Mr. Brown's funhouse [2]

"Zero, I challenge you to a duel!"

'Of course, it would end up this way.'

Robert didn't hesitate in the slightest to walk up to me as soon as Ms. Turner had taken a step back, not wanting to meddle with her students' business. A slightly skinnier, slightly less Arthur, that was exactly who he was to me.

Except there was one more thing differentiating them. Arthur was strong and would become infinitely more powerful in the future while Robert would remain a pebble on the road, someone who might become a somewhat influential figure in a guild but nothing more.

Truth be told, I wasn't even sure if he was the most powerful out of my classmates, but because of how he acted I still felt like it was a great chance to show them that I was on another level. No matter how unfair it would be for a [C]-rank to fight with someone I believed to be [E]-rank at most.

Funnily enough, before I could even start pretending to hesitate, my entourage came to my rescue, with Stella taking the lead, "Hey! Zero isn't even a fighter! Challenge me instead!"

"Y-y-yea... Or me..."

If Caroline had been thinking one step ahead, she would also joined in with these two morons just to show that she cared about me, but perhaps because of the risk that she might actually be forced to fight him, she didn't.

Frustrated with the fact that I had friends to protect me, showing the difference in our status, the blonde swordsman tried his best to make a case for himself, "I'm sorry, but I don't think you guys should speak on someone else's behalf. I do apologize if I came across as rude, but I would very much want to experience what Zero can do by myself."

Unable to come up with a proper response, my loyal followers became silent, now anxiously looking at me, hoping that I would decline his challenge. 'What's with these drama queens? It's just a spar, it's not like I'm risking my life or anything.'

Betraying their expectations, I smiled at my challenger warmly and stretched my hand towards him, "I would be honored to have a duel with you, Robert. As Stella said, I'm not much of a fighter, but I have confidence in my ability in magic. Let's have a good fight!"

A bit shaken by the illuminating young man, it took a couple of seconds before his mind could register what I said, whereby he took my small hand in his, "Thank you, and yes, let's have a good fight."

With Robert walking away, making his way to Gomerick who was standing nonchalantly a bit away, Stella and Thomas started making a bit of a scene.

"Then, fight me after! I think we could also have a good fight!"

"N-no... I think... you should have a duel with m-me..."

"Sorry, but I actually had another person that I wanted to challenge."

"What?! Who?"

Though cute, I had no choice but to disappoint my new friends who had tried to become my second sparring partners. There was, after all, someone else I had set my sights on.

Wouldn't it be a waste if I didn't take this chance to fight with a sophomore? Could I truly call myself a model student if I didn't live up to the expectations of Mr. Brown?

Sadly, none of these things were the true reason why I wanted to challenge one of the sophomores. In the end, I just couldn't get rid of this nagging feeling of wanting to show a certain someone what I could do.

"I'm going to challenge Arthur."

This time it was Caroline who stepped forward. Having been silent for the entire duration of the conversation since she was also very much planning on using the duels to her advantage, she could finally talk without worrying about Robert.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, it's just a spar, but still..."

The duality of her words was what gave away the fact that this was just a show for the masses. Unlike Stella and Thomas, she was fully aware that because it was just a spar, there was truly no reason to worry. Still, though her acting was a bit unpolished, I felt that the one thing she had been lacking was slowly, incredibly slowly, beginning to show.

The belief in her own words. To make sure that while she spoke, she honestly believed what she herself was saying. So I felt like it was appropriate to give her a bit of a reward.

Taking a few steps toward her, making her face red as I got uncomfortably close, I released the beast. The warmest and most saint-like smile that I could muster, a smile that I had practiced for hours in the mirror to make sure it would be on point.

"Thank you, Caroline. But didn't I say it before at the academy? I'll be fine!"

Not even Caroline could endure the mental attack I had launched, her face becoming beet-red with embarrassment and her legs faltering. "Ah... yes..."

==========

"Time's up! Now, I hope that you have all decided how you want to do things. Because if not, I will be the one to decide which of my sophomores you are going to duel!"

The planning of who would face up against whom ended up going quite smoothly, with the only one having a hard time being Thomas who couldn't quite voice his opinions. Luckily, his manager Madam Rue had come to his rescue and helped him to convince Celina that he didn't want to duel her.

It was somewhat impressive really, after my little spectacle of talking about challenging a sophomore, most of them had decided to follow suit. Though I felt like it didn't make much sense to judge my actions and think that my stature would matter in a world of magic, they appeared to have taken it as 'if that small guy can do it, I can do it too!'.

So now, standing in a neat row behind Ms. Turner, we were parallel to the line of sophomores in front of us with Mr. Brown grinning menacingly. "First things first, please step forward if you want to challenge any of my students."

To his surprise, five out of the eight freshmen all took a step forward, with me paving the way for my classmates. "Ho? Yes, that's the way it should be! That's how youth like you should act! Hahaha! Now, please point to the ones you want to challenge!"

Because of how we were standing, I had inadvertently become the last in line, which was a shame when thinking about the fact that I was trying to symbolize the fact that I was leading them. 'There's nothing I can do about it. Now, let's see what plans my classmates have...'

With Caroline, Robert, and Celina opting not to challenge a sophomore, with Robert probably thinking it was overkill to challenge one of them after fighting both me and Stella, I was excited to see what the rest were thinking.

First up was Gomerick himself, taking another step forward to ensure everyone saw him. He was a man that I didn't have much of an impression of, but I was sure that he was a Sebastian-type of character. Silent but confident in his own abilities.

Without hesitation, he pointed his finger toward the one he wanted to fight, "Please allow me to duel you, Your Highness Adriana."

Not wanting to make much of a scene, the elven princess just nodded with a firm expression. "Now, what about you, young lady?"

Akane also stepped forward, and issued her challenge, "I would appreciate it if you would allow me to duel you, Suzan Eldrich."

"Yes! I get to fight! Sebastian, make sure you look at me closely during the duel!"

The yellow haired-girl hadn't ever been one to hide emotions, and this time was no different. With her jumping up and down, talking to Sebastian, I thought for a second that I saw a small smile emerge on his lips.

'Hmm? My little pet is interested in Suzan?'

Unsure whether or not this was a good thing, I had to remind myself once again that I had no plans of actually ruining his life completely. If he fell in love, I would be the first one to pat his back and congratulate him. In the end, I wasn't a devil, I had no interest in torturing people just for the sake of it. As long as my pet did what he was told...

Next up was the gentle giant himself, who meekly started to put up his finger towards his designated opponent, "I-I-I w-w-want t-to..."

"You can just point. No need to force yourself, Thomas."

Giving him some support, Ms. Turner helped the shy man out. With her assistance, it didn't take long until he pointed towards... 'Wait, really?'

"Gahaha! Now that's what I'll call a real man! Fine, I'll allow it!"

Yes, the man he pointed towards wasn't even a student, it was Mr. Brown himself. For some reason, Thomas looked incredibly proud of his accomplishment as he took a step back again.

'He might be a lot more impressive than I gave him credit for...'

"Now, we only have two left!"

Stella and I were the only ones left, with her being the one to step up to the plate now. As energetic as ever, she took a step forward with an eager smile. "I want to challenge Sophie Red! Please fight me!"

...

Silence roamed the stadium, with no one able to understand what she had just said. To some degree, what Thomas did was also crazy, but this? Did she realize that the one she challenged had destroyed the heart of her own lover?

For me, if there was ever a person I was truly nervous to go up against it would be Sophie. Not because she was stronger than me, but because she didn't fight like a human. She fought like a dragon.

However, unlike everyone else, the giantess herself didn't seem to understand our sentiments, "Oh, that's fine! Let's have a great match...?"

"Stella! Stella Klein!"

"Yes, let's have a good match, Stella!"

With everyone taking a second to clasp their hands in prayer for the stupid girl, there was now just a single challenge left to issue. "Please step forward, Zero!"

To be fair, in their eyes, what I was about to do would probably seem almost as crazy as what Stella did. Making sure to keep a determined look on my face, I set my sights on the still-confused young man with shining hair.

This time, I didn't care about the emotions that welled up inside of me, just making sure they wouldn't devour me. Feeling jealousy raging inside of my soul, I spoke while making sure each and every ear would hear my voice.

"I want to challenge Arthur Luminary to a duel with stakes."