Thanks to her new senpai Vera, Katie is able to interact with the troll from the parade, and even work to gain its trust. But Vera can’t shield Katie from the barbs and snide comments from other students. Oliver and Nanao are preparing for an inevitable duel against Richard Andrews, but the bullying of Katie by their classmates becomes so bad that Oliver rises to their provocations and starts a fight. Nanao and Guy have his back.
Unfortunately we don’t get to see the bullies get their just desserts, but Oliver, Nanao, and Guy end up in detention cells. When Katie blames herself for not standing up to the bullies, Oliver rejects that; he started the fight, so this is his fault, not hers. She did nothing wrong.
Nevertheless, Chela notes that their little circle of friends is on an island now, with the rest of the first-years (mostly hoity-toity, anti-demi conservatives) hating their guts. This is confirmed when they’re led to the site of the duel with Andrews, and it’s a coliseum packed with hostile students.
Before their official duel begins, an “exhibition fight” commences, with Andrews demonstrating his prowess in the sword arts by slaughtering some kobolds (werewolf-like creatures). While our friends are disgusted by the spectacle, especially when handlers force a scared kobold to return to the arena, Nanao gives them a piece of her mind, calling the whole crowd scum. For this, she gets pelted by glass bottles.
When a Garuda, a high-level beast that Andrews didn’t at all expect to appear, appears, students are battered and bloodied in quick succession, to Andrews’ horror and panic. But it’s Nanao who finally stands up to the monster and crosses blades with it. She had no interest in fighting a rigged “duel” with Andrews, but this is a battle more her speed: one in which she must put her life on the line.
She does a decent job keeping up with the Garuda, the fact remains she alone is outmatched, so Oliver joins the battle…and quickly gets slashed across the midsection. When he retreats to heal himself, a cowering Andrews asks him how he and Nanao can fight the Garuda without fear. ‘
Oliver tells him he is scared, because he’s an ordinary person, but Nanao, a warrior, probably isn’t scared at all, so he needs to keep her from going too far and getting killed. As he gets up and returns to the arena, he tells Andrews that Nanao wanted to see how he fought too.
Back in action, Oliver tells Nanao he’ll give her an opening to make the kill, but things go a little pear-shaped. Oliver has to end up getting between Nanao and the Garuda, and very nearly meets his end, were it not for Richard Andrews, using his high-level wind magic to blast the Garuda away. It’s a triumphant moment, and I hope his new understanding of Oliver and Nanao will trickle down to the other privileged students.
This creates the opening Nanao needs, and she spares no voracity in beheading the Garuda. Once it finally falls defeated, Oliver is the first one to thank Richard, who admits that while he was scared of the Garuda, he was more scared of being seen as an embarrassment to his clan. Both Nanao and Oliver acknowledge the courage he showed by standing his ground, and when Oliver lends him a hand up, Andrews takes it.
From that point on, Richard is no longer Nanao and Oliver’s enemy, but they are all of them comrades-in-arms. Of course, Nanao was pretty badly slashed in her fight with the Garuda, so she needs to be patched up. But as Richard takes his leave, Chela also thanks her childhood friend, addressing him as Rick, and notes how long it’s been since she’s seen “how wonderful he can be”.
All’s well that ends well. I’m glad this wasn’t just as simple as the good guys beating the bad guys in a duel, but things going out of control and the good and bad guys working together to end the threat, resulting in a welcome face turn for Andrews.
As for the mysterious student who is loitering around the coliseum after everyone has left, I presume they’re the same person who sent Katie flying towards the troll, and perhaps the next significant threat to Oliver and his friends. The silver hair has me suspecting it’s Vera, which would certainly be a blow to Katie.
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