Iliya’s daily routine was quite simple.

Everyday after class, she’d come to the ‘club room’ to organize all the stuff inside.

Well, that was really just what she ended up doing. What she actually tried to do was to set up the club atmosphere so she could be all lovey-dovey with Dowd behind the others' backs.

Though lately, she felt that what she could do was more restricted than usual since others would also stop by the club room after realizing what she was doing, but at the very least, the place was still under her control.

Ever since she was officially appointed as the Hero, the other women wouldn’t just blindly rush at her like they did before.

Well, save for one person.

“...”

“...”

An awkward silence enveloped Eleanor and Iliya, who had come across each other by accident.

Both of them were well aware that they had nothing good to say to each other.

But, both of them also felt that it was inappropriate to just start growling at each other in public for no reason at all.

They had bad blood between them, that was for sure, but…

The problem here was once they fought, the fight would turn into something big and spiral out of control.

In summary, they had a lot of ‘unresolved’ things between them.

That was why whenever they came across each other out in the open like this, they’d try their best to maintain a friendly attitude to each other, at least only outwardly.

They had been maintaining this kind of status quo even after Iliya went out of her way to come strong at Eleanor back in the Tristan Duchy.

“...Hello.”

That was probably why Iliya greeted the other person first, even though it was clear that she was feeling awkward over it.

Hearing her greeting, Eleanor just nodded expressionlessly.

“I have thrown away all the strange things in the drawer.”

“...”

Iliya’s face twitched intensely.

Then again, anyone would show a similar reaction if someone were to respond to their greeting in that way instead of returning the greeting back.

“...You scoured through the room?”

To that question, Eleanor only nodded expressionlessly.

“This place is where Dowd is going to stop by, is it not?”

With a flat tone, she continued.

“Since that’s the case, it’s only a given that I’d inspect the place thoroughly.”

Her tone suggested what she had done was something so natural and obvious.

As if there was nothing in the world that could interact with him before going through her first.

…Self-righteous bitch…

Her attitude that made it seem as if that man was hers and hers alone had risen up from merely unpleasant to downright irritating to Iliya.

Ugh…

This is why I can't get along with her.

Iliya thought so while holding her forehead that was beginning to throb.

“...What were you even thinking? You have no right to touch someone else’s belongings like—”

“Hey, Hero.”

Eleanor called out to her, wearing a dumbfounded face after hearing Iliya’s grumbling.

She made such a face, as if suggesting that Iliya was going too far.

“You seem to keep on forgetting it, but I am the Student Council President. Keeping everything within the school’s regulations and moral standards is part of my duty.”

“...”

“Now put a hand on your chest and tell me. Are those items that I put away really appropriate to be brought into the Academy?”

“...”

Using politics to argue, that’s just cheap…

Since she felt like she’d lose if she were to stay silent, Iliya muttered a rebellious reply.

“...Those are contraceptive devices at best. It’s not like it’s illegal for me to buy those.”

“...Think carefully about what you have just said.”

“...”

“...”

Though, from the situation, it seemed that it would be better if she were to back off here.

Even Margrave Kendride said that running away from a battle one couldn’t win was not something to be ashamed of, after all.

Of course, she wouldn’t just give up so willingly, so she let out another grumble at the end.

“...Are you trying to brag that you’ve done it with him or something…?”

It was something that could lead into another verbal fight, but the reaction that Eleanor gave her was a little far from that.

Let alone getting angry or annoyed…

She only asked Iliya back with widened eyes, as if she did not know what Iliya was talking about.

“What do you mean?”

“What?”

“I haven’t done anything like that with Dowd. What did you hear and from where did you hear, that made you say such a thing?”

“...”

To this, Iliya blinked silently.

She remembered what Kasa Garda, the Fist Saint, had told her.

Her ‘Eye of Truth’ was the result of her developing her logically unexplainable ‘intuition’ to the extreme.

She told Iliya that if she was feeling sure about something, then it must have been true.

Which meant that what Iliya ‘felt’ when she saw Dowd wasn’t a mistake.

He definitely had lost his ‘virginity’.

But, the problem here was…

What Eleanor said was also the ‘truth’.

This woman never had sex with him.

“...Huh?”

Then…

Who the hell did it?

Iliya felt a tingling sensation at the back of her head as her eyes widened. At that moment, their surroundings suddenly turned noisy.

The whole building was bustling with various voices.

And the source of said voices came from a crowd of students moving like a herd nearby.

“What the…?”

“Whoa, what’s going on…? Why do so many people…?”

They simultaneously turned their gaze outside.

A terrifying number of people, to the point that they could see the cloud of dust as they marched, entered their line of sight.

What happened? Why are those people crowding together like that?

“Hey, there! Wait a moment!”

Seemingly interested in the phenomenon, Eleanor immediately stopped someone who was passing by.

“What kind of fuss is this? Where is everyone going?”

“Ah, Student Council President! Everyone is on their way to the sparring room in the Knight School’s building!”

“...The sparring room? Why?”

“To watch a duel!”

The student replied in all smiles.

As if he was happy that something which could brighten his dull academy life was happening right now.

Upon hearing his answer, Eleanor’s brows were furrowed instead though.

After all, it seemed to be only a simple duel, something that happened often enough in Elfante, considering what kinds of people that gathered here. There was no reason for this many people to gather to see one of those.

But, before she could ask, she already found the answer she wanted to hear.

“It’s not an ordinary duel, of course!”

The student that she stopped immediately added so.

Though, his next words left her blindsided.

“Because the Chieftain’s daughter and that crazy playboy are going against each other! The news has been spread all over the Academy!”

“...?”

“...?”

Not only Eleanor, even Iliya’s expressions went blank when they heard those words.

●

Today I learned, Elfante’s cafeteria was more considerate of people who were eating by themselves than I first expected.

In other words, I could sit in a corner while glaring at this system window without being afraid that anyone would bother me.

< Skill Info >

[ Fallen’s Seal: Transformation ]

[ .

.

.

Currently stored Devil’s Aura

Purple Devil ( 95% )

Brown Devil ( 5% )

Red Devil ( 5% )

White Devil ( 0% )

C̵̡̹̖̙̭͖̈́͐¾̸̧̥̬͈͇̹̘͕̠̮̩̙̎ð̸̞͖̋¾̶͕̻́̊̇î̸̙̪͎̥͎͍̲͔̔̈́̀̃͗́̚̚͠͠͝͠ ̵̨̛̠̟̲͔̟̔̍͛̈́°̶̨̙̠͆͋̔͛̒̀̾̆̉̏̕³̶̟̝̙͔̥̖̯̠̒̈̋̃̇̾̃̽̆̅͊͆̋̋  ( 0% )

.

.

.              ]

As I stared at such a window, I stroked my chin.

It listed the Devil’s Auras that had been stored in the Fallen’s Seals as I’ve come into contact with each of them.

…There aren’t much more Auras stored except for the Purple’s though…

White’s and Gray’s especially, were completely empty because I had used up a lot of their Auras during that whole thing with Victoria a while ago.

“...”

Also…

There was quite a high chance that this would turn into a problem later on.

“Caliban.”

I called out while turning my head towards the big calendar on the wall.

There were only a few days left before the School Festival started.

[Hm?]

“...Do you think I could go against all of them in these few days? We don’t have much time left…”

[Hmm… So, the reason why you said you’d let them have matches with you was to collect Demonic Aura of each color in that Seal, right?]

Yeah.

The more intense the contact I had with the Devils and the more I could move their emotions, the more of their Aura that I could absorb. I thought a ‘match’ with them was the most suitable thing to bait out such an interaction.

I assumed that something was going to happen at the upcoming School Festival, so this was my way of preparing myself for it.

The information that I got from the Chancellor and Her Imperial Majesty earlier made me realize that things were more urgent than I previously thought.

[...Because there are a lot of people who’d pick a fight with you?]

"And among them, there’s that one guy they mentioned.”

Count Nicholas a.k.a Slaughterer.

As long as Seras and Victoria were by my side, we were bound to go against each other one day.

Since both the Chancellor and Her Imperial Majesty had even personally warned me about him, there was a good chance that he’d pick a ‘fight’ with me even before the School Festival started.

That was why I decided to raise my specs as soon as possible in case that happened, but…

“...At this rate, I’ll really run out of time…”

Except for Victoria—who immediately came at me without a second thought—I barely even saw the others around.

Her Imperial Majesty the Empress tried to challenge me, but due to the circumstances back then, nothing ended up happening in the end.

[...Don’t you think it’s because you’re their opponent? All of them must be thinking that they can’t come up with an ordinary method against you. They’ll only challenge you after they’re fully prepared.]

“And that won’t do because, like I said, we’re running out of time.”

I’d rather them challenge me to a match that we could finish quickly, even if the match was something absurd.

As I was thinking so while sighing…

“Hey.”

My worry was wiped off much faster than I thought.

I looked at the person who called out to me.

“Uh, Riru?”

I hadn’t seen her for a while, so I tilted my head in confusion.

“...What’s with that appearance of yours?”

I wasn’t trying to say a lame joke or anything. She really didn’t seem to be in a normal condition.

Even though she always gave off the impression of being strong and athletic, this woman always dressed up neatly.

But, her brown skin that used to look so healthy and glossy now had turned dull. Her hair was also in a complete mess, as if she had been suffering on her own in these past few days.

She calmly answered my question.

“...I trained hard.”

“Trained…?”

“You’ll find out what kind of training it was. Also, regarding that, there’s something I need to say.”

Instead of answering my question, she changed the topic with a shrug of her shoulders.

“I've been looking for you.”

“Something to say? Then why don’t we move—”

“No. I’m going to tell you right here and now. I’ve been pondering about this for a few days. If I don’t say what I have in mind right away, I have a feeling that I will just chicken out.”

“...”

With how serious she looked, my expression turned serious as well.

What is this about? Why is she like this?

“...Alright. I’m listen—”

“Let's fight.”

“...”

“If I win, I’m going to fuck you.”

“...”

Look at this alpha female over here…