A Bolt from the Blue
“Looks like you picked that one thinking they’d be clever. You’re making a huge mistake.”
“Hah. We’ll see about that. Feels like we’ve already secured the first win.”
“Just digging your own grave.”
“As if anyone would fall for such cheap psychological warfare.”
While Chad traded barbs with their leader, I slipped off my cloak and hung it neatly on a tree branch, then loosely braided my hair over my right shoulder.
A stray thought crossed my mind.
Did I really look that fragile? Enough that they’d single me out as a must-have member for the duel?
Humans really needed to drop the notion that beautiful women were automatically weak.
Guess it’s because I’m just too gorgeous.
……
Why are you so quiet?
Master…… you get drunk on your own power…… and on your own beauty…… Sometimes you seem completely intoxicated.
You little brat, I told you not to narrow your eyes like that. And even if you’re sugarcoating it, that still sounds like you’re saying I’m not in my right mind.
I grabbed Rai by the hair as he tried to flee and shook him vigorously. Meanwhile, the rest of our team had apparently settled on Ash as their first fighter.
It made sense—Ash was stronger than Chad.
If Ash went first, I might not even have to fight at all.
“About the order,” their leader announced, “we’ll send this friend out first. Mages are usually placed up front. It’s the standard approach, so I assume there are no objections?”
At the declaration, Ash’s expression turned grave and he walked straight over to me.
Which meant I was now forced into the first slot.
“Listen carefully, Jeanie.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know without you saying it. I’ll be careful.”
His face was so full of worry. He must have wanted to keep me out of the fight entirely.
Friends really were nice to have.
“……Be careful. And don’t kill them.”
“You mean on their side?”
“Obviously.”
“We’ll see.”
“This is just a common duel. It’s only over a single inn room……”
“Only? An inn room is incredibly important. My body already thinks it’s sleeping in a bed tonight. Do you have any idea how foul it feels to expect meat and get vegetables instead? I’m sleeping in that bed. I’ve already set my body to that expectation!”
“Killing someone just to sleep comfortably for one night isn’t right.”
Here comes the lecture.
I dug a finger into my ear and looked away. Rai yawned and stared in the same direction.
“Jeanie! Promise me. You’ll go easy on them.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“I’m trusting you.”
“Trust is free, but……”
After a bit of sarcasm, I had to endure another round of desperate pleading until my ears felt ready to crust over. Only after I hooked my pinky finger with his and swore I wouldn’t take the opponent’s life was I finally released.
I hadn’t planned on killing anyone anyway, but being told not to made me feel spiteful. What a rotten personality.
“What about the ring-out boundary?”
“We’ll set it over there.”
“Ten minutes per match should be fine, right?”
“Hmm…… The inn clerk said they’d be back within an hour, so that should work.”
“I have an hourglass.”
When I turned, Lox was already negotiating the rules with their leader.
“Shall we leave the refereeing to the spectators?”
“I once swore an oath of neutrality at the Temple of Heios, so I’ll serve as referee.”
“Good.”
The duel was proceeding smoothly even while I stood there blankly. I was, as usual, the most carefree person in this party.
I felt nothing.
Because there was nothing to feel.
“Then let us begin.”
How tedious.
The match was about to start, yet I felt no excitement whatsoever. Normally people’s hearts raced before a fight……
Couldn’t I just blast everyone outside the walls and be done with it?
A brilliant idea flashed through my mind, but Ash’s hawk-like gaze was fixed on me.
Ah, this damn popularity of mine.
“Before the duel, I will administer the oath.”
Lox produced a necklace bearing Heios’s emblem and gestured for the opposing mage and me to step forward.
I stood facing the unfamiliar mage with a few paces between us and lifted my chin. Spectators had already formed a circle around us.
The man looked to be in his early thirties and was rather handsome, though his sharp eyes and firm jaw gave him a temperamental air for a mage.
Already locked in a staring contest, we were trading silent provocations.
“A duel is a sacred act that honors one’s pride.”
After clearing his throat, Lox began reciting the oath in a solemn tone.
“You must approach your opponent with respect. Therefore, you must accept defeat gracefully and be all the more grateful for victory. Glory belongs to the righteous. Engrave this oath in your hearts and raise your weapons.”
Every duel featured a similar oath. The wording varied slightly, but the core remained unchanged. Since most duels were between swordsmen, they typically ended with the instruction to draw weapons—an irrelevant line for mages and Spirit Masters.
“My name is Bellama.”
“Jeanie.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Spirit Master. I thought they’d gone extinct since they’re so rare.”
Polite duelists sometimes shook hands beforehand, but that clearly wasn’t happening here. He was already trying to provoke me.
“Extinct? You know we have a longer history than you lot, right?”
“Is that so.”
“Countless ancient texts prove it. Spirit Masters existed before mages. Magic was learned from dragons, but spirit magic was learned from nature itself. Magic was begged from dragons, while spirit magic was a gift from nature. The nobility is different, wouldn’t you say?”
No point hiding it—mages and Spirit Masters didn’t get along. Mages tended to look down on Spirit Masters, citing their greater numbers and higher standing.
“Spirit Masters always console themselves that way. The last one I met said something similar.”
“Oh? What kind of Spirit Master?”
“An earth spirit, I think. The moment the duel started, they burrowed underground and stayed there until time ran out. First time I’ve seen a coward dig their own grave. Puhaha.”
Hmm. Should I kill him?
I think I promised someone I wouldn’t…… though the memory’s a bit fuzzy. Promises can be forgotten, can’t they?
“Want to shorten your casting time? Not like you’ll get to use it anyway. Mages look best cowering in a corner muttering incantations.”
“You’re quite arrogant for someone so young.”
“Is being old something to brag about?”
“……You little—!”
Come at me! I’ll send you off without pain! I was about to bare my teeth when an intense gaze made me glance at Ash.
Fine, fine. I won’t kill him. I’ll just half-kill him.
“I’ll count to three. Prepare yourselves.”
When the tension peaked, Lox raised one hand into the air.
Swordsmen would draw their blades at this moment. I had already decided whom to call. Since I was fighting as a Spirit Master, Rai was out. Which meant……
“Adore.”
Kahahahaha!
“I told you to make a more dignified entrance.”
Our spirits really did give off the vibe of summoning demons.
They took after someone—far too overflowing with self-esteem.
Adore’s excited laughter rang clearly in my ears, but to the spectators it was merely a glowing orb that pulsed larger and smaller while emitting light.
Ah, my ears hurt. I should’ve called Undine instead.
“What is that?”
“No idea.”
“Hey, what even is a spirit?”
“Aren’t they a type of mage?”
The spectators’ murmurs reached me clearly. They were all worked up at the prospect of a fight and had already started placing bets among themselves.
It seemed like a game of guessing who would be the last one standing, and it was obvious almost no one had bet on me. The safe bet was their burly leader.
“What is it? A fire spirit? I thought fire spirits looked like lizards……”
Even the cleverest mage wouldn’t recognize a spirit they’d never seen before.
“Not telling.”
“You’ve got a nasty temper!”
“No reason I should be nice to you.”
“I’ll break that arrogant nose of yours. Don’t be surprised by my magnificent magic! I am Bellama, the twenty-sixth disciple of the great Archmage Rometuraha!”
Since my main target was Robenin, I’d studied swordsmen extensively and could roughly gauge their level, but mages were an entirely different breed. Hard to measure.
Lox began the countdown with an uneasy look.
“Three, two……”
“One!”
The spectators joined in on the final count, their voices booming.
“I’ll show you something you could never hope to imitate!”
Bellama’s eyes widened as he raised a stamp set with a green gem and began chanting rapidly.
Judging by the mana swirling around him, the length and speed of his incantation, and his confident demeanor, he wasn’t weak.
Come to think of it, their party was fairly strong too. With four members and two unable to fight, the fact that the remaining two had crossed a monster- and bandit-infested forest meant they were no pushovers.
Well, not that it mattered.
I smiled faintly and simply pointed a finger at the mage.
He was still in the middle of chanting, of course.
“Divine Punishment.”
BOOM!
“Guh……!”
Waiting for an opponent to finish casting was as idiotic as waiting for a transformation sequence to end.
Ever seen lightning strike from a clear sky?
On a night like this, it was especially vivid. A bolt powerful enough to reach the top of the walls crashed down in an instant.
Bellama never completed his proud spell. His hair half-burnt, he collapsed backward.
He should’ve used a simpler spell that finished faster in a duel. Trying to show off and now he’s half-bald.
That’s what you get for underestimating me.
Phew! That was exhausting, going easy like that!
“B-Bellama?”
“Bellama!”
His companions rushed over to check on him. He was still breathing, at least.
He might not walk for a few days…… but they say lightning makes you smarter. Maybe he’d get that bonus effect if he was lucky.
Or not.
“Whoa…… That’s dirty……”
“……That’s too much.”
“Don’t people usually wait?”
The spectators whispered among themselves, then looked away whenever I glanced their way.
A shame for those hoping for an entertaining show, but I had a habit of ending things in one hit.
Besides, this body didn’t show mercy when tired!
Of course, it didn’t show mercy when refreshed either!
I blew on my fingertip and turned to their leader.
That iron sword of his would conduct electricity nicely, wouldn’t it?
“Well then. Next.”