The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 85: The One Called Prince…

I glanced lazily at the five people who spoke to me, not bothering to hide my disinterest.

“What do you want?”

“What’s with that attitude?!”

It seemed my demeanor annoyed the chubby guy in the middle with slicked-back blonde hair, who raised his voice.

“What’s wrong with my attitude? This is just me being normal, you know?”

“Yep, El is just like always.”

“True. It’s always like this.”

“By the way, who the heck are you?”

Fiera and Shuvina, who usually stuck by my side, answered my question without hesitation.

I figured I might as well ask who this guy was, but Sonia seemed to know him and was nervously darting her eyes between the guy and us.

The guy, clearly irritated by our indifference, began to shake with rage, turning bright red as he shouted.

“You! Do you have any idea who I am?! I am Daito Falmel, the first prince of this country and the next sage!”

“Oh, really? So what?”

“Wha—?!”

Despite revealing his status, Daito was met with a response he clearly did not expect, and not just him; the other students around us were equally taken aback.

“So what, huh?! Just what kind of attitude do you have towards royalty? You’ll regret this!”

“Sounds like a hassle.”

Daito only wobbled his big belly in anger and showed no signs of actually stating his purpose for approaching us, making it more troublesome to deal with him.

“Sonia.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“You handle this. I’m too lazy, so I’m going to sleep.”

“…Huh?”

I left the prince to Sonia and took my seat, setting a water cushion on the table to use as a pillow and prepared to nap.

Fiera also sat next to me and, for some reason, rested her tail on my thigh, while Shuvina hovered nearby, perhaps feeling sorry for Sonia and watching the situation unfold.

“Um, Daito-sama. Could I ask your business here?”

Sonia spoke hesitantly to Daito, but he completely ignored her, no longer even hearing what she said.

And then…

“Let’s have a duel!!”

“…Huh?”

“I, Daito Falmel, hereby challenge that man over there to a duel!”

As Daito shouted that, the whole class buzzed with excitement, with Sonia still trying to comprehend what was happening, her mouth agape.

“What’s all this commotion?”

Just then, a familiar voice called out, and when I looked up, I saw Hamiru, the teacher in charge of the class-sorting exam yesterday, standing there.

“Hamiru-sensei! I’m challenging this new student to a duel!”

Daito pointed at me as he spoke, and Hamiru quickly grasped the situation and turned to me.

“A duel, huh? Eir-kun, what do you want to do?”

“Honestly, I don’t even know what a duel is.”

“Oh right, yeah. A duel is where the challenger and the challenged fight, and the side that wins can give one command to the loser.

As for that command, the parties involved will discuss it in the presence of a teacher as a witness, and can only proceed if the teacher approves or if both parties agree.”

“I see. Can you refuse?”

“Eh? Well, yeah, technically you can, but are you really going to refuse?”

When Hamiru asked if I could turn it down, he looked slightly surprised by my question.

“Because there’s hardly any benefit for the one accepting the challenge, right?”

“That’s true, but… you’re a magician, so I thought maybe you have some pride or something.”

Not understanding exactly what he meant, I thought for a bit, and upon hearing ‘pride,’ it finally clicked.

Magicians generally have a sense of pride or confidence in their magic and knowledge to a greater or lesser extent. Thus, if their magic is belittled or they’re challenged to a duel related to it, most magicians will accept that duel.

“I don’t have any pride in that sense. I enjoy fighting against someone clearly stronger than me, but I dislike wasting my time battling someone weaker who has no strategy. Besides, how am I supposed to learn anything from someone whose power level I can’t even gauge?”

While I generally live by the code of not refusing a fight that’s been picked with me, this was different.

Daito didn’t understand the gap in strength between us, and I could tell he had ulterior motives.

You see, he had been glancing at Fiera, Shuvina, and Sonia near me, and it was obvious he had some hidden intentions.

“Y-you think I’m weak?! Just because I barely passed the exam? Don’t get too cocky! Duel me right now!!”

“You really say that without holding back, huh?”

“Well, it’s the truth! Anyway, about that duel—can I have a proxy?”

“A proxy? Hmm, it’s not explicitly forbidden by the rules, so I think it’s fine…”

“Got it. Fiera.”

“Yeah?”

“Play with him.”

“Understood.”

Fiera stood up and turned to Daito.

“I’ll take El’s place in this duel. What’s your command if I win?”

But Daito didn’t respond right away, and when I looked at him curiously, he was staring wide-eyed at Fiera’s chest.

“How ridiculous. Fiera, just get rid of this trash already.”

“Yeah. So what’s your command?”

When Fiera again asked Daito about the command in the case of her victory, he finally tore his gaze away from her chest to meet her eyes.

However, all the girls in the class were looking at him with disdain, and at least for that moment, not a single girl sided with him.

“Um, cough. About the command, if I win, I want you three to become my women! It’s truly unheard of for a beastman to have women, but you’re special because you look good! So be grateful!

And for that guy over there, he’ll be expelled! After all, he insulted me, right? That’s my command if I win!”

“That sounds great. Fiera, what do you say?”

“If I win, you get expelled. And never show your face around us again.”

Fiera pronounced a refreshingly straightforward command, one dripping with selfishness, as she looked at Daito as if he were trash.

“Hmph! Fine! There’s no way I, the next sage, could possibly lose to a beastman! I accept your conditions for the duel!”

Daito’s words implied that somehow the roles of challenger and challenged had switched, his belly jiggling as he took a deep breath.

(Haa. He’s already thinking about what comes after he wins.)

“Well then, since both parties are clear on the commands after winning, I’ll place the contract magic on the two of you.”

Once everything was settled, Hamiru, acting as the witness, cast the contract magic on Fiera and Daito.

Contract magic is a type of magic that ensures the promises made are upheld, and if the stipulated content is broken, pain will continuously assail the entire body.

“Now that the contract magic is complete, let’s head to the training ground. We were supposed to introduce the new students first, but doing that after is also fine. It’ll end quickly anyway.”

Hamiru seemed to know how this duel would turn out and led the class towards the training ground to finish it quickly.

Once at the training ground, we all took our seats on the audience bench, a little distance away from Fiera and Daito, and turned our eyes toward them.

As Fiera lightly warmed up, a sizable crowd gathered in the audience, apparently having heard about the duel somehow, and other students were also looking toward Fiera and Daito.

“We will now begin the duel between Daito-kun and Fiera-san. Are both ready?”

“Of course!”

“Ready as well.”

“Then… begin!”

Once Hamiru gave the signal to start, he stepped away to observe.

“Hey, beastman! I’ll even let you take the first move! Come at me with everything you’ve got!!”

As soon as Hamiru signaled the start, Daito shouted something and stood there, not chanting any spell.

“Got it.”

“It’s over.”

“Yeah. What a waste of time.”

Fiera said that, reinforced her legs, and vanished from sight, and before Daito even realized it, she was rearing back a punch right in front of him.

“Wha… guah!!”

Daito, who took a direct hit to the face, spewed blood everywhere as he rolled across the ground, finally stopping after crashing into a wall.

“Match over! Daito-kun has lost consciousness, so the winner is Fiera-san!”

The students who had previously cheered for Daito and belittled Fiera fell utterly silent, and the training ground was enveloped in a heavy quiet.

“His round body rolled really well, huh?”

“True. It would have rolled even more if there hadn’t been a wall there.”

“Ha, you two are so harsh.”

As I conversed with Shuvina, Sonia leaned back slightly, while Fiera, having cleaned up the trash, returned to us.

“Done.”

“Good job. That was one solid hit.”

“Yeah, it felt refreshing to watch.”

“Thanks, El. As a reward, can you pet my tail later?”

“Sure.”

Afterward, under Hamiru’s directions, Daito, who was still unconscious, was carried away on a stretcher to the infirmary, and the other students who had been observing were returned to their classes.

Having no more business at the training ground, the four of us headed back to our classroom.