A few days passed after we had successfully completed the undercover operation assigned by Headmaster Ryu. My school life, normally the same day after day, began to undergo several small, but significant changes. Of course, the biggest change of all occurred due to Yurina.

Yurina came up to me. “Hehehe. Daaale, you worked hard today during training. Come here, let me wipe your sweat.”

“I can do that myself,” I replied.

She insisted. “Shhh! No excuses. Come on, quickly!”

Honestly, I didn’t exactly want to be treated like this while she was disguised as Yuren. “Ugh!”

“Haa! Dale, your sweat smells nice.”

Please. Please don’t blush while looking like that, I said internally.

“You did so well today. Oh, right, want to have dinner together later?” Yurina lowered her gaze shyly, a timid smile blooming on her face. “And, um, if you have time afterward, maybe come to my room?”

Her flustered voice and the way she twisted her fingers in embarrassment were unbearably adorable, but there was a huge problem. I clenched my fists tightly and glared daggers at the pendant hanging from her neck.

If I remembered right, that was a magic device handcrafted five hundred years ago by the Great Sage Julius and gifted to House Helios. Why the Great Sage felt compelled to create a gender-swapping disguise tool was beyond my comprehension. But the magic sealed within the pendant, Polymorph, was undeniably intricate, refined enough to show the hand of a true master.

All that brought me to the point that even knowing the person inside was Yurina, I couldn’t get used to this. Humans relied heavily on visual information. That rule applied even to heroes with superhuman bodies.

“Dale? What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Ah, Well...”

I tried to avoid Yurina’s sparkly, eager eyes when two familiar voices spoke out.

“Hmph! The two of you are disgustingly sweet these days.”

“Tch. Even earlier during training, you were both totally distracted.”

Iris glared with narrowed eyes, while Camilla crossed her arms and clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

Yurina replied, “Hehehe. Want me to tell you why?”

Iris clicked her tongue again, but her cheeks puffed slightly in irritation. “No, it’s fine. I can guess why you’re acting like you have been missing a few screws lately.”

Then, she pinched my side hard. The sharp pain shot through my ribs, making me wince.

Iris leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Dale, you haven’t forgotten, right? I was the first.”

“Ahem.”

It seemed like Iris felt left out after seeing Yurina so bright and cheerful these days. I could sense a faint simmer of anger in her voice.

Still, Iris getting mad was the lesser problem. I turned my gaze to the real danger. A short distance away, Laneige sat hunched, hugging her knees, biting her nails like she was spiraling into madness.

With curses and despair, she muttered, “Yurina’s so lucky. I want Dale to come to my room too. I can be really good to him. I can do everything he wants. Why doesn’t he come visit me? Is it because small girls aren’t attractive? Boys like slender and tall girls, and I’m short and not thin, so Dale isn’t looking at me... Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! What do I do? What do I do? I should just freeze his arms and legs and force myself on him.”

I swallowed hard as I stared at the ominous aura leaking from Laneige. Oh hell! This is how the Blessing of the Frost loses control again, isn’t it?

When Iris and I had first gotten together, the atmosphere was more like: “It’s fine, we’ll all be happy together eventually.” But now it felt more like: “Wait, weren’t we supposed to be happy together? All of us?”

If I said something now, things would only get worse. This was exactly when Professor Baldwin, the big-sister figure of the group, needed to step in. Unfortunately, she had been too busy with the investigation following the recent incident to show up at the academy at all.

***

While Dale agonized over what to do, Sophia, who had been observing quietly, sighed heavily and approached Laneige. “What are you doing crouching there muttering like some cursed gremlin?”

Laniege looked up. “S-Sophia?”

“Tsk! Honestly, why are you so hung up on a guy like him?”

“Uuu.”

“Haah! Well. I guess I shouldn’t be the one saying that.”

Sophia shot a glare toward Berald. Despite the atmosphere being tense and thick enough to choke on, Berald was happily smiling, probably thinking about when the group was going for dinner and that he wanted to tag along.

Turning back, Sophia said, “Well, anyway. Don’t curl up and mope like that. Didn’t you all agree to get along together before?”

Laneige curled even tighter, like a pill bug, fiddling with her fingers. “W-well, yes, but...”

She knew, in her head, that just because Dale and Yurina got closer, it didn’t mean she had lost her place. But hearts didn’t follow logic. Every time she saw Yurina clinging to Dale, jealousy rose uncontrollably from deep inside.

***

As I looked at Senior Sophia and Laneige chattering in the corner, another voice rang near me. It was Berald.

“By the way, Brother, when does your suspension end?” he asked.

“Hmm, I think I’ve still got about a month left?”

“Oh? But then the final evaluation will already be over, won’t it?”

I sighed and lowered my head. “Exactly.”

The finals were coming. However, they, as well as the midterm evaluations, were useless to me, who was always at the bottom. I had thought about asking Headmaster Ryu to lift my suspension, but the midterm evaluations were long over. Even if the disciplinary action were revoked now, I couldn’t retake an exam that had already been conducted. Besides, it would only stir up unnecessary chatter.

If the headmaster of the academy personally stepped in to cancel the punishment of a cadet who violated the rules of the academy and received a heavy penalty, people would definitely start talking about my relationship with him and probably many other things. Worst-case scenario, information about those masked bastards would leak out. In short, asking for my punishment to be removed now carried way too much risk.

Berald looked around the training ground, turning his head this way and that. “Hmm, but with all of us gathered like this, it does feel a bit cramped, doesn’t it?”

This was Yurina’s personal training ground, which we frequently used as our secret hideout lately. Even though it was called a “personal” training ground, the place was huge, far too big for just one person. Yet, with seven people packed inside, it did feel tight.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind. “Ah! In that case, should I ask the headmaster to assign us a party training ground instead?”

“A party training ground?”

“Yeah.”

A party training ground, just like the name suggested, was designed for groups of three to five. It was a facility specifically optimized for party-based training. Because of the immense cost and complicated requirements, few parties actually used one, but just securing the place was well within the headmaster’s authority.

Yurina and Iris both nodded.

“Oh, I think that’s a good idea too. This place is fine for one-on-one sparring, but it’s not great for party drills.”

“Now that you mention it, aside from the ruin expedition, we haven’t had many chances to train as a party.”

Maybe it was the word “base” that got him fired up, but Berald’s eyes sparkled as he practically snorted with excitement. “Oooh! Then we’re really getting our own base inside the Hero Academy!”

Senior Sophia softly said, “Well, I’ve also needed a place to practice magic anyway. Not a bad idea.”

“Great. Then I’ll talk to the headmaster about it later.”

With even Senior Sophia agreeing, there was no reason to hesitate. Just as I made up my mind to contact Headmaster Ryu, a clear chiming sound rang out, and my Hero Watch lit up. It was a message from Professor Baldwin.

Professor Baldwin: Dale. Please come to the headmaster’s office immediately.

“The headmaster’s office?”

Not her office, but the headmaster’s? Did they find a lead on the masked figures’ identities? I wondered.

I tilted my head, stood up, and said, “Sorry. Looks like I won’t be able to join you all for dinner tonight.”

Leaving behind my puzzled teammates, I headed straight for the headmaster’s office.

***

I knocked at the door.

A voice came from inside. “Come in.”

The office of Headmaster Ryu—the current third-ranked hero, known as the Thunder God and regarded as a living legend admired by countless heroes—was strangely modest despite his fame. There was an old wooden table, worn-out sofas, and a bookshelf filled with nameless, weathered tomes. Rather than belonging to one of the continent’s most powerful figures, it felt more like a peaceful used-book shop in the countryside.

Headmaster Ryu said, “Sorry to call you so suddenly.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Headmaster Ryu stroked his beard, his expression complicated. “I had planned to at least treat you to a proper meal, but some important information came in regarding the masked figures you encountered. So, I had to call you right away.”

“What kind of information?”

Professor Baldwin stepped forward. “I’ll explain.”

She operated a magic device, projecting a hologram in the air. It was an image of the wolf-masked man’s face.

“This is the wolf-masked man’s photo you took yourself, correct?” asked the headmaster.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“From your perspective, did this person seem like the leader of the masked group?”

“No. Definitely not.”

The wolf-masked man had mentioned someone else, who was most probably the being he followed. He had a superior.

“Then did he seem at least like an executive-level member?”

“Hmm, yes. I couldn’t tell exactly where he ranked, but he definitely wasn’t a clueless grunt.”

“I see. That’s how it is.”

I tilted my head and glanced at Professor Baldwin. “Is something the matter?”

She swiped her hand, and the hologram changed, revealing a young man with a face quite similar to that of the wolf-masked man.

I asked, “This is...”

“His name is James Jin. We identified him from our academy’s alumni records.”

“Oh.”

My guess was indeed right. If he wasn’t a demon but a hero, the academy’s records were the place to look. The young man in the photo looked about ten years younger than the wolf-masked man and without the scars, but it was unmistakably him.

Professor Baldwin frowned deeply. “The problem is... James Jin graduated from the Hero Academy about three hundred years ago.”

“What?”

Wait, three hundred years ago?