Episode 662

When their friend was suddenly being dragged off to a socialite fight club frequented by duel maniacs, the other students were equally flustered.

“W-wait a second, Professor.”

Siana hastily stepped in.

Professor Voladi stared intently at Siana, listening to hear what she would say.

“…Take him with you.”

“Priest Siana…!”

Lee Han’s voice was filled with betrayal.

After all the praise he’d given the Fleming Order!

“S-sorry. I was too scared.”

‘I get it, though.’

Seeing Siana cowering and hiding among their friends, Lee Han couldn’t help but sympathize.

She’d just seen Professor Voladi slam his junior and attack Lee Han like a killer—of course she was scared. Only a lunatic wouldn’t be.

“We have to think of something. If we leave it like this, Mr. Wardanaz will get dragged into an underground fight club!”

“But a duel club isn’t an underground cage match…”

“Professor! Mr. Wardanaz’s leg is broken!”

Ratford cunningly stepped forward.

Surely the professor wouldn’t drag a student with a broken leg to a duel club.

Professor Voladi glanced at Lee Han’s leg and spoke flatly.

“It’s fine.”

“…Looks like there’s no choice but to actually break something, then.”

“I don’t think Lee Han would like that…”

“We can’t just leave him, can we!”

The friends argued, debating whether they should break Lee Han’s leg or his arm.

Professor Voladi, who’d been waiting, checked the time and spoke.

“We’ll talk as we go. It’ll take a while to get everyone inside.”

“……”

“…?”

The students stopped.

Something seemed odd.

“Everyone?”

“By ‘everyone’ do you mean… all… all of us?”

The professor confirmed. Gainando cried out in shock.

“P-professor! Unlike Lee Han, I don’t even attend your lectures!”

‘What a shameless guy.’

Lee Han grumbled inwardly at Gainando, who was trying to escape alone.

He understood the fear, but to flee so openly!

“It wouldn’t be fair to only show Mr. Wardanaz.”

Professor Voladi, unexpectedly, cared about educational fairness.

If it were Professor Verdus, he’d have just taken Lee Han alone (or maybe not take anyone at all), but Voladi thought it unfair to bring only Lee Han into the duel club after meeting the other students over break.

No matter how much Lee Han was his disciple, giving him special privileges would make the other students feel left out.

Just as he’d bought them all a meal, he also planned to bring everyone to the duel club.

“…I didn’t mean I wanted to go…”

Gainando was stunned, having his “I don’t attend your class” magically interpreted as “Is it okay for someone not in your class to come to a duel club?”

Seeing this, Lee Han felt oddly satisfied.

‘Should have made the others attend, too.’

• * *

The Flaher City Duel Club was a relatively new club.

Formed by a handful of aggressive lower nobles, duelists, and merchants who smelled gold, the club had a good atmosphere.

As is typical for new organizations, they relied on extravagance.

Merchants who invested in the club had spared no expense to make it grand.

Upon arrival, the sign draped above the door immediately impressed.

-Flaher City Duel Club.

Even without decoration, with twisted gold and silver thread imbued with light magic, it looked distinguished.

Opening the heavy bronze doors and stepping inside, a chandelier of magic stones warmed the ceiling, and you could see people gathered in neatly divided areas, chatting away.

There were café areas serving sandwiches, rice balls, coffee, and tea, and rooms where members discussed recent events.

“So I think Prince Bogajun…”

“You always worship the royals!”

“What, what?! Then maybe you’re a shameless aristocrat or an independentist!”

“Take that back or we’ll duel right now!”

And there was a dueling arena for noble matches and stands for spectators.

The dueling ring’s mahogany floor was sturdier than most shields, and the defensive barrier before the seats was built to stop anyone or anything flying during a match.

‘Not bad.’

Palga, of the Ukim family—an incoming Einrogard third year and knightly house scion—was pleased with the club’s vibe.

Compared to the wretched environment of the Einrogard Duel Club, this was almost paradise. It was flashy, but seemed like it would last a while.

Palga planned to train here over break.

A duel was a frantic fight where you had to make dozens of choices in less than a second.

It was important to keep your edge sharp.

Slack off all break and you’d get laughed at when the club restarted.

“Who do you think will win today?”

“Well, Lord Chelese’s swordplay is impressive, but that Gorang guy is no joke either.”

“I heard he’s an ex-mercenary and his nickname was ‘Razor’—Razor Gorang.”

‘Chelese and Gorang. Noted.’

The last time Palga visited was four days ago.

He worried whether any new duelists had shown up. The most dangerous kind of opponent was one you’d never seen before.

But both Chelese and Gorang were familiar faces.

During his break, Palga had strategized how to beat them. Today, that preparation would pay off.

“But who was that guy yesterday?”

“No idea, but the count was shocked. Maybe he’s a famous duelist? To think every member went down!”

“I heard Lord Chelese swore revenge. Won’t that be exciting?”

“Whatever. I think he’ll get banned. If someone like that keeps showing up, there’ll be no members left!”

“What nonsense! Ban someone for being too strong? Where’s the honor in that?”

“Even so, there’s a limit. If you win every match, there’s no opponents left.”

“…?”

Palga wondered what they were talking about.

Had something happened while he was gone?

‘Has a new duelist appeared? Who could it be?’

Palga felt his heart pound.

Some duelists avoided strong opponents.

But not Palga.

He liked facing stronger opponents—you could always learn something.

If this new person was truly strong, he planned to ask for a match, very politely.

“Sir Palga of the Ukim family?”

“Yes. But I’m not a knight yet.”

“I know. Didn’t we talk last week? From Einrogard, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Pride tinged Palga’s reply.

No one criticized Einrogard more than the students themselves, but that didn’t mean they lacked pride.

After all, how else could anyone survive that school?

“There are Einrogard students here right now! What a coincidence—I’d like to introduce you!”

“!?”

Palga was startled.

The Empire was small, but to run into fellow Einrogard students here?

Up ahead, Deorgyu and Lee Han exchanged awkward looks.

-Sorry, Lee Han.

-No, it’s not your fault.

As their friends scattered to check out the club, Lee Han and Deorgyu were also looking around.

-Think I can set some traps ahead of time? Just in case I have to fight the professor.

-Deorgyu…

-Haha, just kidding. Just kidding.

-Your eyes are not kidding at all.

Then some member suddenly spoke to them.

-You wouldn’t happen to be from the Choi family, would you?

-Oh, I am.

-Wow! I’m from the Aldar family…!

The Aldar family member was a distant cousin of the Choi family.

But at a social club, even that counted as nearly family.

The orc uncle immediately took a liking to them and began buying them food.

-You’re still students—you must eat a lot! Haha. Eat up! On me.

-Um… I can’t just take food from people I’ve just met…

-Can we get some more pancakes here? Eat, eat! You must be hungry.

-W-we just ate…

-Eat some more. You look awfully skinny!

Lee Han and Deorgyu couldn’t refuse such kindness, so they started gobbling pancakes and sandwiches.

At least, the food was delicious.

But the Aldar uncle wasn’t done. When he recognized a passing Einrogard student, he called out immediately.

-Aren’t you Sir Palga of the Ukim family?

And so—now.

Lee Han and Deorgyu sat in awkward silence facing their upperclassman.

Aldar only smiled and topped off their teacups with sugar-filled tea.

“Well, come on. When I order bacon, it never comes. I’ll check on it myself.”

“No, don’t—!”

Only after the orc uncle left did the three manage to breathe easy.

Palga realized these two juniors had also been dragged over somewhat against their will, and felt a sense of camaraderie.

“Looks like you both got pulled in, too. That’s how imperial clubs are. Since it’s all for social connections, you can find yourself sitting with strangers.”

“I learned that well today. Thank you. I’m Deorgyu of the Choi family. This is Lee Han.”

Lee Han carefully avoided mentioning his Wardanaz name.

Best not to bring that up before a knight family member.

“I’m Palga of the Ukim family. Turns out you’re both juniors from the White Tiger Tower. Nice to meet you.”

Palga greeted them warmly.

Being from the same tower meant something, even among Einrogard. Palga thought it was worth welcoming them.

“What brings you here, senior?”

“The Einrogard Duel Club… Oh. I suppose it’s fine to tell you both. You’ll learn about it next semester anyway. I belong to the Einrogard Duel Club. I came here to keep my dueling instincts sharp.”

“You don’t bet money?”

The naive question made Palga laugh.

“Did you hear some bad rumors? Not every duelist gambles. Think about it. A duel, fought seriously by two prepared opponents, is a sacred thing. Even getting your win rate a bit over fifty percent is hard; putting a lot on the line is foolish.”

Palga told them about duelists who lost their fortunes gambling for fun.

It wasn’t just bad luck. Palga believed it was a punishment for desecrating the sacredness of the duel.

But Lee Han only pretended to listen.

‘Just dueling for fun without making money… Einrogard Duel Club culture is bizarre.’

“So what are you two doing here? Training, like I am?”

“Ah, no. We came with the professor. He wanted to introduce us to the club over break.”

“You’re with a professor during break!? Why?!”

“Haha, it just happened by chance.”

Palga looked at his juniors with a touch of pity.

How unlucky must you be to run into a professor on break?

“Which professor?”

“Professor Baegrek.”

BANG!!!

With a loud crash, Palga fell right over backward.