Chapitre 160: Mr. Brown's funhouse [4]

[Zero's Pov]

'Hmm, so how do we do this... Fuck, I really just want to beat him into the ground...'

How strange of a sensation it was, to have all of these emotions inside of me that didn't originate from my own personal view of the world. Also, the fact that my opponent resembled the loathsome hero wasn't something that made things better.

In the end, I had no choice but to swallow, both in a literal sense as well as figuratively, to gain some sort of stability. Of course, it wasn't bad as I probably looked insane nervous to the audience, an audience that consisted of most of the students and Ms. Turner standing around the large ring.

A bit further away, Caroline and Celina would be fighting, but the only students that opted to look at that fight were Akane, Mike, and John, accompanied by Mr. Brown.

'Okay, Zero... We can do this. Just breathe. These feelings... they are not real.'

Looking ahead, I got to see Robert taking out a longsword from his spatial inventory, followed by him swinging it around a couple of times to warm up. Then, he suddenly turned his head to me with a bit of a confused expression.

"Aren't you going to withdraw your weapon?"

Feeling the gaze of my teacher resting on my back, it appeared that he was not the only one who was waiting for me to show what kind of weapon I had opted to use. In this world, weapons were not only for fighters, they were for mages as well. Even staffs could be used in close combat to defend if needed, with the added effect of increasing the potency of one's magic.

Still, I just forced myself to smile brightly like the saint I was, "Oh, I don't have a weapon. I'm not really suited to using them, and I don't really feel like I need them, so I will be fighting without one."

From a distance, I thought I could still see a bit of anger residing in the face that he struggled to keep together. I was fully aware that he would take this as an insult, that he would interpret it as me being so confident that I didn't even need a staff or a sword to beat him.

To be fair, although I knew how he would interpret it, I had from the beginning made the decision not to use a weapon. After all, the image of a saint holding his hands up to the sky was a lot better without a weapon in hand.

Now, the way to solve this issue was to just continue acting innocent, as if I had no idea about how it could be interpreted, "Also, I don't really like weapons... Even if I challenged Arthur, I don't actually like violence. Haha, I don't think I was made for fighting. I think I am a lot more suited to protecting."

I had no idea if this would be enough to start planting seeds in the audience about what kind of person Zero was, but it was a start. Funnily enough, there was one person who didn't enjoy my performance at all.

As I was speaking, I could see Robert's knuckles whitening as he tightened the grip on his sword to try and endure the fact that now, no matter if he won or not, it would amount to nothing. Could he really brag about someone who talks about not himself not being suited to fighting?

"Alright. I'm ready."

While he was speaking, he walked up to the center of the arena, getting ready for the handshake that was a traditional part of a duel. Trying to look as confused as possible, I just raised a hand, "Ah, what? Oh! I'm ready too!"

Noticing that I wasn't moving, the frustration finally was too much for the poor boy to bear, the fact that I 'didn't know' about even the basics of dueling being the final drop. "You!"

Fortunately for him, Ms. Turner was quick on the uptake and came to his rescue, "Ah, Zero. It's a tradition that before the duel starts both competitors shake hands to show respect. I assumed that you knew this as you challenged Arthur, but it seems like I was mistaken."

Turning my gaze down to the ground, I scratched the back of my head while looking embarrassed, "I'm sorry about that... I haven't actually fought anyone or anything. The only knowledge I have from duels is from books, and they didn't mention a handshake..."

Ms. Turner could only sigh, followed by a sweet expression as if she was looking at an adorable idiot, "Haa, It's okay Zero. But your opponent is waiting for you, so you should probably start moving."

"Oh right! Sorry!"

Running with my small legs, I once again met the eyes of the now incredibly angry Robert who I had just pretended to have forgotten. Though I felt a tiny bit guilty about doing this to him, I needed to rile him up for my plan to work. Taking his hand, I tilted my head like one of those girls in a Japanese cartoon and smiled warmly.

"I'm sorry, Robert! Let's have a good fight."

"...yes."

In the middle of the handshake, I pretended to flinch a bit, "Hey... Sorry about asking this, but... do we just start fighting immediately after the handshake, or is there something else we have to do?"

"JUST GO! FUCK! GO BACK TO WHERE YOU STOOD BEFORE! HOW STUPID CAN, ah...!"

...

All the whispers that could earlier be heard from our audience had now been silenced, everyone staring intently at the man who couldn't even show enough sympathy to be patient with the small boy who didn't know any better.

If I had ever managed to get a 10/10 on my acting, this would be the performance that might win an Oscar.

'And there we go. Thank you for your service, Robert, but I'm sad to say that your mission is not over yet.'

"Oh... I'm sorry, I should have known... My apologies. I'll go get ready."

Making my way back to the designated spot in the arena, I was still well aware that my actions would create some pretty contrasting views of me in the students around us, but there was no doubt that the majority would take my side in this.

Although some would see me as a weakling, most would just realize that Zero was in a very particular and pretty tragic position. Especially so if Mr. Brown had informed the sophomores of my situation as well, which I assumed he had as our classes would cooperate a lot in the future.

Turning back to my opponent, it was finally time to show the audience the other side of Saint Zero. It was time to show them that Zero wasn't just a naïve youth, a pillar of light needed to be someone you could depend on, after all.

Seeing my expression change, Ms. Turner stopped hesitating and started the countdown, "The duel shall begin after the countdown. In case of a lethal attack, I will immediately step in and the duel will be regarded as concluded."

"5,4,3,2,1, go!"

Not even letting a second pass after our teacher had finished the countdown, Robert dashed towards me at a speed that was quite impressive. Or at least it was impressive for his rank, but to me, he moved incredibly slowly.

Still, I had no intentions of moving yet, knowing that I needed to uphold the façade that this was my very first fight ever. As a result, it didn't take long until a sword was just inches from my face, threatening to cleave my head in two.

"Zero, you have to move!" Even with Stella screaming in worry, I held my ground for a second longer, with a very interesting thought popping up in my head. 'I wonder how close he can get before Ms. Turner stops him...'

I was a bit sad that I wouldn't have the chance to see exactly what she regarded as a lethal attack, but it couldn't be helped. Although I enjoyed tragedies the most, there was nothing wrong with a comedy once in a while.

"Ah!"

Dodging to the side, I pretended to stumble a bit to simulate the movements of an amateur, while also making it seem like I had finally realized that this wasn't a book. So while Robert was quickly rearranging his posture and dashed toward me, ready to make another overhead attack, I conjured one of the spells I had been practicing in secret.

"[Flowing Aegis]!"

A set of four water barriers made up of several hexagons emerged from my body, quickly circulating around me. *Bam!* "What?!"

The meagerly shining sword that had been targeting my head once again bounced off one of my shields with enough power to make Robert slide a moderate distance away.

"As I said, I may not be much of a fighter... but... I can promise you that I'll protect what needs to be protected!"

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