armyinform Chapter 491 - 491: DSMW [491]
Chapter 491 - 491: DSMW [491]
"Calling yourself a senpai? Irena, you're… a brilliant, youthful genius magic beauty, you know~""Oh? There was a bit of a pause there, but I didn't expect you to be this good at compliments, Miles."
Was that really a compliment? That was survival instinct spilling off the screen.
Irena looked angry on the surface, but with her narcissistic personality, as long as you hit the right notes, it was very easy to smooth her feathers.
"So why did you hide it from me?" Irena asked, hands on her hips.
"It was just to minimize unnecessary trouble. The Gray Witch Irena is simply too famous within the academy. And as for me now, I'm just an ordinary, unknown first-year student. Someone I couldn't possibly aspire to."
Clearly, this round of praise landed even better. The upward curve of Irena's lips was practically impossible to suppress.
There was just one thing Irena refused to acknowledge.
"Ordinary and unknown? Your name has already spread throughout the entire academy, you know, Ghost."
"(￣ー￣) Ghost?"
"As expected of Fusion Academy. The efficiency really is something else."
Miles knew full well that the matter of his Double Summon of [D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon] was impossible to keep under wraps.
He just hadn't expected that a summon completed in the morning would have already spread across the entire academy by noon.
Even though this other world didn't have the internet, the speed at which gossip traveled was in no way inferior to the online age.
"At the end of the day, people like you simply can't stay anonymous in a dueling academy. So there was never any need to avoid me in the first place!"
The Thursday summoning classes and the Friday practical classes were unavoidable stages for academy duelists to display their strength.
And Miles' strength as a duelist, frankly speaking, wasn't even on the same dimension as that of those truly 'ordinary' first-year students.
"So that's why I'm thinking of ways to hold back as much as possible in tomorrow's practical duel test."
For ordinary students, they wracked their brains to secure victory in the practical test that offered the highest credit rewards, all for the sake of Magic Points.
Meanwhile, over here, Miles was wracking his brains trying not to expose too much of his strength, in order to avoid leaving the poor first-year students with indelible psychological trauma.
"So, about that Magic Point loan service you mentioned earlier, I think I can try using it."
Even with a predatory loan carrying a daily interest rate as high as ten percent, for Miles—who possessed the Republic Knight's Badge with its stable natural growth of one hundred Magic Points per day—as long as he didn't borrow too much, there was no fear of being unable to repay it.
As for the loan itself, although it had initially saved Aisha in a desperate situation, the fact that a proper dueling academy would come up with something like this could only be the work of that freewheeling, mysterious headmaster.
Irena smiled mysteriously. "Sure. But don't forget—
"How much each student can borrow is evaluated by me~"
"Eh?" If Irena hadn't brought it up, Miles would really have forgotten.
Holding the additional position of Fusion Library administrator, Irena was also responsible for evaluating loan limits for borrowing students.
And the reason Aisha, who had originally been scraping the bottom of the barrel, had been able to borrow one hundred Magic Points and turn her fortunes around was likewise thanks to her unusually close relationship with Irena.
Looking at Irena's sly grin, Miles said guiltily, "Senpai, you wouldn't take revenge over past matters and still make a fair and impartial judgment, right?"
"Yes, yes, that's it!" Irena's expression suddenly lit up with excitement.
"That?"
"Hurry up and call me 'senpai' a few more times, cute underclassman Miles."
The Gray Witch Irena proudly claimed her hobbies were beautiful boys and beautiful girls.
Although at their first meeting she'd shown displeasure at being the only one kept in the dark, now that Miles had been slightly downsized, his completely bishōnen form hit Irena's preferences dead-on.
"Senpai?"
"Mhm!"
"Irena-senpai!"
"Mhmmm!"
"Most respected Irena-senpai!"
"That's just wonderful~"
In any case, calling her 'senpai' a few times didn't cost anything. Being able to exchange a few honorifics for a higher Magic Point loan limit was, by any measure, an absolute steal for Miles.
"Um, Mr. Miles." Aisha blinked her yearning eyes and gently poked Miles. "Can I also…"
"What? You want some too, Aisha Carlos-senpai?"
"(.'▽'.)? Ehehe!"
Sometimes Miles really couldn't figure out what on earth these women were thinking about all day.
[300 Magic Points received]
In the end, under Miles' relentless 'senpai pressure,' Irena made a 'fair and impartial' assessment and directly lent Miles triple the amount Aisha had once borrowed.
Three hundred Magic Points meant a daily interest of thirty points. It was an amount that wouldn't put any real repayment pressure on Miles, while being just enough to synthesize three B-rank Contract Spell Cards before tomorrow's practical class.
By the time Miles returned to the first-year classroom before his afternoon classes, he could already feel that the atmosphere had changed.
The grinding teeth sounds that used to come from those who were jealous of his close relationship with Nova had all vanished.
In their place were hushed whispers of discussion, along with the occasional gaze of admiration.
It seemed that the once-looked-down-upon commoner duelist had overturned his reputation through a single monster summon that stunned everyone present.
Fusion Academy was a place where strength did the talking. That was the eternal truth.
And Miles could also sense a gaze tinged with anger fixed upon him.
"Seriously, Miles, you just ditched me all of a sudden. That's really mean!"
Because Miles had been in such a rush to print cards that he hadn't brought the little princess along, Nova—who ended up spending the entire lunch break alone—was, unsurprisingly, upset.
"Sorry, Nova," Miles explained solemnly. "But you have to remember—reality is often cruel. If your speed isn't fast enough, it's very easy to be left behind by the people around you."
"You mean eating speed, right?!" Nova said, baring her teeth.
"Speed in every sense~"
This was a life lesson Miles had come to realize himself. Instilling a bit of useful perspective into the little princess was better than having her constantly talk about that unreliable head maid.
But that angry gaze didn't belong only to the abandoned Nova.
Liam Carl was also watching him.
There was no need to think too hard about it. The person who should have been the focus of today's summoning class had been thoroughly crushed by Miles… and that was after boldly provoking him in front of everyone, only to get slapped in the face.
Even the people who usually clustered around this social butterfly sensed something was off today and kept their distance.
If Miles remembered correctly, this was already the second time today that the two duelists' gazes had met…
After the morning summoning class ended, Thursday afternoon's lessons were just ordinary academic courses.
Compared to Professor Field's dueling classes, Miss Misaki's health education course was really hard to spark Miles's interest.
Of course, some students were drawn in by Miss Misaki's impressive figure and listened especially attentively.
Anyhow, to Miles, how could women ever be more interesting than cards?
After finishing the synthesis of his Spell Cards, Miles spent the class secretly organizing his Deck beneath his desk.
All in an effort to go a little easier on his opponents during tomorrow's practical class.
Leave some leeway now, and you can meet again later.
Of course, Miles also had another premonition… that tomorrow, there would be no need for him to hold back at all.
After the afternoon classes ended, the academy followed its usual practice of announcing the list for tomorrow's practical duel test one day in advance, giving students ample time to prepare.
And the opponent assigned to Miles was exactly who he had expected.
Liam Carl.
After all, when your gazes meet twice in a single day… if it's not you, then who else?
As a rival family competing with the Carlos family for the marquis title, and to help ease even a bit of pressure off Alice, Miles no longer needed to worry about leaving psychological scars on his opponent.
From this perspective, Liam truly was the most suitable opponent for Miles in the entire grade.
And with Liam being hailed as a rising star destined to surpass Kevin Seth, then, according to the academy's practical duel test rules, smashing this treasure chest should yield rewards far greater than anyone else's, right?
Tomorrow would be another day of working hard to earn credits!
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