Chapter 24

Luteo Hall, Building B, Room 105.

Standing on the empty sand arena, Shannon slowly began to stretch.

Professor Winslet had yet to arrive.

The audience seating was noisy, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying.

That’s how focused she was.

Or perhaps just nervous.

Either way, it worked to her advantage—

She couldn’t afford to waste energy on anything else right now.

Shannon closed her eyes gently and summoned to mind the image of the man she would soon be facing.

Winter Winslet.

Thirty years old, a full head taller than her.

A master of ice magic, officially recognized as a 7th-class mage in Karaf five years ago.

Who knew how much stronger he had grown since then?

But could someone truly achieve remarkable growth in a place like this? In a kingdom academy, cut off from the heart of the magical world?

Why was he even working here as a professor?

If he had stayed active in Karaf, he could have gained so much more.

As her thoughts reached that point, Shannon realized her focus had begun to waver.

But once a thought strays off course, it breaks down like a loose stitch in knitting….impossible to stop.

– Why are you going this far?

– Aren’t you just provoking yourself?

– It’s like you want to fight him.

Suddenly, the words of that glasses girl, Rita, came to mind.

When Shannon first heard them, she had been more than a little flustered—

It felt as if her inner thoughts had been exposed.

She didn’t want to admit it, but Rita had been right.

Shannon did want to clash with that man.

But for what purpose?

That… even Shannon didn’t know yet.

In search of that answer, Shannon had come all the way from Karaf to study abroad here, sought out his class, and ultimately ended up challenging him to a duel.

Because Professor Winslet had insulted her school and her master?

That was merely an excuse.

A convenient one. So perfect that it had fooled both Professor Winslet and even herself.

Even if he hadn’t insulted her, Shannon knew she would have found some other way to confront him.

Because it was her own will that drove her.

This was a personal matter.

A story of Shannon Quinlivan’s long-held grudge. Her old resentment and hatred toward Winter Winslet.

Winter Winslet.

The first time Shannon met him was five years ago.

She had been fourteen.

***

Winter Winslet was a guest who had come to the Tower.

Shannon was the great-granddaughter of the Tower’s master.

It was her job to take care of visitors.

She had prepared a room for Winter Winslet and introduced him to the other residents.

At the time, her great-grandfather Benizelos was the founder of the school and a great archmage, and it was common for people to come seeking to learn magic from him.

But Winter Winslet was no ordinary guest.

Attending annual symposiums and seminars, Winter Winslet quickly made a name for himself.

He was like an awl. No matter how deep you tried to hide him in your pocket, his brilliance pierced through. A genius with a talent that couldn’t be hidden.

Even Benizelos recognized his genius at a glance.

Her great-grandfather was a man of great ambition, and he wanted to formally take Winter Winslet in as a student of his school.

But the man refused.

Because he said there was nothing more for him to learn. That it was all too dull.

Benizelos was so enraged by the rejection that he fell ill from stress and, for a time, made life difficult for his disciples.

That was when everything began to change for Shannon, too.

As if to fill the void left by losing someone as gifted as Winter Winslet, her great-grandfather began to fixate on Shannon’s talent.

– Shannon, you must succeed me as the next master of the Tower and carry on the legacy of our school. You have talent, child. And laziness is a sin for the talented.

Shannon, too, had been born with an extraordinary gift.

Even at a young age, she was accomplishing feats on par with her much older peers in the school.

Back then, Shannon simply found joy in learning magic.

Every time she mastered a new spell, everyone around her praised her with smiling faces. And so she came to love magic even more, working harder because of that love.

Magic became the center of Shannon’s life.

But precisely because she loved it so deeply, the occasional look of disappointment in her great-grandfather’s eyes and the cutting remarks he made stabbed at her like shards of glass.

– Maybe I really should have held onto that boy…

– Winter Winslet….that one was a once-in-a-millennium genius…

– Even though Shannon is my great-granddaughter, compared to him… hmm.

At some point, Benizelos began giving Shannon problems that were far too difficult for her.

And when she couldn’t solve them, he punished her.

At first, the punishments were mild.

But that didn’t last.

– You must become a mage greater than that boy.

– This won’t do. This simply won’t do! Ah, after all, nothing but him would’ve sufficed. Useless thing!

– You carry my blood and this is all you’re capable of? This week, forget rest. Forget even sleep.

Her father and mother, who had once tried to stop her great-grandfather, soon disappeared from the tower.

Even after that, Shannon kept trying.

She believed that if she became a great mage and satisfied her great-grandfather, everything would return to how it once was.

That’s what she told herself.

But what her great-grandfather had was madness.

The comparison he always made—“Winter Winslet, who became a great success as the official disciple of Benizelos”—was nothing more than a monster born of his own imagination.

For Shannon, a girl still young enough to long for her parents’ embrace, it was an unrealistic and unjust goal to chase.

She endured punishments, suffered nosebleeds, and avoided her parents as she struggled desperately. But no matter what she did, she could never satisfy her great-grandfather.

At some point, Shannon stopped enjoying magic.

As she clung to something so painful, her skills stopped growing.

Her great-grandfather’s gaze grew even colder, and the expectations of those around her became a source of fear.

She began to wonder if she’d done something wrong and tried to find another way, but only ended up more lost.

By the time she was so broken she didn’t know what to do anymore…

Pain, jealousy, and resentment….those were all that remained in Shannon’s heart.

She hated the one her great-grandfather compared her to every day.

She envied his talent.

And in a way, she even resented him.

If only he hadn’t left the tower and had stayed as her great-grandfather’s disciple…

Then maybe her great-grandfather wouldn’t look at her with such a cold expression.

Maybe things wouldn’t have been so painful.

Maybe he could have been someone she could trust and rely on.

Then maybe she wouldn’t have felt so alone.

If only. If only. If only…

The more she let herself fall into those thoughts, the more miserable her days became.

And then, one day—

News reached Shannon’s ears.

Winter Winslet, Special Guest Professor at Laurentia Royal Academy.

It was announced with great publicity as if the world were proud to boast about it.

Shannon felt angry for no apparent reason.

No—that wasn’t true. She simply hadn’t realized the reason.

That news had crushed the one and only hope that had kept her going all this time.

So he gave up being a student to the school…

Just to become some ordinary teacher?

He threw everything away to play the role of an instructor at a mere academy?

He ruined her life… for that?

Shannon stormed out of the tower as if running away.

She left Karaf and began the process of studying abroad in Laurentia.

She had to see it with her own eyes.

Winter Winslet—

Just how great a mage was this man, really?

Was her great-grandfather’s obsession even justified?

If it turned out everything was just a delusion, if the man was in truth a mediocre mage, it might even bring her relief.

But if he really was a remarkable mage… then Shannon would prove it.

That she was greater than him.

That the great-granddaughter of Benizelos had finally surpassed him.

Even if it costs my life.

As she repeated that vow to herself, Shannon suddenly noticed the surrounding noise had vanished.

Had her heart settled, making her indifferent to it all?

“……”

No.

The duel hall had gone quiet because the spectators were all holding their breath.

The reason was the appearance of today’s duel’s main participant.

Professor Winter Winslet had arrived.

***

Silence.

The gymnasium fell utterly silent the moment I appeared.

If stares had weight, I would’ve been left full of holes. Every gaze was fixed squarely on me.

Among them, the most intense stare was coming from straight ahead.

Zzt.

Shannon Quinlivan.

There wasn’t even a hint of fear in that confident gaze of hers.

She clearly didn’t think for a second that she would lose this duel.

Good. That’s exactly how I wanted her.

I had instigated this duel to make my superiority undeniable.

So it would actually be better for me if Shannon gave it her all.

Only when she let go of her pointless pride would I be able to recruit the NPC called Shannon as an ally.

“Ahem, both participants have arrived right on time. I’m Jonathan Kingfisher, today’s duel overseer.”

Dean Kingfisher appeared right on cue.

Standing at the center of the duel arena, he gave me a rather burdensome smile.

“Another fine afternoon, Professor. Have you eaten? Ah, yes… You’d rather I shut up and get on with it? Right. Let’s begin.”

It was the overseer’s role to explain how the duel had come about, the rules of engagement, and the conditions for victory.

Dean Kingfisher pulled out the prepared script and read from it, and neither Shannon nor I raised any objections We simply nodded in silence.

The rules were very basic.

Leaving the arena or killing your opponent would result in a loss.

“Let me remind you once again. Taking your opponent’s life is a violation of the rules. However!”

“……?”

I whipped my head toward Dean Kingfisher.

Why on earth was there a “however” just now?

Just as he had been delivering the kind of speech any typical duel overseer might give, Dean Kingfisher suddenly veered off course, then quickly continued speaking.

“However of course, there’s no guarantee that an accident won’t occur in the heat of battle, is there? If such a thing were to happen, I, Kingfisher! Jonathan Kingfisher, will personally take full responsibility and handle everything. So please, don’t worry, and do your best to ensure this remains a fair duel. Understood?”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

It was the dean spouting nonsense, but strangely enough, it felt like I was the one taking all the blame.

“That lunatic professor really means to kill someone right here in the academy!”

“He even bought off the dean? Just how dangerous is he?”

“He must’ve blackmailed the dean. Rumor has it that Professor Winslet is actually a major figure in the criminal underworld…”

In the minds of the crowd, Professor Winslet had already become the root of all evil.

I looked ahead in disbelief…. only to find Shannon staring at me with a cold gaze.

A look that said, “I knew it”. A look of bitter disappointment.

“This is honestly pathetic.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Did you really think I’d be scared off by this?”

…That’s not what this is about.

“I’m not afraid of you at all.”

As I turned my head to the side in disbelief, the true cause of all this misunderstanding gave me a wink.

A look that clearly said, “Didn’t I do great?”

Jonathan Kingfisher.

We’ll have a talk later.

“Both parties, please take your designated positions. The duel will begin with the sound of this tuning fork.”

The tuning fork prepared by the dean was a magically charged delayed timer.

An oval-shaped arena.

Shannon and I stood at its two focal points, and the dean began charging the tuning fork with mana.

The wait was brief.

One second, two seconds… three.

Toooong.

The tuning fork signaled the start of the duel.

Immediately after—

Boom!

An explosion went off right in my face.