" Sister-in-law, don't make this any more troublesome than it needs to be”

"Yeah, the boss sent us to find you since you’ve been avoiding him lately."

The surrounding atmosphere had long grown tense; noticing the inevitable escalation of the situation, Ray quickly scoured his brain for information regarding the identities of the thugs and their boss.

From old Ray’s memories, he discovered that the boss of these two delinquents was a guy named Reiji Capone. The heir of an organized-crime family in Maple-leaf town; Reiji was known to use his status as a means to coerce women into dating him.

" Stop calling me sister-in-law! You know good and well that I told Reiji I wanted nothing to do with him."

Ray knew that this guy’s goons often referred to Rena as sister-in-law, much to her ire.

He would have to think fast, lest the protagonist come along and snatch this opportunity from his grasp. Ray began to rapidly cycle through any ideas that came to mind, yet none of them would be viable with his current physique. He was too weak to be able to overpower them, and the last thing he needed right now was to get his ass handed to him in front of Rena.

He was about to ask Aina for some advice when suddenly a good idea engulfed his mind.

'Aina, tell me, can I use that Shakespeare's disciple skill to somehow invoke a sense of dread in these punks?’

[ Affirmative host, all you have to do is activate the skill and let your mind wander to a.. less than savory place. ]

Ray’s elation was almost palpable, with this he could easily drive off those goons and secure Rena’s admiration.

'Aina, activate my Shakespeare's disciple skill, and force the memory of my charm stat transformation to the front of my mind.’

With the skill activated, Ray's demeanor instantly changed. The carefree aura around him had vanished; replaced instead by that of a man with unadulterated killing intent.

Ray lurched closer to the two thugs who were still harassing Rena.

" Two puppets on strings stand before me, their mere existence an affront to my everlasting glory. "

"Cut their strings and watch them welcome the abyss, for what they shall witness will make them beg for the release of death."

" As beyond the veil of space and time, lies an entity that transcends the comprehension of the human mind. "

"Find solace in being the harbinger of your own demise, for not many can say the same once they’ve met my eyes. "

The bystanders surrounding them only witnessed Ray ranting and raving in tongues; the thugs on the other hand were forced to bear witness as images of something otherworldly invaded their minds. The two quickly fell to the floor grasping at their eyes, seemingly no longer able to withstand the burden of sight. 

Ray quickly lost interest in the thugs writhing on the ground, and abruptly entangled one of his hands with Rena’s before tugging her away from the crowd.

[ DING! Congratulation to the host for completing the mission:]

[ Prevent the main heroines from falling in love with the protagonist.]

[ Your reward has been applied to your status panel, please examine it at your earliest convenience.]

Ray was too busy to acknowledge Aina's notification, as he had become deeply immersed in the feeling of holding Rena's hand.

A few minutes later, they had both arrived at the cafeteria while still holding hands.

“Uh, Ray.. you can let go now.”

Rena's words quickly snapped Ray back to reality; he quickly jerked his hand away from hers.

" Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to.."

" It's okay, I know you were just trying to help me get out of there. And on that note, the least I can do to repay you is buy you lunch, my treat."

The atmosphere around them remained stepped in ambiguity; on one hand, Ray had indeed saved Rena from those thugs, yet the way he went about it had left a sour taste in his mouth.

While still being conscious of each other, they both bought a pre-packed lunch from the cafeteria and began the journey back to their classroom.

They had only made it halfway across campus before a booming voice rang out from down the hall.

"You done fucked up now Carmelo, first I hear about you passing glances at my girl in class; next I find both of my boys sobbing uncontrollably about some vision you gave them. Safe to say, I’m gonna enjoy putting your bitch-ass in the ground."

Ray turned his head in the direction of the voice, only to find an absolute unit of a lad rapidly making his way towards them.