The summer festival has begun. The academy was overflowing with people, bustling and chaotic.
“Welcome to the Magic Club’s horror experience booth! Come join us!”
“Ariel, it’s almost time to start, so let’s get ready.”
“Okay! Got it! Kain…”
Lovers held hands or wandered from booth to booth having fun.
“Licht, what are you doing…?”
“I’m just enjoying the view. Oh, Mardol, do you have anything you want to do at the festival?”
“Not really. Nothing.”
Memories and happiness mixed together, making the world seem lively. Just us two were different. Mardol, dressed as a Kuer, stared at me blankly.
“…Licht.”
“What is it?”
This guy seems to have no romantic connections, no matter how much I think about it. Is there someone who needs to defeat the Demon King like Dennis to stir up their love line?
“…Are you enjoying the festival?”
“Well… of course! You can see sights you wouldn’t usually see.”
“I see.”
The tree monster drooped its head. Why is it suddenly gloomy? It’s worried about the guards, I guess. I hinted at it.
“By any chance, are you not enjoying the festival?”
“…I don’t know. There’s just a lot of people, that’s all.”
“That’s the good part.”
“Uh…?”
What a great timing to see pure love. How sad not to know this joy.
“Look over there.”
“Harpies and… an Oni?”
Yeah. A woman with new wings and a horned man were walking side by side, sticking close together.
“They look hot.”
“It’s still early summer, so of course, right?”
I couldn’t help but smile inside my helmet. The shy Oni man and the playful Harpie woman getting even closer.
“…What’s that about?”
“Those two probably like each other, right? Just a step away from becoming lovers.”
“How do you know that…?”
“Just a feeling.”
I said it a bit loudly on purpose so that Kainel and Ariel could hear. My voice echoed through the flaming helmet Mardol was holding.
Gasp.
“….”
The yellow Cerberus and the red Cheshire Cat, finishing the booth’s preparations, looked over in surprise. You guys better raise your affection levels and get married.
“Can you feel that fresh sensation?”
“…I can’t. They’re just shy, that’s all.”
Golden wolf eyes sparkled within the branch-covered helmet. Am I still cold to others besides myself?
I habitually rested my chin on my hand and contemplated. It’s quite the dilemma if the main heroine is like this. She should always be at the center of the battlefield.
I wouldn’t be able to keep helping Mardol forever. Eventually, I need to connect the other couples too.
“I wonder how this guy’s love line will unfold.”
I forced a bitter smile. Will a character who truly loves this glass knight ever appear?
In fact, because of that Magic Hat, even my mother turned into a card. It’s rare to find someone who can understand and support him…
“Thinking about this is pointless. Truly.”
Suddenly feeling dizzy, I sighed and stopped my thoughts.
Love is a fair thing. There’s a saying that even a mouse will have its day in the sun. I, who was in a pitiful state, changed a lot after meeting the Nameless Saintess.
“I have this habit of thinking negatively… I need to change that…”
Like unlocking the favorability of a northern duchess. Surely, if I grab the Magic Hat, she’ll meet a good person and naturally find love.
I felt a bit relieved as emotions seemed to be returning, but with the Magic Hat incident unresolved, it might be wishful thinking.
“It’s rare, but there are a few like a pillar uncle.”
What’s important is the heart. As long as it doesn’t shatter, it’ll be fine. Like me, the glass knight still sees a possibility for revival.
“You’ll find out someday, won’t you, Mardol?”
“Are you going to tell me, Licht?”
“…As a ‘friend,’ I’ll help you out.”
“Wow. I got a promise.”
When I encouraged him, Mardol eagerly referred to it as a promise. It’s just help as a ‘friend,’ after all.
People often say there are no friendships in relationships.
But searching every corner of the world, a relationship like mine and Mardol’s doesn’t exist. We’re just rivals and friends. I repeated that because it’s important.
“I’m only going to give you advice as a friend. Promises…”
“Isn’t it a promise?”
“It’s not because I want to do it.”
Main heroine. No, I’ve recently come to realize, had I not mistaken her for the Crown Prince, I would never have had anything to do with her.
At least I thought she’d changed gender like the Magic Hat.
“I had no idea she was a new character as a princess.”
In crucial parts, I lacked information, and in unnecessary places, it overflowed. This closeness was mainly due to my carelessness.
“But Licht, your eyes are sparkling with joy.”
“Me? No way.”
“…You’re lying.”
No matter what, it felt a bit wrong to push away someone who looks that pitiful just because she’s a girl. She’s been kind too.
At the bakery, she curled up in my arms and cried. She noticed my trauma and worried about me; she was the first person I met after the fight with the Magic Hat.
“She must have been looking for me all that time.”
Behind the tough armor was a heart more fragile than anyone else’s. Humans are contradictory beings. Even someone oblivious knows that much.
“Don’t you dare regret it later. If you make a reverse harem, I will punish you immediately.”
This level of consideration should suffice. It was too late to hate her. I slyly smiled to myself and spoke to her.
“…I’ll be looking forward to it.”
She must have been fishing for my reaction from the start. Finding it amusing to tease me, she leaned forward, clearly showing interest.
“Is she really a wolf?”
Her golden eyes resembling a crescent moon felt very much like a mischievous fox, reminiscent of facing Nex Aureus.
Inside me, a black wolf tail seemed to be stirring.
I let out a slight sigh. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if flags were piling up slowly.
In my heart, there would never be a priority for anyone other than the Nameless Saintess.
“Mardol, let’s get ready. The festival is really beginning now.”
“Three promises, Licht.”
“I know that too…”
To avoid falling deeper into the trap, I tried to change the subject, but it only reaffirmed her excellent memory.
“One is to take care of the Nameless Saintess. The second is the Dragon Heart… Last is to help with love as friends.”
Nothing much that could serve as a flag. Besides, no matter how high favorability rises, it wouldn’t change into mutual affection, so it should be fine.
“I’ll hold the helmet, Licht. If it gets heavy, just say so.”
“…Thank you.”
Feeling heavy steps that day, I walked into the club’s booth.
*
At that moment. At the entrance of Grand Hertz Academy.
“It’s a security check. Sir.”
“Oh dear… I’ve lost a lot of lives.”
The Head expressed discomfort as he was blocked by two guards at the entrance. With a helpless expression, a gentleman sighed.
“It’s exactly one minute late.”
“Failure to comply may result in binding magic.”
“Don’t rush me. I definitely have the wizard tower’s permit…”
As he said that, he rummaged through his pocket, making the nearby guards threaten him by pointing their spears.
“Raise your arms!”
“…Alright, alright. I can’t keep up with the youthful vigor of you youngsters.”
Just as if it was anticipated, the Head raised his arms willingly. Then, with a thud, the permit fell to the ground. It was a small parchment labeled ‘Wizard Tower’s Sage.’
“Oh, by the way, I have a warning.”
The Demon King casually warned the two approaching men.
“Don’t touch my body.”
The guards in armor ignored him, checking the suit for any dangerous items.
“What is this…?”
Time passed, and one guard found something in the Head’s pocket.
“Is it a magical item…?”
“That’s clearly an odd-looking thing. We are confiscating this immediately… Confiscate?”
What he held was a striking red eight-barreled revolver. An oddity not fitting for medieval fantasy.
“Ugh….?”
“Huh…?”
In that moment, the focus of the two men dulled, and they slumped to the ground. Slobbering, they crawled around on all fours.
“…Did I disturb the holy sword?”
Like newborn babies. The scene seemed familiar to the Head as he displayed no reaction.
“Wah! Wahhh!”
Soon, the guards crying for their mothers also showed signs of being incapacitated before using sticks or magic.
“I told you to be careful. Hmm, the name surely…”
It seemed he was about to recall something. He strolled forward. Even with a guard acting like a baby right in front of the academy.
“…There’s no time to reconsider. Sorry. At least you’ve preserved your life.”
The surrounding people showed no concern. They chatted and enjoyed the festival as if nothing happened.
“If you touched it a bit more, you would have forgotten how to breathe, so consider it a stroke of luck.”
The Demon King sighed, picked up his fallen revolver, and retrieved the permit labeled ‘Sage’ as well.
“Now, let us see what kind of hero will emerge as the protagonist of this strange phenomenon in the exam.”
The Head smiled as if something delighted him. Though he was surprised that his calculations were off, he had anticipated this level of variables.
“Emotions, intellect, reason, will… It must be the Demon King known for swordsmanship, Tarudun.”
The cries resembling a baby’s scream drifted further away as the entrance of Grand Hertz Academy came into sight, marked brightly as the summer festival.
“First, I’ll try to lure him in… And if he doesn’t fit my ‘prophecy’…”
He fiddled with the revolver in his pocket, where only one bullet was left in the chamber.
“…I’ll have to eliminate him. In the method with the highest probability.”
As the Head blended into the crowd, the air around him trembled, and a cold sensation momentarily washed over.
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