"Did you hear? The Preliminary Battle Royale! It's the first time I've ever seen a dueling format like this—it just feels super fun!"
"Same here. I always thought a tournament of this level would never be open to the likes of us, but this Battle Royale…"
"Maybe if I'm lucky, I really could make it out of the preliminaries!"
"Are you going to enter? My goal is to advance!"
...
These past few days, as Dark went back and forth between the classroom and the dormitory, he kept overhearing conversations like this.
It wasn't just the boys—even the girls seemed extremely interested in this Preliminary Battle Royale.
As dueling tournaments rose in tier, they had always grown more and more formal—when had there ever been a format this heavy on entertainment value?
Not to mention, it was the kind of format that let you compete on the same stage as the upper years.
Even if you couldn't advance, simply taking part in it was a great deal of fun.
The lower-year students who held this mindset made up the vast majority.
The upper-year students, by contrast, were far more restrained.
Most of them had ample dueling experience, and knew that the strong remain strong no matter the environment… and the same goes for the weak!
By comparison, the planning of the Easter eggs didn't seem to spark the same large-scale discussion among students as the Preliminary Battle Royale did.
This actually came as a surprise to Dark.
But the way things develop often can't be judged by the opening alone.
The Easter eggs weren't aimed at the students of St. Marian's Academy.
Rather, they were aimed specifically at the fans of duelists.
Being inside the academy, Dark couldn't get a very good grasp of the reaction outside.
...
In fact, as St. Marian's advertising blitz unfolded in overwhelming fashion—especially after the illustrated guide of popular Magic Guide Spirits was released—the Easter eggs became a topic people everywhere never stopped talking about.
In this era when the dueling industry was at its peak, high-popularity players and Magic Guide Spirits were truly powerful fan magnets.
A duelist's status made it impossible for them to be used as a marketing subject, but Magic Guide Spirits carried no such concern.
Take Pandora's White Dragon, for example—it enjoyed extremely high popularity among the common folk.
In this illustrated guide of Magic Guide Spirits that made it into the newspapers, that White Dragon was the primary marketing subject.
The academy publicly disclosed that among this batch of eggs produced for Easter, there was one—and only one—"living" White Dragon figurine!
This instantly turned that White Dragon figurine—which was in fact still being rushed to completion—into an object that fans scrambled to snatch up.
With two weeks still left until Easter, people were already quarreling over it, and a buyout price had even appeared on the black market...
In an instant, St. Marian's Easter figurine eggs stirred up an uproar in every major city!
...
The Kingdom's capital.
Eldest Princess Eliza had been quite troubled lately.
Ever since someone, through the Great Sage Daily, fed First Prince Charles a nasty, sleazy idea, the First Prince had been frequently visiting the King, going on day after day about how excellent this grand duke's son was, how that earl's son was just the right age… all but itching to marry the Eldest Princess off at once.
The old King had had children late in life to begin with, and now, advanced in years, he had also developed a wish to abdicate.
In his youth he had expended too much energy fighting to exterminate the Demon race; even abdicating would be retiring at the height of his achievements, and his name would forever echo through the history of mankind.
The old King of today no longer had the drive of his youth. Were he to shed his fine robes and walk into the streets, he would look just like an ordinary old man.
He truly had no more desires; his only remaining wish was probably the same as any ordinary old man's—to be "surrounded by children and grandchildren."
And so, after First Prince Charles brought it up repeatedly in his ear, it stirred up his interest in pressing his children into marriage.
Of course...
Besides scouting out eligible young men for the Eldest Princess, he also began scouting out eligible young women for the First Prince...
In short, the old King had found a new pastime.
The Eldest Princess, meanwhile, had grievances she couldn't voice.
Fortunately the old King was open-minded enough that he wouldn't force his children to accept a partner they disliked.
And given the Kingdom's current standing, there was no need for a political marriage either.
So while it was annoying—a little annoying—it had no real impact.
...
That afternoon, having just turned down yet another matchmaking proposal, the Eldest Princess came to the residence of the two younger princesses in search of some comfort for her soul.
Although the Eldest Princess and the two younger princesses did not share the same mother, and although the little princesses were mischievous troublemakers, the Eldest Princess still loved her two younger sisters from the bottom of her heart.
Whenever she ran into something vexing, just seeing her sisters' smiles was enough to lift her spirits again.
Once she entered the residence, a maid led her to the room of the Second Princess, Anna.
She pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Anna and Angie were sprawled rather inelegantly across the bed, flipping through two newspapers and arguing with unusual fervor.
"What are you two squabbling about now?"
Eliza dismissed the maid and casually shut the door.
The Third Princess, Angie, immediately hollered, "Sister Eliza, I said the White Dragon is stronger than the Black Dragon, but Anna just insists on arguing with me!"
"What White Dragon and Black Dragon?" Confusion surfaced on Eliza's face.
Angie clambered up, waved the newspaper, and said, "The Magic Guide Spirits of St. Marian's Academy—the Silver Dragon Lady's 'Skydome White Dragon' and the Dark Night Baron's 'Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon'!"
Anna let out a snort and said, "I said the 'Skydome White Dragon' has a better battle record than the 'Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon' because the Silver Dragon Lady is more skilled than the Dark Night Baron, not because there's an actual gap in the strength of the Magic Guide Spirits themselves. In a true one-on-one, the 'Skydome White Dragon' wouldn't necessarily be a match for the 'Crimson-Ridge Black Dragon'!"
Eliza listened for just a moment and immediately grasped the matter. She couldn't help but clutch her forehead and say, "Honestly, you two are both fans of the Silver Dragon Lady—why are you bickering endlessly over a thing like this?"
Angie waved the newspaper again and said with utter seriousness, "No, I'm a White Dragon fan now. Sister's the one who's a Dragon Lady fan."
Anna shot her a glance and sneered, "Just you wait. Once I draw the White Dragon, you'll be the one crying and begging me."
Hearing this, Eliza grew confused again.
What did "draw" the White Dragon mean?
So she took the newspaper from Angie's hand and looked it over carefully, and at once her brows knit together: "Is St. Marian short on money?"
Clearly, she saw through the scheme at a glance.
But with something like figurine eggs, it didn't matter even if you saw through the scheme.
As long as there was a target you wanted, you'd always step into the trap.
Anna and Angie, for instance, had obviously fallen for it—and willingly at that.
"Easter eggs, Easter Dueling Festival..."
The Eldest Princess's thoughts gradually wandered, and a sudden bad premonition welled up in her.
Then she immediately began searching through the illustrated Magic Guide Spirit guide printed in the newspaper.
And sure enough, she managed to find one particular Magic Guide Spirit within the guide.
"They've actually gone and produced even a first-year's Magic Guide Spirit… I'm done for!"
...
The Ducal Manor...
As the Kingdom's only female duke, Alvit St. Demon, was working diligently, the "Beast Sage" Claire Kite, holding a fat cat, pushed the door open and walked straight in.
"Alvit, look what I found!"
Claire, brimming with excitement, slammed two newspapers down onto Alvit's desk.
Alvit shot her a reproachful glance, but set down the pen in her hand and spread the two newspapers open.
Claire said not a single word, just stood there watching.
Sure enough, before long, Alvit displayed exactly the intense reaction Claire had anticipated: "Claire, this white cat is Dark's Magic Guide Spirit, isn't it? I remember it fused with another black cat into the seven-star Cat Lady."
Claire nodded. "It's called Gatomon, a light-attribute Magic Guide Spirit."
Alvit said excitedly, "I knew it. I wonder whether Dark will take part in this Easter Dueling Festival?"
Claire pointed at the other newspaper and said, "This dueling tournament has a special Preliminary Battle Royale format, and it's split into a high group and a low group—the lower years being first to third year. I think the odds of Dark participating aren't low."
"It's on the first of April? Let me see..."
Alvit immediately began flipping through her schedule.
"There's a royal proclamation event on Easter day—push it back. Help me send word to Eliza; tell her she's grown up too, and ought to learn to face her own competitors on her own."
Claire couldn't help but smile. "How about this—it's been a long while since I held a tea party, so I'll go invite the princesses."
Alvit: "That works too."
...
The royal proclamation event at Easter was, to put it plainly, a public address held by the Eldest Princess and the First Prince to vie for popular support, and it would last roughly an entire morning.
Among the many activities of the two royal heirs, this fell into the realm of the everyday.
In other words, a trivial matter.
...
Of course, without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand li.
No matter how small the matter, the Eldest Princess would give it her all.
But this time, she clearly would not be able to enjoy the Valkyrie's company.
...
The entanglements between people and between events run through every aspect of things.
Dark probably never imagined that his offhand proposal would cause such a wide-reaching impact.
In the last week of March, he did a bit of research on the [Method for Refining a Magic Tool into an Item Card], then ran two experiments—both of which ended in failure.
The tier of that "Bloodthirsty Giant Axe" seemed to be even higher than he had expected, and its demands for Magic Guide transmutation exceeded the bounds of his ability.
In the blink of an eye it was March 30th, a Friday, with less than two days left until April 1st.
In order to make their presence felt in the Preliminary Battle Royale, the first-year little Magic Guide Masters, as if by unspoken agreement, rushed into Traveler Street to buy materials for one final sprint.
The materials obtained from the dungeon trip in early March had upgraded many students' decks.
But that still wasn't enough to bring their deck count up to the number of forty.
And to enter the Preliminary Battle Royale, the number of Magic Guide Cards had to at least meet the standard, no?
So whether it was padding out the numbers or last-minute cramming, one had to refine enough Magic Guide Cards.
Dark Demon actually had a similar worry.
His core Magic Guide Cards couldn't add up to the number of forty, so he had no choice but to add Magic Guide Cards like "Revealing Powder," "Silence Potion," and "Energy Potion" into his deck.
Fortunately, these number-padding Magic Guide Cards weren't entirely without use.
Perhaps at certain moments, they could even play a crucial role.
...
On the last day of March, a heavy rain fell.
But during that Wednesday's Astronomy class, Professor Medea had said that Easter would clear up, so the students weren't too worried.
Treading through the mud, they hurried along Traveler Street, brimming with vitality like plants in spring.
Dark went into the Catnip Flower and Wood Shop and briefed Miss Cat on the current state of the Lion Grass.
Although Miss Cat was astonished, and even wanted to buy the Lion Grass back from him for research, in the face of Dark's smile she chose to give up.
Dark inquired about the Rabbit Grass, then bought some "Cat Juice" potion for the Catnip, and left the Catnip Flower and Wood Shop.
After that he came to the Goblin Antique Bookstore, hoping to find some obscure item-card transmutation methods within.
But searching all the way until noon, he still hadn't found an obscure transmutation method suitable for the "Bloodthirsty Giant Axe."
Until a book titled Blood Sacrifice appeared in his field of vision!
"Blood Sacrifice?"
Merely seeing the title gave off a surge of sinister aura.
Dark couldn't help but furrow his brow.
The term "blood sacrifice" really couldn't be considered anything auspicious.
"As long as it's not a case of selling dog meat under the guise of mutton..."
Thinking this, Dark slipped two fingers into the gap between the books and forcefully pulled it out.
The dust that shook loose along with it showed that this book had likely been sitting there for quite a while.
"The author is… there's no author?"
Dark couldn't help but hesitate.
This book had not only no author, but also no editor.
Still, he carefully opened it up.
The book's cover was made of a hard-shell material, and the pages inside felt to the touch like something between cloth and leather—but very thin and light, looking as though it had strong water-absorbency.
He turned to the title page, and the very first line that met his eyes read:
[Blood and corpse—who lies at the journey's end?]
"Meaning unclear."
Dark murmured a line under his breath, then went on to turn the next page.
But the next page was completely blank.
Further on, still completely blank.
"Flip, flip, flip——"
He swiftly flipped through the entire book, and finally understood why it had been left in the corner of this bookshelf, ignored by all.
Of course, if one were to hypothesize according to the logical reasoning of a novel's storyline, this kind of "wordless heavenly scripture" might just be a treasure.
Dark stroked the pages, looked at that title, and suddenly a thought stirred: "Could it be that 'blood sacrifice' means you have to soak this book in blood?"
"That's absorbent paper made from the skin of the Lolo Tree Frog. You don't need to soak it in blood—water will do."
The voice that suddenly came from behind made Dark whip his head around.
A smiling lady appeared in his sight.
She had bright orange-red long hair, the ends bound by a hair tie and curled around her neck to hang down in front of her chest, with a clear rise and fall.
Her features weren't exquisite, but they were soft and very approachable, and she looked lovely when she smiled.
"And you are?"
Dark tried hard to recall, but still couldn't remember where he had seen her.
"Lia. Lia Goethe."
Lia Goethe gave Dark a nod, then pointed at the book in his hand: "You're a first-year, aren't you? This book might not be quite suitable for you."
Dark smiled and said, "Hello, Miss Goethe. I think that when it comes to describing a person, neither year nor age is a good choice."
Lia also gave a faint smile: "Then let me put it another way—this book is not suitable for you."
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