"The talk over there is so heavy. Compared to that, over here..."
Melt, who had been observing Yugo and the Yamato group as they spoke in a somber, serious atmosphere, shifted her gaze to her immediate side.
There, she saw Marcos, frantic as Elena clung to him. His desperate shouts rang out, as he clearly lacked the composure to care about what Yugo and the others were doing.
"Argh! Get off me already! How long do you plan on staying attached to me!?"
"Ehh? But you're the one who said it, Marcos. You told me not to leave your side!"
"It's over, I said! I'm taking it back!! Besides, you should be able to tell that by the situation, shouldn't you!?"
"Hmm? I don't really get it. Also, I can't hear you over all this noise!"
"Why you...! Seriously, enough is enough, woman!!"
"...Not reading the room truly is the ultimate weapon. I've learned something today," Anhel remarked.
"It is a bit out of place, isn't it?" Melt agreed.
"You guys, stop watching and help me!!"
Melt and Anhel whispered to each other as they watched the squabbling Marcos and the Elena who remained stuck to him like glue.
As Marcos desperately pleaded for their help, Elena finally stopped moving for a moment to ask a question.
"By the way, why are Marcos and the others fighting with those people? What are you going to do tomorrow?"
"Sigh... explaining it to you in detail would take forever. To put it simply... our friends' freedom is about to be stolen, so we're fighting to stop it."
"Ehh!? So if Marcos and the others lose, your friends will be gone!? That's not good at all!"
"Exactly. That's why we're going to fight them—to make sure that doesn't happen."
"I see! I get it now!!"
Melt and Anhel watched them, smiling wryly as if they were observing someone explaining things to a small child.
Marcos, being the caring type, snorted and looked away from their gazes, but Elena, having thought of something else, threw another question his way.
"Hey, hey. If Marcos and the others lose tomorrow, your friends will be gone, right? Then, what happens if Marcos and the others win? Do you get to take their friends away? I think that would make those people and their friends feel sad."
"Hmm... well, it won't work like that. It'll probably just end with them never showing their faces before us again, or something along those lines."
"Is that all? Then no one will be sad! ...Wait? But doesn't that mean Marcos and the others are losing out?"
"...Now that you mention it, she has a point. I'm starting to feel like we're the only ones getting the short end of the stick here."
Anhel groaned, crossing her arms as she realized upon calm reflection that there was no real benefit for them even if they won this duel.
In the past, members of the House of Clay had thrown down similar challenges... but those had been like an extension of a family feud. Since Yugo and the others had no intention of returning to the Seat of the Next Head of the House anyway, there would have been no real disadvantage to them even if they had lost.
However, this time was different. If, by some one-in-a-million chance—though it was absolutely impossible—Yugo and the others were to lose, the restrictions imposed by those Three Idiots would definitely impact the future Academy Life of Setsuna and the others.
In contrast, if those guys lost, the penalty they would receive was, as Marcos said, merely never showing their faces before the academy or Setsuna again.
At first glance, it might seem like a harsh penalty, but the possibility of the Three Idiots from Yamato confessing their feelings to Setsuna and the others and receiving a "yes" was zero to begin with.
In this situation, a duel where they might grab a One Chance at victory was nothing more than a win-win scenario for the aggressors.
"Hmm... the more I think about it, the more I can't accept this. Our Peaceful Academy Life is being disrupted because of them, yet those guys won't take any significant hit even if they lose."
"I'm beyond not accepting it; I'm actually getting pissed off. Especially that Enji guy—what is his deal? Leering at my face, my breasts, my ass, and my thighs! I'm not some cheap girl for the likes of you to appraise!!"
Growing increasingly irritated by an arrangement that was undeniably unfair, Anhel racked her brain for a way to punish the Three Idiots from Yamato.
She went into deep thought, and after a moment, she snapped her head up as if a lightbulb had just clicked on. A truly "radiant" smile—which could also be described as a wicked grin—spread across her face as she spoke.
"That's it...! I've thought of something reall~y good...!!"
"Whoa... when Ann says that, I only get an ominous feeling..."
Probably, surely, definitely... Anhel had come up with a method to inflict tremendous psychological damage on her opponents. That smile, which struck fear into anyone who saw it, was the ultimate proof.
While Fee and Yui instinctively hugged each other and trembled in terror at the sight of her, Anhel stood up and began to skip playfully.
"Hehehehehehe...! Just you watch...! After the duel is over, I'm going to give them a surprise that'll make their eyes pop out of their heads...! I'm already looking forward to seeing those guys foaming at the mouth and collapsing! Hehehehehe! Hahahahahahaha!!"
"...Is it just me, or... is Ann a scary person?" Elena asked.
"You caught on quick. You're exactly right," Marcos replied.
Watching Anhel let out a loud laugh that made her look like nothing other than a villainous mad scientist, Marcos let out a deep sigh. He was now certain that tomorrow's duel would be a mess in more ways than one.