Arena Seventeen: Friends And Foes III

"HOW DARE YOU?!"

Jeffery howled as he stepped forward. The punch was strong, as he was staggering.

"Tsk... He didn't go down."

I clicked my tongue as I prepared for the upcoming fight. Judging from his demeanour, he wasn't a fighter himself, so I was at a bit of an advantage after fighting that Phantom.

"Kneel before me!"

He screamed at me. An unpleasant feeling enveloped my body, urging me to bow to him.

"No."

But I wasn't so weak. If it was something like this, I had more than enough strength to repel it.

"W-what? You can defy me?!"

He was genuinely surprised. I snickered and kicked the cup on the ground towards him.

"It's not nice to throw trash on the school grounds. Why don't you throw it out, along with yourself?"

"You bastard!"

As I had expected, his face flushed red in rage. But his next actions were unexpected.

He pulled a gun out of his pockets and aimed it at me.

"You are going to get expelled, you know."

I said, smiling. But my back was damp with sweat. Weapons weren't banned inside the academy premises.

Raymond had a sword, after all. Especially, from the third year, students would take part in the security of the campus, so him having a gun wasn't surprising. But I didn't think that he would aim it at me.

Let along shoot it.

"Fuck you!"

He pulled the trigger without hesitation. The ray rushed towards me, aimed at my chest.

"... I can't dodge it!"

I muttered as my mind ran as fast as it could in those mere fractions of a second.

...

Anastasia widened her eyes as she saw her half-brother pulling out his gun.

She didn't think that he would go so far, but clearly, she was underestimating him.

This was all her fault. But she didn't know what the correct decision was.

She knew how Jeffery was, his attitude. Even so, she didn't want to oppose him. Because of Arnold's safety.

Before joining the academy, she hadn't met her brother for five years while she was out, working as an Elliot. But meeting him was inevitable as he was also in the first academy.

And she knew that Jeffery would harass her, harm her. Which was why she tried to stay passive, hoping that he would be satisfied with bullying her.

But it wasn't like she wanted to be harassed. She wanted to be safe. She wanted to be saved. Her desperate attempt to persuade Arnold had risen from that.

But she couldn't bring him into this, so she hadn't explained the reason. Had she done so, Arnold would have probably agreed to be with her in the academy.

Which would have turned him into a target. But now, that same Arnold was in front of her, facing the gunpoint.

Without any mercy, Jeffery pulled the trigger.

The ray of condensed light, which had enough power to create a deep dent in an armoured vehicle, rushed towards Arnold at the speed of light. Anastasia closed her eyes in fear, hatred for herself and remorse.

But, it never pierced him.

A metallic sound rang out throughout the corridor, forcing her to open her eyes.

Arnold was still standing. His hands held a military-grade shield, which had blocked the attack. A black vortex was hovering beside him as if supporting him.

...

"Hah... Hah... Hah... This is..."

I didn't know how I did it. But I had summoned the shield just before the ray hit me. But it had taken a toll on my mental health. I felt extremely nauseous.

"H-how..."

Even Jeffery was stunned. Not giving him a chance to recover, I threw the shield at his face.

The heavy metallic object hit his disgusting face with a loud thud and took him down with one hit.

"Ugh..."

He was still conscious, but his face was a mess. His nose was probably cracked, along with his jaw bones... hopefully.

It felt good, to see him like that.

"A-arnold!"

Anastasia suddenly stood up and grabbed my shoulders.

"A-are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

"N-no... Calm down, Anastasia... I'm not hurt."

I grabbed her shoulders, which were wet with the sauce. But I didn't mind the sticky feeling.

"Thank god..."

She leaned on my chest, shaking.

"Ugh..."

This situation felt extremely awkward, but I couldn't move.

"What's happening here?!"

Hearing an angry, bell-like voice, I turned my head around.

Principal Flora was standing there, looking at the commotion. Her eyes temporarily stopped as she saw her fallen son, then she narrowed them as she saw the shield lying beside him.

"What is the explanation for this, Arnold Tilgen?"

"With all due respect, my lady, Jeffery was..."

I tried to explain while bowing my head, still holding Anastasia. But the principal shook her head.

"I'm not asking about him. How did you get that shield?"

"Oh..."

I momentarily looked at the space where the vortex was a few moments ago. But there was nothing there now.

"I... I summoned it."

"Summoned it?"

"Yes... I don't know how, my lady. I only wanted to defend myself against the attack... And it had been summoned by the moment I had realized it."

"... I see. I understand."

She nodded and beckoned the guards. They held up Jeffery's unconscious body and whisked him away.

"Arnold Tilgen, come to my office."

She said to me as she watched the guard take her son away.

"And Anastasia, go wash clean in the dormitory. You do not need to join the rest of the classes today."

"Yes... Mother."

Anastasia, who had separated from me a few moments ago, nodded while looking down.

"And to the others, leave the premises. There's nothing to be seen here."

Flora glared at the onlookers, who quickly scrammed.

Then she turned away and left the scene, leaving me and Anastasia behind.

...

I knocked on the Principal's door, and a voice told me to come in from inside.

"Have a seat."

Principal Flora looked divided as she rubbed her temples and gestured at the seat in front of her.

"Y-yes."

She stared at her nails as I sat down. Then slowly, she confessed.

"I will not blame you for what happened with Jeffery."

"E-eh? Why?"

"What do you mean, why? He was the main culprit of this incident."

She said as she sighed.

"But... Isn't he your son?"

"So? That does not exclude him from being punished. Besides, Anastasia is my daughter too. You had stepped in to protect her, so how can I blame you?"

Her words didn't feel like mere justifications. It was as if she meant those words.

"But..."

I hesitated to say my next words. My opponent was a noble, and also the mother of Anastasia.

"Don't beat around the bush. Just say what you want to say."

"W-well... Don't you hate Anastasia?"

Hearing my words, her face stiffened. Then slowly, she muttered.

"What gave you that impression?"

"Didn't you send her to Stigma at a young age?"

Anastasia was fifteen, just like me. But usually, Elliots would go to Stigma after two years of being chosen. But from what I could gather, Anastasia was already a full-fledged soldier. If that was the truth, then she had entered that world way before the others.

"... That... That was because of some circumstances."

"Circumstances?"

"Yes... Well, I guess I can tell you. When you faced Jeffery, didn't you feel like something was off?"

"That... That I did."

"It's called the [Eyes Of Charm]. I don't have to authority to explain what it is, just know that it makes you revere the person using it and makes you do things against your bidding."

"Yeah, I felt that."

"That power doesn't work on family members, or anyone with a high mental fortitude."

"So that's why he hates Anastasia?"

"Well, that has its own circumstances. Circumstances I can not explain. But know that, Jeffery hates Anastasia. To the point where he wanted to kill her when they were younger."

"... Is he a psychopath... ?"

"I guess he is. I won't deny that."

"So you sent her to Stigma to make sure she escaped from him? To a war-filled, dangerous place?"

My voice was seething with irritation and anger. I knew that what I was doing was foolish, yet I couldn't help but spit out those words.

"At that time, that was the only option available to me..."

Flora looked bitter about it, so I decided to push the other matter forward.

"Then what about the words you said to me when we met for the first time? That I shouldn't face dangers for unnecessary reasons? Why did you call Anastasia unnecessary?"

"That... Perhaps I had worded it wrong. But do not misunderstand. I clearly meant what I had said."

"What..."

"While I do care for my daughter, I value the empire more than her. And you are an important asset to the empire... Or at least you will be in the future. I will always put you over her, for the sake of the empire. That is my duty as one of the great nobles of this country."

"I-I see..."

I hadn't expected her to be this honest, so I was baffled.

"Well, that is another matter. For now, we need to talk about your skill."

"My skill? You mean that summoning?"

"Yes... Usually, we would awaken the skill via the shard but..."

"My skill appeared because I was in danger."

I retorted. Flora nodded with a sigh.

"Yes. Honestly... I am confused. Never before I have seen such a skill... You can not keep it hidden after putting on such a show, so expect people to approach you with ulterior motives."

"An example?"

"Well, let us just say that they might brainwash you and turn you into a slave."

"That's... Extreme."

"Yes. For that reason, we will conduct the skill test separately from the other students. While we can't keep it hidden from the other students, we can hide the necessary details and keep your skill vague."

"That would be for the best, yeah."

"Mhm. Well, that would be all. You can take the other classes off... Though there are not any other classes left for first years today, to begin with. Anyhow, go back to your dorm and take some rest."

"Yes, my lady."

"Dismissed."

I left the room, feeling oddly relieved and refreshed. I had seen another side of the principal, the side of a caring mother.

And honestly, it didn't feel bad. At all.