Chapter 126: Calm [4]
Rather than looking upset, Brutas looked pleased, thinking Ronan was finally reacting emotionally to his blatant taunts.
"Of course I do."
"Good," Ronan said. "Then we’ll do it properly. Official duel with faculty witness. If you want to fight me, it will be an official matter."
The class reacted.
"Ashbourne has finally lost it!"
"That fool thinks just because he ranked up he can defeat Brutas? He is too cocky."
Brutas looked pleased by the whispers in favor of him, puffing his chest up.
"You’ll regret making it official."
"We will see."
Selene, who had been watching from nearby, stepped in before things escalated. "If both parties agree, you can submit the duel request after class."
Brutas immediately agreed.
Ronan agreed too, his expression calm.
Ronan watched quietly as the crowd began gathering around him and Brutas. Students from other classes appeared in the hallway, drawn by the noise. Some lingered near doorways, silently observing. Others pressed closer to the center, whispering to each other about what was happening or what was going to happen.
No one was willing to leave them alone.
Ronan finished signing the duel forms with smooth, unhurried strokes. The receptionist glanced over the page, adjusted her spectacles, then looked up.
"Does everything appear in order?"
Brutas nodded immediately. "Yes."
Ronan stopped. He tapped the page once. "I think we should put some terms on it."
Shock rippled through the crowd. A few students gasped. Others exchanged looks.
Brutas didn’t look angry. He looked pleased.
"The rumors about you were right," Brutas said, grinning wide. "You really are a stupid, cocky fool."
I don’t recall those being the rumors about me, Ronan thought, but he ignored the taunt.
Normally, duels revolved around two things: pride and Academy rank. If you beat someone in a duel, you took their rank. They moved down one. Simple.
No one had to accept duels. It would be a problem if they did, both for Ronan, and every member of the top ten. They would be fighting duels every second of their free time if that were the case. So Ronan accepting the duel was very interesting to everyone else.
He was after three things here.
He wanted Brutas’s Academy rank.
He wanted resources.
And he wanted an audience.
Ronan smiled diplomatically at Brutas, a stark contrast to Brutas’s clearly hateful expression.
"If Brutas wins," Ronan said, addressing the receptionist but loud enough for the crowd to hear, "I will give him a skill from the Ashbourne family library."
Brutas’s jaw almost dropped.
From the crowd, outrage erupted. Students shouted over one another.
"How can he offer that?"
"Is that even allowed?"
"That’s an Ashbourne skill, Brutas is too lucky—!"
In truth, Ronan couldn’t offer such a skill as terms for a duel.
Only the head of the clan and the direct heir could offer such things in formal duels.
However, the knowledge that Irene was heir was not public yet. Right now, everyone still thought that Ronan was the heir of the Ashbourne family.
I’m not sure when they plan to announce it, but I’ll take advantage of it now since I can.
He imagined Irene somewhere in the crowd, her expression a mixture of rage, indignation, and surprise. She would definitely be telling Vulcan about this.
Brutas recovered quickly. He laughed loudly, throwing his head back.
"I take back what I said!" Brutas announced to the crowd. "Ronan Ashbourne isn’t stupid after all. He’s kind." He spread his arms wide, playing to the students around them. "Think about it! The Ashbourne heir has such a big heart that he’d donate a family skill!"
The crowd laughed. Some jeered. A few clapped mockingly. It was like what professional boxers did to hype up a crowd in order to create a storyline for the actual fight. That worked in Ronan’s favor, he wanted an audience too.
Ronan politely interrupted.
"Of course, Brutas will have to give something of equal value."
Brutas’s laughter didn’t stop. "What? Ask away!"
"A skill from House Pollundini," Ronan said calmly. "Seems fair."
Brutas was still smiling. "I’ll need permission, of course. Is that fine with you Ashbourne?"
"I accept that."
Brutas turned to the crowd again, raising his fist. "Then I accept the terms!"
The crowd roared.
After the receptionist processed the updated forms and dismissed them.
The first person to approach Ronan was Elara.
She pulled him aside, leaning in close even though no one was really around anymore.
"What are you thinking?" she whispered harshly. "Accepting the duel with Brutas— and then adding extra terms on top of it?" She stared at him. "I never thought you were that stupid."
Then she paused. Her expression shifted slightly.
"This is a scheme of some kind, isn’t it?" she asked, giving him the benefit of the doubt. "You’re trying to get Brutas into a ditch. What are you planning, I don’t understand at all—"
Ronan flicked her in the head.
Elara looked shocked for half a second before glaring.
She tried to flick him back.
Ronan easily dodged.
She tried again. Then again. Her frustration grew with every failed attempt.
Finally, Ronan let her land one.
Elara’s expression lit up. "I finally got you."
"Are you calmed down now?" Ronan asked.
Elara blinked, not realizing why he was asking that.
Then, realization flickered across her face.
She glared again, though it was clearly fake.
"No. I’m still upset and worried. Just what are you thinking?"
"Don’t worry," Ronan said.
"Of course I’m going to worry," Elara shot back. Then, hesitantly, she said. "You’re my friend."
Ronan met her eyes. "Then you should have some faith in me. I wouldn’t do something like this if I didn’t have some kind of plan." He paused. "Unless you think everything that happened in the inter-class war—everything only the two of us know about— was a fluke?"
Elara hesitated. "No," she admitted. "I don’t think so."
"Exactly."
Elara crossed her arms. "Then what’s your plan?"
Ronan smiled coyly at Elara with an unreadable expression.
"To win."
