Duelists Never Surrender!

"I don't think a starting spot is more important to her than her own deck."

Crimson Lotus's face, hidden behind the mask, shifted slightly. "So, something like that happened?"

"But this matter truly has nothing to do with me," Crimson Lotus shook her head, denying it. "If you're curious about the reason, why don't you ask her yourself?"

This was a lie.

The reason Nero joined Hara Shichi's team was entirely Crimson Lotus's instigation.

"Then I'll ask a different question," Hara Shichi continued. "What kind of person do you think Nero is?"

"What kind of person is Nero... Is that question important?" Crimson Lotus asked indifferently.

"Since we'll be teammates in the future, shouldn't we get to know each other?" Hara Shichi said.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you," Crimson Lotus replied. "I don't know this 'Nero' you speak of. What I said last night was just casual talk; you're overthinking it."

"Is that so?" Hara Shichi looked at Crimson Lotus suspiciously.

"It is," Crimson Lotus said softly. "Besides, how can hearsay compare to seeing with your own eyes?"

"Seeing with your own eyes?"

"Just go and see for yourself what kind of person this Nero is, with your own eyes." Crimson Lotus suggested.

What the masked girl before him said was correct.

Instead of dwelling on it here, it would be better to go and see for himself what kind of Duelist Nero Arisa truly was.

"Thank you for the advice."

"Are you just going to thank me with words?" Crimson Lotus sneered and pulled out a deck from her own. "Want to spar?"

"Sure," Hara Shichi reached for the deck box at his waist.

"Use your real deck – Marincess," Crimson Lotus said, glancing at the two deck boxes at Hara Shichi's waist.

"I must refuse that," Hara Shichi took out his own Primordial Dragon hybrid deck. "Unless you use your real deck too."

"Tch, fine then," Crimson Lotus said, slightly frowning as she saw the Duel Disk appear on Hara Shichi's arm. "Wait, we're not dueling with Duel Disks."

"Then how do we duel?" Hara Shichi was momentarily confused.

"I brought a marker. Let's draw a field on the ground," Crimson Lotus said, taking out a black marker.

"...Alright," Hara Shichi hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

"Duel."

"Duel."

And so, on that quiet night, the two of them squatted on the ground, playing cards for an hour or two.

Chapter 99: Rich kids definitely eat golden buns for breakfast!

Nero Arisa, the youngest daughter of the Arisa Family, was rumored to have never attended a single class since the start of the semester. She was elusive, and no one knew where she was.

"So... this is why we've been hiding in the bushes by the girls' dormitory entrance since dawn?" Ai yawned, her small cherry lips parting. She looked incredibly sleepy.

"That's right. No matter where she goes, she still has to return to the girls' dormitory to sleep every night," Hara Shichi explained. After all, oddballs like Senior Sera who moved their beds directly into the activity room were few and far between.

At the same time, he looked at Ai, who was slumped on his back, with confusion. "By the way, don't Gods not need to sleep? Why do you still look so tired?"

"But think about it, wouldn't it be incredibly boring not to sleep?" Ai's voice was soft and sweet, like fresh mochi, making one want to take a bite. "So, I've recently started trying to learn to sleep, and then my body naturally developed the 'sleep' function."

"Although I could cancel it, I found sleeping to be quite comfortable, so I just kept it."

"I see."

The two, one person and one God, waited until around seven o'clock before a beautiful figure appeared at the dormitory entrance.

"Huh? Yukikaze?" Hara Shichi rubbed his eyes. "Is she up this early every day?"

"Mmm-hmm-mmm..." Yukikaze mumbled incomprehensible sounds, swaying gently in the breeze like a fallen leaf.

"This girl isn't even awake," Ai commented.

"Hey, wake up. This is dangerous," Hara Shichi stood in front of Yukikaze and blocked her path.

"Eh?" Yukikaze tilted her cute little head, her narrowed eyes fluttering open slightly, then with a "Yaa!" she stumbled backward, blushing.

"H-H-Hara-Hara-Hara-Senpai?!" Yukikaze gently patted her fair cheeks, instantly sobering up. "What are you doing here?"

Hara Shichi explained the situation to Yukikaze, but did not mention the masked girl.

"I see. I also think this is a good method," Yukikaze mused, touching her chin. "Nero does return to the first-year girls' dormitory every night, but... if you keep waiting, Hara Shichi, you might miss your morning classes."

"Oh, that. I took leave," Hara Shichi waved his hand.

"Took leave?! What reason did you give?" Yukikaze asked, surprised.

"The teacher agreed without even listening to the reason I prepared," Hara Shichi said.

That's right, Duelist Academy was actually quite lenient with its students.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be people like Sera and Nero who completely skipped classes.

Although Hara Shichi himself hadn't attended many classes either.

"Alright then..." Yukikaze lowered her head dejectedly. "I'm going to class first."

"Mhm, go ahead," Hara Shichi continued his stakeout.

As batches of girls in black school uniforms walked by, Hara Shichi couldn't help but start to feel drowsy.

"She's not... actually sleeping in the Crimson Lotus Society like Sera-senpai, is she?" Hara Shichi couldn't help but wonder.

"Then she must be a spy sent by the Crimson Lotus Society," Ai said.

Just as Hara Shichi was considering giving up, Nero slowly emerged from the dormitory building.

"Here she comes, here she comes," Ai said. "Should we go talk to her directly?"

"No, let's see what she does first." Hara Shichi decided to follow the girl for now, to see what she did instead of attending class every day.

Nero paused at a fork in the road for a moment, then trotted towards the cafeteria.

"The cafeteria? Going for breakfast?" Hara Shichi stroked his chin. That's good too, he thought. Understanding someone starts with what they like to eat.

Nero arrived at the cafeteria. At this moment, besides a few aunties, there was no one else inside. She walked up to the counter, tilted her head up to look at the menu, and after a while, she bought four large meat buns and slowly sat down at a chair.

"F-four of them?!" Hara Shichi couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He hadn't expected that classmate Nero, who looked so small, would have such a large appetite.

"She must be growing," Ai said somewhat uncertainly. "Aren't kids like that? Their stomachs are like bottomless pits."

"That's still a bit much..."

As they were whispering, Hara Shichi suddenly felt someone poke his back.

"Who is it..." Hara Shichi turned around curiously, and then... he saw Nero's expressionless little face.

"..."

"Want some?" Nero held up a meat bun in her hand.

"When... when did you notice me?" Hara Shichi forced a smile. What was going on with this person? Could she teleport?!

"From the beginning," Nero said flatly. "I bought too many buns, want some?"

"...Thank you."

And so, under the strange gazes of a group of aunties, the two sat facing each other and began to eat breakfast.

You two first-years, is it really okay to be eating here instead of attending class?

"Do you like meat buns?" Hara Shichi asked curiously. After all, Nero was from a prominent family; her breakfast should be...

Hiss, Hara Shichi, who had never been wealthy, suddenly couldn't imagine what children from wealthy families ate for breakfast.

Buns made of gold?

"Mhm, because they're delicious." Nero took small bites of the buns, but her speed wasn't slow. Before Hara Shichi had finished half of his, Nero was already preparing to eat her second one.

"Crimson Lotus promised me they'd let me take Kiritani Aki's spot in the National Higher Academy Tournament," Nero said out of the blue. "But she broke the contract."

"Is that the reason?" Hara Shichi asked.

"Mhm, that's the reason," Nero nodded.

"Who helped you come up with that?" Hara Shichi continued.

"What do you want from me?" Nero subtly refused to answer.

Hara Shichi's expression turned strange.

He couldn't exactly say, Everyone suspects you're a spy sent by the Crimson Lotus Society, so I came specifically to investigate you.

So he changed the subject: "I think you joined the team late, and you might feel unfamiliar with the others, so I'm taking you to meet each of them today to get acquainted."

"No need... No, whatever you want," Nero was about to refuse, but then she suddenly remembered Crimson Lotus's instructions to her and quickly changed her mind.

"Alright then, Yukikaze is probably in class now, and Sera-senpai might still be sleeping in. Let's go find Julie," Hara Shichi pondered for a moment.

"Julie-senpai? Where is she?" Nero had some impression of her, after all, they were in the same club before.

"In the library, probably," Hara Shichi said without hesitation. "Honestly, I don't think reading those weird books all day improves her dueling skills at all, but she insists it's useful."

"I see," Nero nodded.

"Oh, and don't tell Julie I said that."

"Mhm, I know."

Chapter 100: Only children believe that the world only has two emotions: dislike and like.

Unlike first-year students, the courses for second-year students at Duelist Academy consist of majors and electives, which means students can freely choose the courses they need and reasonably plan their free time.

Julie's choice was to spend her time in the library reading.

Duelist Academy, as the oldest academy on the continent, has a library covering an area of 38,277 square meters, with five floors and a collection of 1,123,200 books, making it the library with the largest collection of books on the continent. However, whenever Julie stood in front of the bookshelves choosing books, she often worried that the bookshelves, with their already rusty nails embedded in them, would suddenly collapse, and the heavy books, along with the weighty wood, would crush her, leaving her with a bloody head.

This library was too old. The sparse number of people inside also seemed to hint that it was already in its twilight years. When Hara Shichi brought Ai to the library, on the first floor, apart from the administrator, only Julie was sitting in a corner, holding a book and flipping through it gently.

"What are you reading now?" Hara Shichi pulled out a chair and sat opposite Julie.

"Introduction to Synchro Summoning," Julie held up the book, showing the cover to Hara Shichi.

I have to say, the authors in this world have quite simple ideas. They just put a simple black-and-white cover with the author's name, unlike the authors in Hara Shichi's original world, who used flashy covers to attract readers and even came up with long titles.

"That's right, I'm talking about you—Robinson Crusoe!"

However, novels and tutorials can't be treated the same. This is just a meaningless association.

"You have Synchro Monsters now?" Hara Shichi asked in surprise.

"I'm preparing for the future, and I've been able to control Synchro Particles for a while now, just not very skillfully yet," Julie said, glancing at Nero, who had been silent, and then at Hara Shichi, as if asking what was going on.

"Well... wasn't it too late yesterday? Classmate Nero had just joined us, and we disbanded before she could properly introduce herself to everyone, so I'm bringing her here today to formally meet you all."

"I see, but you've already met, haven't you?" Julie closed her book, her dark red eyes reflecting Nero's small figure. "Back at the Crimson Lotus Society."

"Yes, Senior Julie and I have known each other for a long time," Nero nodded.

"But it was just a simple matter of knowing each other's names, wasn't it?" Hara Shichi said noncommittally.

"Mm, that's true," Julie agreed with Hara Shichi's statement and handed the book in her hand to him. "In that case, Hara Shichi, could you help me put this book back in its place?"

"You're done reading?" Hara Shichi took the book and stood up. Each book spine had a number, and this book's number was 1033204071209, meaning it belonged on the 9th shelf in the 12th row of the 7th section on the 4th floor.

"I've pretty much understood it. Now, all that's left is the practice part."

After casually dismissing Hara Shichi, Julie's originally calm gaze turned sharp. She looked at Nero and said, "Now that it's just the two of us, can you tell me? The reason you joined us."

"The council wouldn't agree to give me Senior Kiritani Aki's spot. I'm here for a regular player spot..." Nero once again used that excuse, but it was clear that Julie, sitting opposite her, wasn't buying it at all.

"You can lie to yourself with that statement, but you can't fool me," Julie said calmly. "You have a good relationship with the Crimson Lotus, don't you?"

"You don't lack rare cards, and you rarely interact with others. If it weren't for the Crimson Lotus, you wouldn't have stayed in a place like that."

"Someone like you, how could you possibly stand against the Crimson Lotus for the sake of a so-called regular player spot?"

Nero was silent for a moment, then asked, "In that case, are you going to drive me away?"