The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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Stephanie clicked her tongue as the detection spell set off an alarm.

It was clear that it was just a baited fish disrupting a good time. However, as soon as she realized which spell had been activated, her complaints vanished.

If it had been an insignificant place, she would’ve thought it was just the Church’s underlings in vain efforts, but—

It just had to be the hidden warehouse that summoned the contract demon, so she had no choice but to stop teasing Iris, who had now become part of her routine.

“Alright, Iris. Since we have matters to attend to, let’s call it a day.”

She released Iris, who trembled like a scared squirrel.

For a moment, as she watched Iris stagger out the door with a confused look, she smiled, but her mind was racing with thoughts of unsavory characters, and one name brushed across her brain.

Gloria.

She had noticed Gloria’s increased movements recently but had never imagined that she had reached the sanctuary.

No one but her closest aides knew the details of the sanctuary; how on earth did that powerhouse discover it? She had questions, but they didn’t seem all that important.

Perhaps she had made contact with weak members of her inner circle or those holding grudges against her, beating them down and extracting the information—that was the only logical conclusion she could come up with.

She could think of a few names off the top of her head.

Deciding that it was time to sort out the people around her, she grabbed her staff and coat.

If it were merely trash, she could handle them with a single spell, but to face that monstrous woman, she needed to be fully prepared.

The first time she had met Gloria, she had also dealt with an annoyance from the Church, and when she attempted to handle it personally, it was a disaster.

The apostles disappeared with just a few spells, so when she revealed that it was the First Apostle this time, she could afford to smirk, wondering just how long they would last.

But when the moment came that Gloria swung around two great swords much larger than herself and the spell she released slipped past her defenses, she felt something was very wrong.

She had succeeded in breaking the two great swords somehow, but that moment when Gloria charged at her, infused with divine power, was the moment she had to tuck her tail and flee.

That was already three years ago. So today, she told herself she would settle the score with that detestable thing and completed her preparations.

After teleporting, she headed to the warehouse, draping herself in quadruple barriers to prepare for an immediate ambush, yet confusion washed over her.

She imagined a shattered door and Gloria bursting out to charge at her. The only method left for that strong-woman who couldn’t manipulate mana was mindless brute force.

However, the warehouse was intact. There were no signs of a break-in from the outside.

Additionally, the lock on the door was neatly unlatched, further amplifying her puzzlement.

At least to her knowledge, there were no mages capable of surpassing Gloria’s powers in her vicinity.

If Gloria hadn’t ripped it apart, the only remaining way would be to brute-force the spell with divine power, yet through her eyes, she could see nothing amiss.

Her spell, which she had set on the door, had been undone for reasons unknown, and someone had entered the warehouse, neutralized the defensive spells she had set up in preparation for an intruder, and then deliberately triggered the alarm.

That was the conclusion she reached.

“Deliberately trying to summon me?” But Stephanie quickly cleared her mind of such thoughts. Unraveling the truth could wait until after she dealt with the intruder.

When it came to harming others, she was knowledgeable, and so right now, regardless of how long it took, she was confident she could kill anyone.

With that killer spirit, she stepped into the warehouse, adding a wave of mana to the constantly deployed detection magic.

Reading the reflected mana, she searched for any hidden presences, but nothing seemed off.

All she could tell was that the neat warehouse was now a mess. Whether something was genuinely missing could be checked later, and so she headed straight for the location where the sanctuary was hidden.

However, the magical barrier hiding the sanctuary remained intact. Stephanie couldn’t hide her perplexity.

So it wasn’t Gloria, nor was it anyone she recognized, who had penetrated her spells, disturbed the warehouse, and then vanished without a trace?

What kind of trick was this?

Curiosity gnawed at her regarding what the intruder was trying to accomplish.

But, aside from that, it was evident that this individual possessed strength superior to hers, knew the location of the sanctuary, and had the audacity to provoke her.

Stephanie interpreted the chaos left behind in the warehouse as a certain kind of threat.

She felt she must either subdue or eliminate this person and began looking for what was missing.

Given the extent of the mess, she had quite a hard time figuring out what exactly had been taken. After spending some time, she realized that one particular document was gone.

The plan she had carefully drafted during finals to completely eradicate the Church’s influence from this Academy.

The plan involved sacrificing humans to demons to transform them into mindless minions and then controlling those minions to exterminate the Church’s forces and suspected lackeys.

Knowing the destructive power of minions and the brutality of the manufacturing process, she had already had candidates for sacrifices in mind.

She had always wanted to try it out. Regrettably, she decided to abandon the plan altogether.

Someone knowing about it meant that attempting to execute it would reveal her identity. Regrettably, she would have to sweep aside the Church’s forces with mindless monstrosities across midterms and finals instead.

She could leave the disorder for Iris to handle later. With that thought, she departed the warehouse.

—

“…Has it left?”

“…Yeah, seems like it.”

Stepping out of the locker, the unpleasant air felt surprisingly refreshing.

Dokan was contorting his body from the strange smell mingled with shampoo, making it hard to breathe, and she wondered what was bothering him so much.

What was he trying to achieve by rubbing his legs against his stomach? Even if he felt stuffy, he should consider the person accompanying him.

She didn’t know who had entered. After all, Dokan couldn’t detect any other scents due to that odor.

Not that she disliked it. It was more pleasant than not.

But… what should she say? She was feeling awkward being so close to someone who wasn’t family.

Since they were so close, her heart felt a bit tight, but sensing another person’s heartbeat or body temperature wasn’t all that bad.

Dokan took a big breath, exhaling like he reveling in clean air. How enviable; for him, that must feel genuinely refreshing.

“…I’m sorry for dragging you into the locker without a word… but I really didn’t have the time…!”

“No, it’s fine. No ill intentions, so it’s okay.”

“…That said, were you uncomfortable…?”

Just as she was about to reprimand him, it didn’t feel right to scold the nice guy who had just said it was fine, so she decided to ask.

Just how uncomfortable did one have to be to the point of rubbing their legs against her stomach?

“…Why do you ask?”

“Because you were rubbing your legs against my stomach. I was just wondering how uncomfortable you must be to do that.”

Dokan seemed hesitant to answer, not meeting her gaze and scratching the back of his head. Well, if he felt it was uncomfortable, then that was that.

“…I wasn’t uncomfortable. But I’ll apologize in advance. That wasn’t my leg.”

What on earth was that supposed to mean? Did he rub his arm or something?

“Wait, was it your arm?!”

So he was one of those harem male leads, thinking below the waist. That was a slight letdown.

“Not my arm, but anyway, I truly apologize.”

Right as she was about to say, “What’s the big deal? We’re friends,” she felt like the pieces were falling into place. Not his arm, not his leg.

There wasn’t much height difference, and while they were directly pressed up against each other, it was something that could reach her stomach.

Something she didn’t have now, but Dokan surely had.

Ugh, ugh, ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

“…Ah, ugh… ahhh…”

“…I’m not making excuses. I can’t help it; it’s just that there are various parts touching.”

Thinking about it, her chest was also touching his. He should have mentioned it when that thought clicked, and she remembered that she had pulled him into the locker and sent the signal to be quiet.

…Even if one could say it was a rut, she’d never been this foolish before. Unable to face him, she was just awkwardly looking around.

Now that she thought about it, there were many better hiding spots than a locker. There were wardrobes and even some strange holes.

Given her current mental state, she figured she really should just stay holed up today. She was afraid of what might happen if she wandered outside.

……It’s big. That.

No, no, no, what am I thinking? Even if I’m a girl now, I was still a guy. Stop.

“Ah… ugh…”

“…Sorry. I’ll apologize properly later; for now, let’s get out. Someone could come again, right?”

“Well… that makes sense… yeah.”

Here I am, getting flustered for no reason, and the more he spoke sensibly, the more frustrated I felt.

“…You’re not going to catch me this time?”

He was reaching out his hand toward her. As if saying to grab it.

…Do you think I’m going to take it?!

After everything that had happened inside the locker, he was just casually suggesting that?

“No… it’s fine. Let’s just go.”

“Should we?”

Unlike when they came in, they walked while maintaining a distance from each other. Avoiding eye contact and not exchanging a single word, yet her mind drifted back to what had just happened.

Rubbing against her stomach… that.

…It was because of the rut. That’s why she was thinking about it, and why she felt so foolish!

It had to be due to the rut. So there was no way she could think of writing it in her diary. There was no way she could do that!

Reflecting on her thick-headedness, she genuinely thought about faking some illness during her rut to skip classes.

Back in her original world, there were girls who would skip classes due to period cramps, after all. Of course, that and this were different but still somewhat similar since it came once a month.

She was only thinking, though; she wasn’t really saying she’d do it.

So she would have to keep attending classes even during her rut. In this stupid state of mind.

…Am I really going to be able to continue at the Academy without incident?