"GRGHHH…!"
Rotsard was about to counter Justin's clearly telegraphed attack, but suddenly his body was pierced with paralyzing pain that contorted his body. It felt as if something broke inside of him, and the bleached-blond-haired boy couldn't stop his spine from arching down, completely exposing his back…!
"HA!"
*WHAM*
Justin didn't manage to strike Rotsard's head where he aimed, but he was quite confident in the attack he delivered across the bleached-blond-haired boy's back!
"...ghhhugh…! H-huh…?"
Crouched down, Rotsard coughed out a mouthful of blood stirred up by the vibration of the attack and… let out a small gasp of realisation.
It… it wouldn't be wrong of him to assume that jumping overhead strike was Justin's full power, right…?
In that case...
He could win…!
He could pull a win despite the pain!
"~!"
Rotsard smiled, no, he grinned so much that it looked as if his face was torn apart by his teeth, and while Justin had recovered his stance, the bleached-blond-haired boy spread his arms to the sides. Winding up for a decisive strike and focusing his strength in his legs and…!
"!!!"
…a presence of a defol from his vision sent a chill down his back as the murky black figure appeared in the corner of Rotsard's eye, forcing him to look over in pure shock…!
"?!"
But as the bleached-haired boy actually focused on the spot, there was no murky black figure of deofol in sight. Instead, a pair of girls grabbed his attention.
Clearly by accident, since they never interacted normally as they were in different classes and years, the black-haired Mira Vultress somehow ended up next to Amelia Edemsworth, and the sight of the two of them together struck Rotsard like a lightning bolt, vaporising any thought about a deofol observing his downfall.
What the HEL was he doing!?
That duel, that fight, it wasn't just for stirring up the future hero's desire to improve!
The truth was, before the very first duel between Rotsard and Justin happened, before Rotsard had a vision of a deofol reading him the story of the only future in which mankind continues to exist, Rotsard gave Amelia a ring with his daily crest.
Amongst nobility, gifting a ring with their family crest to a person of the other gender was expressing a willingness for marriage.
For everyone else, even in the story that the deofol read to him, Rotsard was constantly bothering Amelia Edemsworth with his one-sided attention, giving her extremely hard time.
…but in fact, in the unspoken background of the whole situation, young lady Edemsworth didn't actually refuse Rotsard's ring and kept it in her possession…
The fact was that Amelia Edemsworth was an intelligent and calculative person to an almost terrifying degree.
She was the fourth out of eight official daughters of Tristan Edemsworth, she also had a younger brother, so she knew she wouldn't inherit her family name in the first place.
While she clearly didn't like Rotsard, him being a member of the Vallhall family was enough for her to consider him a valid candidate for a lifelong partner.
The next part was something Rotsard figured out thanks to the events from the latter volumes of the deofol's story, but Amelia had ridiculous amounts of confidence in herself.
She believed in herself and her ability so much, that she would not give up on ANY opportunity as long as she saw potential in it.
What that meant was, despite the troubled front she was putting up when Rotsard was around, she was judging him the whole time.
Even with the knowledge of the future from the deofol's story, Rotsard didn't want to lose the connection she had with her.
...she was his first love...
It didn't matter that it didn't work the same the other way around.
Rotsard had to get his ring back, the story dictated that.
In the deofol's story, that very duel Rotsard was fighting in was the event which convinced Amelia to give up on him and return the ring herself, making quite a scene, too.
Of course, it was a calculated performance by her for the appearance's sake. It was the moment she decided to switch her attention to the humble but overwhelmingly talented and hardworking scholarship student instead.
And all of that simply meant that what Rotsard was currently attempting to do was completely opposite to what he should be doing!
He shouldn't seize the opportunity to win!
He shouldn't aim for a draw!
He shouldn't try to suffer a close-call defeat!
Because that would still leave an impression on Amelia, it would still show her a potential that she was confident to bring out!
Without a doubt, that would change the story, and a change in the story would mean that the world would cease to exist!
So, despite his heart hurting as if it was being torn apart, he gave up on the certain win, steeling himself from what he had to do.
What he must achieve was a complete, humiliating defeat so thorough that Amelia wouldn't even pity, but straight up be disgusted with him!
Yes... he had to make her give up on him and also give up on her himself...
He had Mira. His fiancee who would love him eternally. His own feelings couldn't become a hindrance, and he should spend time appriciating the one girl who had feelings for him instead of chasing the one who didn't...
And for that, he had to figure out a way to lose.
Luckily, before coming to the training grounds, he made a quick stop in his dormitory room, and he did prepare something. A little prop that would allow him to achieve just that. More thanks to a hunch or instinct than actual farsighted planning.
And turns out it was the best decision he could have made.
Momentarily losing his head in the heat of the moment wasn't a part of any, of course, but regardless, now was the time to set things right…!
Now he knew what he should do, and how he should do it, the only thing left was to act it out.