The Curtain Falls

“Hahaha!”

After the gift box in her pocket was damaged by the chains, the miss’s offense could only be described as “tiger-like.”

Abandoning inefficient defense, only parrying when absolutely necessary, while closing in on the devil Cameria at the fastest speed.

One could see that under the chains’ siege, the miss’s body was already starting to get scratched, making my heart ache.

But… the effect was very significant.

Due to the shortened distance between the miss and Cameria, Cameria diverted some chains to stop the miss.

This also suddenly reduced the pressure on our side…

It was time to start the counterattack.

As early as during defense, I had already constructed multiple spell formulas.

And now, I would unleash them all at once!

“In an instant, tsunami thunder, earth-shaking!”

Lightning, surging tides, lava, ice rocks, wind blades—all smashed toward Cameria.

As expected, sensing danger, the chains targeted my magic.

Boom—!

Amid the earth-shaking explosion, powerful air currents scattered everywhere.

“Aaah—!”

“I’m going to be blown away!”

Under this blast, those with weak footing would even be directly flung off.

Many chains were also destroyed.

But the miss pressed forward relentlessly… without the chains’ obstruction, her speed increased even further.

The threat level changed again, and the chains’ targets shifted once more.

In turn… our support increased greatly.

No longer needing to defend, the freed students also provided covering fire.

Colorful magic flew and splashed, precisely hitting every chain about to strike the miss.

Even if one hit couldn’t stop a chain, the accumulation of numbers—in the face of absolute quantity, even the strongest chains were defeated.

And among these magics, the most outstanding was that golden beam of light, piercing through three or four chains with just that one spell.

Finally… the miss was about to reach Cameria!

She slid into a tackle, coolly dodging the sweep of three or four chains, slipping a punch to Cameria’s side.

“Aim for that guy’s heart! The devil’s heart is the weak point!”

Following “Sophina”‘s instruction, the miss adjusted her stance and plunged the dagger into Cameria’s chest.

…Did we win!

“Clang!”

The sound of metal clashing rang out inopportunely.

It seemed we celebrated too early.

The feel was wrong; the miss showed surprise.

“Could it be… you wrapped chains around your heart!?”

Cameria revealed a mocking smile:

“Mere mortal, and you want to slay a god?”

At this moment, crimson chains had already climbed onto the miss’s body, preventing her from escaping even a bit.

“Lost lamb, repent quickly—perhaps the divine will forgive you?”

One chain ghost-like slithered behind the miss, as if opening a bloody maw.

I wanted to use magic to save the miss but found it was too late.

Seeing the chain about to hit the miss, my heart filled with anxiety.

“No! I can’t let her hurt the miss!”

“I must… stop her!”

The words unconsciously slipped from my lips.

“[Stop]!”

I shouted with the loudest volume of my life.

For some reason, the instant I shouted, Cameria froze, and the chains all halted together.

…No, including Cameria, everyone stopped their actions.

The only ones unaffected seemed to be the miss and “Sophina”.

“…!”

Noticing this was a golden opportunity, “Sophina” cupped her hands emptily, and a bow and arrow of light appeared in her grasp.

Nock, shoot!

At the same time, Cameria’s stiffness was released.

But… it was already too late.

The chains had no time to defend; Cameria was pierced through the heart by an arrow.

The devil nun spat a mouthful of purple blood, collapsing with a sound, the chains disintegrating accordingly.

“To think I… would be defeated by such small fry?”

She looked utterly unwilling.

“To actually use mental interference on me…? When you’re just an impure thing…”

In the end, her mouth muttered incomprehensible words…

“…”

Silence lingered in the night sky for a long time before someone couldn’t hold back and spoke:

“We… did we win?”

After confirming Cameria was no longer breathing, everyone grew excited.

“Ohhhhh!”

The boys’ side even erupted in cheers that shook the heavens.

It was understandable; after all, this should be their first time.

“…Why did you… never mind.”

Amid the cheers, “Sophina” came to my side,

hesitating to speak.

I had no time to attend to her and immediately joined the miss, concerned about her injuries.

“Miss, are you alright!”

“I’m fine… just some minor wounds…”

She said that, but I gave a quick check—it was indeed minor, yet the miss looked somewhat dejected.

“Sorry… Ailena…”

“…Hm? Why apologize to me?”

“Actually…”

The miss’s gaze drifted to her damaged pocket, seeming to hesitate about speaking.

But she seemed to think of something and resolved herself.

“Tomorrow… isn’t it Valentine’s Day? I originally had something I planned to give you… but…”

Saying this, the miss sank down.

I suddenly recalled the black contents scattered from the box shattered by the chain.

Combining the timing and the box’s shape…

“Could it be, chocolate?”

“…Yes.”

She nodded.

The miss’s face slightly reddened, averting her gaze a bit, cautiously.

Could it be that the miss was going to give me chocolate… and the real kind…?

Thinking this, I couldn’t help but blush and my heart race.

“…Hm?”

Lost in the sweet atmosphere, we completely missed a soft hum nearby.

“…Things aren’t completely over yet.”

Suddenly, a teacher who had been silent spoke, directly bursting the previous good mood.

Wearing glasses, with a stern face, he pointed the spear at the weakened Rebecca.

“In our country, signing a contract with a devil is a grave crime.”

“But… she was tempted by the devil!”

Noel was somewhat unconvinced.

“All devil contractors say that… who knows the truth? From the earlier intelligence, wasn’t she tempted because of selfish emotions like jealousy?”

The teacher pushed up his glasses and continued:

“Moreover, it was her who caused student injuries and building damage… she should at least take responsibility for others, right?”

Saying this, he cast his gaze on the boys’ dormitory, now ruined beyond recognition.

…Honestly, it was already a miracle the building hadn’t collapsed.

But in this state… it definitely couldn’t house people.

“…”

Rebecca fell silent; the teacher’s words stabbed her heart like knives, one by one.

All eyes focused on Rebecca, some even with anger… this made the already taciturn her shrink into a ball.

Seeing Rebecca like this, Noel also put away her usual smile, narrowing her eyes in rebuttal:

“Doesn’t your academy have responsibility too?”

She paused, then pressed aggressively:

“A church opened within the academy, yet infiltrated by demons… and that nun, hasn’t she been working in the academy church for a long time?

Failing to discover she was a demon for so long, surely not just Rebecca was deceived—there must be more potential victims… in that case, doesn’t your academy bear great responsibility too?”

“Uh…”

The teacher was momentarily speechless.

“At least… at least she should be responsible for the damaged dormitory! So many students have nowhere to stay tonight!”

…Such a large dormitory, repairs wouldn’t be cheap.

For the viscount’s daughter Rebecca, it was undoubtedly a heavy burden.

“We’ll have the ducal house cover the repair costs.”

Unexpectedly, the miss stepped up to speak for her.

“It won’t cost much anyway… and Brother has to live there too; we can’t leave him without a place, right?”

The miss glanced at Lord Claude nearby, who gave a wry smile but didn’t object.

“Rather than dragging this out with bickering, better treat it as a donation and fix it sooner.”

“This…”

“Moreover, as a teacher, instead of pursuing her responsibility now, shouldn’t the priority be settling the students with nowhere to stay tonight?”

With the miss saying this, the teacher’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to spit out a word for a long time, finally turning into a sigh.

“Sigh… fine.”

And so, the devil disturbance came to a close.