Ch.103In Place (3)

“Almost three weeks.

Perhaps it was because I’d been away for quite a long time.

The girl showed an intense reaction.

“Hiss… Haah…”

Rough breathing struck my ears.

The fox kept her face buried in my nape, continuing her hot breaths as if about to burst.

That desperate heat spread all the way down to my chin.

“Miss Irene?”

Perhaps she had been anxious.

Since I had suddenly disappeared without any promise of return, she might have worried that I would never come back.

For her, I was probably the only person she could trust.

She seemed delighted after being apart for so long.

I gently embraced the girl’s body, feeling touched by her reaction.

“Haah, haah…”

The fox clung to me with ragged breaths.

Her sticky warmth embraced my body.

With our chests pressed together, soft flesh was compressed, transmitting an explicit sensation.

Perhaps because our navels were touching.

I could feel her firm physique through her clothes.

A precarious position in many ways.

“My.”

The subtle scent of her skin colored the tip of my nose.

Like being on the verge of being devoured by a beast.

After lying there for a while, enjoying such a dynamic, the girl who had been silently pressing down on me raised her head.

Irene, now facing me, had a somewhat disheveled expression.

“…You were late.”

Black pupils trembling.

Beyond them lay joy, longing, delight.

And relief.

“You were so late… I thought I’d been abandoned. I was anxious.”

So she had been worried about that after all.

I gave a bitter smile.

First, I wanted to ease those concerns.

“I told you before.”

“…”

“I will never abandon you. Even if everything else in the world abandons you.”

“I know… but I was still scared.”

“You’re a coward.”

“Maybe so.”

“Then I should comfort you so you won’t be afraid.”

I stroked her head to reassure her.

The fox quietly accepted my touch.

The snake leisurely savored her flowing hair, then extended his hand to her perked-up crimson ears.

The caressing touch seemed to torment her wickedly.

“…Hng.”

The girl bit her lip as if trying to suppress a sound, then gradually released hot, subdued moans.

The breaths she couldn’t quite swallow gradually colored our surroundings.

“Haah… ugh, ngh.”

“Good children deserve rewards, don’t they? Thank you for waiting patiently all this time.”

Something I’d learned from touching various parts of her body.

Irene especially liked having her ears touched.

It was somewhat similar to how dogs expose their bellies to their owners.

It seemed like both a sign of loyalty and something she personally enjoyed, so I would touch them whenever I had time before I left.

I played with her soft ears, moving them this way and that.

“Ah, nngh…”

All the fox could do in response to her owner’s uninhibited touch was to flinch her shoulders and try to suppress her reactions.

As if enduring the tingling sensation washing over her.

The girl embraced my body even more tightly.

By now, her breath had become furnace-hot, melting like ice as it touched my neck.

Our body heat intertwined in between those moments.

We remained lying on the floor for a while.

***

After our intense reunion ended, we got up from where we had been lying.

The girl’s cheeks still retained some heat.

Her complexion was worryingly red, but I complied with her request not to worry about it.

I informed the other members that I had returned.

“Welcome back, Master.”

Neria welcomed me as if she had been waiting.

Perhaps because I had notified her in advance, she didn’t seem surprised like before.

“Hahaha! I heard you’ve returned! Commander!”

Next came the Red Sword Saint, Kyle.

“I should have gone to escort you… I apologize.”

Lena saluted with perfect posture.

These were Astro’s three core forces.

I engaged in various conversations with those who had come to the commander’s office.

The vice-commander asked first.

“Have you completed all your business?”

“Ah… should I say it was successful? It’s not complete yet, but I’m steadily progressing through the stages.”

“I see.”

“Today I came to pick up Miss Irene. I’ve been staying at the academy again since yesterday.”

“Yeah. I’m going.”

The fox nodded beside me.

Though her expression was indifferent, the tail behind her wagged back and forth making a swishing sound.

I smiled slightly and stroked the girl’s head.

Meanwhile.

Kyle looked at us warmly, then brought up a topic with a hearty laugh.

He was praising Irene.

“Hahaha! You’ll be amazed! She’s become unbelievably strong over the past three weeks!”

“Oh?”

“I simply reviewed the basics with her… but perhaps because she’s reached a certain level, even simple inspiration created massive waves.”

“Such high praise from the highest star.”

“It reminds me of my younger days!”

“To that extent…?”

“Of course, I’m talking about when I was 12!”

“…”

Well, that makes more sense.

We’re not even in the latter part of the original story yet, so it would be strange if the star’s signs were already appearing.

I smiled as if I couldn’t help it.

“Hahaha! The assessment that she’s grown stronger is absolutely true!”

“I believe you, of course.”

I could tell immediately.

The air around her was different.

Previously, right after her awakening with fire, she had an overflowing energy that couldn’t be contained, but now she clearly possessed a refined aura.

It was a calmness that seemed capable of cutting through even falling silence.

Though I had entrusted her with expectations, her level had risen far more substantially than anticipated.

I praised her, feeling proud.

“You’ve worked hard. That’s my Miss Irene.”

“…It’s nothing. I just had a good teacher, I guess. It wasn’t much.”

The fox became shy at times like this.

I had no intention of pointing it out.

Instead, I poked her flushed cheeks repeatedly to express my thoughts.

Leaving Irene turning her head away, I shifted my gaze to the silver-haired girl standing beside her.

It was the vice-commander who had been silently standing by.

“Miss Neria.”

I introduced a new topic.

“I have something to ask of you.”

“If it is your command, Master. Anything, gladly.”

The girl answered affirmatively without hesitation.

It was her usual straightforward loyalty.

Perhaps because she was the organization’s first member and my longest connection, she had always followed me well.

I began the main point with a faint smile.

“I would like you to collect some information.”

“Information… what kind?”

“Mana Stone Disease. I need information about that.”

“Understood.”

“Most publicly available information will probably be useless… it would be better to look into forbidden books or cultist sources.”

“I will have it ready within a week.”

No questions to the order.

Just a brief answer and firm determination to carry it out.

I lightly patted the girl’s shoulder.

“Then I’ll be counting on you.”

Mana Stone Disease.

It felt suspicious in many ways.

The Emperor’s subtle reaction, and the fact that the exact setting hadn’t been clarified, meant additional investigation was necessary.

In the original work, it was left as a kind of MacGuffin.

If I want to know the story hidden behind it, I’ll have to move on my own.

When my hand touched her shoulder, the vice-commander flinched but tried not to show it, answering in a stiff tone.

Her expression remained rigid.

“Yes, Master.”

Of course, maintaining that attitude couldn’t hide her trembling pupils.

I kneaded her delicate shoulders a few times as if teasing her.

Then.

“Ah… ek… uh…?”

The vice-commander completely malfunctioned.

It was an amusing reaction indeed.

I wanted to enjoy it more, but knowing she might cry if I continued, I gently removed my hand.

Her eyes were actually glistening, suggesting it had been a close call.

I pretended not to notice and moved on.

“Well… it’s about time we headed back.”

Having seen the members’ faces after a long time, finished giving instructions, and confirmed the children were doing well, it was truly time to return.

I gestured to Lena who was standing by.

The black-haired woman extended her hand at my signal and tore a dimly glowing dimension in the air.

It was a portal back to the academy.

I reached out my hand to the fox who had been listening behind me.

“Well… shall we go now? To the home where we used to be together.”

Irene looked at me.

The girl grabbed my hand with her warm touch, as if there was no need to hesitate.

“I’ve been waiting.”

And so we stepped through the portal.

***

A week passed like that.

The past month had been busy in many ways.

It was a season where many landscapes changed from time to time.

The Rose was gradually adapting to the outside world with the help of the princess and the snake.

The strained relationship between the sisters seemed to be slowly recovering.

According to her personal maid, though there was some awkwardness, they were both making an effort.

They still had a long way to go, though.

-Now the two of them even laugh sometimes!

-It makes me tear up whenever that happens… it’s all thanks to you, young master!

Tanya bounced excitedly as she spoke.

I patted her small head.

Though it had been busy, the schedule had been rewarding in its own way.

Peaceful days continued afterward.

The issue with the Rose had been resolved for now, the troublesome cultists were quiet, and there was no other news coming in.

It seemed like peaceful daily life was finally continuing.

Of course.

That was until I heard the news.

“Exams, you say?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know? The final exams start tomorrow.”

“Oh my… I completely forgot.”

“I figured as much. You were eager to make study plans together, but then suddenly disappeared for three weeks, so it’s understandable you’d forget.”

“I have nothing to say about that. I apologize.”

“Hmph. Never mind.”

Apparently, exams start tomorrow.

And they’re the notoriously difficult written exams that are part of Gallimar Academy’s long tradition.

This would be a moment of major crisis for ordinary students.

“M-Master… are you alright?”

“How could I be alright! You couldn’t have studied outside and then come back, so your grades are going to drop dramatically this time!”

Everyone had different reactions.

The protagonist worried about me.

The villainess spoke loudly.

I covered my mouth with a serious expression and answered.

“Ah… I’m fine.”

“I-I’ll let you know the exam topics separately. There are some subjects we won’t be tested on the first day…”

“Thank you, Miss Lezia.”

Lezia was full of concern.

On the other hand.

“Too bad for you. This time, I’ll be taking the top spot in the written exams.”

Amelia’s attitude had become subtly haughty.

Perhaps she still had lingering attachment to being the top scorer in written exams, as her blue eyes were particularly sparkling.

She seemed confident in her victory.

“This is a crisis…”

I muttered briefly, carefully covering my mouth again.

To ensure my expression wouldn’t leak out.

‘I’m sorry, but.’

I was smirking behind my hand.

I was imagining how amusingly the villainess’s expression would contort as she stood there with her chest proudly puffed out.

Delicious dopamine was welling up.

‘She probably can’t even imagine.’

For this exam.

She couldn’t have imagined there would be a madman who studied while working as a court physician for the past three weeks.

I twisted my body at the thought that I could never surrender the top position.

Though I wasn’t particularly greedy about grades, something about Amelia taking the title irritated me.

In the end, I had persistently prepared for the exam by setting aside time every early morning.

All to crush my opponent.

Sacrificing my own life completely.

It was truly the mindset of a troublemaker addicted to dopamine.

“Just wait and see! This time my name will be above yours!”

I thought to myself.

Not a chance.

Your fate this time is also ‘second place.’