Instead of answering Roland's question right away, Zeke looked the Earth Mage up and down. Roland had a smug grin on his face as he returned the gaze. He was leaning against one of the tables and was casually sipping on a drink. The slight flush on his face made it clear that it was an alcoholic beverage.
"Are you sure you should be drinking?" Zeke asked. "You'll be fighting me in the next round."
"Ahh, whatever! I'll have a healer purge the effects before the fight," Roland replied flippantly. "Besides, I might not even need to do that against you."
Zeke clenched his fist at his side. A moment later he relaxed it again. This was exactly how Roland operated, he would try to provoke his opponents before the fight to increase his chances. This was the only reason he managed to beat Rona in his previous round.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Zeke said. "I think you shouldn't try your mind games on a Mind Mage, lest you embarrass yourself further. Everyone here knows how you even managed to advance, Roland. We were all there when you sneak attacked Peter during the battle royale."
It was Roland's turn to clench his jaw. It wasn't hard to provoke the Earth Mage, the other boy was famous for his short temper, after all. He hissed out his reply through gritted teeth, "So what!? He was only a commoner who didn't know his place!"
He noticed his mistake as soon as he said it. In the next moment, Leo was there. He had gotten close to Roland and was now looking at the Earth Mage with fire in his eyes.
"What did you just say?" Leo demanded. "How about you say that to my face?"
Roland didn't respond right away. Zeke could practically see the gears turning behind his eyes. Roland had gotten himself into a predicament. He had not intended to pick a fight with Leo, but his pride didn't allow him to just retract his statement and apologize. Zeke was curious how he would handle the situation. Would he try to de-escalate? Blame it on the alcohol maybe? Or…
"You heard me, peasant!" Roland yelled, far louder than necessary. "I said that boy was nothing more than a commoner. It was not right for him to try and take a spot in the finals for himself."
Leo's gaze hardened. But before he could do anything, Zeke spoke up again. "What do you mean? Last I heard, Peter was adopted by a noble family."
Roland scoffed. "A family of nature mages. They are barely worth calling nobles. But that is beside the point. You adopted brats think you are nobles just because you are allowed to use the surname? Everyone knows that adopted members are nothing more than glorified errand boys. Once a commoner, always a commoner."
Zeke was stunned by this blatant admission. Was this really the case? Was this really how the other noble families treated their adopted mages? He looked around and saw a lot of people avert their eyes. It seemed there was at least some truth to Roland's claim.
"If that were true, then how come Miranda Wellenrufer was chosen as representative for the family and not one of the born nobles?" Zeke countered.
Roland just waved the comment off. "That's an exception. One of the higher-ups in the family has taken a liking to her, that's all. That doesn't change the fact that she will never hold any position of power. Best case scenario? She gets to marry one of the true nobles of the family."
Roland seemed to have regained his confidence after his earlier blunder. He gave Zeke a challenging smirk and redoubled his efforts to provoke him.
"You know, I really don't envy that friend of yours. What was her name again? Mini? Millie? No, it was something else… Ahh right: Lilly! Just to get adopted she agreed to marry Samuel. Now that's a guy with a nasty temper, let me tell you."
Zeke was unaffected by the taunt. Lilly had decided her course on her own and Zeke would not pity her for it.
"That's rich, coming from you," Zeke responded with a sneer. "I have yet to meet anybody with a worse temper than you. No wonder you can't get any girl to agree to marry you even with your oh-so-important noble title."
Zeke's comment elicited a few chuckles. Roland was fuming. He glared at Zeke and was just about to lash out, but managed to stop himself at the last moment. He took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile back onto his face.
"Who knows?" Roland said in a slimy tone. "Maybe I just haven't found a girl I like yet. On a completely unrelated note, is that your sister over there? How old is she?"
Maya hid behind Tanya. She didn't like the way the older boy was looking at her. But she didn't have to suffer his gaze for long as Leo stepped in front of the two girls, shielding them from view.
"Do you not have any shame?" he asked through clenched teeth. "You disgusting animal."
Zeke was also furious. How dare Roland bring his sister into this? Did he think this would let him win their fight? If anything, all this would cause was a repeat of his last fight.
"How nice! Look at the commoner-born sticking together. It's like you are one happy family. Don't you guys agree?" Roland asked the crowd.
Zeke didn't think he would find any support from anyone here. To his surprise, somebody spoke up in his favor.
"I think it would be an honor for your sister to marry into the Erdherr family, Ezekiel. I don't understand why you would perceive this as an insult," Emil Gluthand said.
Zeke was even more enraged by Emil's words. The boy honestly believed that it would be an honor for Maya to become the plaything for a noble like Roland. He used all his willpower to get his emotions under control. The feat proved difficult as his heart was hammering in his chest and he could feel his entire body preparing for a fight.
"Is that how it works?" he asked with a forcefully calm voice. "Then how about this: I'll come by your family later and grab a couple of your sisters. Who knows? I might end up liking one of them."
"You wouldn't dare!" Emil yelled, but before he could go on, Zeke cut him off.
"Why wouldn't I? I am the prime heir of the von Hohenheim family. Your position can't match mine, and your patriarch can't match mine either. So what are you going to do about it?"
Emil glared at Zeke but didn't know how to counter his words. Zeke, on the other hand, had calmed down a little and continued in a more conciliatory tone.
"Don't give me that look, Emil. This was your argument, not mine. There is no way I would do something like that. I am not some crass beast, after all. I just wish that was true of everyone gathered here," Zeke said with a glance toward Roland.
"Just as expected. How long are you going to hide behind your mentor's back?" Roland sneered. "The old man is not going to be around forever, you know? I would be careful who you pick a fight with, 'Zeke'. As soon as you don't have that protection anymore there will be a line of people waiting to collect. At that point, it might not only be your sister that gets taken."
Zeke had had enough of this. He stepped in front of Roland, barely able to restrain himself from strangling the other boy right then and there. "This is your last warning! You bring up my family one more time and I swear that I will make it my life's mission to erase yours from existence."
"How would you-" Roland began, but Zeke cut him off.
"I think you should stop drinking now…" Zeke said as he took the cup out of Roland's hand, "before you get yourself killed."
He then emptied the cup over Roland's head. He watched impassively as the liquid dripped down the boy's face and stained his armor. Roland was about to explode when a voice called out from behind the two, "What's going on over there?"
"Father!" Roland cried out. "This peasant dares threaten our family! I merely brought up a proposal of marriage between me and his sister. The next moment he was raving about killing us all. The Blood Mage has gone mad!"
Roland's father looked between the gathered students. He saw Leo standing protectively in front of Tanya and Maya. He scanned the faces of the gathered noble descendants. They all averted their eyes. It was clear that there was more at play here. Still, the man didn't care much.
"Those are some serious words, Ezekiel," the man said. "It is a crime to even threaten a noble family, you know? I think it would be best if we investigate this matt-"
He was interrupted as someone put an arm around his neck. The patriarch looked over with an annoyed expression. Who would dare to interrupt him at this moment? After looking to the side all he could see was a wall of grey hair. His gaze traveled upward, finally finding the face the beard was attached to. Maximilian was looking down at the man with a serious gaze.
"There is no need to investigate anything, Klaus. Ezekiel speaks for his family. If any of you filthy Erdherr freaks dare to target Maya again, there will be consequences. Let me be absolutely clear: When I say consequences, I mean that I will personally kill every single one of you."
Instead of the Erdherr patriarch, somebody else responded. "It is not your place to discipline them, Maximilian. If you have a problem with the Erdherr family, you can discuss it with me."
Maximilian let go of the man and turned around. The deep, rumbling voice had come from the Steiner patriarch. He, alongside most of the other nobles, had come to see what was going on. As the one in charge of the Earth Mages in the empire, he could not let this threat stand.
"Is that so?" Maximilian asked conversationally. "Then consider this as my official notice of complaint."
"What are you unsatisfied with? It looks to me like your boy was the one to offend," the Steiner patriarch said with a nod to the drenched form of Roland.
Zeke wanted to explain, but Maximilian raised his arm, signaling for him to remain silent. He looked over to David and said, "Don't bother, Zeke. I had David keep an eye on you. I'm aware of what transpired."
Zeke was astonished. He had not noticed David following him around at all. Had the man been keeping an eye on him? He checked his mind recordings of the gathering and found that the man was actually inside his sphere of awareness most of the time. He needed to find a better way to keep an eye on this. But before he could think on this any more in-depth, Maximilian spoke up.
Maximilian raised one finger as he began to list off his complaints. "First: The boy made claims about commoner-born Mages that I don't agree with. I think his exact words were 'glorified errand boys'. As a commoner-born Mage myself, I take offense to this."
"Second: He-" Maximilian started, raising his second finger.
"That's enough," the Steiner patriarch interrupted. "I can see that there were insults traded on both sides. I believe it would be best if the boys resolved their grievances in the arena. Wouldn't that be in line with your wishes as well?"
Maximilian remained silent for a moment. After a sigh, he responded, "You know, I have always been proud to have an Earth affinity. Most Earth Mages are honest, hard-working people. Even if your Steiner family prefers to be left alone most of the time, you still hold to your principles. I do not understand why you let this brat get away with his conduct. We both know that he brings nothing but shame to us, Earth Mages, by using those kinds of tactics."
It was now the Steiner patriarch's time to remain silent. When he spoke up next, Zeke felt like he could see a hint of sadness in his gaze. This was the most expressive he had ever seen the man.
"Sometimes…" he began, "results are all that matter."
After saying that, he turned and walked away. It was clear that this was all he would say on the subject. Maximilian had also gone silent, the old man seemed deep in thought. It was at this moment that Jorgel entered the room again. He noticed the strained atmosphere but decided to ignore it after a quick look around.
With an upbeat voice, he exclaimed, "Right, so it is about time we start with the interviews. How about you come with me first, Ezekiel? The crowd has been excited to hear from you ever since your performance in the last battle!"