News that Alicia (Yuui) defeated the third-year student Roland Babar, the son of the Duke of the Babar family, spread throughout the academy the very next day.
The source of the information seemed to be a second-year student affiliated with the Grand Princess's Faction. He had accidentally witnessed the latter half of Yuui and Roland's Duel, and immediately reported it to the third-year members of the same faction.
Thus, by the next morning, the incident had circulated through all of Saint Fusion Academy and had even begun spreading among the nobles of the Bredt Kingdom.
Many were shocked that Roland Babar, the duke's son often referred to as "the noblest of nobles," had actually been defeated by a student without any noble title—worse still, merely a first-year—and most importantly, a little girl who was even a Nameless One.
Even if that little girl demonstrated the magical potential to become a top mage and the Duel talent to become a powerful Duelist, none of that could justify the defeat of Roland Babar.
Therefore, due to Roland Babar's loss, many outsiders began to suspect that the Prince's Faction had a serious problem—their future leadership seemed incapable of carrying the weight of their faction.
These speculations weakened the faction's influence, and many nobles and related members of the Prince's Faction came to deeply resent Alicia.
However, the second-year student who reported the incident did not appear to know the reason behind Roland Babar's Duel with Alicia.
Or perhaps he did know and reported it properly, but the Grand Princess's Faction chose to suppress the cause of the Duel and publicize only the result.
After all, if it became known that the Grand Prince sent the duke's son to seize a mere student's Spirit, and even lost, it wouldn't just disgrace the Prince's Faction but the royal family itself.
Although what did any of this have to do with Alicia, the adorable little glutton, and her attendant protector Yuui?
Given that no matter how much the Prince's Faction hated Alicia and Yuui, they couldn't take excessive action against students still enrolled in the academy.
The academy's doctrine was clear—Even though Duels between students were allowed, Duels involving life-threatening stakes were forbidden, such as Shadow Duels.
Nobles were especially forbidden from threatening a student's life—such as by arranging assassinations—or else they risked the destruction of their entire household and family line.
There was precedent for this. In the early days of the academy, the son of a marquis relied on his family's power to act tyrannically on campus. He even attempted to have an outstanding student assassinated while the target was unprepared.
When the academy discovered the incident, some hoped the academy would overlook it. After all, to the nobles, the victim was merely a student with no background. Even if the student had talent, compared to their lofty noble status, he was but a speck of dust.
Regardless, Headmaster Aleister ignored all those pleading on the marquis's behalf. He went personally to the marquis's estate, evacuated all unrelated persons, and then eradicated the marquis's entire household.
Rumor said that on that day, Headmaster Aleister summoned all four elemental guardian spirits, and the marquis's manor was turned into a ravine. Both the marquis and his heirs were buried within it. To this day, this remains one of the darkest terrors in the hearts of the Bredt Kingdom's nobles.
Because of this, knowing how strongly Aleister detested any form of competition outside of proper Duels, all nobles of the Bredt Kingdom—including the royal family—no longer dared to even consider using methods outside of Duels within the academy.
Later, after many scholars confirmed the Duel laws established by the Star-Creating God Sophia, not just the Bredt Kingdom but every intelligent being across the world—excluding wild beasts—had long since adopted Duel-based conflict.
As a result, no matter how much the Prince's Faction wished to eradicate Alicia and Yuui, as long as the two remained within the academy, no one would dare to touch them through means outside of proper Duels.
As for hiring powerful instructors or mentors to deal with them—Leaving aside whether those instructors would even lower themselves to attack students, even if they did, did anyone truly believe Aleister would not punish them afterward?
In summary, while Alicia and Yuui currently needed to be wary of the Prince's Faction, they did not need to be overly afraid.
However, the Duel with Roland had still created a strong sense of urgency in Yuui.
Even without knowing the details, he understood that he and Alicia had already been drawn into the whirlwind of the Bredt Kingdom's royal succession—a matter that could crush them into dust if they were not careful.
And as insignificant "specks of dust," the most important things they needed to do were: strengthen themselves, and find reliable backing.
Increasing their strength would allow them to face sudden crises without relying solely on luck like they had against Roland.
And how to strengthen themselves? First, through continuous Duels, to rapidly and steadily increase their magical power. Second, by purchasing or crafting stronger Duel Cards to enhance their Deck. Third, by seeking new, stronger Spirits to ensure stable performance during Duels.
As for finding backing, Yuui wasn't sure. They certainly couldn't rely on the Prince's Faction—that much was obvious.
As for the Grand Princess's Faction—despite their philosophy of "strength above all" suiting both him and Alicia, the pursuit of strength alone would eventually lead to destruction. Even if this faction seemed the most compatible choice, Yuui still felt hesitant.
Lastly, there was the King's Faction. They wouldn't directly participate in the struggle between the Prince's Faction and the Grand Princess's Faction—at least not openly. They were the centrist faction; put less nicely, fence-sitters.
Whoever won, they would support, and the victorious faction would not act against them. After all, they controlled one-third of the kingdom's power. No matter who ultimately prevailed, it wouldn't make much difference to the King's Faction. It sounded like a comfortable place for retirement.
"So, Yuui-san, which faction should we join?"
Alicia hugged several books about card-making knowledge as she walked toward her dormitory. Today's classes had ended, so her plans were the same as usual—continuing her studies. The little girl now understood the importance of learning.
Yuui floated beside her, his brows furrowed as he continued thinking about the problem of finding a reliable backing.
Abruptly, at that moment, someone unexpected—yet entirely reasonable—appeared: Kexi Arce.
"Yo, first-year. Heading back?"
"Kexi-senpai?" Alicia blinked a few times at Kexi, then realized something and asked, "Kexi-senpai, did you come to give me the reward?"
"Heh, you really are straightforward, huh?" Kexi let out a helpless laugh, then nodded. "Yeah, I heard about you defeating Roland Babar. So I'm here to deliver your payment.
"Let's find somewhere quiet to talk. This isn't the place for it."
Alicia glanced—trying to look casual—toward Yuui. After receiving his approval, she nodded.
Afterward, Alicia and Kexi arrived at a quiet pavilion in a remote part of the academy. By this time, Alicia and Yuui had already completed their soul exchange, so when Kexi turned and looked at Alicia again, he raised an eyebrow and teased:
"Sometimes I feel like you've got some kind of split personality. The way your aura changes is really something… it catches people off guard."
"Making baseless guesses about others isn't a good habit. Everything requires evidence."
Yuui ignored Kexi's probing. He waved his hand, using a trace of Stratos's wind power to blow away the dust on the stone table and benches before sitting down.
"Did you bring everything I asked for?"
Kexi narrowed his eyes slightly, then pulled out a black box the size of a palm from inside his coat and placed it on the table.
"Of course. Since you accomplished what you promised, we won't be stingy. This is your reward."
Yuui took the box and opened it. Inside lay three cards and two purple crystals, each about the size of a thumb.
He picked up the three cards and examined them one by one.
[Elemental HERO Shadow Mist] Level 4│DARK│Warrior│1000 ATK
[Vision HERO Vyon] Level 4│DARK│Warrior│1000 ATK
[Soul Union (Trap Card)]
Looking at the three rare HERO cards in his hand, Yuui finally relaxed a little. With these, the Deck's speed and consistency could increase again.
Elemental HERO Shadow Mist and Vision HERO Vyon needed no explanation—back in his previous world, nearly every HERO user included these two. They were essential combo starters.
As for the Trap Card Soul Union, Yuui had only learned of it after arriving in this world. In addition to boosting HERO monsters' Attack, it also allowed Fusion Summoning via Graveyard materials—a solid card overall.
Combined with the cards he used against Roland—Burst Impact, Scrum Force, and Nightmare Mirage—these six cards comprised the payment agreed upon with Kexi.
And this was only the first payment. Every time he repelled an attack from the Prince's Faction, he would be able to obtain a rare card of his choice from Kexi.
The other part of the reward was the two purple crystals.
Yuui casually slid the cards into the card case at his waist, then lifted one of the crystals. He recognized these from the games of his past life—they were known as Magic Crystals.
Formed under special natural conditions, Magic Crystals contained enormous amounts of pure, attribute-less magical energy. They were extremely valuable and very rare.
A single crystal like the one Yuui held was worth at least five hundred gold coins.
And these crystals were the best auxiliary materials for crafting Duel Cards.
Kexi watched Yuui examine the Magic Crystal with expert familiarity, then looked at the card-making books beside him. He raised an eyebrow.
"Don't tell me you plan on becoming a Cardmaker?"
Yuui turned to him and countered, "Yeah. What?Yyou have connections?"
"…Connections?"
"Ah, sorry. A dialect word. I mean: do you have any channels that could help me?"
Hearing this, Kexi stared at Alicia (Yuui) with a bizarre expression. After a long silence, he finally asked:
"You… seriously don't know anything, do you?"
...
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