âLet us move on. ââAh, but before that. Did the Indra in your story play some role in the hidden route? Sword and I have business with that hidden route.â
Damsel Scarlet brooded, and then answered, ââŠAs a matter of fact, I did not clear the whole game. The hidden route is hard, and you quickly run into a bad end if you make a little mistake. As for IndraâŠshe does appear in all routes, but her role is one of making others look better, or rather, that of a truly malicious half-sisterâŠbutâŠI feel like she had an important role in the hidden routeâŠâ
âThen let me change the question. Damsel Scarlet, does your character have an important role?â
Damsel Scarlet jumped with a start. Moreover, she started to look pale.
I tried to give her a peace of mind by holding out a hand and saying, âI donât intend to harm you in any way. Iâm very tolerant towards those who arenât hostile towards me. I can guarantee you that, so please donât worry.â
ââŠBut, I could also do something hostile without realizing, couldnât I?â She asked, clearly shaken.
âDefinitely not. Being hostile without realizing it is no hostility. Hostility means you would consciously choose to become my enemy and attack me.â
She seemed to calm down a bit upon my declaration.
âHmm, what an ordinary story. Then do you believe that I might have been burdened with such a role as well?â
Damsel Scarlet was taken aback.
ââŠYouâre right, I just remembered. Lady Indra was good at dark magic, and deeply attracted to the good-looking Cain, who was steeped in darkness himself. Thus she amplified Cainâs darkness in order to make him her own. After learning about her elder sister being a dark magic practitioner, Lady Primrose studied holy magic to deter her sister at first. But, independent of that, she met Cain and then continued to diligently study holy magic. However, this time for Cainâs sake. Her elder sister became jealous about her sister and Cain becoming closer, and got swallowed by her own dark magic. âŠBut, since she has ended up becoming a guy in realityâŠâ
âShe hasnât become a guy. Iâm a woman. Or rather, Iâll go back to being a woman. Then things will become a bit more interestingâŠo-ouuuch.â
My temples were ground.
ïŒ
ââŠRight⊠Iâm sorry, but I have actually been building up a network of alibis. I have always received lessons from instructors or held tea parties with influential people whenever it seemed like Lady Primrose would be involved in an event. As evidence to defend myself. Lady Indra, you are a commoner, but since you have drawn the attention of the prince and Lord Genius upon yourself, I had also been expecting that the prince would pull back, if you, Lady Indra, put in a good word.â
Sword lifted an eyebrow.
âŠIâm thankful, but itâs a bother if you react to each and every little thing.
âI donât mind if itâs that much. After all, Iâm going to use you for our objectives as well,â I said generously and looked at Sword. âYouâre too tense. Weâre of equal status, arenât we? Besides, itâs not like this has anything to do with you and me. When it comes to other people, you use them and youâre used by them. The same applies to monsters as well, doesnât it? Our cute monsters are fed at our place and provide us with eggs and milk in return. Itâs a very reasonable give-and-take.â
Sword breathed out, âCertainly, you got a point. Though, Iâm scared of your idea of using others when I hear ăIâm going to use you for our objectives as wellă out of your mouth.â
I feel like the faces of Damsel Scarlet and Ann cramped up a bit?
âItâs just your imagination. ââNow then, I never played a shojo game, but what has Cain done where?â
Sword looked at me with a face as if asking, ăyour still goinâ to continue with this?ă.
âWait, Sword. Thatâs a story related to our request. If we have to stay in this academy all the time, we wonât be able to go on adventures. I want to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. I must go search for Cherry Trees with you!â
When I shouted so, Damsel Scarlet widened her eyes as she stared at us.
ââŠCome to think of it, we agreed on that, didnât we? Is that the reason for you keepinâ to stir up trouble?â
âOf course it is, or what did you think!? Walking through the hallways, getting the seat of the academyâs strongest, and everything else was all for the sake of flushing out the culprit! Seeing how you couldnât move freely, I had no choice but to be even flashier in exchange, right!?â
Sword ruffled up my hair, looking full of praise.
âI see, I see, Iâd already wondered what you were tryinâ to pull there, but now that you mention it, it does make sense.â
âIf you donât know the other sideâs objective, you have no choice but to try to meddle with them, using various means. âŠAnd yet, all of these actions didnât yield a result. At least it doesnât look like they wanted to have the seat of academyâs strongest, nor use some ritual after getting their hands on a frail-looking sacrifice. Because I realized that it might not work unless the sacrifice is a beautiful girl, I was planning to go with being a woman next.â
âNo chance. At this point, no one is going to believe that you are a woman!â Damsel Scarlet declared decisively.
I puffed out my cheeks in discontent, but it canât be helped either way, I guess.
ââŠBut, we obtained some valuable information. The possibility of a male demonkin student whoâs been possessed by a spirit, huh? However, thereâs no one with an overly rich amount of magic elements around, is there? Wasnât it said that demonkin have lots of magic elements?â I asked Instructor Sword.
âYour right. They got more magic elements than humans. But, if compared to you, you might be the one suspected to be a demonkin.â