Chapter 34
Rowan figured it out quickly enough.
It was almost certainly because of the photo. The one he'd taken last night after baiting Crowler out near the back of the Obelisk Blue girls' dormitory.
The man was trying to keep him calm and cooperative.
Originally, Rowan hadn't had any specific plan for that photo.
It was more of a safety measure. Having something like that on hand would keep the mushroom-haired professor from causing him minor headaches during the early stretch of the school year.
But standing here now, watching Crowler perform this elaborate balancing act, Rowan found himself reconsidering.
Maybe there was a more active use for it after all.
He wasn't afraid of duels.
The only thing that actually worried him was running out of opponents willing to hand over emotion points.
"You don't need to swap my opponent to Syrus," Rowan said, waving a hand.
"If anything, I'd prefer someone with a bit more actual ability."
He'd already farmed Syrus multiple times in a single day.
At a certain point, even Rowan felt a little bad about it.
And practically speaking, Syrus was probably too numb by now to generate much in the way of emotional response.
Diminishing returns.
"Someone with more ability, you say..." Crowler paused for a moment, then rubbed his hands together with a strained, performative grin.
"In that case, rather than Chazz from Obelisk Blue, how about Bastion Misawa from Ra Yellow?"
Internally, he was seething.
Arrogant Slifer Slacker. Gets a little lucky against Alexis and that Chazz boy and suddenly thinks he can go looking for real competition.
This is a practical exam grade. One of the key assessments that determines whether a student moves up to Ra Yellow or even Obelisk Blue.
And he wants to gamble it away.
But none of that mattered right now.
What mattered was keeping Rowan pacified until that duelist he was planning to hire showed up.
"Bastion Misawa."
Rowan nodded, already turning it over in his head. "Yeah, that works."
He'd actually been meaning to duel Bastion at some point.
Since the entrance exams wrapped up and everyone had settled into the Academy, he hadn't really crossed paths with him yet.
The afternoon practical session was the perfect occasion to deliver a little welcoming gift.
A satisfied smile settled on Rowan's face.
Bastion Misawa, somewhere across campus: please don't come near me.
"And if possible, Professor Crowler, please arrange Chazz Princeton from Obelisk Blue as my opponent for the practical session."
Jaden raised his hand.
"Na... nani..."
Crowler's brain stalled out completely.
What was happening with the Slifer Red students this year?
Everyone else in a practical exam worried about losing and failing the credit.
So why were Jaden Yuki and Rowan actively hunting for the strongest opponents they could find?
Still.
If Jaden wanted to follow Rowan's example and march straight into his own defeat, that was perfectly convenient.
Approving both requests would keep Rowan satisfied and solve two problems at once.
Crowler's expression snapped back into something magnanimous.
"No problem! Both approved!"
He even turned to Syrus. "And how about you? Would you like a stronger opponent as well? I'd personally recommend a fellow first-year from Ra Yellow, Kagasaki."
"Absolutely not!" Syrus shook his head so fast it blurred, both hands waving in frantic refusal.
He had no intention of being roped into the same fate as Rowan and his brother.
Now that's the proper attitude for a Slifer Red student, Crowler thought, and the look he turned on Syrus softened almost imperceptibly.
"Why did his eyes just go weirdly gentle..." Rowan noted internally, unimpressed.
As for Crowler's inability to make sense of the Slifer Red situation, Rowan could only think that the man clearly hadn't watched enough classic shounen anime.
Everyone knew the lowest-ranked students were secretly the strongest.
Same principle applied here.
...
That afternoon, in the practical dueling arena.
Jaden and Syrus stood in the outer spectator ring, hunched over with their hands on their stomachs, trading complaints.
"Why is every single breakfast and lunch at the Slifer Red dorm pickled dried fish and curry mapo tofu?"
Syrus looked over at Rowan with undisguised envy. Rowan was leaning against the wall nearby, completely at ease, a clean piece of straw idly hanging from the corner of his mouth.
At lunch, Rowan had been the only one eating something decent.
He'd bought a full spread from Miss Dorothy's shop by the Academy, the kind of meal that had no business being that good.
Fried shrimp. Katsu rice. The works.
If they had the money, they'd eat like that too.
And then there was the luxury cabin currently under construction right next to the Slifer Red dorm.
Syrus began to quietly wonder whether sticking close to Rowan might actually be a better deal than following Jaden.
"Alright, the practical duel session is now beginning." Crowler's voice carried across the indoor arena from up front.
"Students whose names are called, please proceed to one of the six dueling platforms."
The venue for the practical session wasn't the high-end arena where Rowan had dueled Chazz the previous night.
That arena was reserved for high-profile duels that drew the attention of the whole school, and served as Obelisk Blue's private training facility the rest of the time.
It also only had a single dueling platform, which made it completely impractical for a session that needed to run multiple simultaneous matches with strict time limits.
This space, by contrast, had six standard dueling platforms running in parallel. Exactly what the situation called for.