Of course.
Seymer certainly knew the true reasons behind everything better than anyone else.
However, some things were better left unsaid, especially when he was the other person's mentor.
“You bastard! Witch of the High Tower, I challenge you to a duel!”
Just as Seymer finished his refusal, Alisa pulled out a square handkerchief and threw it directly at Lan Qingyou, issuing a formal challenge.
This sudden move left Lan Qingyou, who had just finished discussing business, completely stunned.
She slowly lowered her head, looking at the lace-trimmed white handkerchief hanging from her clothes with an expression of utter disbelief.
What was going on?
A duel?
Still not quite grasping the situation, Lan Qingyou looked up at her opponent, her face full of questions.
That wasn't all.
As Lan Qingyou looked at Alisa, another even more baffling sentence came out of Alisa’s mouth.
“With my teacher's freedom and the Emerald Tablet in your hands as the stakes.”
“Huh?”
Hearing that there were actual stakes involved, Lan Qingyou was dumbfounded.
“Wait, putting Professor Seymer aside—since that’s his own choice and I won’t stop him if he wants to leave in a year—what’s this about the Emerald Tablet?”
Indeed.
Lan Qingyou never expected the other woman to be eyeing the World Item in her possession.
Admittedly, the Emerald Tablet truly was considered a sacred text for alchemists.
But for Lan Qingyou, the owner who would take it out every now and then to glance at it in hopes of gaining some divine insight, it didn't feel like anything particularly extraordinary.
It could be said that no one in this world understood the Emerald Tablet better than she did.
“Sigh...”
At that moment, Seymer, standing to the side, let out a sigh.
It wasn't because Lan Qingyou's words had offended him, but rather because he was sighing for his student.
“Alisa, don't you have even the slightest clue as to why I refused you?”
After sighing, Seymer looked at his prized pupil and asked.
To be honest, Alisa was a brilliant child; in her few years at university, she had basically absorbed almost all of his chemical knowledge.
He was proud of this student.
But at the same time, he felt pity for her.
Because...
“Teacher, I...”
“Do you remember when you graduated with your doctorate and invited me?”
Alisa seemed to want to say something, but Seymer cut her off directly.
“I remember.”
“And do you remember what I said back then?”
“Do not follow in the shadows of those before you; live your own life to the fullest.”
“And did you do that?”
“I did, Teacher. Now, alchemy is everything to me. I’m even conquering the experiments I wanted to perform back then, one by one.”
“You see? That is why I refused you then and why I refuse you now. Philosophically speaking, we are simply not suited to discuss anything together.”
Seymer sighed once more.
“Teacher, why would you say such a thing? I don't believe I've done anything wrong.”
“Do you remember my other sentence? The one you didn't say just now?”
“...”
“Your research, regardless of how you look at it, belongs in the realm of the taboo. Yet you are still conducting it to this day, aren't you? That is something I cannot accept.”
Seeing her research so bluntly rejected by her own teacher, Alisa couldn't take it anymore.
Her entire body trembled, and then she screamed at Seymer in a fit of rage.
“But I received the recognition of the world consciousness! I even received a World Title from it! That proves my research isn't wrong! My—”
“Clap!”
Just as Alisa was getting more and more worked up, a loud clap rang out across the relatively small third-floor spectator stand.
Everyone looked over to find it was the tall, thin man with the red mohawk known as Tony Doni.
“Everyone, the one-hour mark is almost up. You’d better get ready for battle.”
“Don't blame me for not warning you—if you're just here to watch the show, surrender immediately once you enter the battlefield. After all, there's no teleportation circle to take you back.”
“If you want to go back, besides surrendering, your only other option is likely dying on the arena.”
In a rare departure from his usual flamboyant behavior, Tony Doni spoke with great masculinity, clearly explaining the stakes of this battle to the various clan leaders.
This immediately shifted everyone's attention.
Oh, right!
Reminded by the man with the mohawk, everyone realized there seemed to be no teleportation circle here.
Surrendering or dying might really be the only two ways to return.
“Witch of the High Tower, regarding the duel, since Alisa has thrown the handkerchief, you are required to accept it according to noble etiquette. However, whether you actually accept is your personal choice, and we have no right to interfere.”
After stepping forward to remind everyone, Tony Doni looked at Lan Qingyou, who had regained her composure.
“Not accepting, not accepting. I'm not some bullshit noble.”
Lan Qingyou waved her hand in disgust and rolled her eyes at Tony Doni.
Oh, so because the other person threw a handkerchief at her, she had to follow some piece-of-crap 'etiquette'?
What did they take her for?
And all that talk about 'personal choice' and 'no right to interfere'—then why the hell did you bring up that noble etiquette nonsense in the first place?
Saying that first and then following it up with the rest—to anyone listening, it sounded like a veiled threat.
What a joke.
Did she look like someone who could be manipulated?
So, Lan Qingyou looked at Tony and Alisa with an overtly disgusted expression.
“Now get lost.”
“Hmph...”
Having been ordered her to leave by Lan Qingyou, Alisa looked at her mentor, then at her companions, and ultimately chose not to continue the argument.
“Fine, we'll see. We will meet on the arena.”
“Even if we do, I won't bet anything with you. Besides, you haven't even stated your conditions. It’s obvious this was just a heat-of-the-moment impulse. I believe in equivalent exchange, and your terms have absolutely no equality.”
Hearing Lan Qingyou say this, Alisa, who had already turned to leave, stopped in her tracks. She slightly turned her head, looking at Lan Qingyou out of the corner of her eye.
Compared to the agitated Alisa from before, the current Alisa was as calm as if she were a different person.
“Equivalent exchange, is it? Then what if I'm willing to hand over all my research results to date?”
Oh no! I let my big mouth get the better of me!
Why did I have to talk back? Now look, she's clinging on again.
Lan Qingyou felt like slapping herself right now.
“Hmph, that depends on what kind of research results they are. If it's just how to turn slimes into jelly, then it's definitely not enough.”
Some people remain stubborn even at death's door.
Lan Qingyou's current behavior was the perfect embodiment of that phrase.
Perhaps with anyone else, she wouldn't even bother saying another word. But for some reason, facing Alisa—who was so similar to herself—she found it difficult to maintain her usual composure.
...
Rate on N.U.
