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Chapter 261

It was not that Ellen and I had reconciled, for we had never truly quarreled in the first place.

We had exchanged some unknown wounds, and we had both apologized to one another, putting the matter to rest.

Yet, the issue of Harriet still remained.

That night, I invited Harriet to the Teatime Terrace, a place where Berthus and I would occasionally converse.

“It’s alright. I’m getting better,” Harriet forced a smile and responded to my question about her well-being. She had no choice but to overcome the ordeal. Witnessing a corpse was a different kind of horror than what she had experienced before.

“I just can’t understand it. I don’t see the reason for such a dreadful act.”

Magic, by its very nature, makes the impossible possible. However, one could not fathom the reason for engaging in such bizarre deeds as the blending of races or the creation of life.

Though Harriet’s complexion remained poor, she was gradually improving. Seemingly finding some stability, she sipped her tea.

“And Ellen?”

“We talked, more or less.”

“I’m relieved.”

Harriet smiled, a lonely expression on her face.

“…You said you fought a horde of zombies in the Darklands.”

“Yes, we did.”

“I’m struggling just from seeing such a thing, I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you and Ellen.”

We had fought directly against the terrifying creatures, and Ellen had personally dealt with the chimera.

Harriet was struggling just from witnessing the aftermath of our battle.

I wanted to tell her that the nature of our struggles was different, but it seemed as if she was pondering her own frailty in this difficult moment.

“If it weren’t for you, Ellen would have died.”

“…All I did was use a single scroll.”

“That doesn’t mean what I said is wrong.”

Harriet looked at me silently.

If Harriet hadn’t been there, Ellen might have chosen not to fight at all. However, once the decision was made, Harriet’s role was absolutely crucial.

Even if she thought her actions were insignificant, they provided decisive help.

“I’ll try harder.”

Harriet spoke, gazing out into the dark autumn night.

“You’re already trying your best.”

Harriet looked back at me.

“Even so, I can do better.”

I couldn’t quite tell when it started, but every one of Harriet’s smiles seemed tinged with sadness.

“I’ll stay here during the break.”

Magic Research Club activities.

Harriet appeared to have decided not to return home, but instead to devote herself to her research there.

In Harriet’s expression, a desire for strength was visible. Perhaps witnessing Ellen’s fearless battle had evoked something within her.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt we were running out of time.

Could it be my influence?

Both Ellen and Harriet appeared restless.

——

I must obtain information from the magic conspirators. Furthermore, if an unavoidable situation arises, I must make use of my status as the last Demon King.

Even if it is a mere pretense, I must walk the path of the next Demon King. A successor of the demon realm with no background is nothing more than easy prey, not a subject of caution.

People must know that the next Demon King exists.

For that, a minimum amount of power is necessary.

The Vampire Council.

Regardless of their will, I intend to place them under my control.

However, it is uncertain whether the old vampires, who fear the Holy Sword, will fear me as well.

The Lord Vampires seem to be almost all mages, and there is a possibility of obtaining clues about the magic conspirators from them.

The Black Order has decided to approach me, and I have agreed to provide them with information about Cantus Magna. Still, I do not expect them to approach me in the near future.

They may have destroyed Aaron Mede’s head, but they would not kill me just because I provided false information.

They already know I am an unusual individual who commands Lord Vampires as my minions.

There is no chance they would push me toward the empire. After all, it would appear as one villain pushing another.

Therefore, there is still time left before the Vampire Council is convened.

Final exams are approaching.

After the finals, there will be a festival, and after the festival, winter break will arrive.

The busier one is, the more difficult it is to feel the passing of the seasons, and I was no exception.

The short autumn was already fading away.

Not necessarily due to busyness, but because that is the nature of autumn and spring.

Just when you think they have arrived, the seasons are already fading away into the distance.

Sarak

The sound of stepping on fallen leaves echoed throughout the school grounds.

“What’s this?”

I brushed a fallen elm leaf off Ellen’s head. She was standing still, leaning against the entrance of the dormitory.

Oblivious to the large leaf that had settled on her head like a hat, Ellen stared intently at me.

To be precise, she was staring at the person next to me.

“Your expression always changes when you see my sister, doesn’t it?”

“…What?”

She was glaring at Olivia Lanze.

“Do you have a problem with me?”

“No.”

“Do you dislike me being in such a relationship with Reinhardt?”

“Ah, what are you even saying?! If you’re going to talk nonsense, let’s just go!”

I happened to run into Ellen in front of the dormitory while returning from an errand with Olivia Lanze. Olivia furrowed her brow, looking at Ellen who, for some reason, was sending a hostile gaze her way.

Lately, I’ve had business with Olivia, and we’ve encountered each other like this a few times.

Ellen and Olivia have a terrible relationship.

However, the fact that their relationship is bad implies that there is some sort of relationship between them.

Did they ever have such a connection? I’m not sure.

“If I were five years younger, you wouldn’t have been able to stand by Reinhardt’s side, you know? I could have taught him many things as well.”

At Olivia’s words, Ellen raised one corner of her mouth.

What’s this?

I’ve never seen her make this expression before.

With a clear sneer, Ellen retorted, “It must be nice being older.”

“Wh-what?! I’m only twenty-two, you know! I-I’m still young! I’m in my prime!”

“Anyway, you’re older than both me and Reinhardt. By five years.”

“W-what?! Reinhardt! Can I hit her?”

Seemingly defeated, Olivia looked at me, flustered.

“…Why are you asking for my permission?”

“Go ahead and try.”

With confidence, Ellen tilted her head.

Ellen…

Why are you acting like this? You’re not usually like this!

Olivia turned her head away, huffing.

“Hmph! I’m holding back because my sister doesn’t like violence! You better remember that!”

Olivia stuck out her tongue and went into the dormitory.

That girl.

Everything about her is good. Really good.

But sometimes, she chooses to do things that make me really want to smack her. Ellen watched Olivia walk away and then turned her gaze to me.

“Do you have to be close with that person?”

“…Why do you say that?”

“I hate her. That person.”

Ellen was visibly angry.

“Why? What happened?”

“I don’t know. I just hate her. She’s annoying.”

It was the first time Ellen had so openly expressed her emotions.

“Um… She has helped me a lot, and… I still need her for some unavoidable reasons…”

“…Is it important?”

“Yeah, extremely.”

I knew it wouldn’t be good for people to see Olivia Lanze getting close to me, but I couldn’t help it this time because it was really necessary.

Ellen couldn’t argue with the fact that it was unavoidable, but she still looked very uncomfortable.

“You should do something about it.”

“What… should I do…”

“You’re not acting decisively, so she keeps doing that.”

Ellen’s anger was now directed at me. Her cold gaze made me feel as if my body was freezing.

“Or do you like it when she does that?”

“No, not at all. I don’t like it.”

“It seems like you do. Pretending to dislike it.”

“No! I don’t! I really hate it!”

What is it about her…

Why is she scolding me like a boyfriend who can’t manage his female friends?

I couldn’t find the right words in this strange situation.

Who do you think you are?

If I were to utter anything remotely similar, it seemed like I’d either have my tongue cut off or my throat slit.

She’s really terrifying.

“Then, stop her.”

“Uh… Yeah…”

In the end, I responded like a boyfriend who couldn’t manage his female friends either.

——

There was simply too much to do.

If everything related to the Gate were considered ‘tasks,’ then there were indeed far too many tasks to handle.

Dealing with the various problems arising from human relationships felt like it could make one’s head split.

Consequently, academic pursuits, a student’s primary responsibility, were pushed to the back burner.

If I placed last this time, it would be dangerous. So, I wouldn’t deliberately end up last, but I was definitely in the lower ranks.

“So, please show some restraint.”

“What’s wrong with expressing affection?”

In the end, following Ellen’s instructions to speak with Olivia led to Olivia pouting and grumbling with a “Hmph!”

“…Honestly, it seems like I made some sort of promise with my senior! I have no intention of marrying you!”

At my outburst, Olivia’s mouth dropped open, and her face turned pale.

“R-really…?”

“Why are you panicking!”

Hadn’t I been continuously stressing that, while I genuinely liked my senior, I had no interest in pursuing a romantic relationship?

“I thought… you were just playing hard to get…”

“Ah, I feel dizzy…”

“Well, if not now, maybe you’ll grow to like me in the future?”

Olivia’s dazzling smile made me feel as if I was losing my mind.

Words just didn’t get through to her.

“Tsk, if you’re going to use me like this and not even give me a break, you know how angry I can get, right? Then you’ll have no idea how scary I can be.”

Olivia had a point.

I couldn’t say anything in response to her argument that, while I needed her and made use of her as I pleased, I couldn’t handle this one issue.

Even now, I was making use of her.

“Do you like that kid so much that you’d glare at me like that?”

“That’s not the problem.”

“If it’s not the problem, then what is?”

Olivia’s expression suddenly hardened, and she seemed to want to say something but stopped herself.

“I’ll say just one thing. Has that kid done anything wrong to me? No, there’s nothing like that.”

Olivia was serious now.

“But I don’t like her. That’s something I can’t help. Don’t tell me not to hate her, not to harass her, and not to start a fight. You know that, right?”

With her lips slightly pursed, Olivia looked at me.

“The more you say things like that, the more I’ll end up hating her for no reason.”

-Bang!

With that, Olivia slammed the door shut with a loud noise.

Why must I endure such things?

Though it may be cringeworthy, if you think about it, all of this is being done to save the world.

Why must I experience these petty matters?

——

“I detest that person as well.”

Harriet nodded her head in agreement.

“Still… they say that before all this happened, she was an incredibly kind person…”

At Adelia’s words, Liana shook her head.

“She’s quite the… scoundrel, that sister.”

“A scoundrel…?”

Adelia seemed taken aback by Liana’s harsh description.

Om nom nom

Ellen, the instigator of this conversation and the one who suggested dining out, was voraciously consuming five different dishes. She seemed different than usual.

For some reason, she appeared to be eating aggressively as if to relieve stress and anger.

When Liana asked her about it, Ellen admitted that she didn’t like a certain Olivia Lanze, who had been spending time with Reinhardt. At this moment, for the first time in her life, Ellen was backbiting about someone.

Harriet agreed, Adelia didn’t know, and Liana called her a scoundrel.

“But, aren’t Reinhardt and that Olivia well suited since he’s a despicable fellow too?”

Ellen and Harriet stared at Liana upon hearing her innocent remark.

“Why? Am I wrong?”

“…”

“…”

“Li, Liana…”

“What?”

Liana de Grantz had a knack for being clueless in peculiar situations.

Liana, who wasn’t very hungry, had ordered a cheese salad and was nibbling away at it.

“That sister is indeed oddly clingy. Reinhardt seems to dislike it too, but considering he doesn’t shun her, he might be interested… Oh, why am I suddenly feeling so cold? Has it gotten that chilly?”

As Liana continued speaking nonchalantly, she shivered from a sudden chill. Of course, she didn’t realize that it was due to Ellen’s icy glare.

“It’s quite annoying how she’s aware of her beauty and shamelessly flaunts it. It’s so distasteful.”

No one at the table had anything to say about that.

Olivia Lanze.

Although the title of Eredian’s saint had long vanished, her striking appearance remained unchanged. Even Reinhardt, who showed his dislike, couldn’t deny his occasional confusion or blushing when around her.

It was irritating to see her sticking to Reinhardt to an excessive degree.

Naturally, one would think, “she relies too much on her looks.”

“So, what do you want to do about it?”

“…It’s not that I want to do something about it. I just dislike her. She always picks a fight with me for no reason.”

Ellen said this and focused on her meal.

Though Ellen always ate a lot, today’s binge eating seemed to be driven by stress.

“Picking a fight with you?”

“Yes.”

Olivia Lanze would pointlessly provoke Ellen whenever their paths crossed.

This had been happening for quite some time, not just recently.

Since the incident at the fundraising event, she had been needling Ellen every time they encountered each other.

As they lived in the same dormitory, they couldn’t help but run into each other occasionally.

“Ah, hello? Reinhardt’s friend?”

“Please take good care of our Reinhardt!”

“You shouldn’t get too close to Reinhardt, you know why, right?”

“Oh my, you’re actually quite pretty. Not as much as me, though.”

“You’re good at fighting, huh? But don’t be too hard on our Reinhardt.”

“Sorry, I can’t have you as a rival.”

“Oh, are you angry? Are you going to hit me? I’ll tell Reinhardt. Are you okay with that?”

As Ellen thought about this, she gripped her fork tightly.

The more she thought about it.

The angrier she became.

Grrrrr

Everyone stared wide-eyed as the fork bent under her grip.

But in the end.

Ellen was not the type to take revenge, even when she disliked someone.

Neither was Harriet, who also disapproved of Olivia.

In Harriet’s case, she used to be that way, but not anymore.

“Hmm… But that older sister is a bit ambiguous.”

“What do you mean?”

At Adelia’s question, Liana shrugged her shoulders.

“She must have entered with a major in divine power. But if she abandoned her faith, what will she graduate with? It would be strange to graduate with a major in divine power, right?”

At those words, everyone’s expressions became peculiar.

“True.”

Although they had no reason to worry about the graduation of an unlikable senior, everyone grew curious.

How on earth was Olivia Lanze planning to graduate?

“I don’t know.”

Ellen quickly finished off all five dishes she ordered, took a sip of water, and her eyes gleamed.

“If she keeps doing this, I won’t hold back.”

“Please, please… Restrain yourself, Ellen…”

Although Harriet secretly hoped Ellen would do something, she feared a dreadful incident might occur, and so she urged Ellen to hold back for the time being.

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