Chapter 103
Nearly 3 weeks.
Perhaps because I had been absent for quite a long time.
The girl showed an intense reaction.
"Sniff... Haa..."
Rough breathing striking my ear.
The fox continued her hot breathing as if about to burst, with her face buried in my neck.
The desperate heat spread right down to my chin.
"Miss Irene?"
Perhaps she had been anxious?
Having suddenly disappeared without any promise, she might have worried if I would never return.
For her, I was probably the only person she could trust around her.
She seemed glad in proportion to how long we had been apart.
I quietly embraced the girl's body with an appreciative heart.
"Haa, haa..."
The fox was clinging with disheveled breaths.
Sticky body heat embracing my body.
Soft flesh was pressed between our tightly touching chests, transmitting an explicit sensation.
Perhaps because our navels were touching.
I could feel her taut form right through her clothes.
A precarious posture in many ways.
"Oh my."
A deep bodily scent dyed the tip of my nose.
Just before being eaten by a beast.
As I lay there for a while enjoying such a composition, the girl who had been silently pouncing raised her head.
Irene who met my gaze had a somewhat disheveled expression.
"...You're late."
Shaking black pupils.
What was buried beyond them was joy, longing, gladness.
And relief.
"You were so late... I thought I might have been abandoned. I was anxious."
So she had such worries after all.
I smiled bitterly.
I thought to soothe that concern first.
"I told you, didn't I?"
"......"
"I won't abandon you. Even if everything else in the world abandons you."
"I know... but I was still scared."
"You're a scaredy-cat."
"Maybe so."
"Then I'll have to soothe you so you're not afraid."
I stroked her head to reassure her.
The fox then obediently received the touch.
The snake leisurely savored her flowing hair, then soon extended a hand to her scarlet ears standing up pointedly.
The caressing touch seemed to teasingly kindle desire.
"...Hng."
The girl bit her lip as if holding back a sound, then soon gradually let out hotly sunken moans.
The breaths she couldn't quite swallow gradually dyed the surroundings.
"Haa... ugh, nnh."
"Good children should be rewarded, right? Thank you for waiting quietly all this time."
Something I learned from touching various parts.
Irene especially liked having her ears touched.
It felt somewhat similar to dogs showing their bellies to their owners.
It seemed like a sign of loyalty, and she also seemed to like it herself, so I would touch them whenever I had time before leaving.
I played with her soft ears this way and that.
"Ah, nngh..."
All the fox could do under her owner's unrestrained touch was just twitch her shoulders and hold back her reactions.
As if enduring the numbness washing over her.
The girl embraced my body even more tightly.
Her breath that had become hot like a furnace by now melted like ice as it touched my neck.
Our body heat intertwined between each of those moments.
We stayed lying on the floor for a while.
***
After the intense reunion ended, we got up from where we had been lying.
The girl's cheeks were still holding some heat somewhere.
Her complexion was red enough to be worrying, but I followed her request to not mind it particularly.
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 contacted in advance, she didn't seem surprised like before.
"Wahaha! I heard news of your return! Commander!"
The Red Sword Star, Kyle, who came running after.
"I should have gone to escort you... I'm sorry."
Lena gave a stiff salute.
They were Astro's three core combat forces.
I had various conversations with those who came to the commander's office.
The vice-commander asked first.
"Have you finished 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'll go."
The fox was nodding beside me.
She had an indifferent expression, but her tail attached behind her bottom was swaying with a swishing sound.
I smiled slightly and stroked the girl's head.
Meanwhile,
Kyle looked at us contentedly, then soon spoke with a hearty laugh.
They were words praising Irene.
"Wahaha! You'll probably be surprised! She's become unbelievably strong over the past 3 weeks!"
"Oh?"
"I simply went over the basics again but... as expected of someone who's reached the realm, she created huge waves with simple inspiration."
"Such high praise from the highest star."
"It reminds me of my own youth!"
"To that extent...?"
"Of course, I'm talking about when I was 12!"
"......"
Well, that's more like it.
It's not even the latter half of the original work yet, so signs of stars shouldn't be appearing already.
I smiled as if unable to stop him.
"Wahaha! The evaluation that she's gotten stronger is an undeniable fact!"
"Of course I believe you."
I could tell at once.
The air was different.
If before it felt like uncontrollable energy overflowing right after awakening her flame, now she clearly held a refined aura.
It was a calmness that seemed like it could cut even falling silence.
Though I had entrusted her with expectations from the start, the level had risen far more substantially than those expectations.
I praised her with appreciation.
"You worked hard. As expected of Miss Irene."
"...It was nothing. Should I say the teacher was good. It wasn't much."
The fox getting needlessly shy at times like this.
I had no intention of pointing it out particularly.
I just substituted words by poking her flushed cheeks.
Leaving Irene who eventually turned her head, I shifted my gaze to the silver-haired girl standing beside her.
It was the vice-commander who had been silently keeping her place since earlier.
"Miss Neria."
I threw out a new topic.
"I have something to request."
"If it's Master's order. Anything gladly."
The girl answered affirmatively without hesitation.
It was her usual direct loyalty.
Perhaps because she was the organization's first member and longest relationship, she had always followed me well.
I began the main point with a faint smile.
"I'd like you to collect information."
"Information... what kind?"
"Mana Stone Disease. I need information about that."
"Understood."
"Most publicly known information will probably be useless... it would be good to look into forbidden books or heretics."
"I'll prepare it within a week."
There were no questions about the order.
Only a short answer and firm will to certainly carry it out were contained.
I lightly patted the girl's shoulder.
"Then I'll be counting on you."
Mana Stone Disease.
It felt unclear in many ways.
The Emperor's subtle reaction, and the exact setting not being solved, it seemed additional investigation was needed after all.
It was a part left as a kind of MacGuffin in the original work too.
If I want to know the story hidden behind that, I'll have to move from this side.
The vice-commander flinched when my hand touched her shoulder, but answered in a stiff tone to avoid showing it.
Her expression was hardened.
"Yes, Master."
Of course, even if she tried to maintain that attitude, she couldn't erase her shaking pupils.
I kneaded her delicate shoulders a few times as if teasing.
Then.
"Ah... ek... uh...?"
The vice-commander broke down just like that.
It was an interesting reaction as expected.
I wanted to enjoy it a bit more, but knowing she might cry if I continued, I gently removed my hand.
Her eyes were sparkling as if it had really been close.
I pretended not to notice and moved past it.
"Huhu... it's about time I should head back."
I saw the members' faces after a long time, finished giving separate instructions, and saw the children were doing well, so it was really about time to return.
I gestured to Lena who was waiting.
The black-haired woman extended her hand at the signal and tore a dimly shining dimension in the air.
It was none other than a portal returning to the academy.
I held out my hand to the fox who had been listening behind.
"Then... shall we go now? To our original nest we shared."
Irene looked this way.
As if she didn't need to hesitate, the girl grasped my hand with her warm temperature.
"I waited."
We stepped beyond the portal like that.
***
A week passed like that.
The past month had been busy in many ways.
It was a season where many scenes changed at times.
The rose was gradually adapting to the outside world with help from the princess and snake.
The twisted sister relationship also seemed to be slowly recovering.
According to what I heard from the personal maid, though there was some awkwardness, they were both making an effort.
There's still a long way to go in many ways, but.
"Now the two of them even laugh sometimes!"
"Whenever that happens I can't help but tear up... it's all thanks to you, Young Master!"
Tanya was bouncing excitedly as she spoke.
I stroked her small height.
Though it was busy, it was a schedule that remained rewarding in its own way.
Peaceful days continued afterwards.
The issue with the rose was settled for now, the troublesome heretics were also quiet, and there wasn't even any separate news coming in.
It seemed a tranquil daily life was finally continuing.
Of course.
That was until I heard that news.
"You mean exams?"
"Don't tell me you didn't know? The final exams start tomorrow."
"Oh my... I had completely forgotten."
"I thought you might. You made promises to study together whenever, but then suddenly disappeared for 3 weeks, so it's understandable you forgot."
"I have nothing to say about that part. I'm sorry."
"Hmph. It's fine."
They say the exams start tomorrow no less.
And it's the Galimar Academy's long-standing tradition of wickedly difficult written exams.
For ordinary students, it would be the moment of realizing a major crisis.
"Y-Young Master... are you alright?"
"How could I be alright! There's no way I studied outside and came back, so my grades will drop drastically this time!"
Different reactions returned from each.
The protagonist was worrying about me.
The villainess spoke loudly.
I covered my mouth with a serious atmosphere and answered.
"Ah... I'm fine."
"F-first I'll let you know the exam scope separately. There are a few subjects not tested on the first day..."
"Thank you, Miss Regia."
Regia was full of concern.
On the other hand,
"Too bad. I'll have to take the top written score this time."
Emilia's attitude had subtly risen.
Perhaps lingering attachment to the top written score remained, for her blue eyes were sparkling particularly brightly.
She seemed certain of her victory.
"This is a crisis..."
I muttered briefly while carefully covering my exposed mouth.
So that my expression wouldn't leak out.
'I'm sorry but.'
I was smiling maliciously behind my hand.
I was imagining how amusingly the villainess's expression, as she proudly stuck out her chest, would distort.
Thrilling dopamine was gushing forth.
'You probably can't even imagine.'
For this exam.
There was a madman who even studied while working as a primary physician for the past 3 weeks.
With the thought that I absolutely couldn't give up the top score, my whole body twisted.
Though I wasn't particularly a personality greedy for grades, somehow I got spiteful at the thought of Emilia taking the title.
In the end I had persistently prepared for the exam while clearing time every dawn.
Just to torment the opponent.
Completely shaving away my own life.
It was truly the mindset of chaos addicted to dopamine.
"Just you wait! My name will be higher this time!"
I thought inwardly.
Impossible.
Your fate this time too is 'bean'.
Your fate this time too is 'bean'.