The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 6.5 - Chapter 4

Dues to the Demon Lord Reborn: Heart Turned Mind

My World Remains Unchanged in Any Form and Silhouette

Classes finished for the day.

“Ah! Another day in the books! My least favorite subjects, but I tried my best! Don’t you think so, Ar—?”

Ireena was blatantly fishing for my praise, but before she could even finish her sentence…

“Daddy!”

“I’m sooo tired!”

Two girls drowned her out as they latched on to me. A pair of adorable twins who were completely identical aside from hair color—Lumi and Lami. They rubbed their cheeks against my chest like puppies snuggling up against their owner.

“Lumi did her best today!”

“Lami worked hard and didn’t fall asleep!”

““Praise us! Praise us!””

I couldn’t ignore such cute pleas. I lightly patted their heads, and they sighed, content.

…On the other hand…

“Nghhh…! After-school praise is my special treat…!” Ireena growled in irritation, facing the twins.

“It’s not your god-given right, Miss Ireena… But I must agree that those twins are a bit much. They aren’t serving as members of the harem—but acting like despicable monogamists,” Ginny replied, staring sullenly at the twins.

On the other end of the spectrum…

“It seems like you’re really settling into your new school life! I was kinda worried that things might not work out at first, but it’s all coming up roses!”

An innocent smile broke out across Sylphy’s sweet features.

Like her, I had felt a tinge of doubt. After all, I had no idea if they’d be able to assimilate into our society. Although adorable twins now, they were originally unique creatures known as sprites. After resolving a certain incident, I granted them physical forms and let them reincarnate as mortals. They’d been attending school as humans ever since.

“…Hmm. Speaking of getting settled…” I looked around in search of a certain female student and spotted Carmilla. “It seems like someone isn’t there yet.”

I quietly sighed as I observed the girl sitting by herself in a corner of the classroom.

Carmilla was another student with an unusual history. Ireena and I had saved her during a certain mission, and she was both the daughter of a demon and a descendent of the Evil Gods. She hadn’t opened up to anyone besides us, maybe because of her troubled past. I wanted to help somehow, but it all depended on her. I earnestly wanted her to build solid friendships and live a peaceful life—

Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble…

I heard vibrations coming from the ground. By the time I’d braced myself for whatever was heading our way, it already stopped… I waited for a moment, but nothing happened.

“Wh-what was that just now?”

“Miss Sylphy, did you do something again?”

“N-no! It wasn’t me this time!”

Sylphy flailed her hands around and desperately insisted that she was innocent. Unfortunately, none of us could take her word.

“I’m serious! Today is one of the few days I forgot to set my magic tra—”

The classroom door banged open.

“SYLPHYYYYYYY! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU IDIOOOOOOOOOOOOT?!?!”

With a furious roar, a teacher entered the room—a woman with characteristic therianthrope animal ears bristling and eyes burning with a fiery wrath. Olivia. She was our homeroom teacher and my elder sister of sorts.

Her graceful features were twisted with savagery as she scanned the room.

“I fooooound yoooooou!”

“Aaaah?!”

Olivia charged forward much faster than Sylphy could escape, grabbed the girl by the nape of her thin neck, and started to drag her away.

“B-but I have nothing to do with thiiiiiis!”

Sylphy’s cries echoed through the classroom. We all let out a unanimous sigh.

…Soon after Olivia schlepped Sylphy away, Lumi and Lami had business of their own to attend to and left the classroom.

“What should we do, Ard?” Ireena asked.

“I’m sure we can leave Miss Sylphy to her own devices.”

“…No, something feels off. Should we see what’s going on?”

I cast detection magic to figure out where they went—the front of the school gates. We walked across the school grounds and made our way toward them. Groups of students traveled across the campus—ludicrously vast—as the sun slowly set. Everything seemed the same as usual…but it definitely wasn’t. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, but something felt different.

“…Let’s hurry over to them.”

We jogged over to Olivia and Sylphy and reached our destination.

I frowned. “What’s going on? They’ve drawn a crowd.”

“That doesn’t appear to be our only concern.”

“It looks like everyone is in a really bad mood.”

A flood of students were frozen at the gate. Everyone stood in place, making no attempt to pass through.

At the center of this odd crowd…Olivia had forced Sylphy to prostrate on the ground.

“It was you, dammit! Just spit it out!”

“No, I’m telling you! I’m innocent! I don’t remember doing that; I swear!”

Olivia was in a flying rage, and Sylphy was defending herself, face stained with tears.

I approached them with a question. “What’s going on?”

“Ah! Ard! I need your help! Potato Head is bullying me!”

“Who do you think you’re calling Potato Head?! Flattering me isn’t going to work!”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

I frowned at the riotous pair. “Lady Olivia. What’s all this commotion about?”

“…Hmph. It’s easier to show you,” Olivia answered morosely.

She walked to the gate, passed under it with confidence…and came right back.

“…This is what’s going on.”

“And what is ‘this’ exactly?”

“…Give it a try.”

Although dubious, I did as she said. I walked through the gate to exit the school grounds—or I should have.

“This is…”

I was back on campus.

“Wh-what’s wrong, Ard?”

“He reversed, turning back on his heel as soon as he passed through the gate… Didn’t you notice anything?”

“I reversed?”

I had no memory of turning around. I thought I’d left the school gate.

…I tried to exit the Academy again, but the result was the same. As soon as I passed through the gate, I was instantly brought back to the school grounds.

“Maybe it’s some form of magic. But I don’t sense any power emitting from it. If it’s not magic, then what could it be…?”

Although my life in ancient times had been a long one, I didn’t have much experience with this. I hadn’t felt this perplexed in a long time, and Olivia next to me scowled at Sylphy.

“It’s not just the school gate. There aren’t any exits—period. Anyone who tries gets sent straight back here before they can even figure out what’s going on. It’s like our own choices are being reversed,” she growled.

“Y-you can look at me all you want! But I swear I don’t have a clue what’s going on!”

Hmm. “Reversed,” huh?

So it could be described as a reversal phenomenon. But what purpose would that serve? What could be accomplished by keeping everyone locked inside the school?

…At any rate, I only had one option.

“Lady Olivia, it would be best to work under the assumption that there are suspects besides Sylphy. It won’t do any good to scold her now.”

“…What makes you think that, Ard Meteor? Got any leads?”

“Nothing at the moment, unfortunately. We should interview witnesses and gather information. Questioning each student is the only way to find clues.”

“Hmph. I’m already losing patience.”

“We should prepare ourselves for a long fight, but only slow and steady will—”

—win the race, I was about to say when the rumbling picked up again.

Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble…

An instant later…my vision grew dark.

…How long have I been out?

An intoxicated sort of dizziness overtook me, and before I could even stop myself…

“Nngh,” I cried out, struck by an odd sensation.

What the…? Was that my voice?

It sounded a bit higher than usual…

Also, what was going on with my body? It felt weirdly light, but my chest was heavy like there was a weight on my shoulders… And my legs were cold. They felt bare.

What is going—?

“Hey. Hey, is that you, Ard?”

I could tell just by the tone that it was Ireena, but not in the pitch I knew. It sounded husky, like an adolescent boy whose voice was on the cusp of breaking.

I opened my eyes, head heavy on my shoulders, and saw…

“N-ngh…”

“O-owie. My head…”

Rubbing their temples with their eyes still closed were Sylphy and Ginny… No, they were guys who looked like them.

The student resembling Ginny was androgynous and beautiful and could easily pass as her younger brother. The other one was exactly Sylphy but with a more masculine face. Both wore the boys’ school uniform. Plus, their voices seemed to cement this theory, but…

“…What the hell’s going on?” A deep and commanding voice seemed to rumble low in my ears. I turned toward the voice next to me.

Standing there was a therianthrope man oozing sex appeal. His limber frame was covered in light armor, and glossy black hair flowed down his back.

As soon as I saw him…his image overlapped with a certain person.

…No way. I broke out in a cold sweat as I contemplated my one theory. Please let me be wrong.

Despite my wishes—

“Hey. Don’t tell me you’re Ard Meteor,” said the therianthrope man with a look of wonder.

“Gaaaaaah! It’s gone! M-my thing is gone!”

“Eeeeeek! What is this? Why is this thing hanging off me?!”

I looked around at the other students.

“It can’t be…! We’re really…!”

My voice was oddly high. Not only that…my suspicions were confirmed as I noticed those soft additions to my chest and realized that something was missing.

“H-hey, Ard. Did we really…?”

I turned toward the owner of the voice, eyes taking in somebody who almost looked like Ireena…

No. Ireena in a male form was standing in front of me.

“Did we really change sexes…?!” Ireena spoke my mind.

“Th-that can’t be…! H-how could I possibly become another sex before I got to know the pleasures that come with my female body…?!” Ginny cried, bursting into tears.

“It feels weird down there. Do you all have to live like this? Can’t say I’m a fan,” Sylphy said with a frown as she looked down at her groin.

Everyone seemed more or less confused…but I managed not to panic, perhaps because of all my various trials and tribulations in life.

The same couldn’t be said for most of the other students.

“I—I can’t get married anymore…!”

“My treasuuuuuure…! Please come baaaaack…!”

In front of the gate glowing in the light of the setting sun, the students began freaking out. And in the middle of all this…a portion of the boys in female forms turned in our direction and murmured under their breaths.

“Is—is that Ireena?”

“And is that Ginny…next to her?”

“M-my Sylphy has turned into a cute little boy…!”

“…I’d still sleep with Lady Olivia.”

Their opinions finally turned to me.

“Hey, who’s that hot chick?”

“Waist-length black hair…tiny waist…and perfect knockers…!”

“She kinda looks like Ard…”

“You can’t be serious…! That’s what he would look like…?!”

“My thing might be gone from between my legs, but I’m getting hard, mentally…!”

The boys in their female forms looked at me like a pack of wild beasts. They weren’t the only ones.

“Huh? You’re kidding. Is that Ard?”

“H-he’s adorable…! Ard…no, Ardette? So cute…!”

“Th-that’s strange. I know we’re both girls, but my heart is beating out of my chest…!”

The girls in their male forms were staring at me with a dangerous glint in their eyes. Before I knew it, everyone who had been wailing only moments before now set their sights on me…

“I think I’m starting to like this new body.”

“Hey. Now I can do all sorts of things with this new Ardette. I love being in this male form.”

“Maybe I’ll find a chance to pin her down…! Hee-hee-hee-hee…!”

Crap. A certain phrase echoed in my mind. It was like I’d just been transported back to my old life, and I recalled the daily trauma of shitheads eyeing me up and down as they tried to get some ass.

And now I was back to where I started…!

“…Lady Olivia, I mentioned before that we should prepare for a long battle. I take it back. We should resolve this as quickly as possible—no matter the cost.”

“…Yeah, I hear you.” She seemed uncomfortable with her current form and gave a solid nod.

I set out to restore my peaceful life as a boy—

Vowing to clear up this problem at hyperspeed, I raced around the school with Ireena and my other new guy friends. We put every effort into gathering information and eyewitness accounts, but unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before we came up empty.

What if we have to stay like this forever?

…I was off my game—perhaps because I’d taken on this new form—compared to usual.

“Don’t worry, Ard! I know we’ll crack the case!”

I got the impression that Ireena—Ireeno, I guessed—seemed almost sharper than usual. Her speech was still feminine, but those chiseled features looked so manly…

Why did she—er, he—make my heart race?

“Huh? What’s wrong, Ard? You’re blushing.”

“I-it’s nothing.”

“…This doesn’t look good. We must resolve the issue immediately.” A dark shadow cast on the androgynous face of Ginny (or Gin), who looked handsome, almost.

Is—is this what some girls think about…?! This is bad…! This is really bad…! Soon enough, I wouldn’t see them the same way…! I was desperately hoping for some sort of clue, but everyone gave the same answer—even after I interviewed a dozen, then two dozen students.

“I’m not really sure… By the way, you’re looking adorable, Ardette. Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee.”

Talking was getting us nowhere.

Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble…

The reversal phenomenon created even more problems.

Day and night swapped next, so the afternoon became morning. Our taste buds were rearranged, so spicy food tasted sweet and vice versa. One new reversal was followed by another…and the school was starting to panic.

“One good thing is that there are no casualties…but I don’t know what will happen next…!” I exclaimed.

I grilled every last person for both the sake of this world and, more importantly, my life. At long last, we came across some useful information. And the one who provided it…was a student in the library.

The library was normally a quiet space, but with everything going on, it was a little chaotic. I called out to one student who quickly caught my eye.

“Um. You’re Carmilla, right?”

“Y-yes. And you’re…Ard?” timidly asked the beautiful white-haired male, who looked powerful and had a measured tone.

My heart can’t handle the juxtaposition.

…My mind felt like it was thinking like a girl might, but I somehow focused and questioned Carmilla.

“Did you notice anything strange today? Anything unrelated to our current predicament is perfectly fine. I would like to hear about any bizarre instances.”

“…I—I came here soon after the commotion started. I remembered reading about a very similar event in a history book recently… I—I thought it might be useful to you, Ard, but…”

She’d apparently forgotten the title and was currently searching at random.

“Th-there is something else, although I don’t know if it will be much help…”

“That’s fine. Please tell me whatever you know.”

“O-okay. There was a commotion among the students in another class about a door that never opens in the dungeon entrance…”

“‘A door that never opens’?”

“Do you remember how we defeated a Minotaur in the dungeon soon after I entered the Academy?”

“…Ah, you must mean the door we found while conducting Ginny’s private lessons.”

“You were as cool as the Demon Lord when you did that, Ard!” Ginny exclaimed, blushing as she wriggled about. It was normally cute…but watching her do it in this body felt weird.

That aside, we already knew where this mysterious door was. Ireena, Ginny, and I had previously entered the depths of the dungeon and defeated a Minotaur boss on one of the levels. We had spotted the giant door on our way back…but were unable to open it at the time.

“I remember being told the door wouldn’t open without an Alumatite Key,” mused Ireena.

“Does anyone have one? …By the way, what is an Alumatite Key?” questioned Ginny.

“Beats me, but is this happening because someone opened the door?” Sylphy tilted her head, and the others followed suit.

I put a hand to my now narrow chin and confirmed our present situation. “The clues are scarce, but we’ll keep up our investigation under the assumption that this door is to blame. Thank you for your help, Carmilla.”

“It—it may take me some time to find that other piece of information…but I’ll do my best…! For you, Ard…and for everyone else…!”

Looking fired up, Carmilla returned to checking the books lined along the shelves.

“What should we do now?”

“An excellent question. For now—” I was about to answer Ireena.

“Daddy!”

“Where are you?!”

…Unfamiliar voices called out in familiar tones. I turned toward the library entrance and saw…

“Is that you, Lumi and Lami?”

…Two sprites turned human. The reversal phenomenon seemed to have affected them…and they were now two cute little boys. Their features were still as sweet as ever, but their frames were much wider than their female forms.

…Do some girls’ hearts race at anything remotely beautiful? I was getting creeped out at myself as my heart started to beat faster.

Lumi and Lami looked at me and tilted their heads.

“Is that you, Daddy?”

“Should we call you Mommy?”

“…That doesn’t matter. It’s me, Ard Meteor. There’s no question about that.”

They broke out in brilliant smiles.

“We finally found you!!”

“Mommy!!”

They jumped at me like puppies greeting their owner.

“You’re so soft, Mommy!”

“And your boobies are so big!”

The twins buried their faces in my soft and plushy chest.

…This is a strange feeling. Are these maternal instincts?

A chill ran through me as I realized I was acting more girly. I faced the twins.

“Y-you sound like you’ve been looking for me. Is something wrong?”

“Ah, right, right.”

“Um, about the weird stuff going on.”

“It’s probably ’cause of the dungeon.”

“We sensed something bad there earlier.”

“Yup.”

Lumi and Lami sounded so casual, despite the gravity of the situation.

“Where exactly did you sense the bad feeling?” I asked.

“Um, it was pretty far down.”

“We were curious, so we went to check it out. Then—”

At that moment, as if trying to interrupt them…

Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble…

The noise started up again. A second later, the unthinkable happened.

Our vision reversed. Up was down, down was up, and…

We all dropped to what used to be the ceiling. Lumi, Lami, and I landed safely, but the others banged their heads pretty hard.

“Gah?!”

“Aaaah?!”

“Eeep?!”

I guessed it was good news that gentle yips were all that came from that. The three tearily rubbed their heads. I was worried about them, of course…but there were other concerns at hand.

“If the world has been flipped upside down, then…!”

A worst-case scenario was playing through my mind…

“Aaaah?!”

“I-I’m faaaalling!”

From a window nearby, I could hear multiple cries echoing outside. I flinched as I looked out the window. Sure enough, the scene was as disastrous as I expected. Now that the world was literally flipped over, the earth was the sky…and the sky was the earth.

It was therefore inevitable that everyone still outside would drop down into the blue sky.

“So the worst has already come…!”

Faced with the worst-case scenario I’d anticipated since the very beginning, I let out a heavy sigh and cast my magic. The first spell was detection magic that pinpointed each student and teacher on campus. After that, I cast flight magic on everyone outside. This would keep them from falling into the sky. I reworked the spell so individuals could control their levitation to a certain degree and find refuge inside the school on their own.

“Phew… The staff and students should be safe for now,” I murmured before turning to the twins. “Let’s continue from where we left off. Was the place you visited…a locked door, perhaps?”

“Uh-huh, sure was.”

“It was open when we got to it!”

“…I see. That settles it, then.”

These incidents were undeniably connected to the locked door. Mortal or otherwise, some unknown force had opened it…and brought us to our present situation.

“Our main issue is whatever was hiding behind the door. Is it now in someone’s possession? Where are they now? We must consider these three points.”

“Perhaps the principal or Lady Olivia would know what was in there?”

“Yes, that is a possibility… Lumi, Lami, please assist Carmilla. The rest of us will go speak with the principal and Lady Olivia.”

“Okay!”

“We’ll do our best, Mommy!”

As Carmilla and the waving twins saw us off, we hurried to the people at the forefront of our minds. I used the detection spell from earlier to locate the principal and Lady Olivia. They seemed to be outside. Using flight magic, Ireena, Ginny, Sylphy, and I raced into the sky.

We soon spotted Olivia, in her male form, who seemed to be assisting students who hadn’t yet evacuated inside.

…Next to her, a lovely, unfamiliar woman was floating in midair as she worked alongside our instructor.

Who was she?

The woman in question looked over at me. “Oh my… Is that you, Ard? And Ireena, Ginny, and Sylphy next to you?”

“Yes, that’s correct…but may I ask who you might be?”

“Oh? Don’t you recognize me? It’s me. Golde, your academy principal.”

…Tell me you’re joking. I wasn’t the only one thinking this. Ireena and the others had the same exact expressions.

How did a bald old man creaking ever closer to senility end up a bombshell? I couldn’t help but feel life was one big mystery.

“…Ard Meteor. Do you have some business with us?”

“A-ah yes. There are a few things I wish to ask.”

I questioned both Olivia and Golde about the locked door in great detail. The gorgeous principal folded his arms and groaned.

“Hmm. That door was around before I became tenured here. I don’t have much to tell you, but I was warned the door must never be opened. And the one who told me this was…”

Golde glanced over at Olivia, a handsome man with folded arms and a conflicted expression.

“That’s right… But that was a long time ago, unfortunately. It’ll take me a while to remember,” Olivia replied with a frown as she looked up at the ground that was now above us.

Just as I was thinking about how cool she looked, which made me feel weird…

“…I remember now. So that’s what happened. I’m sure of it,” Olivia mumbled in understanding.

“…Might we hear your thoughts?”

“Yeah. It all started about a thousand years ago. Verda made a certain magic device.”

Verda. I felt a sense of dread. Ireena, Ginny, and Sylphy seemed to share my sentiment.

Verda Al-Hazard. One of the former Heavenly Kings who served my army. Her entire character could be summed up as…a perverted mad scientist.

“The device itself has a lot going on, and it’d take forever to explain. However…its effect is as basic as basic gets. It seriously messes with the universe and distorts emotion and reason.”

“In other words, it reverses phenomena and concepts?”

“Right… If she’d just made a simpler design, this wouldn’t even be happening.”

“…What do you mean?”

“First of all—the machine looks like a person.”

“A person?”

“Yeah. It’s made to look like a ‘beautiful elf woman,’ and the controls are run by an artificially created sprite contained inside.”

“…Aaaah.” At this point, I already knew the punch line.

…Incidentally, artificial sprites were exactly what they sounded like. They were items created by magic scholars that replicated sprites like Lumi and Lami. Most could only follow preset commands…but anything Verda made was far beyond the usual.

“Her artificial sprite is highly advanced. Not in a good way, of course. It has the same cognitive abilities as a person and acts independently outside preset commands. And one day, it went berserk for some reason.”

“…Aaaah.”

“It was a lot like what’s happening right now. We somehow managed to shut down the device and seal it in the dungeon below the Academy… But now, after a thousand years, it’s back.” Olivia sighed deeply, trying to convey that this was a pain.

Ireena looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“But why was the seal broken? Who was it, and why’d they do it?”

As we began to contemplate her questions…

“It’s all thanks to you, Ard Meteor!”

A new voice rang out of nowhere, and we all turned our heads.

Floating in the cloudless sky below us was a single girl. She looked our age, maybe around fifteen years old, in a revealing outfit that flaunted her tan skin… Her bare hands and feet glared with a white-hot incandescence. She was a strange amalgamation of synthetic and human.

Her identity was obvious.

“You’re the magic device that we’re talking about, I presume?”

“Yup. Call me Nemesis, ’kay?”

“…Well then, Nemesis. Could you explain what you said just a moment ago?”

Nemesis cackled. “You heard me. Thanks for lettin’ me out of there.”

“I don’t recall doing that.”

“Well, yeah, I guess you wouldn’t. It was kinda not on purpose.”

“…What do you mean?”

“All that banging around you’ve been doing in the dungeon lately loosened the seal on the door.”

…Ack. Olivia’s piercing glare stabbed right through me.

“It’s your responsibility, Ard Meteor,” Olivia growled.

“Um, well, I do apologize,” I said to Nemesis. I was starting to sweat. “Please stop what you are doing and return the reversed phenomena to—”

“No way. I’m havin’ too much fun to stop now.”

“‘Fun’?”

“Yup. I love seeing everyone panicking. This is totally awesome.”

“…I see. Could that brain of yours still be running wild?”

I couldn’t tell if she heard my mumbled comment. Nemesis’s lips twisted into a half-moon.

“Ard Meteorrrr. I’m grateful, y’know. As a sign of my gratitude…I’ll give you a hard time before sending you off to the other world, ’kay?”

Nemesis’s voice dripped with malice, and magic circles cropped up around her.

“She’s equipped with offensive capabilities?”

“Yeah, Verda was into that sort of thing,” Olivia explained.

“Well, that certainly is something…” I sighed…

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! DIIIIE!”

A magical barrage consisting of all five major elements came raining down on us. I cast a defensive spell over everyone present, and a semitransparent orb materialized to protect them. The enemy’s flurry of attacks crashed head-on into the bulwark and instantaneously disappeared.

This really was Verda’s handiwork apparently. My shield already had a crack in it.

“…Principal Golde. Lady Olivia. Please evacuate everyone inside the school. I’ll deal with her.”

No objections were raised. The group quickly followed Olivia and the principal and cleared the area. I was now free to fight as I pleased… Or so I thought.

“Hey, don’t think you can get away that easy.” Nemesis flashed me a wicked smile and began to sparkle a split second later. The rumbling sound soon began anew, and—

“H-huh?!”

“W-weren’t we in the school just now?”

“…I see. We’ve been blocked.”

Ireena and the others stood confused in front of the building’s entrance. Only Olivia and I realized what was going on.

“You’ve reversed their desired actions, I take it?”

“You got it. I’ll even throw in a bonus.” Nemesis’s entire body glowed once more, and the rumbling started back up. “Ard Meteorrrr. Aren’t these kids important to you?”

Nemesis’s lips twisted into another half-moon, and multiple circles appeared around her a second later. Soon after, magic attacks came shooting out of them.

But not at me. They were aimed at Ireena, Ginny, and Sylphy.

“…Leave it to me.”

Olivia faced the oncoming attacks with lightning speed. She stepped forward to shield the three girls, unsheathed her blade, and sliced at a rate of over a hundred times per second. Normally, every bit of magic that Nemesis could dish out would have disappeared under Olivia’s skilled swordplay, but…

“Ngh…!”

For some reason, a portion of the magic failed to vanish and struck Olivia directly. Masses of rock crashed into her body and sent the therianthrope mercilessly flying.

“L-Lady Olivia?!”

“…Stay focused. I’m not that hurt.” A stream of fresh blood dripped down her forehead.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! How do you like that, Ard Meteor?! Upsetting, isn’t it?! Seeing them get hurt bothers you, right?!”

“…You think you can upset me with that?”

To be honest, I wasn’t flustered in the least. Nemesis’s cheeks puffed out at my indifference.

“Hmmm. In that case…I guess I’ll have to keep attacking until you are!”

Another array of magic circles unleashed a torrent of attacks. Unsurprisingly, her targets were still Ireena and the others.

“I won’t allow that.”

I constructed a technique of my own and cast a protective spell over everyone. Mega Wall was an impregnable fortress packed with dozens of layers. Normally, nothing stood a chance of breaking past it…but as soon as Nemesis’s attacks hit it head-on, the force field shattered as it counteracted the enemy.

Ireena and the others…seemed to be okay somehow.

As I checked on them, I mumbled briefly to myself. “…Hmph, I see. So that’s it.”

My wall—completely indestructible under normal circumstances—had been pulverized. Olivia and I already figured out the trick to it…but Ireena and Ginny didn’t seem to have a clue.

“Y-you’re joking, right…?!”

“W-wasn’t that last spell an incredibly powerful one? For it to crumble so easily…”

Observing their confusion, a grin came to Nemesis’s lips as if she’d already won.

“I can’t take all the credit. In all honesty, I’m super-weak. But Ard Meteor…that’s exactly why you can’t beat me.” she mused scornfully.

I maintained my cool as I alluded to her little trick.

“It…has to do with reversing the roles of the weak and strong, correct?”

Her smile deepened. “Bingo! The strong become the weak! And the weak become the strong! So I’m the most powerful one here! No one stands a chance against me!”

Nemesis thrust her chest out while the others started to panic.

“The strong become the weak, and the weak become the strong…?!”

“The stronger you are, the weaker you become…! At this rate, she’ll be Ard’s greatest threat…!”

As Ireena and Ginny saw it, Nemesis’s powers broke all the rules. Their expressions made it clear that they could see no path to victory, making them feel desperate.

Although faint, there was a streak of doubt in Olivia, my big sister of sorts.

“…Need any help, Ard Meteor?”

I smiled at her offer and shook my head. “No. That won’t be necessary, Lady Olivia.”

“…But you won’t win at this rate.”

“You’re right. I have no chance. That’s why—” I looked from Olivia to Nemesis. “I’ll resolve the situation without winning.”

My voice was brimming with confidence, but to Nemesis, I must have sounded like a loser who didn’t know when to quit.

“Keh-keh-keh-keh-keh! Resolve it if you can!”

A deluge of attack magic came flying at me. My smile never faded.

“You seem to think strength alone determines victory. However…”

I faced my self-assured foe with my own brand of confidence.

“I, Ard Meteor, shall teach you that anyone with that attitude is inferior.”

As the attack closed in on me…I purposefully did nothing. Inevitably, it was a direct hit. Lightning struck my innards; flames burned my skin. Icicles pierced my entire body. Rocks crushed my bones.

“Keh-keh-keh-keh-keh! You were just tryin’ to act cool, huh? Faaail!” Nemesis cackled.

However, an instant later…she noticed a strangeness in the space around her, and that smile soon faded. “That’s weird. It’s too quiet. Something’s going—”

Her words were cut off, and a drastic shift began. The inverted campus slowly began to warp…and become a completely different space altogether.

There was nothing but white. White as far as the eye could see. As if traveling back in time, my body started to become whole once more.

“Wh-what did you do, Ard Meteor?!”

Nemesis felt nervous for the first time, and she unleashed more of her magic. In return, I did nothing. I just let it hit me without defending or counterattacking. And yet again, my body was pulverized.

However, a moment later…my wounds healed as if time had turned back on itself.

“Wh-what…?! What did you do…?!”

Nemesis was now really irritated, and I grinned at her.

“You and I are currently sealed within an Eigen Space. Time is fixed here. Both of us will remain in perfect health. Even if we are injured, we’ll soon return to normal. Just as you saw a moment ago.”

I smiled gently and continued. “I cannot beat you. However, at the same time…you cannot defeat me in this space. Our only option here…is to talk it out.”

“Talk it out…?!”

“Yes. You’re running wild at the moment, and I will do my best to persuade you until you’re back to your usual self.”

“Keh! Keh-keh-keh-keh-keh! You’re dumb. You think I’d actually agree—”

“I agree it’s probably pointless, but I shall do my best at any rate. After all, we have plenty of time. You might say we have…an eternity.”

I must have had a disquieting smile, because Nemesis’s composure broke for the second time.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You heard me. Time is permanently fixed here, and it has no effect on the outside. In other words…no matter how much time passes, it will seem like nothing more than an instant to the outside world. Therefore…”

I spoke in a perfectly relaxed and mild tone.

“I will continue to persuade you until you return to normal. Even if it takes ten billion years…or more.”

Finally realizing the situation she was in, Nemesis called off her attacks.

“Violence is not the only way to end a fight. It’s possible to talk it out on occasion. You might say our current predicament is a textbook example of that.”

Unlike Nemesis slick in sweat, I beamed at her as I made my offer.

“Well then, shall we get started?”

I had prepared myself for a long haul of a hundred million years or so…but Nemesis returned to normal surprisingly fast. It only took 240,018 years. The pace worked to my advantage. Everything returned to normal as soon as we arrived back in the real world…

And now, we were back to our usual lives.

In our classroom at the Academy, we prepared to head to the dining hall for lunch. Just then…

“Master! I, Nemesis, have made lunch for you today!”

…It would be a bit inaccurate to say everything was the same as before. More specifically, there was a new addition to the class.

Nemesis.

When deciding on how to deal with the artificial sprite after she stopped going crazy, I felt bad sealing her away again. So I became her supervisor of sorts. As a result, Nemesis was now a student of the Academy, and I was keeping her constantly at my side to make sure she stayed out of trouble. However…

Was this her original self, or did our discussion unscrew some bolts in her head?

Nemesis now called me “Master” and diligently hovered over me like some kind of servant.

“Oh. There are breadcrumbs on your mouth, Master. I’ll wipe them away for you!”

“…Why are you getting so close to my face?”

“To wipe them away with my tongue!”

“…I’ll pass. I can do it myself.”

Ireena and Ginny clearly didn’t appreciate Nemesis’s clinginess.

“Can’t we do something about that?”

“I’m in the middle of devising a plan to toss her into the garbage. Please give me a bit more time.”

Meanwhile, among the boys…

“He’s done it again.”

“Damn, I’m jealous.”

Not too long ago, they had been burning with murderous rage…but lately their gazes had been strangely lukewarm. There was one reason for this…

“Ardette was seriously a cutie.”

“Maybe he can transform into that body again. Let’s ask Nemesis.”

“No way; he’s hot the way he is. After everything that’s happened, I think I can see why Ard is so popular.”

…There you have it. I gained a new friend and new problems. A thought bubbled up from the depths of my soul.

Why did things turn out this way?