What was it? What could it have been? Randolph, who headed out of the college while clutching his head, entered an empty alley, threw away the rose he couldn’t deliver, and trampled it underfoot.

Seeing the dirty petals fallen on the ground reminded him of Rukna Golden, making his body hot.

He was irritated. Why did he keep feeling this way about a man?

“H-How dare you make me like this. I-I’ll kill you, Rukna Golden. Rukna Golden!”

At that moment, a red magic circle appeared under his feet and his instep caught fire. Agh, it’s hot! Who on earth?!

Randolph, who was waving his foot to put out the fire, turned around.

Chad, who had sauntered into the alley, was leaning crookedly against the building wall.

“Unfortunately, ruining Ruka is something only I can do.”

“Ch-Chad?”

“If you’ve become a failure, why do you keep acting up instead of living quietly like you’re dead? It’s annoying.”

Chad rolled his eyes as he brushed up his hair.

Randolph pointed his finger at Chad.

“Th-This time, you should have received the same punishment as me! S-Slipping away like a loach!”

When Randolph shouted that he already knew everything, Chad said “What are you talking about” and scratched his ear hole with an indifferent expression.

“You, you also went in and out of Professor Todley’s lab. Th-That day, the dwarf mechanic who opened the engine room d-door was instigated by y-you…!”

“Haa. Stupid Randolph. This is why you have to choose the right person to use.”

Chad snapped his fingers once more.

Flames sprang up from the magic circle like a wall, encircling him and trapping Randolph inside.

Aagh! Randolph waved his hands trying to escape, but the rising flames did not extinguish.

Chad reached his arm into the flames and patted Randolph’s head as if praising him.

Strangely, Chad’s arm did not burn in the flames.

“Remember this pain, Randolph. If you run your mouth carelessly one more time, these flames will burn your mouth and skull. Let’s live forgetting what we should forget, okay?”

After warning him like that, Chad left the place with a long yawn.

Terrified, Randolph refrained from pursuing Rukna for several days.

But like a disease that plagues you for life once you catch it, he was thirsty for Rukna’s existence.

It was mere coincidence that Randolph found out about Rukna’s early morning training schedule.

After receiving Chad’s warning, it felt awkward to follow Rukna during regular hours, but who knew such luck would come his way!

‘By the way, since when has Rukna Golden been so diligent? It’s like she’s become a completely different person in just a few months.’

Rukna was swinging her sword from early dawn, muttering as if talking to someone.

“Ugh, the weather has gotten quite hot even in the early morning.”

Then she lifted the hem of her thin shirt to wipe off the sweat on her chin.

Below the raised shirt hem, a slender waist wrapped in white bandages was revealed.

The gauze covering where the bullet had grazed was stained red.

‘It’s unsettling. If only that were a scar I had left!’

The urge to leave a mark on Rukna Golden exploded and completely occupied Randolph’s mind.

Because the purification was not perfectly completed, the symptoms he had shown when possessed by black magic appeared again.

When he finally came to his senses, he was approaching Rukna with a sword in hand.

‘I’m going to leave my mark on Rukna Golden like this.’

Marks are beautiful things. Rukna must understand that too, since she habitually engraves her name in places she’s been.

So she would surely understand his feelings as well.

Where would be good? That snow-white nape? Or the slender waist? The delicate face would be fine too.

‘The more I look, the more womanly she seems, it’s surprising that she’s a man.’

Randolph smiled sickeningly, saying this was all Rukna’s fault, and was certain of victory.

There was no way Rukna Golden would detect his presence, which even Matian missed occasionally.

But contrary to expectations, Rukna Golden turned her head sharply and looked straight at Randolph, as if someone had tipped her off about his sneak attack.

‘Did she notice me?’

It wasn’t bad. The back of his head tingled, as if Rukna had recognized him who had always lived like air…

‘Wait, my heart should be fluttering, but why does the back of my head hurt?’

Ah. It’s because of that club Rukna is holding.

Every time he saw that somewhat familiar stick, the back of his head tingled as if he had been hit by it before.

“What are you suddenly doing, Randolph! If you come any closer, I won’t let you off easily.”

“G-Go ahead, swing it all you want. I-If you injure your opponent when it’s not even a duel, you’ll be the only one to get penalty points… Ugh?!”

But contrary to Randolph’s expectations, a numbing pain spread through his side.

Did I just get hit? By that little guy?

“That look in your eyes is rotten again. Isn’t that right, Bisbi?”

Rukna talked to someone in the empty air.

Who is Bisbi? Can Rukna Golden see ghosts?

“D-Damn it, were you a black magician, Rukna Golden!”

“Did you hear that, Bisbi? He called me a black magician. There must be side effects from only being half purified. Should I purify him now… What? It can’t be done because he’s too deeply stained?”

“Wh-Who are you talking to, Rukna Golden!”

Randolph, who had turned pale, shouted while looking around the empty space.

Then, swinging the sword he was holding towards Rukna, he shouted, “Be gone, ghost!”

“Ugh, isn’t this guy crazy?”

Rukna easily blocked Randolph’s sword with her club while cursing.

Randolph was not one to back down here.

He pulled out the dagger tucked in his thigh belt with his other hand and swung it in a continuous motion.

Rukna, who had been easily dodging the attacks, ended up tripping over a wooden sword lying on the ground.

Taking advantage of her stumble, Randolph’s sword luckily grazed the side of her neck, leaving a red scratch along that spot.

‘Yes, this is it!’

While Randolph was rejoicing at finally leaving a mark on Rukna.

“This bastard, really?”

Thwack! Along with Rukna’s voice, a skull-splitting pain struck.

When he touched his head, the crown where he had been hit with the club was wet. Blood. It’s bleeding!

“You… this… duel… violation of school rules…”

Incoherent words tumbled out of Randolph’s mouth, saying it was a violation of school rules to harm him when it wasn’t a duel.

He had completely forgotten the fact that he had attacked Rukna first and was only thinking about the damage he had received.

“No, it is a duel. It meets all the requirements.”

The place must be a certified training ground with a referee present.

Both parties must enter the training ground with weapons.

There must be mutual consent.

“Where… is the referee…”

“Right here.”

Rukna pointed to herself while explaining the same logic that Matian had once argued to Randolph.

“Such sophistry… Ugh.”

Randolph watched her shouting “Rukna wins!” and engraving her name on the dirt floor of the training ground with her club before losing consciousness.

Maybe it’s because she’s been hanging out with the student council lately.

Randolph suddenly thought that Rukna Golden seemed a bit out of her mind too.

‘Is it summer already.’

The sunlight pouring through the bright green leaves on the trees was getting hotter and hotter.

As the seasons changed, the students’ perception of Rukna changed a lot too.

Her classmates became somewhat friendlier after seeing Rukna tame the griffin.

‘It’s like finding out that a classmate you thought was dirt poor actually owns an expensive foreign car.’

And the uniforms changed too. The summer cadet uniform is made of thinner fabric than the spring/fall one, with short-sleeved shirts and long pants.

Some wear light tunics according to preference, but most take off their tops during physical activities.

Just like those cadets chasing after a ball on the central lawn right now.

‘Simple-minded guys.’

Good for them. Being simple. Rukna, crouched in the shade of a tree, sighed so deeply it seemed the ground would cave in.

After the airship incident, Rukna’s mind had never been at peace.

How could she be at ease? According to the prophecy book, this world would soon become a terrible dystopia ruled by demons.

‘Of all the worlds to be reincarnated into, why did it have to be one with this kind of setting.’

Rukna messed up her hair and screamed “Aaaagh.”

The club members picking up trash ten steps behind cleaned the surroundings faster to avoid upsetting Rukna’s mood.

‘It’s too early to despair. If a hero to defeat the demon appears even now, it would be fine.’

For example, a descendant of the hero.

Rukna thought of Matian and recalled the question he had asked on the airship.

‘He didn’t notice the holy sword, did he?’

Rukna, who had been thoroughly avoiding Matian for the past few days, clutched her head.

He probably hadn’t noticed the existence of the holy sword. If he had, he would have come looking for her long ago.

‘He must have accidentally sensed the holy power from afar.’

But she felt very uneasy.

‘Hey, Bisbi. Say something at least!’

“What should Bisbi, who always does her best, say to her master today?”

‘Do you think Matian saw you, or not?’

“Would I be a kind holy sword if I answered, ‘He probably didn’t see anything’?”

‘I’m not asking for comfort. Just tell me the facts as you judged them.’

“Matian Wiegratz did see me. That’s why he asked you such a question.”

‘Then what should I do? I don’t think Matian will leave it at that.’

Thinking back on the contents of the prophecy book she saw that day, Matian was the one who unsealed the gate called the ‘Demon’s Egg’ with a corrupted holy sword.

‘At the time, I just felt sorry for Matian, but thinking about it again, he seems blatantly like the villain!’

And the holy sword he possessed in the prophecy was corrupted by the blood of Closet.

Remembering that she was the only surviving descendant of Closet sent chills down her spine.

‘Bisbi, am I perhaps destined to be a sacrifice for black magic?’

Rukna imagined Matian dabbling in black magic out of a desire to become the owner of the holy sword.

Just as she was thinking it didn’t suit him at all, a shocking answer came back.

“No. That was the fate of the original Rukna Closet.”