Crinckle~

"Munch... Munch...."

I sat in silence while Delilah ate her bar beside me. From time to time, a few cadets would stop by to look at her before leaving.

At first, it was fine, but it started to get worse as more cadets appeared.

Enough to arouse a reaction from Delilah who stopped eating.

"I'm getting a lot of stares."

".....I told you so."

"It's fine."

Delilah replied nonchalantly.

Then, glancing at me, she replied,

"I've got you, no?"

"Me?"

What does that even mean?

".....Take a look around."

I did as she asked.

That was when I realized it. The moment my head turned, so would the heads of all the other cadets around.

'This...'

I didn't know how to react.

Was I that scary?

"See? I don't have to worry."

Sticking her little fingers into the wrapper to grab all the crumbs, Delilah dipped her finger in her mouth.

I stared at the scene unsure of how to react.

I wanted to judge her for it, but then again. I was also guilty of doing such a thing.

"You alone are enough to stop them from approaching me."

"....."

I had no words to say.

She was right. There was no denying her words.

Just a single look and everyone would turn away from me.

I wasn't sure how to feel.

"It's starting."

Just as Delilah spoke, a voice echoed throughout the entire arena grounds.

--Cadets, please take your seats. The exhibition fight will begin shortly. I repeat. Cadets, please find a seat. The exhibition fight will begin shortly.

I exchanged glances with Delilah who scrunched up the wrapper with her small fist.

She didn't say a word, but just looking at her, I could see that she was interested in the fight.

I was as well.

Having fought with Leon already, I more or less understood the extent of his strength. While I was sure that he had some cards he had left hidden, I didn't think he'd use them here.

"Huu."

Taking a deep breath, I leaned back on my chair and crossed my arms.

But who knew?

Evelyn was a tough opponent.

Perhaps, she was going to get Leon to show his hidden cards.

It was just a thought.

Still, I was curious.

What would've happened if he had used them?

***

The delegates of the fifteen Guilds were seated in a private area that enabled them to view the entire arena ground from where they were.

It was a room that only the top VIPs were allowed to use.

".....Is the Chancellor perhaps not coming?"

A lanky man with short black hair and a long nose asked.

He was one of the delegates of the Black Hound Guild. Currently, they were ranked fifth in the Guild rankings based on what they had achieved the previous year.

"About that..."

With a difficult face, one of the Academy elders, an old woman with white hair, bitterly smiled.

"We are trying our best to find her. She might be doing an important task. It tends to happen from time to time."

"It tends to happen?"

The delegate looked at the elder with a frown.

"Are you saying that your Chancellor has this little sense of responsibility? Shouldn't she have already been aware of our presence? Why is sh--"

"Shouldn't I be enough?"

A warm voice cut through the delegate's.

There was a certain magnetism to the voice that made all those in the run turn their heads.

"Ah...!"

"....!"

Their expressions changed.

"You Highness."

"Your Royal Highness."

All members in the room stood up and paid their greetings.

The man standing before them was none other than Atlas who returned their gestures with a warm smile.

"There's no need for such polite greetings. If that's okay with you, I'm only here to make up for Delilah's absence."

"....We wouldn't dare refute!"

"It is the greatest honor!"

A stereotypical reaction. Atlas took their actions with a calm smile.

Brushing his hair to the side, he politely gestured with his hand.

"I'm glad that you all feel that way. Should we take a seat?"

"Yes."

".....Hahaha."

Dogs.

Atlas's smile almost faltered.

Their expressions. Their attitudes, and their looks. Almost all of it looked dull to Atlas. If he wanted to he could just squeeze his hand, and...

"Your Highness, I've been wondering about something."

Breaking him out of his thoughts was the delegate of the Black Hound Guild.

Sitting on the seat beside him, he wore a flattering smile.

"....Do ask."

"Haha, thank you. Thank you."

He continued to put a subversive attitude.

"I've just been wandering about the Black Star. Why did he not accept to be in the exhibition?"

In the moment he asked the question, the room turned silent.

Clearly, all the delegates were curious about the same thing.

"The Black Star...?"

Atlas was of course well aware of the situation.

He had already been informed about Julien's rejection to participate in the exhibition match. In a way, he wasn't surprised. He had only known him for a little bit of time, but Julien wasn't the type of person who would do things just because others asked him to do it.

'.....It's also why he can't be classified as Fiend.'

He was a hard person to control.

A double-edged sword, perhaps.

.....One that strangely interested him. He had a certain charm that made it hard for Atlas to dislike him.

"Yes, the Black Star. Do you think he had some sort of reasoning for rejecting our request? Surely it's not for the simple reason that he doesn't want to, right? That would make no sense. He should be well aware of our influence, and--"

"He's not someone that needs to please you."

Atlas cut the delegate off.

Stunned, the delegate threw all decorum out the window.

"Pardon? What sort of"

"It's the opposite in fact."

Atlas turned his head to meet the delegate's.

For a brief moment, his yellow pupils shone, and the delegate's face numbed. It was only for a split second.

But it was just enough to stop the delegate from speaking.

In that brief moment of silence that took over the room, Atlas looked around the room before leaning back on his chair.

"...It's not him that needs to please you. It's you who needs to please him."

The same was probably true for Leon too.

***

The two contestants will now be entering the arena.

At the announcement, the surroundings turned quiet. There was a palpable tension in the air.

It was strange.

Especially since from the way everyone was talking, the fight's winner was already decided.

'I guess it's more from the fact that they want to see the underdog win.'

Who didn't like underdogs to win?

On our left side, please welcome Evelyn Jannet Verlice!

The arena gates from the left side opened and Evelyn entered. Appearing on the projections above, her closed-up image appeared for all to see.

She was beautiful.

To the point where many of the cadets around found themselves unable to tear their gazes away from her image.

I also thought she was pretty.

.....But I was practically immune to looks by now.

Involuntarily, my gaze fell on the little girl beside me. In her full form, she outclassed Evelyn in almost every way.

As if sensing my gaze, Delilah turned her head.

"What?"

".....It's nothing."

I looked away from her.

It was then Leon's turn to be announced.

On our right side, please welcome Leon Rowan Ellert!

Was there anything that I needed to say about his appearance?

Just like Evelyn, the moment he entered, he attracted the gaze of the cadets. In particular, the female cadets who looked at the screen awestruck by his appearance.

Thinking about it, there were quite a lot of good-looking people in the Academy.

It mostly had to do with the fact that we were capable of handling mana which nurtured the body for the better.

Of course, that didn't mean that there weren't ugly people.

It was just that they were in the minority.

Contestants, please get into positions.

The arena grounds turned quiet once more.

Standing on opposite ends, Leon and Evelyn stood face-to-

face with each other. There was visible tension between the two at the moment.

With his hand over the hilt of his sword, Leon got into position.

On the other hand, the mana around Evelyn grew rampant.

"...."

"...."

Just when everyone was wondering whether the fight would start or not, the announcer spoke.

Start!

The first one to make her move was Evelyn who brought her hand forward, channeling two magic circles at a speed that I could only envy.

Kracka! Kracka!

The air crackled, and bolts of lightning shot in Leon's direction.

They moved at an impressive speed. By the time it took me to blink, they were already upon him.

But Leon appeared unperturbed by the attack.

With the same indifferent gaze of his, he stepped forward and unsheated his sword.

And then,

Swooosh

He swung horizontally.

In that moment, the lightning that was heading his way coiled around his sword before scattering toward the ground.

Tzzz~

Two black marks appeared on the arena grounds and silence gripped over the surroundings.

But the silence didn't last for long.

"Whoooooo!"

The roar of the crowd followed shortly after that.

They were so loud that for a brief moment, I had to cover my ears.

"That was awesome!"

"I told you Leon was going to beat her!"

".....It's not over yet!"

That simple exchange the two had pretty much dictated whose side the momentum was going to be on.

Bang!

Without hesitation, he pushed himself forward and appeared before a slightly flustered Evelyn.

Swoosh

His sword cleaved down from above.

'I'm getting flashbacks.'

The move he had currently performed was one that I had experienced firsthand.

It wasn't something I liked to remember.

Certainly, I was also sure Evelyn would feel the same way by the end of the fight.

Swoosh, swoosh

The fight progressed.

It pretty much started to pan out the way most people expected it to pan out.

Kracka!

Evelyn was certainly putting up a fight.

She was doing a far better job than I had been. However, there was a clear gap in skills between her and Leon.

From the way he could predict her movements, to the way he nullified every one of her attacks.

It was simply one-sided.

So much so that I started to drift into my own thoughts and no longer started paying attention to the fight.

It therefore came to me as an utter shock when the result was announced.

Winner of the duel, Evelyn Jannet Verlyce.

".....Uh?"

I blinked and looked around me.

The entire arena grounds were quiet with everyone sporting similarly stunned expressions.

"This..."

How?

How was this possible?

He had clearly been dominating the entire fight. How was it possible for him to lose?!

Amidst my shock, Delilah's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"You did it."

"Uh?"

When I looked down, her deep black eyes were already locked onto me.

"I can feel it."

Feel it...?

What was she-

Lifting her head slightly, Delilah's gaze returned to the projections. Narrowing her eyes, she quietly mumbled,

".....Fear. It's consuming him."