Cecilia was the one who immediately reacted to Zackās mentioning āduelā.
She stood up from her seat and said with such force as if she was about to hit the table.
[What are you talking about!? Weāre having an important conversation during dinner. Even if itās my brotherās order, I canāt let him do as he wants.]
The knights bowed deeply towards Cecilia. Then, Zack said while giving me a look.
[Itās Cecilia-sama whoās doing as you want. Normally, only elves are allowed to enter elven town. And heās different from us.]
[Thatāsā¦]
[Lord Georg has prepared this duel with him in mind. He admonished the other elves, saying that if he could fight and win against the elf knights, then at least he deserves to stay here.]
[But, anyone can lose their life in a duel. He is MY guest.]
[It is exactly why. In order for everyone to welcome him as an official elf guest, he needs that qualification.]
[Kuh.]
I got the gist of it from what theyāre talking about. Iām indeed inside the elf town, but Iām still considered as an outsider.
To qualify, I must win a duel arranged by Georg. I take another look at my opponent, Zack. He had a long sword hanging on his waist, and his arms were well trained to the point where he could swing the heavy sword freely. Given his tall and slender body, one can expect him to be quick in his movements. Judging by the roughness of his palms, it seems that he has put a lot of effort into training his sword.
Intuitively, I knew that Zack was a strong swordsman.
[You have crossed the sea despite the sea serpent. Surely you will agree to duel me?]
[As if I have any right to decline.]
[Good, you know your place.]
Cecilia seemed to intend to interfere, but I gestured to her to stop, and asked Zack.
[When will the duel take place?]
[The ceremony is taking place as we speak.]
[Itās too sudden!]
They probably didnāt want to give Cecilia time to interfere.
If itās all decided behind the scenes, thereās no way for me to escape now.
[Okay. Where should I go?]
[Thatās why we came to pick you up.]
After saying that, the three elven knights left the bar.
Cecilia and I, who were left behind, looked at each other.
[Itās too dangerous.]
[But if I donāt go, Ceciliaās position will be in jeopardy]
Itās fine if itās just me being ostracized. But, what if the true purpose was to exclude Cecilia?
Even if I, a wanderer, set out from here to the world outside the wall, I could always return to where I washed up on the beach.
Cecilia is not the same as me. She may lose entry to the important place where she was born and raised.
To me, losing a place to return toā¦ seemed very frightening.
My goal is to find Roxy and return to the Royal Capital Seyfert, where Aaron is waiting. If I lose my place to return to, I will be lost in this foreign world.
I would like to avoid at all costs the fact that Cecilia took care of me as an opportunity for others to degrade her.
[Letās go, follow me.]
Zack called out to me from the exit of the bar.
I grabbed the black sword Greed and chased after him. Cecilia also followed behind me.
[Iāll go too. I have to keep an eye on my nii-san to make sure he doesnāt do something cowardly.]
[You donāt trust your nii-san at all, do you?]
[Right now, my onii-san is betraying my trust.]
Itās sad that things have continued to develop to the point where siblings hate each other.
Wellā¦I donāt think I can say that about other people either. I still canāt come to terms with my other self. You could say that he and I are brothers in a sense. I donāt know which one is the older brother and which one is the younger brother, but I donāt feel like we can get along.
In that sense, Cecilia and I may be a little similar.
[Come quickly.]
Apparently impatient, Zack spoke out in a strong voice.
When I left the bar, I saw there were two elven knights on either side of him.
[Iām not running away.]
[Just in case. If you somehow miss the duel, I wonāt be able to face Georg-sama.]
The elf knights seemed to be highly loyal to Georg.
[You guys are like Georgās personal guard?]
[Indeed we are.]
Weāre walking towardā¦the main street.
I could hear the lively voices of the elves. It seemed noisier than when I pa.s.sed by to visit the bar.
Cecilia seemed to feel the same way.
[Zack! The place where the duel will take placeā¦I canāt believe it.]
[As you can see.]
Elves surprisingly seem to like flashy things. Itās a world closed in by walls after all.
There doesnāt seem to be any kind of entertainment.
I wonder if thatās whyā¦a crowd had gathered around the plaza in the center of the main street.
[Itās not a show.]
Cecilia protested, in consideration for me. But Georg wouldnāt relent.
[What are you talking about, Cecilia? This is a ritual to accept Fate Barbatos into the elven city.]
[A ritual?]
[Itās like a reincarnation ceremony. But, this time itās the other way around.]
The opposite of the Reincarnation Ceremonyā¦ the Reincarnation Ceremony is expelling someone from the Great Wall.
So, this duel is to be accepted into the Great Wall?
[If there are so many people watching, there will be more power in the duel, right?]
[If I win, no one will complain.]
[Right. Thatās the intention.]
[ā¦Fate.]
Cecilia was looking at me worriedly.
I slowly made my way to the center of the empty plaza.
But, my opponent wasnāt there yet.
[Who will be my partner?]
[Not us.]
[What do you mean?]
Georg looked at Zack with a fearless smile on his face.
He bowed deeply and pointed his hand toward the square.
[No wayā¦nii-san. Thereās no wayā¦he canāt win.]
[No, if heās the real deal, he can win. Heās the one who came from the sacred land across the sea. Now, show me your true power.]
What! ? Something is about to be born, emitting light around it.
This is different from the spirit arts that Cecilia used.
A power swirled before my eyes that made me feel a tingling sensation on my skin.
Zack raised his voice loudly.
[Fate Barbatos. My spirit beast Belial will be your opponent.]
It has a cow-like head with two large horns. Its body had human-like limbs and was covered in thick black fur.
Itās more than twice my size and has a muscular body.
If I were to receive the fist thrown from that log-like arm, my body would probably fall apart.
Then, after the spirit beast Belial appeared, the surrounding temperature dropped further. I was starting to breathe white mist.
I pulled out the broken black sword Greed from its sheath.
The spirit beast Belial stood calmly in front of me. The sweat dripping from my forehead turned into ice and fell to the ground.
Georg kept an eye on both me and the spirit beast Belial.
Then, he looked shocked at me stubbornly using a broken black sword.
[Donāt cut corners, Zack.]
[Understood, Georg-sama.]
In the crowd of elves, seeing me and the spirit beast Belial, various words were exchanged.
Some said that there is no way a living body can defeat a spirit beast. Another said that foreign objects are not desirable in the elf world.
There was no one who offered friendly words to me other than Cecilia.
Itās only naturalā¦ people often find something they donāt know of as creepy.
Thatās why this duel should have meaning for the future.
Once it was quiet, Georg announced the start of the duel.
[If you want us to recognize you, just win the battle.]