"You... What did you do?!"
Kirihara Seiya instinctively took several steps back, putting distance between himself and Luo Zhen as he demanded an explanation in a slightly altered tone.
Compared to his mocking behavior just moments ago, his panicked appearance was the complete opposite.
"Oh my? Why are you so flustered, Kirihara?" Luo Zhen said, sounding both surprised and amused. "Could it be that you're unexpectedly timid? Are you actually the real coward here?"
Luo Zhen's words had completely taken on the same mocking tone Kirihara Seiya had used moments ago.
But he couldn't be blamed.
He had accused others of climbing the social ladder, yet he was the one truly clinging to high places.
He had called others cowards, yet he seemed to be the real coward himself.
Although this man had been last year's top student and one of Hagun Academy's representative contestants, had participated in the Seven Star Sword Festival, and had even overwhelmingly defeated a third-year senior from another academy who had competed for the title of Seven Star Sword King, he might unexpectedly be nothing more than a small-time character.
After all...
"Even the academy's official records say that you only attack opponents you have a chance of defeating, and refuse to fight opponents you can't beat no matter what. In other words, you only choose opponents you're guaranteed to defeat. If someone like you isn't a small-time character, then who is?"
Luo Zhen seemed to have seen straight through Kirihara Seiya's true nature. He dropped his superficial courtesy and began ridiculing him without the slightest restraint, playing to his own strengths.
And Luo Zhen wasn't the only one.
"Come to think of it, there really is information like that in the academy's official records."
"What's that supposed to mean? Can someone who can only