257 - - Art. 257. The Duel Is the Flower of the School

"Yes!　I am a plain, unremarkable, ordinary commoner!"

I was feeling the greatest reward to have received such an ordinary evaluation from an aristocrat who has an eye to recognize the value of people.

I'm glad I came to the Magic Academy!

"Oh, oh ...... well, I hope you know your place."

Perhaps my sobriety was felt by the other side, who decided that there was no need to agitate the situation any further and quickly put down their accusations.

My name is Bon Clan Husianandez. I am the heir to the prestigious Count Husianandes family. If you flatter me while you still can, I may hire you as a servant when you graduate from the academy."

"Oh?　What the hell, you moggah!

Hmm?　Did I just hear something strange?　Oh, well.

"Thank you!"

Maybe it's a social call, but since he invited me out of the goodness of his heart, I should be sure to thank him!

"Ha ha ha, a commoner should be."

It was a social call after all, and he left without another word.

He was a very nice person who left easily without making a sarcastic remark.

"d*mn, what's with him? Does he think my brother is a servant or something?

I turned around to see Mina, Norbu, and Megli pinning Gyro-kun down with their wings around his neck.

"What are you doing?"

"You idiot, he was about to lunge at a nobleman!"

"What?　Why are you doing this again?"

"Because!　He called my brother his servant!　You don't fit into that category!"

I see, Gyro-kun didn't like that.

"Well, well. And he was a pretty nice guy."

"""""Where did you get that impression from the conversation you just had?

Everyone looked surprised and amazed, but I thought highly of him.

He left easily after we finished greeting each other, even though most of the aristocrats are a lot of trouble and come at me even if I try to make things easy.

Compared to the aristocrats in my previous life and the two previous lives, he seemed to me to be a very rational aristocrat.

"But I was surprised. I never thought he would have the guts to lose Hussianandes like that."

Mr. Suden let out a sigh of relief.

"What?　A hardship?"

Did I ever have any difficulties?

I've heard that kind of thing a lot with aristocrats.

According to the conversation among nobles that my colleague, who was a low-ranking nobleman in his previous life, taught me, the conversation just now was "Hi, there. I'm sure you may be at a loss at your first time in this school, but if you have any trouble, you can ask me anything.

Noblemen have to use sarcastic-sounding words and high-handed tone when they talk to commoners.

"Kyu-kyuu!"

Huh?　Why do you look like you have no choice but to mooch off of me?

"Anyway, now you know you've got some troublesome people on your radar."

It was Mina who said this in a slightly annoyed tone.

We are a mid-career group, so we are very conspicuous. I'm sure that the nobles will continue to bother us in the future.

Mr. Megli agrees.

"Then, I wonder if we should take some countermeasures...?"

The actions of a malevolent nobleman are insidious.

Even in their previous lives, such harassments as pushing cursed items as a sign of closeness or recommending food with slow-acting poisons that are hard to detect were commonplace.

"""""Please don't make it a big deal!

I thought I had better take further measures, but I was immediately interrupted by everyone.

Oh, you mean that if we take obvious measures, we will give them an opportunity to take advantage of us.

That's right. I've already taken the minimum measures, and I can handle harassment without any problem.

"That's right. Then let's avoid conspicuous behavior so that we won't be stared at any more.

""""" what? """""

Why are you all looking at me with such surprised eyes?

◆

"Hey there, folks."

"Yes?"

We had just finished our afternoon classes and were heading home when a girl stood in front of us.

"My name is Moltena Cholointe. I am the proud daughter of the Marquise of Choroynt."

She appeared out of the blue and took my name unilaterally.

"Marquise?

What?　Wait a minute. We just said we'd keep a low profile, so why is there suddenly a marquise in the room?

"Oh, I knew it!

"That's my brother!　I won't let you down!"

"That was bound to happen."

No, wait a minute guys!　Why are you acting like I'm the cause of this when I didn't do anything!

"Yes, you did!　She doesn't necessarily want me!　I'm sure Mina will be the target today, right?　She's Nagibert's granddaughter, and she was the one who answered the teacher's question."

Yeah, that's right. After all, how could I have anything to do if I don't stand out in any way?

So I'll stand back and wait.

"What are you trying to do back there? I'm talking to you."

And yet the girl who called herself Moltena pointed at me and said.

What?　Why?

She looks down at me for a moment and then back up at me.

You will fight a duel with me.

"Duel?"

What?　A duel out of the blue?　Why?

"I saw your entrance examination. All of you were quite good as commoners, but most of you were mediocre in magic.

Mr. Moltena looks around at Gyro and the others as he says this.

"What?　If you're here to pick a fight, I'm willing to buy it for you!"

Mr. Gyro bites her when he thinks she is making fun of him, but Ms. Moltena ignores him and turns her attention to Ms. Mina.

"Your magic was brilliant," she said. You are the granddaughter of the former headmaster of the school.

"...... I'm afraid."

"But ......"

Mortena-san smiled at Mina-san, but suddenly she lifted her eyes and glared at me.

"What is that magic of yours?　I've never seen such magic!

What?　My magic?　You mean spatial magic?

"We, the Choronts, are a great family of magic. We have produced many excellent wizards, and we have a lot of materials on magic. But even in our family's library there is no mention of your magic!　Tell me!　What the hell is that magic?

"Well, it's a kind of spatial magic ......"

No, I understand. A commoner is a wizard. He would not easily teach his own magical skills, would he?

No, I have no problem teaching them.

"Therefore I challenge you to a duel!　If I win, you teach me your magic. Yes, of course you will benefit. It's impossible but if by some chance you win I'll give you a copy of our family's magic book. What do you say?　Not a bad deal, right?"

"Let's see, ......."

I don't know. I don't have a problem telling her, but she doesn't seem to be the type to listen.

And the fact that she's asking me to fight a duel shows that she has a lot of confidence in her own abilities.

If I tell her that I'll teach her even if she doesn't want to duel, she's likely to get angry and say I'm running away from the fight.

Well, considering that, I think it's best to go with their pace here.

Besides, I'm also curious about the abilities of the wizards studying at the newest school.

...... It's not because I'm curious about the contents of the magic books in the Marquis' collection, you know?　Really?

"Okay. I'll take that bet."

When I agree to a duel, Mistress Moltena smiles at me.

"Well, that's how it should be. Let's go to the training ground!

Thus, as soon as I arrived at the magic academy, I was challenged to a duel.

This sounds like one of those school stories I used to hear in my previous life!

Well, I'm a little nervous.

Liliela.

When I went outside, a gloomy overcast sky covered the whole area.

It was as if to suggest the catastrophe that was about to happen.

When I arrived at the training ground, I found a large number of students waiting for me.

"""""Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The students cheered when they saw us, or rather, Lex and the others.

"Is this ......?"

"Hmmm, as a member of the Marquise family, I have to provide entertainment for my students."

So this is the work of the young lady, huh?

She's trying to get us to shrink from the away air, isn't she?

"Heh, so that's the next victim of Miss Moltena."

As the cheers die down, the voices of the students surrounding us can be heard.

"What a pity that Miss Moltena, the magic-hunter, has her eye on him!"

Magic hunting?　What the hell does that mean?

"Miss Moltena is a collector of rare magic. Whenever she sees a magic she doesn't know, she wants it for herself and will challenge it to a duel.

I see. So you're a magic hunter.

"Normally it would be a big problem to repeatedly fight duels for the sake of magic, but unfortunately Miss Moltena is a member of the Marquise family, so the teachers can't just casually scold her."

"Above all, he himself is so talented that he is certain to become a court magician after graduating from the school. It's a pity that he's being targeted by Miss Moltena.

"I understand what's going on, but why did they bother to explain it to me when I didn't even ask?"

"Oh, that. The people who were just explaining are her cronies, and they are trying to advertise around her that her master is great, and at the same time, they are trying to lower Lex's fighting spirit by telling him that he is going to fight such a great person.

When I questioned this, Mina told me the reason.

I wondered why she had to explain it to me every time.

But that's what worries me.

Because ......

"I hope you're not going too far, Mr. Lex. ......"

Because, you know, no matter how good she is at this school, she is still a student.

On the other hand, Lex is capable of easily defeating not only S-ranked demons but even legendary demons in a real battle.

We were on edge at the sight of a battle between a baby and a dragon, let alone a child and an adult.

If he believed her when she told him how great she was ......

But despite our fears, the duel had begun.

"Let's start with a small test. Burn the spear of flame, pierce my foe with it, Flame Lance!

It was the young lady of the Choronto family who took the initiative.

She casts a spell without hesitation and releases the magic of the flaming spear ......, but I'm not sure how long it took for the magic to be activated.

Yes, that's normal, but for those of us who are accustomed to unspoken magic, we wonder if the enemy will approach while she's casting the spell.　I'm starting to worry about that now.

"Flame Lance!"

Sure enough, Mr. Lex cancels the magic of the Choroynt's daughter with the same magic without chanting.

And then Mr. Lex's magic attacks the Lady of the Choronts as it is.

"......Pierce my enemy, Flame Lance!"

But the Choroids must have known this, for they used the same magic to cancel out Lex's magic.

And this time, her magic turned on Lex.

"I see, so this is the rule.

I heard Mr. Lex muttering quietly.

What?　I have a bad feeling about this ......

"Flame Lance!"

Once again, Mr. Lex's magic cancels the magic of the Choroynt family's daughter and goes towards her.

"Flame Lance!　That's quite a feat!"

The same magical exchange continued between her and Mr. Lex.

"Hey, what did you mean when you said these rules, Lex?"

It's a comparison of techniques that wizards sometimes use in duels. They shoot magic at each other and cancel out the other's magic. They rally until the other fails to cancel the other's magic.

Mina explains the exchange between Lex and the others.

"Wow, I didn't know the rules were like that.

"It's rare to do it with the exact same magic. And by the way, since the magic is canceling each other without interruption, the power of the magic is gradually increasing even though it's the same magic. This is also quite unusual.

I see, so that is one of the highlights of this duel.

However, it seems that the other side is nearing its limit.

Mina's words made me look at the young lady of the Choroyint family, and sure enough, there was no room on her face, and sweat was floating on her forehead.

"Flame Arrow!

And then she canceled Mr. Lex's magic, but it seemed that her magic had run out of power and she did not turn to him.

"It didn't last, but what about this?"

Usually, when they realize that rallying is not going to get them anywhere, they will try to decide the match with their best magic.

"Well, ......, that's not so bad. Then it's time to get serious!　Dazzler! You shatter them! Burn them down!"

Just as Mina said, the chanting of a different spell begins.

"Oh?　What is this spell?"

Mina was the first to react.

Her cronies were the next to react.

"Oh, that's the Marquis de Choroynt's magic of fire!

Is that the legendary magic that won the war 120 years ago?

Well, you're as kind as ever!

I'm beginning to find you useful.

But I shouldn't have concentrated on my chat with Mina.

"Let go!　Flame Infe ......"

"I see, so this is how noblemen duel nowadays. Then it would be churlish if I didn't go along with it. Yes, let's respond with powerful and easy-to-understand magic!

We had failed to hear Rex's mutterings, but we realized that the situation had become dangerous when we felt the extraordinary magical power he radiated.

"What?

I turned around at the sudden surge of magical power, and a heat like that of midsummer filled the air around me.

Not only us, but even the students were upset, wondering what the hell was going on.

And so was the young lady of the Choroyint family.

"What!　O merciful hellfire that burns all men equally!　Give him equal peace!　Howl!　Flame Infe ......"

But she immediately returned her attention to the battle, and her priority was to activate her magic.

She instinctively sensed that she would be in trouble if she did not hurry.

It was the right decision.

Unless, of course, it was Lex.

If he had not challenged Mr. Lex to a fight in the first place.

As soon as Mr. Lex's hand was raised to the sky, light gushed out from the sky above.

Meteosunfall!

I looked up to the sky and saw the sun.

But not in the sky. It was right above us.

"To ......?"

No wonder someone's voice sounded like air escaping from their mouth.

Because we didn't know what had happened.

All we know is that there was a tremendous amount of heat and that it had a tremendous amount of magical power.

And that a direct hit from this thing will burn away any trace of it.

......

I heard something fall with a thud, and when I looked down, I saw the young lady of the Choroint family crumpling to the ground from her knees with a half-smile on her face, as if she were about to cry.

"Ha!

The sight of her brought me back to my senses, and I hurriedly intervene between the two of them.

"Stoop!　Stop stop stop!　Stop right there, Mr. Lex!

"Yes?"

"You!　You're going to give up!　You're not going to fight that thing!"

Shaking her by the shoulders, I point to the sun in the sky.

Then she shook herself and muttered one word in a small voice.

"Koshan shimashimasu ......".

"Victory!　The other player surrenders and Lex wins!　Pull back that magic quickly, Mr. Lex!

"Oh, yes."

Then the sun suddenly disappears, as if it had never been there in the first place.

However, as if to tell us that it was not an illusion at all, a huge hole opened up in the big cloud above the sky, through which the blue sky could be seen.

Thus, the duel came to an end without waiting for the conclusion, ...... but ......

"Oh, my lady. ......"

For some reason, the young lady clung to me, calling me her sister. ......

"Savior!"

Our savior!

Our Goddess!!!""""""""""

For some reason, the students who were watching the game were kneeling deeply and bowing to me. ......

"Why am I so conspicuous!"