A few days have passed since we got back from Italy. I got Albanese’s phone number from Sara and kept in contact with him to get updates regarding the situation between the 5 Churches.

   The Pope was, as expected, very furious when he got the report that 3 out of the 4 of his supposed allies are in cahoots with the traitors to have him booted out of his position. However, instead of lashing out blindly, he’s being very careful of what to do next.

   First, he dealt with the remaining of the traitors, i.e., the knights who betrayed him along with the dead priests. Wilson, their Captain, was pardoned and demoted to a squire and was tasked to be one of the many cleaners who has to make sure that the Basilica is kept clean at all times. As for the other low ranked knights, they were pardoned as well and get to keep their positions as a knight. Their every movements will be closely monitored by their peers who didn’t participate in the coup, but I guess this outcome is much better than being roasted alive.

   Also, they are to keep Kaoru’s secret between themselves at all cost. If someone found out about it, they are the first group that will be held accountable.

   The Pope has also carefully selected some priests and promote them to be his new closest advisors so as to make up the loss of those dead ones. Their loyalty is still to be tested, so they are not allowed to join in some of the more important meetings that the Pope had held.

   One such meeting is between the Pope and the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church Justin Anthony, the only denomination that didn’t join the others in an attempt to dethrone the Pope. Even if the Roman Catholic Church has the most followers and its own groups of knights, it’s still better to gather as many allies as possible. Naturally, the meeting between these two are being kept as a top secret from the other denominations.

   Albanese told me that Archbishop Anthony was very surprised when he was told of the treachery that the 3 Churches have planned. According to Albanese, his reaction was quite genuine and didn’t look like an act. Furthermore, unlike the other leaders, the Archbishop was not known to be ambitious. At least, that’s what Albanese said. It’s probably safe to assume that he’s indeed clean.

   That said, the problem still remains. Assuming that Morcos was telling the truth, it’s going to be 2 versus 3 should a war between them begins.

   ‘His Holiness isn’t planning to start one, is he?’ I asked Albanese through our phone worriedly.

   ‘Let us hope that he has no such plan. At our end, Signore Oliva, myself and Archbishop Anthony are doing our best to convince him otherwise. Those leaders should indeed be brought to justice. However, we have yet to uncover the whole truth, so it is extremely foolish to start a crusade based on something that a hired assassin has told us.’

   Speaking of Morcos, he got away. Albanese told me that the guards on duty found his room empty one morning. The chains that were used to bind him are on the floor, but the assassin himself is nowhere to be seen. Upon closer inspections on the chains, they found out that they had been sawed off, even though he had been body-searched thoroughly before he was bound. I just hope we won’t bump into each other any time soon.

   On a side note, I handed my ring to Ueno and the gang once more so that they could make some final adjustments on it.

   ‘What would have happened if I’ve tuned its power to 80%?’ I ask curiously when I was there.

   ‘The ring would have absorbed tons of your stamina, and you’ll be knocked out.’ Ueno answers.

   ‘Yikes. I’m so glad I listened to you.’

   ‘You might have survived it after training your stamina for a year or two, but not now.’

   Assaf-sensei never told me that she passed out after using the ring before, it’s probably because she has much better stamina than I do. Or maybe there’s some other factors that none of us is aware of.

   ‘Got it. For now, can you install something that will forbid me from going more than 80%?’

   ‘Roger that.’

   My morning training with Ichika has resumed once again. Kaoru has started to join us for the past few days to prepare himself for the entrance exams that’s coming in March next year.

   Ordinarily, outsides are not allowed inside school grounds. However, we already got permissions and stuff, so everything’s gonna be a-okay if someone asks about him.

   As the son of a yakuza gang’s leader, Kaoru is quite used to fighting and has good stamina. In fact, he’s much better than I was when I first arrived to this world.

   We always end our training sessions with sparring. Most of the time, the match are just between Kaoru and I, since Ichika could easily wipe the floor with either of us. I highly suspect that a 2 versus 1 won’t change the result.

   Of course, all of us still use wooden weapons, with Kaoru using a short wooden stick to replace his kodachi. While we’re sparring, Ichika is watching from the side and gives advice from time to time.

   ‘Take you time, Ueyama!’ she shouts. ‘Akira’s weapon has a much longer reach than yours. Try to figure out where he will aim next so that you could deflect his thrusts and move in!’

   ‘I understand!’

   Kaoru listens to her advice and starts to parry incoming thrust instead of dodging. Suddenly, the distance between us becomes closer and closer.

   I didn’t bother with keeping our distances. Instead, when he got close enough, I hold my pole right in the middle so that I could strike Kaoru with both ends.

   My change in strategy has break Kaoru of his concentration. His beautiful footwork becomes very disrupted, and he has hard time on going near me once again.

   ‘Do not get distracted, Ueyama! Keep going and do not falter! You are doing well! Keep up with our footwork!’

   ‘R-Right!’

   Alas, it was already too late. I manage to hit the side of his head with one end of my pole. The strike wasn’t very hard, but it was painful enough to make him wince in pain and drop his stick. I take advantage of it and point my pole at his throat. He then slowly raises up both of his hands.

   ‘I surrender.’ he tells me.

   I nod and retract back my pole. Kaoru, on the other hand, bends down to pick up his stick.

   He lets out a frustrated sigh. ‘I couldn’t beat you again, aniki.’

   ‘Don’t be dejected. You’re doing fine.’ I assure him.

   ‘He is right, Ueyama. If you keep this up, you could pass the physical exam without much issues.’ Ichika adds.

   ‘Thank you. I just hope that you’re right.’

   ‘Well, no point in fretting over it. You just have to do your best when the time comes.’

   ‘Yes.’

   It’s almost time for school, so we conclude our training for the day with some cool down and head for the nearest shower room. After we’re done, Kaoru leaves for his school, while Ichika and I head for our dorms to get changed into our uniforms.

   I haven’t been to class for a while, so I figured I should attend it once in a while. I’m just glad we’re not getting exams, or I’ll definitely flunk them. Most of the lessons are taught by Assaf-sensei, so it’s not really boring either. If only she could stop making advances at me blatantly while she’s teaching…

   ‘Now then, class. If you’re ever arrested somewhere in France, just tell the police this: “Je veux avoir vos enfants”. It’ll work like a charm.’

   She’s looking at me in a seductive way when she said the sentence, so it’s definitely something bad. I translate it with my phone and almost dropped it in shock. I look in front of me. Apparently, Yui did the same. Now her ears are as red as a tomato.

   No one interrupted Assaf-sensei, so she just went on and on to say improper things with foreign languages. It was quite some time before she gives us a proper language lesson.

   The bell that signals lunchtime finally rings after a few hours. Some of my female classmates invite Assaf-sensei to have lunch with them, which she accepts.

   ‘So, what kind of boys are we eating?’ she asks them.

   ‘Um, sensei? We’re planning to eat food. Like, normal human food?’ one of the students says awkwardly.

   A pause.

   ‘Ah, of course. Forgive me, it was a small joke of mine.’

   ‘I-Is that so? Ahahahahaha…’

   ‘Well then, let us get going.’

   Before Assaf-sensei leaves, she blows a kiss at my direction while winking. I look around nervously. Thankfully, majority of the guys in our class mistakenly thought that the blow kiss was meant for them and got all love struck.

   ‘She’s really daring, isn’t she?’ Yui remarks.

   ‘She’s too daring, if you ask me.’ I say. ‘I think I lost a few years of my life from those outbursts of hers.’

   Yui chuckles. ‘It’s like she’s the adult version of Morifuji-senpai.’

   ‘Don’t get me started with her.’

   We then head to the rooftop to eat our lunch with Shimazaki and the others. Nowadays, we’re also joined by Mashiro. Sakuya and Ichika would also join in if they’re not busy with student council. Madoka is the only one who rarely have lunch with the rest of us.

   She has told us that back when her father was still alive, they would always find time to have lunch together, no matter how busy he was. Now that he has passed away, she would like to continue doing so and have lunch in front of his grave, which is inside a cemetery near the Academy.

   I don’t mind at all. Like I’ve told Yui before, I told Madoka that she should prioritize on her family first, even though the said family member is no longer with her.

   ‘One day, I’ll bring you to meet him. But not now.’ she told me before.

   ‘Sure. I’ll be waiting.’

   I don’t know the reason of the delay, but I never press her for an answer. Just because we’re going out it doesn’t mean that she needs to tell me everything.

   With other people here, my girlfriends are mindful of their behaviour and don’t act flirty with me, as opposed to when we’re having dinner. In fact, Sakuya is always so prim and proper I thought she got possessed by a spirit or something.

   ‘Thank you for having me over for lunch time and time again. I hope we are not intruding you in any way.’ Sakuya says to Shimazaki and co. as soon as she sit down.

   ‘Not at all. We are honored to have you and the vice president to join us.’ Takayama replies formally.

   Ah, a conversation between two well brought-up ladies. The scenery itself would worth a million yen if painted by an artist. Then I remember the blonde one is actually a dependant elder sister wannabe who’s absolutely hopeless in housework and gets bullied by her juniors a lot. I had to hold in my breath in order to stop myself from laughing out loud.

   Sakuya heard me giggling and look towards me. Her mouths are curved into a smile but there isn’t a single hint of warmth in her eyes. By contrast, they are stone-cold.

   ‘Is something the matter, Akira-kun?’ she asks me in a frosty tone.

   ‘N-No, there is…nothing wrong…’ I manage to answer her without laughing.

   Oomori, who’s oblivious to the tension between the two of us, looks at Sakuya’s lunchbox in awe.

   ‘Wow, your lunch looks so fancy, president! Who cooked it for you?’

   Oblivious as she is, even Oomori has heard that Sakuya is bad at cooking, hence her question.

   ‘That would be me.’ Ichika answers.

   ‘Wow, Mashiro-tan and president must be so lucky to have someone cook their meal for them!’

   ‘Mashiro is lucky indeed.’ Mashiro says between mouthful of food.

   ‘Yes, me too.’

   Even though Sakuya agrees with Oomori, she is looking at Mashiro’s lunch box enviously. In fact, all my girlfriends minus Mashiro herself are doing the same. They would love to eat food cooked by me during all three meals. Unfortunately, we can’t have people being suspicious about our relationship, so I can only cook for Mashiro. We could always lie that all of the lunch box are made by Ichika, but she’s too upright for that.

   After we’re done eating, Sakuya and Ichika have to drop by at the student council to take care of some documents before class resumes. As for the rest of us, we head back to our classroom.

   On our way back, I receive a message from the Reception Department.

   The Reception Department is the group who deals with clients and post their request on the request list. Unlike other departments, the staffs for this department consists of only non-combatants.

   “Kagenashi Akira-san,” the message reads. “We have just received a request from a Yamagata Amaya-san. She has specifically asked for you, so we are sending the link of her request directly to you.”

   It’s probably nothing to do with our deal on breaking her out of the house. We’ve promised that we’ll wait for 3 more years, after all. I click on the link to find out what she wants me to do.

   It would seems that in 2 days time, her parents will be organizing a party at their mansion. For reasons that she is not allowed to disclose, her parents would once again like to hire someone from the Academy instead of asking help from the police force or something. She thought that if that’s the case, she might as well ask for me, who helped them before.

   Just when I was thinking that there’s no way I could keep watch on that huge mansion all by myself, there’s a message underneath the request.

   “Rest assured, I am not asking you to take the job all by yourself. I would love to take this opportunity to meet your female…companions, so do bring them along as well.”

   Well, my client has spoken, so I shall do as she says. During dinner time that night, I tell my girlfriends about the request. Everyone is fine with going there with me, even Assaf-sensei.

   ‘So, your client is the one who’s in love with a Destroyer, yes?’ Assaf-sensei asks.

   ‘Yup, that’s her.’

   ‘I’ve met the boyfriend several times when I was near father’s office.’ Sakuya says. ‘His social awkwardness really reminds me of you, Akira-kun.’

   ‘At least he has an excuse for not used to interacting with humans, being a Destroyer and all. I’m just bad around people.’ I mumble.

   ‘That’s not true, Akira-kun. You’re much better now.’ Yui assures me.

   I stare at her. ‘I am?’

   ‘Yes. Don’t you remember? When you were first transferred to Class 2, you were very shy and awkward around our friends. Nowadays, you can speak to them normally. That’s definitely an improvement.’

   Now that she mentions it, I found that she’s right. Back in the real world, I couldn’t speak to a total stranger for 5 seconds without stuttering. I’ve also had trouble with keeping eye contact. Ever since I’ve come here, all these bad habits of mine are slowly disappearing.

   ‘It’s all thanks to you literally pushing my back that day. Thanks.’ I reach out my hand to stroke Yui’s head.

   ‘T-There’s no need for you to thank me… But if you insist, you can keep on giving me head pats…’ she says with a blissful expression.

   While continuing to do so, I ask Madoka a more serious question.

   ‘Any ideas why the Yamagatas would hire someone from the Academy instead of regular guards?’

   ‘It’s probably something to do with a recent attack on one of their high-ranked employee. A branch manager, to be exact.’

   I was so surprised I stop the head pat. ‘An attack, you say?’

   ‘I think it was…5 days ago. The said branch manager is a manager that looks after one of the many branches opened in Shibuya. The pharmacy was already closed for the night, and everybody else has already went back home. He had to stay back to count the money inside the cash register.’

   ‘He was just about to finish when someone broke inside. The intruder was wearing a hooded jacket and a toy mask, so the manager can’t tell who it was, but he confirmed that the intruder is a male, since his voice is obvious enough.’

   ‘The intruder told the manager that the morphine he bought at the pharmacy the other day was problematic, and he said that it has been giving him severe headaches and several problems.’

   ‘What kind of problems?’

   Madoka shrugs. ‘The intruder didn’t elaborate. Anyway, the manager was willing to take a look at the intruder, even though the latter chose an illegal method to visit the pharmacy. That is, until sparks started coming out of the intruder’s fingers.’

   I blink. ‘Sparks. As in, electricity?’

   ‘According to the manager’s testimony, yes. And then, both of them started to panic. Apparently, this is new for the intruder as well.’

   ‘Yikes.’

   ‘The intruder was on full panic mode. He thrashed around the store while his fingers are still cackling from electricity. Amidst the confusion, the manager’s right arm was broken as a result of a collision between the two. The manager passed out from the pain. When he woke up, the intruder was nowhere to be seen.’

   ‘Let me guess what happens next.The manager called the police, but the whole incident was shushed up by the Yamagata couple, which is why the media didn’t cover it.’

   ‘That’s right.’

   ‘What about the intruder? Was he ever found?’ Sakuya asks.

   ‘As far as I know, no.’

   ‘And the manager?’

   ‘He was compensated for his broken arm, but also given strict orders to not tell anyone about the break in.’

   In other words, Amaya-san’s parents are afraid that an assailant who knows how to use magic might attack them during their party, which is why they asked for someone who knows magic to keep watch. Based on how they still have the mood for a party, they’re not reflecting that the drugs they sell might be problematic and do something about it.

   Yup. They’re definitely the Yamagata couple I know.

   ‘Do you think you can find out more about the intruder? Particularly about the drug he consumed?’ I ask Madoka.

   ‘I’ll try.’

   Until we get more information, I guess we’ll be on guard duty at the party.