A little earlier, in Classroom B.
A black wall had suddenly materialized, engulfing the academy, and moments later came the overwhelming presence of a vast number of Monsters. Ermes made his decision swiftly upon sensing it.
"—Nina, the talk can wait. This is bad."
An obvious emergency.
Having reached that conclusion as a matter of course, he cut the conversation short and braced himself to rush to the scene no matter what.
Nina's story could wait. No—she surely realized this was no time for conversation either. Thinking she would probably follow along, he turned toward Nina.
But.
"...Nina?"
For some reason, she didn't move.
Even more than that—she was exactly as before. Without so much as flinching at the crisis unfolding around them, she spoke with a composure that almost suggested she had known all along.
"...We weren't done talking, you know."
And just like that, her expression unreadable, she picked up where she had left off.
Before him—her bizarre demeanor making it impossible for him to simply walk away—she continued speaking in halting tones.
"After being driven out of my original home, I was taken in by the Flordite Viscount's household. ...And see, it turns out that family had some rather shady connections. So, related to that, word came down from above yesterday—"
And then, she raised her face and declared.
"—
right here,
,
you—
"Stop her"
—is what she said."
"——"
Confusion, turmoil — but only for an instant.
In that instant, he tensed. With his innate judgment, he immediately grasped Ninna's position, lowered his center of gravity, and settled into a stance ready to move at any moment.
The reason was unclear. The cause, undetermined. The chain of causality leading to this point was impossible to discern.
But the result was obvious. ... At the very least, here and now —
— she was the enemy.
Seeing Ermes grasp this immediately and shift his stance, Ninna smiled.
"Impressive. But it's a little sad that you can switch like that so quickly."
"...If that's really what you think, you're welcome to treat everything from here on out as a joke."
He said this, clinging to the thinnest thread of hope — but she naturally didn't take the bait.
"...Sorry. I really am grateful to you — but I also owe the family that took me in, and there are circumstances. So."
Finally, she lowered her gaze and offered one last apology.
When she raised her face again, the usual smile — no, something even more assured, tinged with something bewitching — was already playing on her lips as she spoke.
"I'll be getting to work now. Just letting you know in advance, okay? — The moment you came here, you'd already lost."
"!"
He could tell.
His current position relative to her was close enough that they could hold a conversation.
In other words... this place had long since fallen within her range.
Against her, possessing unparalleled close-combat ability, starting from this position and defeating her… no, even just escaping alive would be an incredibly difficult feat.
(…No, wait.)
If that were all, it might not be a problem—though that might be overstating it. If he focused purely on escape, he had a slim chance. It wasn’t for nothing he’d repeatedly fought mock battles against her.
Therefore, the biggest problem here. The basis for her confidence was… just as Ermes was considering this, as if perfectly timed—
“—”
Nina raised her magic power, took a breath.
(As I thought—!)
Yes.
Her
Bloodline Magic.
Aside from the two of them, no one else was present, and the remaining people at the school were fixated on the situation outside, so they certainly wouldn’t be looking this way. No matter what she did here, the only witness was Ermes.
—This was the perfect opportunity to unleash the magic she’d kept hidden until now.
Therefore, it was self-evident she would now deploy her trump card here to ensure she completed the job.
…Calm down, he told himself.
Subdue her before she can complete the chant? No, he knew her abilities. She would rather use the
chant
as a feint
and come
at him.
— while
turning the tables
on her,
it wouldn't be out of the question for him to pull off a feat like that.
Similarly, trying to disrupt her with half-baked Enhanced universal magic would only expose his own openings. So what he needed to do was...
(...
observe.
First, assess the magic, and then look for an opening to disengage.)
That was the choice with the highest certainty for him.
In fact, he was confident. Having come to this academy, seen countless spells, and accumulated a wealth of knowledge, he could handle even a Bloodline Magic he'd never encountered before. Besides, he had a trick or two up his sleeve.
Thinking this, he maintained a ready stance while keeping his eyes locked on her.
Right before his very eyes, Nina began her Chant.
"[Into the sorcery of summer nights,
bind
them—
ninefold—
what was chanted was the star maiden; behind the eyelids
a blind
song]"
...Ermes's judgment was, for the most part, correct.
There was, frankly, no other option. Since Niina had been allowed to get this close and he couldn't afford to act rashly, waiting for her magic was practically the only choice—and the move he'd made was the best one available.
His confidence in being able to counter her magic wasn't arrogance either, given his actual abilities.
But.
Her magic, from his perspective—no, rather, precisely *because* it was him—
was simply far too unpredictable.
"Bloodline Magic—'
Fairy's Dream Palace
'"
And so, her magic activated.
*It's coming.* He tensed his awareness and focused his gaze even more intently on Niina.
He observed her every movement, never letting his eyes stray for even a single instant—
—and by the time he realized that his eyes had gone from "never letting them stray" to "physically unable to look away,"
it was already far too late. He was caught, fatally so, in the depths of her technique.
"Don't move, okay?"
Only when she said that did he finally realize.
"Actually—
you *can't* move
, can you? ……You're really under it properly, huh. Good!"
Just as she said, his movements were severely restricted. So much so that he couldn't take even a single step.
He'd assumed it was some kind of movement-binding ability—perhaps a mystic eye or something similar—but that wasn't it. Quite the opposite: by being forced to focus entirely on her, he had lost the ability to do anything else.
"You understand now, don't you?"
The instant he realized it, "that" came for him.
"You didn't expect that, did you? ...Yeah, I figured someone as clueless about this sort of thing as you wouldn't see it coming. ...You know, there are spells like this in the world?"
Having said that, Nina let out a soft chuckle, as though her prank had succeeded.
...That smile was so lovely it stole his gaze and consciousness away—more than before, by an order of magnitude.
It wasn't just that. Her voice was sweet and coaxing, her expression soft, her gestures bewitchingly beautiful and utterly intoxicating.
Every time he was bathed in the magic power she radiated, his heart was stolen away further still.
His thoughts tingled with sweet numbness, and everything but her dissolved from his consciousness.
Before long, the only thoughts he could form were ones related to Nina.
With what little mental territory he had left, Ermes desperately spun his thoughts—and finally grasped the true nature of this magic.
It was, without question, heretical magic.
It didn't befit the "knights" that Nina's birth family produced.
On the contrary, it was the polar opposite of the knightly ideal that valued substance and restraint, self-control and loyalty—
a magic that gave desire
form.
Something so disgraceful for a knight to possess that you could finally understand why the family could no longer keep it around—
Just when he thought it was too late, Nina delivered the finishing blow with a dazzling smile.
"I think it's probably useless to resist now. So don't worry—go ahead and fall for me, okay?"
Nina's magic: "The Fairy's Dream Palace."
Its effect was—"
"—Bloodline Magic.
She had ensnared Ermes all too easily.
"...Well, it doesn't seem to be fully effective yet, though."
But Nina hadn't let her guard down.
She observed Ermes's condition, judged it wasn't quite enough, and spoke once more.
"Well then, while I've got you here, why don't we chat for a bit?"
"Ngh—"
For Ermes, who was desperately stoking his resistance to keep the charm from settling in completely, her voice alone was a terrifyingly sweet poison.
Even his dulled thoughts could make sense of her words. No—he was being made to understand only her words.
Having grasped this, she didn't rely on her voice alone—she disclosed further attacking information.
"You probably already know this magic's effect is charm... but there's a little condition attached."
"A c-condition..."
"Yep. Something about how the higher-ups put it... the effect increases based on the caster's feelings toward the target, their favorability, or something along those lines... Why do they always have to make it sound so complicated?"
"!"
However, those words made Ermes realize something. As if she had already seen it coming, Nina looked up at him with a gaze that seemed to peer straight into his heart.
"Oh, you noticed? That's right. This magic, to put it simply—"
"The more"
"you use it on someone"
"you love,"
"the stronger the eff—"
Tall"
"
That was the second trap she had laid.
An adversary, and yet. Someone who was, at this very moment, trying to frame him—
—and yet her affection held not a single shred of falsehood. The sheer terrifying power of the magic assailing his body proved it. Made him understand.
"Anyway, I'll just come out and say it now. ...I like you, El."
The moment he grasped it, a sweet confession poured into his ears. It tore away a massive chunk of his reason.
"From what I can tell, the higher-ups were suspicious of you from the very start. And because of that, I was told to get close to you—under the pretense of 'falling for you,' so to speak."
She revealed the reason she had been the first to approach Ermes in that classroom, and then continued.
"...No, seriously, I give up. Looking at this magic... I think I've fallen for you harder than I ever expected. ...Ahaha, okay, that's actually pretty embarrassing. But I can't help it, right? It's true that I felt a connection with you from the beginning, and it's true that being around you has been fun."
She blushed deeply, genuinely flustered, and averted her gaze with an awkward little squirm.
...The fact that he was forced to understand this was her honest feeling—that itself became yet another form of magic that tormented him.
And yet Ermes fought to keep his consciousness from being swallowed whole. ...Watching him like that, Nina puffed out her cheeks just slightly.
"...So here I am. I went through all this embarrassment to confess, bearing every last bit of it... and you're still holding out. ...You're starting to really tick me off, you know that?"
She grumbled her displeasure, but in the next instant her expression returned to that enigmatic smile as she spoke.
"...Well then, I guess I'll have to get serious."
And with that, she finally took a step—toward Ermes. One step.
"!"
Naturally, the closer she drew, the more powerful Nina's charm magic became.
And above all else—the mere fact that she was approaching him filled him with an inescapable, irrepressible joy. He wanted her to come even closer.
As if granting that wish, she slowly closed the distance… and then some.
"I can't let my guard down around you. …It's honestly pretty embarrassing, but… oh well. If it's you, then…"
She removed her hairpin, letting down the beautiful long silver hair that had been neatly bundled up. It cascaded outward in a rustling wave, unleashing an overwhelming torrent of allure.
To top it off, her tie slid loose with a soft whisper, and a single button came undone. From the slightly opened neckline, two soft, volumuous swells—fuller than he could have predicted—cast deep shadows, an act of visual violence so bewitching it threatened to ravage his reason entirely.
"…As I thought, this does make it more effective."
Her cheeks flushed even deeper than before, yet her steps did not falter. Upon noticing that Ermes' cheeks had reddened to an equally burning degree, she grinned with a playful, almost mischievous glee.
"Heh… So even you get properly embarrassed by things like this. …Fufu, how cute. It's okay, you know? If this makes you fall for me…"
With those honeyed words, she drew close enough that they were on the verge of touching. Enjoying how Ermes desperately averted his gaze from her increasingly visible translucent skin, she whispered at point-blank range.
"…Oh, I just thought of something. Hey, why don't you come over to my side?"
An invitation, clearer and more explicit than before.
"I can't go into the details, but we strong magicians are in need of allies right now. I think you'd be more than welcome… and of course, I personally want you on my side too."
"H—"
"How about it? I can guarantee good treatment, and if you asked for the safety of those close to you, I'm sure that could be arranged too. You're worth that much. And above all…"
She let her eyes glisten slightly. With an expression tinged with loneliness and quiet pleading—so different from anything she'd shown before—
"…If someone like you… would properly stand by my side… I'd be… really happy."
"…"
…Perhaps.
Those words may have been the final, decisive touch that shook him to his very core.
With a faint, gentle sway.
Ermes' head tipped toward her, all resistance gone.
So Niina, now fully confident that the charm had taken hold, spread her arms to catch him with a smile──
──and struck at the gap in her consciousness.
"
Formula Replay
──'
Spirit Veil
'...!"
Rallying every last shred of his reason and willpower, Ermes tore his body away from Niina.
Then, seizing the opening left by the stunned Niina,
he replayed
the Bloodline Magic
he had Chanted
in advance. A transparent wall like a cage unfurled between them, completely severing them physically.
──Her magic. What mediated the charm was the Magic power emanating from her body.
If that was the case, then he first needed to sever the emission of that Magic power with a barrier. That way, at the very least, he would no longer be subjected to further charm, and could focus on purging what already resided within him.
"...hah...hah...!"
Having succeeded in activating the magic and establishing the severance, Ermes—having reclaimed but the faintest sliver of his proper reason—thought through ragged breaths.
...That had been far too close.
The advance preparations, his own nature, and──her deft touch.
If even one of those had exceeded what he could bear, he would have been ensnared by her with no means of resistance.
In a way, it could be called the most dangerous magic he had ever received.
……Still, he had somehow managed to endure it.
From here, the right move was to leave immediately—before receiving any more magic—and rejoin Katya and the others──but.
"……"
Ermes thought. The memories were still fresh—the countless things she had said and done here.
That she had been an enemy was painful. But… no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to hate her, couldn't bring himself to feel revulsion.
And above all──the expression she had shown him at the very end.
A heart-wrenchingly sad face… like a child on the verge of tears.
No matter what he did, he couldn't get it out of his head.
And so, he stood up──
──and once more, began walking toward Niina.
"Eh…………"
She herself was the one who wore a look of surprise.
It was only natural. She had thought she could get away, and anyone looking on would agree that was absolutely what he should do.
But Ermes thought.
He had no grounds for it. Nothing more than a gut instinct he couldn't fight.
If he left her here now… he felt as though they could never meet again—not in the way they once had.
If someone told him that was already impossible, then so be it—but that wasn't the case. He felt as though he would be abandoning something far more fatal.
That was why he had to face her.
After all, that kind class president he had learned from at this academy—in this situation, he would never abandon anyone.
Thus, of his own will — believing that this was not the effect of bewitchment.
Ermes once again turned to face Nina head-on.
Now her magic was finally unleashed as well. Narou probably wouldn't be angry... probably.
Look forward to the next chapter too!