Hayden looked back and forth between Richter and Blake, then opened his mouth.
“Interpretation is up to each person, but ultimately, the reason for sending Cain to the snowy mountains was to prove and confirm Cain’s abilities, wasn’t it? In that regard, whether Cain truly caught the Ice Troll by his own power becomes the important point of contention.”
At those words, the corners of Richter’s mouth turned up slightly.
‘If he shifts the argument like this, it’s naturally advantageous for us. Well said, Hayden. As expected of my son.’
Making the accurate identification of the cause the point of argument had been a choice favorable to the Bederman side, but now Blake Sears had obtained clues about the Ice Troll and brought them forward, putting Bederman in a position where they had to concede a step.
Simply put, they had exchanged blows once each, making it 1:1, and in such a situation, if they could twist the argument itself or establish it anew, they could seize the initiative.
‘There’s no way Cain could have caught an Ice Troll by his own power.’
Long ago, when Richter was at the 3rd Circle, he had a record of catching a Poison Scorpion of the same level as an Ice Troll.
But at that time, Richter’s level wasn’t right after achieving the 3rd Circle, but when he had already reached a skilled stage.
The possibility that Cain, who had just gained enlightenment and become a 3rd Circle mage, could have caught a healthy Ice Troll purely by his own power was nonexistent.
‘He probably cut off the head from a corpse discovered by chance, or at best finished off an Ice Troll that was already in a dying state.’
Therefore, if they established the argument this way, their victory was certain.
“But asking Cain, who just returned from the snowy mountains, to go catch another Ice Troll would be excessive.”
Even if he brought back another one, to perfectly prove he caught it by his own power would require Richter to accompany him and witness the scene with his own eyes, or a verification procedure equivalent to that.
The Sears side wouldn’t accept such unreasonable conditions.
“So, this is what we’ll do.”
Hayden looked straight at Cain and spoke.
“I’ll duel with Cain, and if Cain beats me, we’ll acknowledge that he has the skill to catch an Ice Troll by his own power.”
At Hayden’s words, the surroundings stirred.
They couldn’t openly chatter, but their eyes revealed undisguisable bewilderment.
‘Suddenly a duel? Between our young master and Lord Hayden?’
‘Even so, is it right for Lord Hayden, who’s approaching the 4th Circle, to duel with our young master who just achieved the 3rd Circle…?’
‘Still, from what I heard, when they had mock duels in the training hall, Young Master Cain achieved good results.’
‘But Lord Hayden has taken a lot of elixirs and such. The chances of winning are too low.’
While Hayden wasn’t particularly intelligent, his talent for magic was above average, and having received various support from his family, his actual power was quite strong.
Probably among 3rd Circle mages of the same age, few could beat Hayden.
‘Why did the conversation suddenly flow toward a duel? Wasn’t it enough that we brought the Ice Troll’s head?’
‘If it was going to be like this, why did he risk his life going to those dangerous snowy mountains?’
‘After all that hardship, if he loses here…’
The Sears side couldn’t help but think this was too disadvantageous for them.
Establishing a completely new argument meant making all previous discussions null and void.
Therefore, if things went wrong, even the measure to increase existing support funds by 30% could become meaningless.
If they accepted the duel here and lost, it meant all the hardships so far could become futile.
‘Surely our young master is thinking the same thing.’
‘Even the 30% increase in support funds, honestly it stings, but it’s much better than having nothing…’
‘Our young master knows that, so he won’t accept it.’
Cain, who had spent several days in the snowy mountains without proper meals or warm beds and had returned in a disheveled state, couldn’t possibly accept such a proposal.
But.
Looking at Cain with that expectation, his disheveled face surprisingly looked brighter than ever.
“Are you really fine with doing that? And since we’re establishing a new argument, the standard for support funds should be cleanly set to fully restore all the amounts that were cut from the original measures, right?”
Cain’s face even looked somewhat radiant.
Even Blake Sears was momentarily at a loss for words at Cain’s unexpected reaction.
“Cain. Are you serious? Think about your physical condition. You just returned from the snowy mountains.”
“I’m fine.”
Cain was confident he could defeat Hayden in his current state.
“Haha. Cain seems quite confident.”
Richter had no reason to back down either.
Until now, regardless of the amount, they would have had to give money anyway, but this way, they could make the entire support fund increase null and void.
‘There’s no way our Hayden would lose.’
Richter opened his mouth.
“Good. As Cain says, if Cain wins in the duel with Hayden, we’ll restore the support funds by exactly the amount that was cut at that time. However, if Cain loses, the support fund restoration measure will be null and void. Since he would have failed to prove his ability.”
All or nothing.
It might be unfair for the Sears side, who risked their lives going to the snowy mountains, but if they won, there would be great benefits.
“……”
Blake Sears pondered for a moment.
‘The opponent is still underestimating Cain’s abilities.’
Of course, Hayden was also somewhat simple-minded and rash in his actions, but his magical abilities couldn’t be ignored.
However, if the opponent was being careless, Cain’s chances of winning would increase even more.
Moreover, Cain was confident right now.
‘His eyes are shining even brighter than when he said he’d go to the snowy mountains.’
Though his face was covered in dust, his red eyes were full of vitality.
“…Understood. Then let’s decide with a duel.”
At Blake’s decision, small sighs came from the Sears side, while exclamations came from the Bederman side.
Especially Hayden as he clenched his fists and smiled crookedly.
‘Cain… How dare you step forward so confidently for a duel with me.’
Honestly speaking, whether the support funds were 30% or whatever amount didn’t matter much to Hayden.
And unlike what Richter thought about twisting the argument anew to escape the mudslinging and set the field advantageously for their side, making the opponent’s efforts in the snowy mountains meaningless—such complex calculations didn’t actually exist in Hayden’s mind.
‘This time I’ll definitely break your arrogance properly.’
Hayden was simply annoyed by the fact that Cain had brought back an Ice Troll’s head.
The memory of trembling helplessly and freezing up in front of the massive Ice Troll just a few days ago.
With that still occupying space in Hayden’s mind, when Cain claimed he had caught an Ice Troll, anger surged.
‘You caught that Ice Troll? Ridiculous.’
Even if somehow, by luck, Cain had caught an Ice Troll, if Hayden could definitively defeat Cain here in a duel.
Hayden could show everyone that he was still above Cain, while simultaneously proving that he too had the skill to catch an Ice Troll.
Anyway, the duel was thus arranged, and Richter soon opened his mouth.
“Then for the duel date… How about tomorrow? I’m also busy and need to return now, but considering Cain’s condition having just returned from the snowy mountains, doing it right now wouldn’t be proper.”
While they had no obligation to be considerate, it also meant giving special rest time.
It also meant not to make excuses later about losing because they dueled immediately after returning from the snowy mountains without time to recover.
“Understood. Then let’s have the duel at this time tomorrow.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Richter smiled and returned first with his retainers.
Soon, when only the Sears family members remained, Blake asked Cain with a worried voice.
“Cain. Will you be alright?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t lose to Hayden.”
“With your skills, you should be able to win sufficiently. But since you went to the snowy mountains, focus on taking care of your body now. One day of rest won’t make you completely better, but you’ll feel much better after a good rest.”
“Yes, family head.”
Cain left behind the worried voices of disciples and servants around him and returned to his room with Alice and Nefti.
“Young master, I’ll prepare warm bath water right away.”
Nefti immediately bowed her head and went toward the bathroom.
“Young masterrrrr…!”
Alice, who had been barely holding back tears, burst into tears while examining Cain’s disheveled body.
“I was really so worried… Going to those dangerous snowy mountains to catch strong magical beasts… Ice Troll… I heard it’s an extremely dangerous magical beast, and obviously the Bederman side knew that, right? Really mean… Huu… You’re not hurt anywhere, are you, young master?”
“Right. I’m not hurt anywhere, so don’t worry.”
Indeed, there were no particular external injuries.
His mana circuits were still aching a bit, but if he rested well for a day while continuously circulating a certain amount of mana, he would be able to recover sufficiently.
“You don’t know how much I worried about you, young master, sob sob.”
“For someone who worried that much, you seem to have gained a little weight over the past few days.”
“Th-that’s…!”
Then Nefti, who had returned after preparing the bath water, explained.
“She said she would make the most delicious chocolate madeleines when you returned, young master, so she made so many breads, and even after distributing them to everyone around, there was too much to handle, so sister ate them all.”
Ah. So that was it.
“Chocolate madeleines… Do they have chocolate inside?”
“That’s right! It’s soft bread with appropriately made chocolate cream inside. Oh, you don’t dislike things made too sweet, do you…?”
When Alice asked carefully, Cain shook his head.
“Sweet snacks are a good energy source.”
In his previous life, when conducting magical research, Cain often ate sweet snacks.
When Cain showed an expectant look, Alice’s expression brightened.
“Great! Then while you’re bathing, young master, I’ll make the most delicious chocolate madeleines!”
“Alright, thank you.”
Cain smiled watching Alice, who was determined.
Meanwhile, Hayden was sitting in his room practicing.
However, rather than training to build his level, it was closer to summoning magical power to fully feel his own strength.
Whoosh.
The vigorously burning fire mana pleasantly illuminated the surroundings.
Imagining crushing Cain in front of people, especially in front of his father, and showing off his skills naturally filled him with elation.
After finishing such training and humming while lounging around satisfyingly.
Knock knock knock.
“What, who is it?”
“Hayden.”
“Huh, Father?”
At Richter’s unexpected voice, Hayden jumped up and opened the door.
“What brings you to my room…”
Richter silently entered the room, closed the door, and locked it.
Then he took something out from his chest and held it out to Hayden.
“Hayden. I have something to give you.”
