NOVEL NEXT chapter 36
36 – Bet 2
Right now, there are two choices that Verrugi can make.
One is to apologize to me.
The other is to accept my duel challenge.
What I wanted among those was, of course, for him to accept my duel challenge.
And practically, the only option Verrugi had was to accept the duel challenge.
All the students in the cafeteria were staring at me and Verrugi.
If Verrugi rejects my duel challenge here and just apologizes?
To the other students, it would seem like he was afraid of fighting me and gave up.
Click. Click.
In the cafeteria where only silence prevailed, the sound of a camera echoed.
Everyone in the cafeteria turned in the direction of the sound, and there stood Simon Nicholas, the head of the newspaper club, holding a camera.
“Oh, did I interrupt something? You can continue what you were doing.”
Simon confidently spoke while filming, regardless of everyone’s gaze.
Frederick Nicholas, a special class magician, and Simon were brothers, but their personalities were completely opposite to the point where it was hard to believe they were related.
“Simon!!”
Verrugi glared at Simon as if he wanted to kill him, shouting.
It was Simon who posted on the bulletin board about Verrugi spilling drinks on Lucas.
“What, coming at me?”
Even when Bully shouted, Simon showed no signs of fear.
The reason he wasn’t afraid wasn’t that Simon was stronger than Bully.
Simon is a top-ranking senior, while Bully is in the upper ranks of the third year.
“Come at me then.”
Even so, the reason he could be so confident was probably the guy next to him.
“Don’t lay a hand on him.”
Next to Simon was Joden, the top-ranking senior.
Simon and Joden had been close friends since before coming to the academy.
“Tsk.”
Bully glanced at Joden once, clicked his tongue, then turned his gaze back to me.
Does he realize how ridiculous he looks right now?
“Do you think I looked easy because I got beaten up by Joden in the cafeteria last time? Or maybe because I’m in the special class, you think you’re something special? The level between you and me is completely dif · · ·.”
“Sigh.”
I involuntarily sighed listening to Bully’s continuous blabbering.
‘Annoying.’
Damn. Why can’t he understand words and keep blabbering like this?
Is it really that hard to just accept it?
Feeling sh*tty, why not fight right now instead of three days later?
During the duel, I could pretend to make a mistake and maybe take him down.
When emotions escalate during a duel, things like that can happen.
It might work if, pretending as if the opponent tried to kill me first like a villain, I retaliate while acting like I’m about to be killed.
No, how about changing it from being expelled for losing a bet to suicide?
That way, it seems like I wouldn’t have to lift a finger.
It’s also a good idea to infiltrate the dormitory at night and kill the guy.
“Sigh…”
Pull yourself together.
I exhaled and took a deep breath.
I almost reverted to my old personality.
“I’ve been really bad at relieving emotions lately.”
As much as possible, suppress the original personality with a “poker face” and hide it with a “clown.”
The reason I hide my personality is not because I want to, but it’s forcibly done by my nature.
But no matter how much I kill and hide my personality by nature, the emotions don’t disappear. They just keep accumulating endlessly.
If emotions aren’t relieved and keep accumulating, the original personality tends to pop out like this.
You might think it’s not a good thing for the original personality to come out.
But the personality that comes out like this is difficult for me to control.
So, I’ve been relieving stress well in general, but it seems that I’ve been under too much stress lately because of the jerk in front of me.
“So, are you, a senior in the third year, not afraid of my duel request, which is just for a freshman?”
“Yeah. As you said, the one who loses will be expelled from the academy. Since you’re going to be expelled anyway, pack your bags in advance.”
“Indeed, considering the idea of having fun during the summer vacation, it wouldn’t hurt to pack in advance.”
After hearing me out, Veruja left the cafeteria.
I, too, intended to eat lunch comfortably now.
“Fighting over expulsion? We never said such things.”
I couldn’t eat because of Lucas, who was talking beside me.
“I told you. I’ll handle everything within a week.”
“Sigh. I didn’t expect it to be resolved like this.”
“Honestly, if both of you stay at the academy, it seems they’ll keep causing trouble. Isn’t this the most reasonable and certain way to handle it?”
This time, Sepia spoke up.
“So, if one of you is gone, there’s no clash. Did you challenge with expulsion as a condition? If you lose, you could be expelled.”
“No, Miss Sepia. There is no possibility of me losing.”
This time, Clara spoke to me.
“The opponent is among the top in the third year.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Sigh.”
“Now, everyone, don’t worry and enjoy your lunch.”
“…”
I and the special class students who finished lunch were walking together towards the academy correctional facility.
“Look over there.”
“Isn’t that the guy who challenged Rofliah to a duel after putting an expulsion notice if he goes there?”
“Yeah, it was even attached to the newspaper I saw earlier.”
In that short time, it seemed like rumors had already spread, as every student we passed looked at me with sighs.
‘It’s because of the newspaper.’
I led the special class students to the bulletin board with the newspaper attached.
[Duels proposed for expulsion of academy freshmen and top-ranking 3rd graders.]
How did they make it so fast?
It hadn’t even been 30 minutes since I applied for the duel, and the newspaper was already on the bulletin board.
I stared blankly at the newspaper.
“Now do you understand the seriousness?”
Clara, who was next to me, spoke, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the newspaper.
“Miss Clara.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think I get much attention in photos.”
“Get lost.”
Hmph. How important is this issue, anyway?
.
Lunchtime ended, and all remaining classes were over.
Throughout the lessons, every student sighed as they looked at me.
Naturally, the topic of conversation was whether I could defeat the bully.
And almost every student said I would lose.
“Good job today, everyone. Make sure to come on time again tomorrow.”
Professor Elysia ended the class with the same words as today.
“Rocky, stay.”
That’s all she said to make me stay.
“Yes!”
All the other special class students left, leaving only Professor Elysia and me in the classroom.
“I heard the story. You’re dueling with a third-year as a condition for not getting expelled, right?”
“Yes! It just happened to turn out that way.”
“Your opponent, Rofree, is a strong one among the third-years. He has more practical experience and much better stamina than you.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll lose.”
“One of your specialties, tricks, won’t be much help against an overwhelmingly strong opponent.”
In a way, Professor Elysia might seem confident that I will lose.
But I know she’s not that kind of person.
“Professor, but he’s not overwhelmingly strong, right?”
Having heard my words, Professor Elysia smiled satisfactorily and ruffled my hair roughly.
“That’s right. There’s no reason for you to lose. If you lose, you’ll die at my hands.”
“I have to win, even if it’s just to survive.”
.
.
.
I was lying on the dormitory bed right now.
It wasn’t yet time to sleep, but I was tired, so I lay on the bed to rest.
Ring – Ring.
While resting on the bed, a sound came from the communication device.
It meant someone was calling.
Of course, I talked to Erika every day, but it was usually later than this.
“Erika, what’s going on so early…”
[I heard from my brother! Expulsion!]
“If anyone hears, they might think I’ve already been expelled. I’m still attending the academy just fine.”
[I’m not in the mood for jokes!]
“I told you yesterday, Erika, you don’t need to worry separately. I’m determined to win.”
As I spoke with a confident voice, Erika took a short breath as if truly relieved.
[If you lose, I’ll appoint you as my personal bodyguard immediately.]
Even just hearing her voice, I could tell she was making a stern expression.
“And if I win?”
[Well then, shall I appoint you as a royal escort after graduation?]
That’s truly a checkmate.
“But, Eirika?”
[Yes?]
“Could it be that you hastily contacted me because you’re worried about me being expelled?”
[I don’t know!]
Eirika, seemingly annoyed by my teasing, spoke loudly and then abruptly ended the call.
Ring – Ring.
After Eirika hung up, the sound echoed from the communication device again, 30 seconds later.
It was evident to anyone that Eirika had made the call again.
Taking the call, I deliberately said something mischievous.
“Eirika, did you miss hearing my voice in that short time and call me again?”
However, there was no response from the communication device.
After a while, a voice was heard, but it wasn’t Eirika’s; it was a deep male voice.
[Oh, what’s going on?]
????????
“Emperor Peha?”
The person who called me was not Eirika but the emperor.