Chapter 41: Townsperson A Faces the Duel

I caught an academy carriage back to the dorms, where I retrieved a custom-made automatic handgun I’d prepared specifically for today and tucked it into my coat. After donning my full set of adventurer's gear and grabbing a camouflage dagger, I headed back to the royal castle and stepped onto the training grounds.

A massive crowd had already gathered, mostly students and guests from the party, all illuminated by the brilliant glow of the moon overhead.

"Allen!"

"Allen-kun."

"Allen-san."

Anastasia, Margaret, and Isabella called out to me, their voices thick with worry.

In the original game, Anastasia would have been completely alone at this point, but Margaret and Isabella had stuck by her side.

I’m glad.

Seeing that she wasn't isolated, the thought slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"What do you mean 'glad,' you fool?"

"Ah, nothing. I just thought it was nice to see Lady Anastasia is so cherished by her friends."

"Wh-?!"

That made three times today I’d caught her off guard. This time, however, her face turned bright red. Margaret and Isabella watched her with knowing smiles.

"Well then, Lady Anastasia. I’ll go win this for you."

"A-ah. And Allen... that mediator is from a faction hostile to House Ramslett. Keep your guard up."

Just as I thought.

I already knew his tricks from the game, so it wasn't a problem.

"Understood. Thank you for the warning. But don't worry—I have no intention of showing them any mercy."

With that, I marched toward the center of the training grounds.

The five "capture targets," including the Crown Prince, were already lined up alongside Amy and the mediator.

The Prince and his lackeys were clearly underestimating me; none of them were wearing armor, and the weapons they held were likely borrowed. They’d probably just grabbed some spares from the Knight Order on short notice.

"I’ll praise you for not running away. But you realize you have no hope of winning, don't you? If you back down now, I might still be persuaded to overlook—"

The Crown Prince started spouting his rhetoric, but I’d already switched into "rough adventurer" mode.

To ensure my victory was absolute, I needed them to lose their cool. That was why I’d spent so much effort provoking them earlier.

"Ugh, shut up already! You know what they say: the weaker the dog, the louder the bark. Just hurry up and come at me. I’ll beat the lot of you to a pulp at once. Or are you trying to talk me out of it because you're scared? Your... High... Ness?"

"You bastard! It’s too late for regrets!"

The Crown Prince took the bait, flying into a rage with pathetic ease. The other targets looked ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

Behind them, Amy stood with her hands clasped in front of her as if in prayer. When our eyes met, I gave her a sharp, mocking smirk.

She clearly caught it; her face flushed red with instant fury.

The declaration of war was over. Time to get to work.

Today, in this very place, I was going to destroy the Scenario!

---

I backed away from the Prince’s group and readied my dagger.

"We shall now begin the duel between Anastasia Kleiner von Ramslett and Amy von Braises!" the judge announced in a booming voice.

"Lady Anastasia's proxy is Allen. Lady Amy's proxies are Karlheinz Bartille von Sentlaren, Claude Justine de Westadale, Oscar von Wimlett, Marcus von Beinz, and Leonard von Jukes—five in total. Per the request of Lady Anastasia’s side, this will be an irregular five-on-one match. All actions short of killing are permitted! Begin!"

The moment the mediator gave the signal, I deployed a smoke screen. Using 【Stealth】 to vanish, I moved in close to the huddle of five and started handing out the special rounds I’d developed for this day at point-blank range.

The automatic handgun was equipped with a suppressor, and since I was using Wind Magic to propel the rounds instead of gunpowder, the sound was nothing like a traditional firearm. Amy, being a former Japanese citizen, wouldn't even dream that she was being shot at.

The gun was loaded with custom rubber bullets; unless I hit a vital spot by sheer bad luck, they weren't going to die.

Though I couldn't promise they wouldn't walk away with a few broken bones.

As the smoke cleared, Leonard and Claude—who had been turned into pincushions by the rubber rounds—collapsed, foaming at the mouth. I’d made sure to be extra thorough with them since they specialized in close-quarters combat. It was a natural result.

"Gu... ugh... What... what was that...?"

Marcus, Oscar, and the Crown Prince were doubled over in pain, though they hadn't quite gone down yet.

I reached into my coat and used Transmutation to create a water balloon filled with a concentrated chili extract, then hurled it straight at Oscar’s face.

It was a clean hit. The balloon burst with a satisfying splash, and the capsaicin-laced blinding agent mercilessly invaded his eyes.

"Gyaaah! My eyes! My eyes!"

I stepped up to the writhing Oscar and pressed my dagger against his throat.

"Hey! Mediator!"

"Ah—er..."

"If you don't call it, I’ll slide this into his neck. You want to be responsible for that?"

"U-understood! Leonard, Claude, and Oscar are unable to continue!"

The moment I heard the call, I backed off to ensure they couldn't grab me.

Less than a minute had passed, and three of them were already knocked out. The Crown Prince and Marcus looked utterly bewildered, unable to process what was happening. Behind them, Amy’s face was pale with panic.

By the way, there was a reason I’d left these two for last. The Prince was the next King, and Marcus was the future Chief Court Mage—the game even mentioned he eventually became Chancellor. If these two didn't pull their heads out of their asses and become decent human beings, the country was doomed. They’d just keep pulling stupid stunts like this until everything collapsed.

In contrast, Claude was a prince from a neighboring country, so he didn't matter, and Leonard’s position as the successor to the Knight Order would be ruined anyway after losing like this.

As for Oscar... well, despite his family being a Marquess house, he just wasn't as high a priority as the other two.

Two enemies were easier to deal with than three, and as long as they were conscious to hear my lecture, that was good enough for me.

I threw out another smoke screen, vanished with 【Stealth】, and put a rubber bullet into the Prince and Marcus each.

"Gah!"

"Guh!"

They both dropped to their knees. I stood over them, my voice dripping with condescension.

"Well now, Your Highness, Lord Marcus. How does it feel to be brought to your knees by someone you considered beneath you?"

"Y-you..."

"You... do you think you'll get away with this? If you defy us, your family will—"

"Oh? Lord Marcus? You're about to lose a duel, so now you're resorting to using your status as a threat? Were you trying to get me to withdraw earlier because you were actually terrified of losing?"

"Wh-?!"

"But you see, right now I am the proxy for Lady Anastasia of House Ramslett. Your words are directed at her house as much as they are at me. Are you suggesting you intend to assassinate the Duke?"

"U-guh..."

Marcus bit his lip, his face twisted in frustration.

"Deep down, don't you already know who's actually in the right here?"

"I... I just wanted to... Amy..."

The fact that he couldn't even form a counterargument confirmed it. And if they were doing this while knowing better, that made it even worse.

"So because you want to 'protect' her, you’re willing to condemn someone else without a shred of evidence? As far as I’ve seen, Lady Anastasia never bullied Lady Amy. In fact, she was the one trying to stop the drama. Furthermore, Amy was the one provoking Lady Anastasia, trying to bait her into an altercation, wasn't she?"

"No... Amy... she wouldn't..."

Sacrificing reason for the sake of emotion—and this guy was supposed to be the future Chancellor.

"Hah, you still don't believe it? Are you planning to keep looking through those biased lenses and lead this country into a future of false accusations and rampant corruption?"

"No... I... I wouldn't..."

Marcus stammered, his excuses failing him.

"Whatever. You're going to apologize to House Ramslett and to Lady Anastasia. That’s how this ends. If short-sighted idiots like you are the future leaders of this nation, the rest of us are better off dead! Reflect on your failure!"

I kicked Marcus square in the face.

"Gah!"

As he tumbled across the ground, I grabbed him by the hair, yanked his head back, and pressed my blade to his throat.

"Mediator!"

"M-Marcus is unable to continue!"