[As expected.]

“...”

Victoria Evatrice stared at the person on the other end of the crystal ball with an unusual frown on her brows.

Then again, anyone would show such a reaction if they were to hear such a casual response, especially after hearing the content of her report.

“...Why are you acting as if you knew all this would happen?”

Hearing her grumble, the person at the other end of the crystal ball, Marquis Bogut, let out a chuckle.

[Well, I’d recommend you to just accept your defeat now.]

“...What?”

[You don’t know about this since you haven’t been involved with him prior to this, but the moment you’re trying to compete with him in something that’s related to the ‘Devils’, you’re already lost.]

“...”

His answer only got Victoria’s frown to grow deeper.

“...I’ve never lost in a competition of killing someone.”

[Well…]

Like usual, a smile was plastered on Marquis Bogut’s face. But, it wasn’t his usual smile, it was more like a sneer than anything.

[Then, this is going to be your first time. He’s definitely going to do it faster than you.]

Victoria’s frown grew even deeper than before, but Bogut wasn’t done yet.

[...Although, there’s a very high chance that she won’t ‘die’ in the literal sense.]

“...What does that even mean?”

[If I were to explain it to you, I'd actually get punished by the Imperial Law.]

“...?”

[Ah, pardon me for that. You’ve never gone through the Beastkin’s coming-of-age ritual, right? That means you’re still a child. Well, by age and Imperial Law, you should be an adult…]

“...I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Victoria tilted her head and soon cleared her throat before she continued.

“...In any case, if I actually manage to kill her, the matter will turn into a big deal. It’s definitely going to affect both the Holy Land and the Empire.”

Since, according to the intel she received, Seras was the closest person to the Pope, the matter would probably turn into a bigger deal than expected.

Her reporting to the Marquis like this showed her professionalism. She didn’t want to make her client be swept in the aftermath of her actions.

“I’ll give you a proper report afterwards, so don’t wor—”

[No, I don’t need it.]

Marquis Bogut said indifferently.

[I still have my dignity. At least enough to respect others’ privacy.]

“...?”

She still didn’t understand what in the world this person had been talking about.

But either way, she had to do what she had to do. Because she wasn’t the type of person who’d go back on her words.

…She won’t be an easy opponent.

Her hostility towards her sister aside, she was still able to evaluate the capability of this opponent of hers cool-headedly.

Just like her, she was also one of the only two people who could be called as the best assassins in the continent. No matter how much advantage she had, killing someone like that wouldn’t be an easy matter.

So, she decided that the first thing she needed to do was to gather data about her opponent.

…I believe she’s in the next building.

As she was recalling the location of Seras’ room, she made her preparations.

After that was done, she left through the window, her movements almost like that of a bird’s.

.

With each step, her tiny body glided through the air for several meters—it seemed like she was walking in the air. Despite this, there was almost no noise being produced by her.

“...”

And as she continued to glide through the air…

She ended up recalling something…

About the person who taught her these things and the person she used to train with…

The dense forest she used to live with that person, back when they were children, the friends she once had, and—

…No.

Now, everything was in the past.

Because her entire hometown vanished thanks to the mistake that damn woman might have made.

Victoria thought so, clenching her teeth tightly.

…And yet she dares to flirt around with someone from the Empire…

The sight of her sister acting cutely, as if she could give all her being to that Dowd guy just a while ago, still remained in her memory.

Her impression about that man was that he was nothing more than an ‘assassination commission target’.

Of course, she had a lot about the Devil’s Vessels, Fragments, the Key to the World and all those things from her client, Marquis Bogut. She even heard about how she also possessed that Fragment thing inside her body.

But, the thing here was, at the end of the day, Dowd was still one of the ‘Empire’s citizens,’ the group of people who turned her past into a bloody one, and that would never change.

Even if she didn’t specifically hate him as a person, she would never have any reason to like him.

While she was thinking as such, the next building soon came into her view. Of course, it wasn’t surprising for her to arrive so quickly since she had been using such a tremendous movement to get here. There was also the fact that it wasn’t that far from her room in the first place.

Almost immediately, she found Seras’ room and leaped onto the tree nearby.

After a silent and gentle landing, she closed her eyes, focusing her whole senses on the ‘presence’ inside the room.

Her Grand Assassin's super sense was able to give her information beyond what her five senses could receive. With that, she was able to see the scene inside her room vividly, as if she was seeing it directly with her eyes.

“...?”

And…

She couldn’t help but to immediately space out after understanding what had transpired inside.

Because the scene that she ‘saw’ was something that was completely beyond her expectation.

Seras wasn’t the only person inside, there was another person. From the figure, it was a man. She suspected that it was probably someone she knew, and if that was the case…

Dowd Campbell?

Still in bewilderment, she called that name in her head before tilting her head.

What the two of them were doing was something extremely strange.

They were almost head-butting each other—facing each other so close that their foreheads almost hit. As if they were exchanging breaths, their lips—

…H-Huh.

Victoria’s face flushed.

…O-Oh, oooh—?!

Such a scream passionately echoed inside her.

W-What are those bastards doing—?!

Even though she said so, she was unable to take her eyes off the scene until the very end.

●

Faenol Lipek did not have many people who she could call a friend.

It had been this way when she was a mage of the Magic Tower and when she became an inquisitor of the Heretic Inquisition. Even when she came to the Academy, she still stayed as a loner.

Then again, not only did she almost have no chance to be involved with the other students of the same year, there were also a lot of people who hated her because she was the one who had caused the Crimson Night Incident.

Even Percy, the person whom she had a master-and-disciple relationship with back when she was still in the magic Tower, had grown estranged from her since they hadn’t interacted for so long.

That was why…

The only person she could speak her mind to was ‘this person’.

[I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I’m against you getting close to that man.]

The Red Devil’s coy voice echoed in her head.

She could imagine her crossing her arms, snorting while looking down on her with an overbearing gaze.

[Yes, I’ve only met him once, but I could already tell that he isn’t an ordinary playboy. He’s acting nice to you not because it’s you! He’s just treating any woman around him the same—]

Faenol, who had been listening quietly, tilted her head, before interrupting her.

“But, weren’t you also smitten by him when you met him?”

[...]

Maybe that wasn’t so, but, in the first place…

The Red Devil’s impression of him was a little odd.

If she was trying to dismiss him as a playboy, then she should’ve said things like how cunning he was, or how she was able to see through his intentions. But, she said something like ‘I know he’s a good person, but he’s nice to everyone, you aren’t special’ instead.

“I’m sure the other day you told me to not approach Mr. Dowd because he’s the same kind of person as the Gray one, the one who’s always plotting an evil scheme or something?”

[...]

“Why are you being inconsistent with your—”

[—Shut up.]

To that, Faenol just giggled and continued walking.

Originally, she avoided talking with the Devil like this Because the Devil always tried to ‘influence’ her mind at every chance she got.

The way she tried to interfere in everything like a mother who put her child near the water just annoyed her.

“...”

Actually, she was even wondering if the whole deal about her blocking her senses and stuff was just her being ‘overprotective’.

In any case, she had been saved by Dowd once, so it would be silly of her to keep on dwelling on the past.

Also…

Even though all those restraints were placed all over her body, she genuinely thought that it was more beneficial than not. Since the restraints were suppressing the Devil’s Demonic Aura with all sorts of spells, she became able to face the Devil as an individual to an individual.

And because of that…

She became closer to the Devil. It was to the point that the Devil became her conversational partner, a good thing for someone without a single friend like her.

The way she said the next words was proof of how well they got along.

“Wouldn’t it be nice for you to get to know Mr. Dowd better through this opportunity?”

For context, currently, Faenol was in the middle of chasing Dowd’s ‘presence’.

An easy task for her to do, since she was able to easily remember someone’s ‘Magic Power’s Wavelength’ and use that to track his location, thanks to her natural talent in handling Magic Power.

A secret rendezvous late at night…

Such a situation would match the mood of the ‘match’ she was about to propose to him. She thought so while giggling.

[...No.]

A blunt answer came from inside her.

Seeing the Red Devil acting shyly like that, Faenol just laughed at her—to her dismay—and when she was about to say something, the Red Devil interrupted her.

[Besides, that man is going to be caught up in big trouble soon.]

“...What?”

[Sure, he has the Seal and all, but there’s no way good things would happen if a human is involved with the Devils so deeply like that. Trouble will naturally come his way.]

She said so while letting out a long sigh.

It was clear that she was trying to say that something bad would happen to Dowd soon, but Faenol just tilted her head instead of responding.

[...Did you even hear what I just said?]

“I did. I just ignored you.”

[...]

“Well, Mr. Dowd isn’t someone who’d die so easily, so it’ll be fine. My only concern right now is that I don’t want the others to beat me to ‘it’... That’s why, I’ll put in a lot of ‘effort’...”

[Effort?]

“Yeah.”

Faenol nodded calmly.

“He had saved me once, so I should save him once too.”

Even if she had to risk her life in doing so.

Even if she had to devote her everything to him.

[...Whatever, you do you.]

They shared one mind, so the Red Devil knew that persuading her would never work.

So, she just said those words with a snort. Hearing that, Faenol just threw another smile before continuing to walk again.

[By the way, what kind of match are you going to propose to him?]

However, even though they shared a single mind, the Red Devil just couldn’t know everything. There were some matters that she was bound to not know unless Faenol told her the answer, like this particular matter.

“Se-cret-”

[...]

“You’ll know about it. I bet you’ll love it once it starts.”

[...I’m a little scared now…]

While they were having such a conversation, Faenol had reached just around the corner of the place where she could feel Dowd’s wavelength. She could clearly feel that he was close.

…Huh? This isn’t his room, is it?

‘What is he doing in someone else's room at this time?’ Faenol thought so before raising her hand to knock on the door.

But, the moment she heard the sound coming from inside, she immediately stopped what she was about to do.

The sound she heard was the sound of some things ‘hitting’ each other intensely.

To be exact, the sound of flesh hitting another flesh.

Not only that, she could also hear something that was similar to moans.

“...”

[...]

Faenol and the Red Devil went silent at the same time.

Because there was only one thing that came to their mind when hearing that kind of sound.

“...Uh.”

The silence persisted for quite a while before Faenol finally said something in a subdued voice.

"Did someone else come up with a similar idea to mine?"

[...A…similar idea…to yours…?]

“You know, the content of the match I wanted to propose.”

The way she said it so seriously made the Red Devil hold the back of her head in an instant.