Duel

After parting ways with Luna, I headed to the Fairy Bathhouse as promised.

Of course, it’s not a mixed-gender bath like a hot spring, so Aria wouldn’t know if I kept my promise.

Only after confirming with the bathhouse manager that I was a duel participant was I allowed inside.

I took off my clothes and went inside, and there were quite a few people soaking in the tubs.

I washed myself with a shower and headed straight for the tub.

“Ross, over here.”

Lakar, who had arrived earlier, gestured. I couldn’t help but let out an old man-like exclamation at the warm water mixed with potions.

“Heueu… Aigo, this is good.”

I didn’t just play around after the exam ended early. Knowing in advance that the Fairy Bathhouse would open, Lakar and I challenged ourselves with trials and pushed our bodies to the limit.

During the banquet, my arms and legs trembled, and my back ached from muscle soreness, but this was the way to maximize the effects of the Fairy Bathhouse.

Thanks to the potions, injuries were healed just by soaking in the tub. Moreover, thanks to a purifier created by a magic scholar belonging to the Imperial Family, impurities were filtered out, so you could even drink the water, but… I wasn’t about to do that.

I submerged myself deeply, up to my chin, in the bliss of feeling the fatigue that had been lingering in my body wash away in an instant.

I desperately wanted a jar-shaped banana milk, but unfortunately, it didn’t exist here.

“Ross. You came too.”

I slowly opened my eyes at Roel’s voice, which reached my ears as I was enjoying myself with my eyes closed.

I was reminded of the protagonist buff I had forgotten, and my gaze naturally went down to his hero-like size.

I hastily reached out to stop Roel, who was approaching me. It felt like a huge elephant was coming.

“Hwoi! Don’t come any closer!”

“What, what’s with that reaction… I’m a little disappointed?”

“I’m telling you to sit over there because it’s cramped.”

Even now, the comparison is significant, but if he came any closer, the inferiority complex remaining within me would explode.

Roel’s appearance, shining even with his hair casually swept back with water, made me angry and uncomfortable for no reason.

“Hello.”

“Hey, just speak comfortably. I’m your friend’s hyung-nim, why are you being so stiff?”

When Lakar greeted him stiffly, Roel replied with a sly voice and subtly approached me, causing me to narrow my brows.

“Why do I feel like you keep getting closer?”

“Hyung-nim came to give you advice about the duel~”

Eventually, Roel came next to me, glanced around, and casually placed his hand on my shoulder.

“I heard the rumors. To take first place with tactics using your abilities, as expected of my dongsaeng, I’m proud of you.”

I simply sighed at Roel’s appearance, who was happy as if it were his own accomplishment.

“You told me you were going to do something despicable and underhanded, but behind my back, you were planning this!”

“You can do something despicable and underhanded in the duel.”

When I replied crookedly to Roel, who seemed to have expected me to be despicable, Roel narrowed his brows and casually placed his hand on my head with a thud.

“Would it kill you to speak nicely to your hyung-nim?”

“What can I do if my personality is bad?”

“You don’t act like that with your girlfriend, do you?”

“If you don’t take your hand away, I’ll hit you.”

Perhaps noticing that I was serious, Roel subtly lowered his hand and chuckled.

“When I came here last year, I never dreamed that I would be able to come here with you.”

At Roel’s words, I closed my eyes silently and fell into thought.

When Roel first came here, the setting for Ross didn’t exist at all.

Ross was a disposable character brought in to increase the volume….

“I don’t know how glad I am that you entered the Academy.”

At Roel’s heartfelt voice, the quick-witted Lakar subtly got up.

“It’s time for me to get up. Talk comfortably.”

“Okay. Let’s talk later.”

As Lakar escaped from the tub as if running away, I also wanted to leave, but…

I had no choice but to continue soaking in the water, seeing Roel staring intently at me as if he had something to say.

Even though I tried to avoid him because I didn’t want to talk, I couldn’t stand the gaze that was silently watching me, and I finally opened my mouth.

“What do you want to say?”

“After entering the Academy… have you ever contacted your parents?”

“Haa….”

At Roel’s question, I unknowingly let out a deep sigh.

When I first possessed Ross, I met Ross’s parents.

Voices and eyes devoid of any affection.

The sight of them sending cold gazes while eating together and asking me not to cause trouble for hyung-nim.

I knew they were Ross’s biological parents, but frankly, I found them uncomfortable.

They were parents who treated Roel differently even though he was the same child and turned a blind eye even though they knew Ross was having a hard time.

I wasn’t such a pushover like Ross that I would bother with people who looked down on me.

“Mom worries so much. When I send letters home, I write about you too, and Mom is very curious. She wonders if you’re doing well in your studies, how your school life is… why you don’t send even one letter….”

“Aren’t they worried that I might cause trouble for hyung-nim?”

A sarcastic voice flowed out from within me. It was a word that came out without going through my brain due to the surging emotions.

“Ross….”

I was annoyed by Roel’s gaze at me. He looked at me with a gaze full of guilt, as if my relationship with my parents was his fault.

I found it unpleasant and irritating. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but I was annoyed by the way he acted as if he were a criminal.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

At the aggressive voice, the gazes of other people in the tub subtly reached me.

“Ross. Still, they’re family. You could at least send a letter home to tell them not to worry-“

“Why would I?”

I cut off Roel’s words and asked in a cold voice. Before the flustered Roel could answer, I added.

“If they wanted to contact me… they wouldn’t just send letters to hyung-nim, they would send letters to me too.”

Perhaps speechless at the cold-blooded remark, Roel scratched his forehead with his mouth shut.

“Okay. Let’s talk about this later. Tomorrow is the duel, and I brought up unnecessary things. Do you have any questions about the duel?”

I sighed at Roel, who was giving an awkward smile.

“No. Just leave me alone.”

As I answered with an annoyed voice, Roel nodded.

“Okay…. Anyway, I’ll go cheer you on tomorrow. I hope you win.”

I watched Roel leave with a sorry face, then sighed and pressed my eyes with the back of my hand.

“Shibal.”

Like Ellie, do I have resentment and antipathy towards my parents remaining within me?

My head started to ache from the inferiority complex that had been weighing down on me for a long time.

***

The next day. I could feel that the ‘Duel’ had begun with the Academy filled with spectators.

I had breakfast with Lakar and Aria, who were also participating in the duel, and headed to the arena.

It was a structure where you could watch the fight on the circular platform from the stands surrounding the arena like a colosseum.

Thanks to the space expansion magic, the small building was the size of a giant soccer field.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, most people were holding food and drinks thanks to the shops selling all kinds of food.

When we arrived at the waiting room, we immediately checked the match schedule. I was in the second match of the morning.

Today, the round of 16 and round of 8 will be held in the morning and afternoon.

Fortunately, Aria or Lakar were not in my group. Aria and Lakar would have to reach the semi-finals to meet.

2#. Ross (Combat Department) VS Famian (Magic Engineering Department)

It was the first time I had heard the name, but I didn’t feel particularly nervous, remembering that there were no outstanding figures in the first-year Magic Engineering Department.

“There are so many people outside!”

Aria, who, like me, didn’t seem nervous at all, looked out the window with a bright voice.

As Aria said, the stands of the arena were already mostly full, even though it was 30 minutes before the first match started.

“I heard that 80,000 people entered the Academy today?”

A sudden tension ran through the noisy waiting room at someone’s words.

80,000 visitors alone. Considering the students who are not participating in the duel, it was natural to feel nervous.

“I won’t lose this time.”

While I was stretching and warming up, a stranger suddenly spoke to me.

I thought I had seen him somewhere before, and after a moment of rummaging through my memories, I remembered that he was from the same Combat Department.

“Ah. 3rd place?”

“Not 3rd place, it’s Navier!”

Because he suddenly shouted, the gazes of those around us were focused on us.

Feeling embarrassed, I shrugged my shoulders while looking at the match schedule as his snow-white face turned red.

“You’ll have to come to the finals to meet me….”

Navier was in Group B, which included Aria and Lakar. And in Group B was Ellie, the future Archmage and my childhood friend.

Moreover, Navier’s round of 16 opponent was Ellie.

“Good luck….”

I subtly looked around the waiting room at Navier’s appearance, pouting his lips and returning to his seat.

Ellie hadn’t arrived yet…. I couldn’t see her.

I hadn’t talked to Ellie for a long time after that incident.

I hadn’t even run into her by chance. I had mostly avoided meeting Ellie.

I was afraid that my love for Luna would not overcome my desire for Ellie, so I acted like a coward.

I was anxiously looking at the door of the waiting room, wondering if Ellie would appear, when the door opened and someone came in.

Unfortunately, that person was not Ellie.

It was a faculty member running the competition.

“We will prepare for the first match. Students Lucia and Rose, please prepare for the match. The next participants, Ross and Famian, please wait on the bench next to the arena.”

As I followed the faculty member to the arena, I heard Aria’s support from behind.

“Ross, fighting! See you in the finals!!!”

As I followed the faculty member into the arena, I felt the gazes of countless spectators looking down at the arena.

“Student Famian, please wait on this bench. Student Ross, please wait on the opposite bench.”

I nodded at the faculty member’s words and headed to the opposite bench.

The arena was filled with heat and excitement even before the match started.

Before the match started, Nelson, who appeared in the arena, gave a brief greeting and announced the start of the ‘Duel’. The crowd’s cheers filled the arena.

A transparent barrier surrounded the arena to prevent harm to the audience, and as the participants wearing shock-absorbing artifacts on their chests appeared on the arena with nervous expressions, the crowd’s cheers echoed once again.

―The first match! Both participants are classmates from the Magic Engineering Department. It’s truly sad that they’re competing against each other!

The amplified words of the announcer echoed through the arena through magic.

As I sat on the bench and looked at the arena, I suddenly turned my gaze towards the audience to find Luna.

With so many people, it seemed impossible to find Luna here.

Starting with the announcer’s countdown, the audience shouted out the numbers.

―Three!

I looked at the nearby spectators with a hopeful heart, but I still couldn’t find Luna.

―Two!

Just as I was about to give up my disappointment and turn my head to focus on the match, my gaze was captured by someone.

―One!

A beautiful appearance that was indistinguishable between male and female. The gray eyes looking at the arena seemed to contain no emotion.

I couldn’t take my eyes off it as it slowly turned its gaze to me, sensing my gaze.

―Start!

Just before meeting the gray eyes.

Someone’s voice echoed in my head as if warning me.

[Don’t look. Lily.]