"—A—A duel! I challenge Laguna Ver Brave to a duel, with my seat on the Student Council on the line!"
The crowd erupted into murmurs.
"I am quite weary of these dueling antics..." Volzea sighed, sounding utterly exasperated. "Castor von Pentagram, do you truly wish to join the Student Council that badly?"
"Of course I do!" Castor shouted, clutching his chest with a desperate, pleading intensity.
I really wished people would just put in an honest effort. Why did they always resort to duels? I wondered if he had been influenced by Patricia.
"What say you, Laguna Ver Brave?"
"Eh? I refuse. Obviously."
"I thought as much," Volzea nodded, as if my answer were the only natural one.
"What?! Do you even call yourself a nobleman?! Accept the duel, Laguna Ver Brave!"
Since I had flatly refused, I decided to give this Shitty Glasses a piece of my mind since he wouldn't back down.
"What’s the point of even having a duel?"
"He has a point," Alicia agreed.
The other newly selected Student Council members on the stage nodded in unison. Only Edward muttered something about wanting to see it—honestly, what was wrong with that guy?
By the way, Mariana had already perfected the art of fainting while standing upright. I was already getting used to the sight.
"Then, the matter is dismissed," Volzea said.
"Headmaster! A duel is a legitimate right of the nobility!" Shitty Glasses continued to press his case, even against Volzea’s cold dismissal.
A duel wasn't supposed to be a tool for forcing one's selfishness onto others; it was something two people did when they reached an impasse on a matter they couldn't yield, wagering something of equal value.
"In the first place, there's nothing in this for me, is there?"
If Castor won, he’d get a seat on the Student Council. But what would happen if I won? It made no sense for the "prize" to be me simply keeping the position I already had.
"That's..."
I pressed the now speechless Castor further.
"Besides, there’s no point in challenging me. The Student Council selection is decided by the Academy faculty. I don’t have any authority over who gets in. So, don’t challenge me—challenge the Headmaster."
Thinking about it, the responsibility for this headache lay with the teachers. In other words, it was Volzea's problem. Therefore, the proper procedure was for him to duel Volzea first. If he won that, he’d earn the right to have the selection reconsidered, and only then would it make sense for him to duel me for the seat.
"So, Headmaster, let's set that match up."
"Do not make decisions for me, you fool," Volzea growled, glaring at me.
But my reasoning was sound.
"Sigh... Very well, it cannot be helped. If you are so dissatisfied, I shall deal with you myself." Volzea stepped forward with a heavy sigh. It seemed he had accepted my logic.
"Castor von Pentagram, if you believe you can prove the worth of your efforts, then show me. Since your stubbornness has moved me, I shall give you this: if you win, I will reconsider the selection. But if you lose, what then? Expulsion?"
"Ugh."
"The precedent for duels is established. Even if you should lose, I will not permit you to invoke your family name to protest, by the name of Volzea Gran Cascade."
As Volzea exerted his presence, Castor began to shrink back. If he had just backed down quietly then, it would have ended there. Instead, Castor said something truly moronic.
"I—I’ll wager my life!"
"..."
At those words, even Volzea furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes.
"Is that brand of 'cleverness' inherited from your father...?"
"His worst traits are on full display, honestly..."
Beside me, Edward and Clive let out exasperated sighs.
"This is my resolve," Castor declared, a look of triumph crossing his face.
It was unthinkable for the Headmaster to kill a student in a duel, and Volzea was the last person who would ever do such a thing. By wagering his own life, Castor was essentially taking himself hostage to force a negotiation.
"What I desire is not a review of the selection, but the position on the Student Council itself," Castor spoke with sudden eloquence. "This is the one thing I cannot yield. Please, permit a duel with Laguna Ver Brave."
Calling him an idiot or a moron was too kind. He was simply a fool.
"If I cannot join the Student Council here, my life from this point forward is as good as over!"
"—Fine, I'll do it."
I stepped forward.
"Laguna, are you sure about this?" Alicia asked, looking at me with a complicated expression.
"Yeah."
"I see. Well, if it's a formal duel, I suppose I can't say anything..." She shrugged her shoulders, sighing as if resigned to the inevitable. Since she had participated in a duel herself, she likely felt she lacked the standing to complain.
However, even if she had been egged on by her followers, Alicia's duel had been a matter of family honor and principled admonition. I didn't want her compared to the petty selfishness of a brat like this.
"Stop, Laguna Ver Brave."
"Don't stop me, Headmaster."
The Headmaster tried to restrain me as I approached Castor, but the guy in front of me clearly wouldn't listen to reason anymore.
"Once someone goes as far as to wager their life, House Brave cannot simply ignore the challenge."
"...This is not the place for students to play with such stakes."
"If it were said that I fled from a duel where a life was on the line, it would be a lasting disgrace to the name of House Brave. Do you still expect me to back down?"
"..."
Ignoring the silenced Volzea, I stepped off the stage and stood before the student body.
"If you have the resolve to wager your life, then I'll accept it. Fine—try and take it from me. That’s much simpler."
Honestly, life in this Royal Capital felt even cheaper than in the Brave Territory. Life in the Brave Territory was cheap, certainly, but that didn't mean it wasn't heavy. The value of a life was the same everywhere; it was just that more were lost back home to the monsters in the mountains and the skirmishes with the neighboring country.
"That's right! Fight me, Laguna Ver Brave!"
"You won't regret this?"
"I won't! If I don't serve on the Student Council for all three years, I won't even be fit to carry my family name!"
"It seems you haven't even considered the possibility of losing."
"Your house has no special value; that's why you've always been stuck in the General Class. On top of that, it's absurd for a failure like you, with nothing but failing marks on your records, to be on the Student Council. Where is there any chance for me to lose?"
Was he really banking on a guaranteed victory because of those grade reports? What exactly made him think those marks were normal? Was it possible he truly knew nothing? Well, he knew House Brave was always in the General Class, so he had likely filled in the blanks with his own delusions.
Castor puffed out his chest, seemingly convinced of his own logic.
"I’ll tell you what. If you surrender immediately, I might at least spare your life."
"If you're wagering your life, it wouldn't be a duel if I didn't wager mine too, right? Let's kill each other for real."
"Kh... Fine!"
Though Castor was visibly flustered by my lack of hesitation, he adjusted his glasses and tried to maintain his composure.
"I'll leave the conditions to you. We can go without magic."
"Then let's keep it simple: no magic. And let every student here be a witness so there's no trouble afterward."
There happened to be a sword displayed nearby as an ornament, so I decided to use that for our bout.
"Yeah, the edge is still live."
I checked the blade; it was sharp enough. It would do the job. I wondered about the school's security, but in Duel Events, Capture Target Characters often fought over the Heroine. In those moments, a sword always seemed to be conveniently available—and it turned out those "ornamental swords" were the source of that plot convenience.
Honestly, a game where you could trigger a duel over a girl just by playing your cards right... that was one hell of a game. Quite innovative, really.
"T-That is acceptable. Then, let us duel with our lives on the line. Prince Edward, please give the signal to begin."
"Hm? Is that all right?" Edward asked, suddenly thrust into the spotlight. "I don't mind performing such an illustrious role if you're certain, but Castor... your legs are shaking. Are you truly up for this?"
Edward spoke without a shred of mercy.
"Don't be absurd! This is a tremor of excitement!"
"I have nearly died myself, so I've come to realize that life is more precious than anything. Is a seat on the Student Council truly worth more than your life?"
"Of course! Your Highness may not understand, but my family has served for generations. I cannot let that legacy die with me!"
"I see. Well, I'll give you one warning: the man who saved me from the brink of death was Laguna Ver Brave over there. In terms of sheer strength, he is several levels above me."
"What!"
"But if you cannot yield, even at the cost of your life, then there is nothing more to say. For the record, I have no intention of giving up my own seat. At least die bravely."
Castor stood there with his mouth agape, staring at the Prince's chilling smile. The surrounding students looked equally stunned by the Prince's coldness.
"Hey, Your Highness," Clive asked. "Is he really that good?"
"He's from a house that skirmishes with the neighboring country year-round in The Abandoned Land. How could he be weak?"
"But he's our age. That's hard to believe."
"I have seen him traverse a Brave Territory Dungeon without a single scratch. I might lie when I'm undercover, but I have no reason to lie now."
Hearing the conversation between Clive and Edward, Castor’s legs began to shake even more violently.
"No... way..."
He was breaking into a cold sweat, trembling so hard his glasses kept slipping. He kept pushing them back up in a frantic, irritating loop. It was an incredibly annoying routine to watch. I suppose he didn't trust my word, but he couldn't ignore the Prince's.
"Right then, we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's get started. I declare this duel open in the name of Edward Gran Etherdam, 12th in the Right of Succession!"
"Wait, hold on! P-Prince! Just a moment—"
"—Begin!"
The signal was given without a moment's grace, leaving Castor in a panic. I was also caught slightly off guard by the abruptness of it.
But a start was a start. I let Castor draw his sword and we faced off.
"U-Ugh..."
He was shaking so much it was pathetic. He didn't look like he was in any state to duel. It made it incredibly hard to carry out an execution.
Nevertheless, a duel was a duel. I calmly lopped off his head, slicing right through the sword he was holding.
"...Ah—"