Athena and Fram dubiously tilted their heads.
“...He’s kinda, how should I put this, not very Administrator-ish?”
“The word you’re looking for is idiotic.”
“I can hear ya, Foxy and Icy! You’ve got good eyes! That’s right, I’m an idiot!” He didn’t seem to mind the insult in the slightest, smiling wide as he chomped into a cut of the shark that had been roasted whole.
Overwhelmed by his utter sublimity, Fram turned to a fed-up Mirka. “...Mirka, I never knew you knew an Administrator.”
“Me? Yeah, I know a few of them. When you work at Babel Tower, you get quite a few opportunities to get to know the Administrators.”
“More than a few, ain’t it? I mean, your sister’s—”
“Yes, yes, I hear you, Velt. You want more meat, right?”
Mirka beamed as she violently chucked another cut of shark at Velt’s face. Though he was the apex of the Human Tribe, for what it was worth, she showed no mercy whatsoever.
Velt took another large bite before turning to Yuri, who had been silent for some time. “Hey, brat, how about you put in a good word! Tell ’em I’m the strongest, eh!”
“...Err, yes. Of course. I do think you’re amazing, Mr. Velt.”
Yuri’s reluctant response caused Athena to stare at him blankly, her eyes open wide.
“What’s wrong, Yuri? You’re making a funny face.”
“Yes, well... Mr. Velt is the sort of person I’m terrible at dealing with.”
“Hah!? What did I ever do to you!?”
“Master was always complaining. Apparently, whenever you came to the human continent, you’d get drunk, bring up my meeting with master, say some condescending nonsense, and run off without paying the bill.”
“He’s the worst...” said Athena.
Fram sighed. “The absolute worst...”
“You really are trash.” Mirka delivered the finishing blow.
“Well, sorry for that! Go tell ’er I’ll pay up when I feel like it!”
Despite the harsh glares from the women, Velt paid it no mind and continued, “More importantly, brat, if you’ve become a duelist, does that mean you’re gonna participate in the Babel Roulette?”
“Of course! When is it going to begin!?”
“It starts whenever I feel like it. The other Administrators are running late, overseeing their continents and all, so I’m supposed to throw out an arbitrary declaration or two.” Velt lifted the corners of his lips. “But...I can tell you it’ll be in a week, at most. No reason to put it off, and I wanna fight some strong guys already.”
The Administrators were all originally duelists. While their thirst for battle may wane, it would never die out entirely.
This proclamation caused Athena to fly into a panic. “A week... Then we’ve got no time left!”
“It’s somewhat dubious whether Yuri will make it.” Fram furrowed her brow.
Seeing as even Fram was concerned, Yuri took a look at his own rate. Having fought several duels at the shop, the number was higher than before. Though he had lost to Elias, being Iron Rank kept the rate loss to a minimum. Despite this, it was becoming increasingly clear that dueling at the pace he was going would not achieve results in time. More than anything—
“Brat, are you going to let that bastard Elias walk off with a win?” Velt asked, prompting Yuri to inadvertently lift his head.
“How do you know about that?”
“How do you think? We haven’t had a mix-blood duelist since Reilly. And if he’s a decently strong one, of course he’ll get some attention. Have a look at the city bulletin.”
Yuri lightly tapped his own Proof. A look over the Duel City’s bulletin board showed it was filled with talk of Yuri and Elias.
“The rookie who beat a Silver was actually the weakest mix-blood!?”
“Rising rookie completely cleaned out by Beheading Elias.”
“We haven’t had a mix-blood duelist in ten years, but Reilly Malbork has already proven a mix-blood can never surpass the pure-blood wall.”
“A little hopeful, but I honestly doubt he can keep it up.”
Both duelists and continental residents arbitrarily evaluated Yuri’s worth. While a portion of the comments seemed supportive, a majority of them were criticism and slander, and the general opinion seemed largely consistent. There was no way a mix-blood could win a duel.
This universal consensus caused Yuri to clench his fist.
“I was always telling Reilly. A mix-blood can’t be a duelist,” Velt added.
It wasn’t just on a technical level. As long as the world saw mix-bloods as the weakest existence, it was impossible to gain popularity as a duelist, and difficult to earn fight money as well. If a duelist was unpopular, not only would they be showered with heartless slander and abuse, but even if they did win, they would be suspected of foul play.
Even now, there were cries that Yuri’s win against Haring was a setup. There was plenty of such calumny to be found.
“Win or lose...you can’t be a duelist. Not in the truest sense.”
Velt imparted the apprentice with words he once handed to the master. But Yuri’s will wouldn’t change.
He cheerfully grinned as he gripped a fist with determination. “Something like that can just be solved with a good smack in the face! As long as I can keep winning, the words of those naysayers are completely worthless. If they’ll believe the words of the losers, then they’re not even worth consideration. And if they still have complaints, they just have to fight me and see for themselves. It’s perfectly simple!” he declared, with unwavering confidence and will.
Such a brazen statement; Velt couldn’t help but amusedly smirk.
“...Reilly, you devil, just how did you raise this kid?”
He sent Yuri an appraising glance before asking once more. “If you trained under Reilly, you should be better than the average duelist in both technique and physique. But you do understand that’s not enough, right?”
“Yeah...you’re right. It’s harsh without a trump card to play.”
For all his enthusiasm, Yuri did have an accurate evaluation of himself. Tribe Skills were a definite boost to duelists and could serve as a trump card. A final blow to reliably take out an opponent. A move to overturn an opponent’s absolute advantage.
If he could not work out one of his own, Yuri had no path to victory. He would never be able to reach the truly strong duelists, Elias included.
“So you’re telling me...you can win as long as you have a trump card. Got it,” Velt exclaimed before forcefully rising to his feet. “Brat, come to the beach tomorrow.”
“The beach? I train there anyway, so I don’t really mind, but...”
“And bring Foxy and Icy with you.”
“Hm? We’re going too?”
“Very well, if there’s really something we can help with...”
Seeing the two of them cock their heads, Velt scratched his hair all over. “You’ll be doing more for him than me. Everyone in the world knows I’m the strongest, but there’s no changing the fact I’m from the Human Tribe. I only have second-hand knowledge of a mix-blood’s tribal traits. But trust me...” Velt informed them with an undaunted smile, “I’m going to teach you all—how a mix-blood can fight.”