The Demonic Casanova
This is really awkward, you know?
“First of all, well done, everyone, on yesterday’s Mock Occupation Battle. The way each of you gave your all in the roles you were assigned….”
The day after the Mock Occupation Battle, every student of Luin Academy had gathered in the great auditorium.
And I, having successfully finished the Mock Occupation Battle, was listening to the headmaster with a thoroughly bright expression.
You have successfully defended the territory.
3,000 points awarded.
I am absolutely not smiling because the points are so deliciously sweet.
Just then, Shina, sitting beside me, tapped my shoulder and asked,
“Shion, you look especially happy today.”
“Ah? Do I? Haha, the Mock Occupation Battle went better than I expected, so I suppose my shoulders are a little higher today.”
“Does that mean… don’t tell me you held off every team by yourself, Shion?”
“Heh heh. Let’s save that for a later treat. How about you, Shina?”
Shina pulled a sulky face, pouted her lips a little, then looked straight ahead again as she answered.
“Hmph. Save it for a later treat yourself. I won’t tell either.”
“Oh dear… I was so hoping to hear about your exploits, Shina. What a shame.”
When I replied like that and casually slid my eyes over to study her, I could see her gaze darting this way and that.
She seemed to be agonizing over whether she should tell me or not—and somehow even the way she fretted was adorable.
“Hahaha, it’s fine. If it’s your performance, Shina, I expect I’ll find out soon enough without hearing it from you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The headmaster up there will tell us.”
I pointed toward the headmaster continuing his speech on the platform.
“Now then, we will present commendations and prepared prizes to the four students who showed the most outstanding performance in the Mock Occupation Battle. The student who ranked fourth: Luna Vermillion. Please come forward.”
At the headmaster’s call, a silver-haired student rose from her seat and headed for the stage.
Ah, Luna Vermillion. A familiar name. She’d been an insanely useful dealer in the game.
Her passive was Berserk, right? The lower her HP dropped, the stronger she became.
“Luna Vermillion. Even after every ally was eliminated, you never gave up, single-handedly defeated eight enemies, and successfully defended your territory. In high recognition of that achievement, we present you with this commendation.”
When Luna Vermillion received the certificate, countless students showered her with applause without holding back.
Because they had taken part in the Mock Occupation Battle themselves, they knew exactly how tremendous Luna Vermillion’s feat was, so no one dared badmouth her.
“Student Luna? Do you have any remarks you’d like to leave?”
The headmaster handed her an artifact enchanted with amplification magic, and once she took it, Luna Vermillion opened her mouth.
“I believe I was able to do it because my teammates were there.”
Her humble demeanor drew another round of thunderous applause from the students.
After a little more time passed and the hall grew quiet again, the headmaster began to speak once more.
“The student who ranked third: Shina Astorius. Please come up to the platform.”
Just as I’d expected, Shina’s name was called.
“So that’s what you meant by ‘finding out soon.’ I’ll be right back, Shion.”
“Go ahead and enjoy yourself. I’ll be committing every single one of your movements to memory.”
“Y-you really don’t have to watch me that closely….”
Her face slightly flushed, Shina practically fled up onto the stage.
“Shina Astorius. Among a team composed of upperclassmen, you displayed the most outstanding performance, and afterward made critical contributions to victory in the six engagements that followed the capture of the territory. For these reasons, we present you with this commendation.”
The headmaster recited Shina’s accomplishments, but I couldn’t properly hear them.
“Whoa… how can a girl be that pretty?”
“Are there a lot of beauties like that in the Kirinus Empire?”
“……Wanna try hitting on her?”
“Dream on. Even Senior Marin—the one who used to chase girls around—got shut down hard when he tried to approach her.”
The students’ murmuring as they praised Shina’s looks made it hard to catch the headmaster’s words.
When she comes back later, if I tell her about this, how will she react? Will she scold the noisy students, or will she blush and get embarrassed? I’m curious.
Sounds fun. I’ll have to try it later.
“Student Shina? Do you have any remarks you’d like to leave?”
“Yes. I do.”
Certificate in hand, Shina faced forward and began to speak.
“The reason I am able to stand here today is entirely thanks to the seniors who fought alongside me. First of all, I dedicate this achievement to them. Thank you.”
Voices around us—especially the boys’—started buzzing again in earnest.
“Wow… even the way she talks is pretty.”
“They say there’s no such thing as a bad person among pretty people, right?”
“From today on, I’m becoming Shina’s fan.”
Shut up, you guys. I can’t hear Shina.
“And I would like to express my gratitude to those who always support me….”
Trailing off, Shina’s face soon flushed red; she squeezed her eyes shut and said,
“In particular, I want to thank Shion. Th-that is all!”
With that, Shina bowed her head and hurried down from the platform at a quick pace.
A storm of applause poured down—but mixed in among it were a few sounds that were genuinely awkward for me to hear.
“…Who the hell is this Shion?”
“Lady Shina has a boyfriend?!”
“He’s dead. Whoever he is, I will kill him.”
Faced with that scorching reaction, I did my best to stare off at a distant mountain and simply waited for time to pass.
Before long, Shina returned.
Grinning from ear to ear, I offered the returning Shina a light compliment.
“Heh, Shina. That’s amazing. Pulling off the most outstanding performance on a battlefield packed with upperclassmen. Honestly, I wonder if I’ll ever catch even the hem of your coat no matter how hard I try for the rest of my life.”
“Thank you for the praise. And please don’t say things like that. You have more potential than anyone I’ve ever seen, Shion.”
Oh? This looks like the perfect angle for a bit of teasing.
“Hmm… hand over your heart? Could you say that even while staking our friendship on it?”
At my relentless question, Shina fidgeted for a moment, then averted her eyes and mumbled,
“O-on second thought, maybe not….”
“…So in the end, you forced yourself to say something you didn’t mean, just for my sake. I’m grateful for your consideration, Shina, but this quietly sinking feeling of wretchedness is hard to shake.”
“What? Ah, no, I mean… I didn’t say it with that intention…!”
Flustered, Shina flailed about and then promptly short-circuited.
I really might be a pervert. Seeing kids get flustered is just too exhilarating.
Forcing my facial muscles to hold back a laugh, I shrugged and said,
“Of course, I’m only joking.”
“…Really. I don’t know whether to be angry that I fell for the joke or relieved that it was only a joke.”
“Right? Well, I suppose it depends on how you look at it.”
“The very person who made me this unsettled shouldn’t be sounding so carefree!”
Shina’s agitated voice rang out rather loudly.
“Shina, chatting is fine, but keep it a little quieter.”
“I’m sorry….”
Scolded by our homeroom teacher, Shina drooped and faced forward again.
That pitiful, adorable look made holding back my laughter quite the struggle.
“Khup.”
Ah. I failed.
“The student who ranked second: Charlotte Cervantes. Please come up to the platform.”
Just as I was desperately trying to stifle my laughter, Charlotte’s name was called.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she strode toward the stage without the slightest ripple of emotion.
“Why are there so many pretty girls in this year’s first-years?”
“Damn it, I should’ve enrolled a year later…!”
Charlotte was every bit as beautiful as Shina, so it was only natural that praise from the male students came flooding out.
“Charlotte Cervantes. By cooperating with your team members, you efficiently succeeded in occupation, and afterward used your unique magic for rapid movement to successfully capture yet another territory, making a massive contribution to the seizure of two territories in total. For this, we present you with this commendation.”
Using dimensional rifts, Charlotte had brazenly seized two territories while everyone else struggled to take even one.
“…She captured two territories? As a first-year?”
“Charlotte, my light. Simply a beautiful light.”
“She’s got a reverse charm different from her cute looks. Hoo… from today on, I’m becoming Charlotte’s fan.”
No, seriously—how many people’s fan is that senior planning to become?
“Student Charlotte? Do you have any remarks you’d like to leave?”
“Yes.”
Charlotte looked out at the students and opened her mouth.
“I want to thank my team members for following the strategy I set up so well. Hope we can fight together again sometime.”
Charlotte, being Charlotte, kept her remarks short and to the point.
Seeing that, countless male students freely piled on praise—cool, amazing, I’m falling for her, and so on.
“Ah, right. Almost forgot what I was going to say.”
About to hand the amplification artifact back to the headmaster, Charlotte suddenly stopped, then looked around.
“Ah, there he is. Shion, you used the key well.”
She looked straight at me, added those few words, and then walked down from the platform.
Hey. If you say it like that…
“…Just who the hell is this Shion!!!”
“What kind of bastard snatches away two of our goddesses!!”
A chorus of male students’ outrage rang out.
You have become the public enemy of countless members of the same sex.
Uh….
Should I be happy about this or not?