In his past life, Hachiman's parents were more often than not at work. Busy with getting the money coming home and taking on more workload than they should so the Hikigaya siblings could live a relatively peaceful life while they grew up. And while lonely, it was also true that neither Hachiman nor Komachi ever had to touch something remotely similar to a job... At least not while Hikigaya Hachiman was still Hikigaya Hachiman.

It was a testament to the couple's devotion to their children, as there should be no other reason for them to waste away their lives being a cog in a system that did not benefit them, earning money for the people that bossed them around and made more money than them anyway. They deserved nothing less than their children's understanding and support, or so Hachiman came to think after being cut off from them forever.

Depressing thoughts aside, Hachiman had found first-hand experience of what it was like to spend hours on end doing things he held no interest in. True, studying had always been part of his responsibilities. But this world was fundamentally different, and if his parents endured this rotting cycle of dealing with people that thought they knew better than them daily, and being scolded for taking the smallest of breaks… Well, if heaven existed and they didn't reincarnate too, then they deserved it. No joke.

"Nicol-sama." The third prince cleared his throat, snapping Hachiman out of his thoughts "Do take this seriously. This is sort of very important."

They were in the student council room. Alone save for Campbell further back, with the prince's guards outside the room but ever vigilant. They made Hachiman feel trapped, although he wasn't too sure why.

"I am paying attention." For the most part. There was something about the prince Hachiman didn't quite like at the moment… Outside of his usual eccentricities.

He looked the same as always. Sharp, charismatic, confident. Yet his voice was ever so slightly slower, his ideas just a thought away from being perfectly explained. He didn't look like it, but holding the whole school together basically by himself for several days was taking its toll, and Hachiman was aware the prince was feeling the pressure.

"I bet." The prince nodded to himself. Just this once, Hachiman would ignore the irony.

"I am, though I ignore what your highness expects from me." Hachiman stated, a sigh escaping his lips without meaning to "I mean, it is bizarre there are just five elements. Is it not? We see it in nature, the elements coexisting in their own way. Water, wind, flame, earth… And yet we have light as well. How come there has never been any mentions of magic based on its natural opposite until now? It feels kind of obvious in retrospect."

To be fair, he was applying fantasy logic, or at least what he considered fantasy logic. He did find it weird, but that was because every other light novel, manga, anime and even books that dealt with light powers, also dealt with darkness powers. It was the norm, a sort of balance that was equal parts the obvious step to take and the rule of cool in action. Hachiman wasn't sure it would apply to this world, but it seemed that the rule of cool reigned supreme yet again.

Besides, both light and darkness seemed to operate in widely different ways.

Light healed, while darkness controlled. It was kind of weird, since there was no semblance of balance in the duality. They might as well have nothing in common. It could have been even easier to name them as healing and control magic respectively, but then again Hachiman was more of a practice sort of magician. He couldn't be sure why these magics worked the way they did, but he had a strong suspicion it was simply because people were lazy and didn't want to think about it too hard.

"It does, doesn't it?" The third prince rubbed his chin for a moment "But I digress. This is still a very pressing matter, and I can only fear the reason this sort of information has been all but scrapped from official records."

"Let's not lose sight of what's on our plate right now." Hachiman scoffed "Claes now. Mind poisoning later. What's the game plan?"

"We can't just ignore the dark magic, though." The prince replied patiently "Maria-san?"

"We've found a few individuals being under the effect of dark magic." Campbell informed Hachiman without skipping a beat "I am unsure as to what the reach of this malign power is, but I have no doubt in my heart Keith-sama is among the affected."

"Among us." Hachiman murmured.

"Eh?"

"No, nothing." Hachiman cleared his throat "So, this is the reason for all the secrecy? Because I think we could use some more heads to think things through."

"Nicol-sama." The third prince chuckled "In all of the palace, I found not a single book of dark magic. All the information I found were elusive tales of dark powers, or mentions of evil sorcerers that spun their magic in ways no one could explain."

So… What he is saying is that dark magic has existed since forever, yet the country has censored any and all but the most insignificant of information about it?

And it was effective enough that only someone like the third prince realized. If that was the case, then not only was this absence of information intentional, but very much premeditated and planned. Maybe even known by the higher ups above. Which didn't sit well with Hachiman.

Because there were only two couples above the prince and Hachiman, and they were no strangers to them either.

"I see, I understand." Hachiman nodded "So what does your highness suggest?"

The prince furrowed his brows, making Hachiman raise one. What stung this guy? Hachiman really wanted to know what this guy's mega-sized brain came up with. If it was idiotic… Well, that was that. But if it wasn't, then chances were that Hachiman himself wouldn't come up with anything better.

"For one, as Nicol-sama suggested, we have to deal with Keith Claes next." The prince leaned over the desk he was (the only one) sitting at, and pulled that famous pose by Shinji's dad which almost made Hachiman comment on it.

But he didn't. He still couldn't quite cover a low chuckle, which the prince caught on.

"Oh? Do Nicol-sama and I think the same?" That caught Hachiman off guard, but words had been his forte for far longer than the prince had been alive.

"Depends." Hachiman shrugged as if he hadn't been put on the spot "When is Claes emerging?"

The prince chuckled humorlessly.

"Of course you know." Ah, it seemed like Hachiman's deductions were correct. The tower was indeed a distraction "If my calculations are correct, Keith Claes will be emerging in a few hours to raid our kitchen. I would ask for Nicol-sama's assistance, but I will not force you to."

"Ah, so it was something like that?" Hachiman stopped himself before rolling his eyes "I thought I'd have to do everything by myself, do tell me when there's other people working on things."

The air hung thick, the blond and the raven haired nobles seized each other up with ice-cold glances.

The prince chuckled.

"If Nicol-sama feels powerful enough, then by all means go alone." The blond shrugged.

"Is that a joke? That guy can probably kill us all by accident." Hachiman scoffed "Give me at least some fighting chance."

"That's true, isn't it?" The prince chuckled again, but it came out as bitter as Hachiman felt on the inside.

Neither saw Keith Claes hurting anyone on purpose, so discussing dealing with him this way was a bit…

Even if Hachiman knew him mostly because he was Claes' brother, it still didn't sit all too well with him. Even if he was annoying, whinny, overprotective… In the end, Keith Claes had never, not even once, hurt anyone that Hachiman knew. He treated Sophia with respect, endured Claes' shenanigans on a daily basis...

He couldn't say it, his pride wouldn't allow it, but very deep down Hachiman had this wasn't happening to someone like Keith.

He didn't do anything. How come he had suddenly become the villain of the story? Who would do something like that to the guy?

Hunt? She wasn't like that. The very idea was laughable and she was probably the one who had the most reason to resent him.

It was probably the student council president. But Hachiman didn't voice this out. After all, if it occurred to Hachiman, it had to go through Gerald Stuart's too. And the guy had better ways to deal with these things than Hachiman's zero followers allowed him to.

"Ummm…" Campbell was clasping her hands, gathering courage to speak up for herself.

Hachiman disapproved. If she was to walk among people like this prince, she needed more of a spine. She would be eaten alive otherwise, light magic or not.

"This is critical, Campbell." Hachiman stated humorlessly "Speak up if necessary."

The girl stopped for a moment, as if frozen in time. But the third prince nodded, and both nobles were staring at her, so she quickly composed herself and spoke.

"I remember Katarina-sama mentioning it, but…" She looked down for a moment, unable to find her words. But to her credit, she neither stuttered nor blushed afterward "One of the seven wonders of the academy is a book that traps people within. If it comes to that…"

"Ah, yes." The prince interjected "I'll see to it that we find out if it's real or not."

That sounded like a joke. The seven wonders were just rumors created for and by the student body to feel like the academy wasn't just a boring prison to study and practice stuff. There was no way it was real… And yet the implication and application of such an artifact was evident: If they used it on Keith Claes, they didn't have to fight the monster of earth magic.

Hachiman cleaned his sweat off his forehead. Somehow, he felt a lot more nervous after mentioning that book.

"Alright, then." The prince clapped once. A mask of friendliness erasing the seriousness he was showing before "Enjoy the rest of the day. I shall tell you when and where we are gathering to get Keith Claes back. Until then, enjoy yourselves… As much as you can."

Well, yeah. Most of the school was buried in walls of stone.

Campbell used her healing magic on them again (just in case) and allowed the prince to leave before closing down the student council room. Hachiman waited for her, as she was the only light mage around and having her attacked was kind of a bad idea.

"Where are you going?" He asked once she was done with her business.

"Eh? Well, I don't have anywhere to be…" Campbell looked puzzled, probably didn't want to share her schedule with Hachiman.

That was fine.

"I see, then shall we go to Claes? She can probably use the company."

The blonde stared at him for a moment, then nodded.

"Thank you, Nicol-sama… Ah, is it alright to-?"

"I don't mind." Hachiman stated.

"It's… An honor."

"It's my name." Hachiman said dryly while walking.

He didn't care a lot. A part of him still thought about himself as Hachiman, so he didn't have such a strong reaction to being called by his given name. Perhaps it was wrong, as there was no one left that knew him by that name but… Someone with such a strong sense of self had troubles adapting like that.

"Yes, but… It feels unequal. Since Ascart-sama refers to me by my last name… Actually, Ascart… Nicol-sama doesn't even call Katarina-sama by her name." Campbell blinked in confusion, but Hachiman waited for her to finish her point.

"...So?" He asked when she didn't.

"Umm, why?"

"People might misunderstand." He replied vaguely. He didn't want to say he wasn't comfortable with it, and since Claes never raised the subject he didn't bother calling her anything else.

Idiot, sometimes. But that wasn't a nickname, and only when she went full monkey on him.

"I… Suppose that makes sense." Campbell seemed to buy his excuse "Katarina-sama and Nicol-sama are very, very close after all."

Hachiman eyed the blonde from the corner of his eyes.

What was up with that inflection of hers?