"Curse it, to lose to Fusion Academy in such a humiliating way… how can I face Synchron Academy again?!"
Defeated, Lost collapsed onto the street, all her delinquent bravado from the duel completely gone.
"There, there, good girl."
To everyone's surprise, the withdrawn Aoyao hopped out of the car and patted Lost's head in comfort. It was like their roles had been reversed.
"Lost, you fought really well too. I'll explain things to Krista for you later."
"Explain what?"
"Explain that you got wrecked by Stardust again."
"Anything but that!"
[Scanning, scanning… Duel concluded, duel concluded!]
Just as Miles, who had won his first battle in Axet with Stardust Dragon defeating Red Dragon Archfiend, was about to declare the cool victory line he'd already thought up, an obnoxious mechanical voice cut him off.
It didn't sound human at all, but like synthetic audio.
"Huh?"
Following the sound, Miles spotted an unknown machine rushing toward him—a round, trash-can-looking thing on wheels.
"What the hell is that?!"
Startled, Miles's stylish victory speech slipped into an instinctive curse.
Fortunately, the trash-can robot hurtling toward him didn't seem to have any intent to harm. It screeched to a stop just centimeters from Aisha's chest.
Miles touched his chest in relief. "Good thing it was you. Otherwise, that could've been an accident."
"Hearing that doesn't make me happy at all, Mr. Miles. I really want an accident!"
Everyone from Fusion Academy stared blankly at the bizarre robot. Even Irena, who had once traveled through Axet, was seeing it for the first time.
Lost said, "An SP Settlement Robot. Didn't think it'd show up this fast."
"Oh? You're back on your feet already?" Miles glanced at the now-recovered Lost. "I thought you'd be down for a while after losing that badly."
It seemed Aoyao's comfort had worked wonders. Of course, part of it was simply Lost's big-hearted nature.
"The exchange program hasn't even officially started yet. Why would I stay down? Besides, I haven't lost in Turbo Duels yet! Only those who master Turbo Duels can reach the pinnacle of Synchro!"
Her fighting spirit reignited, Lost pointed at Miles.
"Aisha Carlos, in a Turbo Duel, my Synchro devil-dragon will never lose to your Synchro Stardust again!"
"Oh, really? A Turbo Duel, huh…"
Never mind Turbo Duels—when you, a Synchron Academy student, compare Synchro to someone from Fusion Academy, you've already lost.
Albeit not wanting to provoke her further, Miles kept that jab to himself.
"So, this thing, an SP Settlement Robot? What exactly does it do?"
That was the real question—the strange trash-can bot clinging to him.
"It's part of Axet's dueling incentive policy. If you duel in the city, after the duel ends, an SP point reward is issued based on the energy generated during the match."
To demonstrate, Lost pressed her Spirit Eye against the robot's glass screen, completing the scan.
"Since it arrived so quickly, the rewards should be pretty good."
[Detected. Duel loser—SP points issued.]
With that stiff mechanical voice, a peculiar card spat out from the robot's mouth.
It wasn't a Duel Monster card, but one with the number "SP12" printed on it.
"Wait… 12 points for losing? That's crazy!"
Though she was just demonstrating, Lost herself was shocked to receive the SP card.
And who could blame her? In all her previous duels, even when winning, it had been hard to earn more than 10 SP. Yet here she had lost and still gotten 12.
There was only one explanation: the energy unleashed by Red Dragon Archfiend clashing with Stardust Dragon was terrifying.
"My turn."
Mimicking her, Miles scanned the robot with his Spirit Eye.
[Ta-da! Duel winner—SP points issued.]
The synthetic voice even sounded cheerful for the victor.
The card spat out looked just like Lost's, but the number printed was "SP30."
"Thirty points?! Whoa, that's insane!"
Lost's eyes widened as she stared at the SP card in Miles's hand.
"You just struck it rich!"
"Uh… did I?"
Miles had no idea what the SP system was or what the points could be used for, so even being told he was rich didn't sink in.
Lost explained, "SP points are basically a special currency here in Axet. With 30 SP, you can buy plenty of good stuff."
"So dueling can be exchanged for a special currency, huh…" Miles nodded as he studied his SP card.
It really was a unique system of privilege.
Duelists were rare and highly valued across the Spirit Continent. In countries like Livorden, nobles fought to recruit them—or duelists were nobles themselves, born into wealth.
But Axet, as a republic, had no nobility.
So how did a free country retain duelists?
By rewarding them with SP cards after every duel.
A special currency exclusive to duelists, spendable throughout Axet. In other words, if you can duel, you'll always have money.
And not just money—you didn't have to deal with the backstabbing and scheming of Livorden's noble class.
Now that's a real duelist's paradise!
Lishia immediately piped up: "Senpai Aisha, if we have SP points now, does that mean we can go shopping?"
'You just had six hours of airplane meals…'
"If you want to use them like ordinary money, that's up to you. Not my problem."
Lost shook her SP card with mock mystery, smirking in a way that made Miles want to sic Mokey Mokey on her again.
"In Axet, there are things you can only get with SP points."
"Only with SP points?"
"Speed Spell Cards! If you want Speed Spells, you can only trade for them with SP points."
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going! [Patreon.com/RedZTL]