Charm
"Hah! That was easier than I expected. Barely even a warm-up."
Even as she spoke so bluntly, satisfaction was plain on Esme's face as she stroked her newly acquired Flame Mage's Wrist Guards.
"You were amazing, Saya! Without you, we never could have taken down that giant golem!"
Salad chattered excitedly, still pressed close against my side, her face flushed with thrills that hadn't yet faded.
Panir watched us with a pleased smile.
"I obtained unexpected equipment as well. Today was quite enjoyable, indeed."
"Alright, enough chatting. This may be academy property, but it's still a restricted zone. Let's get out of here."
Everyone nodded at my words.
If we could just slip out quietly, it would be the perfect end to our dungeon raid. Just when I thought everything was going smoothly according to plan—
Ssssss—
With a bone-chillingly alien sound, the ground beneath our four pairs of feet began to darken. It wasn't a shadow. Space itself spread like black ink, writhing like a living creature.
"W-What is this?!"
"Saya!"
I was the first to react. Survival instincts honed by thousands of bad endings moved my body before my brain could catch up.
"Look out!"
I shoved Panir and Salad hard in the back, and at the same time kicked Esme outward like I was booting her free.
"Kyaa!"
"Ugh!"
With their short screams, my vision was swallowed by absolute darkness. Black walls surged up from beneath my feet and sealed shut against the ceiling in an instant, trapping me in a cube of space where not a single ray of light could enter.
Damn it. What the hell is this? This wasn't in the game!
Thud.
Thud.
I could faintly hear them calling my name and pounding on the walls from outside, but the black cube didn't so much as tremble under any impact.
Shit. What kind of crap is this now?
Even if this was a restricted zone of the academy, there shouldn't be any lethal traps that could threaten a student's life. Yet from this unknown cube, I could clearly sense ominous, dangerous mana.
That was when it happened.
From the deepest darkness behind me, a soft voice rang out.
"Our junior has quite the curious nature, doesn't she?"
Every hair on my body stood on end. A chill ran down my spine, and my heart dropped with a heavy thud.
I slowly—very slowly—turned my head.
There, golden eyes gleaming clearly even in the dark. Wearing a friendly smile, standing as casually as if he'd been there from the start—was Scone.
...Of all people, him again!
I forced down the sigh that tried to escape and put on a smile just as soft as his.
"You're the one who's truly dedicated, Senior. Patrolling all the way out here for the students' safety."
My sarcasm didn't so much as ripple across Scone's expression. Still holding that perfect smile, he took a step toward me.
"Well now. I simply happened to find a junior who'd lost her way in the area under my charge. You were aware this place is off-limits for safety reasons, I trust?"
"Ah, is that so? Oh dear, I must have taken a wrong turn. No wonder it felt so eerie. Thank you for letting me know, Senior! Then if you'd just let me out..."
I apologized with shameless ease while scanning for any gap I could slip through. But Scone simply continued in his low voice.
"The high-dimensional layered magic circle at the entrance was destroyed without a trace... and what of this thick residual mana?"
"......"
"For someone who merely took a wrong turn, you seem to have gone on quite a noisy stroll."
Damn it. So he knew after all.
This slippery snake of a bastard!
His golden eyes raked over me from head to toe. Cold sweat beaded under that gaze that seemed to see straight through everything I was.
I was cornered. A clumsy excuse here would only deepen his suspicion.
What do I do? At this rate...!
Dozens of simulations crashed into each other inside my head.
Force my way out? In this world, he ranked among the top in raw ability.
Argue with logic? He already knew everything we'd done.
Own up to it boldly? I was already under disciplinary action from the entrance ceremony incident. If word got out that I'd entered a restricted zone without permission and caused a ruckus, it wouldn't end with simple cleaning duty this time.
The only option left... was to smash the board with something completely outside common sense.
I made my decision. If reason and logic wouldn't work, I'd have to appeal to emotion. The humiliation would be temporary—but if I failed here, every plan I'd built so far would collapse.
In an instant I wiped my expression clean and carefully took hold of his sleeve, my face on the verge of tears.
"S-Senior..."
My voice had flipped a full 180 degrees from moments before—thin, fragile, and utterly pitiful. Scone's eyebrows twitched ever so slightly, as if he'd never seen anything like this in his life.
"The truth is... we got lost, and then these terrifying magic beasts... hic! So we had no choice... We were just struggling to survive, that's all... Okay?"
I looked up at him, blinking as if tears might spill at any second, pouring every ounce of pitiful, fragile charm I could muster. It was the most desperate act of cuteness of my entire life, drawing on every scrap of acting skill I possessed.
And right then, a system window floated up before my eyes.
Saya has activated Reckless Seduction.
Don't call it Reckless Seduction, you rotten system bastard!
Before my internal scream at the system could even finish, a new notification stacked on top of it.
Charm is influencing Reckless Seduction.
The moment the notification appeared, Scone's expression—which had held a perfect poker face—hardened for the first time. He said nothing, merely looking back and forth between my hand clutching his sleeve and my face gazing up at him.
...Ahh, I want to die of embarrassment.
A quiet stillness. How much time passed? At the end of a silence that felt eternal, Scone finally spoke.
"...Seeing you go to such desperate lengths, it seems you had a special reason."
Huh?...This actually worked?
I was the one more flustered. That squeezed-out act of cuteness... actually worked on this viper of a guy?
Scone seemed to sink into thought for a moment, then spoke as if he'd made up his mind.
"Very well. I'll pretend I didn't see this. Consider it payment for the handkerchief from last time."
He reached out and gently stroked my hair.
"There won't be a next time, Junior."
A complicated mix of self-loathing over my own cuteness act and relief at having escaped the situation swirled inside me, but I bowed my head for now.
"...Thank you, Senior."
"And..."
Scone, who had been about to turn and vanish into the darkness, let his words trail off. His golden eyes turned to me. Within them was a light entirely different from before—serious, and cold.
"Please take good care of Panir."
"...What?"
My mind went completely blank.
What did I just hear?
The villain who, in the game, had driven Panir to her death countless times through every kind of scheme. From that very person's mouth—a request to look after Panir?
Before I could even ask him to repeat himself, Scone's figure had already melted into the darkness without a trace. The moment he vanished, the black cube imprisoning me dissolved away as well.
The three who had been fretting outside rushed over at once.
"Saya! Are you okay? What on earth was that just now?!"
"I sensed powerful mana—are you hurt anywhere?"
Salad and Panir grabbed both my arms with worried faces, checking me over.
"It's nothing. I think the academy's security magic activated. I'm not hurt, so let's go—if we linger any longer, the professors might actually show up."
I hurried the three of them toward the academy. The whole way back, as I walked and tried to ignore the suspicious looks pouring in from both sides, my head was filled with nothing but Scone's final words.
Please take good care of Panir...
What the hell was his deal? Why would a villain who'd been trying to kill Panir ask me to look after her? It made no sense at all.
For a villain from a delusional romance novel, Scone's actions and cunning were viciously real. In the original game, I'd seen the bad endings where he drove Panir to her death dozens—hundreds—of times. And yet that same guy was asking me to take care of her?
Scone was definitely a bad guy, but something about it still didn't sit right.
...Ugh, and why the hell did he stroke my hair?
With a face way hotter than the male lead Basil's—did he just pet my head naturally because other girls usually like it when he does that?
Eugh... creepy.
What his real goal was, and how I was supposed to take those words—my thoughts tangled into a complicated mess, but I couldn't find any answers right now.
When we finally reached the main academy building, Panir spoke with a smile.
"Today was a most productive time—a great deal of fascinating information was collected, indeed."
Salad, her cheeks still flushed, carefully toyed with her newly acquired Mana Tear Earrings.
"I... I'm happy... that I was able to help everyone."
"Yeah. It was my one-sided request, so thank you all for helping out."
The moment I finished speaking, all three pairs of eyes turned toward Esme.
"What? Why is everyone staring at me?"
As every gaze locked onto her, she crossed her arms and whipped her head away as if disgusted. I smirked and waited for what she'd say next.
"Tch... Well, I... it wasn't bad."
In the original, I'd thought she was nothing more than a battle maniac who charged in without thinking. But after experiencing her firsthand, she was a tsundere on par with Kado—no, maybe even worse.