A bright light flashed, and the surrounding forest melted away, leaving a cave in its place. There was no sunlight. Instead, various stones gave flickering glows, casting an uneven cold blue glare across the stone walls. 

Walking forward, one couldn’t help but feel an ominous air wash over them. The unsteady and dim light caused shadows to dance across the countless dark passages that split out of the cavern. 

It wasn’t always obvious where these corridors began, and it wouldn’t be surprising if something jumped out of a hidden bend. 

Arc watched goosebumps crawl up his arm. He wasn’t one to get scared easily, but something was unsettling about this place. It's not like he could admit that the one feared as “Ghost” was terrified of actual ghosts. He sighed and was about to give up without even searching, but his eyes caught sight of a girl out in the open.

He sighed. ‘Am I lucky or unlucky?’

He could still feel a lingering chill, but he concentrated on the power of cuteness.

‘May the power of moe banish away any demons!’

Arc spread out his arms in a triumphant pose, and power surged through his veins. Was the dragon about to be unsealed due to his righteous desires? No.

‘I am handsome! And handsome means lucky!’

It was like the Goddess of Cuteness herself approved of this and descended upon finding her chosen one. For better or worse, any budding ideas of budding ideas of phantoms and horrors were dispelled. 

As for the girl, she was nonchalantly sitting on some kind of boulder with a bored expression, her feet kicking back and forth. He noticed that her small feet were only covered by a pair of white socks while her shoes were off to the side. Any fears were gone by this point. 

‘Goddess have you blessed me with such a sight.’

With this thought, Arc tilted his head. He drooped down only to dramatically fall onto his knees. A question had arisen. It was imperative that he found the answer. 

‘Do I have a foot fetish?!’ Arc looked towards the culprit, the seductive socks. ‘No! These are royal feet. Of course, they possess such power.’

Arc arose as a new man. The feeling of sage-like wisdom flowed through him. 

‘I think there is a rumor that the Empress of the Obsidian Emperor often kicked her husband’s ass. Kicking meant using one's legs. And legs are like feet, and so royal feet are not to be underestimated.’

Without doubting this conclusion, Arc made further assessment of her clothes. Of course, it was for investigative purposes. He had to confirm she was royalty to prove that he didn’t have a foot fetish.

But to Arc’s horror, there was no obvious sign of her identity. She was instead dressed in humble robes that went down to her ankles. It was the common attire given to apprentices affiliated with the Mage’s Tower. 

‘Mage’s feet… ain't’ so bad either… no one can judge me.’ 

She even had a wizard hat that sat on her hair, which was white and done in a bob cut. It was stylized so that the back ends reached her shoulders while her bangs sat just above her ocean blue eyes. 

Innocent and cute was the final consensus Arc reached — that is, if Arc ignored the dangerous entity concealed within her shadow. His eyes grew sharp and his dramatic self play ended. 

The shadow had some kind of perception spell cast on it, but for Arc it was child play to see through it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t actually dismantle the concealment features because of the dungeon’s interference. 

Arc scratched his neck. It was a feeling of incongruity. 

Arc was still able to vaguely feel the emotional state of the shadow, and it was without a doubt an entity that oozed a sense of pride. He had just examined the power of royal feet, so the feeling of haughtiness seemed especially acute.

‘Why does it feel like the shadow has feet that rival the Third Princess’?’

Of course, he was curious. Its strength rivaled that of a demonic general, an entity that few in the entire kingdom could handle. It was impressive that such a power would submit and serve, even if it was an imperial princess. 

‘Wait is it the power of her feet! No. No. That is too much…but to think that the power of the Jade Emperor was to this extent…’

Arc was unsure. Gemini Solace, the twin worlds of demons and heroes, was divided by many powers but was ultimately led by two men. The Jade Emperor led the ten heroic kingdoms while the Obsidian Emperor ruled the demonic territories. The nobles at the academy may have strong bodyguards, but he was positive that none of the other powers at the academy could boost the feat he was witnessing. 

Only the Third Princess and the unnamed demonic princess were feasible options. The chances of the person being of demonic royalty were slim though, so despite thinking it was still a little much, Arc could only conclude that the Jade Emperor must favor the Third Princess immensely. 

Arc’s eyes went to her feet again. He gulped. He then recalled what Elaine had said: “Leave her. As if she would actually be in danger.”

Arc didn’t notice right away, but after closer appraisal she was covered in countless artifacts. Additionally, there was still the shadow. As such, Elaine’s statement didn’t cut it. The only one who would be in danger would be the one who made this girl angry. 

‘Should I try to make her angry?’

Arc smiled, his curiosity of the possessor of such feet got the best of him. 

“What is a young lady like yourself doing here?” Arc’s voice echoed around the room making it impossible to determine his location, but acting on a whim his visage gradually flickered into view. 

The shadow raced towards Arc, but a flat voice halted its movements. It was a simple command to stop, but the execution and tone showed the owner was composed. Even her face didn’t flinch or give any detectable emotion to Arc’s sudden appearance. 

The shadow slithered back, while the girl tilted her head while appraising Arc. “Father said to not disturb the one named ‘Ghost’ no matter what.”

Arc thought he heard a snort come from the shadow, but he couldn’t be sure because it was still distorted from the concealment technique. 

Nonetheless, it wasn’t surprising that the princess was able to deduce one of Arc’s identities. He reckoned that no one else in the world could have been able to approach her undetected. It was just a simple process of elimination.  

Arc waved his hand. “You can return to the academy. I have dealt with the situation.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.” She continued to kick her feet back and forth with an unconcerned expression. Gulp.

“Are you perhaps stupid?” Arc like an iconic tsundere hid a blush behind abrasive words. “Or are you merely disrespecting my own intelligence, but if that is the case then you would still appear stupid because of your previous statement.”

The shadow looked back and forth between the two but otherwise didn’t do anything. 

“With that logic, I have been found out. I am indeed stupid. I hope my own stupidity won’t cause offense.” Her voice was genuinely apologetic, but her eyes were playful.

Arc’s mouth twitched a little from surprise. His words were a probe to test the mental fortitude of the princess. Her two older sisters were well known, but the Third Princess was a blank slate, a true mystery. As such, any information was valuable. 

Arc refocused himself, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke. “I’ll forgive you because of your honesty. It isn’t easy for us to admit our faults. Well, perhaps I shouldn't speak for others because truthfully I’m basically perfect.”

“Yes, how could someone as amazing as yourself seek to comprehend the lowly thoughts of those below you?”

“It must be my humbleness, or maybe it's my kindness, or maybe my infinite wisdom that allows me to breach the divide that separates me and others.”

“Perhaps, I will seek your guidance at the academy then.” She paused and gave him a smile. “But it might not be proper to be taught by a fellow student my age.”

Arc knew she was prying for information, but he also knew it was useless for her. She wouldn’t remember anything about this conversation, so he didn’t mind coming at a loss in any exchanges. Arc’s inherent power to go undetected was absolute to a frightening degree. If he didn’t put the effort in, then memories of him would fade. 

“Is it because I’m so handsome?”

“Why are you actually my senior?” She gave him puppy eyes. 

“So direct all of a sudden.” Arc paced and took his speech slow, adding dramatic flair with his movements. “If I had a cute junior like you, with such cute feet, then I could live happy days, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be.” 

The shadow coughed a few times but stayed put. 

The princess ignored everything and pouted. “Would it be so bad if we were classmates?” 

Arc smirked and bowed. “Is that how you feel? Then I shall reveal myself. It is indeed I, the mysterious Ghost. Handsome. Young. Talented. Smart. A bachelor in your very class. Try not to have your heart stolen.” 

The shadow finally moved. It wasn’t abrupt, but it just slowly crept towards him only to stop. It seemed to look for confirmation before proceeding, but it could only slither back feeling discontent after the princess shook her head.

Arc laughed. “At least you keep it on a short leash. A dog that bites without a proper command is useless.”

The shadow snorted, and this time Arc was sure of it. That haughtiness. He wanted to see the feet. He began to think that if he kept poking maybe the entity would reveal itself, but then a scary thought appeared. What if those feet belonged to a man! The horror!

The princess turned the attention back to herself before Arc could continue to horrify himself.

“If I agree that you're handsome will you answer my question?”

“A self-evident truth is worthless, but you will indeed be seeing more of me. We are in the same homeroom, after all.” Arc blew a kiss towards her. “And yes, I’ll take you out on a date.”

The Princess frowned. “Date?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted to ask me?”

“I don’t think my mother would approve.” Despite her going along with Arc’s whims, it was apparent that she was sorting through the information that Arc divulged. 

“And your father would?”

“Probably.”

“Hmm. By the way, my name is not Yue.” Arc turned the conversation back around.

The Princess frowned, but Arc couldn’t dismiss the chance that the frown was intentional. 

Nonetheless, it was a reasonable assumption. Yue was one of the top performers in the entrance examinations which was especially noteworthy given the talent pool of the year. Furthermore, Yue’s adoptive mother was also Elaine, who was directly involved in the current situation. 

“I might as well try asking then… who are you?”

“You still haven’t said I’m handsome.”

“Wasn’t it self evident?”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear it from someone as pretty as you.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls.” She laughed.

“Only a few…or several.”

“Mother definitely wouldn’t approve of you.” She gave a sly smile. 

“I’m sure I could charm her.”

“And now I’m sure that my father won’t approve of you either. It is a shame.”

“Arc.”

The address caused the shadow to tremble. It bubbled up and a silhouette made of shadows was slowly forming. This caused even the Princess to turn towards it. There appeared to be a silent exchange happening between them, but it only resulted in the Princess frowning and turning back to Arc with serious eyes. The shadow fell back towards the ground. The conversation had once again turned.

“Diamond.”

Arc pretended not to be bothered by the shadow’s reaction and continued his flippant demeanor. “So, Diamond, why isn’t the Second Princess coming to the academy?”

Diamond raised her eyebrows but didn’t seem fully surprised. “My older sister is dumb.”

Arc laughed and looked back at Diamond’s shadow. It remained still and gave no reaction to Diamond or Arc. It almost looked like it was sulking.  

“Perhaps, I should date your older sister instead.”

“You won’t be able to get much information out of her even if you do charm her.”

“And if I charm you, I will?”

Diamond smiled. “I’m beginning to like you, but my lips are closed shut.”

Arc scratched his neck. “Well, that can change?”

“While I admire your quick tongue.” Diamond paused and gave him a teasing look, “Don’t you think it's shameful that you're the one blushing in this situation.”

“But isn't your heart rate the one that’s rising?”

There was an awkward tension in the air that only amplified itself with an ensuing silence. The shadow seemed to cough several times like it choked on something, which led to Diamond’s face becoming slightly pink.

Arc looked away. “Hey…” He left it ambiguous.

“Yeah?”

“There is actually one thing that I want to know?” Arc’s voice once again became stern. Any semblance of the previous awkwardness was gone. 

Diamond took a deep breath and feigned a yawn. She seemed to be slightly disappointed. “Go ahead.”

“Was there a reason the Children of Sin or Elaine were brought into this?”  

To be honest, Arc was slightly annoyed that people looked down on the ‘thugs’ he cultivated, but he had already stepped away from nurturing that group of outcasts. He remembered the commotion they caused when he said he was stepping down from his leadership position to enroll in the academy. He smiled, reminiscing in thought. 

‘They were lovable brats.’

The problem was that someone was trying to drag them down within the current events. But the group had made a lot of enemies, so pinpointing the culprit without investigating was not possible. 

It was also quite apparent that the pawns being used in the scheme were making a desperate bid to hold onto power. Still, no matter how childish the attempt if it involved his brats, he had to look into it. 

“Ah, you mean the whole scheme of me escaping my guard?”

“Yeah.”

“There wasn’t anything really advanced…I just wanted to have some fun.” She turned to her shadow. “But things have seemingly become complicated.”

Arc was surprised at the response. He wasn’t sure if she was completely honest, but he was familiar with the expression she had. It seemed he wouldn’t have to destroy her. 

Despite such thoughts, Arc smiled. He wasn’t sure how much information he could gain and he didn't want to push his luck. “Little sis, if anything happens in the academy I’ll take care of you.”

“From going on a date to becoming my big brother…”

Arc decided he got enough information and turned around and began walking away. “Alright, I have used up enough time. I’ll be seeing you around.”

“See ya, big brother.” She teased. 

“Ah, one more thing. You won’t remember this conversation.” Arc observed her hidden movements. “A recording device won’t work. The hidden ink won’t work. And you won’t even remember what I look like.”

“...” 

Arc chuckled. “You earned yourself a naughty older brother.”

Diamond didn’t seem to doubt his words and just sighed. “Not that it matters if I ask, but why?”

Arc put a finger on his lip and acted like he was thinking deeply. “I guess because it's fun.” 

Before hearing a response, he waved and disappeared before their eyes.

The shadow’s indecipherable voice rang out, “The youngest…”

“Don’t speak. He could be listening.” She got up from the rock. “We are returning. Thank you for keeping your promise.”

“He is indeed listening. Of course, he would be.” The shadow sighed. “If we didn’t make a promise then I would have captured him. To think he is this lucky…”

“...”

Arc clicked his tongue but didn’t follow them; instead, he teleported to the front entrance of the school after exiting the dungeon. Feeling exhausted, he sighed and fanned himself. 

‘This is why I don’t desire to be popular. Treat me like a side mob~~’

Despite these flippant thoughts, Arc decided he would stay clear of the Third Princess lest she interfere with his tranquil school life. Not only that, he would have to be careful. The shadow somehow knew him by name. It referred to him as ‘the youngest.’ He had no idea what that meant, but the whole situation gave him the chills. 

But then again, she was a good candidate to mooch off. He shook his head. It would be too difficult for the pay off. He decided he would only mess with her if he was feeling extra bored or if she was in deep trouble. 

With this resolution, Arc blinked and his demeanor changed as he put everything that happened behind him. It was time to enjoy his school life.