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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 122: A duel between you and me?
His lips were smiling, but his eyes weren't.
A bizarre expression, a mixture of laughter and sorrow.
Within that bizarre expression, there was also fear.
To put it in a nutshell:
"He has the expression of a dog waiting for its grumpy owner to come home."
Balkan tried to regain his composure, but it was too late.
Considering Balkan's usual demeanor, his change in expression was enough to gauge how surprised he was.
"Ruin Samael."
It was then that a voice came from the side.
"You're going too far."
Elder Parin shook his head slightly and looked at me.
"I've been watching you with interest, but this is too much. I understand your frustration, but I'll overlook it this once as a slip of the tongue from a junior."
I looked at Elder Parin and asked,
"Does this seem like a slip of the tongue to you?"
"You...?"
"I suspect you."
"You're speaking out of line."
"I'm becoming more and more suspicious."
"Do you truly mean that?"
I met Elder Parin's gaze.
Behind his monocle, I could see displeasure.
"Of course I mean it."
"I'll ask you this. Do you believe the Blue Magic Tower has any reason to do such a thing?"
"I don't know. I'm trying to find out."
"I was trying not to interfere, as it seemed like a matter between families."
The corner of Elder Parin's eye twitched.
"Only Samael had the opportunity to act at the dinner. If it wasn't them, I would have intervened and mediated with Urgon."
"Showing your true colors now, are you? You pretended to be so easygoing when we were eating the braised carp. You have quite the acting skills."
"What?"
"It didn't happen at the dinner in the first place."
Despite my provocation, Parin remained calm.
"That doesn't make sense, Ruin. The commander was perfectly fine until the dinner. It's not like only one or two people witnessed this."
I looked around for a moment.
As Parin coldly laid out the situation, the tide turned against me.
I pointed at Parin and said,
"The commander is still safe. It was never poisoning in the first place."
"Safe?"
"Lord Loren confirmed it herself."
"So you're saying he wasn't attacked before the dinner, nor during the dinner? Then where was the commander attacked? Are you saying he was faking it?"
Indeed, a scholar-like mage.
He has perfectly honed his inner self, just like a scholar.
This is a reaction that couldn't be shown without the confidence of being in the right.
But this reaction is also the moment I've been waiting for.
I quietly waited for Parin's next words.
"How do you intend to prove that the commander is safe?"
I grinned and looked at Loren.
Loren, who had been looking bored until now, subtly raised her eyebrows for the first time.
"I asked you how you were going to prove it. Why aren't you answering?"
Parin was speaking to me, but he was also asking Loren.
Why are you protecting him?
The reason for asking that was simple.
"Elder Parin, you think Lord Loren is lying."
Fichte couldn't possibly be safe.
Because that was what Parin believed.
"It doesn't make sense, so I'm just saying. Everyone is gathered here, so wouldn't it be better to be sure?"
"...."
When I continued to remain silent, Parin said quietly,
"He must not be safe after all."
It was then that someone appeared in the high-ranking seats.
Elder Parin adjusted his monocle as if he had seen something he shouldn't have.
"...!"
His pupils dilated.
Lord Balkan, who was watching, also looked back and forth between the two with an expression of disbelief.
"Excuse me."
Fichte, supported by the inspectors, appeared.
Loren winked at me.
Her role was over, now it was my turn to show them.
Fichte looked around and said,
"I apologize for the trouble. I'm perfectly fine, so you don't have to worry."
'Huh?'
I just witnessed something interesting.
Elder Parin glared at Fichte almost instinctively.
It was clear killing intent.
There was definitely something between the two of them.
Elder Parin muttered, his face full of disbelief,
"How..."
I finished Parin's sentence for him.
"How is he alive?"
"...."
"It sounds like you're asking how he can be alive when he should be dead. Is that what you mean, Elder Parin?"
Elder Parin turned his head and glared at me. He could no longer control his expression.
"Ruin Samael..."
"We're back to square one. I suspect you. How do you intend to explain yourself?"
I persistently pressed Parin for his guilt.
Actually, I couldn't prove whether Elder Parin was truly the culprit. It was impossible to prove. I was just suspicious.
But sometimes the atmosphere pushes things in a certain direction.
Elder Parin, while arguing with me, had fallen into his own trap.
Murmurs grew louder in the audience.
The atmosphere made it seem like he was truly guilty.
But Parin wasn't an easy opponent.
"I am Parin of the Blue Magic Tower. What do you want me to explain?"
"There's a way to find out."
Parin's eyes flashed behind his monocle.
"How dare you."
"I have my suspicions. I intend to confirm them myself."
Lord Balkan, who had been watching Parin's expression change, quickly intervened.
"Elder Parin, I will imprison this man for the crime of insult and send a messenger to Samael. Honored guests in the audience, please return to the annex and wait."
"Stop!"
Elder Parin interrupted Balkan and asked in a low voice,
"Let's hear it then. How do you intend to confirm it?"
I said with a smile,
"You'll find out now."
I made eye contact with Elder Parin and suddenly declared,
"I challenge you to a duel."
"What?"
Elder Parin frowned and looked around before pointing to himself.
"With me?"
"Yes."
Loren, seemingly not expecting this situation, looked at me with a strange expression before letting out a chuckle. Celestine was looking at me with a worried face.
"You want to have a duel with me?"
"Correct."
"What kind of sparring is this in this situation..."
"You're not getting it, Parin. Sparring? Since when did a duel with a cause take into account the opponent's circumstances? Mages have their own way. I'm asking for a duel where blood will be spilled and flesh will be ripped apart. I'll confirm whether you're the culprit while we fight."
Suddenly, I heard someone behind me say, "Hey, you crazy bastard," so I turned to see the three of them.
Judging from the shape of his mouth, it seemed like Blair was the one who cursed.
Strangely, Taylor just glared at me and didn't do anything else. Arin's eyes seemed to hold a sense of anticipation.
A burst of laughter erupted a moment later.
Elder Parin's laughter seemed to go on forever.
Looking up at the cloudy sky, Elder Parin's laughter turned into a chilling declaration.
"Very well."
* * *
"That guy doesn't know how to hold back. What in the world..."
"He's definitely crazy."
"That's why he's a mad dog."
The audience was in chaos.
Everyone was whispering with suppressed voices, but the shock they received was beyond imagination.
"Oh dear, this person has collapsed as well."
A man called for the medical team after seeing a woman collapse, foaming at the mouth.
This wasn't the first time someone had fainted.
That's how overwhelming the series of shocking events was.
No one here expected the Mad Dog of Samael to subdue Young Master Libre so severely.
The fact that Young Master Libre lost was shocking enough, but...
The scene of the Mad Dog punching the Young Master in the face— Thwack—! Thwack—! was so brutal it would give them nightmares.
Every time the Young Master's face caved in, women foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
But that wasn't the end of it.
Taking the Young Master hostage and directly confronting Lord Balkan?
And as if that wasn't enough, provoking Elder Parin of the Blue Magic Tower and even challenging him to a duel?
Actions that couldn't be simply explained by calling him a mad dog.
At this point, a few more people with weak minds foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
"Huh, really..."
But in the expressions of the audience watching the Mad Dog of Samael...
There was definitely an undeniable excitement.
It was quite a complex feeling.
It wasn't just because of the favors that the other young masters of Samael had bestowed upon them.
The weak always live with a sense of injustice.
The people here had a certain standing within the Quebec region, but they knew they were just frogs in a well.
They could only survive by bowing down to powerful families like Urgon.
But doesn't everyone dream?
Of a moment in their imagination where they can finally speak their mind to the powerful.
And they were witnessing that moment.
The imaginary moment where someone tells the powerful that they are wrong.
And it was Samael, whom they themselves had disregarded as the weakest.
"...Amazing."
Garheim, Pretel's father, was truly impressed.
He thought of Pretel, who was lying in bed.
This young man was doing what he himself was too afraid of Urgon to do.
To describe the emotion filling Garheim's eyes in one word:
It was exhilaration.
"Tsk."
Of course, not everyone felt the same way.
There were also those who were simply observing the situation.
"How reckless."
A man who had been watching the situation with cold eyes shook his head.
"With this incident, Samael won't escape destruction. To make an enemy of Elder Parin on top of Urgon..."
The woman beside him agreed.
"Indeed. What is he thinking?"
"You can never know the thoughts of a mad dog. A moment of anger ruined everything."
"If he had stayed quiet, the situation wouldn't have been so bad. It's unfortunate for Master Taylor and Master Blair."
"I agree."
The woman turned her head and looked at another man.
He was a man who hadn't said a word until now.
"What do you think, Mr. Walter?"
"...Well."
"Come on, tell us. You're the most knowledgeable among us, aren't you? I'm curious to hear your opinion, Mr. Walter."
The man called Walter shook his head and replied,
"It's hard to predict. Staying quiet doesn't necessarily make things better."
"So you have a different opinion?"
"It's unexpected."
"Are you surprised?"
The surrounding eyes gathered on Walter.
Although everyone had met Walter for the first time at this banquet, his insights were enough to captivate them all.
So when Walter expressed his surprise, they couldn't contain their curiosity.
Walter murmured,
"Yes, to think he would target Elder Parin."
"Target him, you say?"
"It's probably not a thoughtless action."
The woman looked directly at Walter.
"Do you think what he did was right?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Right?"
When Walter didn't answer, the woman took it as a sign of agreement and turned her head back to the arena.
One by one, the others also looked away from Walter.
Walter also looked at the arena.
The Crazy Mage Squad Commander of Samael and the First Elder of the Blue Magic Tower were facing each other.
"It was refreshing, though."
Walter muttered in a voice so low that no one could hear him.
It wasn't a thoughtless action.
There was definitely a clear purpose for the Crazy Mage Squad Commander to duel with Elder Parin.
If he really did expose Elder Parin as the culprit, the situation would change.
"But it's impossible."
No matter how talented the Crazy Mage Squad Commander was for his age, it was impossible to defeat Elder Parin.
The First Elder of the Blue Magic Tower was on a different level.
Of course, the Crazy Mage Squad Commander wouldn't be unaware of that fact.
That's why it was even more impossible.
Because he could guess what the Crazy Mage Squad Commander was aiming for.
"This is it for you, Crazy Mage Squad Commander."
Walter, who had been watching the Crazy Mage Squad Commander with a loss of interest, swallowed his next words.
'Ardehain won't intervene. It'll be a suicidal move.'
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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