Genre Shift
"Be careful, since your body is weak."
The princess smiled warmly at Melt, her eyes full of affection.
That's completely different from how she treats me, huh?
A person who could smile like that.
But when it came to me, she acted like that?
Every little attitude from Princess Yvonah was getting under my skin.
Why does she hate commoners so much?
The question suddenly popped into my head.
A princess would surely have been educated to care for her people.
Yet she had that kind of attitude...
I'll look into it later.
Right now, I was busy adjusting to academy life, so I'd investigate properly down the line.
Rustle... rustle...
Melt and Yvonah were flirting like they were on a picnic.
They're treating me like I'm not even here.
Yvonah seemed to be doing it on purpose.
Melt had just gotten caught up in the moment with her and forgotten about me naturally.
Either way, both of them suck.
"Halt."
Yvonah raised her hand, stopping me and Melt.
At the end of her gaze was our target: an 'ogre'.
"Lucky us."
Just one.
It looked like an individual separated from the pack.
Shing—!
The princess drew her sword.
"I'll prepare."
Melt aimed his staff at the ogre.
Something's off.
The princess took a stance to charge forward.
Melt was chanting a spell.
This is weird... Is that really an ogre?
The appearance matched an ogre.
The problem was...
That skin color.
Normal ogres had blue skin.
There was blue, but if you looked closely, patches of red were visible here and there.
Anyone else might think it was wounds or bloodstains.
That's not blood.
My instincts were telling me so.
I won't say anything.
Didn't the princess herself tell me to stay quiet?
I'll watch the situation and help if they're in danger.
If I saved them at the critical moment, her favorability would definitely go up.
Slowly... friends first.
As I thought that, the princess charged swiftly at the mutant ogre.
Thud-thud—!
Pretty fast, huh?
She reached the ogre in one breath.
As she drew its attention and leaped upward.
Whoosh—!
A fireball flew through the space she'd vacated mid-jump.
High trust level.
Melt had launched the fireball from behind the princess.
If the timing had been off even slightly, it would've hit her.
The distracted ogre took the fireball head-on.
Sizzle—!
Smoke rose with the sound of burning flesh.
"Simple enough."
The moment she tried to sheathe her sword without even swinging it once.
"?!"
A massive arm swung out from the smoke.
Yvonah's face filled with panic.
I instantly drew my sword.
Gram!
I summoned Holy Sword Gram and enhanced my body.
Slash—!
The ogre's arm separated before it could reach Yvonah.
"C-commoner!"
Yvonah stammered, uncharacteristically.
"Let's take out the ogre first."
"Tch—!"
Yvonah clicked her tongue in anger, but only briefly.
She wasn't the type of idiot to prioritize venting over the situation.
The ogre in front of me was about equal to me in strength.
But.
I'll hide my full power.
No way I'd reveal everything when I didn't know what the future held.
Even holding back, with Yvonah and Melt here, we could take down this ogre.
Plus, I'd already severed one arm with my surprise attack, making it easier to handle.
"Princess, take the right side!"
"Don't give me orders, commoner!"
I'd said it to avoid clashing paths, but got a sharp retort in return.
Despite her sharp words, Yvonah followed them well.
The ogre took constant damage from attacks coming from both sides and Melt's supporting magic.
No matter if it's a mutant, nothing beats a good gang-up.
Whenever Yvonah distracted it with her attacks, I'd pull out Gram and strike.
Good thing Melt's a fire mage.
I could hide the burns from Gram with his attacks.
And so it turned into a standard lynching.
Your body has grown one step further.
The ogre went down.
"Good work."
I gave a formal bow and greeting.
No response from Yvonah.
She just stared alternately at the fallen ogre and the arm I'd severed.
"Princess!"
Melt came running from afar, out of breath.
He checked Yvonah's condition first.
"Phew... That's a relief."
Only minor injuries, no major wounds—he relaxed.
Thud... thud...
Yvonah approached me.
Due to our height difference, she had to look up at me.
Should I crouch down in this situation?
I was pondering medieval etiquette when.
Slap—!
Pain bloomed on my cheek.
What the hell?
My head snapped to the side.
"How dare you ignore my orders!"
Yvonah glared at me, tears welling in her eyes.
Her expression held.
Anger... and self-reproach?
A mix of emotions.
Slap—!
Pain again.
This is ridiculous.
It was so absurd I wasn't even mad.
"Was I that laughable to you?"
Slap—! Slap—! Slap—!
Yvonah kept slapping me, while Melt just watched without intervening.
Melt, rumored to have a great personality at the academy.
But true to his noble status, he remained indifferent as I got hit.
His face said, You must've deserved it.
Yvonah kept slapping.
After a few more, she tired out and stopped.
"Next time... no, there won't be a next time."
She left those words, turned her back, and headed down the mountain.
"Then please collect the evidence properly."
Melt spoke politely but dumped the cleanup on me as if it were obvious, then followed her.
"Hoo..."
A sigh escaped me.
You guys started this.
I'd saved them, but instead of thanks, Yvonah slapped me.
Melt ignored me like it was natural.
No reason to respect either of them anymore.
Genre shift.
From a visual novel conquering heroines...
To a taming/conditioning story where I break them.
**
The essentials of a conditioning story.
Target the surroundings first.
Conquer Yvonah's circle to extract info on her.
Those close know the best weaknesses.
To target her circle, I need to improve my reputation first.
Right now, mine's in the gutter.
Two main reasons.
'Commoner' and 'rock-bottom grades'.
I can't do anything about being a commoner.
So, raise my grades.
Even showing just what I've got would put me in the top ranks.
But I can't reveal my true strength right away.
This is a dimension with demons.
Sudden power-ups could get me labeled a demon contractor and executed.
I need to climb gradually, like steps on a staircase.
First, target the bottom-tier girls.
Women know other women's business best. Time to start on the extra girls.
Conquer bottom-tier girls to grab dirt on mid-tier ones.
Repeat.
Keep climbing, and eventually I'll reach Princess Yvonah.
How do bottom-tier girls know their weaknesses? Simple.
Bottom ranks are full of commoners.
And mid-ranks... nobles don't treat commoners like people, so they say everything in front of them—things they should and shouldn't.
I'd experienced it firsthand during my days at the academy.
From a noble's perspective, it might seem natural.
Even if they know the nobles' weaknesses.
They can't do shit about it.
Plus, there's the crime of insulting nobility.
Commoners get punished for spreading bad rumors about nobles.
So commoners know the dirt but can't act.
I'll shatter that prejudice.
I'll show them what happens when you meet a madman.
**
"To think you took down a mutant ogre... impressive."
I submitted a part of the reddened ogre, and praise came from the instructor.
Directed at the princess, of course.
Her guards clapped from their seats.
Time to draw attention.
For now, I needed to shift interest away from Yvonah.
To strike her blindside without suspicion, I had to vanish from her mind.
Yvonah seemed to have erased yesterday completely; she looked at me with a blank expression.
"Heh, that commoner scum's lucky. Riding the princess's coattails to boost his grades."
Someone's mocking words.
Not a single person stopped it.
Time passed, and school ended.
"Midterms start next week. Hope you're all prepared."
I gave up on theory entirely.
I'm not smart.
High school grad with average grades back in school.
No point studying theory; it wouldn't help my scores.
Luckily, practicals were 60%, theory 40%.
I just needed to practice power control.
Power control practice, huh.
It was different.
Training was always about using strength well—hitting hard.
This time, it was about using it softly.
I practiced power control until midterms.
This is subtly helpful.
Felt like I'd taken a step closer to the softness Hagen taught me.
I was starting to understand when to relax or apply force.
Midterm day.
I bullshitted the theory test, and practical time arrived.
"Sigurd, Bella. Step forward."
The instructor assigned practical opponents.
My opponent trembled, terrified of practicals.
She held a bow.
"Start when the coin drops!"
Ting—!
The coin tossed into the air.
Clang—!
As it hit the ground, I charged at her.
Well, 'charged'—more like pretended to.
She fired her bow with shaking hands.
Swish—!
Arrows flew at me.
Non-lethal since it was sparring.
I deflected the incoming arrows with my sword.
Let a few hit on purpose...
I hated the pain but endured.
She ran and shot while fleeing, but.
"It's over."
I closed the distance faster.
"Spar ends. Winner: Sigurd."
The instructor's call ended the test.
Before leaving the arena.
"You've improved."
The instructor spoke to me.
"Had a recent revelation."
I mentioned the cheat key 'revelation' to avoid suspicion.
"Hm! Good sign. Keep at it!"
My tests done, I headed to the infirmary.
My opponent Bella was already there.
"Hurry up."
The curt infirmary instructor.
Aigoo, everyone here's an asshole.
I sat, and treatment began.
"..."
After treatment, in the hall.
Bella came out with me.
Awkward vibe.
"Come to think of it, we haven't talked much, huh?"
She nodded silently.
"We're in the same boat... Wanna chat now?"
I lowered my gaze to meet her eyes.
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
It works, as expected.
Thanks to Park Hana's boost, my charm was way up.
I knew it'd land, so I made my move.
"Alright, let's go."
I took her to the cafe.