, the fact that Tilia was a top-tier powerhouse at the hero academy.
I didn't know much about the prestige of epithets, but a numerical ranking was easy to grasp. Fifth strongest, right?
"You just want to watch, don't you."
Noah nailed my intentions perfectly.
"I'm from another world. I know you're strong, but that's all—just knowledge.
On the other hand, I'm about to enter the hero academy, but I still don't know where my own strength stands.
This is a good opportunity. A rare spectacle."
From my experiences so far, I thought I was pretty strong.
Among regular adventurers, at least. The Gold rank backed that up.
But what about above that? Was it within my reach? When I learned combat skills were key in this world, I started thinking that.
I wanted to see for myself.
Conveniently, it wasn't something I could just look up on You○ube, so this was a perfect chance that came along.
"Esty could get hurt over this. Is that okay with you?"
Noah's tone wasn't accusatory; it was polite.
Just pure curiosity.
But answering this question would let Noah see my true feelings.
That Esty was just a toy I played with via hypnosis.
Not someone I truly loved.
"Esty said she became Melbritt's teacher on her own, right? I don't think she'll lose to a student."
"..."
Noah's expression was unreadable.
I couldn't tell what she was thinking under that eyepatch.
But this exchange surely conveyed what kind of person I was.
"Oppa. It's starting!"
Tilia drew her sword.
I'd thought it was unusual from the first sight.
Too long for one hand, too thin for its weight.
No doubt about it being a blade, but compared to Karen's blunt one-handed sword, it felt less stable.
Unless it was acrobatic swordplay, no one could handle that sword.
Tilia gripped the hilt lightly with both hands, spread her stance, and said to Esty, who stood naturally,
"Draw your weapon. I'll wait that long."
"..."
"Or are you the type who fights barehanded for some reason?"
Even to Tilia's probing words, Esty remained still.
Esty's bow always appeared out of nowhere when needed.
That's why she never carried weapons or arrows around normally.
Her opponent had no way of knowing that, so the odd standoff continued.
"In elven duels,"
Esty finally spoke.
"We yield the first strike to the junior."
"..."
Tilia blinked, pondering the meaning,
"Ahaha!"
Then threw her head back and laughed heartily.
"Didn't know that. Elves have that kind of courtesy in their world."
"You can move first."
"Then I won't hold back."
Tilia's demeanor shifted.
I noticed right away. Tilia had summoned a spirit.
A red spirit core danced around her. Its presence was no less than Esty's spirits.
The spirit's influence? It felt slightly warm.
"Ugh. It's hot."
"Looks like a fire spirit. I've heard rumors about 'Crimson Flame,' but I didn't expect spirit arts this advanced."
The two of them seemed to feel the heat much more intensely than I did.
The next instant, Tilia's sword blazed with ferocious momentum. Scarlet flames, just like her epithet.
The sight alone would sap the will from any ordinary person.
That's why I held back from trying it on Karen's sword in the dungeon.
I couldn't tell if it was like [Fire Enchant] magic, but Tilia held the flaming sword with a nonchalant expression, protected by the flames like I would be.
"Here I go!"
Tilia kicked off the ground once. With that, she glided lightly across the earth, closing the distance to Esty in one breath.
Incredible movement. Without slowing, she swung her sword, and the raging flames trailed its arc, engulfing Esty.
Esty retreated slightly to dodge the blade, suppressing the flames with her wind spirit.
Calm, precise handling.
Tilia gripped her sword and pressed the attack immediately. Esty retreated step for step as Tilia advanced, dodging each swing perfectly,
And the fierce flames shooting up between them never even grazed Esty's vicinity.
"Wow... Oppa, have you ever seen spirit arts like that?"
Karen was gripping her hands sweaty, watching the fight.
Thanks to special training with Esty, we'd honed our senses for spirits.
That's why we could tell the spirits' movements were even more active than the close-quarters combat.
Esty's wind spirits deftly redirected every bit of the rough flames from Tilia's spirit with delicate gusts.
It looked like Tilia pressing with her sword on the surface, but...
"It's like a spirit arts showdown. What do you think, Noah?"
"I agree. Their spirit arts proficiency is similar, but Esty's control stands out. No waste at all."
"Proficiency is similar?"
To me, it looked like Esty was toying with her.
Watching a bit longer, the situation started to change.
The flames were gradually piercing Esty's wind barrier.
Esty furrowed her brow slightly at the heat.
"Not the time to show off leisure, is it?"
Tilia grinned.
Suddenly, the flames surged, and Tilia vanished into them.
Gone? No—Tilia appeared behind Esty. Just before the burning sword connected, Esty threw up a barrier to repel it and leaped back, widening the gap.
"Now...! Hah!"
Tilia dropped into a low stance and swung her sword wide.
It shouldn't have reached.
Yet flames erupted from the ground in the direction of her swing, like a wave crashing over Esty in an instant.
"Esty!"
Karen cried out desperately.
It was that threatening an attack, but where the flames swept, there was nothing.
Space Leap. Esty reappeared in a position favorable to her, and at the same time, Tilia threw herself aside to dodge an incoming arrow.
"..."
Esty now held a bow.
I saw the leap, but when did she shoot? Tilia even reacting was impressive.
Despite being swept by flames right before leaping, Esty's clothes and skin showed not even a scorch mark.
Then, like playing an instrument, Esty subtly moved her empty right hand, conjuring translucent arrows one, two, three—like magic—
Until four were nocked on the string between her fingers.
The moment Tilia recovered her balance from her dive, the four arrows left Esty's bow at once.