Simon watched the blue-haired boy—a perfect doppelgänger of himself—frantically trailing White. It was obvious who it was.
’It’s Erze! What is she doing there?’
As if sensing his gaze, she turned, spotted him, and even had the audacity to wave with a smile.
"What’s wrong, Simon?" Lorraine asked, tilting her head. "Is something the matter? You’re breaking out in a cold sweat."
"No, no, it’s nothing!" Simon forced a smile, trying to distract his friends. "H-Hey, can you wait here for a moment? I have some urgent business... Five minutes! It’ll only take five minutes!"
"Urgent business? What is it all of a sudden?" Lorraine asked, blinking.
Beside her, Eshe covered her mouth and wiggled her eyebrows. "Go on..."
Lorraine looked at Eshe, still confused, but Eshe just giggled. Serne also seemed to have caught on and waved him off, but Toto jumped in.
"Me too! I’ll go with you."
’He’s coming along?’ It was a complication, but as long as he could get away, he didn’t care. "W-Well then, I’ll be right back!"
"Yep. Hope it’s a refreshing one," Eshe called after them.
With her final words ringing in his ears, Simon and Toto quickly ducked into a nearby deserted alley.
"Ugh, I held it in for too long," Toto muttered, fumbling with the waistband of his uniform. "I’ll be quick..."
’I’m sorry, Toto.’
Simon unfolded a prepared ’Sleep’ curse and cast it on Toto in quick succession. Toto swayed and collapsed, instantly falling into a deep slumber.
"Phew."
Simon looked up. "You can come out now, Erze."
’Ssssssk!’
Something dropped from the empty wall. It was Simon’s form, hanging upside down, her ankles secured by a spider thread.
[Legion Commandeeer! I missed you so!] she whimpered, throwing her arms around him.
Simon turned his head away. Being hugged by himself was a rather bizarre sight.
"What are you doing here?"
She looked at him blankly. [Have you forgotten the order you gave me to track White?]
"I know that. But why are you tracking him in my form?!"
[I was attempting to draw White’s attention.] She untangled the spider thread from her leg and landed properly to greet him. [It seems he is obsessed with you, Commander, so I thought he might follow if I showed him your form.]
"...That’s too dangerous." Simon sighed deeply. Still, he had given Erzebet full authority over her methods, so he didn’t press the issue. "So, did you find anything?"
[Aside from being a bit dazed, he appeared to be a perfectly ordinary student. He bore a suspicious resemblance to Magnus, but he did nothing particularly suspicious.]
"Hmm."
Just then, Erzebet held up her index finger. [However, there was one strange thing.]
According to Erzebet, on the third day of the dispatch, White’s activity level had dropped significantly, as if he had run out of power. The dispatch team was furious, but White paid them no mind. Eventually, they gave him an ultimatum: if he didn’t complete his mission quota by the end of the day, they would contact Kizen and have him sent back. White still didn’t react.
But that evening, White, who had been sound asleep, shot his eyes open and ran out of the dormitory.
[For the first time, I lost track of him.]
"Why?"
[He vanished. Into thin air.] Her expression grew serious as she explained. [It seems he used a pre-arranged teleportation magic circle. However, teleportation circles are supposed to leave traces, and there was nothing of the sort.]
Simon’s eyes gleamed. ’If it’s the Blood Heaven Cult’s warp gate...!’
A powerful spatial magic that could even infiltrate dungeons. That technique left no traces. But this was just circumstantial evidence; it was too hasty to link White to the Blood Heaven Cult or the Union.
"And then?"
[I had planted my scent on White’s body for tracking. I waited near the spot where he disappeared, and a short while later, he reappeared.] Her expression was grim as she spoke. [He was gone for a mere five minutes. The scent I had planted was gone without a trace. After returning, he calmly walked off and completed all his overdue work at once.]
The dispatch team had been satisfied with White’s sudden burst of productivity, and he had successfully completed the evaluation. After hearing the explanation, Simon crossed his arms.
"Suspicious. This is definitely suspicious." He wondered how he had gotten tangled up with such a strange character.
[Is that really so suspicious?]
"Of course it is!"
[If we’re talking about suspicious, there’s the one who always disappears from the dormitory, is the Legion Commander of Betrayal, can use Divinity, and can combine Divinity and Jet-Black.] A meaningful smile graced her lips. [And I believe the Commander, who even has a connection with an active Saintess, is one step above.]
...He had nothing to say to that. ’I guess I’m the most suspicious person in Kizen.’
"Alright, I get it. We’ll talk about the details when I get back." His friends and Serne would be waiting. "Keep an eye on White. Report to me immediately if he does anything else strange."
[As you command.] Suddenly shedding the spider threads and returning to her original form, she spread her arms. [Now, what about my reward for this mission?]
"...Ugh."
Simon blushed. "D-Do we have to do it right now?"
[Yes!]
Hesitantly turning his head away, he squeezed his eyes shut and stepped forward to give Erzebet a light hug.
[You have to pat my back, too.]
Simon obediently did as he was told.
[Ehehehehe.] Her mouth hung open in a wide grin, drool dripping down. [Ah~ That embarrassed expression, one that can only be seen at this age, is the ultimate reward for me.]
"That’s enough now!" Simon quickly pulled away. "Keep up the good work!"
[I obey the Legion Commander’s command.] Erzebet bowed respectfully, then flew away on a spider thread.
Simon sighed and turned back.
’Snore... Snore...’
Toto was still sleeping, oblivious to the world. Because the ’Sleep’ curse had hit him while he was unbuckling his pants, he was now sprawled out in his boxer shorts.
’I feel kind of bad about this.’
Simon approached him. Just then, Toto grinned foolishly and shook his head from side to side. "E-Eshe...! Not there...!"
’What in the world is he dreaming about?’
Simon clapped his hands sharply.
Toto’s head shot up, and he wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. "S-Simon?"
"Are you okay?" Simon asked, squatting down.
Toto blinked with a dazed expression. "Uh... Um, what happened?"
"You rushed in here, hit your head on that pipe, and passed out," Simon said, pointing to a creaky pipe in a plausible location.
Toto nodded without suspicion. "I-I see. How long was I out?"
"About five minutes. Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah! I fainted, but my head feels clearer, and I feel a lot better! It’s strange!"
"That’s a relief."
"And I think I had a really pleasant dream..."
Toto’s face flushed beet red as he scrunched his brow, trying to remember something. "I-It’s nothing!" he shouted, flailing his arms.
Simon stared intently into Toto’s eyes. "I heard you say Eshe’s name earlier."
"Huh!!"
Toto’s jaw dropped, and his cheeks burned like a furnace. The reaction was so obvious that Simon couldn’t help but burst out laughing. "I’ll keep it a secret."
"Really? You promise?!"
Even as they left the alley together, Toto clung to Simon’s arm, repeatedly making him swear to secrecy. A Phantastus-style ’Sleep’ curse makes the target have a pleasant dream, often one they desire. Which meant...
"Do you like Eshe?" Simon asked abruptly.
Toto’s face turned red once again. "N-N-No, no, no! How could I possibly like Eshe...!"
An excessive denial is an affirmation, they say. After being teased by the much older Erzebet, getting a chance to tease his peer felt somehow refreshing.
’The trigger must have been Serne’s test of courage.’ The two of them had run around clinging to each other in fear. When teenage boys and girls go through something like that, it’s enough to spark feelings where there were none. Simon was optimistic about this new development for his roommate.
He remembered Fitzgerald’s assessment of Toto.
’—Simon, you don’t know Toto well enough yet. His timid personality has always held back his potential. Experiencing a situation like this will be a great help to him.’
Indeed, Toto had extremely low self-esteem in his first year. But during this club season, he had been handing out flyers and even taken on the role of disciplinary leader for the first-years. His personality was gradually becoming more proactive. Toto could grow even more. Perhaps he could overcome his fear of the opposite sex through a relationship.
"I’m rooting for you, Toto."
"Wh-What are you rooting for?! Don’t say things like that!"
By the time Simon and Toto returned, the situation was on the verge of catastrophe. Lorraine was shouting furiously while Serne stood smiling with her arms crossed, radiating a murderous aura. Caught between them, Eshe was desperately trying to hold them back. Suddenly burdened with the grave mission of preventing a war between Kizen and the Ivory Tower, she was sweating buckets. But even the affable Eshe was no match for the two of them.
"What, were you fighting again?" Simon asked, approaching with a bright smile.
The murderous intent of the two girls, who looked ready to tear each other’s hair out, vanished as if it were a lie. They tucked their hair behind their ears or offered their own bright smiles.
"Honestly, it’s so childish, I can’t even say anything," Serne sang.
"...You just wait," Lorraine muttered.
Simon had saved the continent once again. Eshe stared at him, her expression clearly asking, ’How on earth did you do that?’
"Well then, now that the gentlemen have taken care of their business, shall we go?" Serne chirped.
"Yeah!"
Back to the matter at hand, they needed two things in this town: food for the training camp and various undead supplies for their Dullahan project. He didn’t know if there was a necromancer supply shop here, but there was bound to be a place that handled monster corpses.
"Let’s split into teams," Simon proposed. "Two people for groceries, three for undead supplies."
"Then I’ll go with Simon," Serne said with a cute smile, clinging to his arm.
Lorraine’s glare was practically lethal.
’Just as I expected.’
Simon had planned from the start to handle both Lorraine and Serne himself. At the same time, he wanted to create an opportunity for Toto and Eshe to be alone. Serne would naturally gravitate toward him, and Lorraine, not wanting to see that, would follow. Now, all they had to do was set off...
"How about we decide by drawing lots? Doesn’t that sound more fun?" Out of nowhere, Eshe jumped in, and the others nodded in agreement.
’This is bad.’
"How should we decide? A coin toss? Or rock-paper-scissors?"
Simon grew anxious. He had to be the one to set the terms. "How about we draw lots?" He opened his subspace and took out the leftover wooden skewers from their Dullahan class. He covered the ends with his fist. "The two who draw the skewers with the clipped ends go together."
"That sounds fun!" The others, not caring how they decided, immediately agreed.
Simon delicately manipulated his Jet-Black, gathering it in his hand. ’I’ll have Lorraine and Serne draw first, and for the other two, I’ll use Jet-Black to trim the skewers...’
"Then I’ll go first!" Eshe suddenly jumped out and drew a skewer. The others immediately grabbed one each, and the order was completely mixed up.
A moment later...
’...How did it end up like this?’ Simon sighed inwardly.
"We’ll be back!" Eshe announced, her hand on Simon’s shoulder as she waved.
Lorraine and Serne were glaring daggers at each other, and between them stood Toto with a miserable expression.
’...I’m screwed.’

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