Episode 662
Episode 662
The students were equally stunned when their friend was suddenly dragged off to a socialite's underground arena where duel maniacs ran rampant.
"W-wait a minute. Professor."
Siana hastily stepped forward.
Professor Voladi stared blankly at Siana, waiting to hear what the student had to say.
"...Take me with you."
"Priestess Siana...!"
Lee Han spoke in a voice full of betrayal.
After all the praise he'd heaped on the Flemeng Order!
"I-I'm sorry. I was too scared." 'I can understand that.' Watching Siana flee in terror back among her friends, Lee Han deeply sympathized.
Having just witnessed Professor Voladi slam a junior into the ground and attack Lee Han with murderous intent, anyone who wasn't scared wouldn't be human.
"We need to think of something. If this continues, Lord Wardanaz will be dragged into an underground arena!"
"The Duel Club isn't exactly an underground arena..."
"Professor! Lord Wardanaz's leg is broken!"
Ratford cunningly intervened.
Surely they wouldn't take a student with a broken leg to the Duel Club.
Professor Voladi glanced at Lee Han's leg and replied impassively:
"It looks fine."
"...At this point, we have no choice. We'll have to actually break one."
"I-I don't think Lee Han would like that."
"We can't just leave him like this!"
The friends argued over whether they should break Lee Han's leg or perhaps his arm instead.
As they waited, Professor Voladi checked the time and said:
"We'll discuss the rest on the way. It'll take time to get everyone inside."
"......"
"...?"
The students froze.
Something felt off.
"Everyone?"
"When you say 'everyone'... do you mean... all of us?"
The professor nodded in agreement. Gainando cried out in horror:
"P-professor! Unlike Lee Han, I didn't even attend your lectures!" 'What a cowardly bastard.' Lee Han grumbled internally as he watched Gainando try to escape alone.
While he understood being scared, trying to flee so blatantly was another matter!
"It's fine. It wouldn't be fair to only introduce Wardanaz."
Surprisingly, Professor Voladi cared quite a bit about educational fairness.
Professor Verdus would have taken only Lee Han (if he'd even bothered to take him at all), but Professor Voladi had met the other students during break and thought it unfair to only bring Lee Han to the Duel Club.
Even if Lee Han was Professor Voladi's disciple, showing special favoritism might upset the other students.
Just as he'd treated them all to meals, he intended to take them all to the Duel Club.
"...N-no, I didn't mean I wanted to go..."
Gainando was left speechless by Professor Voladi's astonishing ability to interpret "I didn't attend your lectures" as "Even though I didn't attend, can I still go to the Duel Club?"
Seeing this, Lee Han felt inexplicably pleased. 'Should I have made the others attend too?'
* * *
The Plaha City Duel Club was a relatively new establishment.
Founded by some belligerent lower nobles, duelists, and merchants who'd caught the scent of gold from them.
Still, the atmosphere wasn't bad.
New establishments with short histories typically relied on extravagance.
The merchants who invested in this Duel Club had spared no expense to ensure proper returns.
Upon arriving at the building, the first thing that drew admiration was the Duel Club sign hanging above the entrance.
-Plaha City Duel Club.
Even without fancy titles, twisting gold and silver threads together and enchanting them with light magic naturally created an air of sophistication.
Pushing open the heavy bronze doors revealed a magic stone chandelier casting warm light from the ceiling, beneath which people gathered in neatly divided sections, engaged in conversation.
Starting from a dining area selling simple sandwiches, rice balls, coffee, or tea, to a section where club members gathered to share recent events.
"So in my opinion, Prince Bogajun—"
"You have an excessive tendency to worship royalty!"
"W-what?! Then are you some shameless aristocrat or an independentist?!"
"Retract those words, or it's a duel!"
And then, the duel arena prepared for dignified combat, along with spectator seats where one could watch them from the side.
The mahogany floor of the duel arena, reinforced with magic, was sturdier than most shields, and the defensive barrier shielding the spectator seats was robust enough to block anyone who might be flung or sent flying during a duel.
'Not bad.'
Palga, a member of the knightly Ukim Family and now a third-year at Einrogard, was satisfied with the atmosphere of the duel club.
Compared to the shabby conditions of the duel clubs set up by Einrogard students, this place was practically heaven. Though a bit extravagant, it seemed like it would last quite a while.
Palga planned to practice dueling here during the remainder of his vacation.
A duel was, by nature, a tense battle where one had to process dozens of thoughts in less than a second.
As such, it was crucial to keep one's senses sharp and well-honed.
If he spent the entire vacation lazing around and returned rusty, he'd only earn ridicule from his duel club friends.
"Who do you think will win today?"
"Well, Sir Chelese's swordsmanship is undoubtedly outstanding, but that Gorang fellow facing him is no pushover either."
"From what I've heard, he's a former mercenary with the nickname 'Razor.' Razor Gorang."
'Sir Chelese, Gorang. Good.'
Palga's last visit had been four days ago.
He had been worried that new duelists might have appeared in the club during his absence. After all, the most dangerous opponents in duels were always unfamiliar faces.
But both Sir Chelese and Gorang were people he had seen before.
During his break, Palga had prepared strategies to face them. Today, those preparations would surely shine.
"But who was that man yesterday?"
"Well, the Count was so shocked he said he'd look into it. Must be some famous duelist, no? Good heavens. Who'd have thought all the members would be knocked out?"
"Sir Chelese swore he'd get revenge. Aren't you looking forward to it?"
"Well, I think that man might get banned from the club. If someone like him sticks around, how will the members survive?"
"What nonsense! Banning someone just for being strong? Is that any way to uphold a duelist's honor?"
"No matter how much you value honor, there has to be a limit. If he keeps crushing everyone like that, there'll be no worthy opponents left."
"...?"
Palga was puzzled.
Had something happened while he was away?
'A new duelist arrived? What kind of person could they be?'
Palga felt his heart pounding.
Some incompetent and cowardly duelists hesitated to fight opponents stronger than themselves.
But Palga wasn't like that.
If the opponent was stronger, wasn't it a chance to learn something new? A good thing, really.
If this person truly was formidable, he resolved to politely request a match. With that thought, Palga moved forward.
"Excuse me, aren't you Sir Palga of the Ukim Family?"
"Yes. Though I'm not a full-fledged knight yet."
"I know! We spoke last week! You're the one attending Einrogard, right?"
"Yes. That's correct."
Palga responded with pride in his voice.
Though Einrogard students were the ones who complained the most about Einrogard in the entire Empire, that didn't mean they lacked pride.
If they had no pride at all, how could they even endure attending that school?
"Here, we have some Einrogard students—what an incredible coincidence! I'd like to introduce you!"
"?!"
Palga was startled by the member's words.
Though the Empire wasn't that large, who would've thought he'd run into fellow Einrogard students here?
Seated in front of him, Durgyu and Lee Han exchanged awkward glances.
-Sorry, Lee Han.
-No... It's not your fault.
While all the friends scattered in small groups to observe the Duel Club, Lee Han and Durgyu were also watching the duels.
-Hey, is it against the rules to set traps in advance? Just to prepare in case we have to fight a professor...
-...
-Lee Han...
-Haha. Just kidding. A joke.
-Your eyes say it's absolutely not a joke.
In the midst of this, a club member suddenly approached them.
-By any chance, are you from the Choy Family?
-Oh, yes, I am.
-Wow! I'm from the Aldar Family...!
The Duel Club member from the Aldar Family was something like a distant cousin of a distant relative to the Choy Family.
But in a club gathered for social purposes, this level of connection was practically like being family.
In fact, this orc uncle took an instant liking to the two and began treating them to food.
-Students must still be at the age where they eat a lot. Haha. Here, eat up! It's on me.
-No... We can't just take food from someone we just met...
-Could you bring some more pancakes over here? Go on, eat. You must be starving.
-W-We just ate...
-Eat more! You're practically skin and bones!
Unable to refuse his kindness, Lee Han and Durgyu began inhaling the pancakes and sandwiches.
The only saving grace was that the club's food was delicious.
But the Aldar uncle didn't stop there. The moment he spotted another Einrogard student passing by, he immediately called out.
-By any chance, are you Sir Palga of the Ukim Family?
And now,
Lee Han and Durgyu found themselves sitting across from their senior with awkward expressions.
The Aldar uncle, still beaming, filled their cups with heavily sugared black tea.
"My, my. I ordered bacon ages ago, and it still hasn't arrived. I'll go check on it real quick."
"There's no need—!"
Only after the orc uncle left could the three finally let out sighs of relief.
Realizing that these two juniors had also been half-forced into this situation, Palga felt a sense of camaraderie.
"Looks like you two got dragged here out of the blue too. That's just how Imperial clubs are. Since they're for socializing, one wrong move and you end up sitting with complete strangers."
"I felt that very clearly today. Thank you. I'm Durgyu of the Choy Family. And this is Lee Han."
Lee Han subtly avoided mentioning the Wardanaz Family.
The name of the Wardanaz Family wasn't exactly favorable in front of someone from a knightly family.
"I'm Palga of the Ukim Family. So you're juniors from the White Tiger Tower? Nice to meet you."
Palga smiled warmly, welcoming them.
Being from the same tower was special even within Einrogard. To Palga, they were worth welcoming.
"What were you doing here, Senior?"
"The Einrogard Duel Club... Ah, I suppose it's fine to tell you. You'll find out about it next semester anyway. I'm a member of the Einrogard Duel Club. I came here to sharpen my skills through practice."
"You don't bet money?"
At the naive question from his junior, Palga burst out laughing.
"Where'd you hear that nonsense? Not all duelists bet money. Think about it—dueling is a sacred act where two prepared opponents give their all to determine victory. The odds barely tip past fifty-fifty. Gambling big money on something like this isn't a smart choice."
Palga then shared stories of duelists who had wagered their fortunes for fun and gone bankrupt in an instant.
While it was misfortune, Palga believed their downfall was divine punishment for disrespecting the sanctity of dueling.
Lee Han, however, only pretended to listen.
'Not even making money, just enjoying duels for fun? The Einrogard Duel Club's culture is seriously weird.'
"What about you two? What brought you here? Did you come for duel training like me?"
"Ah, no. We came with a professor. He said he'd introduce us to the Duel Club."
"You're spending your break with a professor!? Why would you do that?"
"Haha. We just happened to run into him."
At Lee Han's answer, Palga looked at his junior with pity.
Just how unlucky do you have to be to run into a professor during break?
"Which professor was it?"
"Professor Bagrak."
BAM!!!
With a loud crash, Palga toppled backward.