The Commendation Ceremony
Ding—
I pushed open the dormitory door and stepped inside.
Rumi's sudden forwardness had caught me completely off guard. Not that I had any right to talk — I'd gotten even more worked up once the mood took over.
Still, the thought of her acting like that again already had me worried. If every heroine started coming at me that hard, I genuinely wouldn't survive.
"Ah! You piece of shit! Kill it! Kill it! Aaaagh!"
The moment I walked into the living room, Liliana's stream of profanity from her room came out to greet me.
It'd been a while since I'd seen her streaming. Nice. The sound of money printing itself was back.
"Hang on! I think the delivery's here? Something smells good."
Sniff sniff.
Liliana opened her door and came out into the living room.
"Hey. I'm back."
I greeted her naturally.
"Huh? What the hell. I thought it was the delivery guy. Why is it you?"
"How am I supposed to answer that? I didn't bring chicken today."
"That's weird. I definitely smelled something good..."
Sniff sniff.
Are you a dog or what? Why do you keep sniffing? I'm not asking her to lean into the succubus thing, but could she at least pretend to be human?
"Hold on."
Still sniffing, Liliana drifted closer and closer. Then she grabbed my arm and pulled it up to her nose.
"Hey, what are you doing."
"It smells so good..."
Right. I forgot — my body gives off a sweet scent. But you're a succubus, not a dog. Nobody else has ever mentioned smelling anything on me. And last time she came over, she didn't react at all.
"You were fine talking to me last time."
"The chicken smell covered it up last time. Sniff sniff."
"..."
A sweet scent that loses to fried chicken. Is this actually a garbage ability?
"I've got a skill that makes me smell nice. Cut it out."
"A pervy skill that suits you perfectly. Oh, right. Can I start following you around during the day again starting tomorrow?"
"Why all of a sudden?"
"I decided to start living productively, but if I just sit around at home I'm gonna end up masturbating again."
Could she please filter herself a little?
"...If you follow me around, you might end up seeing me have sex. You okay with that? Wouldn't that just turn you on even more?"
"I-I'm fine, okay? You think I'm some animal that goes into heat the second I see a girl, like you?"
"..."
I couldn't argue with that. Not today. But I wanted to blame it all on being the protagonist. Otherwise it made no sense that a loner like me would get swept up in the mood mid-sex with a girl.
"Fine. Do whatever you want. Just don't cause a scene."
"Okay, okay. Got it."
"I'm gonna shower and go to bed, so wrap up your stream at a reasonable hour and get some rest."
I gave a halfhearted reply and headed into the shower. Meanwhile, Liliana went back to her room, ended her stream, and came out to the living room.
"Mmm. At least starting tomorrow I won't be as bored!"
Shhhhh—
Using the sound of Ho-yeon's shower as background noise, she let the tension drain from her body and sank into the couch.
"There's surprisingly nothing to do around here."
At first, everything had been interesting. A world overflowing with freshness and novelty. But this place captured the human world a little too accurately.
The media Liliana used to enjoy back in Hell had painted the human world in such a flattering light. Streets packed with handsome men and beautiful women by the truckload. A happy world where even a weak demon could enslave a human the moment they caught one.
Reality was nothing like that. There were a ton of disgustingly ugly bastards, and the public security was insanely good. To make matters worse, Liliana's own power had weakened, so there was nothing she could do on her own.
Thankfully, gaming in her room was fun — but that was about it. Even the dramas were full of ugly guys. In Hell, they used magic to fill their shows with insanely attractive humans. Compared to that memory, most real humans were just good-looking goblins.
"Well, except for one person."
Her contractor, Lee Ho-yeon. A human more handsome than anything Hell's magic could manufacture. And from the glimpse she'd gotten, his dick was enormous. She honestly wondered whether it would even fit all the way if he ever went inside her.
Liliana stretched her hand out as straight as it would go and held it against her stomach. Yeah, no matter how she looked at it, the size just didn't add up.
Creeeak—
Just then, Ho-yeon came out of the shower, shaking the water from his hair as he walked over.
"What are you doing? You done streaming?"
Thump.
A strange feeling suddenly washed over Liliana.
"You pervert! Put some clothes on!"
"I'm not even fully naked. What's the problem with going shirtless in my own house?"
"I don't know! I'm going to my room!"
Slam!
Liliana shut the door and pressed a hand to her chest.
What the hell is wrong with me? Am I losing it?
Ho-yeon's handsome face as he stepped out of the shower, and the sweet scent that drifted over at the same time. In that instant, Liliana felt her heart pounding.
"Fuck! I'm insane! Did that pervert do something weird to me again?! Aaagh!"
Thud thud! She punched the wall next to her for no reason.
"Keep it down! I'm trying to sleep, you crazy succubus!"
"Shut up! You pervert!"
It looked like Liliana wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight either.
Today was Professor Lim Sol's mage specialization class. They'd probably already filled the theory quota, so it'd be another session of practicals with individual feedback.
"Wow, it's been forever since I've been outside!"
"Congratulations. Why don't you take in some fresh air and settle that restless heart of yours."
"Okay. But what's with that tone? Super cringe."
"Yeah. Your tone is even more cringe."
I walked across campus with Liliana hanging around my neck — the first time I'd brought her outside in a while. If I showed up at the usual time, there'd be too many people to talk to her. So I'd come in a little early, and the lecture hall in the classroom building was nearly empty.
I sat in my usual seat and examined Liliana. A silver chain necklace set with a crimson gem. It really was beautiful. Was it pretty because Liliana herself was pretty? I flipped the necklace this way and that, studying it.
"Hey, what are you doing?! That's making me dizzy!"
"You get dizzy when I move this?"
"Not dizzy, but my field of view is spinning, you idiot!"
"Ah."
I hung Liliana carefully back around my neck. Now what? Maybe I should check Everyday.
"H-Ho-yeon!"
"Hm?"
Lucy must have just arrived. She walked over and called out to me, with Rumi standing behind her.
"Here! Eat this!"
Something sat in Lucy's outstretched hand. A cute pink glass jar packed with cookies.
"Cookies? What's the occasion?"
"I-I just make them as a hobby all the time! I made a bunch yesterday so I brought some to share!"
What kind of nonsense was this. Lucy was the type to go out and run around rather than stay home baking cookies.
"There's no special meaning or anything, so just try one!"
She looked at me with sparkling eyes.
"Those cookies look really pretty. Save some for me!"
Liliana had a point — they did look nice, at least on the outside. I opened the jar, took out a cookie, and brought it to my mouth.
Fuck.
How did a cookie taste astringent? What kind of magic had she worked on these things?
Lucy was waiting for my review with shining, expectant eyes. I managed my expression with superhuman patience.
"I-It's good? Wow! Didn't expect that from you, Lucy."
"Hmph! Is there anything I can't do?"
Lucy was making no effort to hide how pleased she was. I'd wondered if she'd brought them as a prank, knowing they tasted terrible — but apparently that wasn't the case.
How little cooking has this girl done that she brought these without even tasting them herself...
Lucy was rubbing her hands together, looking delighted. She was cute, so I'd let it slide. Looking closer, I noticed several bandages stuck to her hands. I had no idea what she'd done to herself while baking cookies, but at least I could tell she'd tried hard.
Her eyes were overflowing with affection for me. Of course, having her express her feelings so openly was nice... but looking at Lucy like this, I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
Because right behind the Lucy who was so happy I'd accepted her cookies, Rumi was sticking her tongue out, licking her lips, and sending me a smiling glance.
If we got caught, I was completely fucked, wasn't I?
We gathered at the training grounds for mage specialization class.
"Hey. If everyone's here, let's start the practicals."
Lim Sol started class with her usual look of annoyance. From what I'd heard, I'd given her plenty of new research material, which she liked — but it'd also piled more tedious work onto her plate. I'd been planning to visit her today anyway. I should bring her a good idea. That ought to cheer her up.
"Grab a lane and start practicing. I'll come around to each of you."
Lim Sol started giving feedback from the frontmost lane. I claimed the very last one. The last spot would make it easiest to talk with Professor Lim Sol.
"Hmm, your manifestation is way too slow. If you draw a magic circle at that speed, you'll already have a hole in your gut."
"I-I'm sorry!"
The male student getting chewed out by Lim Sol looked flushed and... pleased. There were some guys with really weird tastes around here. Getting off on being torn apart by a woman.
I turned my attention back to the lane in front of me. That was when a voice came from my necklace.
"I think that big-chested girl is trying to assassinate you. Those cookies tasted like poison."
"I already told you they're not."
"You ate one, so you know! You went through all that trouble saving her from a demon and she doesn't even feel grateful — she's clearly trying to kill you!"
"How about you show a little gratitude yourself. Please."
She'd already forgotten that I'd saved her from those thugs in the first place.
Lim Sol was still up front. It'd be a while before my turn. I needed to practice something in the meantime.
"What are you even gonna practice in a lane? Weren't you a magic martial artist?"
"A magic martial artist? What's that?"
"You know, those crazy mages who enhance their bodies and fight up close."
"Are you trying to call me crazy?"
Still, I could see why Liliana had gotten the wrong idea. I'd picked mage specifically so I could fight from a safe distance, but lately it felt like I was only doing close combat. Whenever Combat Sense kicked in, I instinctively moved along the most efficient route — which often meant fighting up close.
The only fight that had actually put my life at risk so far was Felix, but as the story progressed, a lot more pieces of shit were going to show up. If I kept swaggering around up front when that happened, I'd take a spear to the face and drop dead.
Would raising the level of my magic solve this?
The strength of my magic was its fast manifestation. My mana pool itself was low, so I had to fire off each cast quickly and win through speed. Which meant I needed to find a skill that fit that style...
"Liliana. You know any Hell-exclusive magic that's actually useful in combat?"
"Succubi aren't exactly a high-combat race, so not really. Why?"
Consistently useless except for printing money.
"I just want to change up my combat style. I want to fight safely from a distance, but I can't think of an efficient way to do it."
"How about this? I saw you pick up Charm magic instantly last time. Just learn a bunch of spells so you've got more ways to respond."
"That's not a bad idea, but... there's a limit to the skill window. And there's the proficiency issue too."
There was no hard cap on the number of skills, but the more I had, the harder it became to acquire new ones. And skills gained proficiency the more I repeated them. It wasn't visible, but as proficiency climbed, the magic grew stronger. So for real efficiency, specializing in one field was better.
That was why I didn't casually pick up new skills. I never knew when I'd need a specific one, so I kept slots in reserve.
"Then what do you want me to say?! Just stick to the magic martial arts you're good at. Why are you trying to do regular magic?"
"I already told you, I'm not a magic martial artist."
"Then are you a magic combat mage? There are people who use martial arts and magic at the same time."
"A magic combat mage? What even is— wait."
Hold on. What if I just used multiple spells at the same time?
The process of casting magic was simple for me. I visualized the magic circle needed to activate a spell, pulled it out all at once with mana, and poured power into it to manifest the magic. The whole process didn't require much concentration. I could do it as naturally as breathing.
So unfolding two magic circles at once should be possible, right?
"I should just try it."
I put it into practice without a second thought. A fireball in my right hand. A flame spear in my left.
Fwoosh—
But the flame spear quickly lost its force and collapsed.
"Didn't work?"
What was the problem? The magic circles had formed just fine.
"What's this? I told you to practice and you're slacking off instead?"
Lim Sol's voice came from behind me. She was smiling today. Must have been in a good mood.
"Ah, Professor. I was trying to use two spells at once, but it isn't working."
"Double Casting? That's not gonna be easy."
Lim Sol manifested a small whirlpool and a water droplet on her palm at the same time.
"Oh! So that's how you do it! I didn't realize it was its own skill."
"A tip: you have to peel off exactly as much mana as the spell needs from the flow in your body and use that to draw the circle. Otherwise the mana's tendency to flow in one direction keeps the second circle from forming."
That tracked. I'd felt the circle suddenly shatter earlier — so that was why.
From behind Lim Sol, a male cadet's resentful gaze stabbed into me. It was like he was saying, She just chewed me out and moved on, so why are you getting such a thorough explanation?!
Sorry, buddy. Consider this a preview of how unfair the world is.
"You listening? I'll teach you Double Casting properly later. It's a difficult skill."
Professor Lim Sol, of course, paid the other student zero attention and kept talking only to me.
"Thank you. But let me try one more time."
Now that I knew the method, I felt like I could do it.
"Double Casting is as useful as it is difficult, so even I took quite a long—"
Fwoosh—!
A fireball and a flame spear formed in my hands. Lim Sol stopped mid-sentence, staring at them.
"As expected, you're the number one instructor when it comes to magic, Professor. I'll be visiting even more often."
Even things that wouldn't click came easily with a single word from Lim Sol. I couldn't not be grateful. And when I went to learn magic, she threw in sex education too. A true educator of our time, if I do say so myself.
"Huh? Whaaat? You did it?"
"It's thanks to you, Professor. Thank you."
"Mm... well. You should be able to do at least this much. That's why you get to ask me for those kinds of things."
Thankfully, the dazed Lim Sol recovered her composure quickly. But the way she kept saying things like that lately was a little scary.
"Also, would it be all right if I came by after class today? I've got a good research topic for you."
"Sure. Oh, right. You know the commendation ceremony is tomorrow, don't you?"
"Sorry? The commendation ceremony?"
"Yeah. Tomorrow morning, in the Victoria Academy grand auditorium. The commendation ceremony for you and Lucy."
She was telling me the commendation ceremony was tomorrow... now?