“Please stop!! I’m begging you!! I don’t want to duel anymore!!”
Emily pleaded through tears.
Though the other seniors around us were watching, Emily did not care about saving face.
After all, the people around her were witnesses who had already seen Emily’s ugly 모습 after losing duels several times in recent days.
There was no point in being embarrassed now.
“Hmm.”
When I paused for a moment, Emily’s expression eased slightly, perhaps because she thought there was room for discussion.
“Compensate them.”
Of course, I was only considering what would best satisfy my customers.
The purpose of commissioning me to act as a proxy in duels was revenge against Emily.
What my customers wanted was for Emily to suffer.
“Compensation......?”
“Refusing a duel means you are admitting your wrongdoing, doesn’t it? Then you need to show proof of that.”
Sincerity cannot be seen. That is why it has to be made tangible in order to convey it.
“This client says he is willing to settle for about twenty gold coins.”
At my signal, the client nodded.
This was why grounds were important in a duel. Without them, it would be no different from robbery.
“You challenge me to duels several times a day, and now I have to pay money every time?! Do you think gold coins spring endlessly from my pocket?!”
Emily screamed desperately.
“Then a duel!”
Either compensate them with money or prove yourself through a duel. Those were the only choices.
“You crazy bastard......!! You fucking......!!”
Ignoring Emily’s cries, I dragged her to the open lot where we had held duels again and again.
“The duel...... begins!”
Media had become accustomed to announcing the start of a duel.
Much of her gloomy air had faded. She even looked as though she enjoyed watching the duels.
“That damned duel......! Lawrence Reed, you heartless bastard......!”
Emily tried her hardest to avoid duels, but once one began, she fought desperately.
It was not as though she had no chance of winning. She seemed to think that if she had to duel anyway, she should at least do her best.
That did not change the result very much, though.
“Go ahead and shoot!! Shoot me!!”
When I aimed my crossbow, Emily created a wall of water around herself.
Magic took longer to activate than an arrow took to fly, so she intended to block it with the Blessing of Water, which let her skip the cumbersome process.
After that, she would probably try to suppress me with magic.
Emily’s techniques with the Blessing of Water surpassed even the magic of an ordinary Academy student.
Most people would not even be able to pierce that wall.
“That kind of obvious method will not work.”
TWANG.
I fired the crossbow without hesitation.
The arrow launched from the crossbow lodged in the wall of water.
Before long, the arrow devoured the wall of water.
“What......?!”
“It is a Hippo Grass seed.”
I gave a simple explanation to Emily, whose mouth hung open in shock.
Hippo Grass was a cactus-like plant that grew wild in this world’s deserts.
Each of its seeds was only the size of a bean, but it could absorb an enormous amount of water and sprout in an instant.
I had only tied a Hippo Grass seed to the tip of an arrow and fired it.
The Blessing of Water was still fundamentally water, so a Hippo Grass seed could absorb it.
The water-swollen seed and the arrow fell to the ground.
With her body left exposed, Emily threw herself aside without hesitation.
WHIZ.
An arrow fired from my newly bought crossbow grazed Emily’s shoulder.
“How do you find something new every time?!”
After rolling pitifully across the ground, Emily snapped in irritation.
Emily had grown through the repeated duels. In particular, the time it took her to recover from shock had fallen to less than one-tenth of what it had been.
“Winning the same way every time would be boring.”
I replied lightly as I closed the distance.
There was no need to explain that because every duel cost me money, I was also using them to test the performance of various products and advertise them.
“What kind of mage swings a sword and fires a crossbow?! And you throw bombs and spray poison......!”
Grinding her teeth, Emily summoned a water shield.
A Privilege was still a Privilege. Even after I absorbed the water, it recovered quickly.
“If you need anything too, place an order. I’ll get you anything.”
My sword was swallowed by the water shield. I let go of the sword, which would not move, without hesitation and opened the shop.
Emily’s magic was nearly complete.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bought a Firefly Fruit, and gripped it.
This fruit had the property of emitting light similar to a flash grenade when struck.
FLASH—!!
Emily shut her eyes against the intense burst of light, and I quickly knocked the staff from her hand.
“Ghh......!!”
Having lost her sight, Emily wildly swung the Blessing of Water around to attack, but she could not reach me.
Now, shall I end this duel?
“Surren...... Urk......!”
Emily sensed defeat and tried to declare her surrender. To stop her mouth, I struck her in the solar plexus first.
If I ended it without leaving a single wound, my customers would be disappointed.
The finale of this duel would be.......
“Sweep away!”
My paltry magic.
WHOOSH—.
The magic, neither huge nor sharp, sent Emily flying. Emily, who had floated into the air, rolled across the ground.
“Lawrence Reed, victory!”
Media declared excitedly.
“That feels refreshing.”
“To lose to magic like that. She will be a laughingstock for a long time.”
“That is hilarious.”
The seniors, who had been there as spectators and witnesses, snickered as they returned to the classroom.
I challenged Emily to a duel three times a day.
After it continued for more than a week, watching duels became part of the daily routine.
No one watched seriously anymore.
The winner was already decided, after all.
The seniors were only interested in how I would win or how miserably Emily would be humiliated.
“Junior, good work today.”
“Yes, Senior Media. The items you ordered will be delivered by tomorrow.”
After giving Media a slight bow in farewell, I began sorting through the used items.
The crossbows, arrows, and Hippo Grass seeds—everything.
They had already been used, so I could not use them in Academy examinations, but I could still take them to the village and sell them.
It would not bring in much money, but that was no reason to leave them behind.
You became rich by saving and saving, even in the smallest matters.
“Sob....... Sniffle.......”
Around the time I had gathered my things and was about to leave, Emily regained consciousness.
Come to think of it, Emily had been unconscious, yet no one had even looked after her. She really had no luck with people.
I heard that even Emily’s followers, who had initially pretended to care, had turned their backs on her once she fell.
This was why people needed to live kindly.
I took this truth of the world to heart as I began walking away.
“You bastard!! You make a girl cry and just walk away?!”
Emily picked up a small stone and threw it at me. It did not hurt, but there was something I had to point out, so I stopped walking.
“Calling yourself a girl when you are on your second life.......”
No matter how young she had died in her previous life, adding more than ten years from her current life made it difficult to call her a child.
I was embarrassed just hearing it.
“What do you know......!”
Emily whined.
Tears streaked down her face, blotching the dust that had clung to it from rolling on the ground.
Her expression had changed greatly since we first met only two weeks ago.
Her overflowing confidence had vanished, replaced with helplessness.
It was only natural.
The duels had been repeated more than thirty times. Even if her wounds were erased with potions and healing magic, the painful experiences remained in her mind.
The fear that the same thing would continue to happen in the future ate away at her sanity.
“Oh, then this ignorant lowly one shall take his leave.”
It was not my concern, anyway.
“Wait!!”
Emily shouted urgently.
“Why? If you have something to say, say it quickly.”
She kept stopping a busy person. What an annoying person.
“......How long are you going to keep doing this?!”
Emily asked with a face that looked ready to spill tears again.
“Who knows?”
I had not started this with any particular deadline in mind.
“You are a merchant! Should you be spending your time dueling instead of doing business?!”
“Do not worry. I recently hired an able employee.”
While I was away, Lucia took orders. At the end of the day, I received the records and purchased the goods. Everything was running without issue.
A venomous glare grew stronger in Lucia’s eyes whenever she looked at me, but I could just give her a bonus or something.
“You have already achieved your goal! No one in the third year is afraid of me anymore! If anyone has a problem with me, they can just hire you to fight a duel by proxy! I am already at rock bottom......!”
Emily bowed her head deeply.
Dragging people down was an Earthling’s specialty. Why had she not listened to what I said?
“What do I have to do for this to end? I really am not doing anything that will make people resent me anymore.......”
“You have already sown too many seeds.”
Duel proxy requests were still coming in.
It meant that some people could not let go of their resentment just by seeing her roll across the ground a few times.
Besides, there were even fools willing to pay money just to watch an arrogant Reincarnator roll around on the ground.
Duel proxy requests would continue for a while longer.
“I will pay you instead! I will pay more than the bastards who commission you to fight duels by proxy.......!”
Emily clung to me.
“......Hmm.”
It was quite a tempting offer.
Having already seen her authority smashed into the ground, it would be difficult for Emily to rule over the classroom again.
Even if it were possible, it would take quite a long time, and after suffering this badly, she would not do anything to interfere with my business.
Every duel brought losses, large or small, so I needed to end this at an appropriate point.
The current price of a Duel Proxy Request Form was one gold coin. Even if I charged more, I doubted it would make much money.
Still, accepting her offer immediately would look bad.
In that case.......
“As a merchant, suddenly refusing to sell something that has been selling well would damage people’s trust in me. I cannot stop selling it.”
Emily’s complexion darkened at my words.
She seemed to think I was rejecting her offer.
“Instead, I will change the price. If it becomes expensive, not just anyone will be able to buy it.”
“Ah......!”
Color returned to Emily’s face.
“You said you would pay more than the people commissioning duel proxies, correct? If I charge exactly one gold coin more than the amount you pay.......”
There was no need for me to decide the price.
To see how serious Emily was about this matter, I handed the decision over to her.
“One hundred gold coins! I will pay one hundred gold coins!”
“......Fine. I accept that offer.”
That was a bold decision.
Seriously, the students here had far too much money. If I stayed here any longer, my sense of money would become numb.
Even wealthy Academy students would not pay 101 gold coins for a Duel Proxy Request Form, so it was practically the same as stopping sales.
I would have to slowly think of an excuse for hiking the price up a hundredfold overnight.
“But afterward.......”
“I promise. From now on, I will behave myself. I will quietly graduate from the Academy like a normal student.”
Before I could list any conditions, Emily spoke quickly.
Then I had nothing left to say.
“Wait here! I will go get the money!”
Perhaps only someone like Radeos Predeter carried a massive sum like a hundred gold coins on his person, because Emily hurried off.
“I recovered all my losses at once.”
The seniors who had been bullied now had peace, I had money, and Emily had learned a lesson in life.
It was a perfect happy ending.
***
“Emily Earning! A duel!”
I flung open the door to the third-year classroom of the Department of Magic and shouted.
“What?!”
Emily, who had been completely off guard, jumped to her feet in surprise.
“That is not what we agreed! You said you would raise the price.......”
“I did raise it.”
I had clearly kept the agreement.
“What did you say?”
Emily’s mouth fell open in shock.
“The price is now 101 gold coins.”
But it turned out someone was willing to pay that.