episode_0130

“You refuse to come out?”

I deliberately continued to wiggle my fingers. As I wondered what to do if no one took the bait despite such blatant provocation, thankfully, someone finally fell for it.

“Take this!”

Lora threw a glove at me.

“What unspeakable rudeness. I can no longer tolerate this. No matter if you are Duke Grave, your attitude of disregarding the hard work of those striving to grow stronger here is absolutely unacceptable!”

“A glove? How quaint.”

“Don’t try to gloss over this! I, Lora Remilton, challenge your proxy, Luciella, to a duel!”

“Perfect. Since you threw the glove, I assume you’re prepared to participate? Luciella, how many can you handle?”

“There are about seven with potential. A few others are present, but only three are currently capable of fighting me. Beyond that, there’d be no meaningful contest.”

“Three will do?”

Luciella nodded.

“If you say so, then fine. Pick among them.”

After relaying the message to Luciella, I turned back to Lora.

“You don’t mind a three-on-one fight, do you? Not that it’s anything to be ashamed of.”

“Speaking like that only makes it seem you’re desperate to mock us.”

“Do I really seem that awful?”

“Given how excessively generous you’re being with a mere commoner, I wonder if there’s a reason you’re avoiding a one-on-one duel.”

There wasn’t. Luciella only mentioned three because that was the number she could handle at once—not because a one-on-one would be impossible.

In fact, losing one-on-one without even putting up a fight would be far more humiliating.

But out of respect for Lora’s courage, I forced an ambiguous expression.

Soon after, on one side of the cleared dueling space stood Luciella, wielding a borrowed sword from the 3rd Training Hall, while on the other stood three students, each armed with their own weapons.

“Here I come. Don’t blame me afterward.”

“Hmph, who are you to say that?!”

The student referee raised their hand high.

“Ready…”

Screech—

Dragging her blade along the ground, Luciella quietly settled into stance as the three opponents braced themselves.

“Begin!”

The moment the referee’s hand dropped, Luciella shot forth like a bullet.

“She’s fast?! Defensive—”

Before Lora could even finish speaking, it was already over.

“Please… help…”

Thud. Clatter.

Their weapons, never even given a chance to be used, clattered weakly to the ground.

“T-the match is over! The winner is… Luciella?”

Even the referee looked dazed, unsure of what had just happened. The victor herself merely sheathed her sword with an indifferent expression.

“Eric. Is this settled now?”

“That’s not for me to decide.”

I approached Lora’s group, who were still frozen in shock.

“Well? Will you admit it now?”

“Th-this is wrong. There must have been some trickery!”

“Denial won’t help you now.”

“Eek?!”

When I threw her earlier words back at her, Lora’s face flushed crimson.

Honestly, it was almost endearing how transparent she was.

“You know it too. These three were the best among you. The students of the 1st and 2nd Training Halls might be different, but those training in the 3rd Hall know each other well, don’t they?”

“Grr…!”

“If you’d prefer a one-on-one duel for an even more humiliating defeat, I don’t mind.”

“Eric! That’s too far. Lora merely lacks experience.”

“Stay out of this. I’m doing this for you. Besides, nothing’s more humiliating than the victor pretending they struggled.”

“……Understood.”

Luciella shot me an uneasy look but eventually lowered her head without another word.

“So, a rematch? But no more unilateral challenges.”

“Another duel… please.”

Lora bowed deeply, pleading.

“Good. That’s what I hoped to hear.”

One-on-one matches—Lora and the others against Luciella. Naturally, there was no upset. Luciella effortlessly claimed every victory.

“Haa… haa…”

“So? You should realize it now. You can’t beat her.”

“Ugh… Even so… I can’t back down here! If I lose, I’ll have failed those counting on me!”

Trembling but determined, Lora pointed her staff at Luciella.

“O-one more time, please!”

Brave words, but her condition was clearly at its limit.

Honestly, I had to admire her spirit. Unlike swordsmen, mages become useless after exhausting their mana, yet she still fought on against a pure swordsman like Luciella.

The other two had long since collapsed, dragged to the back of the hall.

Her persistence was sheer willpower and pride—nothing else.

If she fell here, it wouldn’t just be her defeat. It would symbolize the failure of all the nobles who had looked down on Luciella, forcing them to confront their own shame.

A proud girl like her would rather die than admit such humiliation.

Luciella glanced at me uneasily, as if asking if this was really okay.

I nodded slightly. I had no desire to escalate this into a pointless conflict between nobles and commoners.

“Last one. Prepare yourself.”

“I already know that!”

Lora barely steadied herself while Luciella stood relaxed. Yet everyone present already knew the outcome.

Thud.

Exactly as expected.

Luciella didn’t even bother deflecting Lora’s spell. She dashed past, striking Lora’s neck in one swift motion.

“Further duels are pointless. Consider this my loss if you wish.”

As Luciella carefully lowered the unconscious Lora, I patted her shoulder lightly.

“Resorting to cheating at the end means she was genuinely skilled.”

“Yes. I nearly lost, so I acted rashly. I must still lack discipline.”

“No, you did well. That wasn’t easy.”

“I’m used to it. Especially duels like these.”

“Anyway, no one else wants to fight, right? Her strength speaks for itself now.”

I snatched Luciella’s sword and raised it high, knight-style—a poor victory declaration, but it would do.

“Let’s go. Nothing left to see here.”

“Strange way to retrieve a sword.”

“Oh, come on. This was necessary for your sake.”

Leaving the frozen students of the 3rd Training Hall behind, we returned to the crumbling 7th Training Hall.

“Here, take it.”

I handed the sword back to Luciella smoothly.

“Thanks.”

“Train with that for now. If even that’s insufficient, let me know.”

I couldn’t afford much—Chris still owed me, and the newspaper’s budget was tight—but I could spare a good sword or two.

“Don’t overextend yourself for me. This blade alone is more than enough.”

“If you’re holding back to avoid burdening me, don’t. I’d prefer if you bothered me more.”

“What do you mean?”

“You carry your own sense of responsibility. I talked big about making you the Hero but ended up hardly helping.”

Luciella was essential to my plans.

“Yet here I was, fussing over others while barely advising you. Leaving you here with nothing but swinging your sword.”

“I don’t mind. It’s always been this way.”

Group assignments, Chris and Cecelia causing trouble, the relentless pressure from the student council, monitoring the ever-shifting future plot, meeting Elia…

While I raced around trying to fix everything, she remained here, ceaselessly training.

Not knowing when I’d return—just believing I would, patiently waiting.

“I was arrogant.”

Some part of me assumed she’d handle it alone.

In the original story, Luciella pulled the sacred sword, rallied the people, and faced the Demon King alone.

So I figured she could do the same this time—train, grow stronger, all by herself.

But the opposite was true.

Because I did nothing, she was rotting away.

Refusing to change, stubbornly clinging to her lone conviction.

That’s why I had to say it—

“Keep this up, and you’ll lose.”