"...did… did you eat a full course meal right before the duel…?"
"Not a word!"
Rotsard furrowed his brows and leaned to the side past the teacher to glare scornfully at his indisposed opponent, but the man scoffed angrily and moved to shield Ian from him.
"You said you weren't going to use any spells!"
The man shouted with an accusation.
"Huh? Are you stupid? Of course I didn't."
In response, Rotsard didn't particularly hold back as he frowned and the scornful glare of his beastly yellow eyes focused on the teacher.
"Lies! Those ice blocks were far too powerful for that!"
"...?"
The teacher got red in the face and shouted as his hand instinctively reached towards the sword that usually would be on his waist, all while Rotsard watched him with one brow raised.
"Hey. If you're weak and can't properly judge what you see, maybe don't agree to be a judge for a duel? You're only making a fool out of yourself by spouting such nonsense in a high-pitched voice."
The bleached-blond-haired youth shook his head and sighed before suggesting aggressively with a disgusted expression.
"!!!"
The advanced swordsmanship teacher wanted to respond, he really did, but the moment he intended to open his mouth and retort, a thick layer of ice grew around his jaw and neck, blocking his ability to speak.
That wasn't all...!
The same kind of ice grew around his wrists, seemingly spontaneously, and expanded until it weighed the man down.
"Listen. If you believe that this duel can continue. So be it. But for hel's sake, get someone competent to be the judge! Am I supposed to believe that this weakling…"
*thunk* *thwamp*
Rotsard rolled his eyes and shook his head at the speechless audience, but stopped, interrupted by some odd noises.
Upon turning around, he was faced with the immobilized teacher utilizing some sort of white energy in attempts to break his ice… But no matter how the energy was shaped, be it a blade or blunt force, all of the spell-like creations just bounced or slid off the ice's surface.
"Ugh! Enough with that stupid cushioning thing! It's ineffective! When will you all learn!?"
*WHAM* *CRACK*
Rotsard let out an angry scoff, and yet another brick of ice materialized within his circle of light, only that this one flew straight at the bound teacher's face, knocking him out as it shattered into fine pieces.
The man would have dropped down, but with the ice propping him up, he merely slumped to the side…
"...wait... I didn't cover his nose, did I…?"
Rotsard muttered to himself, leaning forward and squinting his eyes to make sure…
"...oof... Haaah…"
He then groaned to himself, stealthily making the necessary adjustment before turning around to face the gathered students.
"From now on, the limit on duels I will agree on is one per day. I only have two conditions. First, the one who will challenge me organizes everything. Second, only someone competent, like teacher Oltial or at least someone close to his level, can be the judge. Believe it or not, I don't intend to kill any of my potential challengers, but if we will be fighting under the supervision of someone like this…"
Rotsard declared before pointing with his thumb over his shoulder at the unconscious and incapacitated advanced swordsmanship teacher without sparing him even one more glance.
"...then it would be safer for you to just assume you've already lost and not challenge me in the first place. It will save your life."
Rottsard finished his sentence, looking across the faces of everyone in the crowd with his eerily beastly yellow eyes.
"That said… Ian~!"
"!!!"
After that, Rotsard's face lit up with an evil grin, and he turned right on his heel, leaning to the side and addressing his current opponent directly, making the poor guy flinch and almost faint.
Ian Fallrain barely stopped vomiting... Ghastly pale and teary-eyed, he was clenching his stomach with both hands while slouching.
"While I am shameless enough to put an end to this duel definitively… I'm giving you a chance. Do you surrender or…?"
"I…! I shurendther! I surrender!"
As the bleached-blond-haired youth asked with the creepiest wolf-grin a human could pull off, the fourth-year student cried out, trying to answer so fast that he bit his tongue the first time.
"And that's a good choice. We're done then."
"No!"
"Come on, fight him!"
"You can do it!"
Rotsard nodded, and the circle of light and ephemeral wings disappeared as suddenly as they had emerged, but that only seemed to encourage some of the students in the audience to call out to his opponent.
"Oh? I see there are plenty of challengers who can't wait for the appointment~ Since this is the first day, how about I'll make an exception and accept all of your challenges at the same time~? Come forth, I'll face you all just as you wish right now! You can try to swarm me! I don't mind!"
"..."
Rotsard snickered mockingly, and both the circle of light and the ephemeral wings made their reappearance, completely pacifying the entire audience.
"Peasant-like trash. All of you."
"!!!"
Rotsard scrunched his nose and scoffed with disgust at their response, making some faces in the crowd turn red from anger.
…but no one stepped forward even then…
"In my benevolence, I'll make things even easier. No one has to actively seek and challenge me. Consider me accepting it. Just organize everything and wait here. I will show up tomorrow and the day after and so on for a duel as long as there will be someone with any semblance of courage to face me."
After saying that and allowing the circle of light and the ephemeral wings to dissipate, Rotsard left the training grounds in silence, completely uninterrupted.
…
"Alright, I'm done with this stupid assignment for today. How is he doing?"
Back in her room in the girls' dormitory, Saria threw aside a book and pushed herself away from the desk, turning towards the window and asking her contracted fae.
"Nnnm."
In response, Spite let out a muffled grumble and waddled away from her spot, plopping down by Saria's bedside.
"What?! What do you mean it's already over!? Trashsard lost THAT fast!?"
"..."
As the girl scoffed in disgust, Spite merely raised its head so that the lifeless eyes of its sheep costume could stare into her master's soul…
"Nnnnnmmm."
"!?"
…and as the contracted fae let out a long grumble of discontent, Saria flinched and rushed over to the window to peek at the aftermath down below.