“Huh?”

“You heard me.”

I fixed my gaze on Erika, who was feigning ignorance, and repeated my answer.

“What are you going to do for me if I stick around?”

“Is it really that hard to just… stay and talk for a bit?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

As I shifted, the sword at my waist swayed. Erika’s eyes instantly snapped to it.

“You know exactly what things are like right now. Thanks to your stellar leadership of this Academy, the students are practically dying to fuck each other, and some don’t even know if they’re dead or alive. You know perfectly well how risky it is to come all the way back here alone.”

“But…”

“And yet, there’s only one reason I’m still hanging around. I came all this way, and it felt like too much of a waste of time to leave without getting something out of it.”

“Right! That… that thing.”

At that moment, Erika suddenly snapped her head up. Though her bravado quickly crumbled, her eyes flickering with uncertainty, she somehow managed to squeeze out enough courage to speak.

“You can’t keep wandering around all by yourself forever. It must be nerve-wracking… and probably lonely, too. So, what I’m trying to say is, Lope…”

“Yeah.”

“Would you… would you be willing to be on my side?”

“What?”

Cornered, Erika blurted out an absurd proposition. Yet, seemingly convinced it was a groundbreaking offer, she even managed a faint smile.

“I know I don’t look like it, but right now, I… I really need someone to help me. Not those scumbags, but someone decent, like you… I never thought I’d be the one saying this, Lope, but you might be the only sane person left in this Academy.”

“…And?”

“So stop wandering around and help me out. Stand by my side so we can bring this place back to normal. I’ll even give you a title! Vice President, or maybe Secretary… whatever you want. What do you say?”

“Hah…”

A sigh slipped out before I could stop it. It seemed Erika still fancied herself the charming, charismatic Student Council President.

“Hey, Erika.”

“Yeah?”

“You still don’t seem to understand.”

“Ugh…”

To personally shatter that delusion, I stepped closer to her. She was already pressed flat against the wall, with nowhere left to retreat. Erika shrank back, gazing up at my jaw.

“Not something like that.”

“…”

“Besides that bullshit, is there actually anything you can do for me?”

“I…”

At that moment, though not entirely intentional, my gaze drifted down to her chest. Honestly, it was getting harder to keep ignoring the plump swell of her breasts beneath the sweat-soaked, see-through shirt.

Sensing my gaze, Erika crossed her arms over her chest. For a fleeting moment, an awkward tension hung in the air between us.

…

A moment later, a slightly tearful voice slipped from her lips.

“You too…”

“…”

“In the end… is that what you’re after, too…?”

As if tasting despair for the very first time, Erika’s arms fell limply to her sides. Perhaps she felt a wave of disappointment that even the last person she trusted only lusted after her body. Or maybe she had simply resigned herself to the thought that sexual appeal was the only asset she had left.

Or perhaps it was the exact opposite. She might have been calculating that offering her body was a small price to pay if it meant surviving this ordeal. The way her thigh subtly rubbed against mine seemed to harbor a glimmer of hope. Despair and hope. The two conflicting emotions intertwined, dancing so wildly in her chest that I could almost hear it from where I stood.

But I cut through that tangled web of emotion with a blunt response.

“No. I’m not into that.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to catch an STD or something.”

“Uh…?”

Erika gaped at me, dumbfounded. She looked as if she couldn’t tell whether I was joking. But as the implication finally sank in, her face flushed a deep crimson.

“You!”

But before she could finish, the door swung open with a loud thud.

“Lope. You done yet?”

“Ah…!”

The moment Heiter appeared in the doorway, Erika’s words caught in her throat. He smirked, then began striding toward us.

“You should probably start making yourself scarce. The President has a lot on her plate, after all. Isn’t that right, Madam President?”

“Ah… no… I…”

“Time to get back to work. You’ve got quite a few visitors stopping by today.”

“I… I still have more to discuss with Lope…”

“Come on.”

Heiter wedged himself between us, shouldering Erika aside, and jerked his head toward the door.

“I’ll fill her in on the rest. So you stay inside. How about it, Lope?”

“…Fine.”

“Let’s go, then. The trade goods are already packed. You just need to grab them.”

“W… wait. I…”

Even as we turned to leave, Erika hesitated, trailing after us. Heiter glanced back over his shoulder and casually called out.

“Oh, by the way, Madam President. You should probably head out to the main gate, too. The professor was looking for you.”

“…”

“Make sure to grab a few balloons. I hear Lope brought them.”

Erika was struck speechless, her hands falling to her sides. The door slammed shut mercilessly in her face. I thought I saw her lips mouth someone’s name at the very end, but the sound of the heavy door drowned it out, erasing it without a trace.

“This should be enough, right?”

“Not bad.”

I stuffed the daily necessities I had acquired into my backpack, the satisfying heft of the weight pressing down on my shoulders. Heiter watched me, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Thank God you’re around. I swear, the shit you never even think about runs out the fastest. I could tear apart every storage room on this island and still come up empty.”

“I’m running low, too. I’ll have to start looking for alternatives soon.”

“Yeah? That’s a real problem. We’re gonna need a lot more from here on out. Hell, there are already a few bitches running around who look knocked up.”

His tone was laden with implication, but I ignored him and headed down the stairs. Heiter dogged my heels, keeping up the chatter.

“Anyway, you’ve got a real knack for this. You know how to do all sorts of shit, and you’ve got the brains to match. The Academy needs more guys like you.”

“I guess.”

“Not many people can fend for themselves in a mess like this. Things are getting pretty ugly out there. Plenty of crazy bastards, and just as many crazy bitches. Word is, some unidentified flying creature has been prowling around the Academy lately. You know anything about that?”

“No.”

“So you don’t know either. Man, this is exactly why you need someone reliable. Someone whose skills are the real deal.”

Before long, the bottom of the stairwell came into view. Pale afternoon sunlight filtered faintly through the main gates. It would probably be evening by the time I made it back. Heiter, however, kept tailing me.

“Oh, right, Lope. Anyway…”

“Heiter.”

“Huh?”

“If you have something to say, just say it. Stop beating around the bush.”

“Haha…”

When I called him out directly, he let out a dry chuckle. Leaning his back against the secluded wall beside the stairs, he finally spoke.

“You know… aren’t you lonely?”

“Not at all.”

“Come on, man. We’re both guys here. You gotta be lonely.”

“I’m really not. And if you’re about to give me the same pitch Erika just tried…”

“Nah, it’s not like that. I’m saying you need a fuck pad.”

His penchant for vulgar language always grated on my nerves. My brow furrowed slightly before I could stop it.

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“It’s a very important matter.”

Though there was hardly any reason to keep secrets in this Academy, he lowered his voice anyway, speaking in a near-whisper.

“You know about it, right? Those bitches hiding out in the west building. Looks like there are a few guys in there, too, but that’s neither here nor there. Point is, they’ve been barricaded in there for over a month now.”

“I know.”

“Up until now, I don’t know what the hell they used to barricade the doors, but no matter how hard we pounded on them, they wouldn’t budge. We were half-ready to give up. But a little while ago… we found a way to breach them.”

“You found a way in.”

“Yeah. It’s a bit complicated, so I’d rather not get into the details right now… but anyway, we found a way. So, we’ve set a date. Exactly three days from now, we breach.”

“Is that so.”

It was more or less expected, so I nodded without much interest. No matter how securely they locked themselves in, they couldn’t hold out forever. The real question was why he was telling me.

“So why are you telling me this?”

“Well, that’s…”

When I pressed him on the point, Heiter needlessly dragged out his pause. Then, staring me dead in the eye, he said:

“I want you to be there.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Even if we breach the doors, those bitches aren’t gonna go down without a fight. We can’t just ignore their numbers… and a lot of them know magic. So we need someone who can definitely throw down. Someone like… you.”

“Ah. I see.”

“So, to sum it up, I’m asking you to be on our side. It’s a win-win, right? With your skills, you won’t even get a scratch in there, and if you see a pretty bitch you like, you can just take your pick. What do you say?”

“…”

He spoke as if there was no way I could resist the temptation. In fact, he was practically vibrating with excitement, clearly thinking he had already half-convinced me.

Of course, I felt absolutely no temptation, nor the slightest bit of interest. Above all, I had zero reason to go out of my way to take such a risk.

“Not really. I’m not interested.”

“Come on, just think about it. If you want, I can throw in a few extra things for you.”

“Besides, you guys will manage just fine without me.”

“Nah, you don’t know that.”

But the very next moment, a single name dropped from Heiter’s lips, halting me in my tracks.

“That fucking bitch Lena has been getting on my nerves so much. And there are plenty of other annoying cunts in there, too.”

“…Who?”

“Oh, come on, you know her. The bitch who was top of the class. Because of that fucking cunt, a few of our guys got turned into invalids.”

“Lena is in there?”

“Yeah. We only found out a little while ago. We tried to breach through a window and got hit hard by her magic. A lot of the guys are itching to get back at her. Me included. Once we get our hands on her, fuck, we’re gonna…”

“…”

Lena.

That name stopped me in my tracks once again. Like a stone in the path that you trip over even when you know it’s there, my thoughts always stumbled at that exact spot. No matter how hard I tried to ignore it, her name constantly circled the periphery of my vision.

And naturally, my pathetic imagination conjured a vivid scene before my eyes. Three days from now. When Heiter’s crew breaches the doors, that building will plunge into chaos. I highly doubted untrained students would react calmly to a situation like that. Their resistance would be crushed in an instant, and the rabid beasts would pounce on them.

What would happen to Lena, then? She would be swarmed by men yanking down their pants, letting out a piercing scream for the very first time. Would she be able to bite her own tongue before their cocks pierced her virginity? Of course, it was far more likely she’d have a gag shoved in her mouth and her legs forced apart before she ever got the chance.

It all felt as vivid as if it had already happened. It felt less like predicting the future and more like recalling a past memory. Heiter’s starved gaze, his vulgar way of speaking—it had already cemented the outcome. If there was even the slightest variable in that scenario, it was only one.

And that was me.

“Anyway…”

As my tangled thoughts tore into each other, Heiter spoke again. And with his own lips, he voiced the very question I should have been asking myself.

“So. What’s it gonna be? Lope.”