By Zephyria 
‘…A bet.’
I sighed softly and said with my arms crossed.
“What kind of bet are you talking about?”
“It’s a bet on who can do the most interpretations without using Double Fish Interpretation. The loser will grant the winner one wish, whatever it is. How about it?”
Granting one wish, whatever it is, huh?
“If a language that both of us don’t know comes up, how are you going to judge it? Either you or I could pretend to interpret it by mixing in some lies.”
“Then we can ask a third party to judge.”
Then, he lightly patted Melicsa, who was sitting in front, to attract her attention. When she turned around, wondering what was going on, she heard the situation and her eyes sparkled, as if she couldn’t pretend not to know about this kind of fight. She said she would be the judge.
The method of the competition was that Melicsa would first designate one person, then play the recording instead, and the designated person would interpret it.
After that, Melicsa would listen to the correct interpretation with Double Fish Interpretation only and judge whether it was correct or not. The rule was that they would take turns interpreting until one person gave up or failed to interpret.
“What are you going to do?”
Ardian asked me again.
I glared at him and sighed and accepted the offer. I was confident in languages too. As the atmosphere here became chaotic, the children began to watch one by one, and Sophia seemed to have noticed the situation, but she seemed to be trying to let them play on their own.
“Then let’s go! Starting with Ardian!”
Melicsa played the Video Orb recording.
The start was Tatar, the language of the dwarves.
Ardian easily interpreted the language. Melicsa confirmed that it was a correct interpretation, and then I interpreted the Luciferian that came out next. As both of them passed without any difficulty, the children who were watching exclaimed.
But what surprised them even more was what happened next.
Because I easily interpreted the Runic that came out next. The children, who were looking at me with sparkling eyes, urged Melicsa.
“Melicsa, is it right? The interpretation?”
“Wow… what. It’s right?”
The spectators exclaimed in unison at Melicsa’s words. Before I knew it, my servants had also come to my side and were watching. Clona, who had been quietly watching next to Melicsa, was very excited and looked back and forth between us with a flushed face.
“I’ll go to the next one right away! Listen carefully.”
Melicsa diligently played the next Video Orb recording. After that, neither I nor Ardian showed each other any mercy and continued to interpret. The bell rang to signal the end of class, but no one left their seats.
Then it was my turn again.
“……?”
I heard someone’s voice reciting sweetly like sweet black tea. The sound quality wasn’t very good, so it was crackling… and the language was one I had never heard before.
I was momentarily speechless.
I was surprised that there was a language I didn’t know in this world, so I was looking at the Video Orb when Sophia, who had already mixed in with the children and was watching together, exclaimed in surprise.
“Oh my. Why is this in here together?”
“What is it?”
“Um. It’s an ancient language that was recently discovered and is still being studied. Nothing detailed has been revealed yet… but for now, researchers seem to be guessing that it’s a language that was used briefly even before Runic.”
She added, ‘But if you use Double Fish Interpretation, you can interpret what it means.’
I frowned.
Since it was a language I had never heard before, I couldn’t interpret it, so it seemed like there was nothing I could do this time.
“…I will give up on this interpretation. However.”
I had no intention of handing over the initiative willingly.
“I will only move on if you decide whether you can interpret this language or not. If an easy one comes out on your next turn, it will be unfair. Wouldn’t you agree?”
I don’t think a guy with stubbornness and a competitive spirit would insist on ending it with his victory here and be unreasonable.
Of course, he would accept the condition.
But I didn’t think that this guy could interpret a strange language that even I didn’t know. This one would be a draw. That’s what I expected.
Ardian suddenly smiled as if he was losing energy.
It was definitely a normal face that was difficult to read what he was thinking… but I had a strange feeling that he seemed to be lacking energy.
Why?
As I was thinking about the reason with pure curiosity, Ardian, who was looking at the Video Orb, quietly opened his mouth.
“『Feeling sorry for the suffering creatures on earth, you must have no day to stop sighing, so I have received the order and am now the agent of God, Sealed Soul. I have come to this land to take you in and restore the balance of the world, so you can stop worrying from now on.』”
No one in this place could judge whether that was a correct interpretation or just nonsense. As everyone turned to look at Melicsa in silence, Melicsa also activated Double Fish Interpretation and interpreted the recording.
Her eyes grew bigger and bigger, becoming as round as the moon.
“Huh? It’s the… same?”
It was a face that she couldn’t believe even after hearing it herself.
I also couldn’t believe it.
In order to judge directly, I used Double Fish Interpretation to listen to the contents of the Video Orb. It was hard to believe, but I couldn’t find even the slightest difference in the content and nuance of Ardian’s interpretation.
‘No way.’
How could this young human guy accurately interpret a strange language that even I couldn’t understand and gave up on interpreting? Or is the level of education in the imperial family that high?
I can’t understand it at all.
But what was clear was that there was no sign of him using Magic, and there was nothing wrong with the interpretation he gave.
“…Remember the bet that the loser would grant the winner one wish? You promised?”
I was speechless for a moment and looked at the guy.
What… is this guy?
That question crossed my mind strongly once again.
But losing was losing. My pride wouldn’t allow me to take back words I had already said, so I readily admitted defeat.
“I promise. It’s a game I lost.”
Ardian smiled more brightly than ever.
Did he think he had caught a weakness?
Anyway… the long fight was over.
The children scattered to go to lunch. It had been a long time since class ended, so Sophia hurriedly packed up her class tools and books and left the lecture hall.
‘Shall I go too?’
As I slowly got up and went out the door to go down to the cafeteria, my servants gathered around me and naturally began to chatter.
Ardian was confidently mixed in among them, but the servants seemed to have gotten used to it now. In particular, Tom was looking at Ardian, wanting to talk to him.
“You two were amazing. You’re complete geniuses of language!”
Tom shyly rolled his eyes and looked back and forth between me and Ardian. He had admiring eyes. Zeon also agreed with only the parts that praised me next to him and showed the same eyes.
Herman, who only glanced at the two of them, took the lead and walked away.
It was then.
“Ah, come to think of it… Herman.”
Ardian, who was walking side by side with me, suddenly spoke to Herman. At that, Herman, who had been taking the lead, stopped and quietly turned around.
There was no friendly response. He was just looking at him as if to ask what he wanted.
The atmosphere was like a bomb about to explode, so Tom was carefully watching, wondering what was going on again. Around that time, Ardian, who had called Herman first, smiled as usual and said.
“You should switch rooms with me starting today.”
Herman frowned.
“What?”
“I mean the dormitory room. From now on, I’ll be using the same room as Ray. The proctor has also approved it, so you just need to move your luggage.”
It was the first time I had heard of it.
Herman scoffed sharply as if he had also heard of it for the first time.
“What about my opinion?”
“So, I’m telling you now like this. It’s just slightly changing the location of the room… it’s not a difficult task, is it?”
In an instant, Herman’s expression changed completely. I think I understood. That was the face of someone extremely angry. His sharp eyes, so keen you could feel a murderous intent, were fixed on Ardian.
Suddenly, Herman grabbed Ardian by the collar. He clenched his fist as if he was about to throw a punch right then, but fortunately, he didn’t. It seemed the situation wouldn’t escalate into violence.
However, his eyes were so fiercely glaring that it would have been understandable to be flustered….
Ardian, who was slightly taller than Herman, remained motionless, looking down at him indifferently, whether he was grabbed by the collar or not.
Without realizing it, I glanced back at Tom. Tom, pale as a sheet, was trembling violently, letting out a shrill scream.
As expected.
Not a bit different from the reaction I had anticipated.
I felt vaguely proud, as if I had guessed the correct answer.
By the way, why are these guys suddenly fighting?
It would be annoying if he suddenly suggested changing rooms, but it didn’t seem like something worth grabbing someone by the collar over….
Just as I was silently watching, unable to keep up with the situation.
“What’s this? A fight?”
A group that had come out of the classroom much later than us, chatting loudly, stopped in their tracks upon seeing the two grappling in the hallway.
Looking back, it was Melicsa, Clona, the freckled male student, and Ibelia.
“We’re passing through.”
Melicsa was the first to speak in a nonchalant tone as she passed by the two confronting each other. The rest of the group quickly followed behind her.
Clona, her eyes wide like a rabbit’s, kept sneaking glances at Ardian and Herman as she passed by.
As that group went down the stairs and only we remained in the hallway, it became quiet, and an awkward silence descended.
It seemed Herman had cooled his head a bit in the meantime, as he let go of the collar he was holding. But it didn’t appear that his anger had subsided because of it.
“Shameless bastard. I have no intention of giving you the room.”
Herman growled in a low, rumbling voice.
“Oh? Well, sorry. But I have no intention of withdrawing either.”
Ardian’s reply came with an utterly ordinary expression.
A quiet war of nerves continued.
There was absolutely no sign of either side yielding or backing down.
Zeon, who was standing guard beside me, let out a small sigh. Tom looked back at me with tear-filled eyes, as if pleading for me to do something.
And as for me….
‘What was today’s lunch menu again?’
I was hungry.