Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 95: Mirei’s Appearance

’So tell me... why did I even agree to this again?’ He thought.

He was now seated in the Eritou Kizoku for the second time in his Academy life, dining alongside the nobles from the Great Clans.

The room was quieter than usual and Koya was seated opposite Akari who had a slight blush on her face and was doing a poor job of looking relaxed.

「Main Mission: Have Lunch with Akari Kagutsuchi and accept her apology」

「Rewards: 1000 FP」

It was a generous reward for just sitting through a meal but he had a feeling the System knew something about how this lunch was going to go that he didn’t yet.

Disguise Master stood behind him and the maid of the Kagutsuchi family stood behind Akari. Akari wasn’t looking him in the eyes and her face was a soft pink she was clearly fighting to get rid of.

’Did something happen...?’ He thought, glancing briefly at Disguise Master.

The maids had been chasing him through the hallway earlier... Had Disguise Master told them something in that room? What exactly did she say to all of them?

"Uhm..." Akari stuttered, pressing her lips together before trying again. "Thank you for accepting my request for lunch."

Koya waved her off.

"Don’t mind it. I love free food." He said and immediately both Akari and Disguise Master turned to look at him with the exact same expression.

’What is he doing?’ Disguise Master’s eye twitched.

This was a daughter of a Great Clan... the clans were sitting directly below the White King and his daughter in terms of political weight.

The Kagutsuchi name alone could make most people in this city nervous. ’He should show at least some decorum... I hope he doesn’t plan to dump these problems on the Boss.’

"Hehe~ I’m glad to be of assistance then." Akari said while rubbing the back of her head nervously, laughing a little too softly.

Disguise Master went stiff as a wooden post behind Koya... This wasn’t the Akari Kagutsuchi that people talked about.... What happened to that rude girl and where had that girl gone?

The Kagutsuchi maid standing behind Akari let out a quiet breath.

’I’m glad Mistress has calmed down.’ She thought.

Akari was the last born of the Kagutsuchi family and had been pampered by every branch of the clan her entire life... until yesterday, when the Clan Head finally came home and gave her a stern earful that left her crying into her pillow.

Her maid had stood outside the door pretending she couldn’t hear any of it... Whatever was said in that room had worked.

’I just hope she doesn’t do anything rash today... though I doubt it.’

The other nobles were watching the two of them.

Itsuki had his fists closed on the table and was side-glancing from across the room. He was supposed to be quarelling with her... so why was Koya sitting across from her looking completely relaxed?

Miyuki on the other hand was watching their table for a different reason entirely.

’Are they... on a date?’ She bit her lip and looked away then looked back. ’Do they plan to do naughty things after...?’

’A lot of eyes on us.’ Koya thought, glancing around until he caught Shion who looked away the moment their eyes met. ’That’s a bit weird.’

"Milady and Milord..." A maid approached their table carrying a tray so wide it covered the entire surface. "Today’s menu has been prepared... Lady Kagutsuchi asked for a delicate seasonal arrangement for the both of you and I hope you enjoy every course."

She set the tray down and the Kagutsuchi maid extended the sides of the table to accommodate the spread while the serving maid stepped back and folded her hands.

"So what are all of these?" Koya asked, leaning forward to look at the dishes. It was entirely different from what he’d had the last time he’d sat in this room.

"We have prepared for you today a full seasonal arrangement... chawanmushi steamed to a silk finish, toro sashimi cut from this morning’s delivery and rested on fresh crushed ice, a personal sukiyaki pot still at a rolling simmer, yakitori skewers glazed twice and rested on cedar, a dark miso prepared from a three-day stock, cedar-pressed white rice, seasonal pickles, cold tofu dressed in bonito and fresh ginger, dashimaki tamago rolled to order, a small pot of ankimo with ponzu, grilled wagyu short rib with tare, chilled zaru soba on the side, and to finish it off... a matcha warabi mochi dusted in kinako, a single serving of kuzu kiri in cold syrup, and a bowl of shiruko with roasted mochi still soft at the center, all sourced exclusively from the noble district’s premier suppliers. We hope every course is to your complete satisfaction, Koya-sama. Please dig in."

Koya blinked. He hadn’t caught most of what she listed but everything in front of him looked and smelled extraordinary and that was really the only information a person needed.

"Thank you." He said, taking it all in.

Disguise Master immediately began serving portions from the tray onto his plate, her eyes moving carefully across every dish as she did. The Kagutsuchi maid did the same for Akari.

’Poison detection isn’t actually my specialty.’ She thought grimly as she kept loading his plate until it was completely full, then set it down in front of him.

Koya stared at it.

"Why is it... so much?"

"Uh... you need to be completely full to be able to do that stuff later." She said with a bright smile and the effect on the room was immediate... every maid within earshot went pink and something clattered at Kaede’s station across the room.

Itsuki’s eyes darkened and he turned toward his sister who had also gone red without apparently meaning to.

’What is going on?’ He turned to the two of them and back to his sister.

Miyuki had not touched her food.

She was sitting still and staring at Koya’s table with her fork hovering above her plate.

"You." Itsuki said quietly and she flinched back into the present. "You remember that you have a fiancé. You are not to get close to Amagi Koya before his charms get to you."

"B-but..." She wanted to say something.

The words were right there... but she couldn’t say it.

"Enough. Focus on your food."

She sat down with a small shiver and pressed her lips together.

’I’m... the only one that can sense it.’ She thought, her fork still frozen above her plate. The food at Koya’s table had been poisoned... all of it, the entire spread in fact.

It was a high-level poison, the kind that had no smell and no color and no giveaway at all.

She could barely detect it herself and she was someone who could detect these things... If Koya ate any of it he would die.

She was sure of that. ’So I’m the only one that can help him right now.’

She looked at Itsuki... If she stood up he would be furious and she knew exactly what came after that but if she didn’t move then Koya would die.

"I... I..." Her fork trembled above the plate. "I..."

"You what? What do you want to do?"

Koya lifted his fork. Something glistened on it... one of the pieces that was perfectly prepared.

She shoved her chair back and ran.

Every head in the room turned as she crossed the floor in a straight line without looking at anyone with her hair trailing behind her and reached Koya’s chair just as the fork was nearly at his mouth.

"Don’t eat thaaaatttt!"

Koya blinked at the food on his fork then a black heart-shaped tail swung in from the left and plucked the piece clean off it.

The tail looped through the air and dropped the food directly into the mouth of a pink-haired woman who had appeared beside him without anyone in the room noticing her get there.

Mirei chewed once... chewed again and then swallowed then leaned toward Koya’s face and released a small composed burp directly onto it.

"Tee-hee~ I saved you just now." She said with a smile. "Will you become my pet?"

Koya looked at the fork then at Mirei... after that, he looked at Disguise Master while Miyuki had frozen completely across the room.

’I wanted that poison.’ He thought.

Akari had poisoned the whole spread and taken the antidote beforehand... it was obvious once the System had scanned it though he didn’t take any offense, he was glad in fact.

If he’d eaten through the full meal his Poison Resistance would have gone up significantly. He looked back at his plate... there was still food sitting on it.

It wasn’t too late to...

Something hit the tray from the side with the force and indifference of a natural disaster, sending the entire spread off the table in a cascade of lacquerware and carefully prepared food that hit the expensive floor with a series of sounds that made several nobles wince simultaneously.

’I hope I won’t be paying for that.’ He turned to find Mirei already pressed against his side, her chest against his arm and her tail swishing behind her head, looking up at his face with genuine curiosity.

"Why..." She tilted her head. "Why are you able to defend against my seduction?"

She looked genuinely troubled by this. "Anyone responds when I use my skill properly. Itsuki-san was completely gone the one time I used it on him." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Itsuki went pale across the room and a thin water lance materialized from the liquid in every glass within his reach, hanging in the air.

"It was one time." He said quietly. "Say it again and I’ll kill you where you stand."

The succubus gave a laugh that dropped the temperature of the room by several degrees and didn’t move from Koya’s side.

"Ah? What a joke." She let the word sit there. "If I remember right, your Clan Head got down on both knees to beg for your life the last time you offended me. The only reason you’re still leading Class 1 is because I—"

"Can you get off me?" Koya said.

She looked at his face and her eyes became hearts.

"No."

"No?"

"You keep defending against my skill." She said it in the way a researcher states a finding. "Naturally I find that very impressive. I intend to keep studying you as I always have."

"Like pressing your face against the door of the training room."

"Exactly." A small drool of satisfaction at the corner of her mouth. "Once I dismantle your mental defenses I’ll keep you as a pet in my room and you’ll service me every day. Hehe~"

Koya resisted the urge to rub his face with both hands.

"Instead of trying to enslave me," he suggested "have you considered just doing it the normal way?"

Mirei blinked and tilted her head.

"Normal way?" She looked genuinely confused. "What’s that?"

"Asking someone on a date... That kind of thing..." He wasn’t going to accept if she tried but it was still a better strategy than whatever this was.

"Date." She said the word slowly like she was hearing it for the first time. "What’s a date?"

Koya pushed her off and stood up.

"You seriously need to learn more about people." He glanced back across the room and found Miyuki standing near their table with her hands clasped in front of her, staring at the floor.

She had run across a room full of Great Clan nobles and straight past her brother just to warn him...

’Thank you.’ He thought and gave her a smile. Her head dropped a little and a flush rose up the back of her neck.

After that, he left the room and Disguise Master fell into step behind him. He had a feeling something was about to happen and he didn’t want to be part of it.

Behind them, Itsuki was already moving... the tables scraping aside as he crossed the floor with one hand forming a sign.

Water was pulled from every cup and surface within reach, even the kitchen and it turned into thin streams that converged mid-air into tight parallel beams.

"Convergent Water." They shot toward Mirei.

She didn’t move... Her tail swung once and the water beams scattered off it, bursting into mist across the floor.

Mirei turned to face him fully and the glow in her eyes intensified.

"Come on." She crouched in front of him as his knees hit the ground on their own. "Still using chants? Four years and you haven’t changed at all, Itsuki."

The glow in her eyes went deeper. "Bash your head on the ground for me..."

His head hit the floor, came up, and hit the ground again... He did it several times until the girl was satisfied.

Shion watched from the edge of the room without moving.

’She’s completely insane.’

This was the same girl who had used her charm on Princess Hakua after finding out it worked on women too... risking the White King’s anger just to see what would happen.

Every noble in this room had the same thought right now and every noble in this room was going to stay exactly where they were.

Mirei stood and looked around at the destruction with satisfaction.

She brought her foot down on the back of Itsuki’s head and the floor cratered beneath it then she transformed into a bat... a small and pink-winged one and left through the window with a laugh trailing behind her.

"I better check what Koya-kun was talking about~"

...

The closing bell rang and Koya pressed two fingers against his temple... The Mathematics professor straightened his notes, cleared his throat, and looked out at the class.

"Please remember to be on your best behavior." He adjusted his collar. "The Dean of Familiars will be visiting the Academy tomorrow and there is a possibility that Class 5 will be selected to accompany him to Familiar Isle. Do not give him any reason to exclude you. Opportunities like this are exceptionally rare for Awakened at your level... most of you will never get another one."

He left after that and several students groaned immediately and looked at each other.

"We’re not getting selected." The Merchant’s son said while standing up. "Class 5 never gets picked for things like this. That’s just how it is."

’I mean we’ll go this time....’ Koya thought.

Hakua was in this classroom and the Dean of Familiars was a servant of the White King either way so Class 5 would get picked, just like in the manga. ’Either way... I need to get to Saki. I wonder what Disguise Master will do while I’m gone.’

He had asked for her real name once and she told him she didn’t have one... He didn’t want to memorize a fake name so he never pushed it.

"Koya-kun." Misora appeared in front of him. "I’m going to make lunch. Are you coming?"

"Professor Saki called me over after class." He said, then turned to find Renji’s seat already empty. He’d vanished the moment the bell rang, apparently. "I’ll be back for dinner though."

"I see." Misora put both hands together. "Then I’ll be borrowing your maid... We’ll sort out where she’s staying in the room too."

"Sure." He said and she walked out. He followed a moment later, heading toward the main building where Saki’s office was.

He almost walked past Miyuki.

She was on the floor of the corridor beside a row of lockers with her knees drawn up and her forehead pressed against them while her arms wrapped around her shin.

Her skin was pale and students walking past were giving her space without doing anything about it.

He crouched down.

"Miyuki... Miyuki, you there?"

She made a small sound against her knees.

「New Side Mission: Take the unconscious Aoyora Miyuki to her dorm room」

「Reward: 300 FP」

"Hm." He looked at her for a moment and then he slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her shoulders before standing up.

"She’s lighter than I thought." He said quietly.

Her face was turned slightly toward his chest with her lips parted and that flush from earlier still on her cheeks. Koya glanced down at her as he walked.

’Cute.’

...

Miyuki woke up slowly.... She recognized that this was her dorm room ceiling and she was on her own bed.

’How did I get here?’ She thought.

"Huh..." She shifted and went very still.

Her clothes were gone... She was completely bare under the covers and that fact arrived in her brain all at once then she heard breathing from her right and turned her head.

Koya was lying on the bed beside her... unlike her he was fully clothed and on top of the covers instead but he was fast asleep and snoring lightly.

Steam rose steadily from Miyuki’s ears as she saw his ruffled clothes.

’Did we... do it...?’