Protagonist Behavior (Laugh)

"Senior Azer?"

Toudou Kirin froze when she saw Azer appear before her.

"You?"

Yulis also spotted Azer and spoke in surprise.

The surrounding spectators looked at one another at first, then began speaking up one after another.

"It's Gale Blade Lightning and the Surging Star Magic Sword...!"

"They came too?"

"That just now was..."

"An attack?"

The crowd broke into discussion.

"Are you two all right?"

Amagiri Ayato ran over as well, looking nervous enough that anyone unaware of the situation might have thought those two surprise arrows had something to do with him.

"Are you all right?"

Azer glanced at Amagiri Ayato before turning to Toudou Kirin and asking.

"I-I'm fine." Toudou Kirin finally came to her senses, bowed to Azer, and said, "Thank you for saving me just now, Senior."

Azer did not accept the thanks.

"Even without me, you probably would have reacted in time." Azer sheathed the Black Furnace Magic Sword. "If anything, I may have meddled unnecessarily."

Come to think of it, how could a single surprise arrow possibly do anything to this academy's Ranked First?

But before he had time to think that through, he had moved on instinct. Azer could only spread his hands helplessly at his own delayed realization.

"That's not true... Ah! Right!"

Toudou Kirin shook her head repeatedly at Azer, then turned to Yulis and asked timidly.

"Are you all right too, Senior?"

That question finally made Yulis realize what had happened.

"I'm fine." Yulis looked at Toudou Kirin, then at Azer, before sighing and saying seriously, "It seems you two saved me. Thank you."

With that, Yulis unexpectedly lowered her head slightly toward Azer and Toudou Kirin in gratitude.

"N-No need."

Toudou Kirin shook her head, seeming a little embarrassed.

"Toudou saved you. I had little to do with it."

Azer naturally had no intention of taking credit. As Yulis lowered her head, he shifted slightly to the side and avoided her bow.

In truth, Azer had not expected things to develop this way.

Nothing like this had happened in the original story. Toudou Kirin should not have appeared here, and he himself had nothing to do with this place. The one who saved Yulis should have been Amagiri Ayato, who was now standing beside them. Neither Azer nor Toudou Kirin had any role in it at all.

That was why Azer had been quite surprised when he saw Toudou Kirin rush out to save Yulis.

"Looks like the butterfly effect caused by me, an outsider, is about to gradually begin."

Azer pondered silently.

While Azer was lost in thought and Toudou Kirin was feeling somewhat restless, Yulis still wore a serious expression.

"No matter what, the fact remains that you saved me. I'll remember this favor."

As she spoke, Yulis turned and glared at Amagiri Ayato.

"And you, our duel isn't over yet!"

Hearing that, Amagiri Ayato once again wore a miserable expression.

"Um... can't we just let this whole thing go?"

Amagiri Ayato tried to struggle.

He did not want to fight Yulis again. It felt like he had provoked a humanoid cannon, and he had nearly been blown off his feet.

If they kept fighting like that, then to avoid being burned to charcoal, he would have no choice but to release the seal inside him.

"Don't even think about weaseling out of this!" Yulis had no intention of letting Amagiri Ayato escape. She said fiercely, "You should be grateful I haven't handed you over to the Security Team already. If you don't even dare accept a duel, then don't blame me!"

In other words, if Amagiri Ayato refused to duel her, she would report him to the Security Team.

If that happened, Amagiri Ayato would earn the title of "pervert who broke into the Girls' Dormitory" on his very first day after transferring in—a title even Azer would respectfully decline.

"I..."

Amagiri Ayato opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but seeing Yulis's utterly uncompromising expression, he could only give up struggling.

"Um... could you two please calm down?"

Seeing this, Toudou Kirin at the side became somewhat at a loss.

It was obvious that, with her personality, she simply could not handle something like this.

As for Azer... well, he was still watching the show.

Fortunately, a savior appeared at the crucial moment.

"Whatever the case, how about we stop gathering here first?"

A light laugh cut in and broke the deadlock.

"You are all outstanding students ranked near the top of our academy. If you continue gathering here, more and more people will come to watch, you know?"

The person who entered with that unconcerned laugh was naturally Claudia.

The beautiful Student Council President made a dazzling entrance amid the crowd's cries of surprise, instantly drawing away more than half the attention that had been focused on Azer and the others.

"Claudia!"

"P-President!"

Yulis and Toudou Kirin reacted in turn to Claudia's arrival. One showed displeasure, while the other hurriedly bowed.

As Azer looked at Claudia, he discreetly examined her complexion.

At first glance, Claudia seemed no different from before, her face still carrying that calm, composed smile.

Azer could not spot anything unusual and could only mutter to himself inwardly.

"It's been some time since that night. I wonder how she's doing now..."

Unfortunately, Claudia was too normal. There was not the slightest obvious change to be seen, making Azer wonder whether Pandora had been merely paying lip service to him.

"You are...?"

Amagiri Ayato, the only person present who had never met Claudia, seemed somewhat dazzled by her astonishing beauty and poise as he asked cautiously.

"Hello, Amagiri Ayato." Claudia greeted Amagiri Ayato with remarkable familiarity, as though she had known him for a long time, and smiled. "I'm Claudia Enfield, more or less the Student Council President of this academy."

"Claudia." Yulis cut in, making no effort to hide her displeasure. "Why did you barge in here? Are you trying to stop my duel?"

"Ordinarily, as long as both parties agree to a duel between students, no one may interfere. Those are the rules." Claudia's smile did not fade as she addressed Yulis. "But something seems to have happened just now, and even Toudou and Azer got involved. How about we leave it at that for now?"

Yulis frowned deeply but did not argue.

"Student Council President." Seeing that Yulis was no longer pressing him, Amagiri Ayato visibly breathed a sigh of relief before hesitating and speaking to Claudia. "That just now was someone attacking from the shadows, right? Is that allowed?"

With Amagiri Ayato speaking up, the topic was smoothly diverted.

"Of course that is prohibited, so I'll have the Disciplinary Committee search the scene." As Claudia spoke, she turned to Azer and Toudou Kirin. "Azer and Toudou were the first to discover the attack. Did either of you see what the attacker looked like?"

Azer was the first to answer.

"I didn't see the attacker. I only noticed someone was firing a surprise arrow from nearby after seeing Toudou react strangely."

Azer's words made everyone turn to look at Toudou Kirin.

"U-Um..."

Being watched by so many people, all of them seniors from the Senior High Department, Toudou Kirin could no longer suppress her nervousness as she spoke timidly.

"I-I only saw someone by the window of that building over there, holding a crossbow-type Huang-style Armament aimed at Senior Lisfeelt. That person was wearing a black robe, so I don't know what they looked like either..."

The building Toudou Kirin pointed to was quite far away. Everyone looked over together, but none of them could make out what was happening inside the window.

"Toudou, your eyesight is truly impressive."

Claudia spoke, though it was unclear whether she was surprised or admiring.

"I-I've had good eyesight since I was little. My family always said I often saw strange things."

Toudou Kirin's bashful appearance made everyone find her somewhat adorable, unconsciously relaxing their expressions.

Amagiri Ayato in particular even raised one hand for a moment before hurriedly lowering it once he came to his senses, giving Azer a strange look.

Was this guy about to use his harem-protagonist skill, the head pat?

Please stop with the harem-protagonist behavior! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Please bookmark! Please invest! Please support! ヽ(°▽°)ノ