Since the Labyrinth Battle Royale ended, I have been in the Palace, a special room in Ginsei Academy which each Candidate has one. That was in the morning and we're already in the afternoon.

Apparently, the Devil King wanted to discuss something, so he summoned all remaining Candidates, but I… I was a little busy, so I didn't get the memo, so Ruki came to get me, and Fleminar went after her when she didn't come back.

Now I feel kinda bad. How long did I leave them hanging?

Ruki Kouma is the Candidate of Judgement Arcana. She's a pretty girl who I mistook for a crossdressing boy for a while. On the outside, her hair is blue, but it's pink on the inside. She's also a half-angel.

Fleminar Astarte is the Candidate of Priestess Arcana, and the Priestess Arcana is part of an elite group called the Triumph, which are the strongest Arcanas. She's actually an adult woman and a survivor from the Devil King War from 20 years ago. Her dark blue hair is tied in a ponytail, and she has a voluptuous body and a mature charm.

They knocked on the door to Lovers' Palace, but didn't get any reply even after waiting for a while. Fleminar is very good with magic, to the point she doesn't even need magic formulas, so she unlocked the door herself, though Ruki warned her against it.

And the rest you can already imagine. Unlike Ruki, Fleminar kept her eyes on me as she gave me the summary of what happened. I guess that's a mature woman for you, me being naked barely fazes her.

In any case, I asked for a few minutes to get dressed, told the girls what had happened, and then I left with Ruki and Fleminar.

"I-I told you you shouldn't have opened the door."

"What's the problem, really? Surely you've seen a naked man before. And even if not, if you stay close to Morioka-kun, it's only a matter of time before you're on his bed."

"Still…"

It seems Ruki was still quite embarrassed by what had happened. And I didn't think Fleminar thought so lowly of me. Or maybe she thinks highly? It's hard to say, honestly.

Regardless, we kept going until we reached the headmaster's room, in other words, the Devil King's room. We knocked on the door and waited to be allowed entry.

"Back already? Come on in."

"Gandou-kun was faster than Morioka-kun."

The Devil King didn't take long to answer, so Fleminar said that teasingly. By the way, the current Devil King's name is Barbatos Gandou, but I just usually call him Devil King.

The three of us entered the room. Inside wasn't just the Devil King, but some other people as well, some of whom I recognized.

I'm guessing these are all the remaining Devil King Candidates, at least, all the people I recognized were.

There was Aspite Line, the Candidate for World Arcana. He was a boy a year older than me, with gray hair and a gloomy look that looked like he was lacking sleep. He was actually the first Candidate I fought due to a few reasons, but now I think we're basically friends.

Then there was Amon Gandou, the Candidate of Fool Arcana and the Devil King's adopted son, though he seems to be treated more like a servant. He's about the same age as Aspite, or maybe a little older. His white hair was long enough to cover a bit of his eyes and he also had bags under his eyes.

There were 3 more male Candidates, one of them being an adult man, another being a bald headed boy, and another being a boy I just can't find any distinguishing characteristic for, but I don't remember their names. I know that the adult man is a survivor from the previous war like Fleminar though.

Then comes the female Candidates. Starting with Hime Takizawa, the Candidate of Empress Arcana. She was a very beautiful girl with long red hair. I got to know her in the Labyrinth Battle Royale when I saved her. For some reason, just looking at her makes my heart beat fast and my face blush.

Next is Hisoka Kozukate, Candidate of Hermit. I think she's about a year younger than me. Her hair is white, but she has some pink highlights on it. I don't have much more to comment on since I've barely talked with her. Just that, like usual, she's hiding behind Rinne like a scared animal.

And last but not least, Rinne Shimokadzuma, Candidate for Wheel of Fortune. A pink-haired girl about the same age as me. She usually wore a fake-smile on her face, but now that's gone. All that's left is her frown-like normal expression.

There are actually 2 more girls, the twins Rikimaru and Seigi Sannou, Candidates for Strength and Justice Arcanas respectively. I didn't see them in the battle royale or now, so I should probably look into if something happened to them.

"Well, now that everyone's here, we can finally begin the talks."

The Devil King said. I guess I should leave the thinking for later and see what's up with this first.

Once he said that, everyone's attention turned towards him. Everyone's probably thinking of the same thing.

At the end of the Labyrinth Battle Royale, something weird happened. A strange black liquid started covering the whole ground, and anyone who touched it would be absorbed by that black liquid.

Things like that are usually called Disasters, which is basically a catch-all term for these natural disaster-like things that no one knows the cause of. But there was something different this time.

Something, or someone, showed up at the end. I fought whatever it was for a bit, but I was hopelessly outmatched. If the Devil King hadn't shown up when he did, I would have probably been killed then and there.

"Sensei's sure that the question on everyone's mind is 'what happened at the end of the Labyrinth Battle Royale?' While sensei does know the answer to that, I can't tell yet, so sorry. That's not why I called everyone here."

"Stop playing games!"

The adult man slammed his hands against the Devil King's desk. It was so sudden even I was startled.

"If you know what's going on, then say it. I'm running out of patience and I might just come to kill you soon."

"Now now, Marchosias, don't get aggressive. I know it's frustrating, but sensei has his reasons for keeping secrets."

"Oh yeah? Then what are those? I'd love to hear them."

"Well, if sensei has to say it…"

The man called Marchosias was intently staring down the Devil King. If gazes could kill, the Devil King would already be as good as dead.

The Devil King seemed to be hesitating to say whatever he was going to say, but then Amon cut in.

"Because there's no point in lecturing the dead."

"... What do you mean?"

"We're in the middle of the Devil King War. Half of the Candidates are already dead, and who knows how many more will die? Is there any point in explaining things to people who are going to die in a few months? Once the war ends, then you can worry about that."

… That's… I get what Amon is saying, it makes sense. If you knew about something really important and you told someone, and that person dies, it's almost like you didn't tell anyone to begin with.

It makes logical sense, but still… I don't really like it. I mean, I'm sure no one here wants to die, and if there is something big going on maybe we should hear it. But there is also the matter of if we could even do something about it. I don't know, really…

"Well, sensei would have looked for better words, but that's the gist of it. There's still the Devil King War and sensei wants everyone to mature a bit more, so don't worry about that for now."

"Ridiculous."

Marchosias said. He then stormed out of the room.

All the Devil King did about it was let out a sigh. Maybe he already expected something to that effect.

"Hey, he stayed longer than I thought he would. In any case, I don't want to waste too much time, there's this interesting new anime coming out soon, so let's get to the main point. That is, the spoils."

I was confused when the Devil King said that. What could he mean by spoils? The items left behind the fallen Candidates? Or was it something else?

Then, I realized it. The Labyrinth Battle Royale was, for all intents and purposes, a battle between 3 teams. Lovers, Death and Triumph. The loser was Death's Group, but there were still 2 Candidates of that group remaining, Rinne and Hisoka.

"I don't think anyone wants to dispute this, but sensei will tell the results just in case. The winners of the Labyrinth Battle Royale were Lovers' Group with 0 downs, next came Triumph with 1 down, and in last place was Death's Group with 4 downs. Well, the original rule was to keep going until at least 1 of the teams was completely dead, but you all know what happened, so these 2 made it out alive. Now's the time to choose their fate."

So it is that.

Hisoka seemed even more scared, even trembling, and Rinne was still covering her with a rather aggressive look on her face. Well, I can't really blame her. Even I couldn't imagine this ending well.

"Then, I want-"

"I'll take them both."

I cut someone off, I didn't pay attention to who it was, but it doesn't matter. The only way this ends well is if I take both Rinne and Hisoka with me. So that's what I'll do.

I may not know them too well, but if nothing else, they were friends with Lost, and Lost was my friend. Besides, he entrusted me with them before he died, so there's no way I'm letting anything happen to them.

Rinne seemed a little shocked, and Hisoka behind her as well, I think. But the guy who I cut off seemed less than happy.

"Oi, you human, didn't your parents teach you to share? Don't think you're some hot shit just because you survived so far. Do you know who I am?"

"... I actually don't."

The boy got even angrier. By the way, if I had to describe him…

Nope, I got nothing. There's no distinguishing features no matter where I look. Both his eyes and hair are black, the length of his hair is normal, his height and build are normal as well. I really can't think of anything special about him.

"I'm Noda Shiwa, Candidate for Magician of the Triumph. Now that that's out of the way, don't you agree that us winners should share the spoils?"

"No, I want them both and I will fight for them if I must."

Honestly, I feel like I'm going to forget this Noda character by tomorrow. Maybe that's the effect of some spell of his? I imagine whoever has the Magician Arcana must be nasty with magic. If it is that, it's actually an interesting strategery. You can't be defeated if no one remembers you.

But well, that doesn't matter. If it's a fight he wants it's a fight he got. I'd rather not fight now, especially against someone from the Triumph, but if it can't be helped then I'll do it. What I know for sure is that I won't just leave these two to their own luck.

"Hmph, you of all people shouldn't be pretending to be a winner, Magician. Or have you already forgotten that I defeated you?"

Aspite said. Huh, so Noda was the Triumph Candidate who was defeated, and by Aspite no less. And from Noda's reaction, it doesn't seem to be a lie.

Still, it didn't seem like this would be enough for Noda to back down. But if Aspite defeated him, I feel like I'm not going to have too much trouble.

I was seriously considering beginning a fight, but then the Devil King interrupted us.

"Well, I'm sure everyone's tired, so let's settle this peacefully today. Yeah, a vote should be good. Let's go from left to right, Judgment."

"E-eeh? I-I think it would be better for them to go with Yuuto-kun. I know he wouldn't treat them badly."

"Priestess."

"I'm also in favor of Morioka-kun."

"World."

"I don't particularly care, but at the very least the loser shouldn't get them."

"I'll take that as you voting for Yuuto. Empress."

"We all stayed with Yuuto for a while during the Labyrinth Battle Royale, so I believe they would prefer to go with him."

"Hierophant."

"Lovers is the true winner, so he has the right to them."

"Fool."

"... I want to ask Yuuto something first."

Huh? I expected the chain to continue, if I'm being honest.

Well, by now I suppose a single vote doesn't matter, but I might as well answer.

"What is it?"

"I heard rumors that you learned to make other Candidates into your Cards. Is that what you plan to do with them?"

How… how does he know? I don't think anyone should know that Neith and Stella are my Cards yet… No, come to think of it, the Devil King only summoned me. He probably knows, so it makes sense his son knows as well.

The question of how still remains, and everyone has a surprised look on their face. But for now, I should answer Amon.

"If they want me to, I'll take them as my Cards, but they don't have to. The reason I'm doing this is simply to keep them safe."

"... I understand. Then they should be with Yuuto. He'll have more use for them than anyone else."

"Wow, a landsliding victory. Congratulations, Yuuto. It's a shame sensei doesn't have any party poppers."

I'm not sure that that's really needed, but alright I guess. I suppose, with this, I got Rinne and Hisoka.

With my hand, I signaled for them to come to me, and they did. We'll be able to talk calmly now.

"This-!"

Noda still didn't seem satisfied. Is a fight really going to be inevitable? He looks ready for it.

Then, someone touched his shoulder. It was Hime, the Candidate of Empress.

"Noda, please give up already."

"... Tsk, fine."

Finally giving up, Noda walked out of the headmaster's room. Guess I'm not getting friendly with him anytime soon.

Still, I couldn't help but be a little amazed at Hime. I mean, she basically defused a bomb a second before it went off. And she made it look so easy. W-why is my heart being so fast?

"Well, sensei doesn't have anything more to talk about, so everyone can go home now. Rest well, because you never know when the Devil King War is picking up again."

And with that, the impromptu meeting the Devil King arranged was over. I suppose I should take Rinne and Hisoka to the Palace now.

Well, I'll take them there to tell Lizel and everyone else what happened, but I don't think it's a good place for them to spend the night. It's… slightly dirty, let's say. Maybe they can use Neith or Stella's Palace.

And so, while it was a very strange day, the first day of Ginsei Academy's second term finished.