Trash of the Firearm Magic World

7. Duel

“I refuse,” Loris stated, stunning everyone at the hall. 

The crowd looked at him as though he had gone mad. 

The elders themselves were so angry their faces went red. One of them stood up and reprimanded Loris, “For the sake of the family, we demand you to take your words back. Repent for your misconduct right  this instant!” 

The whispering turned louder and everyone stared at Loris, waiting for him to change his response. 

But their words fell to deaf ears. Ignoring the elders who always judged and hated his father and disregarding the crowd’s unimportant opinions, Loris faced Remuel. 

“No matter what conditions you give, I have only one answer. I refuse,” he said with no other emotion. 

Other people his age couldn’t help but scoff and look at him incredulously. “Whoa, who does he think he is, refusing such an important invitation?” “Did he lose his mind when his hand became disabled?” “How unreasonable and insatiable!” “He’s so shameless! When will he stop embarrassing our clan?”

Initially, Remuel felt embarrassed and angered. It was her first time to be refused by someone after all. Thinking it was done by Loris, the man she wanted to cut off with even made her lose face. But then she heard those accusations toward him, made by his own clan members. It slowly calmed her down, believing it wasn’t her fault. Surely, it was Loris who brought it to himself. 

Meanwhile, Arturo had been watching from the sidelines. When she saw Loris speaking for himself, she couldn’t help but feel her heart swelling. Somehow, she could see the light of the young genius once again shining on Loris. Excitement filled her heart, thinking it was a great start for Loris who used to stay silent regardless of people’s negative opinions of him. 

Composing herself, Remuel faced Loris and said, “I understand your refusal has something to do with your situation and motive. It is to protect your father’s honor. Am I right?” 

Seeing Loris had turned silent, Remuel continued, “The path to becoming a gunman is already bleak for you. With your current condition, it is unlikely for you to become one no matter how hard you wish. It is why you have refused my invitation – it’s to protect your father and avoid tarnishing his reputation further… I’m saying I completely understand your reasoning and respect your decision.” 

Loris looked at Remuel with a complicated gaze. A part of him felt Remuel was insulting him and that she just wanted to make even, but another part of him could see she just stated the truth, no matter how hard or bitter it sounded. 

Before he could respond, Remuel gave him a sympathetic look and declared that the E-rank enchanted firearm would still be left to Loris. 

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” she said. “This gift has been prepared long before I came with my decision. Since it is now yours, whether you throw it away or not is up to you… Also, my invitation is still valid. In three years, you should come and duel with me. If you lose, we will break off the marriage contract without any complaints. And since one of your hands is unable to shoot, we’ll make the rules simple – you just need to dodge my three shots.” 

More whispers erupted in the hall. The people who heard Remuel’s words couldn’t help but think: “Wasn’t it too much? First, she gave a present to Loris as compensation, then now even after he refused, she was still sympathizing with him and even considered his situation!” 

They all looked at Loris’s father, eyes full of judgment and disappointment. How could a father rely on his crippled son to save his face? Was he that weak that he needed to use his son’s disability to protect his own reputation? 

Loris wasn’t blind or deaf. At one glance, he could already tell what those people thought of his father. Needless to say, his blood boiled at the thought, particularly at Remuel’s self-righteousness and pity. Loris’s eyes turned dark, he felt like a volcano about to erupt. 

“Now,” he stated coldly, “We don’t need to wait for three years. We can start our duel now.” 

Remuel was stunned. This wasn’t a simple statement, this was a formal declaration of a duel between them. She couldn’t help but feel amazed by Loris’s courage. At the same time, she saw it as a stupid move, coming from a person with a disabled hand. 

Even the people around them went silent. Although nobody laughed like usual, everyone had a feeling that Loris was going to use his crippled body to challenge a genius who was already an E-rank gunner. 

Remuel drew out her gun. It was also an enchanted weapon, its brilliance blinding the audience momentarily, pulling them to stare with awe and admiration. 

The teachers of Morne City Academy gave a small nod at Remuel, agreeing to her duel. 

Prepared, Remuel stood and looked at Loris with a serious pair of eyes. “Shall we begin?”

Loris’s father was anxious and stopped Loris. “Son, are you sure about this? Your hand–”  

“It’s fine,” Loris said. He could sense the overflowing worry in his father’s eyes but he had already made a choice. 

His father tried to persuade him not to go on stage to duel but it was to no avail.  In the end, Mr. Federico could only watch his son slowly climb up the stage and stood before the genius gunner, Remuel Rodel. 

Arturo on the other hand believed in Loris. She was sure that Loris could do it, the light in the genius person he was once returned to him. She was almost sure she had seen them in his eyes earlier, and that gave her a small assurance that Loris would come out victorious. But when she returned to the audience, she took out her own gun and positioned it silently. 

Just in case, she thought to herself. 

If Remuel went as far as to harm and really wanted to kill Loris, Arturo would kill Remuel first.