Chapter 69
A great many problems had occurred in a very short span of time.
In order, we had been obstructed on the road to our destination, Diana had insulted me, and furthermore, Tilia Vanguard, who appeared to be the eldest daughter of the family, was now trying to exact compensation, claiming this was a matter of honor.
The price of that compensation was every horse we had and the life of one coachman.
It was easy to imagine how hard it would be on those left behind if we paid such a price in the middle of the road.
However, because of the word “duel” that Tilia had brought up, all the annoyance I had been feeling turned into joy.
A duel. What a splendid culture.
It struck directly at the very nature of humanity.
The one who fights and wins gains everything, and the one who loses loses everything.
Private retribution, forbidden because it had caused so much harm throughout the long history of violence.
It had begun as a simple accident, but once honor and whatnot were brought into it, the matter had grown utterly out of control.
But I liked this way better.
In the modern world, when an accident happens, there are all sorts of things to argue over and no small number of matters to pay attention to.
By comparison, the rule that the victor is justice had the advantage of being able to bundle up many problems and deal with them all at once.
In exchange, the loser receives a wound that can never be washed away.
“Fine.”
“Then……”
“Before that, there’s something I want to ask.”
I cut Tilia off.
“Something you want to ask?”
“I understand clearly enough what happens if we lose. But conversely, if you lose?
What exactly do you mean to do by way of apology?”
“Ha!”
Diana cut in with a snort.
“How pitiful. You don’t even know your own place……”
“……”
With a faint smile on her face, Tilia simply let Diana run her mouth.
“Sister Tilia is ranked fifth in Melbrit. She’s the pride of Vanguard, a knight granted the epithet ‘Crimson Flame’!
Though I suppose a mere adventurer who hasn’t even taken the entrance exam yet couldn’t possibly understand such lofty prestige.”
That was unexpected information.
She was a powerhouse counted among the top five, even among those outstanding cadets?
At the very least, it meant she was not an opponent I could face and defeat.
So this was the source of the younger sister’s boundless confidence.
She thought that no matter how recklessly she behaved, she would never be harmed by others because she had a powerful elder sister.
“Diana. Our opponent is not to be underestimated. You need to develop a better eye.”
Tilia gently rebuked her younger sister.
“Sister? Do you mean this man is that strong?”
“Not him, but his companions are quite strong. They’re no ordinary executor and elf.”
Accurate.
Tilia had pointed out the two strongest people in our group, and seemed to have no interest in either Karen or me.
“Dekal. I don’t mind if you put forward the strongest person on your side as a substitute.
If I lose, I’ll apologize formally. In the name of the Vanguard family.”
Apologize in the name of her family?
How was that any different from saying sorry earlier?
Perhaps noticing my dissatisfaction, Tilia added more.
“While you clean up the scene, we’ll help a little too. After that, we go our separate ways. How’s that?”
Wait, so originally, she’d been planning to make us clean it up ourselves?
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even speak.
She said something so absurd as if it were only natural, so I didn’t even have the strength to argue.
The apology we could extract by wagering our horses and the coachman’s neck was only that much?
“That’s not enough.”
“Not enough? What more am I supposed to do beyond apologizing in the name of my family?”
It had been a mistake to think Tilia could be reasoned with.
Wasn’t she making a face that said she genuinely had no idea what else she should do?
All this confirmed was that there was an unbridgeable gap in perception between me and the nobles of this world.
I’ll correct it for you.
I looked at the two of them and declared,
“I’ll accept the duel. However, since what you consider a heartfelt apology and the like is utterly useless, you’ll have to follow the rules I set.”
Snap.
I flicked my fingers and plunged the sisters Tilia and Diana into a trance.
“Tilia. If you lose the duel, you will actively comply with my demands.”
“Actively, act……”
“This stands above yourself and above the rules of your family. Because the world of contests is cold and absolute.”
“……”
There would be no meaning in directly controlling her and making her apologize.
In keeping with this situation, I intended to teach Diana what a true apology was.
No other suggestions were needed. Not yet.
“Oppa. Isti. What is this? Something’s wrong with those two.”
Karen asked in a trembling voice, as if frightened.
It was a situation she was experiencing for the first time. Of course she was scared.
“Ah. This?”
I prepared to clap my hands and said,
“Hypnosis.”
Clap.
Tilia and Diana, who had been still as though their souls had been taken from them for an instant, reacted to my clap and came to their senses.
“The rules you set? How selfish. I have no obligation to follow such things.”
The conversation continued as if nothing had happened in the meantime.
“Isti.”
At my call, Isti took one step forward as though she had been waiting for it.
“You can win, right?”
“I’m not confident I can hold back.”
Isti quietly burned with fighting spirit.
“She touched Darling. I might kill her.”
“It would be a bit troublesome to kill a student.”
Diana, who had been acting impudently, was overwhelmed by Isti’s presence and could not say a word.
It seemed she had now realized that the situation was not ordinary.
And that Isti was not bluffing.
“I thought your side would be the one to come forward. Your gaze has been so heated since earlier that I could hardly bear it. Though this is the first I’ve heard the name Isti……”
“Don’t forget my name. I might end up teaching you.”
Tilia’s gaze changed completely.
The hostility the two directed at each other swelled tautly, creating a suffocating tension.
What was about to happen now was no simple fistfight.
When no one dared to speak, Noah pushed between them as if to separate the two.
“This place is not suitable. There is an open space beside the road as well, so let us move the duel there.”
“Fine. I don’t want our carriage damaged either.”
Tilia readily accepted Noah’s proposal.
Noah took the lead first and headed to the open space beside the road.
It was a plain where short grass grew sparsely here and there; aside from a few stones, there was nothing else.
Tilia slung her two-handed sword over her shoulder, rotated her neck, loosened her wrists, and did squats as she warmed up.
Isti, on the other hand, stood still with her eyes closed.
Isti was preparing to use the wind spirits.
Naturally, we ended up watching the two face off from a short distance away, while the servants of the Vanguard family observed the situation from even farther back.
“Dekal.”
Tilia abruptly looked at me and spoke.
“Did you consult with the coachman? You’ll need to decide who’s going to offer up their neck.”
“Don’t worry. If the coachman runs away, I’ll offer up my own neck.”
“Impressive. I don’t dislike that kind of spirit.”
Of course, I had no intention of giving up my neck just because we lost.
Karen said uneasily,
“Oppa. What if, by some chance, Isti loses?”
“I am curious as well.”
Noah said.
“Lord Dekal. It would have been easy if you had placed a suggestion on her to suppress the opponent’s abilities, so why did you not do so?”
“Because I trust Isti.”
“I trust Isti too, but you never know what might happen in a duel. If Oppa were to die over something like this, I……”
She couldn’t help being anxious.
That was normal. It wasn’t as if I had some grand resolve that would let me remain calm in the face of a crisis where my head might go flying.
“……”
Noah stared intently at my face.
He was wearing a blindfold, but I could tell.
“Was it that obvious?”
“Yes. It was not entirely empty praise, but I felt it was not your true reason.”
“How do you know something like that?”
“I felt a sense of incongruity. Apart from your trust in Miss Isti, I believe you possess the ability to resolve this matter far more smoothly.”
“Until the talk of a duel came up, I was observing the situation for the time being.”
In the seemingly trivial conversation that had gone back and forth during that time, there had been several important clues.
First, the fact that Tilia was a top-ranking powerhouse at the Hero School.
I didn’t really know the status attached to things like epithets, but a ranking expressed in numbers was easy to understand. It meant she was the fifth strongest.
“You simply want to see it.”
Noah saw through my thoughts with astonishing precision.
“I came from another world. I know that you are strong, but I only know it in my head.
Meanwhile, I’m about to enter the Hero School, but I still don’t know where my own strength stands.
This is a good opportunity. It’s a spectacle one doesn’t get to see often.”
From my experiences so far, I think I’ve become fairly strong.
Among ordinary adventurers, that is. The rank of Gold supports that guess.
But what about those above that? Is it a level I can reach for? When I learned that combat skills were an important virtue in another world, I had thought this.
That I wanted to see it at least once.
Unfortunately, it was not something I could go on YouTube to watch, so this could be called a good opportunity that had conveniently come along.
“Miss Isti may be injured because of this. Are you all right with that?”
Noah’s tone did not seem to be reproaching me; it was polite.
It sounded like a question asked purely out of curiosity.
However, if I answered this question, Noah would learn my true feelings.
Isti was only someone I was toying with through hypnosis.
That I did not truly love her.
"Isti said herself that she would become Melbrit's teacher, didn't she? I don't think she'd lose to a student."
"……."
Noah's expression was unreadable.
I could not tell what she was thinking beneath that blindfold.
But through this exchange, she must have clearly understood what kind of person I was.
"Brother. I think they're about to start!"
Tilia drew her sword.
I had thought it unusual from the first time I saw it.
It was too long to wield with one hand, and too thin to strike with its weight.
It was still a blade, of course, but compared to the blunt one-handed sword Karen used, I felt it lacked a bit of stability.
Unless one used swordsmanship bordering on acrobatics, it would be impossible to handle that sword.
Holding the sword's hilt lightly with both hands and widening her stance, Tilia spoke to Isti, who was standing naturally.
"Draw your weapon. I'll wait that long, at least."
"……."
"Or are you the type who fights barehanded, unfitting as that may be?"
Even at Tilia's probing words, Isti remained still.
Isti's bow always appeared suddenly whenever she needed it.
That was why she did not normally carry a weapon or arrows.
There was no way her opponent could know that, so the strange standoff continued as it was.
"In an elven duel."
Isti finally opened her mouth.
"We yield the first move to the inferior party."
"……."
Tilia blinked as she thought about what that meant, then said, "Ahaha!"
She threw her head back and laughed refreshingly.
"I didn't know. To think there was such consideration in the world of elves."
"You may move first."
"Then I won't hold back."
Tilia's air changed.
I noticed it at once. Tilia had called upon a spirit.
A red spirit core was moving near her as if dancing. The presence of that spirit was by no means inferior compared to Isti's spirit.
Was it the spirit's influence? It was a little warm.
"Ugh. It's hot."
"It appears to be a fire spirit. I had heard the rumors about Crimson Flame, but I did not know she possessed spirit arts of this level."
The two of them seemed to feel the heat far more strongly than I did.
The next moment, Tilia's sword began to burn with fierce intensity. Just like her epithet, Crimson Flame, it was a scarlet blaze.
It was a sight that would make an ordinary person lose the will to fight just by looking at it.
It was what I had tried to do to Karen's sword in the dungeon, then stopped.
I could not tell if it was the same sort of magic as
"Here I come!"
Tilia kicked off the ground once. With just that, she moved lightly as if gliding over the ground, closing the distance to Isti in an instant.
It was astonishing movement. Without killing her speed, Tilia swung her sword as it was, and raging flames followed the trajectory of the blade, surging toward Isti.
Isti stepped back slightly to avoid the sword, and suppressed the flames with a wind spirit.
It was a calm, clean response.
Tilia immediately gripped her sword and launched another attack. Each time Tilia approached one step at a time and swung her sword, Isti retreated by exactly that much to evade the blade, while the fierce flames surging between them were unable to reach anywhere near Isti.
"Wow…! Brother. Have you ever seen spirit arts like that?"
Karen was watching the battle between the two before she knew it, her hands slick with sweat.
Thanks to Isti during our special training, we had learned the sense needed to see spirits.
Because of that, we could tell that the movements of the spirits were even more active than the physical exchange of offense and defense.
The rough flames spewed by Tilia's spirit were all being diverted by the delicate winds of the wind spirit Isti kept with her.
On the surface, it looked like a fight where Tilia was pressing her with her sword, but…….
"It looks more like they're competing in spirit arts. What do you think, Noah?"
"I agree. Their level of achievement in spirit arts is similar, but Miss Isti's application stands out. There is no waste."
"Their level of achievement is similar?"
To me, it looked like Isti was playing with her.
As I watched a little longer, the situation gradually began to change.
The flames were slowly penetrating Isti's curtain of wind.
Feeling the heat, Isti furrowed her brow slightly.
"This doesn't seem like the time to be acting relaxed, does it?"
Tilia grinned.
Suddenly, the flames flared out, and Tilia was swallowed by fire.
Had she disappeared? Tilia abruptly appeared behind Isti. Just before the burning sword could reach her, Isti raised a barrier to throw it off and leaped far back to widen the distance.
"Now…! Haaah!"
Tilia suddenly lowered her posture and swung her sword in a wide arc.
Even though there was no way it could reach.
In the direction Tilia swung her sword, flames surged up from the floor like a wave and swept over Isti in an instant.
"Isti!"
Karen cried out desperately.
It was that threatening an attack, but there was nothing left where the flames had swept past.
It was spatial leap. Isti abruptly appeared in a position advantageous to herself, and at the same time, Tilia threw herself aside to dodge the arrow flying toward her.
"……."
There was a bow in Isti's hand.
I had seen her leap, but when on earth had she shot? It was astonishing that Tilia had even reacted.
Even though Isti had been engulfed by the flames just before the leap, there was not the slightest scorch mark on her clothes or skin.
Then, as if playing an instrument, Isti lightly moved her empty right hand and drew out one, two, three translucent arrows as if by magic,
then fitted up to four between her fingers and set them on the bowstring.
The moment Tilia, who had thrown herself aside, regained her balance, the four arrows left Isti's bow all at once.