---

Since our date, our daily lives quickly returned to normal.

‘The hairpin seemed to catch her fancy.’

It was a hairpin I bought when Shione briefly went out somewhere.

Fortunately, it seemed that our Shione was quite fond of it, as she was often seen wearing it when she went outside.

It suited her well, and it was a sight that brought me a bit of joy.

‘The Academy seems to be getting back on track.’

The Academy was slowly returning to its normal state as well.

The headmaster, who had confidently claimed to eradicate the remaining cultists, kept his word. Thanks to extracting information through various means of torture and magical power, the cleanup of leftovers was also on schedule.

‘There was quite a thorough internal cleanup.’

During that time, the betrayal hidden within the Academy was also cleaned up.

Every time the Academy purged the officials involved with the cultists, news of this quickly spread, restoring justice. It turned out that the cultists had infiltrated the Academy more thoroughly than we imagined.

Investigation regarding how deeply they were involved was their job, so we left that aside for now. It was time to assert that the Academy was returning to a safe space for learning like before.

‘The princess also seems to have an interest in the Academy.’

It’s named the Royal Academy, after all.

A direct educational institution established by the royal family. This being a matter of national pride, the royal family would naturally engage deeply in revealing the facts.

However, some positive visible changes had indeed occurred.

‘The reconstruction of the Divine Faculty main building…’

It had collapsed dramatically, so it would take some time to rebuild. They appeared to be recruiting workers and spending quite a bit of money on it.

Recently, I’d seen muscular ladies diligently transporting various materials. This was only possible due to the Academy’s restored order.

It felt as if the Academy was finally catching its breath after a storm had swept through.

‘Thanks to that, Shione was able to start learning magic from Epheana again, which is a relief.’

After being busy handling matters with the headmaster for a while, Epheana finally found some time to resume her magical teachings with Shione.

Thanks to this, we were able to spend time with Epheana in the magic faculty as if the incidents hadn’t occurred.

‘By the way, she’s wearing a dress again today.’

Perhaps the previous date had left a favorable impression, as Shione had been wearing dresses during recent outings.

In a dress that reached below her knees, she exchanged greetings with Epheana.

“Your Grace, you’ve kept me waiting. Things have been busy lately.”

“Not at all. With the remaining leftovers… there’s much work to be done, isn’t there?”

“Thank you for saying that. The last cultists are being dealt with by the knights dispatched by the royal family, so we should hear good news soon.”

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Epheana pulled out a small notebook from her belongings.

During the duel between Siabel and Aria, Aria had that confident demeanor while aiming her spear at Siabel, reflecting the pride of their noble lineage.

Epheana handed the notebook to Shione and said,

“Whenever I had free time, I’ve been tweaking your magic. The core spells must be yours, but… I’ve already made considerable progress on the support spells.”

“Are the spells in this book those support spells?”

“That’s right. If you use the newly adjusted spells little by little, you’ll be able to handle magic even more effectively.”

A magical formula began to float above Epheana’s hand.

“If you learn the sequential changes, range, and condensation techniques, the versatility of your magic will increase significantly.”

As she spoke, ice fragments materialized, transforming into the shape of sharp daggers, eventually coming together to form a spear.

“For instance, since you handle a bow, if you use it to its utmost in the future, one shot could hold the power stronger than thunder.”

A powerful shot that could burst a demon.

With that romantic notion, Shione’s eyes sparkled.

“…By the way, your magic is quite tricky. The moment you replace the core spells with something else, the efficiency drops. Indeed, it seems that only you can manage it.”

Especially with the core spells that maximize Shione’s abilities disappearing, it affected the utility of her magic.

Whenever she fought while handling spirits, Shione would occasionally shoot me envious glances.

Knowing that she had acquired a new magic that only she could use rekindled her flame for magic.

When their practice session for ancient magic began, I found myself watching them for a while when the Status Window showed changes.

[Quest Completed.]

I heard that the royal knights had gone out to eliminate the last enemy.

It seemed that it was now wrapping up.

[The growth rate of the demon decreases due to the vacancies left by the cultists who could not join the north.]

[The demon’s digestion is now unstable.]

It was news that filled my heart with pride just by looking at it.

As I quietly read the Status Window, I fell deep in thought.

‘So it seems that it is hiding up north.’

What the Status Window had pointed out thus far were the disasters up north and the cultists joining the northern area. This meant that the beast was lurking in the cold north.

Thus far, the families representing the west and east had been taking hits, and now it seemed it was the north’s turn to be attacked.

‘Why is all this happening in the kingdom when it’s smaller than the Empire?’

Right next to us was a vast Empire filled with people.

I didn’t understand why such misfortunes were piling up in the kingdom.

It would be wise to inform Ainel about matters concerning the north along with Shione.

‘If the north is breached, it would be dangerous.’

Alenarr Marquis Family, like our Count’s House, was also tasked with defending the kingdom from monsters lurking in the Demonic Realm.

If the beasts dreaming of moving south to the warm kingdom broke through, a hellish scene would surely unfold.

Now that I held the position of Deputy Commander of the Knights’ Order, with my trust and reputation having increased, I could relay the information gained amidst the Academy’s turmoil to the Alenarr family. They would surely prepare enough against it.

However, there was one concern.

‘It’s unstable digestion.’

I had never seen a demon, which grew stronger with anything it consumed, complaining of digestion issues.

‘What on earth did it eat to cause that?’

Even when I fed my former comrades, whom I considered strategic weapons, it digested them immediately and took their abilities without a hitch.

Especially after consuming a few mages, it had been applying magic even more actively afterward. That sight still sent chills down my spine.

It was quite concerning that it couldn’t digest something it had swallowed.

But soon, my worry was blown away along with the wind.

“……?”

Indeed, a strong gust of wind swept across my face.

Startled, I looked toward the direction of the wind and saw Shione, desperately trying to suppress a laugh.

“…What’s this?”

“How about it? My magic has grown a lot, right?”

“……”

It seemed she got caught up in the fun and threw more wind at me.

Shione’s playful gusts were layered with reinforced magic, and it was stronger than I expected. I shook my head and utilized my mana.

“I’m still far from it.”

I’ve also made a contract with the Spirit of Wind.

I could certainly handle such a breeze.

Though it may seem a bit childish, her efforts to suppress her laughter only provoked me further.

I unleashed a stronger wind at Shione.

“Ah…!”

The gust wrapped around Shione, causing her skirt to flutter and rise.

“Wait, just a second…!”

Surprised by how high her skirt had lifted as it caught the wind, Shione leaned back while trying to hold her skirt down with both hands.

Her face turned red as well.

“I think this one is on Sir Ray.”

In the end, Epheana came over to lightly scold me.

But aside from a magician’s reproach,

“Oh, this too….”

“……?”

Shione, who had lowered her upper body and was secretly glancing up at me, seemed to have realized something and made a firm resolution.

She fixated her gaze on me, filled with something bordering on obsession.

*

After the magic lesson ended, as the day began to set.

Shione told me to come to her quarters once she had rested a bit and her fatigue had eased. With today’s tasks all wrapped up, I, as her escort, had my sword sheathed as usual, so I unpacked and changed into casual clothes. Then I lay down on the bed and spaced out.

There was nothing to do when alone anyway. Now would be a good time to go see her.

I tidied up my outfit and headed to Shione’s room.

“Princess Shione, I have arrived.”

“…The door’s open. You can come in.”

Her gently lower voice was softer than usual.

Following the sound of her voice, I cautiously opened the door and, in an instant, it closed behind me.

“…Princess Shione?”

“I was waiting. You sure took your sweet time.”

Hiding beside the door was Shione.

She pressed the door’s latch with her thumb, gazing at me intently.

Contrary to the lingering scent of magic emanating from her and her blatant gaze, her body moved mechanically like a puppet as she tilted her head and asked,

“Did you remember what Ray had told you?”

Then, bringing her hand that had held the doorknob to her chest, Shione continued.

“I bought this because you said you liked me in my uniform the most…”

After she scoured her own outfit, she skipped towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck, whispering into my ear.

“…How is it? You really do like my uniform, don’t you?”

 

---