Chapter 37: Young Miss, You're Addicted, Aren't You?
"Now then, both sides please select your duelists."
Rather than dueling inside the workshop, the hooded man led everyone to the public duel arena in the Mechanical District's central plaza.
Though dueling directly on the street would've been fine, dueling in a properly established arena allowed for better display of the Duel Disk's holographic projection effects.
And dueling in an official arena attracted far more passing spectators.
"Oooh, place your bets, place your bets! Wein Family VS Nanki'in Family!"
"A duel between two young misses—interesting!"
"Hey, you got any deck data on these two young ladies?"
"Nope. Neither of them seem to have dueled in public before."
"Then how do we bet?"
"Bet on looks! I like long straight black hair—I'm backing Nanki'in!"
"Not necessarily the young misses themselves though. What family young miss goes out without bodyguard muscle?"
In this world full of duelist brains, professions like bodyguards and muscle naturally had to be duelists too.
If your young miss ran into disputes or conflicts outside, with physical violence banned inside Eden Tower, you as the bodyguard had to settle things through dueling.
Like right now—the man who'd been standing beside Nanki'in Sakuya spoke quietly.
"Young mistress, please allow me to handle this."
But Nanki'in Sakuya shook her head, refusing his voluntary offer.
"Ryoma, I want to duel personally this time. The prosthetic eye commissioned from Master Vail is Grandfather's first task he's personally entrusted to me. I must claim it with my own hands."
"But young mistress, you only just inherited the deck from the boss. Most importantly, the boss hasn't yet permitted you to use the Demon Blade..."
"It's fine." Sakuya interrupted Ryoma, stepping toward one side of the duel arena. "I know Finesse's deck. She similarly lacks the ability to deploy Extra Deck monsters. As for that other person, he looks about our age too."
Sakuya's age was indeed the same as Finesse's and Amano's.
Eighteen years old—the age for entering Duel Academy's high school division.
After learning basic knowledge in the middle school division, only upon reaching the academy's high school division would students be sorted into branches.
Fusion Academy, Synchro Academy, Xyz Academy.
Hard not to suspect whether the mainframe Eva had referenced the different summoning dimensions from the anime.
After choosing the branch that suited them, duelists would formally begin exploring their Extra Deck possibilities.
Eighteen years old—in Eden Tower, that was a duelist's coming-of-age ceremony. Over centuries, it had gradually become an unspoken rule within the Tower.
Seeing Nanki'in Sakuya personally enter the duel arena, Finesse couldn't restrain herself.
"I finally caught my chance, Nanki'in Sakuya! This time I'm definitely beating you!"
"Judging from your words, Finesse, you haven't won before."
"Best three out of five!"
"Oh, so you've already lost twice."
"(⊙_⊙) How'd you know?"
If she'd only lost once, she would've said best two out of three.
"But this time is different! Amano, possess me like when we fought the Puppeteer! I'll show Nanki'in what we're capable of!"
"..."
That's not necessary, young miss, is it?
You're getting addicted to this—what am I to you, a power-leveling service?
Shio's still here. If I collapse on the spot, won't she worry herself sick?
"I'll handle this myself." Amano held back the eager Finesse. "This is a duel for Shio. What kind of older brother would I be if I didn't step up?"
Amano's reason for fighting bore some similarities to Nanki'in Sakuya's.
If he missed Master Vail's opening this month, next month when the academy semester started, Shio wouldn't make it in time.
"G-go get 'em, bro." Only this time, Shio's cheering voice lacked the full effort from when he'd dueled Nikaido.
There was a slight sense of... actually, losing wouldn't matter.
How could he possibly lose?!
Making his sister attend school in a wheelchair—Amano absolutely wouldn't allow it!
"Oh?" Seeing someone other than Finesse take the field, Sakuya's slender eyebrows rose slightly. "Finesse's loyal dog?"
"Loyal dog—very underworld-style terminology, but unfortunately no."
Well, almost though.
At the same time Sakuya noticed Amano, the system prompt sounded.
[Nanki'in Sakuya] [Affection: 50]
Hm? His absolutely-handsome face buff failed?
This was a targetable character whose affection stayed at the normal 50 points of a first meeting for the first time.
But Amano wasn't someone who had to farm affection with every character he met.
Especially not for this duel.
"I have a reason I cannot lose!" Amano and Nanki'in Sakuya spoke almost in perfect unison.
[Eva: Duel Recognized]
[Duelist - Amano Rei]
[Duelist - Nanki'in Sakuya]
[Data Network Connected, Duel Field Generated]
[Arbitration Content - Qualification Duel]
[Proud duelists, let the duel's outcome serve as the scale weighing your souls!]
[Duel—!]
With the duel's commencement, the Eva terminal on Amano's wrist deployed into a Duel Disk flickering with blue light.
But the terminal on Nanki'in Sakuya's slender wrist showed no change whatsoever.
Instead, the instant Eva's system announced the duel's start, Nanki'in Sakuya drew the katana from her waist.
The blade's silver brilliance reflected the midday sun, mirroring her cold, sharp temperament.
After that, the katana seemed to resonate with the Eva terminal. Under the silver light's coverage, the hilt, guard, and blade simultaneously transformed, ultimately taking the form of a silver-white Duel Disk equipped on Nanki'in Sakuya's arm.
This was Amano's first time seeing it in an actual duel.
A Duel Disk "Skin" that sometimes appeared in advertisements.
Rich family young misses could even make their Duel Disks this cool.
Jealous to death.
In contrast, even with a hundred thousand points, Amano hadn't indulged in extravagance.
Instead, he'd gone to Yui's card shop and gotten a bunch of cheap practical tools nobody wanted. Significantly raising his deck's Spell and Trap density.
"I'll take the first turn!"
Sakuya drew cards from her silver-white Duel Disk.
Not only did she let the opponent show off at the start, but she also let them take first turn.
"I Normal Summon Shiranui Sensei in Attack Position!"
As Nanki'in Sakuya summoned, the entire audience's atmosphere reached a fervent climax.
The Nanki'in Family's young miss was personally taking the field!
The underworld family young miss's confident, elegant stance while dueling, combined with the absolute territory between her black over-knee socks and sailor skirt—
Who wouldn't love watching a beautiful girl duel?
[Shiranui Sensei] [2✪ FIRE]
[Zombie] [ATK: 600] [DEF: 0]
Flame summoning effects swept across the duel arena. A white-haired elder wielding a katana materialized, sitting serenely on the ground.
"I Set one card and end my turn."
"Shiranui?" Amano's brow furrowed.
His opponent's deck strength seemed to have suddenly skyrocketed.
Different from the previous duels against Nikaido and Lutz.
In Amano's distant memories from eighteen years ago, Shiranui should be an archetype that truly involved Extra Deck Synchro mechanics.
Of course, Nanki'in Sakuya's playstyle wasn't the traditional Shiranui deployment pattern.
She hadn't performed any Synchro Summons, only leaving one 600 ATK monster on the field.
Though the deck strength had increased, her battle method still aligned with most people's understanding in Eden Tower.
"My turn, draw!"
Unfortunately, even though Sakuya had only summoned a 600 ATK monster, it wasn't something Amano's trashy low-level deck could easily handle.
And that Set card was suspicious too. Leaving a 600 ATK monster in Attack Position felt like bait.
Wasn't that Mirror Force? Amano couldn't help suspecting.
With the Nanki'in Family's resources, this somewhat-moderate-strength-yet-staple trap should be easily purchasable within Eden Tower.
Look—even as a family young miss, didn't Finesse have one in her deck?
"I Set one monster in face-down Defense Position and Set one card! Turn end!"
Playing it safe, Amano decided to observe for one turn first.
Actually, real family young misses wouldn't run cheap cards like Mirror Force.
Just as Amano declared his turn's end—
"During your End Phase!"
Nanki'in Sakuya suddenly struck, her slender arm sweeping upward to flip her Set card open.
"I activate my Set Trap Card—Shiranui Style - Swallow's Slash!"