Keith Howard, during the Duelist Kingdom tournament, snuck into the competition without an invitation, stealing other duelists' Star Chips and forcibly inserting himself into the event.
After being defeated by Hoshino, rather than admitting his loss, he blocked the entrance of the cave duel arena with a massive rock, trapping Hoshino and the others inside and ultimately leading them to the Maze Brothers.
Such blatant disregard for the spirit of dueling naturally caught Pegasus's attention. Following his loss to Hoshino—despite cheating and refusing to hand over his Star Chip—Keith was stripped of his dueling privileges and expelled from the island.
Later, during the Duel City event, while Pegasus was missing, Keith spread rumors claiming Pegasus had committed suicide. These rumors ignited a burning desire for revenge in the heart of Tenma Yako, the temporary head of Industrial Illusions, which ultimately led to the revival of the Three Evil God cards and an assault on Kaiba Corporation.
Keith, who managed to get one of the Evil God cards into his possession, was once again defeated by Hoshino in a duel and fled the scene.
After two events of such malicious scale, Keith Howard was blacklisted by Industrial Illusions. Even as a former consecutive national champion, he was no longer permitted to participate in any official dueling tournaments.
This was the reason he wasn't invited to the KC Grand Prix.
Having lost the Duel Monsters stage that had once been his livelihood, Keith finally hit his midlife crisis. Once a shining star as a champion, his life had plummeted into disgrace, becoming a despised outcast—a "rat" everyone avoided.
"After everything you did to me, you still won't let it go, huh, Hoshino!" Keith muttered bitterly.
Hoshino was speechless, thinking to herself, "What the hell! You brought all of this on yourself from the very beginning!"
"Isn't everything that's happened exactly what you deserve? Are you trying to make me pity you now? Sorry, but I can't spare even a second of sympathy for trash like you."
Turning to the blonde girl standing beside Keith—who seemed completely unaware of the situation—Hoshino said seriously, "Your name is Clara, right? Sorry for eavesdropping on your duel, but I need to warn you: someone like him is completely untrustworthy. He might just be after your money, trying to get close to you with ulterior motives."
From her appearance to her demeanor, Clara was the very image of a proper young lady. Although Hoshino didn't know how Keith had gotten involved with someone like her, considering his past, it was almost unthinkable that he would offer to substitute someone in a life-threatening duel out of pure goodwill.
"Hehe~" To Hoshino's surprise, Clara simply covered her mouth and smiled gently. "May I call you Hoshino-san? It seems you have quite the history with Howard."
Clara's polite and refined demeanor left a positive impression on Hoshino. Everything about her exuded class, a stark contrast to Keith, who looked every bit the grizzled rogue.
"But Hoshino-san, about what you said earlier—that Howard might be after our family's wealth and planning to steal it…"
Hoshino reiterated, "Clara, you really shouldn't trust him. I know Keith's character all too well."
"I trust Howard, of course," Clara interrupted confidently. "For the sake of my safety, Howard even volunteered to participate in the death matches on my behalf. I believe the current Howard would never do such a thing."
At that moment, Akasha, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked, "How does someone like you—a sheltered, idealistic young lady—get involved with underground duels?"
Clara's expression darkened the moment she heard the question.
"This has nothing to do with you," Keith snapped, clearly unwilling to explain further. He didn't want Clara to be placed in an uncomfortable position.
"It's fine, Howard. Don't worry about me." Clara shook her head gently, then continued seriously, "I'm just grateful you're willing to help my father and enter the tournament on my behalf. His company has recently been suppressed by a certain family, causing major disruptions to our supply chain and funding. It seems their real aim is to force me into participating in these underground death matches."
Hoshino frowned. "A certain family? Why go to such lengths to involve someone in a deadly duel? What could they possibly gain from that?"
"Because the underground duels are secretly operated by that very family. The Schroeder family!" Clara declared, eyes burning with anger.
The Schroeder family... Schroeder?! Hoshino gasped inwardly. Pegasus's suspicions had been right all along. The mastermind behind the underground duels she had been investigating was almost certainly Zigfried von Schroeder.
And judging by Clara's current situation, it was clear Zigfried had already begun using his family's power to pressure wealthy individuals—those who originally had no intention of getting involved—into the underground duels.
These individuals would logically try to pay large sums to hire duelists to fight in their stead. But someone like Clara, with her saintly nature, would never want to drag others into such life-threatening situations.
So this naïve young lady had decided to participate in the deadly matches herself.
Keith scoffed, "And what does any of this have to do with you? Someone like you—the headliner of the KC Grand Prix—shouldn't be sticking your nose into these death matches."
"Of course it has something to do with me! In fact, you two are lucky to have run into me~"
Hoshino smiled, eyes fixed on Clara.
"Since Howard's already agreed to represent you in the tournament, why not let one more duelist help out? There's no rule stating a participant can only choose one representative."
The more duelists involved in the underground duels, the more profit the organizers made. It wasn't uncommon for some wealthy individuals to have multiple duelists fighting under their name.
Clara blinked her bright blue eyes in confusion. "Huh? Hoshino-san, what do you mean?"
"What I mean is, I'm going to represent you in the underground dueling arena too, Clara! As for my dueling skills, just ask Keith."
A sheltered lady like Clara probably didn't care much about Duel Monsters tournaments—otherwise, she wouldn't have failed to recognize someone like Hoshino.
Keith was momentarily stunned that a duelist like Hoshino would suddenly volunteer to participate in an underground duel.
Clara asked hesitantly, "Howard, is it really okay for Hoshino-san to take part in such a match?"
Keith nodded firmly. "Yeah, if she's really willing. At least in terms of dueling skill, I can vouch for her—she's about on par with me."
Oh please, as if you're actually on my level—keep dreaming.
"But with your fame, wouldn't you be exposed the moment you step onto the field?"
"That's why I need this!" Hoshino put on her metal goggles and pulled up her hood. After spinning around dramatically, she re-entered what she proudly declared to be her "perfect disguise mode."
"Pfft…" Seeing her appearance, the composed Clara couldn't help but laugh aloud.
"So that's why Hoshino-san was dressed like that! I was wondering why you'd wear something so strange."
"What do you mean strange? This look is totally cool, okay? Everyone in this city just has no taste."
Akasha quietly muttered, "Some harsh truths must be faced. The one with no taste… is probably you…"
"Since that's the case, I'll be counting on you, Hoshino-san… and you too, Howard!"
Clara gave a deep bow, expressing her heartfelt gratitude to both of them.
"To save my father and his company, you're risking your lives in these deadly duels. I, Clara Phoenix, swear on my family name that I'll repay you both one day."
"Uh… sure…" For probably the first time in his life being thanked so sincerely, the usually flippant Keith was at a complete loss for words.
Hoshino clenched her fists with determination. "Just leave it to me, Clara. I'll make that Zigfried guy pay dearly for toying with the lives of duelists like this."
Akasha snuck up to Hoshino and whispered excitedly, "This is great, Nee-chan! Now we've saved a huge registration fee. Does that mean the money Pegasus sent us can go straight into your own pocket?"
This kid… for someone so young, she sees right through everything. She's got a bright future ahead.
(***)
Midnight—
Akasha was doing high-difficulty rolls on the bed, throwing a tantrum.
"Nooo! I don't care, I don't care! I want to go too! Underground dueling sounds super fun—why should only you get to go?!"
Watching Akasha roll around like a spinning wheel, Hoshino sighed helplessly. "That place is dangerous, you know. There's nothing fun about betting your life and money in duels. How can I bring a kid there?"
"I'm not a kid! Back in the day, I was the strongest Rare Hunter! I've seen all kinds of crazy stuff—I want to see the underground dueling!"
What she said was true. Having lived among fanatics like the Rare Hunters, she'd certainly witnessed her share of brutal scenes.
Hoshino Alter chimed in:
[Just take her along, Partner~ Chaldea's already made all the necessary preparations. If you really wanted, you could tear down the whole underground arena, no problem.]
Hoshino sighed again. "If we just destroy the place, all the preparation I've done would be wasted."
If their goal was merely to dismantle the underground dueling arena, there'd be no need for Hoshino to get involved—Industrial Illusions could handle that themselves. But as Pegasus had said, brute force would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.
The real goal was to obtain concrete evidence that Zigfried von Schroeder was the one behind the underground duels.
"Fine, if you're that determined, Akasha-chan, then you can come too~" Hoshino eventually relented.
"Yay! I knew you were the best, Nee-chan!" Akasha leapt off the bed and hugged her tightly.
As a safety measure, Hoshino handed her a deck she pulled from her waist.
"Take this Lily deck with you. If you ever run into danger, do what I always do—just summon a Heroic Spirit."
Unlike the Lily deck Akasha had previously stolen, this one was given willingly by Hoshino herself. That meant the Lilies would be far more likely to aid Akasha now.
Clutching the deck with satisfaction, Akasha beamed. "Hehe, I got a super rare card! I'm getting hyped—I kinda want to duel in the underground arena myself now."
(*****)
If you'd like to read 25 chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/ANeet. Your support means a lot. Thank you!