The final match had ended, and the winner's interview began.

“I────”

All eyes were on Freesia, who had triumphed in an intense battle against Weiss and earned the champion’s rights. Who would she challenge to a duel?

Having watched their fierce battles up to this point, I was naturally curious about her choice. But honestly, it was fairly obvious. It had to be one of the Seven Peerless Swords standing beside her. Given her obsession with battle, she would never pass up this rare opportunity to fight the greatest knight.

…Or so I thought.

Yet, for some reason, despite the distance between us, I found myself locking eyes with the battle maniac, who was grinning at me with a clear look of anticipation.

“────I challenge Claym Bradley to a duel!!”

“...Huh?”

That sinking feeling I had? Yeah, it turned out to be completely right. The girl standing below me, who had just loudly declared her opponent, looked utterly pleased with herself.

────How did it come to this…? No, seriously.

Did I mishear that?

Please, let me have misheard that.

The battle maniac had called my name with absolute confidence. Meanwhile, the audience—including myself—was struggling to process what had just happened.

“““……”””

An unmistakable wave of confusion spread throughout the arena.

Of course it did. Everyone had expected her to name one of the two Seven Peerless Swords, the strongest knights of this nation. Instead, she had called out the name of a mere marquis’s son—a boy still attending the Magic Sword Academy, an unknown figure to the public.

In fact, how many people in this venue even knew who I was? Almost none, surely. It was no surprise that the crowd was murmuring, “Huh? Who’s that???”

────Hey! It’s not too late! Just call out the name of that supreme knight standing right next to you! I’m begging you!!

I desperately willed my plea toward the fool who refused to look away from me. But, of course, it didn’t reach her. Instead, she waved her hand as if saying, “Hurry up and get over here.”

“Brother, she’s calling for you!”

“Yeah… She sure is.”

“It’s a direct request from your beloved fiancée. Are you not going to accept, Clay?”

“Please don’t find this amusing, Your Highness…”

My dear little sister and the prince—both of whom were seated beside me—urged me forward as if it were none of their concern (which, to be fair, it wasn’t). Clearly, there was no savior here to rescue me.

“U-Um, Miss Freesia? This Claym Bradley person… Who exactly is he?”

“He’s my fiancé!!”

“Ah, fiancé… I see?”

Look, now even the poor announcer is struggling to salvage the mood. And that confident declaration from the battle maniac? It’s not even a proper explanation. I’m pretty sure that’s not the answer the announcer was looking for.

────You shouldn’t cause trouble for others, Freesia…

“Uh, so just to confirm, this person is actually in the arena right now, correct?”

“Yes!”

“Then, Claym? Bradley? Since you’ve been chosen by our champion, could you please step forward right away?”

In the end, even the announcer gave up and threw it on me. Come on, at least take responsibility for your job.

I wanted to avoid standing out, yet I was now at the center of attention. And the longer I hesitated, the more the audience’s frustration grew.

“Hey, hurry up and come out already!”

“What, you shy or something?”

“Don’t kill the mood, man—!”

────I’m completely cornered here, aren’t I…?

“Haaah…”

Resigned to my fate—deeply, terribly unwilling—I stood up from my seat. Instantly, every gaze in the arena stabbed into me. Just that alone was enough to make me feel nauseous.

“I wanna go home…”

I desperately wished for an escape, but the situation wasn’t going to allow it. I didn’t have the guts to rebel against the collective pressure of a crowd this large. Better to go with the flow.

“Stop taking the stairs and just come down here already, Clay!”

As I slowly descended the long staircase toward the battle stage—my last act of resistance—I heard that shouted demand.

So loud and annoying. I was already shaken from this unexpected call-out… and honestly, I still didn’t want to go down there. At least let me prepare myself mentally.

“You’re so picky…!!”

On top of that, the audience was starting to give me looks that said, “Yeah, hurry up already.” And that pissed me off. Why was I the one getting criticized here? Why did I have to be judged as “a buzzkill”?

────Unacceptable! Completely unacceptable!!

If the crowd thought they were right, then fine. I’d just do exactly as they wanted. And if things got awkward, that was on them.

────I will accept no complaints!

“Tch────!!”

From my position on the second-to-third-floor level, I leaped straight down onto the battle stage below. The audience, clearly not expecting me to actually jump, was stunned into silence.

“Hah, serves you right.”

I felt slightly better. Then, turning a half-lidded gaze toward the source of all this chaos, I spoke.

“Alright, I’m here as requested… So? Who’s dueling who again?”

“Me and you, Clay!!”

The girl declared with shining eyes.

…This woman is not sane. She’s outright insane. Why, on such a grand stage, would she use her hard-earned champion’s rights just to fight me? Did she really go this far just because she wanted to duel me?

“Why… Why go this far…?”

As I struggled to comprehend, Freesia met my gaze and spoke firmly.

“Because I truly want to fight you, Clay.”

“────”

That look in her eyes… that sheer determination… I had seen it before. My mind flashed back to the first time she ever challenged me to a duel.

────Yeah, she’s always been like this.

Truth be told, I had been dodging our duel under flimsy excuses, telling myself there was no need to fight her. But that was just my own selfish reasoning. It had nothing to do with her.

She had gone this far—had even passed up a match with an Unrivaled Seven Sword—just to challenge me. I owed her an answer.

“Fine. If you’ve done all this, I’ve got no choice but to step up────”

“…!!”

At this point, I didn’t care about the audience. I had no idea how many people actually cared about a personal duel between a brat like me and a battle-obsessed girl.

But that didn’t matter.

Right now, all that mattered was facing the girl in front of me, seriously────

“I accept your challenge—gladly. If we’re doing this, I’m giving it my all, Freesia.”

Simply, purely, I wanted to cross swords with her.

Because, in the end—

“Yes! That’s exactly what I wanted!!”

My blood was boiling.