NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13 - Duel Week
As soon as he opened his eyes, a flash of red crossed his vision.
Usually, he would have reflexively thought of the kid, but why?
“E-Elena…?”
It was her that came to mind.
As he came to his senses, his vision became a bit clearer.
Then, one by one, other senses began to return as well.
The smell of gunpowder. The stench of rotting corpses. Shouting. Gunshots. Screams. Heat touching the skin. A dull metallic taste.
And,
“Da-vid…”
The horrific sight before his eyes.
Zeron’s eyes widened as far as they could go.
Decayed and crumbling, with bones exposed in places. Peeling skin. Bright red hair, only partially remaining. Empty eye sockets.
But, a familiar voice…
“Da-vid… Where are you… I’m sca-red…”
Though it was a rough voice like scraping metal, Zeron could hear the clear voice within… Her voice, which was full of mischief, beautiful, pure, benevolent, and more lovable than anyone else’s.
“Elena…”
“Da-vid…”
“Fucking hell…”
Just then, something rolled and bumped against his foot with a thud.
Ignoring his instinct telling him not to look, he lowered his gaze.
“Ha…”
A round object.
Bloodshot whites, with a red-tinged iris.
The eye that had looked at him warmly when she was alive.
Crunch-, a worm breaks through its surface.
Hundreds of tiny worms.
Though he knew Elena’s eyeballs would have long since rotted away.
Nevertheless, he felt something snap inside him.
“What kind of bastard, worse than a worm…”
He grasped the sword handle.
Due to his trembling hand, the sword rattled continuously in its sheath.
His breathing became rough, his vision flashed white, his head grew hot, and his heart pounded as if it would burst.
“What goddamn son of a bitch…!”
Kuwoong-! As the Sword Demon roared, even the surrounding air held its breath.
The leaked killing intent caused the worms crawling on the ground to go limp, and the ground he stood on withered and cracked.
The usual smile had long since disappeared from his face.
The Sword Demon, with bulging veins on his face, reached out his hand.
…Her cheek was cold enough to make his hand numb.
The worms, suffocated by the killing intent, wriggled and fell from her skin, between her muscles, and from her exposed bones like maggots.
“Elena… I swear…”
With eyes reddened from burst blood vessels due to excessive anger, he took in her appearance.
“Even if my body is completely shattered… Everyone involved in this…”
Without missing a single one.
“I’ll kill them all.”
Even if it were the Emperor of the Empire himself.
*
“Motherfucker.”
That was his first thought upon opening his eyes.
No wonder things had been quiet lately.
Zeron got up and drank whiskey instead of water.
Gulp- gulp- with each swallow of alcohol, the warm sensation made him acutely aware of the shape of his esophagus.
“Huu…”
Feeling that this was a bit much even for him, he drank some water.
Ah, now I feel a bit more alive.
He staggered to his feet, washed up briefly, and then shook the bell placed on the table.
As he was leaning on the table, almost lying flat on it, he sensed movement outside the door.
“Did you call?”
“Oh, yeah, Luna.”
“Don’t shorten my name as you please.”
“Come in for a bit.”
Tsk-, with a sound like clicking her tongue, the door opened.
Come to think of it, it had been a week since he and Lunalind had exchanged names.
In other words, the morning that marked the beginning of the duel week, when students’ rankings would drastically change, had dawned.
But well, he had to watch the kid’s duel.
Gotta go. Even if it’s troublesome.
“What is it?”
Luna was suddenly standing right in front of him.
Her gaze was cold.
How should I put it…
It was an expression that would suit words like ‘scum’ or ‘worm’.
“Why don’t you call me a worm?”
“…Trash.”
Luna’s expression crumpled.
That was a genuinely contemptuous look.
Feeling a bit hurt despite himself, he quickly changed the subject.
“No, well… Do you know how to make cocktails? You seemed to know a bit last time.”
“…I know a little.”
“Then make me one.”
“I’m not a bartender, you know.”
“It’s similar, isn’t it?”
“A maid is… Haa… Never mind. Just tell me where things are.”
Luna turned around sharply.
Her attitude seemed to be getting worse, but oh well.
It was actually refreshing and not bad.
“If you open that shelf over there, everything’s lined up. The cups are next to it.”
After he told her the location, Luna brought a glass, shaker, jigger, double strainer, ice, peach liqueur, coconut liqueur, orange juice, and cranberry juice, and set them down on the table with a thud.
It was pretty impressive that she could carry all that at once.
“Hey, aren’t you going to ask what I want you to make?”
“Just drink whatever I make.”
“That’s harsh. With that combination, is it a Peach Coco?”
“Yes.”
She filled the glass with ice to chill it, then poured ice into the shaker as well.
Measuring with the jigger, she poured 1 oz of peach liqueur, 1 oz of coconut liqueur, 2 oz of orange juice, and 2 oz of cranberry juice, then closed the shaker lid with a thud.
Then she shook the shaker with a cha-kak cha-kak cha-kak sound, and her form was quite impressive.
“Oh, are you experienced with shaking?”
He was ignored.
Luna rubbed her hands on her apron as if they were cold, then poured out the water that had formed in the chilled glass.
Then she opened the shaker lid and finished by straining out the small ice pieces with the double strainer while pouring into the glass.
“Here’s your Peach Coco.”
“No garnish?”
“…Just drink it as is.”
“Even spitting in it would be fine.”
…She actually tried to spit, so he stopped her.
Zeron drank the cocktail while slicking back his hair with wax.
He wasn’t sure how many years it had been since he’d done this.
When he felt it was good enough and took his hands away, Luna, who had been watching from behind, sighed and finished fixing his hair.
“Rather than going out looking like this, you should just go as usual.”
“No, didn’t I do a pretty good job? I have some skill with my hands.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
After staring blankly in the mirror for a moment, his hair was quickly put in order.
Indeed, is this the skill of a maid?
It’s definitely different from earlier.
As he put on his outer clothes, Luna, who had been quietly waiting in the corner, spoke up.
“Are you going to meet someone?”
“Huh? What do you mean, meet someone?”
“You usually go around looking like a beggar, but you’ve surprisingly dressed up a bit.”
“That’s harsh.”
Zeron chuckled as he adjusted his clothes.
…In the end, Luna finished this too.
“It’s not a date, but today’s the start of the students’ duel week. The kid will be eagerly looking for her dad, so I should at least look presentable.”
“…You have a daughter?”
“No, she’s not my daughter, but my friend’s daughter. I raised her about a quarter, so she feels like my daughter.”
“Hmm…”
“What’s with that reaction?”
Luna smiled faintly as she tightened his necktie as if she was about to strangle him.
“No, I was just surprised that you have a friend. Even someone like you can have friends, I guess.”
Zeron chuckled as he put on his shoes.
As he was leaving, he flicked a silver coin to her, which Luna quickly caught and put in her pocket.
“I’m off. Get some rest.”
“Yes, have a good day.”
*
The Academy has something called a duel week.
As the name suggests, it’s a week for duels.
First, rankings are determined by grades, then these rankings can be overturned through duels. Apparently, if you’re looking for a job, both the initial grades and the duel results are taken into account.
Well, that’s not my concern.
Anyway, today was the first day of this duel week.
From what he heard, the kid’s duel was scheduled almost first thing today.
He planned to watch the duels of the other students like Miss Sass and Fish Eyes while he was at it.
“It’s crowded.”
Zeron scanned the duel arena.
Apparently, from the second year, outsiders can come and watch the duels too. How crowded must it be then?
He was already feeling a bit queasy.
-Then, begin!
Has it already started?
Zeron quickened his pace a bit.
In the arena, five or six groups were conducting duels at once.
Zeron looked around, searching for familiar faces.
“Oh, there’s Miss Sass.”
He approached with a grin.
Lapien glanced this way, then immediately focused back on the duel.
This girl?
“Hey, aren’t you going to greet your teacher when he arrives?”
“Huh? What do you… No way… You, are you Zeron!?”
“Zeron is informal, you brat.”
He gave her a forehead flick, and she let out a “Kyak!?” sound.
That’s a pretty satisfying sound.
“Ah, no, you! Do you have some important event today?”
“It’s duel week. I came to cheer for the kid.”
“Hmm… What, are you lovers or something?”
A sneer appeared on Miss Sass’s lips.
It was a look like she was seeing a child sex offender.
Rude girl.
“Bullshit. Lovers, my ass. I’m just here to cheer for my daughter.”
“Huh? Daughter…? Medea was your daughter…?”
“She’s not my daughter though?”
“Then she’s not your daughter at all!”
“She might not be my daughter, but she’s still my daughter.”
As he was playing around with Miss Sass, maybe because their voices were so loud.
The kid seemed to have heard and came trotting over.
“Hey, mister. Are you fighting again today?”
“Fighting? I’m just playing with her.”
“Oh? Lapien. Come to think of it, why are you here?”
“Huh? What do you mean? It’s duel week, so I’m here for the duels, of course?”
Looking at her quizzically, Miss Sass snorted.
“I’m from the Magic Department, you know? I don’t have any scheduled duels today, so I just came to watch.”
“But shouldn’t you be watching the Magic Department duels? Why are you watching here?”
“What? Got a problem with that?”
“Well, consider my situation of having to see your face again today.”
“Why, you!”
As he was chuckling, he heard Medea’s name being called.
‘Oh.’ Zeron ignored Miss Sass’s chattering and placed his hand on the kid’s head.
“Do well, kid. Make your dad proud.”
“Shut up! What pride…”
The kid brushed off the hand on her head and walked towards the arena.
It was a walk full of confidence.
“Pfft.”
It was a bit funny, like a little chick.
But then she paused, turned back and said,
“Still, you actually dressed up for once today. Good job.”
He wasn’t sure why she was praising him, but she left that compliment before continuing on her way.
What’s this?
“You… You’re really not in that kind of relationship with Medea, right? I’m seriously going to report you?”
“Shut your trap.”