GCHPM 12

Chapter – 12

First Day of School. And My First Duel Match.

It seems my school life is going to be fraught with difficulties.

My conversation with Bern had leaked to those around us, and the rumors spread in the blink of an eye. The spectator stands of the arena were overflowing with students.

“I heard the transfer student, a commoner, is going to fight Lord Bern.”
“Lord Bern? That student council disciplinary committee head?”
“He’s famous for being good at earth magic.”
“What a truly foolish commoner.”
“Lina-chan is cute, so she’s popular with the guys, but male commoners are…”

I could hear conversations like that.

I don’t particularly mind being ignored.

But—

“Hey, commoner. Are you really going to fight?”
“Yeah. Unless you apologize to Lina and me, I’ll take you down.”
“Talking back to the second son of an earl’s house? Have you lost your mind? You insolent fool!!”
“I heard from Jeff-sama. You have a younger sister, don’t you?”
“So what if I do?!”

Bern, clearly irritated, spoke to me, and I replied with an almost expressionless face.

“If I win against you, would it be alright if I took your sister?”

The words that left my mouth reached Bern’s ears. For a moment, his face went pale as he stared at me, and then—

He suddenly shouted with intense ferocity.

“KNOW YOUR PLACE!!!!!!! YOU BASTARD!!!!!”

Bern glared at the referee in a rage. The referee hastily opened his mouth.

“Th-then, begin!!”

The moment the referee’s voice reached our ears, Bern whipped out his wand and chanted a spell.

“Spirits of the earth, grant me a sturdy life form with this soil as its body! Golem!”

At that, the earth writhed and formed into a single large mass, becoming a gigantic golem. It was probably about five meters tall.

“GRAAAAAH!!”

“Golem! Bring down the hammer of judgment upon that lowly commoner who has committed a great sin!!”

The moment the golem received his command, it kicked off the ground and charged at me.

“!”

Despite its size, it was incredibly fast.

I’ve fought golems before, but this is my first time fighting one summoned by a person.

Movement by free will versus movement by command.

They’re completely different.

That difference threw me off.

“Ahahaha!! It’s useless to run around like a sewer rat!”

He pointed his wand at the golem and cast a spell on it.

Then, the golem emitted a glow, and its movements gradually became faster.

“GRAAAH!!”

The golem rampaged and continued to attack me precisely.

Every time its hard, massive fist struck the ground, cracks formed, and fragments flew at me with enough force to gouge my skin.

“How pathetic. If you just said, ‘I admit my defeat to Lord Bern,’ right now, you’d get off scot-free with just your sister being taken away. Ahaha!! More! Golem!”

“GRAAAAAAAH!”

I kept dodging the golem’s attacks unarmed while listening to Bern’s disgusting laughter.

But—

I couldn’t stay on the defensive forever.

So I raised my fist, ready to strike the golem’s fist as it came at me with killing intent—

But—

“Hey, commoner. Where are you looking?”

Bern had closed in to point-blank range and swung a large knuckle made of stone at my head.

“Wha—!”

Struck with tremendous force, I was sent flying about thirty meters.

“…”

That was considerable damage.

Fortunately, I’d blocked with my hands, so I didn’t take a direct hit, but compared to my match with Elena-sama, it was quite a fresh experience.

“Oh ho, you’re still intact after taking my attack? It seems you’ll serve your role as a punching bag just fine. I, a noble, shall give you a reason to exist. You will become a punching bag for me to beat.”

“…”

As I silently glared at Bern, he mocked me again.

“Pathetic creature. If you hadn’t enrolled in this Central Magic Academy and had instead lived a lowly life, a loser’s life, you wouldn’t have to suffer such humiliation in front of everyone.”

“…”

“Well, if you have one redeeming quality, it’s that you’re Lina’s brother. Lina would be happier with me. You’re a commoner, so you have no money and no power. That’s the most miserable state a man can be in!! You damn poor commoner! Lina would be better off as my concubine.”

I clenched my fist and was about to summon a weapon to make sure I could take this guy down, when—

“Big brother!! I’m happiest when I’m with you, big brother!! You always earn my tuition fees for me, cook delicious food for me, and comfort me—I love you, big brother!!!! Incidentally, I absolutely despise that disgusting man named Bern!!!”

“Lina…”

Lina’s voice calmed my heart.

So, I forgot about summoning a weapon to kill him and just stared at Bern.

“Ahahaha!! Excellent! I can’t wait to see Lina’s pure, unsullied heart get stained pitch black! Ahaha… ah—”

I lunged at him and drove a punch into his gut.

He flew into the wall and collapsed with a loud thud, lying there crumpled.

“Wh-what the hell is this…”

As Bern groaned, the golem lost its form and crumbled back into soil.

I walked over to Bern, who was clutching his stomach, and spoke to him.

“Surrender.”

“Wh-what?”

“That golem has no free will. It’s just your puppet. So if I deal enough physical damage to you to disrupt your focus on summoning magic, neither you nor your golem can continue fighting. I’ve also figured out your style and movements. That’s why you can’t beat me.”

“A-ah—*cough*! *cough*! Don’t screw with me! Spirits of earth…”

Bern started chanting again.

I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him to the ground.

“GUH!”

“Surrender.”

But he—

“Earth… spirits…”

—stubbornly started chanting again, so I grabbed his collar once more—

And this time, I slammed him down with a bit more force.

“HAH!! Nngh…”

Bern’s face twisted in pain as he spat out blood.

Witnessing this, the surrounding crowd erupted in commotion.

“Wh-why won’t he surrender?”
“Who is that commoner anyway?”
“At this rate, Lord Bern is going to die!”
“He probably can’t swallow his pride and admit defeat to a commoner.”
“What’s going to happen!?”

Ignoring their reactions, I spoke to Bern again.

“I’ll say it one more time. Admit defeat. Or else things will become irreversible.”

Hearing my cold words, Bern—

Far from showing any sign of remorse—

Forgetting even to wipe the blood from his face—

“Damn it… you’ll be a commoner for life. You can never become a noble like me. Ahahaha… *cough*!”

I grabbed him by the collar again.

And this time, as I was about to slam him down a little harder—

Someone pressed a blade against my neck.

“Stop. That’s enough.”

Flowing silver hair, emerald-green eyes, refined features—and a fairly ample chest, though not as much as Elena-sama’s or Lina’s.

In appearance alone, she was a fragile-looking beautiful girl—

But from those beautiful emerald-like eyes, a mysterious gaze emanated a dignity different from Elena-sama’s, fixing me in place.

She spoke again.

“You didn’t use that strange weapon against the disciplinary committee head, did you? Why?”
“There was a risk of injuring other students.”
“Hmph~”

Her sword was aimed at my throat.

At the same time—

The muzzle of the real pistol I had summoned—

Was also aimed at her head.

“Th-the student council president, Luna-sama!”
“No way… The student council president personally stepped in to stop this.”

I see.

So this is Luna, the student council president of this academy.

“First, release that man named Bern.”

“…”

Following her words, I glanced at Bern, whose collar I was still holding—

He was already unconscious.