Millennium Witch.

Chapter 23 - 23 - The Duel
The twilight cast a metallic sheen of rust, and the distant sea bathed the setting sun in a golden hue. Rosalyn's little boots had barely touched the cracked pavement when the taxi lifted off the ground behind her, startling several seabirds pecking at trash.

Her gaze then fell upon the junkyard next to the town, where abandoned magical equipment was piled up like a mountain range, resembling a huge mechanical graveyard.

According to the town's residents, many years ago this area was one of the most prosperous areas on Ish Island and its only port.

However, with the development of the new port in the Tower District and the neighboring Grey Harbor City, the port in the Blackwater District gradually declined and was finally abandoned completely during the Silent War 20 years ago.

Since it wasn't her first time here, Rosalyn lifted her skirt and skillfully navigated through the mountains of metal junk, quickly finding a clearing hidden among the "mountains".

Hans and Marie were there, as expected, sitting on a metal plate nearby, seemingly waiting for something.

"Hi, you two, good afternoon!"

"Hey, Rosalyn, what brings you here?" Hans looked over in surprise.

“It must be because you just hung up on Mom. Mom has a location tracking system,” Mary said from the side.

Like Rosalyn, Hans and Marie were 12 and 11 years old respectively, both typical junior high school students. Hans was a boy with medium-length brown hair who looked somewhat refined, while Marie was a girl with red curly hair who wore round glasses. Although she wasn't as pretty as Rosalyn, she still had an excellent demeanor.

"Aunt Susan was very worried about you... But why did you suddenly come here without saying a word? I didn't know..." Rosalyn asked, seemingly calm, but the subtext was quite clear: Why didn't you invite me along when you came out to play?
“There’s a special situation today. I have a fight scheduled, so I’m afraid it might involve you…” Hans said softly.

"A fight?"

“Here’s what happened,” Mary explained. “My brother and I have a few good friends at school, all from the Blackwater district who study at Black Tower High School. We often help each other out. One of them, Tanguy, is always being bullied by a guy in his class named Briel. My brother recently happened to witness this and stopped him, but because the teacher arrived quickly, a fight didn’t break out…”

"This whole thing was Briel's fault. He always discriminates against students from the Blackwater region, but Briel's father is a high-ranking executive at Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, and the teachers won't do anything about it. So he challenged his brother to a fight this weekend..."

"I see." Rosalyn nodded. This matter was not complicated; it could even be described as a minor squabble between middle school students.

But on a larger scale, it could also be interpreted as follows: Black Tower School is located in the Tower District, which, as its name suggests, is a district specifically serving Black Tower Pharmaceuticals employees, and Black Tower School is such an elite school. On one side are children from the slums, and on the other are children of executives. Even if the executives' children make obvious mistakes, the teachers can only try to smooth things over, ultimately leading to this kind of off-campus resolution.

In the teacher's words, this was a class conflict... Rosalyn had a vague understanding of this.

"Where is Tanguy?" Rosalyn looked around and suddenly realized that there seemed to be another person involved in this matter who had not yet appeared.

“He’s a coward. His brother helps him, but he doesn’t dare to come,” Mary said, pursing her lips.

“No, Tanguy said his family wouldn’t let him come.” Hans shook his head, a determined look on his refined face. “I believe he’s not lying to me.”

Mary opened her mouth, but said nothing more. She could understand Tangji in this regard. After all, her parents worked tirelessly to earn money so that she and Hans could study at Black Tower High School, enter Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, make a name for themselves, and stand atop the Black Tower Building, at the very top of Ish City. Tangji's parents must have thought the same way.

At the same time, for children of this age, these great expectations can turn into mental pressure, making them gradually become timid and hesitant, afraid of causing any trouble for their parents.

The three waited there for a while. About ten minutes later, a somewhat contemptuous voice rang out from above not far away: "Heh, you actually dare to come, you poor wretch." Rosalyn looked up and saw a boy of middle school age standing on a floating skateboard, looking down at the group with a contemptuous expression.

Behind him followed two thin, boyish followers, and a floating mechanical construct. The mechanical construct only had an upper body, with runic rings shimmering on its cross-section, seemingly some kind of intelligent bodyguard.

"Who's afraid of who? Don't forget, my 'Rune Literature' grades are even higher than yours," Hans said with a sneer.

Rune literature, something that ordinary people can only access after entering the legendary university level, is the beginning of the path to becoming a mage.

However, the situation is completely different for Black Tower Middle School. Starting from the second grade, these middle school students, most of whom are children of company employees, have the opportunity to participate. They only need to purchase a discounted "Active Rune Set" to register.

So, this is true for Hans, and it will be true for Mary when she reaches the second year. The active rune sets are extremely expensive; even the cheapest ones cost 5 gold. One injection increases magic power by 10 points, but the effect diminishes over time.

“Rune theory is rune theory, and real combat is real combat… You poor bastard, you know absolutely nothing about my fists.” Standing on the skateboard, he slid down the garbage mountain and landed lightly.

His gaze swept over Hans and Mary, finally settling on the unfamiliar blonde girl. He asked coldly, "Who are you? Which school do you go to? Did this poor bastard hire you to put on a show?"

Rosalyn's demeanor was unlike anything he had ever seen in anyone from the Blackwater District. Her every move, every posture, exuded a natural elegance that made him somewhat suspicious.

“My name is Rosalyn, and I’m Hans’s friend.” Rosalyn nodded slightly. “I won’t interfere in this matter, but on the condition that the conflict between you two doesn’t go too far.”

"You stinking woman, what a big mouth you have! Who do you think you are, to think you have the right to interfere in the boss's affairs!"

"We'll have the boss teach this kid a lesson in a bit, and show him what's what!"

The two lackeys behind Briel immediately started shouting.

Briel smiled at the shouts of his two henchmen, seemingly enjoying having someone to talk to.

He didn't say anything more, but turned to Hans: "What are the rules for a one-on-one duel here?"

"What rules are there in a fight?" Hans said dismissively. "You can't use any tools other than the magic terminal, that's all."

"Let's add another bet: the loser has to crawl and bark like a dog in the school courtyard in public, otherwise it's not fun. You're not scared, are you?"

"You think I'm afraid?"

So, after the bet was made, the other onlookers dispersed, and in the clearing between the garbage mountains, Hans and Briel were about to face a tense battle of mages.

Rosalyn was also nervous and concerned, but besides worrying about Hans, the main reason was that this was the first time she had seen a mage other than her teacher make a move. It could give her, a novice mage who had been training as a mage for two years, a good reference point, allowing her to quickly grasp her level among her peers.

(End of this chapter)