The Shadow in the World of Magic

by MagicName88

Hikigaya Hachiman's only goal is to find the wife and daughter of his deceased guardian in a wasteland filled with powerful monsters. For him to do that, he must become a knight and bond with others, but the first person he was forced to approach is a noblewoman who wants to do research with the power of science. The biggest challenge for the young mage's adventure begins.[AU]

12. Chapter 11: Fairness

Recap of the previous chapter: Hikigaya contemplated his decision to cut ties with Yuigahama and after receiving advice from both his sister and homeroom teacher, he asked Yuigahama to talk to her privately after training Totsuka Saika, who requested the Institution to aide him in improving his physical prowess. Unfortunately, Oliver intervened and told Yuigahama to leave early and told Hikigaya to make a promise in making his fiancee happy. After a long conversation and revelation that Oliver knew he was the one who saved her and her mother, he then revealed that the noble heads agreed to kill the dark mage after pointing the blame of the incident at the battle royale. Hikigaya, Oliver, and Merek, who was asked to help them, now faced three assassins at night.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Oregairu series as it is respectfully owned by the author and studios.

---

Chapter 11: Fairness Never Existed, But The World Is Still Full Of Equal Miracles

"I am Oliver Seerwind of the great and noble Seerwind family. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Yuigahama," The little boy said with a graceful bow to the girl right in front of him. His father wanted to introduce him to someone he could be close friends with, but the son knew what he actually meant. Oliver Seerwind already understood the ways of the adults. From intentions to the actions they'd take to fulfill their desires. He even understood their language (The vulgar kind). The perspective of adults was far more complicated and far more terrifying. Within his mind, children such as this girl here were born without knowledge until the adults would teach them want they wanted them to learn. Of course, he was also taught by adults, but his mind became different from others. At the age of five, he already learned the concept of trading and businesses between merchants. At six, he learned the Elven language along with two other languages from different countries. At the age of nine, he became interested in war tactics even though it wasn't necessary considering the rising era of peace. And now, at the age of eleven, he already demanded a fiancee. His sudden and strange demand surprised his parents not because he required a fiancee in his life. No, they already planned on arranging one suitor to introduce him for the arranged marriage, but they set it on next year. What shocked them was how their son understood the concept of marriage from the benefits for two families to its political tactics. They were surprised and then became impressed at his gifted mind. And so, they fulfilled Oliver's wish, and he met this little girl who came from Taiyokigen with short orange hair and wore a red yukata. Oliver immediately knew she was from the Eastern Continent based on her attire. He saw it in drawings and read descriptions in books, but he couldn't help but admire seeing such unique aesthetic clothing personally.

"I-I-I am... I," The girl stuttered and raised her hand for a handshake."Y-Yuigahama Yui! Let's be friends!"

"A-Ahaha..." Oliver chuckled awkwardly. The girl named Yuigahama Yui wasn't what he expected. Noble children practiced courtesy when they could already understand language and consume knowledge. In front of parents and prominent figures, children would always display their "maturity" and "grace", and when they escaped the eyes of the adults, some of those children would return to the infantile behavior. At least those children knew courtesy, but this girl didn't. Even in front of their parents and other adults, she was too nervous and appeared to lack that knowledge regarding manners and nobility.

In other words, Yuigahama Yui acted like a commoner.

"Oops! I forgot to teach her about manners and stuff. Sorry, Lester-kun!" And now her mother apologized in the most casual way possible to his father, who laughed along with his mother and other adults at the daughter's childish behavior. Oliver also overlooked Yui's lack of manners fitting for a noble since the reason was understandable. She was still a child and unlike him who had higher intellect, she had a normal mind. His expectation of the girl was quite low because of two reasons: Her first impression wasn't adequate; and he had no romantic feelings for her. What his parents didn't know was while he understood the benefits of having a fiancee, he didn't understand the concept of love and the desire for such intimacy. It wasn't that Oliver didn't know how to love. After all, he loved his father and mother dearly. Love between a man and a woman (or in this case, boy and girl), sharing each other's hearts and be together till they be parted only by death. None of those were within his awareness until his mother explained it as simple as she could for a child to understand, even though he was a genius.

"Love is... a feeling that you want to be with someone forever. Just by being beside that someone can make you the happiest boy alive."

"If that's the case, then I'm already the happiest boy alive because I am beside you and father."

"That is very kind of you, sweetheart. But love has many forms. The kind of love you asked is a love that causes your heart to flutter just by being near that person."

"There is... a love that causes illness in the heart?"

"Illness? Hahaha! Yes, you can say that. Darling, you are still too young to understand. Maybe once you are older and met different people, you will find that feeling similar to when I encountered your beloved father."

His mother's explanation was too vague and perhaps metaphorical for the son to decipher. If being married meant having a love that would bring illness to the heart, was there a medicine or a spell to cure it? If so, what would be the cost?

By intuition, Oliver knew those questions were incorrect. His current understanding of "love" was incorrect. However, that route was the only route he could take based on the current knowledge he received.

Whatever "love" may be, he was so sure he wouldn't be able to feel such emotion from this girl.

After the introduction, Oliver and Yui spent the entire day playing, eating snacks and tea, and discussing their lives. Oliver learned three things about Yui.

One: Yui didn't learn not only proper mannerisms in a foreign country, she didn't learn the culture and traditions, hence why she looked at the snacks as if she was inspecting a mysterious artifact.

.

.

"What is this?"

"Biscuits and cookies," Oliver answered with a smile. "Have you not taste similar snacks in your home?"

"Of course I do! These are just way different from what I ate back there!" Yui said enthusiastically while taking one cookie. "Itadakimasu!"

"Ita-... what does that me-?"

"It's tasty!" She then ate more cookies.

.

Two: Yui was "quite" lively.

.

.

"Let's play!" Yui said while holding a temari.

"I'm sorry but not now," Oliver refused and showed her a book he was reading. "I am currently studying. Do you mind if we play later?"

"Eeehhh?!" Yui pouted and stared at the temari for a moment until she ran towards him. "But reading is boring!"

"It is not boring if you are willing to seek knowledge."

"Come on, Ollie!" Yui begged while showing the temari in front of his face. "You can do that later!"

"I'm sorry b-but I... really need... to read this..." He said while struggling to push her away.

.

Three: Yui was... not very smart.

.

.

"Uuhhh..." Yui put a finger to her lips as she was staring at a pouch. "What are those?"

"It is a pouch of a pastry called 'pretzels', Lady Yuigahama," The maid answered while placing the pouch on the table.

"Oh, are those from that baker?" Oliver asked the maid while Yui just shifted her eyes back and forth between them as they talked.

"Yes, it was recently made as well. A gift from the baker in celebration of meeting your betrothed."

"B-berolled?" Yui attempted to repeat the maid's word but failed.

"Betrothed," Oliver corrected.

"B-Be-... Bethow?"

"Be~"

"Be~"

"-trothed~"

"-t-trothed~"

"Betrothed."

"Betroad!"

"... That was passable," Oliver said with a smile, but on the inside, he was mentally palming his face in frustration and disappointment.

"Are they snacks?" Yui asked while grabbing the pouch of pretzels.

"Yes, pretzels are delicious pastries that are shaped like a knot."

"Hmmm..." Oliver was counting the pretzels while the maid was busy explaining to the girl. "Six pretzels? This amount should suffice. We can split them by half so we can share."

"By half?"

"Yes, since there are six pretzels."

"So splitting six in half means...?" Yui asked while narrowing her eyes to think. Oliver initially thought she was only jesting him but immediately realized she had such difficulty in understanding the arithmetic.

"...It means we can both share three pretzels."

"Ooh! I know that!"

"I highly doubt it." Oliver sighed at her lie.

At the beginning, it was frustrating for him to witness her antics and foolish behavior but as time passed; he began to see the joy of her company and teaching her the culture of his country.

.

.

Months later, that was when it happened.

"Yui! Ollie!" Yuigahama Yuna called out to the two children playing in the garden.

"Mommy!" The daughter shouted in joy and ran to her mother for a hug.

"Sorry for interrupting your fun, but it's time for us to go." The mother said while kneeling.

"Eeeeh?!" Yui's eyes began to tear up and Yuna tried to comfort her by caressing her head. "I wanna play with Ollie more!"

"You two can play again tomorrow," Yuna said and pushed her finger into her daughter's right puffed cheek. "Look, the sun is setting down. It's almost nighttime. Aren't you afraid of the dark?"

"Not anymore!" Yui answered with a bright grin.

"The young mistress truly enjoyed your company, Lord Oliver," A butler commented with a chuckle.

"I began to enjoy our time as well," The son of Seerwind admitted with a sigh. "But we can't afford to tire ourselves, Ms. Yuigahama. I promise we will play again tomorrow."

"Do you promise!?" Yui asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes."

"Really?!"

"Yes, I promise."

"Hmmm...?" The girl just stared at Oliver with doubt which made him chuckled and approached her.

"Then. Let's do a tradition." He raised his pinky finger. "Give me your pinky."

"Eh? Uuuhh..." Yui complied as their pinky fingers locked together.

"Repeat after me: Pinky, pinky bow-bell."

"Pinky... pinky bow-bell..."

"Whoever tells a lie,"

"Whoever tells a lie,"

"Will sink down to the bad place,"

"Will sink down to the bad place,"

"And never rise up again,"

"And never rise up again,"

"And we're done," Oliver said and let go of her pinky finger.

"... W-What kind of promise is that!?" She asked with a terrified expression. "What is that b-bad place you said!?"

"Even I don't know," He answered while shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm scared! Mommy, Ollie is trying to take me to a bad place!"

"Now, now, Yui. It won't happen to you since it was he who promised you, so that means little Ollie will go to that bad place all by himself!" Yuna comforted her daughter but seemed to have failed as Yui began crying.

"NNOOOOO! I DON'T WANT OLLIE TO GO THERE!" Yui shouted with tears streaming down her cheeks. Yuna was flustered for one second until she chuckled and tried to hug Yui, but the daughter ran towards Ollie and hugged him. "HOW DO WE GET RID OF THAT PINKY THING WE DID?!"

"Ahaha, forgive me for terrifying you, Ms. Yuigahama," Oliver comforted her while caressing the back of her head. "But do not worry, all I need to do is to fulfill that promise and I will be saved."

"R-Really...?" Yui asked while wiping the tears in her eyes.

"Yes, please believe me." He answered and assisted her in removing her tears with a small cloth.

"Children these days, they are already so lovey-dovey." Yuna commented and looked at the butler. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes, Lady Yuna," The butler answered. "Love has grown more pure between these wonderful children. Lady Yui truly loves Young Master Oliver the most."

"Do you love Oliver the most, Yui?" Yuna leaned down to ask her daughter the question. Yui stared at her mother for a moment before answering.

"Yeah! I love Ollie!" She said with an enormous smile. Yuna, Oliver and the butler laughed.

"Leaving already?" Lester intervened.

"Yes we are, Lester-kun. Oh, about that thing we talked about yesterday..." While the two adults were conversing with each other, Oliver noticed something odd about Yui when she looked at the yellow tulips. Her expression suddenly changed into a solemn smile that he never thought he would see from someone lively and easygoing such as her. It was a rare sight as the sun descended further into the horizon behind her. Its evening sunlight shined her smile into a beautiful deity within his eyes.

There was a spark.

The moment he saw such a sight, his heart beat faster, and he involuntarily held his breath. It was as if Yui was showered with divine light as he imagined the hands of the gods reaching from the setting sun to bless her.

In his eyes, she was ascended.

The quick beating of his heart was his own soul and desire shouting at him.

Telling him to see more of that beautiful image.

Every detail of the scene in front of him was engraved in his mind.

Oliver wanted more.

He wanted to see more of her.

His time spent with Yui brought unexpected joy. Their bond grew as friends tied to an arranged marriage. He forced their fates together and couldn't imagine a different world where he didn't act on that decision. There were no regrets. Their fates may be manipulated, which was within his choice, but if he didn't do that, he wouldn't be able to meet the girl he had fallen for.

"Oh... so this is that feeling..."

"Hm? What was that, son?" His father kneeled and asked. Oliver took a moment to stare at the divine image and slowly turned towards Lester, who wore a puzzled expression. "Is there something wrong?"

"... I never thought it could be so painful."

Yes, he was in love.

And as his mother said, this feeling was an illness.

It made him desired Yui, imagining even the smallest yet happy moments that would happen between them. His heart fluttered every time he pictured it: Him and his fiancee together in solitary, surrounded by nature. All for themselves. It was a discovery. A joyful feeling he had finally experienced for the first time. He noted within his mind to never doubt his mother's words ever again. He began to regret the same way as her about playing together. Who knew that love would turn even a genius into a fool.

And who knew that love could be so painful.

It was merely intuition, but he could tell that smile she had was not for him. That illusionary divinity she emanated was not for him. When she was asked who she loved the most, she lied that he was the one.

Who? Who was the fortunate one to receive that affection from this goddess? How did that person achieved what he learned could not? What did Oliver need to do to shift the focus of her heart towards him?

"... Perhaps, the answer was obvious..."

Whoever that fortunate one was, he had a trait greater than Oliver. What was that trait? It was unknown to Oliver, but it did not matter to him.

If that love Yui bore wasn't for him and it was a love that could make her smile in such a divine way, then it didn't matter to him.

The beating in his heart shouted in denial, but the presence of the yellow tulips overwhelmed its resistance.

As the flower represented: It was a one-sided love.

---

Three against three.

Three students of knights against three professional assassins.

The objective of both sides was opposite to each other's that resulted in an inevitable clash. Oliver and Terrowin's aim was to protect Hikigaya, who had no intention of being killed by the assassins while said assassins' aim was to kill him and remove whoever witnessed the tragedy. Two sides just stared at each other as the breeze of the night was the only sound to pierce the stretching silence. Neither side would move an inch. Not even a flinch of a muscle. Hikigaya grew impatient and wanted to end this quickly but, he knew that one small careless action imbued with impatience would lead to his instant death. The techniques, spells, and actions of an assassin involved swift and silent kills. Prolonging the battle was unnecessary and facing their targets face-to-face was never the way of assassins. Which meant the three young students required to be cautious. Hikigaya was especially more cautious than the other two since the assassins' goal was to kill him.

"Hikigaya Hachiman," Merek called out to him.

"Uhh.. yeah?" Hikigaya asked, unsure of what sort of tone he should give to his former opponent in that duel.

"This young underclassmen of mine told me about these troubles you were facing. Even a child can see that the heads pitting the blame of that incident on you was a decision based from their overwhelming fear and selfishness," Merek looked with a scrutinizing gaze at the young dark mage. "Even so, I ask you for my own confirmation: Are you responsible for that incident with Ms. Yuigahama?"

"No," Hikigaya answered immediately.

"Do you bear any grudge against Ms. Yuigahama?"

"No."

"Are you an ally or an enemy to our people?"

"I'm an ally as long as you don't piss me off like those nobles."

"Very well! Just as Oliver trust you, I trust you as well!" Terrowin shouted with a fighting stance, holding his dual swords firmly.

"What a naïve way of establishing trust," The female assassin spoke and mentally took notes of their current predicament. "That dark mage was able to evade and attack Headsplitter despite even though he used an invisibility spell. Surprise attacks and the stealth approach may not work. The only way to kill him is to use a spell that he couldn't avoid even if he sensed the danger. Perhaps a massive area of affect spell? No, that would cause more problems as it would attract attention, and there is a high possibility Mr. Seerwind and Mr. Merek may get caught up in it. The only way to kill the dark mage is by fooling him. And I know just how."

"It is as simple as it gets," Terrowin said with a grin. "Even though I'm supposed to inherit the role as the head of my family, I still lack the ability to understand politics and trading negotiations. I don't have the capability to think like they do, so there is only one thing I can set my pride and soul in and that is the strength in battle! From my duel against Hikigaya Hachiman, I saw how firmly he held the sword and the magic full of conviction. Words may be necessary, but the sound of sword clashing and the breaking of bones and flesh is enough for me!"

"Hmph! A fool is unfortunately born in the Merek family," The male assassin scowled.

"Enough, we are not here to banter," The female assassin said as she pulled out a dagger. "I will kill the dark mage with the assistance of the shadow craven. Can you handle those two?"

"Yeah, but don't expect me to leave them clear from injuries."

"It is fine. Just keep their limbs attached along with their lives."

"Understood."

"Mind telling us your names before we put our blades up in your asses?" Oliver asked with a menacing glare.

"... Headsplitter." The male assassin named Headsplitter introduced.

"Throatcutter." The female assassin named Throatcutter followed suit. Their introduction caused the son of Seerwind to click his tongue in irritation.

"Those aren't your actual names. You think I'm a fucking dumbass?!" Oliver shouted while pointing the blade at them.

"I don't care about their names," Hikigaya said while removing the wooden sandals on his feet. "If that's how they'll be remembered before they die, then so be it."

"How overconfident." Headsplitter made the first move by fading away and the three knight students became alerted by that. Meanwhile, the shadow craven quickly approached Hikigaya with almost the same speed as his. Merek tried to stop the monster by swinging his sword at the skull mask, but the mask moved downward and dodged the blade. The moment the shadow craven was a few feet closer to Hikigaya, a golden double-edged blade came out of the black smoke from its body and swung the weapon at his throat. Hikigaya simply leaned back to dodge the swing inches close before the tip of the blade would touch his throat. The shadow craven continued swinging the golden blade, and Hikigaya kept evading all of them. His eyes glowed as he used clairvoyance to scrutinize the weapon.

"An enchanted weapon, huh? Never thought I'd see a monster wielding one." Hikigaya thought while jumping away from the monster. "I don't know what sort of power it has but I can't take the risk. It's best to not touch it at all."

"Being overly cautious, are we?" Throatcutter threw knives and Hikigaya did a backflip to dodge them all while moving his body. However, when the knives approached and went past him, they suddenly stopped and flew towards him. A dark aura enveloped Hikigaya in a dark aura as he cast Black Sphere to protect himself. The blades of the knives shattered upon collision with the dark barrier and the shadow craven quickly approached it with the golden blade glowing.

"You have impressive reaction time.. No, perhaps it was reflexes?" Throatcutter commended his abilities. "But, you are no match for the shadow craven."

"No shit. Shadow cravens become faster when they eat mages' mana pools. This monster is almost as fast as me. Just how many mana pools did it eat?" Hikigaya thought while manipulating the Black Sphere to release black tendrils and attacked the monster. One black tendril tried to whip the shadow craven, but it jumped over to evade. Two more black tendrils attempted to skewer the monster while it was in mid-air, but it swung the golden blade and extinguished them. From the way the black tendrils dissipated into nothing, he immediately recognized the blade's characteristic. "An enchanted sword with light magic?"

"the client was kind enough to lend us these enchanted weapons imbued with light element," The female assassin said with indifference. Some of the tendrils focused their attention to her as they attacked, and she used the dagger to defend herself. She bent back to dodge the first tendril, then destroyed the second with the dagger, and jumped over the third one before destroying the two next tendrils. Evade and slice, she repeated the process while approaching the dark mage. "My dagger is also imbued with the light element. All this just to kill you."

"To think they'd go this much effort to kill me," Hikigaya scowled. "I'm surprised you assassins didn't run away with those weapons. Selling them would've made you rich."

"We've already considered that as our contingency should we fail to accomplish this mission." Throatcutter said while dodging two more tendrils and then threw five knives, but this time, those knives were glowing. With both hands weaving signs, she controlled the knives in the air to make them fly around the Black Sphere, cutting all the tendrils and pierced through the sphere. Enormous holes were left in the dark barrier and Hikigaya was surrounded by knives coming towards him. Mysteriously, the two knives in front of him shattered in half and the young dark mage ran forward without wondering why while the three other flying knives pursued him from behind. Throatcutter turned to the side and saw Oliver grinning at her. "Wind mages..."

"Pay attention to your own battle, boy." Headsplitter's voice reached the two wind mages' ears, but they couldn't see where the assassin was. An invisible force hit Oliver in the right jaw and swung his sword to the right in hopes he would damage the assassin, but to no avail. Pillars of earth rose from the ground near around Terrowin as they twisted together to form into a cube, trapping him inside. However, it was proven useless as Terrowin sliced the Terra Prison into pieces with his dual swords and jumped forward. He swung his right sword at the air and ran around, continuing his swings. After the fourth swing, he thrust a kick forward, and it seemed to hit something as Terrowin followed it with a downward swing of his left sword. The weapon stopped as the sound of blades clashing echoed through the night at school. The two wind mages heard the grunt of the male assassin who clicked his tongue in irritation. "So you're that kind of warrior already. I must say, I'm impressed."

"How did you do that?" Oliver asked, amazed by his senior's fighting capabilities. "I tried using clairvoyance, but I can't still see him."

"Just use your hearing!" Terrowin answered loudly. "His footsteps are easy to listen if you concentrate."

"Even so, it is still impressive how you can know where to swing," Headsplitter complimented while dodging a sword thrust aiming for his head.

"I remember the detail of your very appearance. From your height to even the attire you wear!" Terrowin said while swinging his left sword horizontally, and it stopped with the sound of the blade clashing to another.

"Well, I have a much more simple idea." Oliver declared and ran towards Terrowin and the invisible assassin. He lowered his blade until it scratched the ground, leaving a trail. As he closed the distance, Oliver swiftly swung the sword upward, which launched a debris of soil at them.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Terrowin asked while raising an arm to avoid getting his face covered in soil. "... wait."

"Now I can see you." Oliver then swung his sword at Headsplitter's neck despite remaining invisible. The male assassin blocked it in time, shown by the sound of the sword clashing. Oliver fired the Crimson Spear to his head, but instead of piercing the head, it deflected the red beam of light when it hit. A pair of red-glowing eyes with runes around them appeared in the air in front of Oliver and by intuition, he jumped to the side away from its line of sight as the spot he was standing on suddenly had a vast crater. "A fellow Embracer mage. I'm assuming that invisibility spell is also an Embracer magic?"

"Yes, so what will you do with that knowledge?" Headsplitter said as he undid the invisibility spell. "By the way, how clever of you to literally cover me in dirt. Unlike Terrowin, who is a skillful warrior, you are a genius warrrior."

"I am grateful for that compliment." Oliver said with a smirk. "Now, will you retreat after all this?"

"Don't take this as a friendly sparring match." The male assassin said angrily as his eyes glowed red with runes appearing through the goblin mask. "Enziel Magic: Crushing Sight."

"Look out!" Terrowin warned and both wind mages jumped away from each other as something caused the wall to crack into a massive hole. Glowing runes appeared in Headsplitter's right hand up to the forearm and swung the hand down in a knife-hand strike in the air, pointing at Oliver. The son of Seerwind felt the top of his head hit by an invisible force. There was an excruciating pain in his head as vision began to blur and dizziness overwhelmed his sense of balance. Terrowin grew angry and charged at Headsplitter. The male assassin thought his anger was an advantage, and so Headsplitter's arms glowed with runes all over. The moment Terrowin was a few feet closer to him, something hit Headsplitter's calf of his right leg. He looked down to see the fist of an overstretching arm from Oliver as the son of Seerwind pulled his leg to lose his balance. Terrowin used this opportunity to strike as he created three mana spheres and controlled them to surround the male assassin. Terrowin swung down both swords while at the same time the mana spheres fired Mana Shots and an explosion occurred from it.

---

Meanwhile

Hikigaya was being chased by both the fast shadow craven and the three flying knives controlled by Throatcutter. The young dark mage stopped running and stomped his bare foot on the ground and caused an explosion from the overcharged of the Hearten spell. The force from the explosion the knocked shadow craven away, but the knives continued their pursuit. Hikigaya knocked the knives away with his sword, but they came flying back towards him.

"She's really good at using Spirit Motion." Hikigaya thought with a click of his tongue in frustration. "And then there's the shadow craven who can almost keep up with me and wielding that enchanted sword. Heh, no matter where nor what, there will always be things that can surprise me."

"Fire Magic: Azure Rising!" Throatcutter slammed her right hand on the ground and a red magic circle appeared under the hand. An orange magic circle also appeared beneath Hikigaya's feet, and he quickly jumped away before a surge of blue flame burst from it.

"Blue flames?!" Before Hikigaya could analyze the situation, the shadow craven suddenly jumped towards him to strike with the golden sword only for him to block it in time with his own blade. He tried to kick the monster in the stomach but he didn't feel his foot hit anything through the black smoke showing that the monster dodged. The shadow craven swung the golden blade aiming for his left side, and of course, he blocked it in time and countered with a punch to the skull mask. The mask cracked as the monster flung back from the punch, but quickly regained its footing and charged again. He saw the golden blade being raised up above the shadow craven depicting that it was attempting to swing the weapon down at Hikigaya's head. He raised his dirty and chipped sword to guard, but his instincts alerted him to lower the weapon to block a kick aiming at his left calf. The moment he guarded against the kick, the shadow craven simultaneously swung down the golden sword at his head and he raised his right hand to guard with a barrier spell. Hikigaya slid his left foot forward and the ground beneath it and cast the Hearten spell which caused the ground in front of him to explode. However, before that happened, the shadow craven jumped over him to land behind him. It tried to gash his back, but he turned around to his right block with a barrier spell and thrust the sword to its skull mask. At the same time, he raised his right knee to block a right kick that aimed for his abdomen. The shadow craven's mask tilted as his sword went through the black smoke, but nothing hit, meaning the attack was evaded. The monster caught his wrist and struck his front wrist with its second bent-out knuckle of the middle finger. Because of this, Hikigaya's hand involuntarily let go of his sword and the monster caught both his sword and its dropped enchanted sword before any of them would fall to the ground. Now the monster was wielding two swords against him who was unarmed. Hikigaya was dodging all the swings the shadow craven threw at him until the three glowing knives surrounded him and flew towards him from all directions. The ground beneath his feet glowed and before it exploded, the monster jumped back to avoid getting hit by the impact as it propelled him into the air from that explosion. The knives missed, but they didn't stop their pursuit as they flew up to stab the young dark mage.

"Can you protect yourself while in mid-air?" The female assassin asked as she weaved more hand signs to control the knives. Hikigaya saw two knives surrounding him from both sides and flew towards him. He raised both hands sidewards to cast a barrier spell as protection from the knives, but the barriers barely stopped them as they cracked through and punctured his palms. However, the real danger was the third knife as it simultaneously came from behind and stabbed his back. "I finally got you!"

"Heh, not quite," Hikigaya smirked at her as he showed little signs of agony from being stabbed in the back.

"What?" Throatcutter was bewildered by this and wondered how was that possible. As the knife was about to pierce him from the back, he cast the Hearten spell to the fabric of his kimono behind him as the knife pushed the fabric into his skin. So instead of the knife piercing through the fabric and sinking into his flesh, the fabric became impenetrable thanks to the Hearten spell and so the knife couldn't even tear a thread in the back of his kimono. Hikigaya's eyes turned black, and he opened his mouth wide to point his tongue to her. A small purple magic circle appeared in front of his tongue and it fired a blast of darkness to the female assassin. She broke free from the bewilderment and tried to dodge the magic attack, but it was too late as the dark blast hit her with the mask broken.

---

Minutes before that happened.

Terrowin waited for the cloud of soil to blow away after what he assumed was a successful hit. When the dust cleared, Headsplitter was nowhere to be seen. Terrowin looked around in search of the male assassin, and he couldn't see even a single hint of where he was. Oliver slowly stood back up despite the dizziness and pain in his head still remained while also looking around to find the enemy. After a few seconds of silence, he heard something behind him and so he turned around to see the ground cracking until Headsplitter rose under it. The male assassin was about swung down his sword and Oliver couldn't move away in time, so his only reaction was to block it with his own sword. However, that sword swing was a feint as Headsplitter did a left hand thrust to Oliver's abdomen. Oliver used both right knee and right elbow to catch the hand, but the fingertips still managed to slightly pierce his abdomen. Small amount of blood dripped down in his fabric of clothing and pain was slowly became excruciating but Oliver ignored all that as he twisted his body to redirect Headsplitter's hand away and evaded a side swing at the same time. Terrowin controlled his three mana spheres to fire Mana Shots at the male assassin. Before Headsplitter could move to evade, Oliver cast Breathing Darts at him and because it was an attack spell of air, Headsplitter couldn't see. And so, one Breathing Dart pierced his right chest right beneath the shoulder blade while the other one pierced his lower left abs. The blast from Terrowin's mana spheres hit the male assassin which caused him to be knocked away from the hit. However, Headsplitter landed on his feet and then kneeled from the pain received from Oliver's wind spell.

"How was he able to remain conscious?" Oliver asked in bewilderment.

"He raised his left hand at the last second to cast a barrier spell before my Mana Shots hit him," Terrowin answered while approaching his underclassmen. "It didn't fully protect himself much, but it saved him."

"Surrender now," Oliver said while pointing his sword at the male assassin. "You're about to bleed to death, what can you- Wait, what is he...?"

"Hmm?" Terrowin also noticed Headsplitter taking out something from his small pouch. It seemed to be a tiny bottle of red liquid. "It's a healing potion! Stop him!"

"We won't allow you!" Oliver shouted and inhaled as a white magic circle appeared in front of his mouth. He blew through the magic circle to fire a Breathing Dart spell at the target. Headsplitter cast an orange magic circle on the ground and he sank deep into the ground as the wind spell hit nothing. Both wind mages looked bewildered before being cautious of their surroundings. "He dug underground?!"

"Keep your awareness sharp. Who knows what kind of trick he'll resort to next." Terrowin said as they both covered each other's back. The ground underneath them shook, and so they jumped away from that. However, an orange magic circle appeared on the spot Terrowin landed on and pillars of earth, which were larger than previous ones, rose around him. The pillars twisted together and transformed into a large cube of earth, imprisoning the senior wind mage inside. The space inside was small enough to fit one person, but the walls were ten times thicker. He tried to destroy the prison, but he only cracked it. "It seems to be much thicker and stronger than the previous one. That shaking we felt earlier was just a decoy to separate us and used this stronger Terra Prison to trap me. This situation is not good. Oliver may hold him off but can't defeat him. I must escape before Headsplitter could even aid his partner to kill Hikigaya."

"Now it's just you and me," Headsplitter said after rising from underground. "Now I suggest YOU to surrender."

"I apologize but surrender is not a part of my objective," Oliver responded. "I will not allow you to kill Mr. Hikigaya."

"Fine, then I guess I have to apologize to Throatcutter," Headsplitter said while stretching his neck. "I'm gonna have to break all your limbs even if our payment is cut."

"Payment, huh?" Oliver said as his left hand glowed with runes while pointing the sword at him in a fighting stance. "You don't have to worry about that. If you succeeded in doing that, I'll ask Father to not pay you at all. "

"How very cruel of you. Business is business. Don't take it out on us." The male assassin's eyes glowed red with runes appearing around them. Both mages prepared to clash once again. The son of Seerwind knew this battle wouldn't end in his favor because of the difference in battle experience and profession. It took him and his senior, Terrowin, to face someone such as Headsplitter. However, defeating the assassin wasn't really his objective. Oliver's primary objective was to protect Hikigaya from the assassins and any threats that the noble head might use. So in fulfilling that objective, the most effective plan shouldn't be fighting said threats, but to run away from them. Oliver had already found a safe and hidden location for the young dark mage, so the next step should've been to escort him to that location and kept him hidden there until the situation was resolved, if that was ever possible. However, Oliver wouldn't be able to do that as long as the assassins were in pursuit. They'd already displayed their level of skills in doing their job and how proficient they were in accomplishing it. He had mistakenly underestimated these assassins, and it could cause Hikigaya's death should he not think of another strategy. Unfortunately, his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of coughing from the young dark mage. He saw Hikigaya on his knees coughing up blood as he struggled to stand back up.

"Hikigaya!" Oliver shouted in worry.

"Looks like our job is almost done," Headsplitter declared while quickly yet silently approached Oliver and swung his sword aiming for his right shoulder. Oliver managed to turn his body in time to evade the attack and swung his sword at the assassin, but Headsplitter quickly lifted his blade to block it.

"Enziel Magic: Crushing Sight!" Headsplitter's eyes glowed red with runes appeared around them. Surprisingly, Oliver countered the spell by casting his own Crushing Sight with different runes as the clash between two mirrored spells caused the space between their faces to become distorted and blew a gust of wind. After a few seconds, the distortion between them exploded into a wave that pushed both of them away. Headsplitter landed on his feet while Oliver was still tumbling away on the ground. The son of Seerwind's counter move bewildered Headsplitter and wondered in his mind how it was possible. "How did he do that? The runes written on him were different, but the spell was the same. Not to mention, this Embracer spell is an original of mine so he couldn't have learned it from this academy nor anyone."

"How did you do that?" The assassin asked with narrowed eyes, scrutinizing him.

"It's simple, really..." Oliver answered as he stood up straight. "I merely imitated your spell just from watching you casting it."

"Just by watching?" Headsplitter's eyes widened.

"You said it yourself. I am a 'genius'." Oliver turned to look at Throatcutter who was about to run towards Hikigaya and he cast the Crushing Sight spell at her. Everything else was all nothing but black in his vision. The only thing Oliver could see was the female assassin shaking until she was rammed into the ground as if she was being crushed, which left a crater as a result. He ended the spell and he could see everything once again as the shadow craven was running towards him, wielding both the light magic imbued sword and Hikigaya's dirty and chipped sword. The monster was too fast for him to do anything but fortunately, Terrowin broke free from the Terra Prison and fired Mana Shots at Headsplitter with four mana spheres. Headsplitter was sent flying and collided with the shadow craven, then both broke through a wall leading to an empty, abandoned classroom. Oliver tried to run towards Hikigaya, but he had a splitting headache as tears of blood dripped from his eyes. "Damn, that spell is too much for me. It was easy to figure out the desired effect, but the fundamental problem is the conditions he put in it. So, I made my own conditions: One, when I cast it on the target, the target is the only one I can see. Everything else is out of my sight. Two, the more or longer I use it, the spell will cause a headache and damage my eyes to some degree. I could've made a less restricting condition, but I have to raise the difficulty for the spell to work on my first try."

"Oliver!" Terrowin shouted in concern.

"I am fine. Help Hikigaya!" Oliver said in pain and Terrowin saw the young dark mage standing straight but appeared to be struggling to move. Terrowin gave his underclassmen a quick nod as a response and immediately tend to Hikigaya. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Poi..son..." Hikigaya said between coughs of blood with both hands on his knees to remain standing.

"Okay, just don't speak. Let's get you out of here first."

"That won't do." The voice of the female assassin caused them to shift their fighting stances at her, though Hikigaya's hands shook because of the poison and struggled to hold it firmly. Throatcutter stood firmly with a dagger in hand. Her mask completely shattered which revealed her face, but only the mouth because of the hood covering her. Blood dripped down to the bridges of her nose and two cheeks. The ground between her and the two students cracked until Headsplitter rose under it once again. But this time, the shadow craven came with him. Terrowin fired Mana Shots at the monster and it blocked, though not without being flown away from the force. At the same time, he swung his sword upward at Headsplitter and the assassin guarded against it with his own. A red magic circle appeared underneath Hikigaya and he responded by jumping away before blue flames erupted from it. Throatcutter quickly ran towards him and thrust her dagger to his stomach, but Hikigaya swung his sword at the attack to redirect it away. "You continue to surprise me, dark mage. The alchemic mix of poison I poured in those knives can take down an enormous beast even if it inflicted a scratch, and here you are still moving. I'm more impressed you can still breathe."

"And... I'm impressed... that my dark spell attack didn't pierce through your skull..." Hikigaya said while having difficulty breathing because of the poison. "Is your... mask... also an enchanted item...?"

"Of course, it is common sense for all knights or any combatant to have enchanted items." Throatcutter swung a right kick to his left temple and Hikigaya bent his body down to dodge. After that, he tried to punch her, but she also ducked and spun herself to swing another right kick with more momentum, aiming for his left side. He used his left arm to block while Throatcutter threw the dagger at his face simultaneously. Hikigaya caught the dagger with his teeth, but it tried to force its way into his mouth due to Throatcutter's Spirit Motion spell. She tried to palm strike the dagger's flat pommel to push it further, but the young dark mage knocked the attack away and then thrust a kick to her chest. Just by an inch, she caught his foot with one hand and twisted it to break its bones. Hikigaya grunted in pain but Throatcutter didn't let him take the time to stifle it as she pulled him close to her with his leg and the young dark mage tried to use his other leg to kick. However, that was what the female assassin wanted as she caught the other leg and made him fall to the ground. She then went on top of his back and grabbed him in a rear naked chokehold. "Your strength and speed dwindled due to the poison. But your greatest flaw is the absence of martial arts experience. You defend well yet you attack as if a child is throwing a tantrum. Without that unnatural strength, you are nothing but a mage the same as everyone else. But in your case, you are a dark mage that finally returned to your lowest status, where you truly belong."

"R-really... Now..." Hikigaya struggled to speak from being choked. He held her arms that were wrapped around his neck choking him and a small purple magic circle appeared on her right arm. "Dark... magic..."

"What are you-"

"...Essence Bite!" The small head of a Gogmagog made of pure darkness appeared and disappeared in a flash the moment it bit the air. At that moment her entire right arm was gone, along with a portion of the right side of her upper body. Her blood splattered and painted most of his back and the ground in red. Hikigaya stood up pushing her away from him but the moment he was on his two feet, he immediately fell to his knees as if his entire body felt heavy.

"Hikigaya!" Oliver shouted in worry while approaching the kneeling dark mage. Headsplitter saw the scene and clicked his tongue before guarding against a sword swing from Terrowin. The male assassin looked at the shadow craven and tilted his head, pointing to the two knight students. The shadow craven understood the command and ran to the son of Seerwind and the poisoned dark mage. Terrowin immediately noticed Headsplitter's aversion of his gaze and head tilt.

"Look out!" He warned loudly which Oliver heard him and saw the monster coming towards them wielding the enchanted sword and Hikigaya's sword. Oliver inhaled and fired the Breathing Darts spell at the monster's mask where its head was, but it didn't break.

"It's tough! Is the material of that mask that strong or is that maybe an enchanted item? It doesn't matter." Oliver shook his thoughts away as the shadow craven was already too close for him to do anything. Meanwhile, Hikigaya, who was still in all-fours coughing more blood, noticed the situation before the monster got this close and so, he rotated behind him and punched the ground. The instant his fist hit, he cast the Hearten spell which caused the ground to explode in front of them. The shadow craven jumped over the explosion and went behind them, but while the monster was still in mid-air, Oliver inhaled and cast another wind spell. "Wind Magic: Shattered Breath!"

"Hm?!" Headsplitter saw the shadow craven being flown away by Oliver's wind spell as its black smoke dissipated and the monster fell on the ground. "So we failed."

"You shouldn't have taken the job, assassin." Terrowin said with a grin. "You are the only one remaining. And your Equal Feedback is taking its toll on you. Surrender."

"Hmph!" The male assassin scowled at him while raising his hand that was shaking, white and swollen due to the Equal Feedback of overusing earth magic. Regardless, he put down the raised hand onto the ground and released an orange magic circle on it. He began sinking into the ground as the spell was burrowing it under him.

"Wind Magic: Shattered Breath!" Terrowin didn't hesitate to cast the wind spell at him. However, Headsplitter succeeded in his escape before the ground exploded from the spell. Terrowin clicked his tongue in frustration to his failure. "Just by the hair."

"Mr. Merek, I need your assistance!" Oliver shouted while letting Hikigaya rest in his hands. The young dark mage still continued to cough more blood, and this time his nose bled. The pupils in his eyes were rolling back and shaking, and his body was paralyzed and felt cold. Terrowin saw the horrific state he was in and kneeled to check what was wrong. "I don't know what is happening to him. This could be some sort of poison?"

"There's no time for questions. We need to take him to a doctor now." Terrowin said as he carried Hikigaya within his arms. "How far is the hiding place?"

"It is only outside in the forest. But with his current condition, I'm intuitive to believe we won't make it in time."

"Shit, is there nothing we can-" Before Terrowin could finish his sentence, the sound of footsteps interrupted him.

"Perhaps, I will be of assistance?" The two wind mages turned around and saw a woman with a full length green robe that had a hood with attached cape collars and a waist sash belt.

"The school doctor?" Terrowin was confused. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I came to help," The doctor answered. "I have no time to explain since that dar-... man is dying. If we don't treat him soon, consider giving him a proper burial."

"It appears we have no choice. Let's go, Oliver." Terrowin said and walked forward while carrying Hikigaya.

"Okay," Oliver stood up and was about to follow suit until he heard a single cough from a certain someone he wished she wasn't alive. He slowly turned his head to the side and saw Throatcutter, the female assassin hired to kill Hikigaya, was still alive. Despite the fatal wounds she received, she could still breathe but dying. Half of her hood was torn because of Hikigaya's Essence Bite spell and so Oliver saw her face: She had long, pale blue hair tied to a bun and short choppy bangs; The color of her eyes were emerald green but slowly turned into pigeon blue for some reason; and under her right eye was a beauty spot. However, what caught his attention were the two beige horns that were shrinking. "A demon?!"

"Hmm?" Terrowin wondered what his underclassmen just said and turned to where he was staring in bewilderment and saw what he was talking about. "Impossible! How did a demon entered this city!"

"It doesn't fucking matter!" Oliver said, enraged at this revelation as he approached the demon with sword in hand. "Trying to kill Hikigaya, and the fact that you're a demon... You're fucking dead!"

"Wait!" Terrowin shouted to stop him.

"Don't try to fucking stop me!" Oliver shouted back at him. Terrowin didn't respond as he just stared at the demon with narrowed eyes until they widened in realization.

"I... think I met her before."

---

The sun had just risen over the horizon, and its morning light overcame the dark and eerie night. The people in various villages woke up to begin a new day. The civilians of Alexander City did the same. The silence of the capital at night ended with the early bustling of the people working and doing daily activities under the rising sun. The light of the morning sun illuminated through a window with no glass, and the closed sleeping eyes of a certain dark mage twitched. Hikigaya slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His vision was still a blur but became clearer the longer he stared at what appeared to be a wooden ceiling. He slowly sat up though not without struggle as he noticed the current state he was in: First, he was on a bed; Second, he was in a cabin; and last but not the least, the only fabric covering him was the blanket of this bed, which meant he was naked.

"I'm... home? No, this cabin is not the same." Hikigaya thought as he analyzed his surroundings until his eyes stumbled upon a person on the other side of the room sleeping on another bed. It was a woman with long straight pale-blue hair, but what caught his attention was the pair of horns on the sides of her head and guessed the size of the horns was the same as the human thumb. "It can't be... Is that an actual demon?"

"Mmph..." He heard her humming as she turned to the side to him with a relaxed expression. The demon rubbed her head against the soft pillow as if she was savoring its comfortable texture, though not without tearing the fabric due to her horns and smiled in content.

"Wait, since when can demons sleep? Aren't they supposed to be evil spirits?" Hikigaya questioned himself until he stopped his own thoughts when he saw the woman's eyes slowly opened, revealing her pigeon blue eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments until the demon's eyes widened in shock and sprung out of the bed in an attempt to pounce on him. Unfortunately, that proven to be a mistake as pain took over her right side causing her to fall on the wooden floor. The woman looked up to see the young dark mage maintaining that indifferent expression, and that made her glared at him.

"You... What did you... do to me?!" She asked while resisting the agony within her right side and arm.

"You don't remember?" He said with a bored tone and arched an eyebrow. "I almost killed you that night at the academy."

"Hah?" She was confused while trying to remember the battle with Hikigaya. The details were coming back to her mind one by one: The academy near the abandoned area; the interference from Oliver Seerwind and Terrowin Merek; The fight between her with the shadow craven by her side and him. More details were flooding in until it reached his poisoned state and finally, the memory of her right arm and side suddenly torn off. The demon woman gritted her teeth in anger and tried to stand up. "Damn you... How are you still alive...!"

"I don't know. I guess I got lucky," He answered while shrugging his shoulders. "Wait, you probably don't understand that since you're a demon and all. A manifestation of all sins and likes to cause misfortune."

"Don't lump me together with those monsters!" She said with her eyes changed their color to emerald green.

"Monsters? Aren't you one as well?" Hikigaya said with crossed arms. "And an evil spirit at that."

"AS if someone like you could-."

"Enough, both of you just woke up and this is the first thing you do?" The voice of another woman caught their attention as they both turned to see the doctor outside the open door. "It is already a cursed time for me just from helping a demon and a dark mage. My tolerance will reach its limit if you two are annoyingly arguing."

"Hah?!" Both the demon and dark mage glared at the doctor.

"Alright, alright. Just check their condition already." Another woman behind the doctor said while scratching the back of her own head. The woman had long black hair tied to a ponytail and her attire was a red armor with golden outlines consisted of: A pair of pauldron; vambraces; a breastplate with an orange gem attached on the middle surrounded in gold outline; a fauld and tasset with a black cloth behind her; sabatons, greaves and poleyns covering her knees down to her feet. Despite the appearance, Hikigaya recognized just by the voice.

"Hiratsuka... sensei?" he said in a matter of a question.

"Yea. How do you like my armor?" She asked with a grin as she spun around to show him her attire.

"You look strong and beautiful, I guess." He answered nonchalantly, and it made her froze with red cheeks.

"R-Really?" She was flustered while twirling the long strands of her hair.

"Uh, yeah..." Hikigaya' eye twitched at her reaction. "Why is she all flustered like a young maiden? Cute. Way too cute. Is this how a man became attracted to a woman? It's a weird feeling. Does that mean I should marry her? What kind of wife would she be if I did? What kind of husband would I be if I did? I thought such a scenario would be impossible for me. Even more if it's us two-"

"Hikigaya... Hikigaya?"

"Uh, right sorry. What were we talking about?" He said as he regained composure.

"I didn't say anything yet," Hiratsuka answered with a sigh and looked at the demon woman. "We should get you two something to wear. I'm not gonna talk about anything with you two showing off your bodies like that."

"Eh?" The demon took a few seconds to process what the crimson-armored woman just said looked down and realized the current state she was in. There wasn't a single fabric over her nor even a single leaf. In other words, she was also naked. Realizing this, she turned her back on the young dark mage while crouching and embracing herself to hide her exposed body. Her green eyes turned back into pigeon blue. "AAAAAAAAHH!"

"Aren't you quite the bastard," Hiratsuka said to Hikigaya with a smirk. "Sleeping with a pretty girl naked and all."

"Don't word it like that. And am I supposed to be aroused by a demon?" Hikigaya asked indifferently.

"She's not a demon." The armored teacher answered while stepping inside the cabin and approached Throatcutter. She kneeled and looked at the horns closely. "She's a human with a demon inside her."

"A demon inside her?" He said in a form of a question.

"Yeah, if she were a full demon, she shouldn't have the ability to cast Enziel magic, nor should she have her own soul still here." Hiratsuka explained. "Demons are more akin to using curses and their natural powers. There's also the fact she looks more human and tangible than almost any normal spirits."

"A demon is still a demon," The doctor retorted with a disgusted expression. "What was Mr. Merek thinking, wanting to help this malicious creature."

"Didn't he explain it to you?" Hiratsuka stood up and looked towards Hikigaya. "Now get dress. A lot has happened while you were sleeping."

---

"We slept for two straight weeks?!" Both the young dark mage and the demon-possessed woman shouted at the same time in disbelief at Hiratsuka's words. Hikigaya wore a white tunic, brown trousers, and a pair of black boots while the woman wore a long-sleeve cuffed shirt, and long violet skirt, and laced up heel boots.

"It was very difficult for me to remove the poison," The doctor explained. "Not only do I have to steel myself in helping you, I also have to treat you with care. I couldn't even believe you still had the gall to breathe as if you were attempting to survive against such deadly poison. Curing you was like trying to separate the water from the muddy earth."

"Don't slide in your complain in the middle of your explanation." Hikigaya said with hidden irritation.

"And then there is you," The doctor said as she pointed at the blue-haired woman. "Your right arm along with a portion of the right side of your body was torn apart. Why are you still alive? It was difficult to heal such fatal injury for hours without stopping for a week. How dare you have a more beautiful figure than me? After that, I let you both rest until full recovery. This is such a miserable day for me. Are you all fine now? I hate you all."

"Uh... yes..." The demon answered awkwardly with sweat dripping down her cheeks.

"Y-yeah... I'm good..." Hikigaya answered with the same expression.

"Any signs of fatigue, pain, or abnormal conditions?" The doctor asked professionally.

"My body still feel kinda heavy." Hikigaya said while twirling his right arm to stretch.

"My entire right side and arm aches when I move." The demon answered while caressing her right arm.

"Almost at full recovery, I see. Just rest for two to three days and you will both return at full strength. For now, do not move your body harshly. Why am I asked to do this? And do not be hostile to each other. I should've eaten the rest of the meat before I come here."

"O-Okay..." The demon and dark mage answered at the same time once again with the same awkward tone. The doctor just nodded and went outside to savor the fresh air as she stretched both arms wide in the air and took deep breaths.

"Is that what you call a tsundere or is she just not right in the head?" Hikigaya thought with a deadpanned expression.

"Please hire me to kill her so I could have a valid reason to." The demon thought with a glare as her eye twitched.

"Now back to the important matter, a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks," Hiratsuka began to explain. "First, let me tell you that after that failed assassination and battle that took place that night, all evidence was removed. The damages you all did were gone, as if none of that fight even happened."

"You fixed it?" Hikigaya asked.

"No, I don't know who did it, but we can assume it is tasked by the noble heads to clean up the scene," Hiratsuka answered with shrugged shoulders. "Anyway, the day after that, the knights that were sent to search the mysterious hooded woman returned to the city and they're not in good shape."

"In what way?"

"They were horribly injured and their numbers were a lot smaller than the huge army that left the city three weeks ago."

"How many?"

"Out of the one thousand knights, only about three hundred of them made it." The answer from the crimson-armored woman left the two young mages in shock. It was an obvious and understandable reaction. One thousand deceased into three hundred? One person killed many that people? One monster? Their enemy was a one-man army. This was beyond his power... If this was a battle of strength. Hikigaya immediately recovered from the bewilderment and fear, and looked at Hiratsuka with a determined expression.

"W-What about that monster? Was she killed?" The demon woman asked with a hint of fear.

"Sadly, no," Hiratsuka answered without hesitation while shaking her head. "Right now, people are panicking. There is still no chronicles about whether they succeeded in killing her, but a lot of the civilians already guessed the answer. It wouldn't be long until fear spreads to the capital. Good news is that reinforcements from other kingdoms arrived, but when adding them together it's almost just as many as the one thousand we sent."

"Surely, that monster is not alone, right?" Hikigaya asked not out of fear, but for the sake of gathering and confirming information.

"Yeah, how can one person kill almost a thousand knights. It's just impossible." Meanwhile, the blue-haired woman was still in disbelief.

"According to what the knights who had returned reported, she was on her own. Relax, it's not like she really fought against one thousand of them all at once. They divided the army into groups of one hundred and searched far into the forest. The forest is ridiculously huge so with their numbers, splitting the groups evenly should cover at least half of the area. She must be using the forest to her advantage, knowing every corner to turn and dark places to hide like the Guardian."

"So, what now?" Hikigaya asked while leaning back against the wall.

"Right now, the only thing we could do is defend," Hiratsuka answered, then pointed her thumb at herself. "That's pretty much the only efficient strategy the commanders could possibly come up with. She knows the forest more than we do, but we know our city and its proximity more than hers. I'll save you the details: Basically the tactic is a stretch since we still know little about her. Only thing we know is that she's an earth mage and possibly not human. We don't know her weakness and blind spots we can use as an advantages. But still, it's worth a shot."

"That sounds more like a war tactic against an army. What kind of-"

"Wait, why are you telling us this?" The demon woman asked. "Why are you telling ME this? You appear to be close with the dark mage so I can understand that, but telling me as well about the military's tactics?"

"Oh, that. Well, let's cut to the chase here," Hiratsuka pointed at both of them in an oddly dramatic way. "After full recovery, You two are coming with me."

"Where?" Hikigaya asked.

"To fight that monster."

"... What?!" The young dark mage and blue-haired woman shouted simultaneously bewildered by the teacher's words once again.

"The more you talk the more it makes my damn head hurt," Hikigaya complained in anger. "Why are we letting HER join the fight?"

"Hah? Are you seriously saying I'm the only issue here?" The blue-haired woman glared in which he returned it with his own. "You think you can fight that monster? You're not even at equal footing with Merek. What chance do you have?"

"A lot more than you think," He retorted. "The guy from that duel is different from the guy standing right in front of you. Again, why are we letting her join?"

"The three of us are the only hope of winning this battle," Hiratsuka explained. "You said it yourself, Hikigaya: 'That sounds more like a war tactic against an army'. Well, yesterday, a scout discovered a huge army of monsters, mostly shadow cravens and goblins with some gogmagogs, is marching here."

"How many are we talking?"

"By the scout's estimate, hundreds or probably almost as many as our combined forces," Hiratsuka answered. "They all have enchanted weapons which could be difficult if that monster joins the battle so you, me, and her are gonna have to separate that monster from that army before they reached the city."

"Why should I cooperate with all of you?" The pale blue-haired woman asked with a wary expression. "You think I would believe the words you're spouting and then just go along with your plans. And worst of all, making me work together with this guy?"

"The feeling's mutual, thank you very much," Hikigaya retorted. "I should've torn your head off instead of your arm."

"Heh, too bad for you it didn't happen and now I'm still alive," She barked back with the color of her eyes turning to emerald green once again. "Don't underestimate me just because I don't have any weapons in me. I can still kill you with my magic."

"Go ahead and try-"

"Alright, that's enough!" The crimson-armored woman shouted at them to halt the incoming second round between those two.

"Sensei, why is she the one to fight alongside with us?" The young dark mage asked while slowly returning to his calm and indifferent demeanor. "Shouldn't we get a knight as strong or almost as strong as you or more than one knight? Or someone trustworthy since, if no one told you, this demon did an assassination attempt against me?"

"You think I haven't thought of that?" Hiratsuka said nonchalantly while holding her chin. "There are only four knights who will be a part of our group in handling Ms. Earth Freak. But the problem is the monster army itself. We can't afford to underestimate their enchanted equipment. A shadow craven that devoured a hundred mana pools and holding that equipment will make it capable of going up against a group of knights. Now imagine gogmagogs having that as well. Add that to us not knowing what abilities each of those enchanted items possess. We're fighting them as if we're fighting actual knights."

"Only four? Then we are a group of seven, huh? This really looks like a war is about to go down," Hikigaya sighed. "And the kingdom's only hope is an assassin-for-hire who is a demon, a dark mage who's still a student, and a teacher who turns out to be an amazing warrior."

"Hnhn, save your praises for when we fight that woman." Hiratsuka said with a smug and blushed.

"This is all too strange," Throatcutter spoke. "That reason is valid, but it still makes little sense why WE have to do that job. While I see the point about monster army being as strong as our knight army, sending at least one hundred knights shouldn't make much difference considering our defenses in the city. Why us?"

"There are two reasons for that," Hiratsuka explained. "First, Hikigaya's power and your magic can help us a lot more than a hundred knights. Second, Do you remember the first incident involving the hooded woman?"

"Yeah, she kidnapped Yuigahama Yui and killed fifteen knights and severely injured ten who attempted to pursue her." She answered.

"Good. Then do you also remember the detail of where she was first found?"

"In the middle of the road as far as what the chronicle said... Wait." Throatcutter appeared to realize something, and Hikigaya took a couple seconds longer to see the actual issue.

"How did she get in the city with no one seeing her enter in the first place?" Hikigaya asked in shock, and Hiratsuka nodded in response.

"The knights guarding the two entrances reported that they didn't encounter the hooded woman entering." Hiratsuka then looked at the window and revealed to the speculation she and the others had reached. "We think there is a traitor among us. It makes more sense considering the timing of this attack. Most of our strongest knights are somewhere else from far away. Some of them didn't try to travel back here because of how difficult their jobs were."

"The most obvious suspect would be those guards." Hikigaya guessed.

"Obviously, so they detained them in a place where watchers can observe him until this complete chaos is over. The chronicle mentioned nothing about the whole 'traitor' mess because the noble heads don't want to cause more panic. Just knowing about that monster wasn't enough. If word gets out that a knight within the city is trying to do something like this, keeping them calm would be damn near impossible even if it was a mere speculation. A month and a half later and those guards are still detained somewhere," Hiratsuka said while massaging her temple. "But they'll be free if we finish this soon, so are you in?"

"What makes you think that hooded woman will focus on us instead of the army?" The blue-haired woman asked.

"It's me, isn't it?" Hikigaya guessed and sighed.

"Yup. From what you told me about your first encounter with her, she spoke to you as if she already met you before," The crimson-armored teacher explained the plan. "We'll use that to our advantage."

"In other words, we'll be using him as bait." The blue-haired woman said nonchalantly. "Treated more like a worm to lure the fish, huh?"

"Probably better than being a demon."

"She's not a demon, so shut it." Hiratsuka then looked at her. "By the way, you can use curse magic, right?"

"A little yeah, though it's mostly for binding and tricking enemies with illusions."

"That's good. Does that mean you're in?" Hiratsuka asked, and the blue-haired girl stared at the floor in contemplation. The teacher and student gave her the silence she needed to think. Hiratsuka truly saw her as an important factor in winning the battle while Hikigaya only saw her as a potential threat and a nuisance, but if the situation descended this much for the worst, he had to take the chances to increase. He still remembered his one-sided battle with that hooded monster. It was as clear as the purest water. It had been a while since he feared for his life in the past. The gap between their strengths at that time was greater than a canyon and there may be a chance she might've gotten stronger than before. He needed the help he could get and shouldn't be overconfident in his magic. Yuigahama may have a point. There was no guarantee his spell could work, but there was also no guarantee it couldn't work. In other words, it was a gamble. But if he had allies, then that it wouldn't be much of a gamble and more of a game of who added the more weight between two scales.

"Hey, are you still up for hiring?" Hikigaya pierced the silence with a sudden question.

"What?"

"You're a mercenary-for-hire, right? Then, if we pay you to do this, you won't refuse?"

"I guess, how much are you paying me?" Throatcutter asked while approaching the young dark mage. He just realized she was a little taller than him but that intimidation wasn't enough to faze him. "Too little, I won't be on board."

"Hmm... Hiratsuka-sensei, how much is one full sack of gold?" Hikigaya asked the crimson-armored teacher.

"Eh? Uh, let's see... Depending on the size, I think it's about... ~V~70,000?" She answered while staring at the ceiling. "Why?"

"Alright, I'll give you thirteen sacks of pure gold as payment."

"You have that many gold?!" Hiratsuka shouted in shock of his wealth.

"I won't believe it until I see it." The blue-haired woman said with crossed arms.

"Fine, wait here." Hikigaya went out of the door. "Sensei, I need your help with something, so can you come with me?"

"Uh, sure?" Hiratsuka followed him outside and went into the woods. The doctor who was outside hearing the entire discussion was interested in Hikigaya's claim of wealth and had the urge to follow them as well, but Hikigaya turned around to give her a glare.

"If you follow us, you're dead." Those were the only words he gave before going deep into the woods. The doctor crossed her arms and looked away.

"And she's the only one he could show it to?" She mumbled. "Are they secretly lovers?"

The blue-haired woman and the doctor both waited for their return. Throatcutter just sat on the bed while the doctor remained outside. There was not a hint of desire to exchange words to each other. Both had the same feeling regarding this current predicament: they didn't want to take part in any of this.

The headmaster asked her suddenly the day before the failed assassination attempt against Hikigaya to remain at the academy till midnight. She didn't understand why, but she followed his request anyway because of her trust in him. From her first interaction with Hervey, she could already tell the headmaster of the Sobu Magic Academy differed greatly from the rest of the people she encountered. There was this air around the old man that no one else could exude. Her curiosity led her thoughts into following him, whatever may come in her way. If he was toying with her or his intentions were the opposite of her expectations, then she would resign in this academy and go elsewhere.

When she waited at the infirmary for whatever Hervey had planned for her, the faint sounds of a battle reached her ears. She followed the sound through the hallway and outside the window; she witnessed the battle taking place. The longer she watched, the more she realized what the headmaster's intention was. Her first thought was how ridiculous the request that was given to her. A million complains had already spiralled within her mind. She couldn't wait to word out every issue she had with the situation unfolding. The doctor wished to not be involved with such complicated affairs. Yet, she still couldn't help becoming curious at his intentions. This could be easily ignored, yet Hervey chose to intervene. He must have had an active role in the dark mage's circumstances. The doctor sighed and thought the will to help even someone such as the dark mage was one thing she expected from him. Why? She didn't know. Maybe she had a passionate wish for herself. Regardless, standing still would do nothing and refusing to comply to Hervey's wish would be worse and so, she walked forward and aided the poisoned dark mage along with the assassin which she doubt was not part of the headmaster's request.

"I guess I don't really have such resentment within me," The doctor thought. "Yet, I'm still afraid to be even near the boy and that girl. How does Hiratsuka do it?"

"Now then, should I get out of here now or lie and wait?" The blue-haired woman contemplated her choices. "Escape would be impossible when I'm not fully recovered. He is also not at full strength, but he is... not normal. With that in mind, it would be even more impossible to escape when the wound heal because he would also be treated back to normal... Damn... Running away should've been an option too. Don't they even think about that? If I knew something like a war coming here, I would take my siblings and run-"

"HOW CAN SOMEONE LIKE YOU HAVE THIS MANY RICHES?!" The scream from the doctor caused the injured assassin to flinch and looked far outside the door to see Hikigaya and Hiratsuka returning. The student and teacher carried four large sacks each and her Ziel puppet, the large red flying bird, carried seven more sacks on its back. The doctor cleared her throat and pretended to be condescending. "I mean, what is in all that dirty sack. A pile of twigs?"

"Nope," Hikigaya answered while panting. Because he was still not at full strength, he was struggling to carry those heavy large sacks from whatever they went to all the way back here. As they entered the cabin, they dropped all the sacks and opened them to reveal a pile of mined gold. Both the blue-haired woman's and the doctor's eyes widened, staring at the gold with the sun reflecting its light on the precious minerals. The doctor looked at Hiratsuka hoping to ask her where they went to obtain this many gold, but she noticed how emotionless Hiratsuka had been.

"T-There is... so many..." Hiratsuka mumbled while becoming blank. "He... he could've been rich enough to own a village..."

"Where?!" The doctor shook her shoulders. "Where did you go?! How in all the gods' names did you two find this many!?"

"That is a secret that I'd rather keep it to ourselves. Right, sensei?" Hikigaya asked with a smirk, and the only response he received from the teacher was a slow nod. "So, there you go. If you accept the job, I'll give you thirteen full sacks of gold. That will be a total of, ~V~910,000 I'll give you two more if you sacrifice yourself to complete the job."

"What's the point of giving me two more if I need to die?" The blue-haired girl sighed and massaged her temple. This was truly beyond her expectations. When she first saw him at that night, his appearance didn't exude a presence of a nobleman or as someone who was rich. He must've found this much gold hidden in a cave or a dungeon. In this kingdom's standard, it was considered impressive for someone to find a place with hidden treasures or an undiscovered ruins and locations. The forest covering most of Villfalt was one of the largest forest in the world of humans. It was currently unknown if the forest in non-human kingdoms or continents were larger than what the knowledge humans learned. Besides monster and beasts wandering around, The sheer size of the forest was also part of the reason many regarded it as one of the most dangerous places in general. The large "safe path" that travelers and other people would take to enter and leave the kingdom was not made by human hands. Its straightness, solid foundations, cambered surfaces, and mix of concrete were already the first person discovered it.

Before it became a safe road for travelers, it was messaging a challenge from the forest to anyone who dared to walk into.

And that first person accepted its challenge.

That was how General Alexander built this kingdom and became king.

According to historic records and manuscripts, King Alexander expressed the difficulties when he first entered the forest. It was pure survival for him as he admitted there were times where he wished to give up and leave. However, as if the forest rewarded him, he found a cave where so many gold and other kinds of precious minerals to mine. After that, it was unknown. The manuscripts weren't complete so even the smartest scholars couldn't learn what happened after that nor even about the location of that cave.

"Did you find this in a cave?" The blue-haired woman asked skeptically, still leaning on the speculation that the dark mage must've found a cave of gold and many treasures. Possibly the same cave the king found. She already thought it was ridiculous, but it wouldn't hurt to entertain the idea. Hikigaya seemed to know his way more about the forest unless it was Hiratsuka instead, or he might've stolen them from somewhere. Regardless, there wasn't any issue in asking such a question since the dark mage's obvious answer was...

"I said it's a secret. So, what's it gonna be?" Hikigaya asked.

"... Fine. I accept." Throatcutter surrendered and accepted the job. She still thought that running away was the better option, but the deal was too hard to pass. She had her own reasons for being desperate to make money. She took this job for one of those reasons. Along with that, she noticed how confident Hiratsuka was when she explained the so-called "plan". Just from the armor, the blue-haired woman knew the teacher was strong. Perhaps they could be able to stop this. She would just have to see if it was true.

"Then, get some rest! The scouts said the army will come here in probably sixteen days. We'll strike next week," Hiratsuka declared.

"Wait, if it's next week, why are you wearing that armor? Or are you wearing that for a different purpose?" Hikigaya asked after realizing something from the information given.

"Hihihi," Hiratsuka chuckled. "That is a secret. It's for a job specifically given to me-"

"She just wanted to show off the armor she rarely used. Nothing more," The doctor abruptly answered and it made Hiratsuka blushed madly.

"Well, it did work, but that's such a childish reason." Hikigaya commented. The teacher clutched her chest as if something pierced through it.

"I thought you would be more mature, but you're as dumb as the rest." Throatcutter gave her own. Hiratsuka suddenly bent back as if something hit her from behind. The next comment made her drop in her knees. "It's like you're trying to win a man's attention. Are you desperate for marriage?"

"You hear that, sensei?" Hikigaya said while sitting on his bed. "You should act mature for your age-"

"Shut up!" Hiratsuka punched her student in the stomach and he lied down while clutching it. Despite his instincts warned him, his body wasn't fast enough to react.

"Hiratsuka, don't injure him any further or he will not be able to take part in the mission," The doctor said trying to stop her.

"I know that!" Hiratsuka shouted while clicking her tongue. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

"Fine," The doctor said and followed her to the door. Before they left, the crimson-armored woman turned around and looked at the unarmed assassin.

"By the way, what's your name?" She asked.

"Throatcutter, that's what you'll be calling me from now on." Throatcutter answered.

"I meant your real name."

"Hah? Why would I give you such personal information?"

"So we can help you solve your problem," Hiratsuka answered straightforward. The blue-haired woman thought about it for a second and came to the conclusion to tell her. This could be the most idiotic idea she had ever partaken in. There was a high chance they would succeed, but the chances of failure were also high. If she would die, then she needed to tell her name to someone such as Hiratsuka who could see things differently. Having a demon inside made her life unpleasant. Once someone found out about her, the word would spread and they would immediately show malice towards her. Throatcutter sighed and looked at the teacher.

"Saki." She gave her real name. "My name is Kawasaki Saki."

"Kawasaki, huh? Nice to be working with you." Hiratsuka said with a smile and then left followed by the doctor. Hiratsuka summoned her Ziel puppet to carry most of the sack of gold while she carried five.

"Ah, sensei. Leave one sack of gold here." Hikigaya said while sitting back up.

"Hm? Why?" Hiratsuka asked curiously.

"I need to do something with it." He answered. The teacher stared at him for a couple of seconds until she shrugged her own shoulders.

"If you say so. See ya." She left one sack on the wooden floor and left along with the doctor. Hikigaya stood up and grabbed the sack. The woman named Kawasaki wondered what he was going to do with it and he immediately answered her question as he tossed it near her foot.

"That's for you." Hikigaya said before returning to sit on his bed.

"What for?" Kawasaki asked while arching her eyebrow? "Is this to persuade me in case I bail out?"

"It's an apology gift." He answered as he laid down and turned his back on her.

"I don't get it."

"It's for the stuff I said to you back there. When I saw your horns, I just went hostile on you and insulted you. Even though you are not really a demon, I was still spouting whatever bullshit I had in me."

"Don't be," Kawasaki said while shaking her head in refusal. "I don't need your apology. It doesn't suit you for a dark mage."

"That's the thing. I'm a dark mage, so it's obvious I've been through almost the same struggles as you have," Hikigaya's words caught her attention. "When I was hated by everyone, I swore to never be a fool like them. I'll never be a condescending moron who doesn't know how to even speak to me normally and just kicked my childhood face. And yet, here I am doing the same things as they did. I should've been the one that understood your pain, but I just ignored all common sense and just spat shit at you because I followed the same social standard I despised. No one likes demons. I just went off and followed what I heard and was taught. I'm... sorry."

"It's... fine. I don't need an apology from you." Kawasaki said and just lied down on her bed. Silence filled the entire cabin as hours passed with no events or anything that interested them. Hikigaya didn't know how to approach her anymore because of his initial reactions. It spilled hypocrisy all over him. It was disgusting. When he thought about it, he was already a hypocrite for a long time. He despised all who were nobles, even though he never thought to consider the possibility of encountering nobles who were kind. Yuigahama, Yukinoshita, Seerwind, and Merek. These individuals proved him wrong that no one would treat him as human. The blow was even heavier when he knew those individuals were of noble status. It was even before he met them at the academy that he was a hypocrite. When Wylfrid introduced him to Hiratsuka, he already voiced out his complains about associating with a human such as her. Their introductions didn't end well. However, as time passed, he trusted her to be within each other's proximity, though that was the extent until Wylfrid died. Even from meeting Wylfrid during childhood, Hikigaya failed to follow his belief towards his own race. Why did he do it? Perhaps he wanted something from them. But... what? The more he tried to understand, the more confusing it became for him. Besides that, he felt shame.

"So, Hikigaya Hachiman, the dark mage who hates his own human race, is a hypocrite to his own ideals."

"Sometimes, it pisses me off that woman is right." Hikigaya thought before closing his eyes to sleep, but he couldn't. Perhaps the shame he felt weighted in his mind or this current predicament bothered him. His thoughts were interrupted when his stomach growled, notifying his hunger. He stood up from the bed, saw Kawasaki still on her bed assuming she had falling asleep, and just continued his way to the door. As he opened it, the sound of the bed moving caught his attention.

"Where are you going?" Kawasaki asked in curiosity and caution.

"Grabbing some food for lunch." He answered.

"Where? You're not planning to go back to the city, are you?"

"Nah, just wait here. I'll grab some for you too." Hikigaya said and left the cabin before Kawasaki could respond. She stood up and went out of the door to find him but he was already gone.

"How? He's still recovering, right?" She mumbled while wondering how it happened. She scratched the back of her head and shrugged her shoulders to discard her concern for him. For thirty minutes, she waited in the cabin and the longer his absence was, the larger her concern for him grew. After another minute, she heard something. It was if something was being dragged on the grass. She stepped outside and saw Hikigaya returned, dragging giant dead animal with him. It was a giant green bird that was the size equal to an elephant. It had four wings, and a long beak that perfectly reflected its surroundings like a mirror.

"Is that... a Kuratsnelktut?" Kawasaki asked in bewilderment at what he was pulling.

"A what? This beast is called a Vanatorbrid," He said while pointing a finger at its head. "I don't know about that Kura-whatever."

"That's what some people call it in the middle west," Kawasaki said while approaching him and looking at the dead creature. She noticed a large bruise in its head. "It took me a while to even get the pronunciation right."

"Huh. Well, you're not in the middle west anymore, so you can call it a Vanatorbrid if Kura-whatever is still hard to say."

"Yeah, Vanatorbrid is better," She said with a nod and suddenly, her eyes widened. "Wait, the name is not the issue here! How the hell did you hunt that?"

"With a little help, that's all," Hikigaya said with shrugged shoulders. "Anyway, I already got rid of its blood before I came back here so the next thing I'm gonna do is to pluck all its feathers."

"Hmmm?" She hummed in interest as he dragged the Vanatorbrid into an open area. He dropped it on the ground and went back in the cabin to grab his sword as his weapon to cut its head off. After doing that he then ran into the woods with sword still in hand.

"I'll be back! I need to get something!"

"Wait-" Before Kawasaki could give a word, he already disappeared behind the trees. She sighed and stared at the beheaded Vanatorbrid for a while until Hikigaya returned carrying logs on his shoulder. Kawasaki just watched in awe at his activity as he dropped the logs on the ground and piled them together into a circle. He then went back into the woods and after fifteen minutes, he came back carrying a cauldron full of water this time. Kawasaki swore she saw an enormous creature behind all the bushes and trees. "I think I saw somethi-"

"Gah! This... this is... harder than I thought," He said between exhausted breaths and dropped the cauldron on the piled logs. "Hey... can you.. light the wood up? We need to boil the water."

"Right,... Hold on, where did you get a cauldron?!" Kawasaki asked.

"Don't ask and do it!" He shouted back.

"Fine," She said while clicking her tongue. "I don't give a damn if you stole that or the gold. If you get caught by the real owners, I won't help you."

"Like I need your help." After shortly arguing back and forth, Kawasaki finally complied and used fire magic to light the wooden log and controlled its heat to boil the water faster. With both hands, Hikigaya lifted the dead Vanatorbrid and gently lowered it into the boiling water. Kawasaki couldn't help but be impressed by his strength as he watched him slowly put the Vanatorbrid into the boiling water to wet its feathers. After its entire feathers were wet, he dropped the dead creature on the ground and began plucking its feathers. It looked incredibly difficult considering those feathers were as big and long as a human arm. Surprisingly, it didn't take long though as he quickly plucked all the feathers in all parts and areas of its body. Hikigaya stood with hands on his knees breathing heavily, but he went back to work and used some of the wooden logs to carve and tie them together to make a large hanging rack. He kicked the cauldron away from the fire and placed the hanging rack over the fire. With a long and huge staff, he pierced the Vanatorbrid from it's behind through its mouth and placed it on top of the rack. Hikigaya asked Kawasaki to control the flames, which she complied as he spun the staff slowly to cook the giant meat. "Hey, you don't expect us to eat this entire meat, right?"

"Hm? I'll eat the rest of it if you can't," Hikigaya answered. "Well, once we've had our share of this meat, I'll give the rest to Tenro and his family."

"You're one hell of an eater," Kawasaki commented. "You know you could've done something easier than this... like fishing or something."

"It feels more... fulfilling when... I hunt big ones while... hungry..." Hikigaya said while using all of his might to spin the impaled Vanatorbrid slowly to cook it because of his exhaustion. "You know what those... folks say..? 'The hungrier you get... the tastier the food will be'..."

"Hmmm~..." That was the only response she could give before paying attention to controlling the flame with magic. After two minutes until the large meat's color changed lightly into brown, she spoke. "How did you carry this thing?"

"I'm just strong, that's all." He answered while sweat was dripping on his face.

"You're poisoned with a special alchemic mixture that can kill a beast in seconds."

"Maybe... I'm just that different... and recovering faster than a human... Or that doctor was that good..." After his answer, there was silence between them. Only the sounds of burning wood and its sparks filled their ears as they almost finished cooking the Vanatorbrid. The color of the meat looked even more brown, and the steaming smell of the cooked meat invaded their noses and the nearby beasts hiding behind the trees while watching them cook. The two of them didn't say a single word. They didn't bother to have a conversation since the tranquility of the forest relaxed them... and none of them knew how to approach each other. Hikigaya just couldn't think of a topic that wasn't about the war to discuss. He wasn't used to be the one starting a conversation. Usually, Yuigahama or Yukinoshita would take the initiative and he would just get on with it. He would only strike the conversation first when asking about a serious or personal topic. He was used to talking to Yukinoshita, but most of their conversations were arguments and banter. In his case with Yuigahama, the orange-haired girl was too lively and talkative for his comfort. He could only respond to her with brief replies and engage in a smaller banter with her.

In other words, he was socially awkward.

Meanwhile, Kawasaki didn't want to interact with the dark mage too closely. They had only known each other for one night and she was attempting to kill him for money at that time. It was strange for him to just casually converse with someone who was after his life. Suspicious. It was very suspicious. It was impossible for someone to just brush off a very recent memory of someone trying to kill him and then act as if nothing happened at all. There must be a hidden intention. Was it because of the current situation with the monsters and forced him to get along with her? Or was it because of that apology earlier? She did know about discrimination towards dark mages. It was basically common knowledge. She was being cautious. Despite being swayed by the deal with the gold, she didn't trust him. Also, she wasn't used to having a "friendly talk" without mentioning business.

Which meant she was also socially awkward.

After noticing the meat was done, Kawasaki shrank the flames and Hikigaya used his sword to cut a portion of the cooked meat. He skewered the portion with a stick and gave it to Kawasaki, who took the food. The dark mage dropped on the ground exhausted and took a bite of his skewered meat.

"This... is good..." Hikigaya said before taking another bite

"Was it really worth all that effort for this?" Kawasaki asked.

"Definitely worth... Not to your liking?"

"It's taste like normal turkey. Nothing more." She said and took another bite.

"Maybe... if we have seasonings or something to make the taste better, the food would've been different." He said as he slowly fixed his breathing into a normal pace.

"Probably." After that short response, they ate in silence. Hikigaya finished the meat and stood up to take another portion while Kawasaki was almost done. He looked at her, pointing at the meat. He cut two portions, one bigger than the other, and looked at her again to see her pointing at the normal portion. Once again, they didn't exchange words because of their lack of social skills. But the tranquility between them was welcoming. An hour later, he ate five large portions in total while Kawasaki ate three with the last one larger than the other two she consumed. As they ate another portion, he spoke.

"You're uh... eating a lot, huh?"

"I haven't eaten for a week."

"Well, that's torture. You don't have enough money to buy food?"

"Lucky guess."

"Oh," Hikigaya took a bite and then realized something. "Wait, mercenaries get a lot of money from fulfilling the client's tasks. Judging by your abilities, you're strong enough to get some high-paying jobs."

"Don't stick your nose in other people's business." That was all Kawasaki had to say before silently eating the meat. Hikigaya scratched his cheek and took another bite of the Vanatorbrid portion.

"So, uh... How did you get a demon possessing you."

"What did I say about sticking your nose to someone's business?" Kawasaki glared at the dark mage as her eyes turned emerald green, and he just continued eating in silence.

"This is really not my thing. Where is a Yuigahama when you need one!? Get a grip, Hachiman! You're already used to exchanging words with an annoying, cheerful idiot and a prideful and elegant bitch, so talking to this kind of people shouldn't be that hard, right? So, why am I a nervous wreck? Stop it, me! Stop quivering your mouth when trying to speak! Come on, just say something!" He thought while chewing. After building enough courage and placed enough effort within his voice, he cleared his throat to speak, which caught her attention. "U-Um, pleasant weather we're having, huh?"

"I guess..." Kawasaki gave a short reply before looking down absentmindedly.

"... Somebody kill me." Hikigaya just slouched and covered his face with a hand to hide his embarrassment. "I never imagined I would get in a situation like this one. Maybe, I should just act normally? Why am I even acting like some shy kid in the first place?"

"I'm full." Kawasaki said as she dropped the stick and walked back to the cabin. Hikigaya didn't say a word and just continued eating until he finished. He sighed, thinking about what was next. He wasn't really aiming to be friends with the blue-haired assassin. It was more of an attempt to have a communication with someone who experienced the same troubles as he had. One who was ostracized and harassed because of his elemental magic and the other ostracized by demonic circumstances. They were similar to each other, but that similarity might be the reason they couldn't interact with each other well, or at least couldn't get along soon. Hikigaya stood up and lifted what remained of the cooked Vanatorbrid skewered with a staff. He went into the woods while making sure Kawasaki wasn't witnessing this. He narrowed his eyes as he looked behind the trees and saw three golden massis wolves hiding with the one in the middle being Tenro, though only he could tell which one. He could see their mouths watering with their tongues out. They were excited to finally savor the taste of the cooked food. Hikigaya was truly grateful for them. If it wasn't for their assistance, he wouldn't be able to catch the Vanatorbrid. Hikigaya carefully put down the meat on the ground near in front of the three wolves and they immediately pulled it away into the woods. He waved a farewell to them and sighed while looking down at his attire. "this is the first time I wore clothes that aren't yukatas or kimonos. These sleeves are like squishing my arms, though it doesn't feel tight. This feels too weird for me... Hah... one week and war will start. Whoever planned all this is an authentic genius. The civilians... Obviously, they evacuated to somewhere safe... Komachi better be safe... Yuigahama and Yukinoshita better be safe.

---

TRIVIA

1) The pinky swear is common among American children in the 1860's

2) Kawasaki's eye color change was a reference to the studio changing her eye color in the anime. In season 1, her eyes were emerald green and in season 2 and onward, they changed into pigeon blue.

Yeah, this is Kawasaki's introduction to this story. REALLY different from the series, but I made sure to keep her main personality the same. What do you think of the events so far? Was it good? Too rushed? In my opinion, it felt rushed to me but I'll make sure this arc will progress smoothly (-ish). I guess I was in a hurry and wanted to get into the big stuff like revealing other kingdoms such as non-human kingdoms, the species and races that I envisioned. It's like I'm rushing things. I need to lie down for now and calm my head before I might ruin this story.

So yeah.

Regarding this arc, I'd say about four chapters left until we move to the next one? Yeah, that seems about right. It depends on the length of each chapter and how the story goes.

Thanks for reading this fanfic. Please leave a review as your opinions will help me make this story better.