Why Are You Here?
I let out a lazy yawn and began my act.
“Ah. Sorry about that. I must’ve dozed off for a second.”
“It’s fine. You looked rather cute while you were sleeping.”
The demon’s presence had vanished long ago. It had probably returned to Katrina’s body.
‘I need to take advantage of the time when it’s still inside her.’
Turning the demon into a slave wasn’t some joke. I was completely serious.
Of course, a normal Slave Branding wouldn’t be enough to suppress a demon. But who did they think I was?
The mage who had left even Seah—hailed as the greatest magical talent in history—stunned with shock. The same mage who had brought the academy’s dean, one of the strongest beings in this world, to his knees (or not).
I had already unraveled the principles behind the Slave Branding. I was confident I could create an even stronger binding enchantment with greater loyalty.
‘Still, it might not be enough.’
Even my enhanced brand probably wouldn’t work on a demon. I had never tested it, but I was certain.
That said, there was still a way. While the demon resided in Katrina’s body, it couldn’t use its original power.
If I branded Katrina during that time?
It would be possible to seal the demon inside her body.
‘This is a heaven-sent opportunity.’
Ideally, I wanted to execute the plan right away. But my enhanced brand was still incomplete.
Since I had created it on a whim, it had many flaws. I needed to reinforce those weaknesses and wait for the right moment.
My opponent was an imperial princess. If I tried to turn her into a slave recklessly, I might end up with a collar around my own neck.
“Wake up already. Can’t you pull yourself together?”
“Ugh…”
I squeezed my eyes shut like someone still drunk and rubbed my dry face.
“So, what was it you wanted to talk about?”
“It was a joke.”
Katrina’s eyes curved into a playful smile.
“I suddenly remembered what happened in the waiting room.”
“But then you fell asleep, so it all went to waste, didn’t it?”
“Not at all. This was fun in its own way. You were surprisingly adorable.”
The last words Katrina murmured under her breath… why did they feel so sincere? Unlike the earlier act, they seemed to carry real emotion.
“As promised, I’ll join the club.”
“Thank you.”
I expressed my gratitude, even though my true feelings were far more complicated.
‘Somehow, I’ve gathered them all.’
Wouldn’t Seah be happy about this?
I leaned back in my chair and took a sip of coffee.
My face scrunched up on its own.
Bitter.
No matter how old I got, I still preferred sweet things. Seah dumped a generous amount of syrup into hers before picking up the document.
It was the club membership application.
That adorable kid had kept her bold promise and filled every single spot.
And the members were anything but ordinary. The empire’s princess and the young lady of the House of Sivtant.
And then…
‘...Rachel.’
The moment Seah saw Rachel’s name, she frowned. She wasn’t a bad student by any means.
She attended classes diligently and didn’t have any conflicts with the other students.
She was even fairly popular for a commoner.
But every time she looked at Rachel, an inexplicable sense of rejection caught in her throat.
At first, she thought it was just her imagination. She had spent many days blaming herself, wondering if she had unconsciously discriminated against her for being a commoner.
But that had been a huge mistake. The discomfort she felt from Rachel had nothing to do with her status as a commoner.
“...Erde.”
Her most precious friend once. Now, a friend who had grown distant.
Even Seah, who had been evaluated as the greatest prodigy among mages in history, could never catch up to her. The top graduate of the magic department.
Yet at some point, that friend had become known by the title Sword Demon.
Whenever Seah made eye contact with Rachel, she couldn’t help but think of Erde for some reason.
It wasn’t because they were similar. It was because she felt an eerily opposite energy from them.
“Haa…”
Erde’s face came to mind.
That bright, hopeful smile. Then it was overwritten by a completely broken, insane expression.
“I’m sorry.”
A voice thick with regret brushed through her mind like a hallucination. Seah bit down hard on her lip.
With trembling hands, she checked the membership application again. The names Ethan and Rachel kept catching her eye.
She unconsciously took another sip of coffee. It was sickeningly sweet.
“Now I finally understand why adults like bitter things.”
“You put way too much sugar in yours!”
An imaginary Erde answered her own words.
I should’ve skipped the syrup.
Letting out a self-mocking laugh, Seah pulled out the club establishment proposal.
It was time to deal with the problem right in front of her first.
After confirming that Katrina and the demon were resonating, time had passed.
I was in the lab, engaged in an academic discussion about magic with Linea. Seah was absent, saying she had something to check.
“Is there any way to reduce the amount of mana consumed by the spell even further?”
“Of course there is.”
...In truth, the academic discussion was nonsense. We were both just studying on our own and chatting idly.
Then, at that moment—
Bang!
“I’ve got it, everyone!”
Seah burst through the door, waving the club establishment proposal in her hand.
“What should we do for our first club activity? Hm?”
“Usually people do an orientation, right?”
“Should we go back to that place we visited last time?”
Seah stroked her chin and hummed thoughtfully.
“Hmm. By the way, where is the club room?”
“Right here!”
Seah snapped her fingers. The surrounding environment changed in an instant.
The last time I saw this, it had been far beyond my level. But now, it looked like something I could imitate.
“Mhm. Mhm.”
Seah looked around the club room and nodded in satisfaction.
“Good suggestion! That earns you a plus ten points!”
Seah pointed at me as she spoke.
“What’s the point of getting those points?”
“It makes me feel good. And if you collect enough, we can do something really fun together, hehe.”
“What’s the ‘really fun’ thing?”
“Supplementary lessons!”
I wished the supplementary lessons Seah was talking about were the dirty kind… but her words were completely transparent.
Those supplementary lessons were literally just extra classes.
“Are there minus points too?”
“If you do something inappropriate, you get minus points…”
Before Seah could finish, I pulled her firmly into my arms.
“What about something like this?”
I lowered my voice as much as possible and whispered into her ear.
“M-m-m-minus one hundred points!”
Seah pushed against my chest and started lightly pounding on me with her fists, her face flushed bright red like a tomato.
“You can’t do that to your professor!”
“I actually wanted to get minus points, you know.”
“You… you didn’t want supplementary lessons…?”
Seah suddenly shrank into a timid little ball and asked cautiously. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the sight.
“No, no. I just really wanted to see that kind of reaction from you, Professor.”
“Nasty disciple… Bad disciple… Stupid disciple…!”
Seah puffed out her cheeks and glared at me. How was this woman in her thirties?
Her way of acting completely ignored her age.
“You’re thinking something rude right now, aren’t you?”
Seah read my mind like a ghost and put on a serious face.
“No, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“I hope it is.”
Seah poked my forehead.
“It’s a quest. Bring all the club members to the club room.”
“I don’t even know where the other members are right now?”
Class had ended quite a while ago. They were probably all doing their own things.
They might even be outside the academy.
“That’s why it’s a quest. If you gather everyone by the end of today, I’ll give you a present!”
“Is this Supplementary Lessons Season 2?”
“Not supplementary lessons. I’ll teach you my Unique Magic.”
“Huh?”
Why had the reward suddenly gotten so good?
‘Wait a second.’
If I flipped my thinking… maybe this wasn’t that the reward had gotten stronger. Maybe this was magic I was supposed to learn anyway?
She was just showing off.
“Ahem! It’s an urgent quest. Get going right now!”
Seah cleared her throat and pushed me out the door.
“Why am I going too?!”
“You two are a set, aren’t you?”
Linea, who had been quietly standing by, was also dragged out of the club room.
“What is this because of Master! I was going to relax warmly in my room!”
“Hey now. Where does a slave think she’s going, trying to laze around while her master is running errands? Hurry up and follow.”
“Hmph!”
Taking Linea with me, I began searching for the club members.
First was Katrina.
“Understood. I’ll get ready and come.”
Easy to handle.
Next target was Rachel.
“Y-you want me to go alone?”
“It’s better than being late.”
“...That’s true, I guess.”
Persuaded with a single sentence.
Finally, it was Isana’s turn…
‘Where is she?’
She wasn’t in the dormitory. She couldn’t be out drinking and crying again like last time, could she?
‘I don’t even have a way to contact her. This is so inconvenient.’
They had kiosks, yet communication technology was strangely underdeveloped.
It looked like I’d have to go around looking for her myself.
“She’s probably at the shopping district. She goes there often.”
I heard that from one of the people who usually hung out with Isana.
“By the way, how about we grab a meal…”
“Sorry. I’m busy.”
After quickly parting ways, I scoured the shopping district from one end to the other. But I found nothing.
I was just about to give up on finding her today when—
“Hm?”
A suspicious figure in a robe brushed past me. They were wrapped up so tightly that I couldn’t even tell if they were a man or a woman.
But the scent was familiar.
“Master.”
Linea reacted the same way I did.
“Should we follow?”
“Let’s do that.”
We followed the robed figure. They walked endlessly before eventually slipping into a narrow alley.
Now was the time.
I exchanged a signal with Linea and we charged in, but—
“Eh?”
There stood the Saintess of Purity, Seris Clarine.
“S-shh!”
The saintess urgently gestured for us to be quiet.
“...Why on earth are you here?”
“I enrolled this time and came secretly. I thought if I wrapped myself up completely in this robe, no one would notice…”
“No, no.”
Why did you enroll here in the first place?