Ch.37One Step Ahead in Preparation – 4

The day after destroying all the succubus breeding grounds, I was sitting blankly in the club room, passing time.

I had skipped liberal arts lectures for two consecutive days, using club activities as an excuse. I simply wasn’t in the mood to focus on studying.

The professor in charge had readily approved my absence, saying it was natural to be busy during the initial stages of establishing a club, but the reality was quite the opposite. Given our club’s questionable founding purpose, there wasn’t much to do anyway.

Instead, I had plenty of time to think.

‘…The Demon King as a possessed person, huh.’

No matter how much I pondered, my thoughts kept returning to that possibility. If the Demon King was both a possessed person and a regressor like Priscilla or Rosaria, it would explain all those bizarre statements and behaviors.

Things like claiming this world was false, or that we were trapped in a puppet show, or declaring that he would never kill me. And perhaps, like Priscilla and Rosaria, he might have lost control of his body at some point.

Having to watch characters throughout the regression repeating only the words and actions from the original story, everything visible might have seemed like programmed NPCs rather than living beings.

Among the four who remained until the end, Priscilla and Rosaria were possessed people like him, though they had lost control of their bodies.

‘I wonder how the Demon King thinks of me.’

He might consider me a possessed person like himself, or perhaps he sees me as a character from the novel who acts independently, deviating from the original story.

That’s how Rosaria had been, after all. Before I revealed my identity, she had thought of me as merely a character from the original story and tried to explain things awkwardly using metaphors.

The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I felt. If things had progressed a bit more normally, I would have had enough time to think everything through.

The 6th Legion Commander unexpectedly guarding the succubus breeding ground, hearing from that commander that the Demon King had predicted this situation, and then suddenly the Demon King himself appearing to beat his subordinate nearly to death—everything just kept happening one after another.

Moreover, the Demon King, whom I had thought to be a merciless slaughterer, grabbed me and rambled about joining his side. It was overwhelming just trying to understand the immediate situation.

‘Just how many more people have been dragged here?’

It had only been a month since I enrolled at Bellium Academy. Yet in that short time, I had already found three others like me who had been dragged here—four if I included the Demon King.

At this point, I was becoming curious. Who brought us here, why, for what purpose, and what made the earlier possessed people repeat the same actions as in the original story?

‘…I don’t know.’

But no answers came, and my head remained a jumble of thoughts. I sank deeper into the sofa.

“Mira! We’re he— Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Leona? Why did you suddenly— Eek?”

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Brunhild forcefully opened the door, followed by Aria, but both froze at the entrance.

Their wide eyes darted around restlessly. I lifted my head slightly to look at them.

Brunhild was trembling as she took in the club room, which had changed about 1080 degrees from when it was first assigned, while Aria’s face showed signs of panic. Their reaction was understandable, considering I had changed absolutely everything, down to the smallest detail.

“What are you doing standing there? Come in.”

“…Are we really allowed to step on this? We won’t have to pay cleaning fees if it gets dirty, right?”

“What are you talking about? Of course you can step on it. Why else would there be a carpet?”

“Sh-should we take off our shoes? No, my feet would be really dirty since I’ve been wearing shoes all day, maybe I should wash them first—”

“Just come in. You don’t need to take them off or wash anything. If it gets too dirty from cleaning, we can always buy a new one later.”

“…Buy a new one? This? How much does it cost?”

How much was it again? I recalled the receipt Beatrice had handed me. When I told them the carpet’s price, both Brunhild and Aria gasped simultaneously.

“Hey… How can a single carpet cost so… That would cover my living expenses for a year back home if I used it carefully…”

“A-are you sure we can really step on it…? Really…?”

Seeing them tremble after hearing the price made me smile as I recalled an old memory. It was from when I had just realized I was a possessed person.

When I saw the obviously expensive carpet, I took off my shoes before stepping on it, which made my parents burst into laughter. The butler and Beatrice also laughed as if I was adorably naive.

Well, they’ll get used to it eventually. I did too.

“Is everything else here just as expensive?”

“Of course. There’s no reason to only buy an expensive carpet, is there?”

“…Did you buy all this with the club budget? Even for Bellium Academy, they wouldn’t provide that much money—”

“I bought it with my own money. We did get a budget, but it wasn’t much, so I left it untouched. We can use it for something else later.”

“Why, why? Is there any reason to decorate it this extravagantly?”

“This is going to be our club room for the next three years. Since we’re just going to hang out and eat here under the pretense of club activities, we might as well make it look stylish.”

“St-stylish…”

Brunhild and Aria seemed completely overwhelmed by the appearance of the club room. Seeing their reactions, I decided that if they asked about the total remodeling cost, I would downplay it a bit.

All the furniture here combined would cost as much as a decent house.

Add to that the cost of the workers I had to gather to install everything in a single day, and it would be an unimaginable sum for those two. I didn’t want to burden them by mentioning the specific amount.

‘Maybe I should have chosen everything myself.’

To be honest, I hadn’t initially planned to splurge like this.

I had originally intended to decorate it with a moderately antique style, but when I asked Beatrice to recommend some furniture for the newly established club, my parents somehow overheard it.

As a result, even I was dumbfounded when I first entered this place.

“Hey, Mira. Can I sit here? Really sit here?”

“That’s what the sofa is for, so hurry up and sit down. What are you afraid of?”

“W-wow… It’s so soft…”

“Expensive things really do feel different…”

Aria let out a small exclamation as she sank into the sofa, while Brunhild, after asking me several times for confirmation, finally closed her eyes tightly and threw herself onto the sofa, her face melting with comfort.

“…”

Our eyes met. Only then did they seem to come to their senses, their faces flushing red. But they showed no intention of getting up.

“S-so where did Priscilla go? She’s always with you.”

“She’s with the Holy Maiden candidate. Said she had something to talk about. What about you two? Did your visit to the Imperial Palace go well?”

“Ah, right!”

Brunhild sprang up.

“You said you could have turned into that murderous demon or whatever? Are you okay?”

“You’re quick to ask. Don’t worry, there’s no chance of that happening.”

“Are you really sure? Really? I’d cry my eyes out if you became a murderous demon, Mira!”

“If you’re going to hear news, you should get it right. Why do you think the Sword Saint stopped emanating killing intent when we first met him? It’s because he was convinced I wouldn’t change.”

“…Is that how it works?”

“Are you really the Hero?”

Brunhild turned away with an embarrassed expression. Once again, Aria was defending her from the side, saying, “Doesn’t drawing the holy sword mean she has the qualifications?”

In truth, it made sense for her to lack vigilance at this point. According to the story, she only begins to seriously acknowledge her role as the Hero after several incidents occur in the middle of Part 1.

Which means that if Bellium Academy remains safe because of me, Brunhild’s awakening as the Hero would be delayed.

‘But that doesn’t mean I’ll let the academy be destroyed.’

Me being dragged back home? Absolutely not. Especially if it means being dragged back because the academy is destroyed and I have nowhere to stay.

“Hmm… Alright! If you say so, Mira, then it must be true. Anyway, the Sword Saint asked me to thank you again. He said he’d properly repay you later!”

“…”

I shook my head inwardly. It was a statement that showed no intention of hiding his suspicions. Karna was openly suggesting that I was the reason he had returned to normal.

“All I did was stand next to him waiting for him to return, and I was lucky enough to witness the process. I don’t see why he’s thanking me. It’s really burdensome.”

“He probably feels bad about directing killing intent at us. He apologized to me and Aria three times, bowing his head. Eventually, we had to beg him to stop.”

—Knock, knock.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the club room door. Aria, who had been sinking into the sofa, jerked upright.

“Who could it be?”

“I don’t know. Priscilla?”

“If it were Priscilla, she would have knocked and come right in. I don’t think it’s her.”

—Knock, knock.

“Is anyone in there?”

Along with another knock, a woman’s voice was heard this time. It was a voice I recognized.

‘Roxanna Astrierre.’

A member of the Astrierre family that the succubus had infiltrated into the Empire long ago, a half-succubus, and the woman who had tried to seduce me but failed.

“I think I know who it is. It’s that woman from before, right? The one who opposed Mira joining the student council, standing behind the Crown Prince.”

“That’s right. It’s her voice.”

“Hmm… But why would she come here?”

Aria tilted her head.

“I don’t know. Let’s open the door and find out.”

As I approached the door, Roxanna was still knocking for the third time, showing remarkable patience.

The soundproof door, designed to let sounds in but not out, seemed to be working properly.

“Finally you opened it. Hello, Mira Crate. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

As soon as I opened the door, Roxanna greeted me energetically. Under her flowing pink hair, her chest—which could rival even Rosaria’s—bounced vigorously.

“I thought you wouldn’t even want to make eye contact with me.”

“Oh, come on. That was ages ago, are you still hung up on that?”

Roxanna laughed and playfully nudged my abdomen with her elbow. Perhaps because she was still a succubus despite being only half-blooded, her every movement was remarkably natural.

Her tone and mannerisms had become much more bubbly too. I could hardly believe this woman was the same person who had vehemently opposed my joining the student council.

“So, what brings you here? As you can see, we’re in the middle of club activities.”

“Ah, about that.”

Roxanna took out a neatly folded square paper from her coat’s inner pocket and unfolded it.

“Ta-da! A membership application!”

“…A membership application?”

“You know our academy allows joining multiple clubs, right? Since the student council is technically a club too, it’s not an exception. So I thought I’d apply to join yours!”