Chapter 370: Episode 370

A duel evaluation with a nomination system, where you could choose your own opponent.

This was not something Hector could simply overlook.

“Whoa, you scared me! When did you get here?”

A startled Dick quickly backed away.

Hector’s glaring eyes bored down on him.

“Speak, you insect. Is this information reliable?”

“And what if it is?” Dick shot back. “What are you going to do about it?”

Meirin’s eyes hardened, and she stepped forward.

“If it’s a nomination system, we can’t stop you from choosing Simon. But who Simon chooses is his own decision.”

“Th-That’s right!” Kamibarez added, mustering her courage and nodding vigorously.

A low rumble echoed as Hector’s scattered faction members began to gather, their voices rising in support.

“Hector! There you are!”

“What’s going on?”

Just as they were about to offer their support, Hector raised an arm to stop them.

“Enough. This is a personal matter.”

“It’s fine,” Simon said. He waved his friends back and stepped forward until the two rivals stood face to face.

The surrounding students swallowed hard. The sight of those two together always created a palpable tension.

Just as Hector was about to open his mouth, Simon spoke first.

“Alright. I understand.”

Everyone froze.

“Just as Dick said, if this Dueling Evaluation is a nomination system, you plan on choosing me, correct?”

“Obviously,” Hector replied, his voice cold as ice.

“Good. When my turn comes, I’ll choose you, too.”

Hector’s eyes widened. Caught off guard by the unexpected turn, Dick, Meirin, and Kamibarez all turned to Simon with expressions of pure shock.

’It wouldn’t be a bad idea to fight Hector here and get it over with,’ Simon mused. He knew Hector had been craving a match against him, but he had avoided it until now. Hector was a burden—reckless enough to start a brawl in the middle of downtown Rengist, his provocations often dragging others into the fray. Simon had simply been reluctant to engage with him at all.

But this time was different.

’I have to test Herseva.’

He needed to unleash the new power he’d acquired before the promotion exam, to calibrate it in the heat of a real battle. A weak opponent wouldn’t do, and Hector was a powerhouse who far surpassed the level of most special admission students. He was the perfect opponent to draw out Herseva’s full potential.

Hector was still staring at Simon, his expression one of faint surprise.

Just then, Simon offered a faint smile and extended his hand.

“I hope this will be a duel that benefits us both. Let’s have a good match, Hector.”

Hector didn’t take his hand. He remained silent, his gaze locked on Simon’s as if trying to discern his true intentions.

Finally, he bared his teeth, his true nature surfacing.

“…You arrogant bastard.” His voice was a low growl. “Were you planning to use me as a test subject?”

Simon flinched, feeling as if his innermost thoughts had been laid bare. Beside him, Dick leaned back with his hands behind his head and smirked.

“What of it? It’s not like you can back down now.”

“Of course, I’ll accept the match,” Hector conceded, a chilling glint in his eyes. “But you seem to be taking a fight with me too lightly. I will make this a difficult and painful battle for you. And in the end, I will leave you crushed by defeat and the bitter taste of your own powerlessness.”

With a sharp flutter of his uniform, Hector turned and strode away, his faction members scurrying to follow.

As the taut tension dissipated, Simon let out a sigh.

“What’s with him?” Meirin asked, her face a mask of disbelief. “Isn’t the whole point of the evaluation to test our new abilities against our classmates? What does he think this is?”

Simon scratched the side of his head and squinted.

“…This time, I feel like Hector got one over on me.”

“What?”

“This Dueling Evaluation. I’ll have to prepare for it with everything I’ve got. I’m heading out.”

Simon grabbed his bag and left, leaving his three friends to exchange bewildered glances.

“Are all boys like that?” Meirin asked, her expression baffled.

“Not all of them,” Dick shrugged.

“But, Dick!” Kamibarez piped up. “If the Dueling Evaluation really is a nomination system, how does it work? How do you nominate someone and get nominated?”

Dick shook his head.

“I don’t know either.”

“What?!” Meirin’s voice rose. “You just said it was a nomination system!”

“I just heard it ’might’ be,” Dick clarified.

“You dummy!” Meirin snapped. “Aren’t you the one in the biggest trouble right now? How are you going to handle the fallout after getting them all worked up?”

Dick shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

“Eh, since when have I ever cared about that? The order of events is what’s important. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.”

—

That curiosity didn’t last long.

The very next day, at the Shamime Festival, the entire first-year student body filled the Grand Auditorium. While the students, dressed in fine tuxedos and dresses, enjoyed the banquet, the emcee made a shocking announcement.

“Tomorrow’s Dueling Evaluation will begin with a nomination system! The nomination order will be based on the recent after-school BMAT rankings!”

The students, who had no prior information, began to murmur, their faces a mixture of confusion and surprise.

“What?”

“A Dueling Evaluation, all of a sudden?”

“I thought there was a ball tonight!”

Amidst the confusion, Dick, who was already in on the secret, stifled his laughter. Meirin looked dejected, muttering that she had put all that effort into her dress for nothing.

“Puhahaha! Ah, ah! My apologies for laughing!” The emcee for the evening was a third-year student named Darell. “I completely understand how you all feel! I went through the same thing for three years straight!”

Holding an amplification crystal sphere, he mercilessly tore into the school.

“Kizen is run by some truly vicious people. Tossing a Dueling Evaluation into the Shamime Festival is child’s play for them! That feeling of coming to pick a dance partner only to have to pick a duel opponent! It’ll probably get worse when you’re second-years! Ah, am I allowed to say this? I’m a senior about to graduate, what do I have to be afraid of! Haha!”

“Darell.”

The emcee flinched and turned around. Jane was sitting in a chair nearby, glaring at him with murderous eyes.

“That’s a warning,” she stated, her tone icy enough to freeze the air.

Darell quickly snapped his head back.

“Hah! Haha! But there’s no doubt that Kizen is a great school that produces excellent necromancers every year! Of course!” Sweat poured down his face as he held up a card with his lines written on it. “We just have to do as we’re told, don’t we? Let’s begin the nomination-based Dueling Evaluation! Last exam’s scores were… let’s see.”

Darell grinned at his juniors.

“The co-first-place winners, Simon Polentia and Chatel Maer. Come forward.”

Amidst the students’ murmurs, the two top-ranked students from the after-school BMAT rose and made their way to the stage.

“Hmph.” Hector, watching this, crossed his arms with a satisfied expression. He and Simon had promised to nominate each other. If the nomination order went from top to bottom based on the previous exam’s rankings, there would be no surprises.

“Yesterday was really something else,” a female student from Hector’s faction chuckled. She was recalling how Hector had stormed the girls’ dormitory, roaring at Elisa Celine to forfeit any duel with Simon.

“My goodness, a guy barging into the girls’ dormitory.”

“Shut your mouth,” Hector growled.

“Yes, yes.” Her mouth snapped shut at his rebuke, but a teasing smile remained. Soon, other faction members began to snicker.

Hector closed his eyes tightly and explained, “Elisa Celine held a grudge against Simon Polentia.” There was a risk she would nominate Simon in the Dueling Evaluation.

“Wow, so you went around finding and harassing everyone who might choose Simon?” one of them teased.

“Hector has his cute side, you know.”

“Shut your mouths.”

Eventually, the faction members burst out laughing. Hector ignored them, his arms crossed and his expression dead serious as he watched Simon ascend the stage.

“It’s quite fun since it’s not my problem!” Darell announced with a grin. “A particular advantage of the nomination-based Dueling Evaluation is that you can see the flow of various human relationships. In this system, you must pick one person from the ‘same squad’. You can see who picks whom, who cares about whom, who has a grudge against whom. It’s fun! Isn’t it, my dear juniors!”

The first-years, thoroughly disciplined by the shout from a god-like third-year, straightened their postures and yelled, “Yes, Senior!”

Darell, ever the showman, cupped a hand to his ear.

“Ah, I can’t hear you!”

“YEEES!!!”

“Ah, are there no female students at Kizen! This time, only the girls!!”

“Yeeees!” the girls sang out.

“Good, good!”

“Darell.”

Finally, Jane spoke from her chair. Darell’s body trembled as if electrocuted as he turned around. She was beckoning him with her finger.

“P-Professor Jane! I’ll be completely serious from now on, I promise!”

“Come here.”

Darell approached her with the expression of a man on death row, then stood at attention before her, his posture perfectly disciplined.

“Do you not want to graduate?”

“N-No, ma’am!”

“Do you think you won’t see my face once you become a professional necromancer?”

“No, ma’am!”

“The graduation thesis you submitted this time… I will personally check it from beginning to end.”

“Ah, please, Professor! Have mercy!”

There was a brief moment of re-education. Although the third-years were said to be skilled enough to dominate most active necromancers, even among them, Vice-Principal Jane was an untouchable existence.

Eventually, a chastened Darell trudged back to the stage.

“S-Sorry. Let’s start again.”

He briefly explained the rules. Starting from the top of the rankings from the recent after-school BMAT, each student must nominate one person from the same squad to face. In the case of a tie, the decision would be made by referring to the detailed metrics of the BMAT scores.

“Right now, juniors Simon and Chatel are tied for first place.” Darell took a document from an assistant and unfurled it. “So, we’ll decide the order based on the total of the detailed metrics!”

In Simon’s case, he had played a major role, carrying entire themes in events like the siege and summon defense. However, he had received Meirin’s help in the Cursing Written Theme and one-sided help from Cindy Vivace in the Necrology Theme. Chatel, on the other hand, had solved every test from beginning to end with his own power. Though not reflected in the final grade, the detailed evaluation gave Chatel the edge.

“Yes, that’s how it is! Then, from our giant-hybrid junior, Chatel Maer! Who, oh who, will he nominate!”

An assistant offered Chatel a list of students from the upper squads, but he raised a massive palm to decline.

“Then, Chatel! Who will you nomin—!” Darell’s words caught in his throat. The murmuring of the audience died in an instant.

Simon’s pupils trembled. This was completely unexpected.

Chatel’s large, thick finger was pointing directly at him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep