I had come across Walter, the Dean of Theology School, once before. To describe him in a few words, he was a principled freak.

Which meant, convincing him would be simple enough; We only needed to show him some extreme things.

[...You’re the only guy who’d interpret it that way.]

“...”

[What, you’re going to show the Dean something extreme? More extreme than the shit you’ve already done?]

I mean…

It was way too late to even care about my reputation at this point.

Besides…

…This is something that I’ll have to do one day, anyway…

At the end of the day, my goal was to make all the Devil’s Vessels around me happy.

And in order to do that, I’d need to change people’s perception of them for the better little by little.

I could consider this as the first step towards that goal.

It meant although its scale was quite small, leaving out such an impression through an ‘official means’ like this was a meaningful thing in its own way.

“So...”

I calmly called out to Riru and Seras, who were staring at me with dead eyes.

“You two have familiarized yourselves with the plan, right?”

“...”

“...”

Their stares, as if they were trying to say, ‘Did you even hear yourself?’, were directed at me at the same time.

“You only need to do it once, so don’t worry too much about it.”

“...Senior Dowd.”

Seras called out to me, her body was trembling.

From her expression, it seemed like she was embarrassed about the whole deal—her face was so red that it would put all kinds of ripe tomatoes to shame.

“Are we really going to do this?”

“Of course we are.”

I let out a smirk.

“Well, don’t worry, there won’t be many people watching us. You don’t need to be so nerv—”

As we entered the auditorium where we would be doing the ‘trial performance’, my words were cut off short.

“...”

Technically speaking, looking at the situation, this wasn’t so different from what we had been told in advance. It was that we’d be evaluated by a team consisting of Dean Walter himself and an ‘observer’ or two.

But, the problem here was that…

“...Your Imperial Majesty.”

As those words left my mouth, I could feel a raging headache coming. The ‘observer’ then replied…

“Is there a problem?”

Seeing Cecilia the 11th asking me that question while smiling only made my headache worse.

What is this person doing here?

Is her position as the Empress of the Empire so lenient that she could walk around like this and neglecting her works?

“Ah, don’t worry too much. I’m only here as an ‘observer’. My opinion won’t influence the final result of the evaluation.”

“May I ask if it’s really okay for someone of your stature to visit this place for such a trivial—”

“That’s not the only reason I’m here. The reason why I came here in advance is so I’d be able to adapt quickly later.”

“...Pardon me?”

Why the hell would she need to adapt in Elfante?

“A moment gone never comes back. Since eternity isn’t a luxury permitted to the mortals.”

As I thought while tilting my head, Dean Walter suddenly said those while clearing his throat.

Ah, I see…

He’s trying to say that we shouldn’t mind it and just do our presentation properly…

“...Alright.”

I scratched my head as I looked at Seras and RIru.

Upon meeting my gaze, their bodies stiffened at the same time. I gave them a friendly smile as I beckoned to them.

“Come here. Let’s show them what we got.”

“...”

Hearing my words, the two of them walked onto the stage with tottering steps. Their expressions looked as if they really didn’t want to do this.

“The topic of study that we are going to present as a requirement for establishing our club is—”

Standing in front of Riru and Seras, I let my voice out with confidence.

“‘How to Tame’ the Devils.”

“...”

“...”

As soon as the Empress and Dean Walter heard that…

Their expressions turned odd at the same time.

●

One thing about an educational institution on Elfante’s level was that they wouldn’t only have new students enrolling at the start of the semesters, but they also had all kinds of transfer students enrolling at different times.

Such students usually enrolled through special routes because of various circumstances. With that in mind, there were bound to be quite a few weirdos among them.

And yet…

Even considering all that, this was the first time a student had ever made such a strange request…

“...Uh- hmm-…”

Madam Ophelia, the Housemistress of the new students’ dormitory, groaned, looking as if she was at a loss as she scanned the face of the person talking with her.

“So, your name is—”

“Victoria Evatrice.”

The person replied in a sweet voice. Her voice sounded like a bead rolling on a jade tray.

A female student. Her notable traits were the white hair that covered the back of her neck, her red pupils and short height.

At a glance, she looked way too young to enroll at Elfante, but no one would be able to say that to her face once they met her gaze.

In her eyes…

The acuity condensed in that red gaze…

“...”

Madam Ophelia only stared at her without saying anything.

Most people could probably feel it instinctively. And Madam Ophelia, as someone who had been walking through that path, could feel it even more clearly than usual.

Her eyes were the eyes of a killer.

They gave off the vibe that only someone who had ‘slaughtered’ a bunch of humans could exude.

Perhaps, the only one among the students who had a similar vibe to her was the Student Council President, Eleanor.

“So—”

However, Madam Ophelia continued without much reaction.

After all, she had no business in knowing the details of her background. As long as she was a student of Elfante, she was someone that she had to protect.

“...You wish to share a room with a student who’s not from the Empire—?”

“Yes.”

She answered in a steady voice.

This demand made Madam Ophelia let out a deep sigh.

She’s looking for a roommate who’s not from the Empire? At an educational institution affiliated to the Empire? What kind of demand is this even…?

…Huh? Wait.

When a certain information crossed her mind, Madam Ophelia tilted her head.

Did she say that her last name is Evatrice…?

That last name was definitely familiar to her.

So, Madam Ophelia began to rummage through the transcripts of school records to look for that specific name.

“Ah— there it is—”

“Pardon?”

Victoria asked, tilting her head with an expressionless face. To this, Madam Ophelia threw a smile at her.

“There’s a student who has the same last name as you, Seras Evatrice.”

Hearing her words, Victoria quickly narrowed her eyes..

“Since she happens to be from the Holy Land, not the Empire, what says you to share a room with her?”

“...”

Towards that offer, Victoria didn’t bother to hide her dissatisfaction.

“...Well.”

She opened her mouth, the tone that came out of it was still as flat as before.

Although the words that she said didn’t fit her tone of voice at all.

“I don’t think that’s a good decision. Both for you and me, Madam Ophelia.”

“Hmm—? What do you mean—?”

“If I were to share a room with that woman, there’s a high chance that either of us would end up dying.”

“...”

As Madam Ophelia’s body froze at her unimaginable answer, she continued her words in the same flat tone.

“Because we don’t get along very well as a family.”

“...You don’t…get along well—?”

Just how bad is the relationship between them as a family for her to be saying this?

There was a chance that she spouted those words as a joke, but considering the kind of eyes she possessed, Madam Ophelia just couldn’t take it that way at all.

“Well, that was probably an inappropriate way to describe our relationship. It has been more than ten years since we saw each other, so it may be more accurate to say that we have no relation with each other now.”

“...”

Even more so when she continued to say those words so casually.

Madam Ophelia sighed as she closed the transcript of school records.

“...Then can you wait for a moment—? I’ll tell you once I find the right student—”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

This time, Victoria obediently nodded before she said, looking as if she suddenly thought of something.

“Right, then may I ask you one thing while waiting?”

“What is it—?”

“Where can I find the man called Dowd Campb…”

Victoria shut her mouth before she was able to finish her words.

It was probably because she saw Madam Ophelia, who had been showing her a gentle expression all this time, suddenly changed to that of a tired expression.

“Hm? Ah, sorry— I’ve been asked that question too many times recently—”

“...Pardon?”

“There are at least more than five female students who’d ask where his whereabout is— All the time— Now, I could feel my exhaustion catching up to me whenever I heard his name—”

“...”

Madam Ophelia continued while shaking her hand around. Seeing that, Victoria narrowed her eyes once again.

Of course, she had heard a little bit about him from her ‘client’, Marquis Bogut.

I guess the rumors about that man being a playboy are true.

While Victoria confirmed the information she had received, Madam Ophelia continued with a sigh.

“Anyway, now that he’s a senior, it’s about time for him to leave the new students’ dorm. Well, luckily enough for you, I heard that today he’s going to do something that’s related to his club—”

“Club?”

“Yeah. I'm sure he said the name of the club was the Exorcism Club—?”

“...”

Hearing that, Victoria’s eyebrows slightly wriggled.

Then she asked in a quiet voice.

“If you don’t mind, may I ask you where he is currently? I hope you can share this information with me, if possible.”

Marquis Bogus had ordered her to report every single thing the man did that was related to the ‘Devils’; That was the reason why he planted her here in the first place.

To know more about this matter was completely in line with her mission, but aside from that…

…Honestly, I’m a little interested.

Victoria herself was interested in the guy named Dowd to some extent.

One of the reasons was because he was the target of the commission.

But apart from that, she had heard from her client that Dowd Campbell was the person who possessed the key related to the ‘Devils’ that could stir up the entire continent.

She couldn’t dismiss her client’s words as exaggeration since she constantly received information that the leaders of the Empire, the Tribal Alliance, and the Holy Land were all focusing their attention on him, even though he was just staying still.

As an assassin who had no option but to react sensitively to such a trend, she could not help but get interested.

That was why, since the man was establishing a club called the ‘Exorcism Club’, a very suspicious sounding club to say the least, she had to gather information about it, even if it was to satisfy her curiosity about what he was up to.

Victoria thought so before opening the door of the auditorium—the place where Madam Ophelia had told her to go to—to crack a peek. According to the Madam, the man was doing something related to the club here today.

“Excuse m—”

Victoria carefully greeted as she entered the auditorium, but she suddenly halted her movements.

Actually, the situation itself was not so strange.

They were clearly in the middle of some kind of ‘presentation’. There was a stage—where the presenters were standing at—and there were two people watching with interest from the audience seat.

So far, there was nothing strange in this scene.

Well, if one of the people on stage was not her ‘family’, that is.

…What the...?

Of course, her current look wasn’t familiar to Victoria.

A ‘Purple Aura’ was wrapped around her body. The look in her face suggested that she was a dog, trying to act cute—a completely different look from the cold assassin image that Victoria remembered.

Nonetheless…

The way she looked now…

“...”

The way her older sister lied down on the stage, showing her belly to the man in front of her while shaking her arms and legs around.

No matter how hard she thought of it…

The woman did not look like she was one of the only two Grand Assassins, like her, in the continent.

She was even panting heavily with her tongue out in that position. Her expression was filled with pure bliss, as if she wasn’t even ashamed at the fact that she was doing something like that.

Victoria opened her mouth wide. As an assassin, she had to avoid expressing strong emotions, but she just couldn’t help it when facing this kind of situation.

“...Seras?”

Before she realized it, Victoria called out the woman’s name in a stunned voice.

Hearing that, Seras quickly turned her face in her direction.

“...Victoria?”

At that moment…

After Seras confirmed that it was indeed her sister who had seen her like this…

The Purple Aura that was wrapping around her body vanished in an instant. At that exact moment, the strange vibe in her expression had also disappeared.

It was as if she had come back to ‘her senses’ as soon as she saw Victoria just now.

Then…

“...”

“...”

A catastrophic silence fell on the auditorium.