"AAAAHHHH! I can't accept this—!"
[Mizuki, LP: 2000 → 0]
The Duel Arena inside the Club Building echoed with Mizuki's unwilling roar as he collapsed.
Standing before him was a new face never before seen at Fusion Academy.
In other words… a freshly enrolled first-year.
The dark-skinned boy looked weathered by years of desert winds and sun, his eyes forged into steel by the hardships of the Gobi wasteland.
"Goddammit, to think I'd lose to a first-year…"
Fortunately, it was lunchtime and no one else was using the Duel Arena, or Mizuki would have been utterly disgraced if word spread that he lost to a freshman.
"So this is all the strength a second-year senpai has? Boring."
The boy gathered up his Deck into his Spirit Eyes, then left the Club Duel Arena without a second glance.
Waiting for him right at the door was Aisha's new roommate, Lishia.
"Arnold, isn't it too showy to start challenging upperclassmen already?"
Nervously wringing her hands, Lishia nonetheless spoke much more smoothly than she had when talking with Aisha earlier.
Though introverted by nature, speaking in her hometown dialect with her childhood friend gave her comfort in this foreign place.
"What's there to be afraid of? We finally left the Gobi Desert and came to the big city. Don't you wonder, Lishia, what level our true strength stands at?"
"Not curious at all!"
"You, you—"
Switching to fluent Continental Common, Arnold knocked her lightly on the head.
"We've already left the west, Lishia. Stop speaking dialect—it'll make people look down on us, think we're bumpkins."
"No way, it's not bumpkinish at all!" She peeled his hand off her head. "Besides, I only speak dialect with you, so what's the problem?"
From their height difference, looking down so close, Arnold could clearly see the golden light burning in her eyes behind the lenses—causing him to rub his nose in tsundere embarrassment.
"Tch, fine. Suit yourself. Say it if you want."
"Then let's eat, I'm starving!"
"Somewhere cheap. With how much you eat, our living expenses won't last the semester otherwise."
Aimlessly, the two first-years wandered around Fusion Academy, circling past several restaurants yet not daring to go in.
The problem was that the restaurants were far too luxurious. Compared to the mud huts of the Gobi wasteland, they seemed like another world entirely.
Arnold and Lishia had no way of guessing the prices. If they were too high, walking in and then leaving without ordering would be unbearably humiliating.
So, meeting eyes, they made the same decision: slip out of Fusion Academy during lunch break and look for food outside. At the mouth of a side alley, they found a mobile food stall selling pancakes.
Arnold pulled a few silvers from his pocket and ordered with practiced ease:
"Boss, ten pancakes. Plain—no toppings, just the basic kind."
"Got it, just a moment!"
The chubby stall owner didn't understand why two kids wanted ten pancakes, but since they had the money, business was business.
While waiting, the two chatted idly—Arnold in common speech, Lishia in dialect.
"Fusion Academy's level isn't as high as I thought. I've already beaten two second-years this morning, and they weren't impressive. They can't compare to you at all, Lishia."
"Maybe. But I heard the Academy is full of strong Duelists. Maybe you just haven't run into them yet?"
"Right, Lishia—you're rooming with an upperclassman, aren't you? She looks strong?"
"Mm…" Lishia tilted her head, thinking hard.
"She's really nice and gentle, but she looks kind of clumsy. Probably not that strong."
"Not strong either, huh." Arnold sighed in disappointment. "And there aren't many upperclassmen, right? If they're all weak, then maybe Fusion Academy really doesn't have anyone worth fighting."
Listening in as he flipped pancakes, the plump stall owner finally spoke up.
"Boy, you must be a new student. You sound pretty confident, so I bet you're strong. But don't look down on Fusion Academy."
"Boss, you know about Duels too?"
"We folks living around the Academy, Duel Academy, talk is our daily chatter. We know more than you'd think. So let me give you a word of advice—tone down the arrogance."
"So what are you saying, boss?"
"If you want to dominate Fusion Academy, beat the strongest one first."
By then, the first set of pancakes was done. The stall owner handed them to Lishia, whose mouth was already watering.
"Wow, looks so good!"
"Then, boss, who's the strongest at Fusion Academy?" Arnold pressed.
The stall owner smirked, lips curling. "Hah. Aisha Carlos, of course. Who else?"
"Aisha Carlos? Never heard that name." Arnold frowned.
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
"What's wrong, Lishia?"
Arnold turned to see his childhood friend, cheeks bulging with pancake too hot to swallow, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.
From the look on her face, she wanted to say something, but with her mouth stuffed and burning, she couldn't utter a word.
"Boss, grab a soda!" Arnold fished out a copper.
"Glug-glug-glug~" Lishia drained the orange soda in one go, sighing in bliss. "So good!"
"So, what were you trying to say just now, Lishia?"
He had to get something useful out of the soda expense—or make her spit it back up.
"Yes, yes, yes, it's Aisha! Aisha Carlos!"
"Aisha Carlos? The one boss said is the strongest? What about her?"
"She's my roommate!"
"Hah? Didn't you say she looks clumsy and not strong… wait a minute!"
Arnold thought it over. His childhood friend Lishia was clumsy enough herself; even so, her Duel strength was unquestionable.
…Could this roommate be the same type?
"Fusion Academy's strongest, Aisha Carlos." He hadn't even met her yet, but Arnold's fists were already itching. "I can't wait to fight her. Wonder when I'll get the chance."
"Ah—it's Aisha-senpai!" Lishia, still chewing, pointed ahead.
By sheer coincidence, Aisha Carlos was also planning to buy pancakes for lunch today. As a Royal Knight, she had to add two extra eggs.
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going!
[Patreon.com/RedZTL]