We exited the building and find a spot to undo [Stealth] because this time we will enter like normal people. After brief preparation and checking our appearance, we walk in the building.

"Good morning, is this a place for register as a duelist?" , I asked the reception with a (fake) refreshing smile.

"Yes, you've come to the right place, sir. May I help you?" , Phew, so she can understand me. Arcadia's magic is very helpful.

" I am relieved to hear that. Can I ask a few questions before register myself?"

"Sure, feel free to ask anything, sir."

"I heard that I can earn money if I become duelist so I come here to register but I still don't know much about it, honestly, this is the first time I come to Babel and I am pretty clueless so could you please give me a piece of advice for a newcomer like me?"

"Ah, is that so...?, She nodded firmly and seem to understand my question but I feel her gaze as evaluate me from my head to toe.

"Yes certainly sir, I will explain about duelist, is that okay sir?"

"Yes, please."

"First, the duels go off what we call Star System. If you win, you will get one star and once you have five stars, you will be promoted to the next rank. If you lose, you will lose your star and if you lost all your star, you will be demoted."

She then shows the armband with various colors. White, Blue, Black, Orange, Silver, Gold, Purple and Red.

"The color represents your rank, from lowest to highest.The white armband is newcomer, and the red is the highest rank. If you promoted, we will change your armband, so it's quite easy to tell."

"After you registered as a duelist, you can come to the arena and shows your armband to staff in charge, so you could participate in the duel. You must remember, conflict or fight outside the arena is prohibited, so if you break the rules, we will expel you from Babel, so be careful."

"Don't worry, at first you will face against newcomers too, so it's basically harmless if you have the ability to fight. Your stars also won't be decreased when fighting with the newcomer.

After you promoted to Blue Armband, you could duel against someone with a rank higher than you. If you win, you will get 2 stars but if you lose, you only lose one star. So if you confident about your ability, this method is efficient to raise your rank."

"In that case, is there any merit in fighting someone who ranks lower than you?"

"Yeah, first is to prove your own strength.Strong and interesting duelist can get sponsors. You can earn popularity from viewers who want to see your matches on a regular basis. Matches with lower rank have a better chance to win, so it will increase their win record, so even there is a difference in ranking, there are those who will assertively want you to challenge them."

"I got it, so challenge the stronger duelist is better."

"Yeah, but if you don't have the ability, you will ruin yourself. In this city, the victor is justice and the loser is worthless. If you pile too many losses and lose all your stars, you won't be able to become a duelist again. To a duelist, his star is his strength, his worth, and his lifespan. Before challenging your opponent, you need to consider your ability and don't be reckless."

"I will keep in my mind."

"Hey Ryuga, How long will we stay here?", Arcadia elbows me and yawned.

'Arcadia, please wait for a moment. I am in the middle of collecting information here.'

I sent telepathy to her. This is a benefit of the Master-Servant Contract. At first, I am afraid, she will know if I used my mind to command my AI, but she didn't react when I 'talk' with my AI.

"Oh my, I am sorry for making you bored with my explanation." , She is smiling, but I can feel she slightly angry like her aura changed.

"I am sorry, my friend doesn't mean like that. She just excited to walk around this city.", I don't want to ruin her mood, so I give an apology.

"Haha, I am just joking. Many people will be bored with that long explanation. So will you register yourself or both of you will join as a duelist?"

"How much they cost for registration?"

"They're free if you don't need insurance. With insurance, you don't need to worry if you're heavily injured or even death, because they can be revived."

Ohh, revive the dead?

That power is on God's realm, isn't it?

I feel if I ask her any further than this, she will wary of me.

"That is very amazing. If we can revive after death, we don't need to worry too much."

"Yeah, Goddess Alicia gives us blessing through the Great Pope in Alicia Church here. He could revive the dead when he praying to Alicia-sama."

Hooh, she spilled the beans...

That stupid Goddess again?

I already kill her, so if the Pope praying to Alicia, he will lose his ability to revive people, right?

Uh, I fell guilty if something like that happens because I am not a fan of killing innocent people.

I guess I will meet him at least once to confirm his ability.

As expected from the wicked Goddess, she probably enjoys the fight and gives the Pope skill to revive the dead so she would watch the duel every time.

"Is that really free? I mean, if I don't pay anything, how would you get a profit?"

"We already have a lot of profit because of large people come to watch the Hero's matches. Restaurant, Inn, Merchant and various stalls also get more customers than before.The main business in Babel is the duel, so having a strong duelist is very good. Free registration fee also will attract more people to join.The treatment of higher rank duelist is also very enticing.You know, there are various countries who sent their people to scout the talented duelist but they have to pay some amount of money to us, to taking one duelist. Of course, the decision is up to the duelist themselves, we don't have the right to force them."

"I see..."

"Hero is an exception though because they were tied to the country they served. Even so, there are many Heroes who don't have a country to support them, so they free to choose. To stay at Babel or go to different countries."

I thought the Hero is always summoned in the castle and get everything they need to carry out their duty, but apparently, there are many who don't have such luck.

"Then, will you register now?"

"Yes, I will register as a duelist."

"How about your friend?"

"Ah, she didn't want to fight. Asking a girl to fight just for money is rude for a guy right?"

"Ah, you are so gentle. Then tell me your name, sir."

I just don't want her rampage in this city. She is crazy strong, but the main cause is because of the 'reward' for giving an order to her due to the contract.

Should I give her my real name?

No, I don't think that is a wise move.

"My name is Alex."

I use Alex as my alias, but as Japanese people, with black hair, using Alex as alias is a bit weird...

"Alex-san, do you want to register with or without the insurance?"

"Currently, I don't have money, so I will register without insurance, but could I change it later, if I have money?"

"Yes, you can. Alright, here your armband."

She gives me the same color as the previous man, the white armband with a single star.

"If you win a match at White Armband, you will get 10 large bronze coins or 1000 Cia. When you at Blue Armband, you will get 1 silver or 100 large bronze coins or 10000 Cia. The reward will increase along with your rank."

I never see the money in this world, but as expected, they were using the coin. The currency is Cia, maybe from "Alicia" huh...

"I am sorry, but is 10 large bronze coins enough to rent a room with a meal?"

"...Yes, with 10 large bronze coins you could stay at a cheap inn for a week with 3 meal a day."

Okay, I am more or less grasp the value of the money. Next is to increase our daily income, because we need money to stay here.

"Is the currency can be used in other countries too?"

She blinked in surprise and answer my question.

"In Laverio, Cia is the only currency in the Human Kingdom. You're asking as if you weren't from Laverio or....."

Not good, I knew this question is quite risky, but I don't have much time, so I asked as many as I can to collect information now. She is clearly cautious against me.

"Are you a Hero?"

"Huh?"

"You have black hair, black eyes and you also don't know much about the world. I already expert for handling the Heroes from a long time ago, and you have the same pattern with them."

Phew, she thinks me as Hero.

Not many people have black hair like me in this world. I mean this is a fantasy world, so the people here have colorful hair like brown, blonde, blue, red and many other colors.

Should I pretend myself as Hero?

Maybe I could hang out with the other Heroes and collect more information.

Aoi and her friend won't come here and reveal my identity, so I don't need to worry about them.

"Haha, calling me as Hero is might be exaggerating, but I indeed come from a different world."

"I knew it!!!" , She looks very happy for some reason.

"Your armor looks very sturdy, may I know your blessing? No, no I couldn't ask that question due to the rule, but I want to knowwwww!!!"

I am troubled by how to respond to her.

"You know, when I saw the matches between the Heroes, I couldn't take my eyes from it. Their fight is at the different realm from us, with their blessing, their magic is enhanced, their reflexes also very insane like fwush, and they appeared behind their opponents. Everytime they fight, the arena would be destroyed with their power."

She giving a heated speech and I could nod my head as listening to her. I decided to ask one thing in my head to her.

"From your story, the Heroes is very strong, much stronger than the people in Laverio, do you ever think if someday they will turn their fangs to your people? Do you ever afraid, they will take everything by force because they wield much power?"

Her eyes widely opened as if she couldn't believe I said that even I admit that I was Hero (fake).

"You are an interesting guy. Of course, we are afraid if such a thing happens, but if the Heroes were gone, the Demon Lords will destroy humanity. So we will do everything to gain Hero's favor, especially the strong one. I will tell you, not all hero is invincible, many of them were weak at the beginning, and a lot of Heroes have useless skill and jobs too. We have more people than the Heroes, even if they win, they will also suffer massive casualties on their side. We also have a talented adventurer to join our forces if that happens."

She glared at me and speak with a confident tone.

"I am sorry if I am somewhat I offending you, but I don't have such intention (yet)."

Depending on the circ.u.mstances as Demon Lord, I think there is a chance that I need to attack human, even it's very low.

"I knew it, but don't do that again. Someone might be snapped and cause trouble for you."

"Thank you."

"The last step is to fill your personal information for the city registry. Here the paper form, so if you would -"

"I am sorry, but I couldn't write yet, so may I asked for your assistance?"

"Yeah, no problem."

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