48. The Day Before the Duel
48. The Day Before the Duel
In the early morning, newspapers across the imperial capital featured a rather interesting article on the front page.
Imperial Knights Commander Secretly Inspects Academy!
Linda Westhaber, Commander of the Imperial Knights, continues her unconventional moves, emphasizing the strengthening of peacekeeping capabilities through an inspection of the academy.
The Imperial Knights Commander encouraged academy students that day and made an unusual visit to the academy training grounds to personally inspect the training situation.
A surprise academy inspection by the Imperial Knights Commander and Empire's Greatest Sword, Linda Westhaber, one that was not on her schedule.
Most people simply thought she had gone to the academy to see the students, but there were certainly those who interpreted it differently.
"This... bumpkin...!!"
Edward Lemnos, the current head of House Lemnos, one of the Five Pillars, was one of them.
As soon as he saw the newspaper, he crumpled it and hurled it onto his desk.
"This is clearly a provocation...!! She never once visited the academy after graduating, and the moment my son enrolls, she immediately goes!!"
True to his reputation, the fiery-tempered Edward slammed his fist down several times.
As the head of House Lemnos, a top-tier Expert, he slammed his fist down, and the sound like thunderclaps echoed through the mansion, but no one was flustered.
The desk, sturdily crafted to withstand his frequent outbursts of rage, held up robustly, but the documents and ink atop it fell messily to the floor, and the butler, sweating profusely as he tidied up, made for a rather comical sight.
"Marquess... please do not worry so much. The Knights Commander was also an academy graduate, so she might have reasons to visit..."
"It's strange! A surprise inspection without a single word, and what's more, right when Edgar is preparing for his next duel!!"
The smiling face of the Linda of the past flickered in Edward Lemnos's mind.
Having finally become a Master, Linda had glanced down at Edward the moment she was appointed Commander of the Imperial Knights...
He still could not forget the expression Linda wore at that time.
That peculiar expression, eyes solemn but with only the corners of her lips slightly raised...
That expression, which seemed to mock him for failing to break through the Wall and remaining an Expert, made him grind his teeth every time he recalled it.
"I shall prepare to go out. Get ready!"
"Marquess, are you truly planning to go to the academy??"
"Yes, postpone the schedules! I will accept that provocation...!!"
——————————
Just like last time, but the scale had grown even larger.
Originally, it was a duel that had drawn the attention of students who had watched the previous duel, billed as Lemnos's revenge match.
On top of that, the Imperial Knights Commander herself declared she would spectate, drawing eyes even to the formal duel agreement.
It was an incredibly bothersome situation.
Edgar and I stood facing each other, coordinating the details of the duel.
Objectively speaking, I was looking up, and Edgar was looking down.
Having already been beaten soundly, Edgar's eyes held no hint of looking down on me, but the fact that he was physically looking down on me still pissed me off.
A crowd of people, including the Director and Professor Buckingham, had swarmed around us to spectate, and at the center stood Headmaster Morgan Frishu with his hands behind his back.
Since the scale had grown so immense, the Headmaster himself stepped forward as the officiant.
"Edgar Lemnos, what do you desire from this duel?"
"...I will prove that the sword of Lemnos is the greatest."
Edgar declared confidently.
If that was his reason, he should have just asked for a sparring match, but this guy had to make such a big deal out of it.
"Atlas Nemea, what do you desire from this duel?"
"Hey Lemnos, it's annoying how people gather every time we have a duel, so if I win this time, don't ever talk about having another duel again."
"...I accept."
The feeling of being a spectacle, with so many people's eyes on us, was still unpleasant.
They were dueling with one thing wagered each, but unusually, considering the scale of the event, both sides seemed to have little to lose even if they lost.
For Lemnos, winning only proved himself, and for me, winning only prevented Lemnos from annoyingly challenging me to more duels... Compared to the duel that had erupted just yesterday over a single woman, it was extremely modest.
"The duel format is one-on-one, the date is tomorrow at noon, the location is the Special Arena. The officiant is I, Headmaster Morgan Frishu... Then, by mutual agreement, I shall approve the duel."
As the duel was officially sanctioned, cheers erupted from the surroundings.
They seemed delighted by the return of an exciting duel.
It had been a long time since a 'duel' was held in the Special Arena rather than a regular circular arena.
The Special Arena was a venue that could create special environments, used only during exams and such.
"Seeing you apply for a rematch so quickly, I guess you've had a realization?"
"Yes... this time, I'll show you a lesson...!!"
I had no idea where his confidence came from, but Lemnos was in extremely high spirits.
From far away, I heard the voices of gamblers, inspired by Lemnos's momentum, declaring they would bet on Lemnos for real this time.
To not lose faith even after being beaten like that...
I thought it would be nice if the odds went against the favorite again this time.
——————————-
One of the Five Pillars, House Albion of Rain, was the house closest to House Lemnos.
Lemnos, which always charged as the vanguard whenever war broke out, and Albion, the prestigious magic family that supported them from the rear, had maintained long-standing friendly ties at the family level for ages.
Zeke Albion, the eldest son of Albion, and Edgar Lemnos had been friends since childhood.
Educated that it was Albion's duty to watch Lemnos's back when he stood on the battlefield, Zeke had assisted Edgar.
"Phrygia was right... things like duels only bring us losses. If it's simply a matter of victory or defeat, there's no need to settle it through a duel again."
Zeke still remembered the day Edgar lost the duel.
The moment when the so-strong Edgar was beaten one-sidedly in front of so many people,
the moment he collapsed in exhaustion, unable to even support his body,
he remembered every single moment of that nightmare.
To Zeke, Lemnos was invincible.
Edgar had never lost a duel against his peers, and Zeke had naturally thought Edgar would win that duel as well.
It had been an unquestionable truth and a matter of faith.
But once Edgar lost to that halfling, the faith in Zeke's heart was shaken.
'It is Albion's duty to watch Lemnos's back.'
He could understand why he had been educated that way.
Lemnos was only human too.
There was no such thing as invincible.
Therefore, he had to assist him so that he would not crumble.
Zeke did not want to see Edgar defeated.
He felt he would be unable to bear it if he saw Edgar, who he had always considered above himself, being mercilessly defeated and turned into a laughingstock by that halfling.
Only then did Zeke understand the meaning behind Phrygia's words.
At first, he had wondered why Phrygia would say such unpleasant things when Lemnos would obviously win, but—she had always been coldly calculating.
'What would you do about the damage if, by any chance, he loses?'
The pride of Lemnos, once broken, could be rebuilt by defeating the halfling again.
Assuming he won, it would be better to win in front of everyone...
But once Zeke's faith began to waver, he found himself thinking thoughts like: perhaps it would be better to do it where no one could see, like a sparring match instead of a duel, since Edgar could possibly lose again.
He knew that thought was extremely rude to Lemnos, who was burning with fighting spirit, but he could not help it.
It felt like if Lemnos broke, he himself would break too.
"It's actually better that the Empire's Greatest Sword is spectating. I will show her that the blazing sword of Lemnos is still strong."
"Everyone already knows Lemnos is strong, even without doing that."
At Zeke's repeated attempts to dissuade him, Edgar sighed.
It was an expression Zeke had never seen before.
Edgar Lemnos showed Zeke a look of disappointment.
"Saying the same things as Phrygia... Do you not believe in me either..."
Edgar, having said that, wore an expression of intense loneliness.
"...Right. You are a mage. You, who do not wield a sword, would not understand."
"...!"
"I underestimated Atlas back then. Don't worry, this time will be different. I will stake my everything... I will definitely win."
With those final words, Edgar left the bar.
Zeke Albion watched Edgar's retreating back, unable to move.
Edgar's eyes were burning.
It was a contest of pride, a declaration of resolve to achieve victory, burning with fighting spirit.
If Edgar won, there would be no problem at all.
If he won, that is.
If he lost one more time...
But even entertaining such thoughts made Zeke feel sorry for Edgar.
For the friend he should trust most to be worrying about him losing at a moment like this...
"...Edgar, you must not lose."
But he was human too.
He was not invincible.
Just believing in him was not enough; he had to help him achieve victory.
If Edgar just won, no one would be able to hold him accountable.
——————————
Liber and Amy were preparing to leave the hospital.
They had been fed plenty of nutritious meals, so their recovery was faster than expected.
The first thing they would see upon being discharged was my duel, and at this exciting news, Liber's eyes sparkled.
"Atlas, you're dueling Lemnos again?"
"Judging by his expression, he looked pretty confident. Guess he had some kind of realization."
"Beat the crap out of him again this time. Since you're teaching me, you have to do at least that much!"
When the topic of the duel came up, Liber wore an innocent, boyish expression.
In the bed next to Liber, who was all for taking down anyone, even one of the Five Pillars, Amy spoke while leaning on crutches, one leg still uncomfortable.
"Atlas... Getting entangled with the Five Pillars does you no good."
"Are you worried about me?"
"Yes..."
It was true that dealing with nobles like the Five Pillars brought trouble.
If you win, their faction hates you, so it's a loss; if you lose, it's a loss in a different way.
But we were already entangled, and even if it had been a slip of the tongue, I had no intention of backing down once I had accepted the duel.
"So, about that... I'm going to stay up all night tonight."
"Why?? The duel is tomorrow, you should get a good rest today so your condition is at its best!"
At the mention of staying up all night, Liber made an expression of disbelief.
If it were a normal duel... it would be right to just sleep well and get your body into good shape.
But this duel was not a normal duel.
I ruminated once more on the countless gazes that had been directed at me after the duel was approved.
This duel was not even in a regular circular arena; it would be held in the Special Arena.
The Special Arena was a place that simulated special situations...
It was not a place where you purely competed one-on-one in skill, but a place that introduced variables.
It was the latest type of arena, where monsters could appear inside and terrain could be altered by magic.
It seemed the Headmaster had judged that Lemnos would be no match in pure skill, so he planned to introduce variables to level the playing field.
I didn't care about that.
If we were going to compete purely on skill, we'd just grab a sword each and spar. A duel was about deciding the outcome, including such variables.
But still...
Were the things that appeared in the Special Arena truly completely random variables?
It was no ordinary duel; it was a duel between me and Lemnos.
The gamblers who lost money betting against the odds, Lemnos's followers, those bastards with cut ankles who held personal grudges against me... there were too many who would try to pull tricks.
No matter how much Russell said he was watching my back, a 'personal grudge' was something reason could not always stop.
It was clear that someone would definitely try to pull something.
To tamper with the environment of the Special Arena, one had to directly enter the control room located inside the arena.
Remote manipulation was impossible.
In other words, to pull a trick, they absolutely had to enter the arena.
Whining about it being cowardly after I had already been hit wasn't my style.
"Today, I'm going to fuck up every bastard who even comes near the Special Arena."
They just had to try lurking around. I would make sure every single one of them ended up in the hospital.