Opening

“What on earth have you done?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about Orca. Surely you won’t claim ignorance.”

A few days later.

The Class President who came to the counseling room began interrogating me.

“No one can focus on classes right now.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because everyone gets distracted seeing Orca properly attending classes!”

I see.

I understand what they’re implying.

Orca, who’s been practically invisible until now, suddenly focusing on classes – of course people would stare.

“Even the teachers giving lessons seem spellbound watching her… Not that I can blame them, but…”

“The teachers too?”

“Yes. They’re forcing themselves to continue lessons, but it’s obvious they can’t concentrate.”

That I didn’t expect.

Was Orca more notorious than I thought?

Our Orca is cute though…

Clearly everyone was too scared of her to notice her hidden charm.

Pathetic fools. What wasted lives.

“What exactly did you do?”

“Well… Just counseling. That’s all.”

“Counseling…?”

“Yes, counseling.”

But it wasn’t a bad thing.

Considering how low Orca’s reputation was, mine would rise accordingly.

It’s slightly sad she’s been much lonelier than I thought, but…

Since she’s not the only one I want to help, the counseling room needs some reputation.

The evaluation that I “rehabilitated” her will greatly help when assisting other students someday.

“If Orca says anything bad from now on, tell me? I’ll scold her.”

“Ah, yes…”

“And Class President, if you see any students who seem troubled, please bring them to the counseling room occasionally.”

“…Understood.”

The Class President’s face was filled with trust toward me.

Seeing Orca suddenly become a model student must have made them completely trust me.

…Well, can’t blame them for trusting me.

That Orca properly attending classes?

Even in the game, that never happened.

“Then, could you leave for today? I have work to do.”

“Ah, yes.”

The Class President left the counseling room still sending me an almost burdensome look of respect.

Do they think I’m handling something important?

…Well, it is important if you think about it.

I need to game.

Haze broke my laptop a few days ago so I bought a new one.

“Ugh, replaying cleared content is such a pain…”

Since even the save data disappeared with no way to recover it, I had no choice.

As I skipped through boring story scenes, I thought:

Should’ve tormented Haze a bit more.

Was I too nice to her…

***

“…Tch.”

This is annoying as hell.

Orca kept glaring at people staring at her.

Don’t these bastards have anything better to do?

They’d be better off just staring continuously.

Their disgusting habit of pretending not to look when glared at made her sick.

“Ah, sh…”

Just as irritation made her want to spew curses-

That woman’s words suddenly came to mind.

Didn’t she tell me not to say bad words?

She’s not around anyway, no way she’d hear. Could just deny it if asked.

She’s just someone who pretends to care about me.

Then why did I stop?

…Don’t know.

Had been feeling refreshed from good sleep lately, but now my mood sank.

“If you’re just gonna stare, fuck off right now. I’ll kill you.”

When she threatened them, the pale-faced bastards quickly scattered.

Much better now.

“Stop it.”

“…Who’re you?”

“Leo. You’re… Orca, right?”

After finally feeling good enough for a walk outside, weirdos kept bothering her.

Because of these humans ruining her mood, she considered returning to the counseling room.

A small boy with lion’s mane-like spiky hair approached her.

Still noticeably childish.

…Irritating. Seeing short people makes it worse.

Unbearable memories from that day surfaced.

“People are scared. I wish you’d stop.”

“…Ha, why should I?”

“Why? Because those kids are frightened. Threatening people isn’t good. You know your reputation, right? To fix that, you should avoid unnecessary conflicts-”

The boy started lecturing her, but none of it registered.

Only one feeling remained-wanting to punch this annoying brat.

…Ah.

Can’t hold back.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

“Brace yourself.”

“…?!”

Crash.

Unable to contain her irritation, she swung her fist at the tiny brat.

Once wasn’t enough-twice. Thrice.

Lost count of how many times she hit.

Feeling something odd in her hand, she clicked her tongue and stepped back.

A sword strike sliced through where she’d just stood.

This worsened her mood.

Were you trying to hit me with the flat side just now?

You looking down on me, punk?

“…Leo, was it? I’ll give you credit for that confidence in underestimating me.”

“Are you insane? Causing trouble at the Academy…! This’ll only worsen your reputation!”

“Don’t care.”

What’s this sword made of? So sturdy?

She shook her slightly trembling hand from the impact.

First time in ages something didn’t break after a full-power hit.

“Was gonna rough you up a bit before leaving… Changed my mind. Gonna give you a proper beating.”

“…”

“This won’t be easy.”

She could tell he was stronger than most.

Ordinary guys would collapse after a few hits, yet he was still standing.

Probably quite strong for a student.

But who cares.

Right now she just wanted to vent this irritation and return to the counseling room to sleep.

To properly punish him, Orca manifested her Demon’s arm.

His startled reaction to the ominous fog-shrouded arm was amusing.

“…!”

“What? Never seen one before?”

“That’s…”

“Good opportunity-look closely. This is a Demon’s arm. Cool, right? Boys go crazy for this stuff.”

Demon Possessors are shunned by all.

Because no one knows when the demon might seize control of their body.

Possessors fighting for dominance gradually deteriorate until finally losing their bodies to the demon.

But everything has pros and cons.

In exchange for battling the demon, Possessors gain partial use of its power.

In Orca’s case-an arm.

Though an arm might seem weak compared to magic users or swordsmen, Orca liked hers.

It had that satisfying impact.

Not exactly punching, but somehow felt similar.

Maybe because she shared her body with the demon?

“Hey, spacing out?”

She swung the materialized Demon’s arm at the gawking boy’s side.

He hastily raised his sword to block, but reacted too slowly.

Failing to properly defend, he crumpled from the blow to his ribs.

“Guh-huk…?!”

“Sorry. You left too many openings-couldn’t help myself.”

This brat’s strong but has no real combat experience.

Spacing out in front of an enemy? Insane?

She clicked her tongue seeing him fall so easily after manifesting her arm just to vent.

“…Tch. Thought you were stronger.”

“N-not… down yet.”

“Oh?”

Orca’s eyes gleamed as she watched him stagger upright.

He got up.

Must hurt like hell.

“Come at me… Orca. I’ll play with you.”

“Hey, you… I kinda like you.”

Orca grinned savagely.

***

“T-Teacher! Emergency!”

“Eeek?! At least knock before entering!”

“S-sorry! But it’s urgent…!”

Scared me…!

Thought I’d been caught…!

Should I put up a “Please Knock” sign on the counseling room door?

Why does everyone just barge in?

While the Class President caught their breath, I secretly closed my laptop before responding:

“So? What’s the matter?”

“O-Orca started a fight!”

“…With whom?”

“With a same-year student named Leo! Their fight has caused chaos…!”

“…”

A fight between Leo and Orca.

I forcibly suppressed a smile trying to form.

Smiling now would seem suspicious.

No matter how happy I am that the Prologue has started, openly showing it would force me to use hypnosis.

Must hold back… Must hold back…

“…? Ophelia Teacher?”

“A-ah, ahem. Right. What’s the situation?”

“Orca’s beating Leo up single-handedly! We need to stop them now!”

“…Pardon?”

“I-it might be really dangerous! You’re the only one who can stop them!”

Huh?

What? Leo lost?

Orca isn’t losing?

“O-Orca’s dominating…?”

“He’s being overwhelmed! Still holding on but… No time to explain! We must hurry!”

Wh-what’s happening?

Leo lost? Seriously?

…Why?

In the Prologue, Leo knocks Orca out, causing her demon to rampage.

Since I suppressed the demon, that shouldn’t happen…

…Ah.

Come to think of it, I did give Orca proper sleep.

Pretty sure the Prologue mentioned her briefly faltering due to insomnia.

Cold sweat dripped down my back.