[Oh, Ooooooh… To think that Riru, who couldn’t even eat a meal that had already been prepared, has grown this much…!]

Though she heard the blue punk behind her babbling something…

‘...You’re the one who told me to do this in the first place.’

Such grumbling naturally came out.

‘It’s time like these you need to step up more! So that you can be ahead of the other women!’ was what the blue punk behind her kept saying, egging her on.

Of course, the reason it went this far was partly because Dowd’s attitude was too… ‘docile’.

“...”

But…

So, like…

Pinning this guy underneath her and saying whatever she wanted was great and all, but…

[...By the way, what are you doing, Riru?]

Until the blue punk behind her uttered those words, all Riru did was blankly stare down at Dowd, whom she had sat on.

There was only one thought in her head.

‘...What am I supposed to do next? W-What do I do-?!’

Riru thought as such, her eyes spinning in confusion and panic.

No, like, she had to have some kind of training to know what to do, right?

She talked about having children and all that, but she was completely clueless about the actual process…!

[...Are you serious, Riru?]

‘I-I really don’t know! Even Granny didn’t teach me this!’

[...]

She could keenly feel the incredulity of the blue punk’s gaze, floating behind her.

After staring at her like that for a while, she then heard a sigh.

[...Well, I always knew you were just a gullible, naive simpleton pretending to be strong.]

‘W-What should I do? Should I apologize and back off now?!’

[If you’ve drawn your sword, you might as well cut something, Riru.]

No, so like, how the fuck was she supposed to do that?!

Such a scream burst from within Riru.

‘...Cutting something? Fuck that, whatever that means. Should I just start backing off…’

In the first place, it felt like she had crossed the line far too much even at this point.

Where did her will to compete fairly and squarely go…!

Riru thought this as she looked down with a tense expression.

Then…

“...”

“...”

Dowd just…

Closed his eyes tightly.

It clearly wasn’t a gesture to particularly push her away.

Rather, it seemed more like he was ‘resigned’ to what was about to happen.

‘...E-Eh?’

This…

This meant…

‘C-Can I do it? It means I can do it, right? He’s giving me permission, right?! This is all consensual, okay?!’

[...Aren’t you getting a bit too excited, Riru?]

Though the blue punk behind her was yapping again, at least now, she had a justification to take one step further.

This was…fair and square, okay? Anyway, it was! For sure!

‘...A-At times like this, first…’

 

Riru swallowed dryly and reached for Dowd’s top.

Though she didn’t know what to do, she would just start with whatever came to mind.

The sound of buttons being undone by trembling hands echoed softly in the room.

Coat, vest, and finally, the shirt.

All of it was opened up.

A well trained upper body of a man was fully exposed before her.

“...W-Woah…”

Such an exclamation leaked out, unable to be suppressed.

[...Why do you kind of seem like a teenage boy going through puberty who saw something lewd for the first time in his life?]

After ignoring the oddly specific remark, she unconsciously ran her hands over the distinctly etched muscles.

The way Dowd twitched under her fingertips was transmitted through every bit of his skin.

And as her fingers crawled over his chest, passing by it…

She felt his heartbeat.

Loudly. Very, very clearly.

“...”

“...”

Riru looked down at Dowd, who still had his eyes tightly shut, with wide eyes.

Right, he, too…

It wasn’t just her who was nervous. This guy was anxious too.

After all, it was his first time as well.

Even though he always had girls around him, going ‘this far’ with a completely sound mind was a first for him.

And…

Right now, she was the one to ‘monopolize’ that.

As soon as she realized that fact…

“...Eup.”

Her heart dropped with a thud.

It felt like the temperature of her whole body had risen by several tens of degrees.

The tingling sensation that had been circling her whole body and lower abdomen since earlier intensified by several times.

“...”

She lowered her face, kissing his chest.

Though it was an entirely unconscious action, it seemed to have a definite effect.

This guy, who would just twitch when touched, now gasped, taking a big gulp of air.

It was an ‘adorable’ reaction that made Riru want to smile as wildly as before.

“Hey.”

“...”

There was no answer.

However, Riru took a deep breath and continued to speak.

“Dowd Campbell.”

“...Yes.”

“I’m going to continue, okay?”

“...”

“If you’re going to resist, this is your last chance to, you know?”

“...”

Still, no response.

At this, the smile on Riru’s face grew even bigger.

At the same time, a voice close to a cheer came from behind.

[...Here we go, here we go…!]

“...”

[We, who never got a chance to even lay a hand on him before! We, who only watched others bite, tear, taste, and enjoy…! Here we go…! We’ll be the ones in the lead…!]

“...”

Wasn’t this punk the one to tell her she was getting too excited?

But honestly, wasn’t she in a worse state than her?

“...If not…”

Anyway, now that she had come this far, she couldn’t stop.

Riru glanced down at Dowd’s lower half.

“...I’m going to continue, okay?”

“...”

Still, no response.

Riru swallowed dryly.

Sure, she had encountered a man’s upper body several times before.

But this was undoubtedly uncharted territory.

A place condensed with the mysteries of the human body that she had never encountered in her life, whether through pictures or words.

‘...Let’s go! It’s different from before…!’

With that thought, Riru reached towards Dowd’s lower half with a firm resolve.

At any rate, this was happening with his consent, so it should be fine.

Nothing could stop her from this glorious exploration that she would now undertake…!

“You lecherous bitch-!”

She thought as such.

At least, until Riru was kicked by someone and sent flying.

-!

Along with the sound of a window shattering next to Dowd’s quarters, someone agilely flew into the room.

Then, a swift kick flowed like water, so incredibly well-trained in physical combat that it was noticeable.

Riru, hit by this, was sent flying into the wall without even being able to make a sound.

“W-W-What are you doing-?! To think you would pounce on a patient who lost his memory! Do all these empire bastards lack conscience like this?!”

White hair flowing wildly. Daggers held in both hands. A student uniform that fit tightly, akin to a suit.

Dowd, who had been lying on the bed with his upper body exposed, stared blankly at the person who barged in.

“Rather than that, Senior! Are you alright?!”

He looked at the one rushing towards the bed.

He knew this person.

The name definitely was…

“...Miss Seras?”

“Ah, you know?!”

“...Excuse me?”

Wouldn’t it be more absurd to not remember the name of the person who came all the way to the infirmary when he collapsed?

Right as he looked at her while thinking this, Seras hesitantly continued.

“No, I mean, compared to other women, we only met a short time ago. So, I didn’t expect you to pay such close attention to me and remember me…”

“...”

“There are so many people around you, after all…”

“...”

Dowd held his head as if to express that he was dizzy.

Exactly how many women were around him for such a statement like ‘I thought you wouldn’t remember me’ to come out so blatantly?

“...”

No, wait. Hold on.

No way.

Could it be?

“...Uh, Miss Seras.”

“Yes?”

“Have I done something to you as well, Miss Seras?”

“...”

Seras scratched her cheek with an awkward expression, as if she was at a loss for how to answer.

That, well…

How should she put it?

Though she was wondering whether she should reveal this or not…

‘...He looks so desperate.’

 

Seeing Dowd’s face practically welling up in tears, Seras swallowed dryly.

Either way, this man was her ‘current assassination target’, but he was also someone she had a lot of second thoughts about.

And she had rushed in to save him for that very reason; she wasn’t sure what to think about him.

He looked like he’d get more depressed if she just completely denied it, so explaining vaguely shouldn’t be too big of a problem.

“I, uh, was going to do something… bad to you, Senior.”

“...What? Something bad? Did I do something to deserve such a grudge, Miss Se…!”

“N-No, it’s not that S-Senior did something bad to me! It’s just that there are a few people around you who don’t like you…!”

Dowd’s mouth fell open.

What in the world had he been doing to have people hiring a third party to harm him…?!

Seeing such an expression, Seras hurriedly continued her explanation.

“N-No, so like, what I mean is…!”

While waving her hands, Seras moved closer to Dowd’s bed and then suddenly stopped.

Following that, she quickly covered her eyes with both hands, but because her eyes were still clearly visible between her fingers, it was quite a bizarre sight.

The reason for this? Well…

It was because the moonlight leaking through the window illuminated Dowd’s upper body, which Riru had exposed just before.

“...W-Woah…”

“...”

Hadn’t Riru reacted the same way before?

Was it some custom to say that upon seeing his upper body?

Right as Dowd thought this with a dazed expression…

“...You called me a lecherous bitch? How ironic. Look at you. You look like you’ve lost your mind. You’re no different, huh.”

Riru was walking out from the wall where she had been embedded.

Even in the dark room, her eyes shone brightly, all too visible.

Seras narrowed her eyes and looked in her direction.

She had definitely kicked at her vital point in that one strike. And she had confirmed that she had inflicted enough damage to make her opponent faint in an instant.

But then, why was she still so fine?

‘...She’s not ordinary, huh?’

The physical combat skills of a Grand Assassin was, at the very least, at a level that made a regular knight look like a joke.

Yet, she took a direct hit and didn’t even have a single scratch.

It means she was far beyond the level of any considerable powerhouse.

“...And one other thing…”

Riru spoke, brushing her bangs aside.

Due to this, the bulging veins on her forehead were slightly revealed under the moonlight. There was no doubt that she was furious.

“Seeing as how you barged in so suddenly like this, doesn’t that mean you’ve been following someone without permission? It seems impossible for you to interfere so quickly unless you were constantly watching this guy.”

“...”

That was true.

Though it was an action taken under the pretext of observing an assassination target, It was a fact that Seras had been monitoring every move that Dowd took.

“Look at you, pretending to be all righteous and clean. The nerve of this mentally-ill voyeur.”

“...I don’t want to hear that from a woman who should be charged with attempted rape.”

“...It was an action made with consent.”

“Look at her, not even denying she intended to cross that last line. You crazy bitch. Do you even have a conscience?”

“...”

“Your claim about it being consensual was just your own delusion, isn’t it? Even though all Senior did was turn a blind eye to it, you decided to just interpret it however you wanted, didn’t you?”

At Seras’s words, another vein popped on Riru’s forehead.

“...Seeing that you kick people out of the blue, it seems you’re also accustomed to resolving matters through violence.”

She continued to speak, her cheeks trembling in fury.

“Follow me to the rooftop, you bitch. Think you’re that good at fighting? Huh?”

“...”

Somehow…

The situation was getting worse and worse.

Dowd thought this as he blankly looked at the two.