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“Good, it seems there are no survivors left.”

Amelia shook off the blood from her sword.

Having killed all the organization members except for those who surrendered, she hurriedly leaped into the inner room.

‘What was that shockwave just now…’

The shockwave spread like a roar of a beast, powerful enough to shake the entire mansion.

“Judging by that sound, it must be Anubis’s doing.”

Having experienced his rampage on the battlefield, she expected the situation wouldn’t be good.

At least it was a relief that Stella was with him.

She was the only one who could keep him in check during the battle, so there was no need for worry.

Amelia herself could probably subdue him if she set her mind to it.

However, achieving that without any wounds, like she was, would be impossible.

“I hope they’re both safe.”

As she reached the room where the shockwave had flown, Amelia immediately spotted the two.

“Are you both okay?!”

Stella, with a child on her back, was levitating Anubis in the air as she spoke.

“Oh, Teacher!”

“Is that the child you’ve been looking for?”

“Yes, your officer is dead.”

Amelia’s expression dropped slightly at those words.

“Well… there’s nothing we can do about that, but I’m glad you both are safe.”

Stella sighed and pointed at Anubis with her thumb behind her.

“This guy’s wild rampage left us no room for capture.”

“I see… That makes sense! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine, just a bit dazed in the head.”

As she said that and touched her head, she realized her hand was damp.

“What is this? Sweat?”

Amelia gasped in shock.

“Oh my god, you’re bleeding from your head!”

In the next moment, blood started to flow down from Stella’s forehead.

“Ah… now that I think about it, it was because of the shockwave…”

“Let’s hurry to the infirmary! No, we need to go to the hospital! Right now!”

“No, I’m fine, I just need a bandage…”

“This is not the time to be saying that! Look, your forehead is torn!”

“I’m really fine… Just wait a second!”

Forcing Stella into a hug, Amelia took off running with both Anubis and Amy in tow.

“What about those two before we leave?!”

Pointing to the fallen lackeys and Gwen, Amelia replied casually.

“They’ll be captured by the security unit I just contacted about the remaining ones.”

“That’s… I get that, but could you please let me go? I can walk by myself.”

At those words, Amelia shouted in frustration.

“Do you even realize how delicate the head is? It might be a concussion! We need to check it right now!”

“Ah, no, I’ll go, just let me go! It’s embarrassing!”

*

“Sigh…”

“Stop sighing so much.”

Shia, worried about Stella not coming, picked at her food, only letting out sighs.

“But…”

“You said it would be fine.”

“But Stella hasn’t shown up for lunchtime!”

“…”

It was indeed strange. Even if she missed class, she would usually rush in first for lunch and linger until it was over.

“Yeah, it does feel empty.”

Usually, she would scramble for school meals and munch next to me; did something happen? Could it be that she’s uncomfortable seeing my face?

“Is she really caught up with some trouble?”

“Hey…”

Just then, a voice came from behind, and I turned to see Serena approaching with a tray.

“Have you seen Stella? I haven’t seen her all day.”

“No, we haven’t seen her either.”

“I wonder if something’s happened… Oh, and I haven’t seen the teacher either.”

“Really? That’s too bad; I developed a new drink.”

Serena said this with a hint of regret as she sat near me and Shia.

“Why are you sitting here?”

“I thought since you seem close to Stella, getting along might be a good idea.”

Shia responded with a somewhat sharp edge.

“Arkhemia, why are you so obsessed with Stella?”

Honestly, I was curious too. Last time I saw Stella’s expression darken, she suddenly got punched by the Master of the Silver Tower.

That seemed to be what triggered it, but I didn’t hear the detailed explanation.

“How did you become friends with Stella?”

When I asked, Serena pondered for a moment before sharing the events between herself and Stella.

She had tried to kill Stella at the behest of the Master of the Silver Tower and Stella had forgiven her, freeing her from his control.

“…So that’s what happened.”

“She was the first person to acknowledge my abilities.”

As she said this, her face lit up with genuine joy.

There was a hint of admiration in that expression.

“So I want to know more about her life.”

However, Shia’s reaction turned even colder.

“So you tried to kill Stella, then?”

“…”

With that cold question, Serena fell silent.

“Of course, you behaved suspiciously in the changing room.”

“Shia, stop that.”

I tried to intervene as the atmosphere grew tense, but Shia ignored my words and continued in a stronger tone.

“I can’t believe you could act so brazenly after once trying to kill her.”

“Shia, Stella forgave her, for goodness’ sake! Why are you acting like this?”

It was surprising that Shia, who was usually kind to everyone, was reacting so hostilely. I was quite shocked to hear that Serena had tried to kill Stella, but I knew she wouldn’t truly do it since something similar had happened in the original story.

Overcome with inferiority, Serena had attempted to kill her but ultimately relented.

Despite being a main heroine, she was of good character at heart.

On the other hand, it was Serena who mourned Stella’s supposed death.

Having lost her object of admiration and goal, she wandered in despair.

The protagonist’s role was to rescue her, leading to her growth—this was the original narrative.

“That’s just because Stella is too kind-hearted. Who would want to have someone next to them who tried to kill them?”

“Isn’t what Shia said a bit harsh?”

I was worried that a fight might break out, but despite Shia’s aggressive taunting, Serena didn’t furrow her brow or get angry.

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

“Sigh.”

“That’s why I think I should stay by her side even more!”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“She saved me! From the Master, or rather the Master of the Silver Tower!”

“…”

“After this incident, that man will surely bear a grudge and seek revenge, even against you, Nova.”

Certainly, that sly old coot wouldn’t back down so easily.

Even after stepping in as a replacement for Stella, he continued to meddle and try to manipulate her as he pleased.

“If that’s the case, then I want to help her this time. Stella is my lifesaver.”

“…”

Hearing this, Shia stared at Serena expressionlessly and let out a sigh.

“Sigh… What a ridiculous excuse. Is this how far you’ll go to stay by Stella’s side?”

“…”

“Well, your eyes aren’t lying, that’s for sure.”

“…You believe me?”

“Certainly, I’m not in a position to demand anything from you, whether you’re Stella or not.”

I wondered why she had been so aggressive. Maybe it was to figure out Serena’s true intentions.

Now that I think about it, she had seemed to mention something about principles the last time I was around.

Did she have some unique ability that penetrated human nature?

“I apologize for my rude remarks earlier. May I call you Serena?”

Saying this, I extended my hand for a handshake, and Serena, bewildered, accepted.

“Uh, yeah, let’s get along. You can call me Shia.”

“Feel free to call me freely. By the way, you wanted to know more about Stella, right?”

“Uh, yeah, I want to know.”

She brightened up dramatically at the mere mention of Stella’s name.

Is she some kind of main character, charming all the heroines?

“Then, I think Nova knows her better than I do. You two are childhood friends, after all.”

Serena turned her sparkling eyes toward me.

There was a fleeting look of envy in her expression.

“Childhood friends with Stella?”

“Uh… well, sort of. We lived together.”

“Together?!”

“Were you sleeping together?! Oh my gosh!”

“When Stella was little, what was she like?”

“I’m curious too!”

“Um… She was beloved in the village and had a spirited personality that couldn’t tolerate injustice.”

“She’s just like now!”

“At one point, she went hunting in the forest to catch the wild boar that was a headache for the village.”

“When she was little?”

“Yeah, it was when she was ten. She said she wanted to catch the gigantic wild boar known as the Mountain God.”

“What a reckless act… Just like now?”

“Well, it seemed she wanted to eat the wild boar meat more than anything for the village.”

“Ah, that sounds about right.”

“And she was hopeless at cooking.”

At that, both of them nodded as if they could relate.

“No matter how much her mom taught her to cook, she’d end up putting useless things in and creating creatures that could only be understood as modern art if you blinked.”

“Huh~ is that so?”

“It really is like that! Plus, she doesn’t even realize she can’t cook…”

“…And she always acts cheerfully when serving the food, even when she knows she messed up somehow…”

Serena shouted with a voice that crawled out.

“Nova…! Behind you, behind!”

“Huh? Why so suddenly?”

Shia and Serena looked like they had seen a ghost as they stared behind me.

“Are you saying my cooking was that bad?!”

At the chilling voice coming from behind, I slowly turned my head, and sure enough, it was Stella.

“Ah, no! Stella, this is not what I—”

“It’s quite nice to see everyone gathering together without me, huh?”

Stella’s smiling eyes made Shia and Serena flinch.

“Hii!?”

“S-stella…”

As she placed a tray filled with food beside me, she called my name.

“Well, that aside, Nova…”

“Yes?”

“After you finish eating, come find me.”

“…Why?”

“Why? Because I want you to try my cooking to see if it’s good or not.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, I’ve practiced a lot, so check it out.”

Oh crap, this is seriously bad.

“Dear God, I think one of us is going to bite the dust today.”

“Nova… you’ve got this.”

Those pesky heroines!

 

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