This was the first thing that popped into my mind, which was from my recent eye exam.
One word that the tester showed me was âHalpasâ. My brain didnât even have time to process its meaning and simply shot said word straight out of my mouth.
â⊠Halpas? What does that even mean!? Explain now, or itâs your defeat!.â
Efside frowned at my answer. Meanwhile, his hand started gripping my neck tighter.
Suddenly, there were sounds of intense movement. Soon, I felt multiple signs of presence around me. For some reason, the surrounding people also started screaming.
âUghh, what, what is this!?â
The hand of Efside which was holding my neck loosened. The bastard seemed to be struggling with something.
Amidst heavy breaths, I began to open my eyes.
In my field of vision, I could see multiple kinds of birds from who knew where attacking Efside.
âWhat the fĆłck! Whatâs this shiâ !?â
âTheo Gospel! What did you do!?â
⊠What the shiâ ? How would I know?
There were various kinds of angry birds, acting as if they were underpaid office workers.
I took a step backwards, thinking that I might also get attacked by them if I stood too close.
At this moment, someone made a sharp and intense sound, enough to hurt my ears.
This was artificial noise. Could it be a whistle or something like a flute?
As I covered my ears and shook my head, someone suddenly appeared, splitting the crowd of students like Moses parting the Red Sea.
The first things I saw were tough-looking leather shoes, which were strong enough to be called walkers or military boots.
Above them were brown leather trousers that clung to the personâs body, a slim belly and navel, a white tank top, as well as a leopard print leather jacket over it.
âTweety, come here! What the heII are you doing there?â
The unfamiliar woman shouted at the birds that were attacking nearby people.
She looked energetic, but at the same time, mysterious. This must be due to her deep purple hair⊠Actually, how could someone even have purple hair in the first place!?
The purple-haired woman brought the pinky-sized whistle to her lips again.
The crowded birds then flew away. One of them, a huge bird of prey, quietly landed on a leather brace attached to the womanâs arm.
âTweety. Why did you fly away? Youâve never done that before.â
The woman stroked the big bird the size of a child. Now that I had a clearer look, her ears were actually long and pointed.
She was an elf with pointed ears, a bird tamer elfâŠ. The ends of her eyes were pointing down. She also had amber eyes and a tear spot around her right eye.
Seeing it reminded me of someoneâŠ
âBelhawk-. Could you be Stella Belhawk by any chance?â
âThatâs Professor Belhawk for you! Also, arenât you a freshman? What are you doing here right now?â
The Young Lady of the Belhawk family had appeared! I didnât know about the professor part, but, this was a great opportunity for me.
âContinue my word Halpas (í íì€), Barbarian!â
I shouted confidently at Efside, who was on the ground with mangled clothes, hair and skin.
Unfortunately, the bastard slowly got up. Perhaps the wounds that the birds induced were not as deep as I originally thought.
âHalpas, speed. Yes, speed⊠No, I donât care about this now! Theo Gospel! I, Efside the Lecture Hunter, challenge you to a duel!â
He then rubbed the blood flowing from his face from top to bottom, as if he was washing his face.
Seeing this scene, I suddenly thought of the man-eating Barbarians in the South. Somehow, the atmosphere had turned chilly. If it wasnât for my acting skills, my legs would have been visibly shakingâŠ
I pretended to be oblivious to his challenge.
âDuel? What do you mean?â
âLiterally a duel! The professor will act as our mediator! Youâre the first person who has made me this mad!â
Efsideâs eyes then turned to Stella. However, she only tilted her head like a confused bird.
âA duel? With Theo Gospel?â
âProfessor, please help us. It will be a fair duel.â
Hearing this, Stella said.
âBut, Efside, you are Silver Class while this freshman friend here is Bronze. This doesnât seem very fair⊠Then, how about Theo having someone else fight in his stead?â
âAnother warriorâŠ. Thatâs fine. However, Ark cadets are prohibited. Professors or Board Members are also not allowed. And, the substitute must be someone from Ark. The duel will start an hour later, right here in this same place.â
âThose are good rules for the matchup. Freshman, do you agree?â
While I was breathing heavily, the situation progressed quite smoothly.
The rule stating that I could have a representative was a good thing for me. But if you banned students from this Academy, I wouldnât be able to call for Elga or Aira.
If the Professors and Board Members were also banned, then even if they owed me a favor, I couldnât ask them for help.
âYou failed all subjects, but were still able to enter the Academy thanks to the help of the Board Members. But what about now? At this time, there will be no one on your side!â
Hehehe- Efside insidiously laughed like the villain he was.
Because I was a freshman who just entered the Academy, this bastard attacked me by exploiting the fact that I didnât have any connections here.
âYou can choose to decline.â
âNo, itâs fine. Iâll accept it!â
But I had no reason to refuse.
Because, this was definitely a golden opportunity!
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!