The Duel (Part 1)

Chapter XIX

The Duel (Part 1)

Enji squinted and shielded his eyes with one hand when he stepped outside the inn; the sun was peeking from the top of the buildings across the street. Galakei and Silma walked in front of him toward the carriage by which Kasus waited stoically, standing next to its door. They were going to the guild to register their names as the challenged party in the duel.

Silma had been nervous the night before, but today she seemed more relaxed. She had been training relentlessly for the past few days, and her casting time had dropped to twenty-five percent of what it used to be. She was ready and eager.

The rest of the girls wanted to go with them, but since this was official business, pertaining only to Enji and Silma, Galakei told them to wait at the inn. For which they abided reluctantly.

The place they were going was a government office outside the citadel walls, where citizens, commons, or nobles could file grievances, report crimes, and request permission to visit guilds or offices beyond the inner walls.

They arrived and entered the building’s front yard without being challenged by the guards outside the gate. Galakei’s crest painted on the side of the carriage did its magic.

After introductions in the main hall, they were ushered into a reception room to wait for the official in charge of duels.

There’s bureaucracy in any world. Enji passed the time studying the paintings on the walls, which probably depicted prominent figures or past officials.

A relatively young man, having not yet reached middle age, entered the room. After the customary salutations, he sat across from them and spread several parchment documents on the low table between them. “Lord Morage Deepford, son of Lord Mitage Deepford, of the North Eastern Canton domain, had filed a letter of challenge to Lord Enji Hasegawa, in this office on such date as stated in the document. Are you Lord Enji Hasegawa?”

He sat straight. “Yes, I am Lord Enji Hasegawa.” Galakei had instructed Enji on how to answer the government officials correctly.

“And you will honor the letter of challenge by dueling Lord Morage Deepford?”

“I will honor the letter of challenge by means of a proxy.”

“What name shall I note for the proxy?” the official asked in a monotonous voice. He was probably used to this type of thing. He readied a quill pen.

“She is by my side, Lady Silma of Eithea’s Farm.” Enji pointed at her. Silma smiled.

“Lady Sil—” The official raised the pen from the paper. “The claim can not participate in the duel as a combatant.”

“Huh?” Enji gaped in confusion at the man in front of him. Silma looked between them, no less confused.

“What is the meaning of this?” Galakei leaned forward, her brow furrowed.

“The challenger annotated the slave Silma as compensation for the grievance against the challenged, as stated in this document. Which means that the compensation must remain in the custody of the palace guards to safeguard that no harm comes to it.”

“That’s not what it says on—” Galakei stopped Enji’s outburst by grabbing his arm. Enji sat back down as the official gave him an impassive stare.

“Till when do we have to annotate another proxy?” Galakei calmly asked. Enji could hear her teeth grinding.

“Tomorrow, midday.” The official began to collect the documents on the table.

“Then we shall be back before midday.” Galakei rose and headed out of the room. Enji and Silma hurried to her side.

“That son of an orc...”

Enji side-glanced at Galakei. He didn’t know if the insult was meant for the government official or the domain lord’s son. It would probably fit in either case.

She stomped out of the building without looking at anyone. Enji had never seen her so mad. She was so furious that she neglected her usual courtesy to others.

“What did you find out?” Galakei asked Kasus when she reached the carriage.

“All new officials. The nobles had been replacing them with their own people, and the effect is already evident in the expression you carry, Lady Gala.

“Yes, they altered the challenge document, and I have no way of proving it.”

“What was the change?”

“Silma can’t participate as a combatant.” Galakei climbed into the carriage.

“Lady Gala, if you per—”

“No, Kasus, I’ll find another way. And you two, stop looking so shocked and get in the carriage!”

***

Galakei finished informing everyone what had transpired at the government building and what she suspected of the forged addition to the document.

Except for Kasus, they were assembled in the receiving room of Galakei’s suite, where the girls and Eithea shared the four rooms of the suite with her. Enji, the twins, and Kasus had two other rooms on the same floor.

“I’ll fight!” Nilsei stated.

“No, I’ll be the one!” Skia rose to her feet.

Popa jumped up. “I fight for Enji Lo!”

“You three, calm down.” Galakei stared at them. “None of you can cast mid-level magic. Pinia is the only one who has the output, but can’t fight for obvious reasons. Sol’s earth magic is above mid-range, but it takes too long to cast, and Enji hasn’t figured out how it works yet.”

“What are we going to do?” Eithea asked.

“We could hire a mercenary, but I’m reluctant, unaware of how far the nobles’ reach extends. If the person we hire becomes a no-show or is assassinated, we automatically lose. Anyone can be bought; money speaks loudly. I already discarded the assassination route on our part.” Galakei glanced at Eithea. “At the moment, unless Enji fights, there is no way for us to win.”

“Assassination?” Silma asked, unsure if she had heard right.

“We know a certain individual who used to be an assassin. They were from the Order of the Crown Assassins,” Eithea clarified.

“I’ll fight.”

Everyone turned to Enji, who had been deep in thought throughout the conversation.

“Are you certain?” Galakei asked.

“Yes. I will need Elpinia’s help if she’s willing.”

“You can count on me,” Elpinia acknowledged.

“Anything else you need?” Galakei asked.

He turned to the fox-eared woman, “I only have four gemstones with me. I’ll need a few more. Eithea, I’ll give you another of my books when we get back to cover for their purchase.”

“Don’t worry about it. Give me until before dinner.” Eithea rose from her seat and entered her room to change.

“Pol, Sol, you two will go with Eithea. Silma, Popa, come with me. The rest of you help Enji with whatever he needs.” Galakei headed to the door of her suite, where she turned around and said, “I wonder what the betting odds are at the moment; we could win big money out of this.”

“Betting?” Enji’s eye twitched.

***

Enji spread out the crystals on the low table before him. With the help of Elpinia, he now had a good assortment of spells at his command. He attached some of the smaller stones to the arm brace. The others he will distribute in his pockets. Taking one of the gemstones, he mumbled while staring at it, “I need more ram.” The small gemstone crystal had a limited capacity, and lengthy spells wouldn’t fit.

“Who’s Ram?” Nilsei asked.

“Huh? No, RAM is a device, not someone.”

“What? Another girl?” Skia approached.

“You are getting it wrong! Ram is not a girl. Unless you count a certain pink-haired demon maid.

“Ram is a common woman’s name,” Skia informed.

“Is it? Never mind that, what I’m referring to is a device that stores information.”

“Ah.” Nilsai just uttered, eyeing him funny.

Enji stood. “Skia, grab my arm.”

Not only Skia did, but Nilsei also attached herself to his other arm. “I can’t work like this! I need a free hand.” Nilsei reluctantly released him, but still grabbed the back of his shirt.

“Run Fire two.” He counted in his head three seconds. That was the amount of time he had programmed into the spell for him to supply one of the variables, since there was no screen on which he could look for the prompt.

[enter level]

That took Enji by surprise. The translator had echoed the print command preceding the variable input prompt on the spell. The first thing that came to mind was the command and status screens of RPG games, but he quickly doused his enthusiasm; magic in this world aligned more with Basic, not RPG games. “One.” He waited for the other variable prompt.

[enter location in meters]

“One...” An idea came to him. “...Two, two.” A small flame appeared, floating in the air, one meter away from him, two meters to his right, and two meters from the floor. What he had accomplished changed the way he had written the incantations up to this moment. This is easier than I thought! Now, not only can he program variable parameters, but spatial 3D coordinates can also be specified. He jumped with joy. First, he hugged Skia, then grabbed Nilsei too, spinning in circles with the two girls in his arms. “This is wonderful! Elpinia needs to reprogram some of these stones!” He shouted.

The two girls, their faces red, eyed Enji with bewilderment. His outburst had taken them by surprise, leaving them unsure of what to do or say.

“Lord Hasegawa, put that flame out before it burns the inn.”

Enji stopped and looked at Lia, who was pointing at the flame in the middle of the room.

“Oops! End!” The flame extinguished. “Back to work!” Enji sat and began writing new commands in his notebook.

Skia and Nilsei stood like statues in front of him. From one of the bedroom doors, Lia smiled.

***

Enji dressed in the black outfit Galakei had gifted him. With no mirrors in the room, he used the timer on his phone camera to take a full-body picture. “Cool! I definitely look like an edgelord; all I need is an eye patch and white hair.” He posed for another photo.

When he stepped out of Galakei’s room, where he had dressed, Eithea was the first to comment, “Oh my, that sure brings back memories.”

“Doesn’t he look imposing?” Galakei slapped Eithea’s back. “I’m sure I made more than one maiden swoon back in the day.”

“You were too shy even to notice who looked at you.” Eithea punched Galakei’s arm.

Only Enji knew what they were talking about. The rest remained in the dark.

“My lord, is that a new sword?” Nilsei approached him, her gaze fixed on the sword at his belt.

“Yes, a gift from Lady Galakei.” He unhooked the scabbard and handed it to her.

Nilsei drew the blade a few centimeters out from the sheath. “It’s beautiful!”

“May I?”

Nilsei handed the sword to Skia. She drew it from the scabbard in one fluid motion and swung it twice in crossed swings in front of her. “This sword is magnificent, my worm. It sings to me. I’m sure it will serve you well.”

“Thanks.” He reattached the scabbard to his belt. “I’m ready!”

“Remember, Sol and Pol can only accompany you to the waiting room; from there to the training grounds, you are on your own. Be aware and wary of anything and anyone,” Galakei reminded him.

“Give a good show; there might be spectators who would appreciate it.”

Enji wondered what Eithea was referring to, but he quickly forgot about it, having other, more crucial things to think about.

Earlier, they had returned to the government office to annotate his name as the combatant. Then Silma was handed to the guards for safekeeping, and Galakei had requested that Popa stay with her, just in case.

As they walked to the carriage, Enji asked the mage, “What were you discussing with that official? He seemed nervous.”

“I requested a few demands to be added to the letter of challenge that benefit us.”

“Is that possible?”

“I told that official that I had requested an investigation by the crown into the validity of the documents.”

“Couldn’t that stop the duel?”

“No, it takes time for the investigators to act.”

“Right.” He had little hope of resolving the issue through legal means, given the system’s corruption.

The two carriages passed through the citadel’s gate and headed to the mage corps’ guild. It was a three-story rectangular building, with the training ground, according to Galakei’s account, located inside at its center.

Once inside, Nilsei, Elpinia, and the three vampire girls wished him luck and headed to their spectator seats. Galakei put her hand on Enji’s head. “I believe in you.”

Enji nodded; he felt like a little kid getting encouragement from his mother, except that Enji and Galakei were the same height.

Enji watched the mage leave. He turned to where Sol and Pol waited for him. “Let’s go.”

***

He was all nerves, his hands shook, and his knees trembled as he walked through the hallway. It didn’t help that he had to wait in that room for more than an hour until the duel, causing the encouragement he had built before arriving to dissipate.

Enji entered the training ground, which was bigger than he had expected. It was open to the sky, an inner courtyard, surrounded by the guild building on all sides. On the second floor, he saw people seated all around. Too many people, what am I, a gladiator? Enji thought that if the courtyard had been round, it would have felt like a Roman circus.

Someone announced his name and title, the same as that of his opponent. He didn’t pay much attention to what the announcer babbled about; his eyes were focused on the fat lord’s brat, who was dressed in ridiculous garments of garish colors.

The announcer ended his drivel. That’s when Enji realized that Morage was chanting. He sprinted forward, having lost a second by not hearing the start signal. He thanked his uncle for the training he had received in Hokkaido.

He was about five meters away from Morage when he touched one of the gemstones on his armbrace. “Run Cancel!”

The circles that had formed when Morage began the incantation dissipated. Morage stared at Enji, getting closer, terrified, without understanding what had happened to his magic.

Three more steps and Enji would be within striking distance. The spell he had used functioned by inserting a ‘stop’ and ‘clear screen’ command into the opponent’s incantation, canceling the spell.

He reached for the sword’s pommel, but he never had a chance to draw it. He found himself rolling on the ground, his ears ringing, and gasping for air. An explosion and flames had appeared between the lord’s son and Enji. Knocking him back.

Enji slapped his arm to extinguish a flame on it. He was glad of Galakei’s gift. The outfit was resistant to fire and minor attacks. He stood and looked to where Morage was. The domain lord’s son was sitting on the ground, looking confused.

Enji was about to dash forward again when he heard an incantation being chanted, but it wasn’t coming from Morage; he wasn’t even moving his lips. Enji ran, but not toward Morage; he moved to one side as fast as his legs let him.

The ball of fire passed close to his back. Enji stopped. That type of chant required seven seconds, but not knowing who the enemy was or where, he could not rush them.

He thought hard, trying to guess what the trick was. If only I had... He touched one of the gems in his pocket. That’s when another fireball appeared, barreling directly at him.

Crap! There is more than one!