Chapter 244
A deathly silence fell over the ballroom.
The nobles couldn’t close their gaping mouths in shock.
Eyes bloodshot from alcohol and drugs, a filthy appearance as though he hadn’t bathed in days, and soaked in rain like a beggar, yet this man was supposedly the third prince of the royal family, Andre.
“Daaamn~ fate is so cruel, isn’t it?”
Andre slurred as he spoke, his words tumbling from a twisted tongue.
“Some people get chased out of Keyzen, lose their claim to the throne and become total nobodies.”
Andre’s lifeless eyes drifted toward Simon.
“While others get to be like this! Decked out in fancy clothes! Pretty ladies on both arms! Laughing and having the time of their lives! Huhuh! Kuhuh…!”
Puhahahahaha!
Self-mocking laughter echoed through the ballroom.
Every time his body swayed, rain dripped from him, soaking the red carpet.
“Daaamn~ how shameless! The bastard who ruined my life actually had the guts to crawl in here!”
“Brother!”
Princess Molly rushed forward with a look of panic.
“I told you not to come in here—!”
“Shut uuuup!”
Andre screamed manically, making even Princess Molly flinch and stop in her tracks.
“You think I’m still afraid of you?! I’ve got nothing left to lose! What do I have to fear in a life that’s already hit rock bottom?! Huh, huhuh! Hahahaha!”
Murmur murmur murmur.
The nobles began to whisper, sensing how unusual the situation was. After all, Andre was still a royal prince, and tonight’s ball was for the royal family. No one could directly oppose him right now.
Then Andre’s gaze locked directly onto Simon.
“……”
Simon also stood up in response.
“Simon.”
Loraine rose behind him and stood in his way.
“You don’t need to engage with someone who’s clearly not in his right mind.”
“Thanks for your concern. But this is something I have to face.”
Having gotten entangled with Andre back in Keyzen, this confrontation was, perhaps, inevitable.
Simon, who had stepped into the mud with his own two feet, suppressed a sigh and bowed according to proper etiquette.
“I greet Your Highness.”
Andre shook with laughter. His boots wheezed like deflating balloons with each step on the carpet.
“You shameless bastard! You shameless, goddamn bastard! This is all your fault! If only you had acted with common sense during the duel assessment, none of this would’ve happened!”
By ‘common sense’, Andre meant that when his pick, Malcolm, appeared wearing the Dark Knight armor, Simon should’ve recognized the royal family’s honor and forfeited the duel.
Simon raised his head.
“I simply did my best, as I vowed to do during the entrance ceremony.”
Flat and even-toned, Simon said what needed to be said.
“Using another Keyzen student’s weakness to treat them like a servant, intimidating students with Noble status, monopolizing club budgets for personal use—these were all actions committed by Your Highness.”
He was stating that Andre was simply facing the consequences of his own actions.
“Bullshit!”
Andre, his face flushed red from alcohol, jabbed a finger at Simon.
“You know why customs exist?! They’re traditions solidified from precedent! I’m the only one in the wrong? For exploiting club power?! For messing with the budget?! Everyone does it! The only fools are the ones who don’t!”
His voice grew louder and more forceful.
“So yeah, I did it, and yeah, I had shitty luck! If you’d just forfeited the duel the moment you saw our royal emblem—the R—then none of this would've happened! You're the one who broke the custom, and now everything’s messed up! What kind of lunatic beats the crap out of someone wearing the royal family's Dark Knight armor?!”
“Such customs…”
Simon closed his eyes.
“...are not my concern.”
Murmur murmur murmur.
His bold stance startled the surrounding nobles.
“And let me correct your word choice. It’s not a custom. It’s a malpractice.”
“You little…!”
Andre, enraged, lunged at Simon, but immediately the Dark Knights, the royal family's elite guards, seized his arms.
“Your Highness.”
“Let go of me!”
Andre struggled violently and shook them off.
“Fine! If you’re going to act all high and mighty and look down on me—!”
Andre began striding away—not toward Simon, but in a different direction.
“Then I’ll destroy you with that very custom!”
The crowd parted like the Red Sea as Andre advanced.
“Aah~ we’ve reached the worst-case scenario.”
Serne muttered.
Andre was heading toward the execution platform. He climbed up the platform adorned with vines and rang the bell atop it.
“I am Andre Dresden, heir to royal blood! Simon Follentia!”
He pointed at Simon.
“I challenge you to a duel!”
* * *
Whooooshhhhhh!
The rain fell harder than before.
In the wide courtyard before the banquet hall, guests gathered under umbrellas. At the center of the courtyard, two boys stood facing each other in the rain.
“Simon, it’s not too late to stop.”
Loraine was trying to talk Simon down. Her black hair was soaked through.
“No matter what he looks like now, he’s a seasoned second-year at Keyzen. This is a reckless fight.”
Serne nodded in agreement.
“I agree too. Going against a second-year isn’t right~”
For once, the two shared the same opinion.
There was even a saying that a single second-year at Keyzen was worth ten first-years. Having survived hellish competition and stress, second-years were unquestionably elite.
In essence, this was a fight between an adult and a child. That such a match was happening at all was absurd.
“Of course, it’ll be a handicap match.”
Andre grinned slyly.
As the one who issued the challenge, Andre also knew this match was ridiculous.
‘This is a duel for my redemption.’
He wanted a clean, honorable win.
Winning a duel, only to be remembered as a petty, bullying loser—it was intolerable.
“Name your terms. Should we fight using only black magic taught in first-year classes? How about an instant loss if you move from your spot? Maybe tie up one arm and one leg?”
So he planned to stack on the handicaps to make the duel appear somewhat fair, and thus, increase the prestige of his victory.
But Simon shook his head.
“I don’t need those kinds of handicaps.”
“Then.”
Just then, Loraine stepped forward.
Students were Keyzen’s assets, and Keyzen had an obligation to protect its students from external pressure.
“I’ll offer him one personal aid from myself.”
Andre scowled.
‘Of course those Keyzen bastards would pull this kind of crap.’
If he gave a handicap, it would look like the prince was showing mercy. But now, they were trying to boost Simon instead of leveling the field. It was irritating.
“Fine, that’s acceptable. But on one condition!”
Andre spread his arms wide.
“If Simon loses even with your help, you will kneel beneath my feet and bow your head! That’s the kind of resolve you have for stepping in, right?”
It was a taunt, completely empty, thrown out with no expectation of being accepted.
But—
“Yes.”
Loraine nodded calmly. Instead, it was Andre and the nobles watching who looked startled, and Simon as well.
“L-Lo-Loraine!”
“You just have to win, right?”
She spoke like it was no big deal. Simon scratched the side of his head.
“W-Well, yeah, but...”
“Then it’s fine.”
Andre let out a dark chuckle.
“But will just one helping hand be enough? This is a fight between a second-year and a first-yea—”
“Then I’ll join too~”
Serne jumped in like she’d been waiting, clinging tightly to Simon’s right arm.
“I’ll give Simon a helping hand too. In exchange, if he loses, how about the heir of the Ivory Tower kneeling before you? Sounds fair, right?”
“Serne!”
Simon couldn’t understand what on earth these two were thinking.
Hmph.
Andre licked his lips as he gave Serne and Loraine a sly, lecherous look.
If he won, it would be huge news. The black marks on those two monsters’ records would haunt them forever, and his name would be mentioned every time.
And he’d rise as a symbol of having humiliated both Keyzen and the Ivory Tower.
If that happened, every Anti-Keyzen faction within the Dark Alliance would turn their attention to him, support him.
They wouldn’t let him be sacrificed to political strife. Imagining this dramatic comeback, Andre nodded.
“Accepted!”
And thus, the duel between first-year Simon and former second-year Andre was officially established.
Simon would receive one aid each from Loraine and Serne, while Andre would fight at full strength.
They then held a short strategy session.
“I’ll give you this.”
Loraine handed Simon a dagger. Its blade glimmered with a deep, blood-red hue.
“It’s a dagger that absorbs any kind of shock in your place. I infused it with my Darkness. Each time it absorbs an impact, the red color will gradually fade. When it’s completely gone, it becomes an ordinary dagger again.”
Simon gripped the dagger and gave it a swing in the air. It was light, and the grip felt good in his hand.
“Thanks, Loraine.”
But before he could even finish thanking her, Serne suddenly jumped in from behind and hugged him tight!
A pleasant floral scent wafted from behind, and Simon’s body stiffened like a board.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Loraine, thinking it was some silly stunt, frowned hard.
“What do you mean~? I’m giving him my gift too, you know?”
With a triumphant smile, Serne leaned close to Simon’s ear and whispered softly.
“Remember when we had a joint class in the first semester? When I taught you Internal Darkness Divergence?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
“I’ll give you that effect now.”
A moment later, she pulled back. Simon felt like he was floating, his senses sharpened, his mind elevated.
It was a sort of makeshift Compello effect.
‘With this…’
Simon tightened his grip on Loraine’s dagger, heart pounding.
‘I don’t think I can afford to lose now.’
He still didn’t know what a second-year at Keyzen was truly capable of, so he couldn’t be overconfident, but he definitely felt his confidence building.
As Simon tested his newfound powers, preparations for the duel moved quickly.
The referee would be the former royal butler, who had once attended Keyzen.
The rules were the same as the Keyzen duel evaluations. Use of forbidden black magic or stepping out of the designated arena meant disqualification. Victory came by making the opponent surrender or rendering them unable to fight.
Soon, the prepared Simon and Andre stepped forward.
Andre smirked as he spoke.
“By the way! We should place a little wager of our own, don’t you think?”
“Go ahead.”
“If I win, how about you quit Keyzen? You ruined my life, so I should be allowed to ruin yours in return.”
Maybe it was because he had nothing left to lose, but Andre kept making increasingly extreme demands.
At the word ‘expulsion’, Loraine’s eyes flashed with killing intent. Meanwhile, Serne looked amused, arms folded, lips curled in interest.
“And if I win?”
“Name it.”
Simon tapped the small figure of Feer hanging from his chest.
Feer spoke to him telepathically, and Simon agreed.
“Among all the dungeons within the territory of the Dresden Kingdom,”
Simon said quietly so no one else could hear,
“I’d like exclusive clearance rights to one of my choosing.”
“......!”
Andre’s face twisted in disbelief.
That meant giving up any dungeon of Simon’s choosing. The value of a dungeon was astronomical.
“Do you even understand what you’re asking for?”
“If it’s too much, you can withdraw.”
Andre bristled.
While Simon seemed full of confidence, Andre believed this was a fight he absolutely couldn’t lose. His comeback was on the line.
Andre drew an R on his chest with his finger and declared,
“In the name of the royal family of Dresden, I accept Simon Follentia’s condition!”
He made the promise loud enough for all the attendees at the ball to hear. The two then turned and walked away from each other silently.
[Kuahaha! I didn’t think we’d be heading to that dungeon any time soon, but this turned out perfectly!]
Feer spoke into his mind.
The dungeon they were after was believed to be hiding a new Ancient Undead.
Access had been tightly restricted by the kingdom, so there was no way in—until now, with this legitimate route.
‘Of course, that’s if I win.’
The two widened the distance between them and faced off.
[There’s no going back now, boy! He’s not going to hold back either!]
‘Yeah.’
Eventually, he’d have to fight Magnus too. Second-years were a mountain he’d have to climb sooner or later.
Simon took his combat stance.
‘I will win this.’
The butler opened his mouth.
“Then, I hereby declare the duel between Prince Andre and Simon Follentia… begins now!”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters