“How is this even possible... a flawless victory.”

Sallya slumped onto the floor, staring blankly at Simon’s Life Value, which hadn’t dropped even once from start to finish.

Is the gap between us really that huge?

“The match is decided, Sallya.”

All the creatures on the field vanished, and Simon put his deck back into its card box.

He walked to the other side of the duel arena and held out a hand to Sallya.

“Need a hand?”

Sallya froze for a moment, then grabbed Simon’s hand.

“I-I can stand up on my own.”

All bark and no bite, huh, Miss Sallya.

But maybe because her emotions had swung too hard, Sallya’s legs suddenly gave out halfway up.

“Ah!”

She let out a cute little cry and instinctively threw out her other hand, clutching Simon’s arm. Only then did she avoid making a fool of herself.

That is, if leaning against a man like this didn’t already count as making a fool of herself.

“Hey, wait... why are you holding on so tight?!”

Simon tried to pull his arm back, but Sallya clung to it stubbornly.

“I-I can’t help it! Your arm just has no strength at all!”

Her face was bright red. The words “my legs went weak” just wouldn’t come out.

She forced herself again and rose from a half-crouch, but the price was Simon’s arm sinking even deeper in.

Feeling that soft, squishy pressure on his arm, Simon started to panic too.

Why does a single guy like me suddenly feel like I’m cheating?!

“Mr. Shopkeeper is amazing!”

The voice that exploded from behind made Simon jolt.

He turned around and saw Tidris pounce over and grab his other arm.

“Mr. Shopkeeper, since the duel’s over, let’s head back to the shop first.”

“Ah... mm... oh...”

Looking at the bright smile on Tidris’s face, Simon was already so guilty he could barely form words.

After speaking to Simon, Tidris turned a “concerned” look toward Sallya on the other side.

“So, Miss Sallya should be able to walk by herself, right? Isn’t it a little inappropriate to keep holding on to Mr. Shopkeeper like that?”

Why is this woman still refusing to let go of Mr. Shopkeeper?!

At those words, Sallya reacted like someone had stepped on a cat’s tail. She instinctively hugged even tighter.

“No! Th-This is the winner’s reward!”

Has this woman completely lost track of what she’s saying?!

The hairs on Simon’s neck stood up.

“Heh heh, you young folks sure get along well. This old man will head back to the shop first and leave some space for you.”

As if he hadn’t seen a thing, Liszt leaned on his cane and slowly strolled out of the duel arena.

Ah, the troubles of youth.

Old Liszt, save me!

On the other side, Simon desperately wanted to reach out and shout after Liszt, but for the moment, neither of his hands belonged to him.

After Liszt left, the duel arena fell into a strange silence.

“You two... shall we go?”

Simon made the suggestion through gritted teeth.

“Sure.”

“I’m fine with that.”

The three of them stood in a horizontal line and took their first step together.

If you’re both fine, then why are you still holding my arms?!

Sadly, Simon had become the one with the lowest status here.

So he only dared say that in his heart.

The three of them shuffled sideways in silence all the way to the door.

And now, another problem appeared.

After thinking for a moment, Sallya suggested, “Or... should we go vertically instead?”

She’d really been dragged down to Tidris’s level.

Simon couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’ll count down from three. Let go at the same time!”

After a journey even more grueling than the duel itself, Simon finally made it back to his recliner.

“That was a truly splendid duel, though I suppose it’s a bit late to say that now.”

Inside the shop, the four chairs were arranged in a circle.

Even though the duel had ended with his own granddaughter’s defeat, Liszt didn’t hold back his applause in the slightest.

“A deck with a complete system behind it. That alone is enough to surpass some Grade C Cardmakers.”

His gaze fell on Simon’s card box, and as he recalled the duel, he couldn’t stop praising it.

“You perfectly combined the goblins’ weak but prolific nature with follower effects. And the design that lets you use the top card of the deck is simply a stroke of wild genius.”

“You truly don’t need the Cardmaker Guild’s help. If anything, those so-called ‘geniuses’ in the Guild aren’t even qualified to be compared to you.”

The more he praised him, the more regretful he felt.

How did I miss out on such a perfect disciple?

Simon just took it as praise from a friend, and it felt pretty good.

But for Sallya, her grandfather was an unquestionable authority, a veteran Grade B Cardmaker and a senior member of the Guild.

And now, her grandfather was giving Simon such a high evaluation?

Sallya felt she had still underestimated Simon’s image in her grandfather’s heart.

Simon accepted Liszt’s praise, but it didn’t stir much inside him.

After all, in his own mind, he carried memories of all kinds of card games from his previous life. If he was going to compare himself, it should be with famous veteran Cardmakers, not with bullying boys and girls his age.

Still, after hearing Liszt’s analysis and praise, Simon couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

“Aren’t you a Duelist? How do you know so much about the Cardmaker Guild?”

The appreciative look in Liszt’s eyes was cut off on the spot.

“Ahem... well, once you reach Grade B, some experience is shared anyway. Besides, I have friends in the Cardmaker Guild, so after enough back and forth, I’m basically half a Cardmaker too.”

Simon nodded. “I see.”

No wonder Grandpa was a Duelist, but his granddaughter could become a Cardmaker.

Then it really wouldn’t be appropriate for him to badmouth the Guild.

Seeing Simon look like he wanted to say something but stopped himself, Liszt sighed.

“To be honest, I’ve heard about the Cardmaker Guild’s stale old ways too.”

“But that kind of stagnation is mostly aimed at mediocre Cardmakers. That’s why I wanted to invite you.”

As he spoke, Liszt glanced at his granddaughter.

It was precisely because he had grown more and more disappointed in the Guild that he had started traveling beyond the Royal Capital.

At the same time, he hoped that after this duel, Sallya would break free from the Cardmaker Guild’s shackles and turn her eyes toward the wider world.

After hearing Liszt’s words, Simon shrugged.

“Forget it. I wasn’t planning to accept the invitation anyway. Let’s talk about something else instead.”

As he spoke, he stood up, walked to the bookshelf, and took down a silver box.

“This was set aside just for you. I didn’t have enough materials back then, so now I’m making up for it.”

Simon opened the box. Inside was a [Counter Spell].

He happened to have three left in hand anyway, so giving one to Old Liszt was no big deal.

One to use, one to collect, one to spread the faith.

“Ha, I didn’t expect you to still remember that...”

Liszt took the box and examined the card inside.

In fact, aside from Simon, he had been the first person to know about [Counter Spell], not Tidelys.

And it was because of this card that, for the first time, he had felt frustrated in front of a Grade D Cardmaker.

To put it bluntly, this card had changed Liszt’s entire creative way of thinking as a Cardmaker.

For the first time, he realized that in a duel, interrupting someone else’s plan was just as important as completing your own.

Because of that, without even noticing it, he had started seeing Simon as a potential rival.

Heh. Even at my age, I still can’t escape that competitive streak.

Liszt mocked himself inwardly.

As an old man past sixty, he naturally wouldn’t feel jealousy toward a friend from a younger generation. But as a fellow Cardmaker, that competitive instinct made it impossible for him to ignore the frustration in his heart.

“Simon, would you be interested... in taking a test?”

Then, under everyone’s gaze, Liszt pulled a card from the card box he carried with him.

It was a card so terrifying it made their scalps go numb.