Although she'd agreed to assist Hysteria in tonight's Shadow Duel, Theresia calmly probed for details about her previous matches.
She wasn't yet excited enough to lose her reason. Besides, when someone suspiciously presented such an obvious opportunity right as her patience was wearing thin, Theresia naturally grew wary.
Yet to her surprise, despite stumbling over some parts, Hysteria recounted other details smoothly and swiftly. This oddly lent credibility to her story in Theresia's eyes.
Human memory had limits—it naturally discarded certain details. If Hysteria had recited every match perfectly, that would've been suspicious.
As for the possibility that Hysteria had rehearsed to deliberately deceive her... she couldn't rule it out.
But Theresia chose to trust her instincts.
In assassination work, it was impossible to cover every angle. Sometimes, a killer had to unwaveringly trust her intuition.
And Theresia's intuition told her… Hysteria wasn't cunning enough. If Linen truly instructed her to concoct such an elaborate lie without exposing flaws, Theresia herself could only blame her own stupidity if she fell for it.
Soon enough, as evening arrived and the academy was preparing for lights out, Theresia skipped returning to the staff dormitory, instead slipping into an inconspicuous storage room.
When she'd posed as a janitor, she'd found this place discreet enough to temporarily hide her gear—sleeve-daggers concealed at her wrists, knives strapped to her thighs. Now that she'd decided to act tonight, caution demanded she bring everything, including her ultimate trump card.
Theresia's fingers brushed against the small handgun hidden in her sleeve.
The weapon itself wasn't special; the bullets were.
Arcana Relics called [Termination Rounds], ordinary in lethality but devastatingly effective in shattering the target's Arcana circuits, rendering mages defenseless.
That was how Theresia earned the nickname "Mage Killer."
After equipping herself fully, she met Hysteria outside the dormitory as planned, then headed toward a secluded flower garden behind the building.
Theresia recalled this area: one of Eden Academy's few spots not covered by the [Weave Barrier], meaning Arcana usage here wouldn't be logged by the school—much like the pavilion where she secretly met Farao.
Unexpectedly, Linen Norton already awaited them at a small round table within the garden, arms crossed, cold eyes fixed on the two approaching figures.
"Trash Norton, you scum!"
The instant she saw Linen, Hysteria radiated an aura that Theresia found incomprehensible, storming forward without hesitation.
"Oh? Instead of cowering in fear upon seeing me, you're boldly approaching?"
Linen sneered dismissively, his gaze mocking.
"If I don't step up, how else can I crush you utterly?!"
Hysteria ground out through clenched teeth, prompting Theresia to finally believe she hadn't lied.
Only someone humiliated repeatedly, night after night, could seethe with such authentic resentment...
"Duel!"
They swiftly prepared for the match—a card duel.
The game was "Arcana King," popular across the Zijinghua Empire, where summoned monster cards battled alongside spell and trap cards.
According to Hysteria, each night's duels were best of five—but she always lost miserably.
Unsure if a trap awaited, Theresia decided to observe first.
Yet, astonishingly, Hysteria didn't last even three minutes into the first round before her defeat loomed.
It wasn't due to incompetence. Honestly, Hysteria's playstyle was clumsy but lucky, a pure European dog-type player—always drawing the cards she needed at the perfect moment, luck consistently saving her from previous oversights.
However, her opponent Linen was the Emperor of Luck himself!
Linen's cards seemed random, yet always perfectly countered Hysteria.
For instance, when Hysteria painstakingly summoned the ultra-high-level monster [Slime King] for a decisive blow, Linen immediately drew a seemingly useless one-star [Slime] with zero attack power—[Slime King's] sole weakness was being unable to attack ordinary Slimes, thanks to being notoriously henpecked...
Combined with Linen's superior strategy, the first round swiftly ended.
"Dammit, how can your luck be this absurd!"
Hysteria angrily slammed her fist onto the stone table.
"Enough whining. Go accept your punishment."
Linen sneered coldly.
Hysteria clicked her tongue but didn't shirk. Instead, she turned to Theresia with indignation.
"Hey, you've seen enough, right? Next round, help me strategize! It always goes like this—I inexplicably lose every single time!"
"Punishment? Why should I be punished as well?"
Theresia frowned slightly.
"Obviously," Hysteria replied matter-of-factly, "you're my teammate. We share victory and defeat. Relax, after we win, I'll send you fifty imperial silver coins and treat you to a lavish meal."
"Fine. What's the punishment?"
Theresia briefly hesitated but chose to compromise slightly.
"Oh, nothing major," Hysteria casually explained. "Just wearing an extremely short maid outfit for the rest of the match."
Seeing Theresia's icy gaze fixed on her, Hysteria flushed deeply.
"Hey, don't glare at me like that! You're the one who didn't ask clearly! Besides, after losing the second round, you'll get to put on sheer black stockings, and after the third, adorable cat ears! Cat ears! As long as I convince myself I'm a cat, the humiliation isn't mine, hahaha!"
She wailed with a mixture of laughter and tears, "I don't want to be humiliated nightly either, but Elena said I must reconcile with him. What else can I do? Now even the maid costume doesn't seem so bad. I'm turning weird...!"
Theresia sighed deeply.
Then abruptly, she pointed at the card table. "Lord Norton, Hysteria may be inept, but isn't cheating to beat her beneath you?"
"Ch-cheating?!" Hysteria blinked rapidly, suddenly realizing. "Wait, why do I always draw cards you counter perfectly?! You've been cheating every night, you—you scummy trash!"
Linen's brow furrowed immediately. "Watch your words! When have I ever cheated?"
"I've found proof. Right here."
Theresia pointed confidently at the table. Predictably, both Hysteria and Linen's gazes immediately snapped toward her indication.
Theresia's lips curved slightly.
Indeed, her observation held true: accusing a card enthusiast of cheating always worked, regardless of personality.
The bait might be obvious, but always effective.
A gunshot shattered the tranquil night air.
Bang!
"Norton!" Hysteria's scream echoed.
Across the table, Linen's form suddenly burst into fragments—revealing a gas-filled dummy. Pink mist sprayed from the punctured container, instantly inhaled by both women, swiftly clouding Theresia's consciousness.
She desperately tried to stop breathing, but the mist invaded her lungs as if sentient. After the first inhale, holding her breath was useless.
As darkness overtook her senses, she heard a male and female voice conversing quietly.
"Linen, are you sure this is okay?"
"Of course. Elena, you saw clearly—she fired first. How does that saying go again...?"
"The bait is obvious, but effective."
"The mouse fell for the cheese~"