Highschool DxD: A New Opportunity - Chapter 42

Part 1

MC’s POV

Lost in thoughts, I did a simple calculation about the most awkward moments in my new life. It has been a short life, however, those moments were quite numerous. That said, right now I am facing one that could rank among the top three.

How shy is this girl? I mean, Rossweisse-san has been sitting in from of me since Gondul-san left without saying anything. She just sips her tea and lets her gaze meet mine, however, she quickly evades it when I try to put on a kind smile. Am I that ugly? I think I at least inherited 1% of Kaa-san’s looks so it can’t be that bad. Regardless of my conundrum, I think this has to end. It has been an hour already so that is more than enough in my opinion.

I wouldn’t blame Rossweisse-san for this though, I was kind of mesmerized by her appearance. She is beautiful, truly. She is in her teens, a much younger appearance from the canon but her beauty is hard to deny. Not to mention, couple with her shy gestures… Her destructive power is insane.

Nonetheless, it is time I say something, she must be feeling confused (more or less like me) about his sudden situation. Her surprised expression from before is proof that she was not aware of me until that moment.

“…eh, Rossweisse-san? My apologies, you ended up with the burden to teach me due to my handle on the situation. I indeed wanted to learn what I could about magic, but I don’t want to get in your way. You have a busy schedule thanks to your classes so it would be selfish of me to take your study time.” I said.

This girl was so amazing that she slipped many grades to reach college at this age. I don’t know the real requirements to call someone a genius, but Rossweisse-san is close to that.

“Ah, no, don’t worry. I should be the one apologizing. My grandma, I mean, grandmother can be whimsical sometimes. Suddenly leaving and dumping all the responsibilities on someone like must be tough for you, I believe you were expecting to learn from a great magician like her, but in the end, you are stuck with me.” Rossweisse-san smiled wryly.

Uh? Her way to express herself tickled me off a little. Her self-confidence issues seem to be something natural for her since she just spoke that way about herself.

“That is wrong, it is an honor to be taught by you. Not every day you get to be taught by such incredible beauty, who is such prodigy as well.” I spoke. “Your accomplishments are amazing, to reach college at this age.”

I kind of ended up complimenting her appearance just like her skills.

She giggled softly with a blush on her face, but before I mentally cheered, she put on a wry smile on her face.

“…that is not true. I am not capable, as a magician, I am a failure.” Rosseweisse-san closed her eyes. “I failed at meeting everyone’s expectations and I will probably fail at meeting yours. You shouldn’t expect that much from me, I have no such a thing as talent, I have simply worked hard in my studies because I am not as smart as others, I had to give it my all.”

I inwardly frowned. On the outside, I kept a neutral expression after I heard her words. This child, I wonder if I could do something about her. She is still young, and while her effort for studying is commendable, I recall that in the Canon she commented how she had acted during her student days. Slightly cold to others who did not work hard, she hardly had a social life. Rossweisse-san is a clumsy person who truly gave her all, but she always felt inferior.

“I think you are amazing, and not even Rossweisse-san can change my thoughts. I want you to be my teacher in magic, not Gondul-san, or any other skilled magician, but none other than Rossweisse-san.” I declared. “If you can’t understand your worth, I will make sure to teach you.”

Those words left my mouth before I could even register them in my head.

Who cares about her family crest? She is the girl whose notes and essay helped to create a countermeasure against the worst beast. Such a person calls herself a failure? Then no one else is qualified to call themselves a success. Even if she has yet to do that, I know of her potential. Maybe, at this point, she has yet to discover her real talents, what she is truly capable of. It must’ve been bitter for her, to look for a way to make her family proud. This silly girl did not consider that none of her family truly blamed her.

I recalled a brief conversation I had with Gondul-san after I left the bath, and my determination only got stronger. It is time for Nora, the busybody, to act… or so I would like to say. I hardly know a thing about her situation.

“Awawawa.” Rossweisse-san panicked.

The cute creature just got cuter, but I suppressed my protective instincts to avoid my impulses of jumping and cuddling her to act. She is not like the ones at home, we bȧrėly know each other. That said, she was regaining her bearings.

“Eh, no, listen to me, Nora…? You see, I think you don’t know what you are saying, I am happy with the words you said, but the likes of me, teaching someone…” Rossweisse-san mumbled.

Here it comes, she is overwhelmed and is trying to back off, her low self-confidence is acting up again. No, maybe is just her being humble, if she jumped in and arrogantly said to leave to her, I don’t think she would be Rossweisse-san. Reserved and humble are part of her personality traits, however, she is weak to pressure too. Calm me a cunning b*stars, but I have another plan.

Jumping down my chair, I briskly walked her way with my head lowered. She trembled slightly and my guilt made me want to stop, but I pushed forward. Showing again my Nekomata traits, I stood beside her and immediately took her hand.

“It has to be you, please, Rossweisse-san!” I muttered.

To keep my ace hidden, I still did not show my eyes or expression.

No choice, Miss White Rose, you pushed me this far, take this, secret technique-

“I see, is it because of me? Do you dislike cats? I see, I knew that some people disliked black cats, but to go this far.” I spoke in a regretful tone and finally raised my head. “Can’t you teach me? Am I no good? Please…”

Mustering the most pitiful tone I could, and managing a sad expression, I even lowered my ears and tails, with eager eyes, I used the technique that once let me get to pet Yasaka-san’s tails.

For some reason, she blushed, but I think it is from shame. She was no good with males as I recall, and another thing about her is-

“AH! ALRIGHT! I ACCEPT! I JUST GOTTA DO IT, RIGHT!? BRING IT ON!” Rossweisse-san stood up full of drive.

With a determined expression, she simply accepted my plea. As expected from the brash girl who became a devil just because she thought she was fired. At that time she could’ve gone back using magic but she ended up as a devil. She resembles the reckless Xenovia in that regard.

“You want me to teach you? Very well, this Rossweisse won’t hold back so you better prepare yourself.” Rossweisse-san said.

Her face got awfully close to mine as she muttered that, and the poor me blushed. Damn it, that was a sneak attack, even though I try to avoid this kind of close encounter, girls can be quite sneaky. The young me is still not prepared to keep a straight face. I noticed that I was blushing from the reflection I saw in her eyes, so you can imagine how close we are.

Well, her bravado did not last long as I could see in real-time how her face turned redder and redder until-

Slightly enjoying the situation, I carefully held her from falling. The precious valkyrie needs some rest so I will take her to her room for that.

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After letting her ‘sleep’ comfortably, and tugging her in bed, I went downstairs. If I am going to live here for a while, I should make some preparations on the other side, I got my phone (Suzaku’s gift) modified for a bit, thanks to it, I can have phone calls even this far away. I can use the token to contact Yasaka-san, but Shizuku-san, Marion-san, and Suzaku-san are different cases. I left my two employees working on something so I need to have a way to contact them… Suzaku-san would get lonely if I don’t message once in a while so it was a necessary expense.

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Now then, I did a simple check-up and contacted Yasaka-san who was laughing more than usual for some reason, I felt that out of place but I have learned that Yasaka-san might have a screw loose sometimes so I left it be.

With that finished… Should I go for some training? I am trying to use the technique that Shirone obtained at the Trials, but I am having some troubles with it. I wonder if I leave to her… will I be able to see Shirone V2 with my own eyes? That sounds interesting.

Rossweisse’s POV

It was a little awkward for her, she had indeed fainted but she regained her consciousness while she was carried upstairs. Rossweisse’s heart was pounding hard from shame, and she can’t deny that the words that her grandmother once told her crossed her mind. She wondered if the child who was nonchalantly lifting her was a bad man, and she slightly trembled when he laid her in bed. However, he simply tugged her gently in bed, he only left after ċȧrėssing her hair softly. His actions were surprising for her, and it seemed that for him too since he apologized for doing what he was used to. Nevertheless, he did nothing else.

When the door closed, she opened her eyes. Her hand couldn’t help but move to the place she ċȧrėssed. She has stayed away from anything related to a relationship with a man, and now she got a fiance all of sudden, Rossweisse is truly clueless about how to proceed, but her grandmother despite liking to joke sometimes is someone trustworthy who has always put her well being first. Marriage is out of the question for many reasons so she will put it aside. However, that still leaves her with an apprentice who is too eager to be taught by her, one that will live with her for a while.

“Hehe.” Rossweisse giggled.

Thinking about it, he was a funny child. Does he not know how famous her grandmother is? To say that he prefers to be taught by her instead of her grandma… he is an amusing individual.

Nora, was it? It was amazing how he was able to speak the same language despite his age, from what he showed before, he had a pair of soft-looking cat ears and tails, that would make him a non-human. Going by his characteristics and the slips of the tongue where her grandmother used another language, he should be Japanese, a Nekomata. She briefly wondered if he could also read German. It would be taught to teach him otherwise, or maybe she could use translation magic.

That would be a good idea.

“Eh? Why am I already onto the idea of teaching?” Rossweisse curiously commented.

Suddenly, she felt an outburst of aura nearby. Even though her grandmother’s villa had several spells that concealed the use of the magic of supernatural abilities from the regular folks in the town, it did not make it less dangerous for such a thing to appear near the village.

Hastily opening her window, she located the origin of the outburst. Immediately, she jumped down from the second floor and ran to the location.

When she arrived, she could bȧrėly make a figure larger than her, black hair, and a wide back, with his back turned to her, she could not see his face until she turned his head back, although the pair of cat tails on his back seemed familiar. That feeling got stronger when she saw his face, a handsome visage, and a wry smile adorned his face, but before she could mutter anything, the young man turned smaller, to a figure she could recognize. A child that had around ten years old, Nora.

“My apologies, honestly, I did not think it would even work. I must’ve startled you while you slept.” Nora apologized.

Rossweisse raised her alertness for a bit, did he hide his true form? Is he actually older than what he looks? She is bȧrėly accepting the idea of cohabitating with a child, but a young man is more than what her poor heart can handle.

“What was that…?” Rossweisse inquired.

If he tried to gloss over the subject, she will have to take measures, there is always the possibility that he might’ve fooled her grandmother, no matter how small that possibility is, she will have to distrust her grandma’s judgment.

“Oh, nothing much. A certain technique, developed by a certain Nekomata. She created a way to combine Senjutsu and Touki inside her body, as a result, her firepower grew, along with her body. I am not completely sure what was her real objective at the beginning, but…” Nora shrugged his shoulders. “It is not like I will have the opportunity to ask. That said, I lack the talent and abilities she had. I am not the main character, just a simple cat.”

Ignoring the last part that sounded like nonsense, Rossweisse could hardly find any faults in what he said given the little knowledge she has regarding Youkais techniques. Nonetheless, she did not think it would be easy to accomplish from the get-go. It aroused her curiosity though, foreign techniques are always used as a source of inspiration for magicians.

Standing in front of her, Nora held a small book to her.

“I have this copy here, originally I did not get that technique, but someone else did. I just copied it here. You can ignore anything written with pencil, those are my own ideas and interpretations. Wait, can you even read it?” Nora furrowed his eyebrows.

Feeling a little surprised, Rossweisse did not reply. She did not expect to be given this out of the blue, it sound like an impressive technique and he just gave it to her. Nonetheless, what surprised her more was the content. She could not read Japanese, but even without understanding what was written, her eyes widened. Beautiful calligraphy was used to write the instructions to follow, or so she believes. However, the sheer number of notes the boy wrote in pencil was a little overwhelming. He was the one who wrote everything, and she could tell that he has studied the booklet a lot judging by the state it is.

Regaining her wits, she recalled her translation spell.

“Unravel the message in front of me, Translate” Rossweisse chanted.

Following her simple spell, the words changed to fit the appropriate language of the caster after a magical circle briefly appeared above the book. It did not physically alter the book, but more like it affected her mind to understand the language.

“Oh, it seems I don’t have to worry then.” Nora commented.

She felt slightly guilty but she could only ignore him again. Her sight was focused on the boy’s notes. Her hands gently ċȧrėssed his notes, the pages looked a bit faded, and some even looked like they got wet. Taking a look at Nora, she finally noticed that he was drenched in sweat. Did he practice and start to make notes as soon as he finished? Was that why the pages looked like that? He seemed to be working hard since he started practicing this technique. Someone who worked hard, if it is like that.

“Nora, I will do my best to teach you.” Rossweisse muttered.

If he puts his mind to learning her teachings just like with the technique, then he is someone she would like to teach.

“Oh, motivated? A motivated Rossweisse-san is a motivated Nora. Just tell me what to do, and I will do so. I will do my best to not get in the way of your studies.” Nora exclaimed.

Extending his hand, he held it in front of her. Was he asking for the book?

Rossweisse gave it back, but he smiled bitterly. Taking it back, he extended his hand again.

His actions confused her so she tilted her head.

“No, no, don’t tilt your head cutely. It is a handshake, ah, forget it. It is embarrassing…” Nora tried to take his hand back.

Nevertheless, after understanding his intent, she extended hers and caught his.

“It will be a pŀėȧsurė working with you, Nora-kun.” Rossweisse uttered.

She recalled that the suffix ‘-kun’ was used for younger guys in Japan. Rossweisse does not know a lot about that place but she might learn a bit to make him feel more comfortable in his stay.

She managed to surprise him a little with the handshake or the suffix because he widened his eyes.

“Those are my words, it will be a pŀėȧsurė.” Nora smiled.

*Growl*

It did not take long for her face to heat up. Rossweisse’s stomach did not make a cute sound to point out that it was hungry.

“Shall we get something to eat?” Nora looked at her with warm eyes.

Avoiding his eyes, she just nodded.

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Even though Nora insisted that he had enough food saved in his pouch, Rossweisse still took her grandmother’s money and decided to head out to buy groceries. She was not going to take advantage of him again, it was enough with the cookies earlier.

Thankfully, there is a place in town that sold most of the necessary stuff at a good price so she could expect a good deal when buying. Nonetheless, Nora was adamant at following her and would not back down. She told him that there was no need but he even started joking about how a husband can’t leave her wife alone. She got shy and meekly accepted, otherwise, she got the feeling he would continue to tease her until she gave up, something he later confirmed.

She came to understand a bit of his personality, he is mischievous.

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Walking amidst the streets of her town, she kept a stoic mask. Even now, she could feel several gazes on her. She has not been at this place in a while, but she could hardly forget. The gazes that always judged her.

In town, there were regular people, for the most part, however, there were some who were aware of the other side of the world, and they knew about her family. Not to mention, how she failed to inherit her family’s crest.

It is not as bad as when it first happened, but part of her could still remember how they would look at her and whisper among themselves. About her failure, and how she was not what everyone expected.

A sigh left her mouth before she was even aware of it, and it would’ve been like usual if she had been alone, however, she noticed a new kind of gaze on her, one she was not familiar with.

“Is there something bothering you? No, is it someone? Tell me who that is. I can legally beat someone and get away with it for the most part. Scratch that, I know how to get away with it even without getting found out.” Nora directed a grim glare at the surrounding people who peeked at her.

That made them hastily stop their actions. It seemed that the boy was able to successfully scare them off.

“No! Don’t hurt anyone.” Rossweisse panicked.

She was not sure how serious he was, but different from the way he looked at her, he was staring with unfriendly eyes at the places she was being glared from.

“You are too kind. If they are bullying you, I can take care of it. Those who make Rossweisse-san cry deserve a beating or two.” Nora clicked his tongue. “Very well, I will follow what you ask me to. It seems like plan A is a no.”

Somehow, she felt scared to ask about what this plan was about. It was a guess based on her instincts, but she will most likely get a headache.

“That said, I don’t really understand why you are stopping me. They are being mean to you, I don’t get why you stand up for them.” Nora questioned.

That was a valid point, and she could easily answer him with ‘violence is not the solution’, or maybe with ‘it was not something that bothered her’. However, the first one is true, but she felt the reason falling short of what was on her mind. The second one would be a lie, it saddened her to hear their comments about her so it was obvious that it bothered her.

“Nora-kun, I want… to be recognized by them, I want them to acknowledge my efforts. I might not be the perfect heir they expected, but I will show them how I will become a successful magician, one that wouldn’t lose to Grandma.” Rossweisse spoke. “I do not know how long that will take, but I want to do that.”

Somehow, she felt refreshed. At college, she did not hang out with any friends, she only reunited with other people for study sessions and it was only with a few individuals that kept high grades like herself. She sacrificed her social life, all for her future. Nonetheless, she found it strange, but Rosseweisse felt like speaking about this with the boy was ok. Maybe it was on a whim, or perhaps, she felt comfortable with him. She was not sure, but their strange relationship might be one of the reasons. It will take her longer to understand the real reason.

“As expected, Rossweisse-san is amazing.” Nora smiled. “It might not be too much, but you have my full support. I will make sure that no one bothers you again, they will understand how amazing you are.”

Smiling wryly, Rossweisse did not pay much attention to his words. However, it wouldn’t take long for her to truly understand how serious he was.

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“Rossweisse-san, are you picking a fight with me?” Nora stared at her with an unamused expression. “I know that you are trying to be considerate, but remember this, I am a cat, but now a cat, ok?”

Sweating coldly, Rossweisse lowered her hand that was pointing at a fish that was in display. They were walking around a certain street where many people had stalls and stores that dealt with food going from meat to vegetables. She, who had offered him to prepare him a dish made of fish, did not think he would act that way. That said, she could hardly blame, Rosseweisse did imagine him happily eating fish, and in that image, he had his ears and tails out.

“*Sigh* I know you do not mean anything bad, but you imagined me as a cat, huh.” Nora scratched his head.

Slightly guilty, she avoided his eyes.

“What to do with you?” Nora spoke. “I know you might want to offer some hospitability, but I am happier if you are comfortable. This Nora will show you what he is capable of.”

As soon as he said that, he ran off… to a book store nearby. Nora did not take long before coming back with a small book a local cuisine. Lightly checking the book, he closed it after nodding a few times.

“Alrighty, I think I get it. Be prepared, I will prepare the best Rinderroulade and Bratkartoffeln you have ever tasted, and there will be a dessert too, Rote grütze and Apfelkuchen mit Mürbeteig. Hehe, don’t go falling for me after tasting my dishes.” Nora laughed and ran off again.

It was the second time, but he started to buy stuff with reckless abandon. Where did he get the money? She did not hand him anything. However, that was not good, he is not looking for better prices.

“Nora-kun!” Rossweisse ran after the boy.

She must protect their funds, after all, they must survive together until her grandmother comes back.

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The dining table was full of food, more than what you would consider enough for two people. However, Rossweisse did not complain. Taking turns to eat rouladen and bratkartoffeln, she alternated between the different dishes.

Nora had offered her other dishes besides what he promised, but she felt bad for making him do it so she told him to cook something simple. Rossweisse expected him to have trouble cooking due to his young age, but he moved perfectly fine in the kitchen. He did not have any issues preparing the dishes either. Part of her distrusted his cooking skills for a bit, she was not sure how good would the dish end up, but she was glad to have underestimated him.

Even though she found her appearance a tad shameful, she could not deny that the taste was great. That said, if she did not like it a lot, she would be hiding in a hole already. The warm eyes Nora directed at her as she continuously ate was something hard to bear. Not to mention, the moment where she choked after filling her mouth too much. The boy helped her and gave her a glass of water after telling her ‘the food won’t run away, you can slowly’. That was embarrassing, however, she decided to throw away her shame. Rosseweisse was hungry after all. She wondered how the desserts will taste, he worked even harder making those.

Sipping some water, she resolved herself to teach Nora the best of her abilities to repay this food.

Part 2

MC’s POV

The poor Valkyrie must’ve been starved, after eating those large portions of food, she hastily ran to her room, not before letting me know that tomorrow we will start our classes.

I was a little excited at the prospect of using magic. As a devil, I should be able to use magic more easily, only if I could use my demonic powers without fearing for those damned side effects. I have tried to use them before but once in a while, I get this painful feeling over my body and have to stop before it starts running rampant.

So far, I have used Youjutsu, and unfortunately, Yasaka-san has been too busy to teach me. I complained more than once about how she had plenty of time to force me to bake stuff, but she just acts like she can’t hear me. That Yasaka-san, she is too into sweets. I considered asking Kuroka-chan once, but her explanations were a bit… how to say it, abstract, yeah. Think of this and do that, or just start writing this in the air, and bam. Did you understand? No? Well, I had the same trouble. Perhaps she is still too small to teach others, or I am just dumb.

One of the good things is that my language ability will be a huge help at the time I need to study, I can just grab any book and won’t have to bitterly translate it to read it.

Nonsense aside, I will take another stroll around the town. I need some ideas to come up with a way to have those death-seeking people acknowledge the precious valkyrie.

First of all, you start by gathering information. I made more of those Apfelkuchen mit Mürbeteig to bribe- I mean, to gather Intel easily.

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“The child with silvery-white hair? She started to look gloomy one day and then she stopped ȧssociating with people around here. What is this? It tastes great.”

An older man near the Gondul’s villa commented after being bribed- I mean, wholeheartedly convinced by my speech.

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“That Missy stopped acting kind toward us, she no longer played with us.”

“She used to share candies with us, but now she just goes home whenever she arrives here.”

“Big brother! Please share more with us! The ȧduŀts are mean, they have been preparing to sell all the apples and wouldn’t gift us any.”

Some children playing nearby told me when I asked a little. Escaping from them probed to be harder, their sweet tooth was driving them forward.

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“I am not completely sure about the details, but many folks around here know that it is thanks to the older lady in the villa that we have a peaceful life here. Our safety is mostly guaranteed, unlike it happens a few towns away. I heard that some people went missing, and the number continued to grow. Can I have another slice of that? I don’t mean to ask you for free, I made some coffee so how about you stay here for a cup?”

Beauty on her thirty asked me with a strange glint in her eyes. I turned her down but still left the slice. Somehow, I felt danger. Strange though, I should be able to beat her.

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“I won’t hide it from you, I am indeed disappointed. At this rate, she won’t be able to protect this town, Gondul is already getting old so it will soon be the time for that young lady to take on the duty to keep this place safe. Give me another slice.”

An old man, who was around sixty, briskly muttered as he ate the sweet. I felt the urge to punch him several times, but Rossweisse-san wanted me to stay away from violence. I am petty so I left without giving him another slice.

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“I don’t care about the inheritance stuff, that child has been through a lot thanks to that, I feel that it is a pity. She used to come here to buy sweets and share them with the children who did not have any money. Such a sweet and kind-hearted girl shouldn’t worry about difficult stuff. I believe that she should be free to do as she pleases. Leaving this town and marrying a nice guy would be nice. Oh, you are leaving the whole Apfelkuchen? Where are my manners? Here, take all these candies, I heard you are friends with Rossweisse, share some of these with her. Tell her to not be a stranger, she is always welcome.”

I tried to leave another Apfelkuchen more, but the kind old lady from the candy shop was adamant about turning me down.

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I spoke to several people, but most of their responses were similar to the ones I heard first.

While there were some unreasonable ones, most of them expressed their worries and concerns. I could understand that they were not bad guys, and they just worried about their safety for obvious reasons. This world is not a safe place, and that is not an exaggeration. That said, from those I spoke to, some people expressed their care for Rossweisse-san. Nonetheless, the valkyrie is not completely without fault, she strayed from the people in the community and that gave a rise to some mixed feelings.

To raise that girl’s self-confidence, there is much work to do. She has to see for herself how competent she is, next would be to show other people that as well. Sounds easy, but I bet it will be difficult to make it happen in a short amount of time. The easiest thing should be to improve her reputation around here, a couple of things picked my interest. The missing people are on top of that list, so if she went and solved that, I think it would cause a possible effect. I should also have her visit her old acquaintances, that is a good start.

Rossweisse’s POV

It was a new day, and she had spent all night working on Nora’s first lesson. It was not going to be that hard considering how he told her that he was a complete amateur. She was worried when she found out that he left the house at some point and arrived at late hours, but he sheepishly smiled when she asked. Nora’s smile looked harmless so she couldn’t muster the courage to interrogate him. Their relationship was a strange one, even though her grandmother told her that she got a fiance, Rossweisse found it hard to accept such a thing out of the blue.

Should she take it as a joke? What if the boy was serious about it? Rosseweisse would hate it if she hurt him. However, he is too young, and she would feel like she is taking advantage of him. Her grandmother is truly mean, leaving her with this conundrum.

Sighing, she prepared to go downstairs. Even though she woke up early, Nora was already up, she heard him earlier when he seemed to be doing something around the garden. Hopefully, he did not damage her grandmother’s garden.

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After some breakfast made by Nora prepared before she could even do anything, they were sitting in the living room. Rossweisse had prepared several books and notes for his class.

Hesitating, she found it hard to start with Nora staring at her with a pair of expectant eyes. She could almost see them shining and it made her sweat coldly. What if he did not like what she prepared? If he thinks that her lesson is boring or maybe he gets disappointed.

What to do? Rossweisse does not feel like teaching him anymore.

“Etto… Huh.” Rossweisse tried to speak but her voice did not come out.

Lowering her head, she stared at the floor. After all that bravado yesterday, it turns out that she can’t do it.

“My bad, I was too excited. I must’ve scared you a bit. Take a deep breath, and relax. I won’t eat you.” Nora’s voice was gentle.

Timidly raising her head, she could see the boy gazing at her with a kind expression.

“Think of like a potato. I would suggest the other method, about imagining the public nȧkėd but that would make you faint, I have the feeling it would cause that so just imagine me as a potato.” Nora uttered some nonsense. “Besides, it is not the first time you speak with me, so there is no need to feel any different from before. Just like when we first met, scratch that, you might faint. Argh, what I am trying to say is that you can speak like usual. I would like to believe that we will get along well enough to be called friends, and friends speak openly to each other.”

A friend? Not a fiance, not a student… No, he is still all that, but he is trying to make her feel comfortable. His manner of speech is awkward so he is probably trying to come up with a way to motivate her.

How cowardly of her, she can do better than this.

You can do it, Rossweisse! Just push aside those negative thoughts. Repeating that message in her mind a couple of times, she gathered the courage and spoke.

“I-I will t-teach you from the basic, don’t you think I will not be strict with you because of the sweets you have made for me. First, we will speak a simple subject, what is magic? I think we should start from there.” Rossweisse muttered in a serious tone.

Part 3

3rd Person POV

After finishing cleaning the apartment, Marion took care of the wrinkles of her maid dress before moving to the nearby table in the kitchen, where she left several documents. It was time to sort all the information collected by Shizuku.

She was not exactly happy about being away from her master, but she could not force herself to go against his wishes. Marion had been sent on a mission with Shizuku, it was nothing complicated, her master had made contact with several individuals, and she was asked to keep an eye on them. When they started, some fallen angels started to pay attention to them, but after mentioning the name Baraquiel and contacting the said person, she only had to give Nora’s name and the fallen angels left them alone after warning them to not cause any ruckus.

Besides that mission, she was told to lend a hand to the Suzaku Himejima if she required it, although she was not sure how the situation would turn out for such an esteemed person to need the help of someone like her.

It was a curious situation, when she contacted that person, she happily agreed to meet them. However, she was not able to hide her disappointment when she was not able to meet her master. Nonetheless, her mood did a complete turn when Marion informed her that Nora asked them to lend her a hand. Marion could not read the flow of Ki, or read auras, but the overflowing happiness she showed almost took physical form. Marion decided to show more respect to her, it might be getting ahead of her, but she could become her master’s wife. So far, many candidates are being recorded by her, depending on how the future plays out, the list will grow so she wondered if showing her master a rough sketch would make him happy.

Sighing, she continued to read another file. Her master was not here, and she could physically feel it, her body was trained to the limit the past days before her master left, and even now, she could feel the exhaustion. Her master out her through a hellish training, and left her with several routines to follow and they were supervised by her partner in this mission.

It seemed like she summoned her with her thoughts.

“Kouhai, I found something that requires immediate attention-degozaru.” Shizuku’s voice was heard.

One second later, with a puff of smoke, Shizuku, dressed in a purple kunoichi outfit appeared.

Marion got a headache, not only she was called kouhai due to her position as a newer employee of her master, but Shizuku had taken that weird pattern of speech now that her master was not here.

“…I thought that Murmur-sama told you to not play around and keep a normal speech if the topic was serious.” Marion said.

“Cheeky Kouhai.” Shizuku clicked her tongue.

Sighing helplessly, Marion wondered where did her master pick up this child.

“So, you said that something came up?” Marion inquired.

“It is not about our main mission, but I traced Suzaku-sama’s movements as of late, and she seems to be struggling with a certain matter. Several Youma books are being found scattered over the town and curious hands opened them, releasing the dangers sealed on them. Thanks to it, Suzaku-sama has not been able to focus on the matter that Shiki-sama entrusted to her.” Shizuku reported.

Youma books? If she was not wrong, those were-

“They are books close to grimoires, containing forbidden knowledge to humans, or simply being used to seal dangerous Youkais. Such books became a way to keep dangerous youkais in check in the old days.” Shizuku timely explained.

If such a thing was getting in the way of a task of her master, it was a maid’s duty to take care of it. That said, it was a matter that was above of her abilities of it trouble that young lady from one of Five Clans.

“As master’s maid, I can’t just sit and do nothing. I will contact Himejima-sama and arrange a collaboration. I would like that you contacted those people Murmur-sama told us about. He said they will collaborate if you drop his name. Taking care of this issue swiftly would be best, it could get out of hand if left alone.” Marion concluded.

Shizuku had a hesitating expression.

“Did Shiki-sama think things through? What is he going to use to pay them back? Those catgirls are… Argh, whatever. It is his problem, not mine.” Shizuku mumbled in an inaudible tone of voice.

Marion was not able to hear a thing so she wanted to ask what Shizuku was saying, however, the girl in question gave her a bright smile and a military salute, something that did not make sense given her outfit, although Marion stopped using common sense and Shizuku on the same sentence unless she was speaking about the girl not having it. In a way, you could say that Shizuku fitted as a subordinate of her master.

“Shizuku-sempai will depart, I will accomplish your instructions!” Shizuku declared.

I’m a swift motion, she started to form several hand seals and then, a poof of smoke was left on her previous location. Shizuku had left immediately to follow her instructions.

“Ninjas are amazing, she left the apartment, but I did not hear the door opening or closing.” Marion commented.

She briefly wondered what it would feel to do that, with the amount of training her master had planned for her, those amazing stunts of ninjas would be a walk on the park or so Marion thinks.

“Time to call her, this needs to be done as soon as possible.” Marion started the call.

Rossweisse’s POV

The first day of teaching Nora went well or so Rossweisse would like to think. It was teaching him the basics and it was mostly suggesting several books that he should read. Nora did not complain even once at followed her instructions to the letter. He only stopped to make her lunch and dinner, which she could hardly refuse, he gave her puppy eyes whenever she tried to stop him. As a result, she could only watch him from afar during lunch, however, after whining for a bit, he let her cook together with him for dinner. It was an interesting and fun day, good thing was that she still had some free time at college.

Before going to sleep, and having planned his next lesson, she had to make several adjustments. The boy continued to read the books she gave him even until late hours. It seemed that she had to push forward her lessons to match his accumulated knowledge.

Even though she advised him to go to sleep, he just-

“Rossweisse-san is cutting short her free time to teach someone like me, I have to try my best here. I can’t disappoint my teacher by being lazy, right?” Nora smiled. “I don’t have an amazing talent like some people so I can only study and train more to make up for my shortcomings.”

He sounded bitter when he muttered that so Rosseweisse asked him if he was referring to someone. He gave her an odd look before pointing at her.

“You might already know, but offensive magic is something you can proudly say you have some skills.” Nora commented.

Her? Skilled in magic? She is too far from being called skilled, her grandmother is way more amazing.

“Everyone has to start somewhere, you think she was that amazing when she was young? No, she started working from scratch. You taught me about it, Magic Crest are spells handed over to the next generation, making it easier to cast a certain spell is one of the uses, but it serves as a way to pass down the knowledge and hard work of one magician to another. You could say that she did not have Magic Crest at the beginning, so she either inherited it or created herself.” Nora muttered. “If she created it, well, that is amazing, however, what if it was the former? In that case, have you thought how amazing you would be if you created one by yourself?”

His words were something similar to what her grandmother told her once. However, it was not something easy to do.

“Well, you can take for example, certain creatures. Think about devils, they can create spells easily just by shaping their demonic power with their will. Heck, there was even someone who created a spell to speak to women’s brėȧsts. I am sure that you can do your thing by working hard so don’t give up before even starting.” Nora encouraged.

Rosseweisse wondered for a moment if he was joking, but he seemed serious. Was there someone that absurd? A spell to speak with women’s brėȧsts was beyond Rossweisse’s common sense and understanding of magic.

“Following your family’s tradition is nice and all, but sometimes one has to follow their own paths. Isn’t that why you still study magic? You want to prove yourself.” Nora exclaimed. “You can take my rants as the ramblings of a crazy cat, but I would like to believe that they will move you even a tiny bit. That said, you can ignore them and follow the path you wish, while I believe you could go far by following my advice regarding offensive magic, I don’t want you to feel pressured to do as I say. Ultimately, the choice is yours, what you want to do, what you want to choose. Rossweisse-san, have more faith in yourself and you will surely accomplish great things.”

Nora’s words could be taken as random ramblings as he said, and she almost thought the same thing. However, there was a tiny voice inside of her that told her to pay attention to his words. Nonetheless, she could not muster the courage to proclaim boldly that she will do as he said.

“Rossweisse-san, I am not asking you to go around town yelling that you will do what I said. What I want you to do is to open your mind to different possibilities. You don’t have to feel burdened, that is not my intention.” Nora briefly pondered before adding. “Let’s do this, if you don’t feel like giving the magic crest a go, how about helping me instead? I have a few crazy ideas, and I feel like I could pull them off with you. It is not much of a secret so I will let you know, I am partially a devil so I can use demonic power. I know what you are thinking, having such overpowered energy at his disposition… why is he asking for my help? Yeah, I can read it on your face.”

Rossweisse did her best to put on a stoic front, she does not want to be read by him. However, Nora smiled warmly at her instead, did she fail to put a stoic face?

“I have an acquaintance, no, a friend that is helping me to practice how to use it, but I honestly doubt I can use it effectively for now. It is kind of trying to go berserk whenever I use it for long periods, so my time of use of short. That is where you come in. I can make use of the natural advantages that demonic power has to create a spell easily, or so I hope, but I might screw up and go berserk so you can help me to make the fine adjustment so it doesn’t happen. How about it?” Nora eagerly asked. “Wait, never mind. I think I have said too much today. You must be trying to process all I told you so perhaps we should postpone your answer to that.”

Rossweisse sighed in relief, that would be nice, she won’t be pressured to answer.

“Go to sleep, it is late. If you don’t feel like sleeping, do you want me to warm you some milk? It helps to sleep.” Nora offered.

Shaking her head, Rossweisse turned down his offer. She wanted some time for herself to think. His words continued to repeat in her head and she wanted to know if that was a good thing or not. Waving at him as she left, Rossweisse went to her room again. The boy did not head back to the room she had prepared for him, instead, he continued to read more, and from the look on his face, he did not plan to stop anytime soon.

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Opening her eyelids, Rossweisse found herself wanting to stay in bed. She was not sure how to face Nora since she had not come up with an answer to yesterday’s conversation. Would he press her for an answer as soon as he saw her? She could not tell, Rossweisse did not know enough about his personality to tell. Nevertheless, she could not avoid meeting him, he was a guest in her grandmother’s house and she sort of became his teacher despite her lack of ability.

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A strange smell permeated in the living room as soon as she entered it (she had been timidly peeking her head from the kitchen to check if Nora was there, although she went to the kitchen because the smell of hot coffee was calling her). Growing slightly, she tried to remember where she had smelled something similar, the smell was somewhat familiar to her so she pondered while looking for the origin of it. Without Nora in the living room, Rossweisse could confidently walk around so she followed her nose and found the smell to be coming from a porcelain teacup that had a cylindrical shape.

If her memory did not fail her, Nora had brought that with him. That said, she could be wrong since her grandmother had many goods from different parts of the world that she got from acquaintances after helping them.

Peering over the cup, her eyes instantly got watery from the steam that rose from it.

“What is this?” Rossweisse mumbled.

The smell was hardly pleasing so she doubted that the taste would be any different, however, since it probably belonged to Nora, she couldn’t complain. He was not making her drink it so there was nothing she could tell him.

With her curiosity satiated, she turned her eyes to the table in the living room. Before she went to sleep, Nora had two piles of books. Now, there was only one pile, one of the finished books. He had stayed awake all night to finish them.

Smiling slightly, Rossweisse could not deny that she was happy about Nora’s hard work, although she was also worried about him. As someone who stayed until late to study often, she knew that it was not something that a young kid should be doing often. Extending her hands to pick the books, she grabbed one, although Rossweisse had ended up hitting the cup and it fell to the floor, spilling the contents.

In a matter of seconds, Rossweisse paled and she dropped the book she had grabbed. On the other side of the table, where she had spilled the cup’s contents, smoke rose. Bending her body over the table to see the floor, she could see how in real-time, the liquid she spilled was melting down the wooden floor.

Instantly, her mind processed what this meant. She felt like passing out, after all, that cup was not full.

Her thoughts spiraled out of control. Nora was here, and this cup was his, meaning that contents were for him. Judging from the amount she saw, he must’ve sipped it before.

Was this her fault? Because she was cowardly and did not give him an immediate answer, he felt dejected and drank this.

Before she was aware, her feet started to run. The direction was outside, Rossweisse had to find Nora, if she was fast enough, it might not be too late.

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She did not have to sprint far away, Rossweisse found Nora soon, he was… happily grooming the garden, and judging from his clothing, he had been doing some exercise before these.

“Oh, if it isn’t Rossweisse-san, how are you? Fancy meeting you here, I thought you would sleep for a while longer. Sorry, I have not prepared breakfast yet.” Nora directed a carefree smile at her.

First, her legs gave up after trembling for a moment. Strength had left her legs the moment she confirmed that he was fine, and she sighed in relief. However, soon her eyes started to water. She did her best to stop her tears from spilling, but her mind drifted to what could’ve happened.

“Wow, what happened? Why are you crying? Do you feel ill? Do you feel pain somewhere?” Nora hastily got closer to her.

With a worried expression, he started to pat her head, no, he also lightly patted her arms and legs before cupping her face with both hands and staring at her.

“I don’t see anything outside, is it internal?” Nora mumbled.

Suddenly, she could feel a warm feeling entering her body from Nora’s hands. It helped relax her body and she could feel how it helped recover her stamina, even though she had been sleeping, some weariness from her arduous studying remained and it was erased in a second.

Seeing him being so worried for her warmed her heart, and it made weaken her efforts to hold her tears back. They instantly spilled and she could not hold herself back.

“Wahhh! Nora-kun, you, I thought you- Waah!” Rossweisse cried.

Even though it was blurry from tears, Rossweisse noticed how Nora panicked. She want to reassure him by extending her hand to pat his head, but she ended up clinging to him as she cried.

MC’s POV

I should die.

Those were my thoughts when I learned about the reason for Rossweisse-san’s tears. To think I made her cry due to my carelessness. I had finished reading the books she recommended to me when I noticed that it was morning already so I would be late for training so I hurried to so. The result was that I forgot my tea in the living room and she ended up seeing it. I inwardly cursed myself for my actions, if the tea had been spilled on her skin, I wouldn’t be able to face her again. Even though I could heal the damage, to hurt her like that would deserve the death penalty. Even though I want to train my poison resistance, I have to do it far away from other people or I might hurt them.

It was something I easily noticed, but this Rossweisse is more shy and fragile than the one in the Canon. It is hard to explain, but the Rossweisse there had more backbone. It might have something to do with the fact that such a Rossweisse had already graduated as an honor student, and she got an important job (sort of, I think it was an honor to escort Odin, but that geezer was someone that caused people headaches), she had let her talent bloom as a magician without relying on her family inheritance. However, this one has not done that. She is a young girl with self-confidence issues that is doing her best to prove herself.

Yup, I should die. I made her cry.

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Calming down the sobbing girl was easier than I thought. After she clung to me, I just gently reassured her that everything was ok. I gave her a head-pat treatment, and it worked.

“…sorry, I overreacted. I thought that Nora had done something foolish because I was indecisive.” Rossweisse stopped crying but did not part from me.

Inwardly sighed, I did not dare to do so with her seeing me. I just remembered that she has a pretty active imagination. Who would think that from seeing her pȧntɨės, a student might get failing grades? I can understand her thought process given that it was Issei, but… she went wild with her imagination there.

Before she starts her self-loathing streak, I should divert the topic.

“Rossweisse-san, do you feel like teaching your student a practical class?” I said.

Before she gets busy with school again, I think we should go over checking about the missing people. Solving the problem would help raise her prestige around here, of course, I doubt she would start bragging about it, but a certain cat could spread the news.

“Eh?” Rossweisse tilted her head cutely to one side.

Missy, you want to kill me? Ah! Yasaka-san, where are you? This child will destroy my ideology here, the Yasaka Supremacy is being attacked.

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The girl easily agreed to my request for a field trip, so she prepared her belongings and put them inside a magic circle that made them disappear. Space magic, storage magic, I don’t care about the name, but I am sure as heck that I want to learn how to do that.

A funny detail, when I asked her if she had prepared some battle clothes… she shyly covered her face after going red in the face. Somehow, I feel like I should offer a prayer to Odin, but I did not know why.

I found out later though.

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“Nora-kun, why did you bring me to this town?” Rossweisse-san curiously asked. We could’ve actually practiced at home, you know?”

My mischievous side kicked and I replied.

“A date, what kind of fiances for not even have one?” I smiled brightly.

As expected, Rossweisse-san got embarrassed.

“Well, while I would love to hang around with you on a date around the place checking local specialties… I believe you understand that something is happening around here.” I said.

Getting rid of her blush, Rossweisse-san nodded timidly as she took a look around. There was a restless air drifting around the town, and we had bȧrėly arrived a few minutes ago.

“People seem scared.” Rossweisse-san commented.

That is one way to put it, although they did not reach the level of panic, people would look behind their shoulders often.

“I thought we could take a look around to see what this was about.” I shrugged my shoulders.

I did not forget to bring my secret weapon close to me, I got Grayfia-san’s summoning pamphlet close to my hands in case things got out of hand, but for now, I wanted to investigate a bit what was going on. People disappearing was never a good sign so while it might sound heartless of me, I wanted to use this opportunity to raise Rossweisse-san’s prestige so people looked at her in a good light. It should help to get rid of anyone daring to badmouth her.

“…Grandmother is usually the one who fixes these problems.” Rossweisse-san retorted.

“That might be so, but she is not here. Would you look away from this?” I tried being a little mean.

Some bravado appeared on Rossweisse-san’s face.

“No.” Rossweisse-san exclaimed. “I have acquaintances in this town, even though many people have been cold to me, many still treat me kindly. Whenever I came to look for discounts, I would chat with some of them.”

Oh? So more people are kind to her? That is good to know.

Now then, I got the info of what is happening. People going missing, such a thing is the basic, however, we can’t work with just that.

“Good, then it is decided. Should we divide to gather info?” I muttered.

Without waiting for a reply, I started to walk away. I felt bad when Rossweisse-san extended her hand my way to stop me, but I hardened my heart and left. She did not call out to me so it made it easier.

I must let her go around asking so people remember her when the problem was solved. It is not always like that, but ungrateful people existed everywhere. Those who ȧssumed that others had to do stuff for them are the worst, however, those who fail to notice certain things and act like things are perfectly fine are troublesome as well. Well, I am confident that everyone will remember about a cute girl going around asking for the thing that is disturbing their daily life, and then their trouble gets solved. Hopefully, they can link the dots, although I can always spread the word about it, I would rather let it happen naturally as my method might cause a rebound.

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Going up to desolated mountain path near the town leads you to a small but that an old hunter used to live in before passing out. People in town left the place alone for years, however, a supposedly family member of the hunter came one day asking for directions to reach the place since he had supposedly inherited the place. The folks in town were not very fond of the guy in question given the fake smile he directed at them, but they did not think it would change anything to tell the guy anything.

A day went by, and they never heard anything about that person so some people went to investigate whether he had got involved in an accident, however, they never found the guy. Loud growls were heard and that scared the town folks so they ran away. That said, the number of people that went up was higher than who came down. Since then, they have been afraid to go there.

This is more or less what I found out after hearing a group of gossiping housewives in my cat form. Which was reinforced by Rossweisse-san when we reunited. I did not forget to praise for a good job and we both left.

The way to the hut was mostly silent, since Rossweisse-san excused herself for a minute, before coming back… wearing a hooded cloak, and paired with her red cheeks, I could more or less get what that was about. That said, she was adamant about not showing me even though I pestered her about it. I could’ve used my ability… but that takes the excitement away.

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The mentioned hut looked decrepit at best, the roof was missing and there were no doors to stop us from stepping in. The first room we entered seemed to be a living room of sort. Some furniture was still there, but I could bet my money on the fact that sitting in one of those chairs will make them crumble.

“There are no signs of the missing people here.” Rossweisse-san mumbled.

That was correct, I could not see any belongings. Even if it had been a while, those people had recently intruded here so there should be something to hint such a thing.

“Should we check the other rooms first?” I suggested.

My partner nodded at that and we continued our search.

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“This is awful.” Rossweisse-san furrowed her eyebrows.

My expression was not any better after finding the supposed relative of the old man’s belongings.

Inside, I found his ID. Jack Willson… no, he was also called, Steve Stillman, John Swayer, etc. I think the correct word would be his IDs. I am not a genius, but I can still pick that he is a scammer.

“What should we do?” I asked.

Someone like me has no right to judge others… yet, I feel less motivated to save the guy. One bad guy less does not sound so bad if you think about it. Nonetheless, my thought process is not good. I tend to be rather extreme some wanting to give up is not a good choice. As a human, it is a thought lacking in empathy. That said, certain someone is not going to give up that easy.

“We continue, if he did something bad he can be judged by his crimes accordingly when he is safe. There are also the others who went missing so stopping here is no good.” Rossweisse-san exclaimed. “…huh? Did I say something strange?”

Shaking my head, I reassured her with a smile. I had stared at her for longer than I thought.

The way she tilted her head and blinked her eyes curiously was cute, but I kept staring at her for another reason. She still wanted to go and search for that guy even after learning all that. Truly fit to be called a heroine, different from me.

“Not at all, Rossweisse-san is incredibly pretty so I unknowingly got myself enchanted by your beauty, sorry about that.” I tried to change the subject.

Once again, I couldn’t help but notice the high specs everyone has here.

“Nora-kun, you…” Rossweisse-san covered her face with her hands.

I could still see her ears completely red from my position so I did not continue my words, I have the feeling that she will simply faint if I push her anymore.

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It took 10 whole minutes for her to go back to normal, although she couldn’t look at me in the eyes for another 5.

In the meantime, I tried to trace any life signatures remaining on the guy’s belongings, however, they had been here for too long and the traces were gone already.

Focusing on my enhanced senses such as hearing, I was able to pick a faint growling from a good distance away from the hut.

“Rossweisse-san, how about we adventure a little deeper into the mountain. We can’t let our guards down, whatever the case, we just need to take those people back.” I muttered. “Everything else can be taken later, by us, or someone more powerful.”

Her main character’s aura will probably make her want to fix this, and it might lead to a situation where she has no other choice. However, the danger level is not clear. I am inclined to believe that is not high given how little ruckus is causing, but one can’t trust things like that.

Her expression looked meek enough to make me believe she will do what I said, but I can’t help but worry.

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After an hour of walking, we came to face an interesting sight. Hiding in some bushes near a large cave, there it was, a mythical being, a Troll leaving the cave.

With a large body over 4 meters tall, long black hair that grew until it touched the ground. His facial features were hard to see due to his hair, but my ability let me see that he looked just like a normal human… if you put aside his large height. He was wearing pelts of different animals over his body so at least I did not catch anything I would’ve regretted. In his hand, a small tree shaped like a club was being dragged with each step leaving a trail in the ground.

“Rossweisse-san… Do you think we can beat it head-on?” I whispered.

Unfortunately, I was too close to her so Rossweisse-san-

“Uwaaa.” Rossweisse-san shouted.

Backing away from me, the girl covered her ears and had a flushed expression.

Thankfully, the sound was hidden by a spell Rossweisse-san cast beforehand. That said, she sure is shy. I only whispered near her ear and she reacted like that.

“*Cough* Nora-kun, please, don’t surprise me like that again.” Rossweisse-san awkwardly glanced away. “Also, you are mistaken about something. It is I who will go and fight that Troll if it is necessary, you will stay here. Nora is too small to get into a dangerous fight.”

I wish you would tell that to those guys who showed no mercy while fighting me.

“Trolls are dull and slow, but they have immense strength and outstanding stamina, fighting it is not easy. However, some Trolls can be reasoned with since they are not monsters, but rather one kind of territorial creature. Nonetheless, you can’t let your guard down, like humans, there can be good and bad trolls.” Rossweisse-san explained.

Rossweisse-sensei is nice too. In the beginning, she was awkward but caught on quickly, I would say as expected of a future teacher, but I believe she won’t go down that route since I will make sure that the geezer Odin does not leave her alone. While I feel like having a teacher Rossweisse-san is nice, I want her to do whatever she wishes to without being forced to.

“What about goblins? Are there good goblins?” I inquired.

“Where did that come from?” Rossweisse-san raised an eyebrow.

No clue, I felt like a certain priestess asked that once, and she failed to get a satisfactory answer.

“I can fight. I am not a normal cat, I have power, I am a super cat.” I insisted.

Even if she says to leave to her, I would feel reassured if I am closer to her to help her.

“Because that nonsense is why you have to stay here, geez. A super cat, what is that?” Rossweisse-san patted my head.

She did it naturally but soon froze.

“N-No, it is not like that, ok? I am not treating you like a pet or anything.” Rossweisse-san took her hand back and shook her head vehemently, looking a bit scared.

“Huh? I don’t mind it, you know? You are not the first one to want to do so. When I stayed in a friend’s house, a maid sneaky entered my room at sleeping hours and petted the heck out of my ears when she thought I was asleep so don’t worry.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Aren’t we pretty close already? We are not strangers so don’t be so reserved around me.”

My honest wish is to be friends with her, as a fan, no, it is true that my feelings as a fan started to fuel my actions, but I want to be friends with this awkward and shy girl even with that out of the way.

Briefly hesitating, she extended her hands again directly on top of my cat ears and softly ċȧrėssed them. Her earlier panic had disappeared and in its place, a slight smile hung.

“You are still not coming with me.” Rossweisse-san repeated herself.

Tsk, she is immune to my ears charm. Maybe if I use my tails-

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My pride was shattered, she refused to budge in even after bribing her. I did not push it too much given that she was only caring for my well-being. To go as far as to refuse even after I bribed her… touched my heart, giving me a strange feeling. My well-being was above her dėsɨrės, even though she looked so regretful… even though she looked like crying when she left.

Rossweisse-san is amazing, in different meanings.

I was anxious, but I took out my bow and nocked an arrow. I will shoot if things go south even if that makes her angry.

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I could hardly make out what was being said, but Rossweisse-san seemed to be raising her voice and pointing at the cave, however, the Troll shook his head a couple of times. Soon, it happened, the conversation had finished and the Troll raised his club to attack Rossweisse-san.

I immediately shoot the arrow in my bow, loaded with plenty of Ki, it soon flew and hit the wooden club, shattering the Troll’s weapon. My actions were swift, but not enough. Rossweisse-san was close to getting hit, however, I was not fast enough to provide a helping hand. Nonetheless, my worry was unfounded, she reacted by leading backward, although her cloak ended up getting caught in the attack, basically being ripped off of the valiant valkyrie. What was left was a sight that I burned in my head for several reasons.

Underneath, a battle attire was revealed, one fit to be called a Valkyrie Armor, which consisted of a white brėȧstplate with gold and pale blue accents and matching, fingerless gauntlets, boots, hip guards. Rossweisse-san also wore a black leotard underneath her brėȧstplate, black thɨġh-high stockings, and a pale blue cloth wrapped underneath her hip guards, all of which are clad with pink lacing.

Rossweisse-san is amazing, in different meanings. That said, different from the canon, she looked slightly less endowed. Oh, the wing-shaped hair clips are missing too, I almost forgot about that.

Geezer Odin, no, I must apologize for my rude behavior until now. Odin-sama, let me offer this small prayer to you. Thank you for designing that goddammed battle attire. Odin-sama, banzai.

I honestly must praise myself, because, despite the nonsense in my head, my body continued to shoot to provide support to Rossweisse-san, who offered me a surprised look before focusing on the fight again. Nevertheless, I did not manage to wound the troll. My arrows could not pierce the skin.

Tsk, this is happening way too often. When will I get my power-up arc? Everyone gets one at least in their life. If someone can power up enough to beat mighty goes who would’ve easily killed you before the training, even though it is less than a week worth of training… I want one hell training course of over 10 years, by the end of it, I could probably one-stop Trihexa.

Inwardly complaining and grumbling a few more times, I did not stop shooting since I at least helped to distract the troll.

Sometimes, Rossweisse-san would chant something and a shield would appear in front of her to stop the attacks of the troll, but it would break off due to the high level of strength it has. Some other times she would make a pair of magic circles appear behind her and start shooting magic attacks at the troll.

In the end, I saw in real-time how she improved. Two magic circles, then three, continued to rise until it reached six and the troll could not handle the attacks and kneeled in place.

Before I was able to inwardly raise the victory flag in my head, I started to hear a sobbing voice.

“Y-You invaded my house, you broke my club, you hit me… Uwaaaaaaaaa!”

It was a strong voice that I bȧrėly caught due to our distance, but it was without doubt, the troll who spoke.

Tilting my head, I carefully cleaned my ears, but the sobbing and crying still came from the direction of the troll.

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…

After walking closer, I saw a panicked Rossweisse-san.

“What should we do?” Rossweisse-san tearfully clung onto me.

No, why are you crying as well?

You were valiantly fighting the troll minutes ago, why are you acting like this? You are cute so I am troubled about how to handle this.

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-Glossary

Rouladen is a traditional German dish featuring long, thin strips of meat slathered with mustard and filled with bacon, onions, and pickles. The filling is enclosed by rolling up the meat strips and the roulades are then browned and slow-simmered in a rich gravy.

Bratkartoffeln means literally translated “fried potatoes”. Other descriptions for these German fried potatoes would be “German home fries” or “German skillet potatoes”. These are pan-fried boiled potatoes usually accompanied by onions, bacon and dish can be used as a side dish or main course.

Apfelkuchen mit Mürbeteig means “apple cake with shortcrust”. This apple cake is most similar to a one crust apple pie, with the bottom crust being slightly thicker than the American crust, more of a shortcrust pastry. These are traditionally topped with a crumb topping, and the filling could be just apples and spices or a custard mixed with the apples.

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Author’s Notes

So, here is the mighty foe known as Rossweisse. A fearsome girl, who is very lovable.

I mostly focused on cohabitation here, hardly any action. Also, about Nora trying to make her more confident in herself.

Many of might question the way Rossweisse is. First of all, it was stated in the Canon that she hardly had any friends during her time in college, that she slipped many grades was also something mentioned.

My point also includes that she was awfully affected by the situation with her family crest. The expectation of others cause her to feel bad, and that is what I wanted to portrait. Besides, I believe that it was not until she gained the recognition to work directly under the Gods of Asgard that she gained some proper self confidence… More or less give that she is still like that in the Canon. For any of you who doubt certain things, I invite you to check her wiki page, and Gondul’s. Basically, the old lady caused her to keep her distance from any males so that is where her shyness for males kicks in from.

You guys can tell me what you think of this, I have some small window to do some changes or adjustments… or not. It was a miracle that I even wrote this chapter, so be grateful, you guys. Too much work, but that is my problem, not yours.

I would like to express my thanks to my friend Kuro, he might get called by the FBI one day, but he is a nice guy who listens to my rants and whom I discuss about the novel.

Anything else? I am bȧrėly awake so this will be all.

Have a nice day.

You know how to ask some questions so do so if you have some.