Chapter 19

The Bildarz Academy has several spaces called training grounds, but not all of them are open to everyone.

This time, Zeke guided Tweight to the training ground for the duel, which was only available to the Hero Department students. Compared to the training grounds that were available for the Regular Department students, it was generally larger. There was also a kind of armory in the training ground where Hero Department students could rent a weapon. Compared to the regular course, they were treated with much more care and attention. It was no wonder they were growing stronger.

It was inevitable that the Hero Department would be given preferential treatment when it came to training grounds. After all, they are the fierce students who have passed the high-stakes entrance examinations and were hoping to become adventurers or in positions that required practical skills… at least on the surface. From what I saw two days ago, Zeke’s ability was not low.

I casually looked around. It seemed that word of the duel had already spread, and many students had gathered as spectators.

“Should I lose on purpose?”

I leaked a thought out in a small voice. The duel started because I disgraced Zeke. If I won here, I would be disgracing Zeke once again, and if that happened Zeke probably wouldn’t take it lying down. Next time, he would do whatever he could to harass me.

“No, you can’t do that.”

Elysia, who seemed to have heard me muttering, warned me.

“You don’t want to pretend you can’t do what you can, right?”

“…Damn it. I guess that was too rash of me.“

“You’ve dug your own grave. Now you have no choice but to reveal your hand,” Elysia said happily.

“Maybe that’s what you wanted all along?”

“I don’t know, but it’s true that I’d like to get to know you.”

He cursed inwardly, thinking that he had been spotted by a troublesome person.

Ideally, I didn’t want to aggravate Zeke’s nerves any further. The quickest way to do that was to deliberately lose. But when I thought about it calmly… if I did that, not only Zeke but the other students of the Heroic Department might be provoked. My defeat could be the decisive factor in the gap between the Hero and the Regular departments. I didn’t feel good about that.

“Are you ready?” Zeke asked with a smirk on his face as he entered the training ground. In his hand, he was holding something stick-like wrapped in a bag.

What the hell was that?

Since it’s a duel, it was most likely a weapon, but if that was the case, why did you bother to wrap it in a cloth and hide it? Is it because you don’t want me to see it now?

“…Oh”

I nodded, observing something wrapped in a bag. Then Zeke made an arc with his lips.

The duel would continue until one or the other gave up or became incapacitated. Elysia was to be the referee. Surprisingly Zeke quietly approved this. Apparently Zeke was planning to beat me head-on.

“Both sides, take a stance,” Elysia said.

I was barehanded, but Zeke had his hand on the mysterious package.

“Begin!”

As soon as Elysia announced the start of the duel, Zeke opened his cloth bag. What appeared from inside was a silver magic wand.

“Erdekaiser!?”

Elysia was astonished, but most of the audience just stared not knowing what it was. Zeke smiled at me as I kept my distance.

“You, a regular student, don’t know this. This is a magic staff called 『Erdekaiser』. It was officially used by the Royal Army at the end of the Fourth War of Heroes and Demons, and is a military magic tool!”

When Zeke held up his staff, a light lit up at the tip. The light was charged with a buzzing sound and expanded over time.

I see. So the reason you were absent from school yesterday was to prepare that thing.

As soon as I understood what was going on, I couldn’t help but laugh. Zeke was mistaken about one thing. I know that staff. I’ve been participating in the war. I know most of the weapons that were used in the war.

“Take that!”

Zeke unleashed the long-range fire magic《Thunder Spear》. A spear of lightning was fired from the tip of the staff. It was C-ranked magic that can only be used by those with the proper training. Not only does it have a very powerful blow, but it is also very fast. It was difficult to avoid it head-on. However if you anticipated the magic to be released, you could avoid it to some extent. Spear magic has a linear trajectory. You can read the line of fire by the direction of the staff.

I avoided the《Thunder Spear》and approached Zeke. I didn’t want to use《Magic Bullet》, which is one of my favorite magics, as much as possible. It has too much killing power. Two days ago I had to use it as an emergency, but I still think it should not be used against students.

“Ha! It’s sweet, regular student!!”

Zeke deployed multiple 《Thunderballs》 around him. I activated my《Tough Body Rage》and quickly jumped away from the mass of lightning that radiated out.

“Damn, you’re quick.” Zeke clicked his tongue.

“Did you miss?”

“What do you mean?”

“You thought you could easily win against me, so you asked me to duel you.”

Zeke kept his mouth shut as if he was right about that. He immediately lifted the corner of his mouth and bellowed…

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ll kill the other guys. You’re just the first.”

“…kill, huh. That’s a very disturbing remark.”

“There are always accidents in duels. You’re going to die here. The same goes for the other guys. Especially… that cheeky bitch, I’ll never forgive her.” Zeke said, glaring at Elysia.

“Don’t worry, Elysia will be treated with more respect than you. You can’t just kill her, she looks too good for that. I’m going to take my time slowly… then I am going to kill her.”

“You lowlife.”

“Huh, you ignorant man. It’s called privilege.”

I thought it was a joke – I hoped it was a joke. But Zeke was serious and I couldn’t overlook it.

The reason we risked our lives to fight the Demon King was for who? This kind of guy?

Absolutely not. That was the only thing we must not admit. I remembered my friends who had perished on the battlefield. I, who survived in their place, must never admit that this kind of man exists.

“It’s time to put an end to this charade.”

When Zeke raised his staff, the《Thunder Spear》was deployed. The magic gradually expanded and became almost three times larger than before. It was as if a huge thunderbolt was hovering right in front of me. The electric current that gushed out burned the floor and walls of the training ground. The spectators squinted their eyes at the glare.

“Ha-ha-ha! Look, this is the power of the『Erdekaiser』!! This staff allows for multiple activations of magic! You can’t even use D-rank magic, so you don’t stand a chance!!”

Multiple activations of magic is an advanced technique. Normally, it is not something that can be performed by a student, however, the『Erdekaiser』is equipped with a function to assist in this. Of course, I knew this, and I instantly took countermeasures.

《Magic Bullet》. I could go after Zeke himself, but I’ve changed my mind. This man should be dealt with once and for all. I threw a condensed mass of magic power into Zeke’s Erdekaiser.

“What!?”

Perhaps Zeke was unaware of this, but when Erdekaiser performs multiple activations of magic, some mechanisms of the staff are exposed due to heat discharge. If it receives an impact, the staff will naturally be damaged. The Erdekaiser was pierced by《Magic Bullet》damaging it and causing its power to run wild. The《Thunder Spear》deployed by Zeke distorted and burst with a roar.

“Ugh―― !?”

In the midst of the violent explosion, Zeke let out a scream. Relying on his voice, I went around behind him.

“Don’t move.”

I told him as I held a knife I created with《Materialization》against Zeke’s neck. As the dust filled his vision, Zeke moaned.

“You… think you can get away just like that if you do something like this!?”

“If you die in this situation, no one will suspect me, because you would have been killed by a magic tool gone haywire.”

“What!?”

As expected of a nobleman, he seemed to have a quick mind. The outburst of magic tools that had just occurred had caused an explosion of a scale that could have killed people. In addition, there was so much dust in the training ground that it filled the entire field of vision so no one was watching. In this situation, you could kill someone without any risk. Zeke… was now aware of that fact.

“Accidents happen in dueling, you said so yourself. I happen to know a thing or two about accidental death.”

After all, camouflaging a murder as an accidental death is one of the institution’s specialties. It was no problem for me to make it look as if Zeke had died in the explosion. Already Zeke had lost his voice and his body was shaking with fear. He seemed to have understood the situation correctly.

“Our requests are simple. Stay out of our way.”

Zeke was silent, but I continued.

“Don’t take part in the discrimination of the Regular Department again. Tell that to your cronies. That’s right – why don’t you take a lesson from Elysia, who is also a hero. She may be a hero, but she doesn’t look down on the Regular Department.”

“Oh, such a woman…”

Before Zeke finished his words, I scraped off his ear with my knife.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaa!?”

“Don’t say anything you don’t have to. The only word you’re allowed to say is ‘yes’.”

He has another ear, so it was not like he couldn’t hear me. The torture manual had been drilled into me by the institution, but it seemed that I did not need to use it. Zeke seemed to have lost all sense of defiance after the exchange.

“I’ll tell you again what I want. If you want to continue to live with your body intact, answer carefully.”

◆

The duel was interrupted by a sudden explosion. As soon as the dust that had swirled around the training grounds cleared, Zeke and I were rescued. Right when the explosion occurred, Elysia yelled to the students in the gallery, “Call the teacher!” Just then, Sylphia-sensei rushed over in a panic.

The training ground was severely damaged and the situation was disastrous, but fortunately, only a few people were injured. The gallery and the referee, Elysia, were unharmed. I only had a few scratches. But unfortunately for Zeke, when the explosion occurred, he was hit by a flying floor fragment and had his right ear blown off… The treatment was to be done immediately.

“Zeke!”

“Are you okay!?”

Two of his cronies rushed to Zeke’s side. Zeke did not look at them and said in a trembling voice…

“… Don’t mess with those guys anymore.”

The two cronies were stunned by Zeke’s words. The current Zeke did not have the arrogant behavior he used to have. Seeing this, Elysia looked at him suspiciously.

“Tweight… what did you do to Zeke?” Elysia, who had good intuition, asked me.

To which I quickly answered without changing my expression. “I just threatened him a little harder.”