Practical Evaluation D-1
I'd been careless. It was the kind of problem that could've been avoided with just a little more thought. I'd been so caught up in how happy my date with Lilith had been that I completely missed the eyes watching us. Once it hit the daily newspaper, it was already over.
The academy's newspaper club didn't care one bit about privacy—that was why they drew so much criticism—but no one could dispute the accuracy and reliability of their information. There was another problem, too. Among the lines of text beneath the photo, one part stood out.
—Judging by the uniforms, an academy student? Or perhaps a graduate?
...I had worn my uniform when I left, hadn't I? It made sense, of course. Thanks to the various enchantments woven into them, academy uniforms weren't handed out to just anyone. Only current students and graduates were permitted to wear them. They were precious garments that couldn't even be stolen, thanks to the headmaster's anti-theft magic. And yet I'd gone and paraded around on a date wearing one...
My own stupidity made my head throb.
"Arthur! Who is this woman? Your girlfriend?!"
Right then, I thought of a way out. A single answer that could snuff out the suspicion entirely—without even being a lie.
If I say she's family...
If I framed it as us being close siblings, then maybe things like linked arms or indirect kisses wouldn't seem so strange. It was the best option. I could feel it in my gut—there was no better way.
But...
I glanced down at my right arm. Lilith's grip was iron-tight, squeezing so hard the blood could barely flow. A red light flickered in her eyes.
If I called her family now... it would be like driving a stake straight into her heart. It hadn't even been half a day since she'd declared she'd take a week to sort out her feelings...
I had to make a decision.
"Ah..."
"Ah?"
Lilith's fingers tightened further. I squeezed my eyes shut and yanked my arm free with all my strength. Letia stared at me in confusion, while Lilith... looked genuinely hurt.
But I wasn't done. I wrapped the arm I'd pulled free around her waist, drew her close, and pressed my cheek against her collarbone—right where I'd left that mark.
"We're... not dating yet."
"!!!!"
"!!!!"
Both Letia and Lilith stared at me in shock. Their expressions quickly diverged. Letia's face hardened, while Lilith's lit up with pure delight.
"You... what do you mean by that..." Letia stammered.
"...So, someday you will date...?"
I looked at the trailing end of her question and answered.
"...Probably."
Letia's mouth fell open as she froze in place. Lilith let out a joyful cry and threw her arms around me. I offered Letia a quick greeting over Lilith's shoulder as I passed her, then headed straight for the dorms.
As I walked down the corridor, I could feel people glancing my way. I knew it wasn't true, but the thought that they were staring at Lilith clinging to me left a strange, unpleasant feeling in my chest. I quickened my pace.
The moment I reached the dorm, Lilith pounced.
"Arthur!!"
"W-wait a second!"
"I'll make you happy for the rest of your life~"
"Lilith!!"
You said you'd wait a week!
----
"...Honestly, that was basically a confession already, wasn't it?"
"......"
I couldn't deny it. Anyone could see it had been a confession. Still...
"...Just wait a little longer, please."
Lilith shot me a sidelong glare.
"...How did I end up falling for such a blockhead..."
Sorry for being a blockhead...
"Still..."
She suddenly leaned in and kissed my cheek.
"Mwah... Maybe that's exactly why I like you even more?"
I felt my face flush with heat. At this rate, I might not even last the full week. I was the one who might not be able to hold back.
She'd seemed so mature and seductive when we first met, but now that allure had been upgraded with a mix of playfulness and cuteness that made her utterly irresistible.
They say love turns a woman into a girl... I never thought that saying would apply to an Outer God, too.
Looking back, Lilith's transformation had been happening faster with each passing day. Just like she'd said, her feelings for me were growing stronger every second, and it showed in everything she did. And because of her, I found myself liking her more today than I had yesterday, and more yesterday than the day before. I could feel it instinctively—the day this feeling crossed its limit wasn't far off. And that day would be D-day.
----
Lewis Goldson was grinding his teeth so hard it seemed like they might shatter. In his hand was a single sheet of newspaper. Staring at the large photo of the couple printed on the front page, he bit down on his lip.
"Damn it...!"
He cursed Arthur's smiling face in the photo, only to be struck by another wave of pain and rush to the bathroom.
—Thud... thud...
"Aaaaargh!!"
While he suffered like this, the one responsible for his torment was happily enjoying a date with a woman. A woman whose beauty put every noble lady Lewis had ever seen to shame.
His rage boiled over so fiercely that he didn't even notice the blood trickling from his tightly pressed lips. Thrashing on the toilet, he thought, That damn troll bastard!
Convinced he might actually die from sheer anger, Lewis forced himself to suppress his fury. After receiving healing magic in the bathroom, he decided to go for a walk to clear his head.
Dressed for the cold, he wandered aimlessly through the park, letting the chill wind wash over him. The crisp air did seem to clear his mind, and he resolved to take walks more often.
How much time had passed? As the sky began to darken, Lewis turned back toward the dorms. He was walking in a daze when—
"...Hm?"
A strange sense of déjà vu crept over him. An unsettling feeling, like he'd forgotten something, made him frown. For a moment he panicked, wondering if he'd forgotten to clean up in the bathroom, but a quick check reassured him that wasn't it.
Still bothered by the lingering sensation, he kept walking—only to realize he'd completely lost track of where he was going.
"...Which way was I supposed to go?"
He looked around, but everything was swallowed in deep darkness. He'd thought there was still time before sunset, yet the world had gone pitch black. Panicking, he tried to cast a spell.
He attempted to summon a fireball, but—
"My magic isn't working?!"
Not even a spark appeared in his palm. A primal fear gripped him at the bizarre phenomenon, and he instinctively backed away.
Just then—
"Good evening."
"Waaah!!"
Startled, Lewis whirled around, but behind him there was only darkness, just like everywhere else.
"W-who's there?!"
"Don't be afraid. I'm someone who wants to help you."
The voice seemed to come from every direction at once; he couldn't pinpoint its source.
"Who the hell are you, offering help?!"
"Hehehe. You already know the answer to that, don't you?"
Lewis flushed as he realized what the voice was implying.
"Shut up! What do you know?!"
Laughter echoed from all around.
"Hahaha. I may not know everything, but I know quite a lot. For example... the identity of the one who cursed you?"
"...What?"
"Are you curious?"
For a moment, Lewis was tempted, but he quickly shook his head and regained his composure.
"I'm not interested in that."
"Ah, of course. That's not what you're curious about right now... What you want is—"
Right after those words, Lewis felt a presence behind him. He spun around violently and fell backward in shock at the tall figure that had appeared before him.
Someone bent down toward the fallen Lewis, and a chilling voice followed.
"You want revenge."
In that instant, a flash of lightning illuminated the darkness for a split second. Lewis saw it clearly—a bald man with pitch-black skin and strikingly blue eyes. The grotesque sight made him scramble backward in panic.
"Oh dear, did my appearance startle you? If you don't like this form... I have others."
Another flash of light revealed an grotesquely swollen female body. Though the darkness hid everything but the torso, even that alone was far from human.
"Hmm... This one doesn't suit your tastes either?"
With each subsequent flash, the figure changed—gender, shape, even race shifting—yet the voice remained exactly the same. The dissonance made Lewis retch.
"Urgh... bleeegh..."
But since he hadn't eaten anything properly, only gastric fluid came up.
"Ahahaha! Nothing but stomach acid. That must be quite unpleasant."
"Cough... hack... What... do you want?"
"No, no. It's not about what I want. What's important is knowing what you want."
"What...?"
A corpse-pale hand reached out through the darkness.
"I already told you. You want revenge."
Lewis swatted the hand away.
"Don't talk nonsense. How would you know what's in my heart?"
"Even though I serve the most ignorant being in the universe, I still know many things. Especially your heart—I know it very well."
The voice echoed from every direction once more.
"Doesn't it feel unfair?"
"Doesn't the anger rise within you?"
"A mere commoner."
"A wretch who can't even use magic properly."
"A troll bastard."
The voice gradually morphed into Lewis's own. Horrified, he realized the words were now coming from his own mouth.
"You... what are you?"
"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm going to help you."
The pale hand extended toward him again.
"Will you take it?"
"......"
The hand looked grotesque, yet Lewis felt an inexplicable pull toward it.
—Grab.
Lewis decided to trust the voice in his heart. If it meant getting revenge on that damn troll who had ruined him, he would make a deal with the devil.
"Hehehe... Excellent. Very good..."
"What do I have to do?"
"Ah, rushing will only ruin things. Tomorrow morning, come back to this very spot and I'll tell you what needs to be done. Until then... ah, and don't go down any stairs in your dreams."
"...What? What does that mean—"
Lewis jolted upright to ask about those final words, only to find—
"...Huh?"
He was back in the park. The sky was still painted with the golden hues of sunset—the exact scene he'd seen just before stepping into the darkness.
"...This is downright supernatural."