"What the hell have you done?"

"Huh? What is it?"

"Orca. I don't think he says he doesn't know."
 

A few days later.

The class president came to the counseling room and started questioning me.

"Right now, no one can focus on their classes."

"And why is that?"

"Everyone is distracted by seeing Orca attentively attending classes."

I see.

I understand what you're getting at.

Orca, who had been practically invisible until now, suddenly attending classes with focus would surely draw attention.

"Even the teachers are taken aback by her presence in class... I can understand, though."

"Even the teachers?"

"Yes. They’re continuing the lessons by force, but you can see they’re distracted."

I hadn't anticipated that.

Could Orca have been that notorious?

Our cute little Orca...

It seems everyone was too scared to notice her hidden adorableness.

Poor things. What a waste of life.

"What did you do?"

"Umm... I just gave her some counseling."

"Counseling...?"

"Yes, counseling."

But it's not a bad thing.

Given that Orca’s reputation was lower than I thought, my evaluation will go up as well.

It's a bit sad that she lived much lonelier than I thought, but since I have more people I want to help, the counseling room needed some level of fame.

To help other students someday, the reputation of rehabilitating her will be very useful.

"If Orca says anything bad in the future, please let me know. I'll scold her."

"Oh, yes..."

"And class president, if there are any students who seem troubled, please bring them to the counseling room occasionally."

"...Alright."

The class president's face was full of trust towards me.

Seeing Orca suddenly becoming a model student, it seems she completely trusted me.

...Well, it's not unreasonable not to trust.

To think that Orca would properly attend class.

It’s something that even didn't happen in the game.

"Then, could you leave for today? I have some work to do."

"Oh, yes."

The class president left the counseling room, still sending respectful looks my way.

Does she think I’m about to do something important?

...Well, it’s important in a way.

I have to play the game.

A few days ago, Hayes broke my laptop, so I had to buy a new one.

"Ugh, replaying what I cleared is really a pain..."

Since even the save data was gone with no way to recover it, I had no choice.

I thought about it while skipping through the boring story.

I should’ve tormented Hayes a bit more.

Maybe I was too kind...

"Tch."

What a bother.

Orca glared at the people who kept looking at her.

Don’t they have anything better to do?

If they just kept staring, it might be better.

She was disgusted by how they averted their gaze when she glared back at them.

"Ah, damn it..."

Just as she was about to spew out a curse, she remembered the words of that woman.

Not to say bad words?

Anyway, that woman wasn't around to hear, so it wouldn't matter. She could just deny it if confronted.

She was just someone who pretended to care.

But why did I stop?

...I don’t know.

I had felt refreshed after a good sleep recently. My mood had sunk again.

"If you’re just going to stare, get lost. Or I’ll kill you."

Not wanting to think anymore, she threatened them, and the frightened ones backed away.

Now, it’s a bit more comfortable.

"Stop that."

"...What do you want?"

"I’m Leo. You’re... Orca, right?"

Feeling good after a long time and going for a walk outside, some weird kid was bothering her.

Thinking of returning to the counseling room because of the irritating people spoiling her mood.

A small boy with hair sticking up like a lion's mane approached her.

Still young and not fully matured.

...Annoying. Seeing short people makes me more annoyed.

Reminds me of that day.

"People are scared. Can you stop?"

"...Ha, why should I?"

"Because they’re scared. It’s not good to threaten people. You know your reputation, right? To calm it down, you should avoid unnecessary conflicts..."

He started lecturing her, but it didn’t reach her ears.

All she felt was the urge to punch the annoying kid.

...Ah.

I can’t stand it.

"Hey."

"Huh?"

"Brace yourself."

"...?!"

Bam.

Unable to hold back her annoyance, she swung her fist at the small boy in front of her.

One hit wasn’t enough, so she hit him twice. Three times.

After a few more punches, she felt the sensation in her hand and stepped back with a click of her tongue.

Just then, a sword slash swept the space where she stood.

Seeing that made her mood worse.

Was he trying to hit me with the flat side of the blade?

This kid, does he underestimate me?

"...Leo, was it? I’ll commend your confidence."

"Are you out of your mind? Causing such a ruckus at the academy...! You’ll only make your reputation worse!"

"I don’t care."

That sword, why is it so sturdy?

Shaking off the trembling from the previous impact, she muttered.

I swung with enough force to break it, but not even a crack.

"I was going to just beat you up a bit and leave... But I changed my mind. I’ll hit you properly."

"..."

"This time, it won’t be easy."

I could easily tell he was strong.

Most would have collapsed after a few hits, but he was still standing.

He must be quite strong for a student.

But I don’t care.

I just want to vent this annoyance and then go back to the counseling room and sleep.

To hit him properly, I summoned the demon's arm.

The kid’s reaction was impressive as he saw the arm appear with ominous mist.

"...!"

"What, never seen it before?"

"That’s..."

"It’s a good chance, so take a good look. This is the demon’s arm. Cool, right? Boys go crazy over this stuff."

Demon possessors are ostracized by everyone.

Because you never know when the demon might take over their body.

Those fighting to control their bodies with a demon inside become more and more worn out and eventually lose their body to the demon.

But everything has pros and cons.

To fight for control with the demon, possessors can use part of the demon's power.

In Orca’s case, it’s an arm.

There are those who use magic, and some who wield swords, but she liked having an arm.

It feels good.

Although it’s not hitting directly, it feels like hitting with a hand.

Maybe because she shares her body with the demon?

"Hey, what are you doing staring?"

She hit the kid’s side with the demon's arm as he was staring blankly at it.

He hurriedly raised his sword to block, but he was a bit slow.

He couldn’t fully block and got hit in the side, collapsing.

"Ugh...!"

"Sorry. You had so many openings I couldn’t help myself."

This guy is strong, but has no real combat experience.

Letting your guard down in front of an enemy. Is he crazy?

I felt disappointed seeing him collapse so easily, thinking I’d have a proper fight and then sleep.

"Tch. I thought you were strong."

"I’m... not down yet."

"Oh?"

Orca’s eyes gleamed as she saw him getting up, staggering.

He stood up.

It must hurt a lot.

"Come at me... Orca. I’ll entertain you."

"Hey, you... I like you."

Orca smiled viciously.

"Teacher! Something terrible has happened!"

"Ah! Knock before entering!"

"Sorry! But it’s urgent...!"

Jeez...!

Almost got caught...

Should I put up a sign to knock before entering?

Why does no one knock?

While the class president was catching her breath, I stealthily closed my laptop and calmed myself before speaking.

"So? What’s going on?"

"Orca got into a fight!"

"...With whom?"

"With a fellow student, Leo. Their fight has turned into a mess...!"

"..."

A fight between Leo and Orca.

I tried to suppress a smile.

Laughing in this situation would definitely seem weird.

As happy as I am that the prologue has started, I can’t show it openly. I’d have to use hypnosis to calm them down.

I must hold back... Hold back...

"...Teacher Ophelia?"

"Ahem. What’s the situation?"

"Orca is beating up Leo! We need to stop them immediately!"

"...What?"

"It’s really dangerous! Only you can stop them!"

What?

Leo lost?

Orca isn’t losing?

"Orca is beating up...?"

"Yes. She’s overwhelmingly strong. He’s holding out, but... There’s no time to explain! We need to hurry!"

What’s going on?

Leo lost? Really?

...Why?

In the prologue, Leo should have knocked Orca out, leading to the demon she controls rampaging.

Since I prevented the demon, that accident shouldn’t happen...

...Ah.

I put Orca into a deep sleep, didn’t I?

There was a description in the prologue about her staggering from insomnia.

Cold sweat ran down my face.