Discarded Settings

Beatrice declared it, and with that, the duel was over.

"Drink this. Sprinkle the other one on Sir Gripork."

She held out two highest-grade potions. X downed one on the spot, and his wounds closed over. He sprinkled what remained on Gripork. The man was out cold, but he would come around soon enough.

A wave of dizziness rolled through X, and he sank straight to the floor.

"Ugh, the anemia… I'll just sit here a moment…"

"How insolent. Do as you please."

The wounds had healed. The blood he had lost had not. He had sprayed enough of it that dying of shock would not have been surprising. The only reason he was still in his right mind was that he was a demon.

"Hh, hhk… w-what…"

"Oh, as expected of a 5-Star warrior. You recover quickly."

Gripork came to at once. He took in X sitting there as if nothing had happened, and the situation assembled itself.

"…You didn't kill me."

"I didn't realize you wanted to die."

The winner of a duel held the right of life and death over the loser. It was one of the few occasions when killing someone was perfectly legal — which was why, more often than not, the loser did not walk away.

"Why didn't you?"

"I already told you I didn't know you wanted to die. Just hand over the executive seat."

"You — you vermin…!"

Gripork started to finish that thought, then caught himself. He dropped to one knee toward Beatrice and bowed his head.

"Forgive my discourtesy!"

"Ah, it's fine. The duel is over, so rest easy."

"Even so…!"

"More to the point, the result has been decided."

At that, Gripork could only keep his head down. He was certain of it now. He had been designed into this from the start. The traitor had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been planning this for a very long time — and shaking hands with the imperial family, the strongest power there was, proved it.

"Gripork Lou Dremore. Do you submit to the result of this duel, and acknowledge it?"

His answer, then, had already been written.

"I… acknowledge it."

A perfect defeat. With those words, the duel was well and truly over.

Gripork contacted the other executives and informed them of his defeat. Then he dropped the real bomb: as of today, he was leaving Sword Rang and handing his executive seat to X. The declaration had been made in front of Princess Beatrice. Not a single person dared to object.

Gotta say, having power at your back makes everything easier. The whole thing's been smooth as silk. Even if that power's still just a hollow shell for now.

Gripork looked at X with naked hatred until the moment he left.

"You, the traitor behind you — none of you will get a thing."

Meaning, of course, that everyone in Sword Rang who had been in his camp would walk out with him. Gripork was a man of considerable standing. The effect would only accelerate Sword Rang's collapse.

"Hmm. Is that so."

Which was exactly what X wanted. A group like Sword Rang had no reason to exist.

"One last question."

"What is it?"

"Are you a magician? Or a swordsman?"

Gripork was still drowning in questions. In this world, the only being who could wield internal energy and magic together was the Hero — and there was only one of those. Yet the X standing in front of him had used Auror and magic both. It made no sense at all.

To that question, X said:

"A magician, of course."

He lied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Beatrice was standing right beside him. If he went and said he could use both, all he would earn was a Probability Penalty. Fortunately, Beatrice currently had him pegged as a magician who used some peculiar sort of magic.

What matters is that a character has to be certain something's off. That's the loophole in the Probability Penalty.

Gripork's face twisted as far as it would go.

"A magician… a magician, is it. Something to think about, I suppose…"

Muttering that, he turned and left. Apparently, losing to a magician as a warrior was that humiliating.

And so only X and Beatrice remained.

"Lord Andras. How did you find my gift?"

Andras fought to keep a smile from slipping free. Something she had barely believed possible had actually happened.

"It is… reasonably to my liking."

The strategies available to her had just widened considerably. The plan to take revenge on that woman she hated with every fiber of her being had just been pulled forward. If things went well, she might even bring the Archdemons to heel.

Look at her spinning that wishful-thinking engine of hers… Almost feel sorry for her.

Andras was busily laying plans when a question surfaced, and she put it to X.

"Ah, yes. Mephisto. The owner of that body — X — was not a magician, was he? During the duel, it certainly looked as though he was using Auror."

At that, X thought, Here it comes.

This damned demon just couldn't let it go.

Unfortunately, the dual-wielding curriculum of magic and internal energy that he had discussed with the Academy Chairman had not been introduced yet. He had hidden it as best he could, but the light of a 4-Star Auror Line had been far brighter than he had imagined. Getting caught had been inevitable.

A sloppy lie won't fly here… Ah!

A serviceable excuse surfaced in an instant.

"There is a reason I brought this sword today."

"A reason?"

X held up Rung's Sword as he went on.

"Because this is a sword that gathers internal energy."

"A sword that gathers internal energy…?"

Andras's eyes were already narrowing. A face that said she doubted him one hundred percent. She was almost certainly running a lie-detection spell.

But the lie was not finished.

"The human who gave it to me — Lung — called it a sword for training. While X was practicing with it, he discovered a special function. The function of gathering internal energy."

"Professor Lung… True, that human is one about whom nothing has ever been properly revealed."

"That is why X became obsessed with the sword. He wanted to handle internal energy and magic at the same time, like the Hero of legend. But, well…"

X put on his most wicked smile and let the mockery show.

"Even that power is mine now."

And the result…

Safe…!

It had passed. Barely. If he had not used A Single Truth at the end of the duel to reset his points, the Probability Penalty would have fired.

Andras let out a faint sigh.

"…Well. It is not bad news. I took him for a magician, but if he can use Auror, it will make for a rather threatening surprise."

"Precisely. As in this duel."

"But do not use it carelessly from now on. That looks as though it will be quite an important card."

"Of course, of course…"

And with that, the matter was closed.

He had been discussing future plans with Andras when the anemia grew too severe, and they had to adjourn. Outside the Indoor Training Arena, a considerable number of students and professors were waiting on the result of the duel. The spoils of victory took a very concrete shape.

"Hey, Weed! What was the result?!"

"Sir Gripork just left without saying a word!"

"Student X! Tell us who won!"

Every face in the crowd was dying of curiosity. X knew exactly why, so he let them stew on purpose.

"Commoner, you're okay, right? You look awful."

In the middle of it all, Lola fidgeted with a worried look, and Elia stood beside her with an expression that gave nothing away. Perfect timing. There was something he needed to confirm.

X walked over to Lola.

"Yes, well… How did the betting go? What were the odds?"

"Even now, that's all you—! Ugh…"

Lola sighed and handed him a slip of paper. A lottery ticket for betting on the outcome of the duel.

"The odds were 6.17 to 1.16. Out of three hundred and six people, three hundred and one bet on Sir Gripork. The other five bet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on you, and one of those five was you."

"I was that looked down on, I see… How much was the total pot?"

"About 1.66 billion El? Less than I expected, honestly."

El was the currency of this world. For convenience, one El had been set as equivalent to one won. Which meant a fortune of 1.6 billion had been placed on this duel.

"1.6 billion is… not much?"

"The outcome was too obvious. Who's going to throw money at a duel like that? Going to collect pocket change is more trouble than it's worth."

"…How much usually gets bet?"

"At least five billion. Don't underestimate how nobles spend money."

He was reminded, all over again, that the gap between a noble's spending and a commoner's was absurd.

"Ahem. And who did you bet on, miss?"

"I! Obviously… bet on you…"

Her face said she had no confidence in it. She had clearly bet out of loyalty.

"So you lose a little. It's not as if you're short on allowance."

"What?! Hey!! I bet my entire month's allowance, you know?!"

"That's truly unfortunate."

"Y-you didn't lose, did you?!"

At Lola's words, the noisy crowd went quiet. Everyone waited for what X would say next. He merely smiled — a thoroughly nasty little smile — and tossed out a single sentence.

It did not take long for the meaning to sink in.

Chaos erupted like a storm.

They say it makes your stomach hurt when someone else strikes gold… I should've borrowed money and bet too!

X thought of the money Lola had won on her bet, and a petty resentment flared for no good reason.

I scraped my soul together to put down two million, and she put down twenty million and cashed out?!

Even now, remembering that villainess-young-lady laugh of hers was enough to curdle his guts. Looking back on it, it had been a laugh of pure, honest joy at his victory — but the unfairness of it all was knocking his reason sideways. He was a small-minded everyman at heart. Magnanimity was beyond him.

"Argh, who the hell bet two hundred million on me?!"

In the middle of that, his Mana Phone rang. It was Roxwell.

For some reason, winning had started to feel like he had done everyone else a favor. X barely managed to settle his bristling spite.

Fine. At least I've still got this…

Back in his room, X looked over the System's messages.

"Now this I like."

He had acquired some rather decent titles. He was not fond of the names, but the effects were the real thing. The only penalty title he had left now was Potion Addict (F). Better still were the stat increases that came attached to the new titles. And because he had won against a vastly superior opponent, Warrior of Reversal had triggered as well.

His stats had doubled in an instant. When he thought about how much blood and sweat he had poured out just to raise a stat by 0.1, tears nearly sprang to his eyes.

This is what a proper 4-Star warrior's stats look like…!

Vitality was already surging through his entire body. At this level, he could prepare for the next plan at a comfortable pace. While he was at it, he checked his talents as well.

Aside from Lesser Swordsmanship, which had changed during training, Basic Internal Arts and Mana Sensitivity had both advanced a tier. They were entries that had been added to the talent shop last time — only 2,500 points each, so he had bought them on the spot. He was reaping the benefits now.

I barely made 4-Star, 4th-Circle. But…

"Seri, is there anything to be done about that purchase penalty?"

There was exactly one talent he had not bought yet. Originally he would have purchased it immediately, but he had been forced to hold off.

"Come on, that's ridiculous! An E-rank talent that costs 2,500 points jumping to 50,000? Twenty times more expensive is too much!"

However good the effect was, he needed to keep a reserve. There was no telling how Elysia might intervene, and he had to be ready. Spending 50,000 points on a mere E-rank talent required a great deal of thought.

"Hah… Forget it. Seri, how many points did I get this time?"

"So how many do I have now?"

Points were this hard to earn even once. He could not afford ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to throw 50,000 of them away. Besides, he already had a use for these points — and coincidentally, that cost was 50,000 as well. Meaning he needed to save up 100,000 as working capital.

"Seri, anything I can do to earn points?"

"Not that. Something I can actually do easily…"

"Hah… Yeah, well. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It was never going to be that easy."

He figured he might as well sleep, and flopped onto the bed. He had lost a great deal of blood as it was; recovery was urgent. He was just about to drop off when a thought snagged him.

Wait a second… Probability, settings, things that don't add up, things that break the rules… Then would this work too…?

A hypothesis surfaced.

"Seri. Editing Points are a kind of reward, right? For acquiring certain titles, completing objectives, or discovering things that break Probability."

"I'm planning to go to the Ancient Ruins soon."

The Ancient Ruins were a major sub-scenario. After crushing Sword Rang, Leon would go there to obtain a weapon in preparation for the coming battles against demons. It was a dangerous place that no one had ever fully explored — but they were the reincarnated Hero's party, and they had cleared it once in a previous life, so they had nothing to fear. The sub-scenario in particular was a device for showing off the abilities of Rosaria, the Reincarnated Thief, in earnest, and for bringing her relationship with Leon into sharper relief.

So the shock hits harder when they die, of course.

But that was not the point. What mattered right now was the origin story of these Ancient Ruins.

"These Ancient Ruins got torn apart and rebuilt. A lot."

"Just the settings she created and then scrapped run over ten thousand characters."

If you went by volume of revisions, it was worse than the Demon Mansion. It was also the place that had made Elysia announce a hiatus because it was too much work.

"So what I want to ask is…"

Ultimately, this was the question he wanted to put to Seri.

"If I find those discarded settings — can I get Editing Points?"

It was a question that amounted to little more than a long-shot guess. Wishful thinking, really. The kind of thing you say because you want it to be true.

To that question, which was nothing more than a daydream, Seri answered:

He had acquired yet another formidable weapon.