A blue-haired girl with black horns with golden ridges walked alongside two other girls in a wide and tall hallway. It was the hallway of one of the most prestigious schools in the demon territory. The floor was carpeted with a powerful red color.

  It was illuminated by a series of intricate windows with a direct line of sight to the demonic sky. Dark, covered with red and purple clouds. Off in the distance, a beam of light rose up from the ground and dispersed into a spiral that tore through the clouds, shining down light on all of the city.

  Overly indulgent decorations and an inciting attitude were the norm of that and many other top schools. Guiding the students to become stars or going down in the flames of glory through repeated failures and conflict.

  But not everyone played by those rules…

  “Ve- Velvet-sama…” A hoarse, meek voice called out to her. Looking around, a pair of hands gripped around a corner of the hallway. A head with messy, dark-blue hair and little wings in the back poked out, calling out with a pitiful look.

  “Go on ahead.” Velvet sent her friends off and turned around. The one who called out retreated once she saw the girl coming her way. “Lythea… You’re back.” Velvet placed one hand on her waist and looked the succubus up and down. She was wearing a uniform similar to hers to fit in. White shirt, blue skirt.

  “Ghehehehe… You remember the name of an insignificant worm like me… I’m so happy…” An unrefined smile took over the succubus’s face. “Ah! B- b- but! I- I don’t think I deserve it!” She suddenly realized.

  “*Sigh…* If you don’t cut it off, I’ll get seriously mad.” Velvet crossed her arms while looking down at the mess in front of her known as Lythea. “Tell me what you’re doing here. Now!” Being gentle didn’t work with someone like her, so she had to be strict to move things along.

  “Ah! Y- y- yes! Uhmm… I have some news from the mission in Ebrilyon!” Lythea stood up in a hurry, scared of getting berated. “The skill extraction device! I- I recovered it from Armand.” Lythea bowed while sticking out her hands in an offering. There, she held a small object that looked like a badge. “A- also… He’s dead…”

  “Dead, huh?” Velvet sounded completely indifferent. She picked up the object and spun it in front of her face before pocketing it. “You didn’t need to go that far, but good job. One less pest working for that prick…”

  “Uh- uhmm… Th- that wasn’t me…” Lythea showed a wry smile.

  “Hmm? Oh… He was in Ebrilyon, right? Galene should be there right about now. Did he pick a fight with her?”

  “N- no. It wasn’t her either. There was another girl… Wiped out his whole team.” Lythea wavered on how much to say. Someone like her doing anything even remotely close to bragging would be absolutely disgusting. “Sh- sh- she saw me, and we fought for a bit… But she had a lot of different skills. Like the heroine.”

  “Wait, a human with lots of skills? Like Galene?” Velvet had a sudden realization. “Was she blonde?”

  “Sh- she was, but… she looked like she was about your age…”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “My age? Are you sure? Not a few years older?” Lythea shrunk as Velvet got more and more heated.

  “N- not at all…” She waved. “She’s probably not the one who stole the experimental version… Not that someone like me would know… I’ve been looking into that this whole time, yet I haven’t found anything… Heh… Sorry for being worthless…” Lythea’s train of thought got her depressed.

  “Shut up. Didn’t I tell you to cut that off?” Velvet shook her head. “The girl escaped through a portal, so she either died on the other side or that’s where she’s from in the first place. Either way, nothing we can do. Now, back to the girl who killed Armand. Is she an enemy or what?”

  “Un- understood!” Lythea snapped out of it and gave Velvet a quick salute. “I- I don’t know if she’s an enemy… She has come into contact with Galene, and they might have become friends… She… Uhmm… Well… Galene was tricked into fighting the old king’s vengeful spirit, and… that girl helped her defeat him? Urgghh! I’m not sure! My brain is poor, so I might be wrong!”

  “They defeated him?” Velvet stopped to ponder, ignoring Lythea’s latest fit. “Galene shouldn’t be at that level yet… Was it because of that girl? Just who is she?”

  “Sorry, sorry, sorry…” Lythea mumbled to herself. “I’m just an unpopular succubus… An anomaly among anomalies… I’m incompetent, too incompetent…” Velvet clapped and snapped her out of it.

  “Here are your orders. Go back and keep supporting Galene like you have. Additionally, see if you can learn more about that girl. Understood?”

  “Y- yes! Understood, Velvet-sama!”

  “A little job from my dear Bea, huh? No matter how I look at it, it sounds like trouble.” Bea leaned forward over her desk. She seemed eager to draw me into more of her problems. How do I handle this? “By the way, whatever happened to the alchemists’ guild master? Philip, wasn’t it? The one who handed Ririna over to the demons?”

  Bea noticed I was trying to change the subject. She wanted to stop me, but I put on more pressure…

  “Did you capture him? Did you kill him? Can I kill him? He has to pay for what he did…” With a little bloodthirsty act. Or was it an act?

  It worked and shocked Bea enough for her to respond. She took a breath, then spoke up. “Unfortunately… he escaped. To Azcester.”

  The floating city, huh? “Wait, did he really? Doesn’t Azcester really hate demons? Are they really going to protect someone with ties to them?”

  Bea smiled, eager to join me in piling on him. “They’re not. If they found out, he’s screwed. Though knowing how scum like him works, he has friends there who can cover for him. As long as he plays dumb, if no one can prove his involvement, he’ll be fine. I wish that wasn’t the case… Flanne, tell the soldiers to chop his head off if he ever shows up in one of our fast-travel stations.” She pointed at the knight sipping tea.

  “Yeah! Chop his head off, or I’ll do it!”

  Flanne let out a sigh and slumped her shoulders. “I’m afraid I can’t comply… Due process, my princess.”

  “Tsk…” Bea clicked her tongue. Hm? Did I just hear a head of state click her tongue at due process? Scandalous!

  “What about Galene? Is she still around?” If she were to leave Ebrilyon, it’d make my chances of making it to the demon territory way slimmer.

  “Yes, she’s still…” Hearing Galene’s name caused Bea to remember something. “Around. In fact, the job I mentioned for you is related to her.”

  “Job? What job?”

  Bea wagged her finger. “No use playing dumb. I won’t let you change the subject anymore. Hear me out.” Bea cleared her throat and explained the request.

  “A noble from a neighboring country needs help clearing up some monsters in one of his lands. The request is actually meant for the heroine, but since she’s in Ebrilyon, he contacted me directly. I have a bad feeling about this, so I’d like you to go along with her.”

  Wait… I actually recognize this… In the game, this is the quest that finishes Galene’s stay in Ebrilyon. And it’s a troublesome one… The fact that Bea’s asking me to go with her is a big difference from the game, so maybe I can do something about it… Besides, this is actually a decent opportunity to earn Galene’s trust.

  “Do you really want me to go with her? Like, really really really?” I put on a mushy voice to mess with Bea a little.

  “Yes! I really really really do! Please… The world depends on it!” She answered with the same energy.

  “Ahahaha… Fine… If you need me that much, I guess I can give you a hand.” Since she was being serious before, I decided to be too for a second. “What exactly am I supposed to do?”

  “Just help her like normal. I’ll tell you where you can find her, so have a chat with her, then I’d like you to meet the noble in question. He’s visiting Ebrilyon right now, so I’d like you to hear the details from him directly.”

  This meeting with the noble doesn’t appear in the game, and if it does, it’s so minor that I don’t remember it. But given how things have changed and the fact that Bea has a bad feeling about it, he’s probably another one in bed with demons… “Ehh…? Do I really have to do that? Can’t we leave that talk to Galene?”

  Bea laughed when she saw me whine to her face. “You really don’t hold back, do you? I could have Galene meet him, but I trust you more. Is that good enough for you?” She had a confident smile on her face.

  I may not be originally from here, but having a princess say that to me made my heart skip a beat.

  “If that’s the case, I guess I don’t mind…” Maybe I’m an easy girl… Or is that not even a question?

  “Thanks, Iroha. I’ll talk to Bea too before then, so take your time and leave whenever you’re ready. Good luck.” Good luck… With what’s coming up, I’ll probably need it.