A Different League

"Hmm..."

"M-Master?"

"Hold still."

I'm sitting on the bed in my room right now, peering intently at Lulu's wide-open demon eyes.

"Th-This is revolutionary... A mana array this complex, operating without a single error or flaw. Even top-grade artifacts can't match this..."

Meanwhile, Irina—seated beside me—is muttering excitedly to herself as she scribbles furiously in her notebook.

"Your eyes are really bloodshot... Must hurt."

I flash a slight smile at her words, then gently cover Lulu's eyes with my hand as I murmur.

"Wh-Whine..."

Lulu quickly leans her face into my palm, nuzzling it cautiously.

"Then you can't use them. It'll make your eyes worse."

I chide her softly, and she hesitates.

"Ah..."

After a moment, Lulu tugs lightly at my fingers covering her eyes.

"L-Like this?"

Exposing just her palm now, she asks before resuming her nuzzling against my hand with her cheek.

"Sigh..."

I gaze at her for a beat, then turn to Irina, who has been analyzing Lulu's demon eyes up to that point.

"Irina, what do you think?"

"......"

"...Irina?"

But her reaction is off. Unlike her earlier scholarly fervor, she now wears a vacant, soulless expression.

"I'm the only one... the only one falling behind..."

A voice thick with resentment slips from her lips.

"Already the furthest behind out of the five... and now even to some human pet..."

"Irina?"

"If this keeps up... ugh..."

She hunches over, mumbling dejectedly, looking pitiful like a rain-soaked puppy. Without thinking, I murmur.

"...You're cute."

"...!"

Irina flinches sharply.

"Frey."

She edges closer, gauging ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my reaction timidly before whispering low.

"...You'd better take responsibility."

"Huh?"

I tilt my head, curious about her sudden words. Leaning on my shoulder, she blushes and averts her gaze as she whispers.

"Ariane said it earlier—I had no interest in men whatsoever..."

—Stroke...

"...But now, even your casual, meaningless compliment makes my heart flutter."

With that, Irina slips her arm through mine.

"If you've turned a mage who only knew magic and battle into a woman, shouldn't you take responsibility?"

"...Hmm."

She undoes her hair tie quietly, letting it cascade down as she meets my eyes. I swallow dryly.

"Gonna pull that again?"

I try to keep my composure, but.

—Stroke.

Irina leans in close, staring into my eyes before tentatively trailing her fingers across my chest as she murmurs.

"I'm going to make sure you can't pretend to be indifferent or uninterested in front of me anymore. No more self-control."

"Uh, um..."

"If you've made a girl fall in love, make her yours completely. You idiot."

A short silence follows her words.

"........."

In that quiet, Lulu—who had frozen mid-nuzzle against my hand—starts.

"Grrr..."

...low growling.

"...C-Could you brief me on the demon eyes first?"

Feeling my face heat up, I say that, and Irina glares at Lulu before pressing even closer to me as she begins.

"The original demon eyes she had were specialized just for analysis. I analyzed them myself, so I'm sure."

"Really?"

"But now... it's changed a lot. More complex than any existing artifact could dream of, and it even feels like there's magic infused somehow..."

Back to her inquisitive expression, Irina tilts her head at the still-growling Lulu.

"From that, it seems something changed today..."

"Hmm..."

I ponder her words when.

—Squish.

Suddenly, my arm feels something soft and yielding.

"...I told you. I'm making sure you can't hold back even for a second."

She's hugging my arm to her chest.

"Out of the five, this is the only thing I can really offer..."

"......"

Lulu stops growling at her words, looks down, and pouts dejectedly. Meanwhile, Irina gazes up at me, cheeks flushed.

"Anyway, the original functions changed due to some trigger, right?"

"...Yeah."

I don't react much, so Irina nods with a hint of disappointment.

"Thanks, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Irina."

"...!"

I give her a light kiss, and she reacts intensely.

"M-Me too... Whine?"

Lulu seems to start saying something but clams up. But Irina's reaction is too adorable right now, so I focus on her for the moment.

.........

"...♡"

Irina, peppered with kisses everywhere, leans on my shoulder, hands clasped with mine.

"Whine..."

Lulu quietly rubs her cheek against my side.

"Haa."

I let out a short sigh in the midst of it all.

"...Speaking of which, the Church is becoming a real problem now."

I mutter as I recall today's events.

"Didn't expect them to deploy their secret weapon so soon."

>

The protesters who came to my mansion today were actually artificial living dolls created by the Church. They're often used for manipulating public opinion, but arm them with stones and clubs, and they make convincing combat troops. Tricky bastards.

The corrupt Pope and bishops are orchestrating this in secret, but why isn't the Sun God... Oh, right. That Sun God, who looks a bit dumb like Perloché, is sealed away now. No wonder the Pope's going berserk.

"...Tch."

The Pope's irritating face flashes in my mind, stirring up annoyance. In Blacktail Fantasy 2, he's one of the top villains alongside the Demon King and the secret cult leader. I need to eliminate him ASAP.

Of course, the Church is a powerhouse rivaling the Imperial Family, so I can't let my guard down.

"Wonder if Ariane's okay..."

"...Huh!?"

Lost in thought, I mutter that, and Irina—leaning on my shoulder—snaps her eyes wide and asks.

"What do you mean?"

"She seemed pretty shaken mentally. It was necessary, but still..."

"Oh..."

Irina nods quietly, her expression darkening slightly.

She's on my mind...

When the security forces I called arrived to round up the Church's secret weapons, Ariane—who was being dragged away with them—had said that.

"Irina... I'll get you out no matter what. Just wait for me..."

"Frey...♡"

"...Ugh."

She was sniffling while watching Irina cling to me.

"Please wait just a moment. I have to perform my duties as Frey's sex slave..."

And Aris is just as worrying. How did things end up like this?

My original plan was to have Lulu use her demon eyes to command one protester to throw a stone, or if that was too much, have Irina ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠use magic to make a stone fly. Hit me with it, frame them as violent rioters, and suppress them.

But the command Lulu issued with her demon eyes made all the dolls react at once. They were puppet-like anyway, so things escalated fast.

Covering for the two who got arrested is one issue, but the dispute with the Church this will spark is another.

"Sigh..."

Of course, the secret cult leader worries me most. It was satisfying seeing him propose such an obvious deal after whatever brutal torture Serena put him through.

But him engraving the Subjugation Curse on Aris is still nagging at me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It'll make dealing with her in second year easier, sure.

No intention of actually saving the bastard who dared hurt Serena, though. He obviously doesn't know Serena and I are allies yet.

But the 'assassin locations' and 'dark magic' he offered as deal terms are intriguing. I'll pretend to cooperate, squeeze out the info, then plot with Serena separately to screw him over.

Aris's situation can wait. The girl, now fully seeing me as her master, babbled about her 'sex slave duties' while being hauled off by security. God knows how many cold stares she got.

It's good for keeping her in check, but turning her into a puppet doll like the Church's secret weapons? That's just too pitiful.

"Whew."

Sorting my thoughts, I flop back onto the bed and close my eyes tightly, opening the system window.

"Hmm..."

I hadn't paid much attention to this affection system until now.

Seeing this now, I finally understand what past-loop me said about the affection system. That's when I figured out the true nature of the five realizations.

"That aside... Lulu's demon eyes are bothering me..."

After staring at the system window for a while, I mutter that and glance at Lulu, who's sprawled on the floor watching me intently, lost in thought.

Could Lulu's demon eyes awakening be tied to conquering her?

According to Lulu, she kept thinking 'I want to help Master,' her body heated up, and her ability bloomed. But could such power awaken from that alone?

It makes the affection system seem like a plausible culprit.

Then should I force-conquer the sub-heroines? Eh...

I'd like to try, but unfortunately, no. All sub-heroines except the already-conquered Lulu and Rosewin have their conquests on 'pause.'

After such a hectic day, I thought 'screw heroines, just wanna rest,' and they all switched states at once.

I don't even know how to change it back. And hitting on them now would backfire anyway.

Nothing to do but leave them be...

"Huh?"

Scrolling through the sub-heroine list in my thoughts, I freeze at a name at the top that was hidden before.

Isolet Arham Bywalk [Conquest: 75%]

Details...

"Why is this one still going..."

Even with all routes paused, only Isolet's remains active. I stare blankly.

"Hm?"

I blink wide and mutter.

"It was 70% just a few days ago?"

For some reason, her conquest progress had risen.

"What the..."

And moreover.

"...!?"

It ticked up right then. What the hell?

.........

Meanwhile, at that moment.

"Ugh... ugh..."

"I-Isolet, ma'am..."

Isolet Arham Bywalk lay writhing on her bed at home.

"Try to snap out of it..."

"Frey..."

"Pardon?"

Moaning.

"Freyyy..."

"...???"

Frey's name, over and over.