“Yuugo Clay! I challenge you to a duel! Will you fight me!?”
“Eh…?”
It was lunchtime on his second day in another world, and as Yuugo was heading to the cafeteria to meet with Phi, a strange boy suddenly stood in front of him and suddenly spoke about a duel. That led Yuugo to make two confused expressions in a row.
The boy’s brown hair was parted to the side, and his appearance expressed that he was a fussy, neat, and proud boy. He smiled daringly while looking at Yuugo, and once again loudly challenged him to a duel.
“Yuugo Clay! I, Marcos Bolg, challenge you to a duel. Stand in the fighting stage, and be rust to my blade!”
“Ah… Sorry. I actually lost my memory, so… I’m going to have to say no to that sort of thing until things settle down. Can you talk to me again tomorrow? If I did something to hurt you before, I apologize. So please! Let me off the hook today!”
Yuugo felt bad about Marcos, but he had no intention of doing something as barbaric as accepting a duel on his second day after reincarnating in another world.
He decided to play his strongest card, ‘I have memory loss’, and escape.
He gave his opponent his due respect by apologizing and bowing, and hoped that would be enough for Marcos, but…
“Ah! I heard about it, but you really did lose your memory… But I don’t care. You’re going to fight me, Yuugo Clay!”
“Eh…? Did I do something really bad to you? Something so bad that you’re desperate to fight me?”
Asked Yuugo, a little taken aback by Marcos’ attitude, and how challenging someone he knew had memory loss was so far from what could be considered fair. But Marcos responded with the same daring smile.
“No, you didn’t really do anything. I just never liked you! And now that you got disowned, lost your strong magic item, and even lost your memory, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to beat you to a pulp!
I’m gonna make you crawl on the ground and make it so you can never get up again! Hahahahaha!”
“…I know I’m not one to talk, but do people often tell you you have a nasty personality?”
In a way, it was actually brave for someone to be so upfront about how craven and despicable they were, but Yuugo wanted to still show a proper chivalrous spirit.
Yuugo then wondered just how bad the old Yuugo was, if he was hated even more than this guy, but then shook his head to shake away those thoughts, and spoke to Marcos with a loud voice.
“Sorry! I can’t accept your challenge! Sorry, but someone’s waiting for me, so let’s do this some other time!”
Phi was waiting in the cafeteria. Yuugo was sorry about brushing Marcos off, but his promise to his little brother took precedence.
And so, Yuugo tried to leave, but Marcos grabbed his shoulder, and spoke with a smile filled with malice.
“Don’t worry, there’s no need to be concerned. It’s your brother that’s waiting for you, right? Then it’s fine.”
“Ah…?”
Marcos’ words seemed to hint at something, and Yuugo put up his guard.
Yuugo glared at Marcos, who grinned, when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching behind him. When he turned around, he saw two boys dragging Phi with them.
“Mister Marcos, we brought Yuugo’s little brother as you said!”
“Good job. Now things will go smoother.”
“…What are you up to? Why did you bring Phi here?”
Yuugo saw the two boys holding Phi’s arms and clearly dragging him there forcibly, and completely flipped his attitude, now pressing towards Marcos and looking at him with enmity.
Marcos laughed, seemingly happy about Yuugo finally being in the mood to confront him, and told him why he had Phi brought there.
“Isn’t it obvious? To have him help convince you…! What else could I do, if I couldn’t get you to agree to the duel? I’ll just have to have him face me instead of you.”
“…Damn you.”
“B-big brother, no! I’m fine! These guys can’t do much, so you don’t have to do anything silly like accepting the… Uuh!?”
“Phi!? Stop it!”
Phi yelled to talk his brother down, as he knew very well that he was being used as a hostage, but his words were cut off by Marcos’ underlings twisting his arms, and were replaced by anguished yells.
Yuugo yelled in anger as he saw his little brother being hurt, but the boy standing in front of him looked happy, and challenged him again almost as though he was singing it.
“So? If you don’t care about what happens to your cute little brother, you can just reject my challenge. But if you don’t want to see him suffer anymore… Stand in the fighting stage, Yuugo Clay.”
“…Fine, you got it. But let Phi go first. Do that, and I’ll accept your duel.”
“Big brother!? No!”
Phi yelled in grief, as he watched his brother go along with Marcos’ provocations on the condition that they would release him.
And after hearing Yuugo commit himself to duel him, Marcos gave his underlings new orders.
“That’s enough, let the kid go.”
“Yes!”
Marcos no longer had any use for Phi, after dragging the words he wanted to hear out of Yuugo’s mouth, so he simply let him go.
Phi ran to his big brother the moment he was let go, and apologized with tears in his eyes.
“I’m sorry big brother. You had to accept that unfavorable duel because those guys caught me…”
“Don’t worry Phi. You didn’t do anything wrong, these sleazebags did.”
“Fufufu…! What lovely siblings. I’m surprised to see even someone who’s known as the lowest of scum can care about his family.”
“I’m surprised too. I didn’t think there was a guy around with so little human morals in him.”
They glared as they hurled provocations at each other.
Yuugo was enraged, and Marcos was perfectly calm. And as they stood on these two opposites, it was time to decide their wagers in this duel.
“If I win, you’re going to crawl on the ground and lick my shoes. I’ll humiliate you so much that you will never get back up again, Yuugo Clay.”
“Fine. And if I win, you can’t show your dirty mug in front of us ever again.”
One bet his pride as a human, and the other a guarantee to never approach them again, and both accepted those conditions.
After checking that everything was set, Marcos’ smile deepened, and he spoke to Yuugo, who was still glaring.
“Let’s go then. I’ll take you to the fighting stage where you’ll be humiliated and beaten. I can’t wait to see you miserably crawl on the floor! Ha… Hahahaha…!!”
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Edit: No spoilers.