Winter Winslet.
He spoke.
“What are you doing here?”
“…”
“Do you think glaring at me will change anything?”
Shannon tilted her chin slightly downward.
Running into her opponent while she was desperately trying to secure the arrangements for their duel was far from pleasant.
Still, she forced the surge of irritation back down.
For now, they were professor and student.
“I came to meet the Dean. I was going to ask him to be the witness for the duel.”
At that, the Dean’s secretary sighed loudly.
When Shannon glared at her over the desk, Winter Winslet’s gaze naturally followed.
In the thick silence, he glanced between Shannon and the secretary, then nodded.
“I see. That explains it.”
What the hell does that mean?
Shannon planted a hand on her hip and stood askew, watching what he would do.
Professor Winslet stepped past her without a second thought, straight to the secretary’s desk.
“Where is Dean Kingfisher?”
“He’s inside.”
“Bring him.”
“Yes, sir.”
Not even five seconds after the secretary stepped into the office, a loud commotion came from within.
Then—slam!
A man burst out of the office, practically sprinting.
Shannon couldn’t help thinking his unusually thick, healthy hair didn’t suit his otherwise groveling demeanor.
“Oh my, Professor Winslet! What an honor. If you’d called, I would’ve gone anywhere you asked!”
“Are you busy?”
“Not at all. Nothing to do—I was just trimming my bonsai. Shall we go inside?”
…What is this?
Shannon almost doubted her own eyes and ears.
This groveling man was the Dean of the Magic Department?
And wasn’t the secretary just saying he was in a meeting?
And that she couldn’t meet him without an appointment?
Shannon’s insides began to quietly boil.
Winter Winslet, however, remained perfectly calm as he turned to her.
“Give it to me.”
“…What?”
“Didn’t you need a witness?”
He snatched the paper from Shannon’s hands.
The duel-witness registration form.
He handed it straight to the Dean.
“Sign it.”
“Oh, yes, right here?”
The Dean scribbled his signature without even reading the document.
Shannon was baffled.
Wasn’t a Dean supposed to be one of the highest-ranking officials in the Academy?
Why was he groveling like this before Winslet?
Moments later, Shannon confirmed that the signature on the certificate was indeed genuine and felt oddly deflated.
The issue that had been tormenting her for a week had been resolved in seconds.
She bit her lip absently when Winslet addressed her again.
“How prepared are you?”
“…What?”
“For the duel.”
“Almost done. I just need to secure a place—”
“I’ll handle the rest. The Dean will arrange the venue. Tomorrow afternoon. You’ll be informed of the details once they’re finalized.”
“Who gave you the—”
But she didn’t have time to protest.
Click.
Professor Winslet disappeared back into the office with the Dean.
Shannon stared, dumbfounded.
What kind of bastard acts like that…
***
<Today’s “Theory and Practice of Modern Magic” class is replaced with duel observation.
Location: Luteo Hall, Building B, Room 105
Date & Time: March 12, 2 p.m.
Posted by: Winter Winslet>
This notice appeared on the first Magic Department bulletin board precisely at 8:50 a.m. on Tuesday.
Students arriving for their first period stopped in the hallway to stare.
They rubbed their sleepy eyes, but the message didn’t change.
“A duel? Professor Winslet?”
Within an hour, every student attending morning classes in the Magic Department knew.
It was bad news for the professors.
The lecture halls were so noisy that students couldn’t focus at all.
Even the ever-composed Professor Emil, known for being the most even-tempered at the Magic Department, eventually stopped his lecture with a sour expression.
“Howard, stand up and tell us, loudly, what’s so amusing that it’s interrupting my class.”
Howard dutifully answered, and immediately after first period, Emil himself was spotted rushing to the faculty lounge.
By second period, there wasn’t a single staff member in the Magic Department who didn’t know about Winslet’s duel.
It even reached the point where professors couldn’t focus on their own lectures.
But the real frenzy broke out during lunch.
Students crowded the cafeterias, theorizing wildly.
“Who would dare challenge Professor Winslet to a duel?”
“Could it be Assistant Glen?”
“The one whose master’s thesis got scrapped two years ago because the research assignment was suddenly changed?”
“Yeah. People say Winslet did that.”
“Well… honestly, that would justify it. The guy’s been stuck in the lab for eight years now. They call him the Lab Ghost.”
“But Glen? He’s too timid. He might set fire to a professor’s bedroom at midnight, but a duel? No way.”
“True. But I haven’t seen him around lately…”
“How would I know? But Luke senior’s a more likely suspect. My brother’s his roommate—he said Luke’s been secretly researching explosive runes at night, planning to blow up Winslet’s house.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Luke had a huge grudge after Winslet cut his research budget, which cost him a national project.”
“That’s insane.”
And the names kept piling up.
There were just too many people who might hold a grudge.
“This is useless. We need a better approach.”
“Maybe we should think about who’s actually bold enough to challenge Winslet, not who has a reason.”
“Good point.”
“And it might not even be a student. Think about it—what student would stand a chance against him?”
“So maybe another professor?”
“Please. Do you know anyone who could beat him one-on-one?”
“Well, there are the Academy’s other top two—Professor Monastrell, for one.”
“That one wouldn’t even bother with a duel. She’d just start punching.”
“She’s basically a wild animal. Someone said they saw her eating steak with her hands.”
“No way.”
“I’m telling you, it’s true.”
“So what? She’s gorgeous.”
“Yeah, tall, and that wild charm…”
“Ugh, men.”
“What? She’s a hundred times prettier than you.”
“If you like her that much, take her class.”
“I did last year. Dropped it after one day.”
“Why?”
“She broke my ribs.”
“…”
Anyway, Monastrell was deemed too uncivilized for formal duels.
“Then maybe Professor Sophia?”
“She’s too kind for fights.”
“They literally had a fight in the Magic Department courtyard recently.”
“Yeah, but Winslet already beat her.”
“Hmm… then who?”
The endless guessing finally ended when an upperclassman, late for lunch, casually dropped the truth.
“Oh, that? It’s a first-year.”
“A first-year?”
“You know I take Winslet’s class, right? It’s an exchange student, a freshman. Shannon something. She failed his skill test and just demanded a duel on the spot. Hilarious.”
“…What.”
“She’s insane.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
The news spread like wildfire. By the end of lunch, everyone knew Professor Winslet’s opponent was Shannon Quinlivan.
Reactions split into two groups.
One was incredulous.
“Who’s the arrogant idiot challenging a professor?”
The other was worried.
“That bastard is going to ruin another student.”
And so the duel became one of the most anticipated events in Academy history.
Finally, 2 p.m. approached.
The Luteo Hall, located in the Knight Department grounds, was a massive indoor gymnasium.
Room 105, specifically, was a dueling arena for complex combat assessments.
It was no surprise the crowd far exceeded the number of students Winslet had summoned.
Watching fights, after all, was second only to watching fires.
Most of the audience were students skipping afternoon classes, but quite a few seniors, and even some professors, snuck in.
Naturally, Jacqueline was there too.
“Wow, there are so many people.”
“Everyone who could spare the time came. You don’t see things like this every day.”
“Guess so.”
“Let’s move up front.”
“Yeah. We should cheer for Shannon from the best seats!”
“…Jacqueline, this isn’t a sports match.”
Since Winslet had only summoned students who passed his skill test, Jacqueline and Rita had seats prepared for them.
Front row, center.
If this were a sports event, it’d be VIP seating.
Sitting there was a badge of honor, proof of having passed the infamous Winslet’s test, so many eyes turned toward them.
Older students even greeted them, asking for their names.
Jacqueline blushed at the unexpected attention.
“Ugh, I only passed out standing up by luck. I don’t even deserve to be here.”
“Relax and enjoy it.”
“Rita, you can be so shameless sometimes.”
“Really?”
“My stomach’s churning. Seeing how big this has gotten… I think I underestimated what a duel means. Was it really a good idea to write Shannon that statement? What if she gets hurt?”
“She asked for it.”
“Still…”
“Someone’s coming.”
At Rita’s words, Jacqueline turned toward the entrance.
Not the spectator’s entrance, but the one leading to the arena.
“There she is.”
A girl with golden hair and doll-like features.
Shannon.