Chapter 20 - Irregularity
It had been six years since I was reincarnated into the world of Ronzolkia, so I decided to briefly sum up what I had accomplished so far.
I had learned swordsmanship from Mister Orvin and mastered the skill.
I had hired Miss Fiona as my private tutor and received her teachings in magic.
With my Unique Magic <Void> and healing magic, I had built an impenetrable defense.
I had defeated Entia, broken the curse on my mother Layla, and gained access to the Forbidden Archive.
The development of Void Town, though slow, was steadily progressing.
I had crushed the protagonist Allen’s power-up event and put the heroine Nia in her place.
And the organization “Nihil,” which I had made almost by accident, had somehow been growing on its own.
Heh... it’s going almost scarily well. One might even call it ideal.
But usually, it’s times like this...
...that a ridiculous “irregularity” happens.
On a bright, sunny day, while I was enduring a boring lecture in the Special Advancement Class classroom—
“Uoraaaaaaa…!”
“Doryaaaaaaa...!”
—loud, deep male voices came from outside the window.
Sigh... again.
Looking out, I saw that a Ranking Duel was taking place right in the middle of the schoolyard.
Every day lately, huh.
For the two weeks following the entrance ceremony, the school designated this period as the “Ranking Duel Encouragement Period.”
During this time, certain rules normally applied to Ranking Duels were suspended.
Restrictions like not being able to challenge someone more than five ranks above you, or the ten-day ceasefire period after a duel—those were temporarily lifted.
It was essentially the school telling students: If you have objections to your assigned rank, prove your worth during this period.
As for the thirty-one students of the Special Advancement Class... they were pretty indifferent.
As far as I knew, there hadn’t been a single Ranking Duel among my classmates.
Not that everyone was happy with their current rank—far from it.
The place was full of people quietly smoldering. They were just... watching for now.
Most of the students in the Special Advancement Class were children of prominent nobles.
For people in such positions, losing in a ranking match meant more than losing rank.
If they suffered an ugly defeat—like that idiot Franz—they would disgrace the honor of their family name.
That’s why they couldn’t move carelessly.
They would gather all the necessary intel—on their opponent’s Unique Magic, fighting style, weaknesses—and prepare perfectly before stepping into battle.
And so, the Special Advancement Class remained relatively calm.
At this rate, if there’s going to be any movement, it’ll be toward the end of the period.
As I idly thought that, watching the match unfold in the schoolyard, the bells in the clock tower went gong, gong.
“—Alright, that’s it for today. Everyone’s favorite lunch break has arrived,” Miss Fiona said, closing her textbook with a snap before packing her belongings and leaving the classroom.
Almost instantly, a relaxed atmosphere filled the room.
“Ahhh, Miss Fiona’s classes are on such a high level...”
“But she’s gorgeous, huh... Wonder if she’s got a boyfriend...”
“You know, I heard Miss Fiona used to work at the Ministry of Magic!”
“I heard that too! And she’s got some Legendary-Class Unique Magic, right?”
“She’s like the definition of a strong, career-minded woman—so cool!”
Miss Fiona’s popularity among students, regardless of gender, was sky-high.
Well... you know. There are some things in life you’re better off not knowing.
Anyway, I figured it was about time for my own lunch.
Cracking my neck lightly, I got up from my seat and was about to head to the first-floor shop when—
“—Hollow, do you have a moment?”
The protagonist, Allen Fortis, stood in my way.
His expression was more serious than usual, and in the depths of his eyes burned a strong determination.
“...What is it?”
An indescribably bad feeling washed over me.
My throat went dry, sweat dampened my palms, and my heartbeat quickened.
Time stretched unbearably, each second dragging on like an eternity, until—
“—Hollow von Heisenberg, I challenge you to a Ranking Duel.”
Allen, wearing a deadly serious expression, said something utterly outrageous.
...Huh?
The world froze. My mind went completely blank.
Wait—did I... do something wrong?
I had thought everything was going smoothly, and now, out of nowhere, an enormous death flag had dropped right in front of me.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I was saying to myself, but this seemed to be reality.
No, no... please spare me, Allen my man... What’s with all this enthusiasm today?
I wanted nothing more than to turn right around and go home, but as the infamous Hollow von Heisenberg, I couldn’t allow myself such a pitiful display.
“...Hah?”
I opened my eyes as wide as I could and let out a wave of menacing mana.
This was the most intimidating front I could muster.
Like a red panda standing on its hind legs with both paws raised, going “Graaah!”
Please, I silently prayed, just back down from this.
As I sent out that silent plea, my classmates hurriedly jumped in to stop him.
“H-Hey, Allen, knock it off!”
“Idiot, you’ll get yourself killed!”
“You’re dead meat! You’re the lowest rank in the Special Advancement Class—thirty-first—and you think you can beat number one?!”
Yes, that’s it, everyone!
Tell him! Tell him! Tell him more!
I cheered them on desperately in my heart... but the hardheaded protagonist only shook his head.
“I want to know—the difference between me, the lowest in the Special Advancement Class, and you, Hollow, the first.”
I did not want to know the difference between the villainous noble and the protagonist.
The hopeless disparity between Hollow, hated by the world, and Allen, beloved by it.
Knowing that would only make me sad, after all.
But... as the next head of the infamous Heisenberg family, and as the top ranker of Redrick Academy of Magic, I couldn’t back down here.
Besides, in the first place, when challenged to a Ranking Duel, one generally couldn’t refuse.
So with deep, reluctant resignation—truly with a heavy heart—I accepted Allen’s challenge.
The battleground was the underground training hall.
The same place I had used in my mock battle with Nia.
This time, since it was an official ranking match, the Special Advancement Class students had gathered in droves to watch.
“I missed the fight with Miss Nia, but now I can finally see what rank one can really do!”
“I’ve heard rumors about that heinous noble Hollow von Heisenberg—wasting away his natural talents. Wonder if that’s true.”
“Hollow’s Unique Magic is the Legendary-Class <Refraction>. It demands incredibly precise mana control, so people say it’s not suited for real combat. I’m very curious to see how he uses it.”
Sorry to kill the excitement, but I had no intention of showing my hand in this match.
In the original Ronzolkia, the protagonist was a combat genius. Allen could adapt to any attack and absorb it as EXP.
For example, say I used a wide variety of magic and managed to beat him this time.
Allen would gain a massive amount of EXP, leveling up in huge leaps.
In other words, this very ranking match would become his power-up event.
That would be the definition of a hollow victory—winning the match but losing the war.
For me, the “victory conditions” in this Ranking Duel were twofold:
1. Don’t give the protagonist any EXP.
2. Don’t damage my standing as a villainous noble.
I had to clear both conditions while still defeating Allen.
Well... I guess this will be like playing without a rook and bishop.
While I was thinking that, the teacher acting as referee cleared his throat with a cough.
“Both sides ready? Then—begin!”
And so, the ranking match between the villainous noble (me) and the protagonist (Allen) began.
Comments
Post a Comment