There was a square in the heart of the town, and on that day, there were seats all around it, packed with noisy spectators.
Among them, there was one that stood out as being wider and higher. There sat a blond, blue-eyed girl wearing a military uniform. Lobelia, the second princess of the Kingdom of Acacia.
And sitting next to her, was a grizzled middle-aged man who was looking down at his sons making their entrances. Qualia’s father, Wannacry, looked on with interest.
“I’m surprised you didn’t run away. I’ll give you that, at least.”
Arrows entered at the same time as Qualia, and spoke while raising his chin high.
“And I must thank you. I’ll be using you as a stepping stone to tie the knot with Princess Lobelia.”
“…”
“The princess likes strong men. It might be the fate of royal blood to seek magic, swordsmanship, and wisdom.”
“…”
“Beating you won’t be enough, but I’ll cover it with theatrics. Well, for someone with no magic abilities like you… Hey!!”
Qualia was not listening. He ignored the resentful Arrows behind him, as he looked around at the excited spectators.
Only one person looked on with concern for Qualia, Ina.
“Situation understood.”
And then, he finally acknowledged Arrows.
As nothing more than a hindrance.
“Learned protocol to not drive opponent into stoppage of life activity. Will incapacitate via loss of consciousness.”
“…Did you actually believe that fluke?”
Arrows laughed, going past anger, and into bewilderment.
“Affirmative. Optimal solution already being calculated. You will be incapacitated. Qualia won’t die. Ina will make a ‘tasty’ face.”
“…Even your speech’s gone crazy, you freak. If you keep acting like that in front of Princess Lobelia, you’re going to make me look bad too.”
Arrows drew his sword.
“I’ll give you one last lesson as your older brother. I’ll make you look so bad, even amnesia won’t help you in the world beyond.”
“…”
Qualia was still unarmed.
“What? Did you forget your sword?”
“Negative. The conclusion that a sword is unnecessary to incapacitate you has been reached.”
Instead, he took out an already made photon weapon.
However, to Arrows, it looked like nothing more than a metal tube, so all he did was squint with a slightly suspicious look on his face.
“Well then. Show Princess Lobelia your honorable warrior’s spirit!”
And with Wannacry’s signal, the duel was underway.
There was no time limit. The duel would continue until one of its participants was dead or knocked out.
Both took position outside of the other’s range, until Arrows made the first move.
“I’ll stir things up! Red Bird!”
A scarlet magic circle activated around Arrows, and many fireballs were ejected from it.
They flew to the sky, took the shape of a bird, and flew freely around the square.
“Heat source detected. Estimated to be seven hundred degrees.”
Everyone’s eyes were on the flaming bird dancing under the blue sky.
But every feather was a bright red crystal. Anything torn by its wings or pecked by its beak would be turned to ash in an instant.
Furthermore, its trajectory was unpredictable, and as fast as gale.
And behind the performance it put on by flying all over the place, a distorted smile formed on Arrows’ face.
“The weather is perfect today. A blue sky after rain. The sacred flame bird can be seen so well. Even the chirping of the crowd sounds like a hymn. I will make sure to incinerate the ugly duckling staining this perfect stage.”
Qualia did not respond. It was not as though Arrows’ poem contained any necessary information.
The Red Bird’s trajectory. The patterns of the wind and pressure. The mud on the ground. Arrows’ actions. That was all Qualia needed to register.
“Type GUN.”
Qualia transformed the photon weapon into a gun, but no one noticed.
At the same time, Qualia was done with his calculations.
“Optimal solution calculated.”
Qualia could not understand artistry or poems in the first place.
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Why didn’t the MC just shoot Arrow as soon as the duel started? Not very rational for an AI