Alice stepped toward Brad, her expression set.
"Apologize immediately for those remarks toward Senior Fatima."
"Who are you to butt in when your seniors are talking? You and that one over there, neither of you know your place. Get out of here."
Brad scowled and raised his hand. Alice looked at him with something approaching disgust.
"A superior who wants respect should act like one. I genuinely wonder how someone like you became a cadet. Don't you feel any shame, listening to yourself speak?"
"What? Are you out of your mind? How dare you speak to me like!"
He swung his hand in irritation. Alice blocked it without stepping back. His face, already flushed, darkened further. Fatima quietly caught Alice's sleeve.
"Alice, it's fine. Let's just ignore him and carry on."
"I don't intend to look the other way when I see something unjust, Senior Fatima."
"It's not fear, it's disgust. Let's go."
"You little!!"
Hearing their exchange conducted directly in front of him, Brad finally snapped. Seething, he reached for his sword.
Before he could draw, his hand stopped.
Echi had moved without anyone noticing, and she was pressing down on the hilt of Brad's sword.
"It's been a while, Senior," she said softly, standing close. "I told you to watch your mouth, didn't I?"
"You!!!"
He ground his teeth and gripped the hilt harder. The small hand in its lace glove pressed down with total stillness. No matter how he strained, the sword wouldn't clear the scabbard.
Laughter broke from Brad's club members.
"Brad, no need for the drama just because she's a woman."
"Don't tell me you actually can't draw it."
"He's lost his mind over a girl in a dress, first one he's seen at this place in ages."
Crude jeering. So this is the club Baraha described as full of idiots. Echi, who had been irritated, found herself genuinely amused. She let out an almost refreshing laugh.
"What were you planning to do with that sword, Senior? Do you not remember what I told you? Drawing your sword carelessly is grounds for expulsion."
She whispered the words as he struggled. His eyes burned. Echi gave him a sweet smile, and released him.
The sword flew out of the scabbard from the built-up force. The sight drew laughter from the crowd.
Humiliated, Brad pointed the drawn sword at Echi, his whole body trembling.
"You! You!!!"
Behind Echi, the sound of a sword being drawn. Alice.
Fatima let out a low groan.
Echi kept smiling.
"Have those shins healed? Judging by how you're acting, I suppose you've recovered and forgotten my warning."
"Wounds? You two fought before?"
"Brad, you actually lost to a lady?"
The murmurs turned mocking. Most of the gathered cadets had accepted Echinacea's skill by now; Brad and his group were among the few still refusing to. They had dismissed her freshman ranking victory as a fluke. Being mocked by his own peers, Brad's face turned scarlet.
"Lost?! That bitch ambushed me. It doesn't count!"
"Oh my. Then shall we do this properly?"
Echi replied as if she had been waiting. Without hesitation, she pulled off her left glove and dropped it at Brad's feet.
"I formally challenge you to a duel, Senior Brad, my apologies, I can't recall your last name. Not worth committing to memory, I suppose. If I win, you will kneel before Senior Fatima and apologize."
Brad visibly paled. But showing fear now would only make things worse. He shouted louder instead.
"Fine! I accept! I'll fix that attitude of yours right here. When I win, you'll be my servant for three days. I'll teach you what respect for seniors actually means."
The conditions were poorly stated. A murmur spread among the watching cadets. Before a flustered Fatima could intervene, Echi nodded.
"Do as you like. Shall we get a witness?"
Brad pointed at one of his club members. It wasn't a fair witness, but Echi didn't object. She lifted the cheap sword she had acquired after discarding her old one during the monster subjugation.
"Shall we begin?"
The hastily chosen witness stepped between them and made the formal declaration. The cadets crowded closer.
And at the back of the gathering, Rosalyn Diassant appeared, red hair elegantly pinned, dressed as immaculately as a lady, her approach unhurried but purposeful.
"…May mercy and tolerance be granted to the victor, humility and acceptance to the loser, and may honor and justice reside in the sword. Ar Sebatiem."
After the declaration, both parties exchanged formal greetings. Brad bowed in the imperial knightly style, heels together, sword guard briefly kissed, tip lowered. His expression, twisted into a contemptuous smirk throughout, stripped the gesture of any elegance.
Echinacea gathered her dress hem and curtsied.
One of Brad's people let out a teasing whistle. The surrounding cadets, however, no longer reacted with awkwardness. By now they had grown accustomed to her. They were here to see the swordsmanship.
"You haven't seen her fight before, right? Watch carefully."
"Is she really that good?"
"She'd hold her own against actual knights. In the freshman rankings, only Alice Winterbell lasted against her. The other matches ended too fast to get a good look, but this time..."
Rosalyn arrived at the hedge bordering the training ground. She heard the murmurs ahead of her and quietly stepped to a spot with a clearer sightline. The cadets, absorbed in the duel, didn't notice that the Commander's prospective fiancée was standing behind them.
The duel began. Brad ignored the convention and attacked first.
Echi barely moved, a slight twist of her upper body. Brad's blade cut through the fluttering lace of her dress and found nothing. Missing left his entire stance exposed.
Her sword was already moving. It shot toward his eyes.
His sword was still completing its arc, nowhere near a guard. Too fast to dodge.
Brad shut his eyes instinctively.
Her sword changed direction at the last moment, grazing the ends of his temple hair.
"Did you see that?"
"She redirected mid-thrust at that speed. How?"
"Elbow stayed fixed, it was all in the wrist."
"No, it started at the shoulder. Using only the wrist, the tip would waver. Fixing the elbow maintained speed and control."
Except for Rosalyn Diassant, everyone present was an Azenka cadet. They dissected the exchange in real time. Rosalyn stood in the shade, eyes fixed on Echinacea, listening.
Brad's severed hair floated down. Realizing he had closed his eyes, his face burned with humiliation. Echinacea smiled. The smile asked: Are you scared?
Brad understood it perfectly. Face red, he stepped forward and swung with everything he had.
A heavy strike, cutting through the air.
Echi was already out of range before it arrived. The moment his blade passed, she stepped back in.
Her dress moved with her. Blue satin shoes touched the ground lightly, the motion flowing as if choreographed.
Her sword extended forward with the smoothness of unfolding a fan, fluid, and then precise with sudden finality.
Brad had over-swung and left his upper body completely open. He had no way to block.
Just as it seemed inevitable, Echinacea's sword stopped.
A thin slice of his collar opened. The fabric split, but his skin was untouched.
"She... she cut only the collar? That's a tight fit, not a loose shirt."
"You think that was accidental?"
"Look at his waist! His clothes are sliced there too. Skin completely intact."
"She can control her cuts that precisely?"
"Apparently. A senior who went on the subjugation with her said she was terrifying, looks like he was right."
Rosalyn had no expertise in swordsmanship. She only understood the full extent of what she was seeing through the commentary around her. But even without understanding technique, one thing was plain, Echinacea Roaz wielded her sword beautifully. Dueling had always evoked images of sweat and effort in Rosalyn's mind. This looked like a scene from a ballroom.
'Hmm…'
She watched with the same focused attention she gave to fine art. The same attention she had once given to Yurien.
The duel was beyond one-sided.
Brad's anger had turned to humiliation. Humiliation to denial. Denial to fear. It hadn't taken long.