“Isn’t this just really bizarre?!”
Sephir vented her frustration while stomping her feet.
What had her looking so dumbfounded was a single crow perched on my hand.
Originally, it was one of the magical beasts that Sephir had raised.
“How can you charm my magical beast? It makes no sense!!”
“….Uh. I don’t really know either…”
I replied in a small voice to her who was fuming.
But honestly, I didn’t know either.
I was just practicing Sephir’s skills, and it was just a time for her to teach me the ability of charm.
I couldn’t really fathom why, but all of Sephir’s magical beasts, including her familiar, showed me affection.
Which meant my charm had succeeded.
“…Maybe charm is easier than we thought?”
I carefully suggested to Sephir.
I didn’t have any outstanding talent in this area, and things seemed to work as they came.
Could it be that charm is just an easy and kind of overpowered skill?
“Easy?! Is it eeeeeasy?!!”
But at my words, Sephir’s face got even redder, and she immediately exploded.
“Do you have any idea how many succubi can’t even use charm?! And even if they can, they need all sorts of effort and care just to barely tame it! It absolutely doesn’t work this easy!!”
With her loud wail, my ears slightly ached, and I covered them with both hands.
“But it just… works for me…?”
“That’s exactly it!!! Why does it work?!”
“Umm…”
“Honestly, Hera. Were you a nine-tailed fox in your past life or something?”
“Eeh….”
Nine-tailed fox.
A legendary youkai that has never even appeared in novels, only spoken of in myths.
It was said that those who met the gaze of a nine-tailed fox would be bewitched and disappear without a trace, leaving no story behind.
It seemed like a tale from a fairy tale, so people brushed it off lightly.
But being called a nine-tailed fox, now that was downright amusing to me, who had never charmed anyone or even knew how to.
“Do you realize how much agony and practice I put into making my magic!!”
“…..”
Sephir started screaming again, her voice piercing my ears.
Her incessant wailing began to annoy me slightly.
“It’s so unfair!! You get to do it that easily—”
“…Can you quiet down, Sephir.”
“…..”
As I said that with a bit of emotion, Sephir’s voice immediately silenced, and her face turned blank as she stared into space.
While I was puzzled by Sephir’s reaction, she suddenly snapped back to reality, looking shocked and jumped back from me.
“Hiiiii?! W-W-What was that just now?! Mind control? Dark magic?!”
“Huh…?”
In the midst of Sephir’s reaction, Mari had dashed over from behind, watching quietly.
“Mom, what just happened?”
“Huh…? What do you mean?”
I tilted my head, asking Mari, and she looked up at me with her eyes sparkling.
“Mom, you just spoke with a dragon’s tongue.”
“W-What?!”
“It wasn’t a complete pact, but… there was definitely the power of a dragon in your voice just now.”
Dragon’s tongue?
The language that disregards natural laws and causal relationships to make absolute pacts?
“Y-Dragon’s tongue?!”
Sephir was momentarily frozen, her expression turning blank upon hearing Mari’s words.
“That’s… that’s just cheating!!!!”
She began to shout as if the world had collapsed.
*
To cut to the chase, I cannot use dragon’s tongue.
That’s just common sense.
I’m not a dragon species, and just because I have Mari’s mana, there’s no way I could speak in their language.
However, I developed a skill that is somewhat similar to dragon’s tongue.
During the entire time I was unaware, my charm and a half-baked version of dragon’s tongue had merged, creating my own unique skill.
Actually, it was a magic similar to charm but slightly different.
While charm is a technique to seduce the opponent, this one is a kind of command skill over the other person.
In a way, you could call it mind control, a technique that confuses the opponent.
Of course, it can’t be used frequently.
At best, I can give one command to a single person.
Moreover, it wouldn’t work on higher beings like Mari.
If Robin had received the goddess’s power, it wouldn’t have been effective.
However, right now, Robin was just a student.
So, it shouldn’t fail.
Looking at Robin, various reactions erupted from the students.
“Puhaha! Did that guy trip all by himself?”
“I heard he had a unique ability and was looking forward to it, but this is boring.”
Boy’s laughter echoed while some girls exclaimed worriedly.
“Don’t! Robin-nim!”
“Ahh… I need to help him…!”
…Could he have charmed the girls already?
Not surprising for a protagonist.
He felt even more annoying at that moment.
“….But I do feel a bit relieved.”
Seeing him sprawled on the floor, I felt a bit of pent-up frustration release.
‘…This is punishment for not becoming a hero.’
With a slight feeling of satisfaction, I returned to my original spot leisurely.
Then there were Iris and Ariel, who welcomed me back.
“What’s up with that guy? He was all pumped up, but this is just too anticlimactic.”
“As long as he wasn’t hurt, that’s all that matters. Good job, Sera.”
“Thanks, both of you.”
I nodded with a shallow smile and tried to sit between them.
But.
“Ek.”
Someone suddenly pulled me and sat me on her lap.
Starting in surprise, I turned my head, and Lily was staring at me wide-eyed.
And not long after, Lily started leaning closer to my neck to smell me again.
“L-Lily?”
“Uh… umm.”
“Hey! What… what are you doing?!”
Iris’s face reddened a bit, while Ariel jumped back in surprise and tried to pull me away from Lily.
“U-Uk…!”
But despite Ariel’s best efforts, I couldn’t move as Lily was holding me tightly around the waist.
Sniff-sniff-
Lily continued to bury her nose in my neck, breathing deeply.
Her warm breath tickled my neck.
“Uhh….. Lily.. th-that tickles, so stop…”
But Lily paid no attention to my words.
After a little while, she finally released me and asked.
“Sera. What are you doing this weekend?”
“Uh…? Th-this weekend?”
Why was she suddenly asking about the weekend?
This weekend, I was supposed to meet Iris as Hera for her mental support.
“I-I’m meeting a friend.”
“……Really?”
Lily’s eyes seemed to dim for a moment.
“But what about today?”
“Today…? Today is…”
Before I could finish, Ariel jumped in between us, speaking urgently.
“Sera, you can’t! I have plans with you!”
Lily’s eyes widened for a moment before she shot a sharp look at Ariel and asked.
“…Plans? What are you doing?”
With confidence, Ariel answered with a shrug.
“Hmph. Sera and I promised to go to the bathhouse together today!”
“…..What?”
Lily’s eyes started to twitch.
Oh…
Was that what we agreed on for today?
I couldn’t quite remember.
But then again, it didn’t seem like a big deal, so I decided not to say anything.
Seeing Lily’s stunned reaction, Ariel continued with a triumphant smile.
“And we even agreed to wash each other’s bodies, right?”
“W-What are you talking about?!”
Iris stood shocked at Ariel’s sudden claim.
Her trembling gaze shifted between me and Ariel.
“I-I too… if it’s with that person… w-we wash each other…”
She mumbled something to herself, staring at the floor.
Beside her, Lily gazed solemnly at me.
“Sera. Is that true?”
“Huh…?”
“Is it true you said you would wash each other?”
“Uhh… yeah, I guess it wouldn’t be a problem…?”
At my words, Lily looked momentarily shocked.
I couldn’t understand why she was interrogating me so intensely.
Isn’t washing each other’s bodies a pretty casual thing…?
After a long pause, Lily looked at me with fiery eyes and said,
“…I want to go too.”
“What?! N-No!”
Before I could respond, Ariel interjected.
Lily glared at her and replied.
“Why can’t I go?!”
“Because… that’s a promise between Sera and me! It’s right for just the two of us to go!”
Lily turned to me, still glaring at Ariel, and asked.
“….Sera. Can you take me with you?”
“Huh…?”
“I want to go too.”
“Uh… uh…”
Lily looked at me with a pleading expression.
Hmm…
Honestly, I didn’t care.
There’s a saying that the more people there are, the more fun it is.
If Lily comes along, it could definitely be enjoyable.
Besides, for me to get closer to Lily, this was a good opportunity.
However, it appeared Ariel had a different opinion.
She clung to my hand like a puppy with a droopy face.
“Sera… I wanted it to be just the two of us. We promised…”
I understood where Ariel was coming from.
The main reason she wanted to go to the bathhouse was to learn some basic knowledge.
Perhaps Ariel didn’t want to show her shortcomings to someone else, which is why she was acting like this.
Caught between conflicting opinions, I thought long and hard before making a decision.
“…Sorry, Lily. It’ll just be the two of us today.”
In the end, I sided with Ariel. Since I had made the promise with her first, it was only fair to follow her wishes.
Then.
Crack-
In that very brief moment, it felt like all light drained from Lily’s eyes.
But she quickly shut her eyes and then smiled again.
“I can’t help it. Let’s go together next time.”
Seeing her sudden change, an uneasy feeling settled in me.
‘…Was that just my imagination?’
Just now, there was a chilling sensation from her previously dimmed face.
It must be just my imagination, right?
Thinking it was just a misunderstanding, I decided to let it slide.
“Everyone worked hard!! Let’s all return to class!”
With Professor Calvin’s words, the training came to an end.
Each class headed back to their own classrooms to continue with the remaining lessons.
After that, time flew by.
Since we were active, many students were dozing off.
“Hehe. I hope class ends soon!”
But Ariel seemed thrilled with gaining new knowledge.
She smiled throughout the whole class.
But that day, in the afternoon…
An incident arose where the heating magic tool at the academy bathhouse malfunctioned for unknown reasons.
Ultimately, it exploded, and the bathhouse would be closed for the time being.
And on that day, Ariel fell into deep despair.
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