LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 36
✦ Chapter 36 — Wager (2) ✦
「Translator — Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
There were two options the worm could choose from right now.
One was to apologize to me.
The other was to accept my duel challenge.
Of course, what I want is for him to accept my duel challenge, and…
And realistically speaking, the only option the worm could choose was to accept my duel challenge.
All the students in the cafeteria were looking at me and him.
What if the worm refused my duel challenge here and simply apologized?
It would look to other students like he was afraid of losing to me in a fight.
*Click, Click.*
The cafeteria, heavy with silence, was suddenly pierced by the sound of a camera shutter. Everyone in the cafeteria looked in the direction of the sound, and there stood Simon Nicholas, the President of the newspaper club, holding a camera in his hands.
“Oh my, did I interrupt something? Go ahead and finish what you were doing.”
Simon spoke brazenly, snapping pictures without the slightest concern for the stares directed his way. His personality was the complete opposite of Frederic Nicholas, the Special Class shaman, even though they were brothers.
“Simon!!”
The worm turned to Simon, glaring at him as if he wanted to kill him, and shouted — it was Simon, after all, who had posted on the bulletin board about the worm pouring his drink on Lucas.
“What? Are you going to come at me now?”
Simon wasn’t fazed at all by the worm’s shout.
The reason he wasn’t scared wasn’t because he was stronger than the worm.
Simon was ranked in the upper-middle tier of the third years, while the he ranked in the uppermost tier.
“Go ahead, try it.”
But the reason he was so confident despite that was because of the man standing next to him.
“Don’t put your hand on my shoulder.”
Standing next to Simon was Jorden, the strongest of the third years.
Simon and Jorden have been close friends since before they came to the academy.
“Tsk.”
The worm clicked his tongue, casting a glance at Jorden before turning his eyes back to me.
I wonder if he realizes how ridiculous he looks right now.
“Do you think I’m easy prey because Jorden beat me in the cafeteria before? Or perhaps you think you’re something special because you’re in the Special Class? You and I are on different lev-“
“Hah…”
A sigh escaped my lips as I listened to the worm rambling on and on.
‘So annoying.’
Damn. Why can’t he just take a hint and stop this nonsense?
Is it really that hard to simply accept?
With my mood already fouled, should I suggest we fight now instead of waiting three days?
I could potentially kill him during the duel, disguising it as an accident?
When emotions run high during a duel, such things can happen.
I could make it look like the worm tried to kill me first, then I could pretend to counterattack and kill him.
No. Perhaps change the stakes from expulsion to suicide for the loser?
That way I wouldn’t need to get my hands dirty.
Sneaking into his dormitory at night to kill him would work too…
“Phew…”
I need to get a grip.
I took a deep breath to calm myself.
I almost let my old personality surface.
‘I haven’t been able to relieve my stress lately.’
Using [Poker Face], I repressed my true nature as much as possible, while [Clown] helped me mask it; hiding my personality wasn’t something I did by choice. It was a compulsion dictated by my trait.
But no matter how much the trait suppressed and concealed my personality, my emotions didn’t vanish; they just accumulated endlessly, building and building.
When I failed to release those pent-up emotions, my old self inevitably surfaced.
And when that happened, it wasn’t something I could easily control.
Some might think it’s good for my true personality to emerge, but…
When it surfaces like this, I can barely control it.
I usually managed to release stress well, but it seems this worm has been causing me too much stress lately.
“So, honorable third-year senior, you’re saying you’re not afraid of my duel challenge and will accept it, even though I’m just a freshman?”
“Yes. Just like you said, the loser gets expelled from the academy. Since you’ll be the one getting expelled, you should start packing your things now.”
“Considering that I’ll be traveling during summer vacation, packing my bags in advance isn’t a bad idea.”
With those words, he left the cafeteria.
I tried to continue eating my lunch peacefully, but…
“You didn’t say anything about fighting with expulsion on the line.”
Lucas, who was talking to me from the side, prevented me from eating.
“I told you, didn’t I? I’ll take care of everything within a week.”
“Hah. I didn’t think you’d handle it this way.”
“Honestly, if both of them remain in the academy, they’ll just keep causing trouble. In a way, isn’t this the most logical and definitive solution?”
This time, it was Sepia who chimed in.
“So, since there’s no chance of conflict if one of you is gone… you challenged him to a duel with expulsion on the line? You could get expelled if you lose.”
“That’s not right, Sepia. There’s no chance of me losing.”
Clara then turned to me, her voice laced with concern.
“Your opponent is one of the top-ranked third-year students.”
“And why would that matter?”
“Haah.”
“Come now, everyone. Instead of worrying, why not just enjoy your meal?”
“”””Haah…””””
.
.
.
.
After finishing lunch, I was walking through the academy grounds with the Special Class students.
“Look over there.”
“That’s the guy in the mask, right? The one who challenged Rofri to a duel with expulsion on the line?”
“That’s right; there was a picture of him in the newspaper I saw earlier.”
Word had already spread in that short time, and all the students I passed whispered to each other, looking at me.
‘Newspaper…’
I walked to the bulletin board where the newspaper was posted, taking the special class students with me.
[Duel between an academy freshman and a top-ranked third-year student, with expulsion on the line.]
How did they manage to publish this so fast?
It hasn’t even been 30 minutes since I issued the duel challenge, yet there it was, plastered on the bulletin board for all to see.
I stared blankly at the headline.
“Do you understand the gravity of the situation now?”
Clara, who was next to me, spoke, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the newspaper.
“Clara.”
“What?”
“I think I don’t look good in pictures.”
“Die.”
Jeez. This was a really serious issue..
.
.
.
Lunch break ended, and the remaining classes followed suit.
During the classes, all eyes were on me as the students whispered amongst themselves. Naturally, the topic of conversation centered around whether I could defeat the worm.
And almost all of the students said that I would lose.
“Good work today, and make sure to be on time tomorrow,” Professor Elysia announced, concluding the class as she always did.
“Loki, stay behind.”
Except for telling me to stay behind.
“Yes, Professor!”
After all the other Special Class students left, it was just me and Professor Elysia remaining in the classroom.
“I heard the story. You’re having a duel with a third-year student, with expulsion on the line for the loser?”
“Yes, ma’am. It sort of ended up that way.”
“The opponent you will face, Lofrey, is one of the strongest among the third-year students. He has more combat experience than you, and his stamina far surpasses yours.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll lose, though.”
“One of your specialties, trickery, won’t be of much use against an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.”
At a glance, it might seem like Professor Elysia was convinced I’d lose. But I knew better – -this wasn’t a lack of faith. She wasn’t the type to dismiss someone so easily.
“Professor, he’s not exactly an overwhelmingly strong opponent, is he?”
Hearing my words, Professor Elysia grinned, her smile sharp and wolfish, and ruffled my hair roughly, as though rewarding my confidence.
“That’s right. There is no reason for you to lose. But if you do lose, you will die by my hand.”
“Looks like I have to win if I want to stay alive.”
.
.
.
I was lying in bed in my dorm room.
It wasn’t quite time to sleep yet, but I was exhausted, so I let my body sink into the mattress for some rest.
*Ding-ding! Ding-ding!*
As I lay there, the sound of the Communication Orb went off.
Someone was calling.
While I often spoke with Yerika every day, those calls usually came much later in the evening.
“Yerika, what’s the matter? You’re calling so early…”
[I heard it from my brother! Expulsion, seriously?!]
“Anyone who hears you would think I’ve already been expelled. I’m still attending the academy perfectly fine, thank you very much.”
[This is no time for jokes!]
“As I told you yesterday, Yerika, you don’t need to worry about this. I’m going to win no matter what.”
My voice brimmed with confidence, and as she heard it, she seemed to calm down, exhaling a short sigh.
[If you lose, I’ll appoint you as my personal knight immediately.]
I could tell she was pouting just by her voice.
“And what if I win?”
[Then I’ll appoint you as my knight after you graduate.]
Checkmate.
Either way, she had already made up her mind.
“But Yerika?”
[What.]
“Could it be you called me in such a hurry because you’re worried I might really get expelled?”
[I don’t know!]
Yerika, perhaps annoyed by my teasing, said loudly and hung up.
*Ding-ding! Ding-ding!*
Thirty seconds after Yerika hung up, my Communication Orb rang again.
Anyone would know that Yerika had called again.
As I picked up the call, I decided to tease her further.
“Yerika, you called again after such a short time; did you miss my voice that much?”
However, there was no response from the communicator.
After a brief silence, a voice finally came through — not Yerika’s, but a deep, commanding male voice.
[Oh? And what exactly does that mean?]
????????
“Y-Your Majesty?”
The person who called — it wasn’t Yerika, but the Emperor himself.
END of CHAPTER
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