When Qualia woke up, the town was busy. By looking out the window, he could see the streets were packed with people.
“Human detected. Human detected. Many unknown humans detected.”
“Good morning Master Qualia! It seems Princess Lobelia is coming today!”
Ina burst into the room and explained the reason for her impatience.
“She is the second princess of the Kingdom of Acacia! Why were we not informed…!?”
Qualia knew that being the second princess meant she stood at the top of human hierarchy.
This entered the territory of the kind of ‘consideration’ that Qualia was not equipped with, but Qualia was originally a noble, so it was his place to put on a formal outfit and greet Lobelia when she arrived.
“Request explanation. Why was this information not transmitted to you and Qualia?”
“…I’m sure it’s because Master Arrows and your father wish to hide you. There are rumors that Master Arrows is becoming acquainted with Princess Lobelia, so… Maybe you are seen as an obstacle in the way of his objective to join the royal family.”
“Request explanation. What is ‘father’?”
“Your father, Master Wannacry. He is returning from an expedition with Princess Lobelia!”
Arrows intentionally withheld this information from Qualia. But it was not just him. The master of the house, Marquis Wannacry Sandbox was also in on it.
Qualia had not met him yet due to the expedition, but he was aware that he alienated him terribly in the same way as Arrows.
And Arrows would stop at nothing to take the second princess as his wife.
They wanted to hide Qualia, the stain of their family, and obviously, that same treatment was extended to Ina, since she was friendly with him.
“Oh? But I did intend to tell you? Oh dear? Did I not do that?”
Said a mocking voice coming from the room’s entrance. It was Arrows, who fainted in the entrance hall the previous day.
Of course, that was still fresh in his memory, as he glared at Qualia with hatred in his eyes.
“But don’t worry. I spoke to father, and you’ll have a turn too.”
“Request explanation. What do you mean by turn?”
“The town is holding a festival for Princess Lobelia’s sake. And as a little performance, we are planning to have a duel.”
“Duel… You don’t mean…!”
Ina looked back and forth between Qualia and Arrows.
And as if to show exactly what he meant, Arrows gleefully answered her question.
“Qualia, I challenge you to a duel. The formalities have already been taken care of.”
“Request explanation. What is a duel?”
“Basically, a one on one battle that starts at a specific time when the signal is given. Don’t worry, I don’t want to show something gruesome to Princess Lobelia. I’ll do what I can to not hurt you too much… But…”
The bright expression on Arrows’ face changed completely into a very dark one. Only his eyes remained arrogant. His voice was also lower, and filled with deep resentment.
“I’ll make you understand to your very core that the unreasonable result of yesterday was a fluke.”
“Negative. It was as the optimal path dictated. Inevitable.”
The sound of grinding teeth was heard, and Ina’s cat ears trembled.
“You’ll be told when it’s time, so don’t run away. If you do, you’ll be forever shamed as the coward that ran from a duel, and you as the beast person following him.”
Arrows said before disappearing on the other side of the door.
Qualia looked on, as he heard the trembling breathing of the girl next to him.
“L-let’s run away…!”
Ina finally managed to speak, as she grabbed Qualia’s hand with hers that was so cold, it was as though she was thrown into space.
She pulled Qualia’s hand, as if desperately pleading for him to run from that house.
“I believe that you won’t lose to Master Arrows, but… I’m worried. Accidental deaths come hand in hand with duels… If you die… If you die, there won’t be anything we can do…”
“…”
“As long as you are alive, we can manage… I can teach you how to live on the street…”
Back when he was just an artificial intelligence, it would be easy to brush aside what Ina said.
He would logically ponder what risk being called a coward carried.
There would not be any difference in Qualia’s mind between living on the streets or in a mansion.
He would strongly reject the idea of dying, or rather, ceasing to function, as something meaningless.
But he could not brush off Ina’s pleading eyes, or ignore the tears streaming from them.
“Don’t… Die again.”
Ina saw Qualia’s attempt to end his life, so she was very sensitive to danger concerning him.
This deduction was not a result of Qualia’s calculation functions.
But he had to do something about her tears. He determined that was his duty.
He just did not want her to cry.
“Request understanding. Qualia won’t die in the duel.”
With the same hand he used to wipe her tears, he brought out a photon weapon with the 5D printer.
He then explained the 5D printer to Ina, as a way to wipe away her concerns and prove that he would not die in the duel.
“This is proof.”
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I hope the AI says “parry this filthy casual”
Thanks for the chapter