After Frondier left, Carla was left alone.
As soon as Frondier completely disappeared from sight, she covered her face with both hands.
'Why isn't it working!'
She felt the heat of her face in her hands.
At first, she was confident. Confident that she could meet Frondier without any problems.
She had faith that she wouldn't have any petrification impulses and would maintain her composure. The sunglasses were, well, just a precaution. An insurance policy, so to speak.
But it didn't go as planned. Her facial expressions and fingertips wouldn't move the way she wanted them to.
'Ugh, how stupid must I have looked.'
Why wasn't it working!
She'd been acting her whole life!
Carla couldn't bring herself to look directly at Frondier's face.
The sunglasses were nothing more than a comfort. Her curse wasn't something that could be easily blocked by a pair of sunglasses.
The reason she wore them wasn't to prevent petrification, but to avoid looking directly at Frondier.
She believed that if she didn't face him, she wouldn't feel the same emotional turmoil as before.
Of course, it had no effect whatsoever, so from Carla's point of view, it was best not to see Frondier's face at all. Face or not, even a hair of Frondier's had no business being within her sight.
'I couldn't see his face, but that voice, those questions...'
—Do you know about Poseidon?
—Do you happen to know about Athena?
A series of questions that could never be a coincidence, no matter how she thought about it.
Questions that could never be asked without knowing who Carla was.
'But how? How did he know? It's as if he knew about me from the start.'
Carla was a person currently living in this world. In other words, she wasn't a being registered in mythology. The fact that she was cursed with petrification and that it had something to do with Poseidon and Athena was something only those involved would know.
However, that was only within the confines of this world.
Frondier knew too much. The mythology he knew wasn't limited to this world.
'Ah, whatever. I have to go.'
Carla shook her head.
It was completely different from what she had expected, but she had at least overcome the first hurdle of facing Frondier.
Now it was time to do the headmaster's work.
She walked towards the gymnasium.
For the students, the Machia began with the selection of class representatives.
Originally, the representatives were supposed to be chosen through a vote or a meeting, but the students wanted the class representatives to be chosen through a proper duel.
So, at that moment, Atlas's massive gymnasium was divided into spaces for each class so that multiple duels could take place simultaneously.
Of course, the nobles were also present to watch the duels. Although the attention was divided because there were several matches going on, the students who had the potential to catch the eye of the nobles had no reason to hesitate.
Therefore, fierce duels were taking place in most of the classes to determine the class representative, and some nobles were already sharing their opinions while observing the students with potential.
—Is that the second year? The one with the sword.
—He's strong, but his form is bad, isn't it? With his hand positioned so low, it'll be difficult for him to read his opponent's movements. He risks dropping his weapon.
—I think it's because he's left-handed. He seems to be more used to fighting at a distance than other students. That must be his way of compensating for it.
The gymnasium was noisy.
The sounds of the students' spirited cries, the clashing of weapons, the murmur of the spectating nobles, and the shouts of several teachers giving instructions.
Things were going even better than Frondier, who had proposed the plan, had initially thought.
However, even within that, there was a strange space.
Pielott stood awkwardly in the center of the designated duel area.
Pielott looked around and asked, but no one answered.
It was up to the class to decide how to determine their representative.
Pielott's class, Class 3-B, had decided that the usual tournament format was unfair. After all, compatibility was also an important factor in a duel. So they adopted a challenger system.
First, the students of the class will secretly vote for one student they thought was worthy of being the class representative. Then, if anyone wanted to challenge the chosen representative, they could challenge them to a duel in the gymnasium.
Pielott had understood the explanation when he heard it. He was even impressed, thinking that the students of Atlas certainly thought differently.
He had no doubts about the system, at least not until the day of the duel when he was elected through the vote. He was purely happy that he had become the representative and waited with a pounding heart for someone to challenge him.
But it was only when the situation arose that Pielott realized what his class was thinking.
'No one wants to fight me!'
Pielott, still awkwardly standing in the center, looked around at his classmates.
His eyes were searching for a challenger. However, every student Pielott looked at avoided his gaze. Even Aias, albeit with a very unpleasant expression.
Everyone surrounded Pielott, who was in the middle of the training ground, but no one answered him or met his gaze.
Pielott had never imagined he would be so blatantly ostracized.
Just then, one of the girls in the class cleared her throat. It was the class president of Class 3-B.
"Well then, since there seems to be no challenger, our class representative is Pielott. That's settled, right?"
Pielott asked back in disbelief, but everyone was of one mind.
"Excellent, Pielott."
"Make our class proud."
"You're awesome, Pielott!"
As if they had planned it, the students all said a word or two to Pielott and even applauded.
"Is it really over ? Doesn't anyone want to be the representative? This is a chance to get noticed by the nobles?"
Pielott couldn't understand the situation.
Of course, he had no intention of losing, and he didn't think he would lose to anyone.
However, this duel wasn't just about winning or losing. If he showed good movements and judgment, the nobles gathered here would evaluate him sufficiently based on that alone. Whether he won or lost, if he did well, it was an opportunity to catch the eye of the nobles.
However, at Pielott's words, the other students just smiled wryly with strange expressions.
They were all thinking the same thing.
'That's if it's a proper duel. What are we supposed to do if we end up like Aias?'
In fact, they couldn't help it because they all vividly remembered what had happened to Aias.
Aias, who had clearly been the strongest in the class until Pielott came along. He had been defeated in a single move. Moreover, they barely even understood how he had been defeated.
If Aias had been defeated like that, it was more than likely that the other students would be defeated even more miserably. To demonstrate that in front of all the nobles was unthinkable.
"...So! Anyway, the representative of our class is Pielott di Ribanche! Congratulations!"
Pielott stood there awkwardly, bathed in the applause of everyone, not knowing what to feel.