A Sinner’s Chance

The first thing I planned to do now that me and Arya had talked was to challenge the fourth place, Desirae Vatni, in the combat ranking. It didn't take long for me to find the long aqua haired woman, though I wasn't thrilled about the person I found her with. A young black haired man who I instantly recognized as Hiroshi, or the Hero. While there hadn't been an official announcement, Hiroshi was prideful about his role as the Hero so he would often brag about, though he did sometimes remember to censor himself since it wasn't official yet, but essentially everyone on campus knew his true identity.

As I approached them they noticed my presence and glanced at me, their conversation coming to a halt. Desirae gave a polite smile. "Does the Heavenly Night Fairy have business with us?" Her words were mocking and sounded like an insult, not that I could really blame her, I'd definitely been the prime example of a disgrace to a duke's household before the break. I didn't really mind since it would just mean that she'd probably be all the more happy to fight against me.

However before I could open my mouth to speak the Hero suddenly stepped towards me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "You're here to challenge me right?"

I could only blink as he looked at me seriously. How had he come to that conclusion? I shook my head as I pushed his arms away and took a step back. "That was not my intention, I was planning on challenging her." I said as I pointed towards Desirae.

Hiroshi shook his head with a smile. "Don't bother with her, she wouldn't stand a chance against you, the prince or your sister might but I have a feeling you'll surpass them. So fight me."

I thought it was good to have confidence in one's ability, but he went into the realm of arrogance, though he did have the skill to back it up. However, I didn't think I'd win, and it would be easier to grasp my current strength by moving up, so I shook my head. "I'd rather not, I wouldn't stand a chance."  I was polite but firm, he seemed like the type to take a mile when you gave an inch after all.

Hiroshi put on an exaggerated expression of offense. "To think you didn't want to hear me out, what would Velen say?"

I flinched at the mention of Velen. What did he know, and how did he find out? My eyes locked onto his face with clear hostility. "How do you know him?"

Hiroshi simply smiled pleasantly. "Fight me, I'll give you until the end of the school year to prepare. If you win, I'll tell you what I know and who told me, but if I win, you'll have to listen to my request."

I wanted to ignore his challenge, it was the smarter option, but the fact that he knew about my previous life was something I couldn't ignore, especially since I didn't know what else he knew. I could only watch as he turned back to Desirae and began to apologize for taking so long as he began to walk away with her.

Had Arya or Marian betrayed my trust and sold me out to Hiroshi, had they been unknowingly forced, or had they done so willingly? I could only hope that neither was the case and that it had been some other power, such as Iustitia, that had revealed the information. Velen's life ended with a betrayal, so the thought of Marian or Arya betraying me was extremely painful, especially since I'd only recently gotten back in Arya's good graces, and had finally rekindled my relationship with Marian.

I didn't have the leisure to use up the next six months on only dealing with Hiroshi, there were still many things that Arya and I needed to do. I couldn't decide on a minimum timeframe needed to train or otherwise find a way to get an edge over an opponent that likely outclassed me severely. My biggest strength in combat was the difficulty of landing a blow that could actually hurt me, but the Hero was stupidly strong despite his complete lack of actual training.

One of the more annoying aspects was that Seshat's Library wouldn't show me his Status, either because it didn't exist or the Skill Level wasn't high enough. On top of that there was simply too much information about various Heroes and their highly varied abilities that I wasn't even able to draw a guaranteed connection between any of the Skills.

Assuming he was superior to me in most attributes and Skills the only edge I could gain on him was equipment. He was disallowed from using his personal gear because they were all Divine Artifacts, making the already unbalanced fights even more so. My equipment was good, definitely on the upper end of equipment available to students, but it wasn't the best.

The biggest problem was that I simply couldn't afford better materials, and even if I could I didn't know how soon I get it functional. My silken harness-cum-under suit could be used with nearly any armor, and it provided most of the utility of my equipment anyway. I'd been experimenting with wearing armor over my carapace recently, as I'd been able to thin it out and make it less bulky while retaining a majority of its defensive power.

With only so much time I talked with Arya about challenging the Labyrinth, if she formed a party with me, we could both go in since I was considered a C-rank due to my place on the combat rank. The only other obstacle would be that we would need a staff supervisor, usually one of the combat or magic teachers to accompany us. Thankfully, I already had someone in mind, all that needed to be done was get their permission.