n

n

nMiriette gave the heroine one hateful look and she passed out.

nThankfully Zoemi was there to catch her.

n

"My lady...? My lady...!?

"

nHe cried and when there was no response he started trembling and his voice grew desperate.

n

"My lady!?

"

n

"Calm down boy! She has just passed out!

"

nKros, the elderly teacher who finally regained enough composure to join in, called to Zoemi to stop his panic.

n

"She's not...?

"

nZoemi looked at Kros with tearful eyes while protectively holding Miriette close to his body.

n

"Of course not! It's just mana depletion, haven't you heard of it by now? It's not lethal! Your master just needs a good rest – didn't you hear her say it?

"

nThe elderly light magician scoffed and pointed at the pitiful heroine clenching her hands close to her body while trembling.

nSeeing her like this, she really looked like a very scared small animal that had no idea what she did wrong to deserve getting hit.

n

"I-I see... Thank you, teacher Shuze – I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused.

"

nZoemi flinched and lowered his head, blushing from embarrassment, while taking all the blame for the incident upon himself without any hesitation.

n

"I will have to inform the principal about everything I saw here... though I doubt that the punishment you'll get will be anything worse than a few lessons about proper magic discipline. Good job holding your master back.

"

nThe old light magician shrugged his shoulders and declared before putting his hand on Zomei's shoulder and giving the black-haired boy a reassuring smile.

n

"Thank you, teacher Shuze!

"

nZoemi's face brightened up and he bowed to the old man – who also breathed out with relief that this whole mess was over without causing any damages to anything or anyone.

nIt looked like Kros wanted to leave, but he didn't – as a teacher, he had to make sure that nothing else will happen on the scene.

n

"My prince... if you may...

"

nThe black-haired attendant approached the gold-haired prince and - surprisingly enough - put the unconscious Miriette into his arm.

n

"Huh?!

"

nHoreo gasped, staring at the scarred attendant in disbelief.

n

"Zoemi...? D-don't you want to bring her back to her room? I thought that...

"

n

"Master, you can leave...

"

n

"...Mistress to us.

"

nHoreo said in an exasperated voice, clearly taken by surprise – and he instantly got approached by his two attendants who helped him with the unconscious girl.

n

"My prince, I trust you to take good care of her for a little bit.

"

n

"...?

"

nThe black-haired attendant looked at his master's face before raising his head and looking into Horeo's eyes.

n

"What are you going to do in the meantime...?

"

nThe first prince shook his head in confusion.

n

"...my prince, don't you know...?

"

nZoemi smirked and turned around.

n

"My father always told me to not back down from a challenge. And honestly, I feel the urge to break some sweat – and my master being unconscious is a perfect opportunity to do something really dumb...

"

nHe explained, glaring down at the back of the red-haired boy who was already leaving the scene followed by the disheartened heroine.

n

"SIR VICTUREO!

"

n

"!!!!

"

nZoemi's call made Grazio flinch and turn around in shock.

n

"Where are you going? I never refused your challenge!

"

nHe declared, raising his head with pride.

n

"...oh dear...

"

nKros Rul Shuze muttered and started massaging his forehead.

n|And that is why I should never drag behind... when will I learn...?|

nThe old light magician's problem was that the Aspakeony Academy did not outright ban the duels – formal duels were almost an everyday occurrence in the world of the nobility and hence an old tradition like that could not be missing from either the academic life or its curriculum.

nThe only difference was that in the Academy, the duels were simply called challenges.

nEvery student could challenge another one and as long as the other one agreed they would compete in an activity they agreed upon under the condition they agreed on – of course, it was only acceptable under the supervision of a teacher as secret challenges were very much frowned upon and severely punished if found out.

nUsually, the challenges were a friendly competition between close friends actually wanting to improve – otherwise the more influential students had it easy as no one dared to issue them a challenge because of the higher social status, and if they were the one challenging someone else, most times the other side would back off.

n...but that clearly wasn't the case at the moment...

nKros only hope was that neither the black-haired student nor the red-haired student would ask him to oversee their challenge, as he really didn't want to...

n

"Sir Victureo, you challenged me first – what is the competition you had in mind?

"

nThe black-boy asked in a surprisingly calm tone and for a split-second, the elderly teacher thought that if the red-haired boy will challenge him to a duel of magic, the black-haired one will be able to talk his way out of it using the argument about his mana being depleted after the magic examination.

n

"I've heard you have been practicing with a training sword every morning – I want to challenge you to a practice swordsmanship duel. No magic involved.

"

n

"...no magic...? Where did I hear that one before...?

"

n

"!!!!!!

"

nBut the short exchange between the two made it clear that this would not be the case...

nEspecially the black-haired boy looked deadly serious, touching the sprial burn mark on his face as he lowered his head looking furious.

n|There's still a chance for me to get away... young Perserios is far better prepared to watch over the magicless duel than...|

nKros turned around and started leaving already planning to teleport away, when...

n

"Teacher Shuze. Can I ask you to supervise us? The storage with the training equipment is right over there – please, we will not take long.

"

nThe black-haired boy turned to him and bowed his head.

n|Damn it... That old goat said that he would cut my pay if I refused to supervise another duel... why there must be so many witnesses here...|

nKros thought to himself bitterly.

n

"...teacher...?

"

nThe black-haired boy asked again.

n

"Ah, sorry, sorry – pardon this old man, boy – I was merely reminiscing my old days when I was still strong enough to duel... Of course, I agree to your request – lets us go...

"

n

"...you heard that?!

"

n

"...eh...?! Lord Grazio and the ugly attendant will duel, seriously?!

"

n

"...is that guy out of his mind? Lord Victureo is a son of a general!

"

n

"...he will get beat up so badly... Do you want to go watch it?

"

n

"...of course!

"

nThe old light magician didn't even blink and smiled in a jovial manner as if he was a simple old man and nodded – causing a whole new wave of excited whispers.

n