The Festival (3)

"Uh, uh… magic?"

"Yeah. Yesterday you suddenly got insanely strong."

I had no intention of scolding her for it now. Not between us.

I was simply curious about the magic that had been powerful enough to break free of the contract.

"If I'm being honest, um…."

Liliana set the takoyaki she'd speared on her toothpick back into the bowl and scratched her cheek.

"I don't really know either."

"You don't know?"

"It was just… all of a sudden I couldn't control my lust. I was suffering through it, and then you walked in and I just… did it on instinct…."

"Hmm… Do you remember the horns and wings that grew out then?"

"I grew horns and wings?"

"Yeah. They looked incredibly cool."

"Hah. I should've taken a picture."

If even Liliana didn't know… then what was I supposed to do? I couldn't exactly drag her over to Professor Lim Sol for an examination.

Of course, it was something I could just let slide—but the real problem was the fear that she might cause an incident in a situation I couldn't cover for her.

"Come to think of it, Mom always told me to be careful around men."

"Tell me more about that."

Liliana had just dropped what was clearly an important plot hook.

A story about the secret of her birth would probably come spilling out next.

I pricked up my ears and prepared to listen carefully.

"Uh… she actually said a whole bunch of stuff really earnestly, but I was gaming so I wasn't really listening. That's all I remember."

"Wow."

What a little delinquent.

Come to think of it, the heroine system had assigned Liliana a pretty high score. There was definitely something there. I'd have to look into it when I got the chance.

Of course, I had no idea how. I just meant I'd do it if the opportunity came up.

"Forget it. Let's just eat takoyaki."

"Aye aye."

Nom.

Liliana herself seemed to have no memory of what she'd done, munching on takoyaki without a care in the world.

Leaving her to eat beside me, I looked out at the other cadets enjoying the Celestial Festival.

Night was gradually falling.

The first-years who had shaken off the exhaustion of the survival exam were starting to come out to enjoy the festival as well.

Even those who had been eliminated early must have found it pretty rough being cooped up in cramped lodgings for days.

Peaceful.

Lately, the demon organization Pandemic had been quiet.

It felt like they should be moving on their next terror attack soon, but there wasn't the slightest sign of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it.

Of course, terror attacks did tend to happen without warning.

In the original work it varied by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠route, but a lot of the attacks hit around the third or fourth day of the festival.

So from day three onward, I'd have to keep a close eye on things.

"Liliana. Is there anything else you want to eat? Starting tomorrow I'm going to be busy, so if you want me to hang out with you, you'll have to wait a bit. Let's do everything you want today."

"Mm, then… should we head back to the dorm?"

"Why? Already?"

Granted, with more and more first-years showing up, heading back early worked just fine for me.

"…Just because?"

Liliana poked at her takoyaki and lowered her head.

"…Alright. Let's go."

I could tell just by looking at her face now.

Haa. Fine. Tonight we'd see who came out on top again.

"Aaagh…."

Agony from the moment I woke up.

My lower back seriously fucking hurt.

I'd already overdone it yesterday while drained of vital energy.

The second the survival exam ended, Liliana had grabbed me and we'd had sex all night. Sure, I'd taken the lead later on, but hard was still hard.

After that I'd finished the duel with the vice president, staggered back to the dorm and collapsed into sleep—then the moment I got up I'd played with Liliana again and given her another taste.

Liliana must have thoroughly enjoyed last night; she was sleeping beside me with a smile on her face.

I playfully pressed on the breast squashed against her side, then stretched and got out of bed.

"No matter how I look at it, that warning was definitely meant for the men."

Liliana's mother had clearly seen that lust coming.

Maybe it hadn't been "be careful of men," but rather a message to pass along: men who meet Liliana, be careful?

Otherwise it made no sense.

"Tsk. Time to wash my face."

It was already noon.

Soon it would be time to meet the twins, Lucy and Rumi.

I washed my face, forcing my stiff body awake.

Thank god I'd taken the Elf's Essence. Without it, I probably wouldn't have been able to get up today at all.

Leaving the sleeping Liliana behind, I headed outside.

We'd agreed to meet at the central fountain, so I walked at a leisurely pace.

Outside was still noisy.

It was a festival meant to shake off exam stress, so this atmosphere would last all week.

"Tomorrow I should go see Professor Lim Sol… and I need to see A-young at least once. I have to see Su-rin noona too, and Elise might contact me… Aaagh. My head hurts."

Why did I have so much to do?

To focus on today's agenda, I hurried toward the central fountain.

Some of the clubs had set up booths and were selling food, but nothing looked particularly appetizing.

"Hi hi."

When I arrived at the central fountain, the twins Lucy and Rumi were already there.

"Hello, Ho-yeon."

"…Hey."

I greeted the twins energetically, hoping to lift my own spirits—but Lucy's reaction was distinctly off.

What was her problem?

…?

What was with her now.

It would be nice if the status window showed her entire train of thought, but since I could only see what she was thinking at that exact moment, it was pretty inconvenient.

"What should we do for fun today?"

It would have been nice if I'd come prepared with something clever to do, but I'd been too busy enjoying sex with Liliana to make any plans.

"I-I'd like to check out the arcade."

"Arcade sounds good."

I'd noticed earlier that the game club or whatever had put a lot of work into their setup. We could head there.

"…."

Lucy's expression still wasn't good.

She seemed a little sulky.

"Lucy, is something wrong? You seem down."

I spoke to her with genuine concern.

"…Is it okay for you to hang out with us? What if your girlfriend finds out."

"…?"

"Hic!"

At Lucy's bombshell, Rumi clamped both hands over her mouth.

Her eyes were huge as she stared at me—she looked utterly shocked.

And I was even more shocked than she was. What the hell kind of nonsense was this.

"Whoa, what are you talking about. I don't have a girlfriend?"

Wondering what could have made her say that, I quickly ran through the possibilities.

Thinking carefully, there was only one.

She hadn't been like this during the survival exam. In other words, she'd clearly caught me playing with Liliana last night.

Wasn't she tired? She could have rested for a day.

Still, since it wasn't true, I might as well brazen it out.

"B-but yesterday…."

"The person I was out with yesterday is a senior connected to the student council. She went through a lot of trouble because of me yesterday, so I treated her to some food."

An excuse cooked up on the spot, but it was fine.

I'd deliberately said "a senior connected to" the council, so even if they went looking, I'd have something to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fall back on.

"Ah, aha… I misunderstood… Sorry."

Lucy hung her head, her face flushed red.

The faint smile on her lips suggested she was relieved it wasn't a girlfriend.

"Hic… I-I never believed it from the start. Hic."

Rumi was so startled she couldn't stop hiccuping.

"I was pretty startled myself. Hey. You could've just asked first."

"Sorry…."

Having spun the whole misunderstanding on her own, Lucy apologized to me.

"No, it's fine."

What am I supposed to do with her….

Her blurting that out so suddenly left me more flustered than anything.

Lucy had ended up in a pretty awkward position.

If I could just make her completely mine the way I had with Liliana, it'd be fine—but I was still mid-conquest with her while expanding my relationships with other women, and managing it all was getting hard.

Given Lucy's personality—always out and about, always chatting with friends—misunderstandings like this were bound to keep happening.

Of course, they weren't exactly misunderstandings.

I need to keep watching for an opening.

There would definitely come a chance to finish Lucy's route too.

Ideally with Rumi at the same time would be best, but I shouldn't get too greedy.

"Shall we head over toward the game club, then? It looked fun."

"Let's go let's go!"

"Sounds good."

Today, I'd enjoy the festival with the twins Lucy and Rumi.

"Kh, khuh. Khkhkh."

A spacious room inside a vast mansion.

A man seated at an expensive desk was clutching at his hair.

"A disgrace to the third-years, is it? Fine. Let's see who's the real disgrace."

Staring at his smartwatch and reading the hate comments about himself, Shin Dong-min—hair a wild mess—swept every book on the desk onto the floor.

"I'll kill them all. Every last one…."

"You piece of trash."

But at some point, a middle-aged man had come to stand behind the bowed Shin Dong-min.

"Ah, Father…."

"Not only did you lose to a first-year and drag the Shinyoung Guild's name through the mud—you're falling apart over something this small?"

Shin Dong-min's father, the strongest member of the Shinyoung Guild, had come in person.

The Shinyoung Guildmaster looked down at his son with icy eyes.

"I'm sorry… Father."

Step. Step.

The middle-aged man approached Shin Dong-min, seized his face in one hand, and forced it up.

Those hollow eyes were filthy and ugly—but a hot flame still burned in them.

The flame called desire.

"Failure is something everyone experiences. If it's the first failure of your life, of course it's hard. But stand up. Shinyoung stands behind you."

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Father, these are…?"

Shin Dong-min looked over the documents his father had handed him one by one.

"They are all people who will become your strength. The guild's prestige that you lowered—you will raise it yourself."

"Father…!"

"Never collapse… You are my son. You can succeed no matter what."

"Yes. Somehow. By any means necessary… I'll have my revenge…!"

Shin Dong-min clenched his fists tight as he looked at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man nodded and left the room as he was.

Passing down the corridor and returning to his own room, the guildmaster of the Shinyoung Guild sat at his desk and hung his head low.

"Haa… How did he turn out like this."

Where had the brilliant child of his early years gone, only to become this ugly monster.

But as a father, he could not abandon his child. He knew his son was walking the wrong path, and still he could only hold him close.

"Dong-min… please stand up again."

The Shinyoung Guildmaster clasped his hands and prayed to whatever god might be listening.

Meanwhile, Shin Dong-min examined the documents his father had given him, the corner of his mouth curling up.

"I will absolutely not fall like this…."

Having cooled his rage a little, Shin Dong-min slowly reviewed the entire situation.

And he recalled the last thing Lee Ho-yeon had said to him.

"Kh. Right. That was it. From the start… it was planned from the very beginning! She ignored my feelings and gave her body to a bastard like that, is that it? That filthy slut…!"

Bang!

A mana-charged fist smashed down on the desk, splitting it clean in two.

Shin Dong-min panted hard, biting his lip.

"It's all that bitch's fault… Mun Su-rin."

This whole mess had started because of Mun Su-rin. If that woman had just accepted his feelings, none of this would have happened.

He never would have fought Lee Ho-yeon. No—Lee Ho-yeon never would have joined the student council in the first place. He'd only gotten in on that bitch's recommendation.

I'll make you feel the same pain I've suffered.

Blinded by ugly jealousy, Shin Dong-min still hadn't come to his senses as he began plotting revenge with his father's power.