“Johann! I met with another candidate today!”
“Looks like you had a meeting.”
“Yep!”
I patted Millia’s head as she dove into my arms. Millia wrapped her arms around my waist tightly, hugging me fiercely.
“Millia, is something wrong?”
“Umm, there’s just something I don’t quite understand, and it’s weird…”
“Alright. Tell me about it.”
It had been a while since I saw Millia this downcast. I seated her on the workshop chair and sat across from her. But Millia glanced at me and asked.
“Can I sit on your lap?”
“Why not? You do it all the time anyway.”
I picked Millia up and carried her to the sofa in the corner of the workshop. It was a spot for taking a break. The plush, high-end sofa sank under our weight.
Millia wrapped her limbs around my waist and rubbed her face against my chest. I wondered what had happened to make her act like this. Seeing such an unusual side of Millia, I gently patted her head and inquired.
“Tell me. What happened?”
“Well…”
Millia’s explanation went like this.
During her meeting with Principal Merlin, she encountered a candidate who was particularly hostile towards her: a Theology Department student named Mimosa. And she couldn’t figure out why. Considering it, Millia hadn’t interacted much with the Theology Department before.
“Don’t let it bother you too much.”
“But…”
“What’s important right now is that you focus on your speech to become the student council president.”
“Can we stay like this for a little longer?”
“Alright, alright.”
I indulged Millia’s whim. There was no one else to do it, and she must have been stressed trying to challenge for the student council president, so I should comfort her at least.
After a while, Millia looked up and met my gaze.
“Johann, can’t everyone be friends?”
“Well, that’s a tough one.”
Everyone being friends… huh.
To be honest, that sounds almost impossible, doesn’t it?
There are people who like others for no reason and others who dislike them for no reason. In this case, there seems to be some reason, but still…
It’s probably something related to Karina.
After I smashed heads 300 to 1, things calmed down, but the crazies from the Theology Department didn’t disappear completely.
Those nuts wouldn’t just stay quiet, right?
But it wouldn’t be ideal to be guarding Millia at her side. That could potentially turn into misconduct. Should I tell her to hang out with some other girls instead?
I didn’t think the Theology Department folks would directly cause trouble… but it still made me a bit anxious.
Assuming the madmen won’t do anything crazy is the most meaningless thing ever.
…Ah.
There’s that option.
“Millia, don’t be too discouraged. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe. Since you said that, I’ll believe you.”
“…You know I’m here, right?”
“Sorry, Viola. Millia was just feeling down.”
“Come on… just ignore those fools, Millia.”
Viola sat next to me and started poking Millia’s cheeks. As she poked, Millia turned to look at Viola, her cheeks puffed up as though she enjoyed the attention.
“The Theology Department has quite a few loons, so it’s better to just let it slide. Just looking at those who were confronting your Uncle… they’re thinking about taking on a 300 to 1 fighter—how many sane people do you think there are? It’s not completely unreasonable, but…”
Why does she look at me while saying that?
“Thinking about it, it’s a ridiculous number, but even if they’re a bunch of losers, the fact that Uncle defeated them is impressive… 300 people must be terrifying just by throwing rocks.”
“Johann is strong, you knowoo.”
“Elisa?! When did you arrive?”
“I just got here! Did you not hear me knock on the door?”
“Elisa, how’s your training going?”
“Yeah! I’m working hard! Can I have a kiss as a reward?”
In response to her childlike request, I gave her a bird kiss. Elisa blushed slightly and wrapped her arms around mine.
“Johann! Me too!”
“Alright, alright.”
I leaned down to receive Millia’s awkward kiss. Kissing Millia felt a bit like kissing a puppy, which made it feel kind of weird.
“So, what were you all talking about?”
“They say someone from the Theology Department seems to dislike Millia among the candidates for student council president.”
“Who are they?”
“They said it’s a girl named Mimosa Velvet.”
“Oh… I know her.”
“Really? You know her, Elisa?”
“I had an altercation with her regarding Martina…”
“With Martina?”
“Yeah… the Magic Department and the Theology Department don’t get along well, so clashes happen often…”
Thinking back, it was the same in the original story. Whenever the protagonist joined the Magic or Theology Department, they’d get caught up in disputes between the two.
They could either mediate and reconcile, or completely crush one side.
Those were the two options.
Ideally, mediating would easily increase Karina’s affection level, so going down the mediation route was mostly chosen to pursue a romantic route with Karina.
But as long as Karina is around, there’s no need to recruit more allies for the Theology Department unless it’s for some fun party. At least the Paladin side was useful as a meat shield, or rather a tank.
Lewis is in the Knight Department, and with the original story having changed, it seemed that it had become Millia’s challenge alone. I couldn’t help but worry about what those headaches would do.
“Millia.”
“Yeah? Why?”
“I’ll have Rue stick by you, so try to stay close to her.”
“But if I take Rue with me, I’ll stand out too much, won’t I?”
“Just bring her in the form of a magic book.”
With Rue around, I could handle situations should emergencies arise. I decided to let Millia borrow Rue for a while. I didn’t know how Rue would react, but she wouldn’t refuse if it was for Millia’s safety.
“Then I’ll go get Rue…”
“Did someone call me?”
…They say if you talk about a tiger, it’ll come.
“What’s going on? Why’s everyone gathered? Contractor, are you two cuddling again today?”
“Why ask the obvious? Rue, could you stick by Millia for a while? I’m a bit worried.”
“Wait, Millia?”
“Yeah.”
Rue’s gaze turned towards Millia, who was clinging to me like a koala. Millia also turned to look at Rue, and Rue stared right back at her.
“That sounds easy!”
“Good, then stick with her in your corporeal form until Millia finishes school.”
“Yeah!”
That seemed to settle one urgent matter… and it was about time for dinner, so I thought we should go. I lifted Millia up by her rear and stood up.
Millia, in a naturally clinging position, looked at me with a confused expression but soon rubbed her face against my chest and said.
“Are we really going to the cafeteria like this?”
“Do you want to?”
“Yep!”
“I’m so jealous…”
“…Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“Black!”
…Why are you squatting down checking out Millia’s panties? I smacked Rue’s head lightly for her antics today and headed out of the workshop.
“Millia… really?”
“Since Johann can see, right? Do you want to see? If you want to, you can look…”
“Sorry, but I’m not that interested.”
“Tsk.”
Millia in her underwear. Honestly, just looking at it would only rack up my guilt points. If it were Karina… no, let’s not imagine that. Just thinking about it was such a violent image I couldn’t bear it.
“Anyway, you’ll be preparing your speech starting tomorrow, right?”
“Yep!”
“How are you planning your speech?”
“Umm, I’m not sure yet! I have so many ideas that I think I need to narrow them down!”
“I’m excited…”
“I feel like I have an idea of what I’ll say.”
“What’s a speech?”
At Rue’s question, I briefly explained what a speech is. After hearing my explanation, Rue clapped her palms together and exclaimed.
Where did she learn that pose?
“I see!”
“You too, starting tomorrow morning, just lay your body down in bed and come to school in book form with Millia. Got it?”
“Yep! But what about Cidri?”
“I’ll handle the surveillance.”
With layers upon layers of seals on both Sacred Magic and regular magic in case of escape, it wouldn’t be easy for them to run away. I could check occasionally. They seemed to be finding relief in just being alive.
Meals were being supplied through Rue in our room, but this time I should throw something fitting their way. There was still plenty to investigate. I planned to lightly interrogate them while I was at it.
After all, she’s also a demon, so she must have some useful information.
And so, we headed towards Yeomyeong-gwan, as noisy as ever.
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