Chapter 101

The dueling exam proceeded swiftly.

Starting from Group 1, pairs came up in order to face off for a total of five bouts.

The type of duel was ‘Sorbonduce,’ where two magicians simultaneously cast magic at each other.

Wins and losses were not counted.

It was merely an exam that adopted the format of a duel, not a real duel.

What was important for the evaluation was how accurately one could manifest the designated formulas and magic.

Therefore, even if one lost the duel, as long as their calculations were precise and the magic's effect was intact-

they could receive a good score as a student.

However, that was only the professor's perspective.

The attention of the still-young first-year students was also focused on the wins and losses themselves.

Whoosh- Bang-!

“Aargh-!”

Hit by Joy’s wind-attribute magic, Russel was sent flying off the stage.

The power to completely break through Russel's fire-attribute magic with the disadvantageous wind attribute.

The watching students were surprised and, at the same time, intrigued.

The duel between Russel, one of the core members of Alexein's group, and Joy, the leader of the commoner group.

It was one of the most exciting matches to take place in this exam, but the victor was decided much faster than expected.

Russel staggered back onto the stage.

It was already the fourth time he had been pushed off the stage by Joy’s magic.

If he was pushed back even in the final bout, Launching, it would be a literal complete defeat.

‘I can’t suffer such humiliation……!’

Russel gritted his teeth and aimed his wand at Joy.

Then, as soon as Fred’s starting signal was given, he drew upon his mana with all his might.

He even prepared himself a little faster than the starting signal, ready to be caught.

But the next moment.

“Aaargh-!”

Blasted once again by Joy’s mana, which flew at him with tremendous force, he ended up tumbling on the floor.

Thanks to the magic Fred had cast beforehand, his body wasn't injured.

However, Russel’s expression grew darker than if he had actually been hurt.

To be soundly defeated by a commoner he usually looked down on so much.

Although no one would openly mock him, a scion of the Morrison family, everyone was surely sneering inwardly.

His pride was wounded and he was so ashamed that he couldn't control his expression at all.

With a hardened face, Russel went back up on the stage.

A duel was simply a duel.

In the sense of cooling down the heat of the match, a duel ends with ‘Salus,’ a gesture of respect toward the opponent.

Unlike Russel, who had a devastated expression, Joy showed no emotion.

She simply bowed at Fred’s signal and then descended from the stage.

Watching Joy, Eddie graded her on his mental scorecard.

Strengthened mana.

Calmness that wasn't swayed by excitement.

And even an attitude of suppressing personal feelings to respect her opponent.

Joy had grown.

And very satisfactorily at that.

Eddie relaxed a little and watched the subsequent duels.

Due to the nature of Sorbonduce, where matches were decided quickly, Eddie’s turn came soon.

“Group 24, Eddie Summerson - Alexein Dickens.”

At the assistant’s call, Eddie and Alexein went up on the stage.

It was the turn that was drawing attention as the biggest match of this dueling exam.

The students’ eyes sparkled with anticipation and nervousness.

Even Fred's assistants, who had been expressionless the whole time, showed interest at Eddie’s appearance.

There were several reasons why so much attention was focused on this duel.

First, they could see Eddie’s true capabilities.

Second, it was a confrontation between the class president and the vice president.

And finally, the one who would be beaten by Eddie’s skills was Alexein, who had always looked down on him.

Although most of the students were from the upper class, few had a sincere liking for Alexein.

They had only approached him to forge a connection with the powerful Dickens family.

And even those who genuinely liked him were somewhat lukewarm in their support for Alexein in this duel.

Most of the students were secretly hoping for it.

For a scene where Alexein would be thoroughly beaten by Eddie in the duel.

“……”

Eddie sighed as he looked at the students’ gazes directed toward them.

‘Does this guy even know? That among all those classmates, not a single one of them genuinely supports him.’

Even in this aspect, Alexein was compared to his grandfather.

His grandfather, Eustaf, had a very upright personality.

He never intentionally dragged friends around or told them to follow him.

But his actions and leadership, which matched his righteous character, created followers who were drawn to him from the heart, and eventually, most of his classmates genuinely followed and supported him.

It was a stark contrast to Alexein, who was surrounded only by connections pretending to be friends.

Eddie and Alexein faced each other on the stage.

And at Fred’s signal, they assumed their dueling stances.

Alexein’s expression was clearly tense.

Now that the spitefulness was gone, his face finally resembled his grandfather's.

With the signal announcing the start of the duel, Eddie moved his wand.

.

.

.

A short while later.

The fifth bout between Eddie and Alexein had ended.

Having dueled up to Launching, the two of them lowered their wands and looked at each other.

Murmur, murmur, murmur-

Whispers about the two filled the training hall.

Everyone was unable to hide their bewilderment at the result of their duel.

“Is it a draw?”

“I guess so. A winner was never decided.”

“Don’t you think that Eddie fellow went easy on him? It makes no sense that a guy said to have such amazing mana is on par with Alexein.”

“He must be controlling his power because he’s a tail. If he took first place in this exam, his final grade might end up being higher than Marcel’s.”

The murmuring grew louder.

Everyone thought that Eddie had gone easy on Alexein.

They speculated that the reason was to avoid going against Marcel as a tail.

They were about half right.

Eddie did intend to get a lower score than Marcel in this midterm exam.

He had decided to keep a low profile and remain faithful to his role as a tail until he left the Kirhausen family.

But not in this exam.

He had already adjusted his scores in the three preceding theory subjects, so Eddie gave his all in the duel.

It was just that his method wasn't in the form of ‘winning’.

He conducted the duel by focusing not on winning or losing, but on the essence of the exam: ‘the accurate manifestation of magic’.

In a way, far from going easy on Alexein, he had treated him properly.

He had allowed him to experience a proper duel, beyond the smokescreen of victory and defeat.

Eddie didn't disrupt Alexein’s magic and focused solely on his own.

Precise calculation, intact power, and stable maintenance.

As Eddie focused on his own magic rather than on winning, Alexein also focused on his own magic.

At first, he was flustered that Eddie wasn’t coming at him with overwhelming force, but he soon grasped the situation and followed Eddie’s lead in the duel.

He focused on accurate manifestation to secure points, just as Eddie was doing.

And after the five bouts were over, Alexein stared blankly at Eddie in a daze.

‘Did he… not care about winning or losing from the start?’

He felt like bursting into a hollow laugh.

He felt like an idiot for being so nervous about being embarrassed by Eddie.

“Salus.”

Following Fred’s instruction, they bowed to each other, and then Eddie and Alexein descended from the stage.

The students were now half disappointed, half realizing the true nature of the exam.

The atmosphere, which had been focused solely on victory and defeat like spectators at a gambling match, had largely dissipated.

Fred was pleased with the now-corrected atmosphere of the exam.

“Next.”

The exam continued.

And before long, it was Marcel and Derrick’s turn.

The two went up to the stage as their names were called.

Gazes were focused on them, but it wasn't with overwhelming interest.

This was partly because the exam’s big match was already over, and partly because Eddie had diluted the gambling-den atmosphere.

But for Eddie, this duel was the most important one.

He stared with sharp eyes at Derrick’s haggard complexion.

Derrick flinched for a moment at Eddie’s gaze, then took his dueling stance.

The grumbling words he wanted to say lingered on his tongue, unable to come out.

‘I’m going to do it properly even if you don’t glare at me like that, you damn bastard.’

The duel began, and Derrick really did as he had promised.

To be precise, he was made to do as promised.

Every time he circulated his mana, his stomach churned, making it impossible for him to even manifest proper magic.

The duel naturally became a situation where Marcel was overwhelming him.

In truth, Marcel wasn't that outstanding either.

His power was ordinary since he was using only his own mana.

But Derrick’s condition was so pathetic that it made Marcel look as if he were performing brilliantly in the exam.

In an instant, the fourth bout was over.

Derrick had once again manifested a negligible level of magic, and the points went entirely to Marcel.

Watching Derrick’s continued poor performance, the students murmured in puzzlement.

But since his complexion was so bad, they just thought Derrick had failed to manage his condition.

Furthermore, Jeremy’s reaction, ‘That guy said he was feeling sick since a while ago,’ added more credibility to the theory of his poor condition.

Before long, the two had their final bout, Launching.

Derrick lowered his wand and staggered, catching his short breath.

Marcel likewise lowered his wand and looked at Derrick.

He felt a little sorry for him, seeing his poor physical state.

But he didn't show his pity outwardly.

“Salus.”

After greeting each other, the two descended from the stage.

Derrick's expression was even darker than when he had first gone up on stage.

His mood sank to the point where he couldn't even hear Jeremy and his other friends asking if he was okay.

‘In the end, it turned out just as that bastard wanted. Damn it!’

Derrick clenched his fist and shot a glance at Eddie.

But just then, Eddie was also looking toward Derrick.

“……!”

As if to say ‘Well done,’ Eddie showed a subtle smile.

Derrick was so furious that a vein popped on his forehead.

Seeing Derrick’s reddening face, Jeremy grew more concerned, but for Derrick, who couldn't reveal the circumstances, it was utterly useless.

He suppressed his anger alone.

‘That son of a bitch…. Just you dare not get rid of that note, I’ll make you perform the Reenactment of the Vow during mealtime.’

Before long, the final group’s duel was over.

The midterm exam had ended.

The students relaxed with relieved expressions.

They all cheered that the exam was over, expressing their anticipation for the 5-day holiday that would soon begin.

But Eddie and Marcel could not.

As soon as the midterm exam ended, a real sense of tension came over them.

Marcel, and of course, Eddie as well.

‘It’s finally just around the corner. My first all-out confrontation with him.’

With a changed look in his eyes, Eddie glanced at Marcel standing beside him.

Marcel did not avoid his gaze.

He too had resolved to face the truth of his family during this holiday.

* * *

That afternoon.

The students, finished with their exams, rested and leisurely packed their bags.

Pleasant chats sharing plans for the holiday could be heard from all over the common room.

And exuding an atmosphere contrary to the common room, Marcel was lost in thought alone in his room.

“Haa……”

As his thoughts deepened, so did his sighs.

‘Tomorrow… what on earth will I find out…….’

As much as he wanted to know, there was a large part of him that didn't want to know.

But he had already made his decision.

The start of it was the letter he had sent to his family just before the midterms began, stating, ‘I will not go to Shainborough this holiday and will devote myself to my studies.’

The family's reply, now in his hand, further supported that decision.

[The master was also greatly pleased with the young master’s passion for learning. We will understand that you will be spending this holiday at the academy.]

Was the faint sense of relief from the family in those sentences just his imagination?

He had read it over and over again, but it felt as if they were welcoming the fact that he was not coming to Shainborough.

Marcel gripped the letter tightly with his fingertips.

And while he was steeling himself, Eddie, who had returned after burning Derrick’s note, came back to the room.

“Are you ready?”

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