Certainty and Strategy
I stared at Rachel, my voice steady despite the awkwardness of the request.
“You want me to stay by Lady Cassandra’s side?”
“Yeah. I have a feeling someone nasty is targeting her, so I need to stick close and keep an eye on things.”
After I finished speaking, I forced out the next part with great difficulty.
“Just the two of us. Without you.”
“Okay.”
Rachel answered in a completely indifferent tone. There was no ominous smile, no catfight energy, no reluctant “I guess I have no choice but to let you go” vibe whatsoever. She simply sounded cool and unbothered, like she was genuinely telling me to have a safe trip.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“You already kissed Lady Cassandra, didn’t you? Then of course you should look after her too.”
Rachel beamed at me with a bright, sunny smile.
“That means you’re taking her as a concubine, right? Right?”
“Concubine…”
“I actually like her. Her chest looks so big and soft—I bet it would feel amazing to touch. Mom told me that as the first wife, I need to be flexible in moments like this. So go on. I’ll just lie in your room, sniffing your scent while you’re gone.”
Her attitude was way too chill. I gave Rachel a bewildered look, but… well.
“…Thanks. For understanding.”
“It’s fine. Go on.”
Rachel waved me off like a bored cat, and with that strangely smooth agreement, I headed off to meet Lady Cassandra.
“Welcome, Asbel!”
I had told Lady Cassandra that I would simply act normal around her while staying close as her guard, so I approached her private research lab with a light heart. But the moment I stepped inside and saw her, it was clear she was anything but relaxed.
Light makeup. She was in her school uniform, but she had added subtle, elegant accessories. Her face was openly flushed. A faint trace of perfume lingered in the air. She had clearly put in a lot of effort.
“The place feels pretty empty. I didn’t expect it to be this quiet.”
“It’s because of the class president election. The Truth Research Society rounded up all the skilled combat mages for special training and plans to pick the best one to become their champion warrior. That’s why there aren’t many people around lately. Honestly, it worked out well for me. I get to spend time in peace and quiet.”
Lady Cassandra grinned happily, looking genuinely pleased.
“So, what should we do?”
“My purpose is to guard you. Since we don’t know what Fankel Brown might try, I’m here to stay by your side and protect you as much as possible.”
“What an obvious excuse. That guy’s too much of a coward to cause any real trouble. Even if we overlook that incident where he pulled a sword and went berserk in the shopping district, I’m sure his family gave him a very strict warning. He’s not brave enough to ignore a warning from his own house.”
She was probably right. In the original story, he was nothing more than an annoying stalker—a pathetic one-time villain who got used up and never appeared again.
But if he had obtained a Fragment of Corruption and turned into a Demon, the situation would become far more dangerous.
“Still, better safe than sorry.”
Obviously I couldn’t tell her about the Fragment of Corruption or Demons right now—she wouldn’t believe me. Besides, I wasn’t even completely sure if Fankel had truly become a Demon yet. So I kept my answer vague, but it seemed Lady Cassandra interpreted my words in a completely different way.
She guided me to sit at a small tea table inside the lab, then took the seat directly across from me.
“Guard duty? Please. That’s just an excuse, isn’t it? You wanted to come see me, didn’t you?”
Her foot slowly brushed against my leg in a deliberate, teasing stroke. I flinched hard at the contact.
Her lightly tanned brown skin. Those enormous breasts that no man could possibly ignore. The woman in front of me looked far more like a succubus than a mage. She licked her lips with the tip of her tongue and openly rubbed my leg with her shoe.
When she saw me swallow dryly, her smile grew even deeper.
“That girl named Rachel. Are you two really dating?”
“We are.”
“Really? That’s too bad. Such a shame.”
“W-what exactly is a shame?”
Her shoe was now sliding higher up my leg. Her breathing seemed a little rougher.
“I wanted to date you. It was really disappointing. When you told me in front of the café that you and Lady Rachel were together.”
The atmosphere was getting dangerous. The same expression Rachel made every night when she pounced on me in bed was now plastered across Lady Cassandra’s face. If things kept going like this, I was going to get jumped again regardless of my own will—just like with Rachel. I reflexively leaned back a little.
“This is a bit… overwhelming. Do you usually act like this?”
I tried to keep my expression firm as I spoke, but it seemed the engine had already started. Lady Cassandra paid no attention to my hesitation whatsoever.
“People always misunderstand because of how I look. But believe it or not, I’m actually quite picky. My standards are extremely high. So many men have tried to claim me, but not a single one caught my eye.”
“I… I see.”
“But you’re different, Asbel. The moment I first saw you, I knew. You’re special. There’s something about you that’s different from everyone else. You’re the first person who’s ever set my heart on fire like this. I thought I would never feel emotions like these in my entire life… but you made me feel them.”
She finally withdrew the foot that had been teasing my leg.
“Can’t you break up with Rachel? Date me instead, Asbel.”
“……Is this a confession?”
“Yes. It’s a confession. The first one I’ve ever made in my life.”
Sorry, but you really don’t look like someone who’s never done this before. A living succubus. Living sex appeal. That was the woman named Cassandra. A girl with a face and body that could make popularity skyrocket was claiming this was her first confession?
[Heroine Cassandra’s words are true!]
📍 You are her first confession partner!
📍 She is currently extremely nervous!
It was as if the status window had read my thoughts. A small notification window popped up gently.
A virgin bitch. Was that the concept? A virgin with a body like that? What a ridiculous setting. To think I would end up with a heroine designed for otaku tastes…
‘This is fucking great.’
Of course I liked it. I used to be a basement-dwelling gamer shut-in myself. When such an attractive woman was openly confessing her feelings and aggressively approaching me, only an idiot would dislike it.
“Asbel. If you want me to be serious, I’ll be serious. What do you think? If you don’t hate me… will you date me?”
Cassandra was still smiling seductively, but I could see her hands trembling slightly.
“Even if I don’t look it, I really worked up a lot of courage to say this. Waiting too long for an answer isn’t really my style.”
Her bold words left me so flustered that I lowered my head.
‘Fucking community!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
If I went to the community right now and typed , there would be hundreds of posts! My romance-inept brain couldn’t come up with a single proper response.
Of course, if I had actually romanced the heroines multiple times, I would know exactly what line to use. But as everyone knew, I had only ever raised Asbel as a combat character. I had zero experience with heroine routes and therefore zero information.
“What do you say, Asbel?”
“I… um……”
I can’t break up with Rachel. The Catel Marquisate is currently my guardian family, so I can’t suddenly end things. Besides, my relationship with Rachel isn’t bad right now, so I can’t just cheat on her and start dating you.
…That was the logical, well-structured response I should have given. But with a woman sitting right in front of me, the words wouldn’t come out properly.
While I was cursing my pathetic mouth and stuttering, a sudden crunch sound came from the hallway outside her private research lab.
I quickly turned my head and caught a glimpse of someone staring into the lab before hurriedly turning and running away. I jumped up, threw open the lab door, and looked outside, but the person had already vanished.
All that remained was a clear handprint on the steel railing of the hallway—crushed by raw grip strength.
“What’s wrong, Asbel? Did something happen?”
Cassandra followed me out after seeing me suddenly rush outside. I couldn’t even answer her. I simply stared at the mangled railing.
The railing was quite thick and solid. The only people capable of crushing it with nothing but hand strength would have strength stats exceeding at least 1,000. That meant either professors, an extremely small number of strength-specialized characters among the 7th years, or… a Demon.
‘It’s Fankel Brown.’
He must have been hiding in the shadows as usual, watching Cassandra. Then he saw me flirting with her and reflexively squeezed the railing with all his might. I hadn’t seen exactly who it was, but the odds that it was Fankel Brown were extremely high.
“Lady Cassandra.”
“Yes?”
“Would it be alright if I give you my answer to your confession after the class president election is over?”
The Evil Dragon Cult despised the Imperial Academy. It was the place that trained people who killed the dragons they worshipped. If they were going to cause trouble, they would almost certainly order it to happen during the class president election.
Therefore, if Fankel Brown was going to make a real move, it was highly likely he would do it on election day.
“W-why? Is something going on?”
“Yes. It seems someone is indeed targeting you, Lady Cassandra.”
My serious tone made her expression turn grave as well.
“I understand. I’ll do as you say. Should we tell the professors?”
I shook my head at her suggestion. The Brown County family held considerable influence within the Steel Empire. They could make even an incident where their son pulled a sword in a public shopping district end with nothing more than house arrest. While I knew the full context and could be certain from this handprint alone that Fankel had become a Demon, the professors had no concrete evidence that he had actually threatened Cassandra. They couldn’t just start an investigation or arrest him.
Even if they used psychometry magic to prove Fankel had crushed the railing, bending a railing by itself wasn’t a direct threat. The professors would have no choice but to let it slide. In fact, it would only give Fankel Brown ammunition to pressure me for accusing him without reason.
‘The professors can’t move, but since I know the truth, I could storm his room right now and subdue him.’
The thought briefly crossed my mind, but I immediately realized it was a bad idea. If a fight broke out in the dormitory, there was no telling how many victims and injured students there would be.
Therefore, to catch Fankel, I needed to fight when the Academy had the fewest people around—in the place with the least number of bystanders. That way, I could minimize the damage.
‘The time when the fewest people will be around is during the class president election. Almost every student from every year will gather at the training grounds to watch the three faction champions duel. And the place with the fewest people would be……’
I knew the perfect location.
‘The central waterway junction at the bottom of the underground aqueduct connected to the large training grounds where the class president election is held. In the original story, the standard strategy was to lure the rampaging Darose there to minimize casualties before taking him down.’
What if, on the day of the election duels, I lured Fankel Brown to the central waterway junction, dealt with him, then immediately followed the waterway back up to the large training grounds and took care of the rampaging Darose?
‘It’s perfect.’
The plan was set. All that remained was to wait for the day of execution.