[Bead: ■■■■■■■■■Why on earth are you making me do this■■■■■■■■■■■■■■My wrist— no, my neck is killing me■■■■■■■■■■■No, wait. I don’t even have either? Should I say the curve hurts■■■■■■■■■■]

‘There’s something wedged in the middle of every sentence.’

To think it remembered to grumble even while spamming the chat window—how diligent.

‘At any rate, with this blocking my entire field of vision, I don’t have to worry about any ugly sights.’

In other words, a self-imposed mosaic censor.

The golden arrow was a curse that could be avoided as long as one didn’t lay eyes on the ‘face,’ even if struck.

“Impossible. My curse doesn’t work? Is your heart made of cast iron?!”

I could hear Sasha cry out in horror. No doubt she wore a thoroughly flustered expression.

“Hah…”

Letting out a sigh as if annoyed by all the love talk, I rose from my seat and walked toward Sasha.

“Wh-what? Don’t come closer! I said don’t— urgh!”

I reached out and roughly seized her jaw.

With the chat window obscuring her face, my aim was slightly clumsy, but I more or less found my mark.

She thrashed about, but fortunately I wasn’t pushed back.

A succubus is a one-trick pony reliant on mental magic, so her physical abilities aren’t much different from mine.

‘But I don’t have the stamina to hold out for long either, so let’s wrap this up quickly.’

“L-let go! Do you even know who I—”

“An officer of the Demon Lord’s army. Sasha, the succubus ranked tenth.”

“……”

I deliberately lowered my voice in a threatening manner, and her thrashing ceased.

“What exactly does the Demon Lord hope to accomplish with such a petty trick?”

“How dare you speak of the Demon Lord— ah!”

I jerked her captured jaw to the side, and Sasha screamed.

“He knew full well I was here, yet he sent the likes of you. That means that bastard abandoned me first.”

“Y-you’re the one who’s being ambiguous! I told him first! I said I’d win over you and everyone around ‘young master’!”

From behind me came sounds of stifled, bitter groans— “Kgh…!” and the like. If it hadn’t been me, they would’ve been utterly helpless.

“But to think you’d be incapable of loving anyone. Are you even human? You’re closer to a monster, aren’t you? How pathetic!”

“You wench, do you think that just because you have a mouth, anything you spew is true!”

I heard Princess’s angry voice, though honestly, I was surprised.

‘Right on the mark.’

One of the reasons I hadn’t bothered to dodge Sasha’s attack.

Because those words were a crucial part of interpreting the ‘Chris’ character.

‘A being standing on the boundary between human and monster.’

It was also one of the intersections between ‘Chris’ and the Protagonist.

Therefore, this very moment—

‘Is the perfect timing for staying in character!’

[Bead: ■■■■■■■■She’s getting excited over some weird reason again……■■■■■■■■■■■Anyway, how long do I have to keep doing this?■■■■■■■■]

I couldn’t show any sign of being shaken here. Instead, with an expression so composed it bordered on inhuman—

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

“What?”

“Why would something so trivial be reason enough to pity me?”

I spoke as if to ask why her own condition of being incapable of love was any kind of problem.

True, I had once emphasized the human heart to the Protagonist, but that was just typical of a character like ‘Chris.’

‘Worrying about others while never thinking about her own problems!’

A double standard, utterly hypocritical, yet completely unaware.

Perfect.

“Ha, the truly pitiful ones are your disciples. I heard you’d become obsessed with playing professor and worried, but it was all for nothing.”

Sasha laughed as though she couldn’t believe it. Then, fueled by spite, she began to shout.

“You don’t care about your disciples or the Demon Lord—none of it matters to you! The reason you were never committed to either side is because you can’t love either one!”

The Demon Lord and the Holy Emperor.

She had grown sick of killing people in the Demon Lord’s army and walked away, but that didn’t mean she wanted to fully cooperate with the Holy Emperor either.

Truth be told, by this point, she didn’t care who won between them.

That was the reason ‘Chris’ watched from the sidelines as though everything was too bothersome.

In reality, she had simply been walking a tightrope by refusing to choose any of the routes the System proposed—

“You cowardly, empty shell of a human.”

That was apparently how Sasha saw it.

‘…Wow, incredible.’

Honestly, it was one revelation after another. Had anyone ever looked at ‘Chris’s character roleplay this intuitively before?

Amid all those fools trapped in their own delusions, spouting nonsense about her being ‘secretly tenderhearted’—this was a ray of light, a cold and cutting indictment.

As expected of a succubus. Sensitive to human psychology.

‘Ah… I wish she’d say more…’

[Bead: ☆☆☆☆☆☆Perverted freak☆☆☆☆☆☆]

The mosaic pattern suddenly changing must have been my imagination.

“Professor, any further insult is unbearable for us as your disciples. Please give the order to dispose of her.”

“I agree. I don’t see why we need to listen to any more of her nonsense. Judging by the look of it, she’s the one who pulled that stunt on Gabana too.”

Among the seething voices, I noticed the Protagonist’s absence.

My left rear had felt unusually cold for a while now—could he be there?

‘If even I, the weakest here, can sense the killing intent, this is serious.’

No wonder Sasha had been chattering her teeth and trembling earlier.

I released my hand.

“Getting worked up over a provocation that barely qualifies as one. You all have a long way to go.”

“Kgh, kgh…! You think I’ll just sit here? I haven’t been idling all this time! Boys!”

At Sasha’s shriek, bang! Something slammed against the classroom door.

The students of Class Y.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

Countless people were ramming their heads against the locked door, desperate to force their way into the classroom.

Several were climbing through the windows only to fall back down, repeating the cycle over and over.

[Bead: Ugh, the mosaic censoring is getting harder■■■■■■■]

“Wh-what is this! Everyone’s going to get hurt doing that!”

As Model Student recoiled in horror, Sasha replied with a wicked voice.

“It’d be a problem if you’re already surprised. The ones I put the most effort into are the second-years. They’ll be swarming in here soon—what do you think? Think you can handle it?”

They must be the students who had been struck by the golden arrow and seen Sasha first.

Literally enslaved by love, they would do anything to protect her.

‘The problem is they’re all members of our Academy. If we’re unlucky, the faculty might be included too.’

In other words, killing or forcefully subduing them was out of the question.

It would become an issue once they came to their senses.

‘She set this up with that in mind.’

Indeed, this was a difficult situation to break free from. The Protagonist had only recently awakened and would struggle with power control.

One wrong move and he could unintentionally kill Academy people with his own hands.

‘Then the Protagonist would have a hard time staying at the Academy anymore.’

For the Demon Lord’s army, that would be a welcome outcome.

She thought this through more than expected. We might have been utterly helpless.

…If this were still the first round, that is.

This time, not just the Protagonist but everyone in X-Class had trained with intense focus.

Not to destroy something, but to be able to protect someone.

“Split into two groups. Half will pacify those lunatics, and the other half will subdue the succubus.”

“Yes, Professor!”

“Those fools in that state are more sensitive to the flow of mana. Therefore, it should be somewhat easier to attack the succubus with physical force.”

“Understood! Alright, Michael?”

“Right.”

“You can do it, right? You told me so. That you didn’t want to become like them. That you wanted to prove to the Professor that you were right.”

I could hear Model Student’s voice soothing the Protagonist. When they’d had such a deep conversation was anyone’s guess, but either way, there was nothing to worry about.

“Y-you… idiots! Fools! Do you even know that young master’s true identity? He’s—!”

“What nonsense is that? Michael is our friend and comrade. That has nothing to do with you.”

Princess’s firm declaration. Now that was friendship.

“That’s right~ So just shut your mouth and eat this. Gabana?”

Twin-braid’s weapon was a bow, but it was too heavy for her to draw alone. So Bob Hair would assist, and they’d fire together—but whether Bob Hair, who had been struck by the golden arrow, would cooperate was another question.

“You’re going to help me, right?”

After that voice that sounded somehow desperate, the answer that came was—

“Dolce.”

“……”

“You dummy. Even if I find someone to love, my feelings for you will never change. That’s love too.”

“Gabana…!”

“You’ll help too, senior?”

“Y-yeah, o-of course! It’s your request. And I owe Dolce one too. She’s the one who told me what your type is, hehe.”

“Ugh, so annoying! A man this stupid! Seriously the worst!”

Twin-braid’s voice as she shouted was unmistakably tinged with laughter.

“Now then—”

Rivals or whatever, in the end, real combat was the most effective way to level up.

“Let’s go.”

Love, after all, needs war to follow close behind.