Side Story - Surpass Marti (3)

Ever since Rudel had started visiting the girls’ dormitory, complaints had begun surfacing among some of the girls there. Completely unaware of that, Rudel was once again on his way to the princess’s room in response to her summons. Since becoming a third-year, he no longer went there every day.

Even so, she summoned him about once a week, and on particularly bad occasions, the princess herself would tell him, “You can just stay the night today.” Even Rudel found himself reluctant to accept that. After this continued for some time, his steps toward the girls’ dormitory began to grow increasingly heavy.

“I feel like I’d be using my time more efficiently if I spent this reading or training. But it is technically a summons from the princess…”

As Rudel walked down the corridor of the girls’ dormitory, muttering to himself,

“I smell a man… and a nobleman at that.”

“Boss! This is bad. That guy’s famous even among the nobility.”

“No matter what, Boss, he’s a terrible person to pick a fight with!”

Three girls wearing uniforms that had been altered so heavily… no, uniforms that barely retained their original form at all, stood directly in Rudel’s path. One of them was openly glaring at him. And she was huge! Rudel himself was hardly short, but she easily stood a full head taller than him. That girl approached Rudel.

“Do you need something? I’m in a hurry.”

Unlike Unias’s fierce demeanor, these demi-human girls possessed a distinctly wild ferocity. And there was a good reason for that… They were girls of the Tiger Tribe, said to be the strongest among the beastfolk. They were also upperclassmen to Rudel. They even gave off the impression that, if he let his guard down, Rudel himself might lose to them.

“Need something? Of course I do! There’s no way a man should be hanging around here! Turn tail and get lost, noble boy!”

Her voice was low and intimidating as she looked down on him and shouted. She had plenty of presence, but…

“More importantly, isn’t your clothing against the rules? You shouldn’t dress like that. Your skirts are either too long or too short… and around the chest, um…”

To Rudel, who was accustomed to being surrounded by properly dressed noble girls, the Tiger Tribe girls’ outfits looked bizarre—and just provocative enough to make him a little nervous.

“Where do you think you’re looking, brat?! If you want us to stop that badly, go call a teacher or something.”

The girl they called Boss grinned and grabbed Rudel by the collar, lifting him into the air. But after doing so much petting lately, Rudel almost reflexively reached out and stroked her tiger ears. The Boss froze in surprise for an instant, then became furious and tried to throw Rudel away… only for her legs to give out.

“Eh? Wait a… minute. W-What is this?!”

She dropped to her knees, her thighs trembling faintly. Thanks to the Boss collapsing, Rudel’s feet reached the floor again, much to his relief. But her underlings, who had witnessed the whole thing, were not about to forgive him.

“What the hell did you do to Boss, brat?!”

The Tiger Tribe girls leaped at him… and in the end, every one of them was petted into submission.

“…This is a problem.”

Once the commotion had settled, Rudel stood in the corridor wondering what he should do. The Tiger Tribe girls probably had rooms nearby, so perhaps it would be fine to leave them here. He wanted to carry them back, but with all of them unconscious there was little he could do… Then an idea came to him.

“I’ll ask Izumi for help!”

And so Rudel headed toward Izumi’s room. Left behind were the unconscious Tiger Tribe girls. And conveniently enough, the person who appeared next was…

“Honestly… where could Master have gone?”

(Being late when the appointed time has already passed makes him a failure as a gentleman! I’m a failure as a lady, though! Hurry up so I can fluff Mii and Nees… Hm?)

Walking down the corridor with her Senior Knight guards, Fina discovered the unconscious Tiger Tribe girls lying there. After thinking for a moment, she concluded that Rudel had to be involved. Their appearance resembled what Mii usually looked like after being petted.

“Master really can’t help himself.”

(I suppose it’s the disciple’s job to clean up after Master finishes devouring everything! …Oh damn, I’m getting excited enough to drool!)

Thinking that behind her expressionless face, Fina had the Tiger Tribe girls carried to her room. …Afterward, she thoroughly enjoyed fluffing them.

“There’s no one here, Rudel.”

“Huh? That’s strange… There were unconscious girls lying here just a moment ago…”

When Izumi and Rudel arrived afterward, they spent some time searching the now-empty corridor. Then Izumi asked the obvious question.

“By the way, Rudel, why are you in the girls’ dormitory? And why are you acting like it’s perfectly normal…?”

The following day, because Rudel had failed to visit the princess’s room the previous night, he was summoned again. Rudel headed toward the girls’ dormitory in a gloomy mood. There, he found the Tiger Tribe girls wearing their academy uniforms properly according to school regulations. They fidgeted awkwardly, embarrassed by clothes they were clearly unused to wearing correctly.

When they noticed Rudel, they approached him.

“W-We are really sorry about yesterday! A-And also… about what happened yesterday…”

The girl seemed to be struggling to say something. Rudel interpreted it as a request not to tell anyone about the way they had been dressed yesterday. Their outfits had certainly been rather provocative, so naturally they would want him to keep quiet… Rudel genuinely believed that was what she meant.

“Sure. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“…? N-No, that’s not what I meant!”

The Tiger Tribe girl continued fidgeting as though she wanted to say something else. But Rudel had been summoned by the princess and was running short on time. He told them he had somewhere to be and left.

On the way to the princess’s room, however, Nees was waiting for him. …Wearing a collar!

“Please make me your slave for life.”

Nees looked up at Rudel with moist eyes. But she was wearing a collar around her neck and had just asked him to make her his slave. An ordinary man might have accepted immediately or at least struggled with the decision… but Rudel said,

“Courtois abolished slavery. Buying, selling, or owning slaves is a crime.”

He rejected the idea completely.

But Nees refused to give up. She pressed herself against him and began speaking in a sugary, coaxing voice.

“It’s only a figure of speech. If you’ll just keep me for the rest of my life, I’ll be satisfied.”

“No, even if you’re a demi-human, saying I’ll ‘keep’ you like a pet is strange! …H-Hey? Are you even listening to me?”

Nees began undoing the buttons of Rudel’s clothes in an attempt to strip him. …At that point, Rudel became frightened and fled. He sprinted at full speed straight into Izumi’s room.

“Help me, Izumi!”

Izumi had already noticed Rudel from the sound of him running down the corridor before he entered the room… but her roommate was startled when Rudel suddenly burst inside.

“Did you do something again?”

“She volunteered to become my slave! A black cat is volunteering to become my slave! I’m going to become a criminal!”

Izumi had no idea how to respond to Rudel’s incomprehensible explanation… so she simply helped him escape through the window. Frankly, Izumi was far too indulgent toward Rudel. Normally, this was serious enough that she would have been justified in turning him over to the girls’ dormitory supervisor.

And when Fina learned what had happened,

“I see. Master isn’t coming today either…”

(Oh damn, when did my Nees get stolen away by Master?! I’m frustrated, but it’s also turning me on a little!!! What am I supposed to do if all my fluff gets stolen by him at this rate… I can’t stop getting excited. Maybe I should seriously make Master mine? Then I’d never run out of fluff for the rest of my life. Wait, Master’s from one of the Three Dukes, so politically he’s actually a perfectly acceptable match!)

She became excited all by herself.

Meanwhile, Sophina, who served as the princess’s guard, and Mii, her friend, both seemed disappointed that Rudel had not come. Then Fina said,

“Well, we’ll look forward to tomorrow.”

(He’s still at the academy, so it doesn’t matter if there’s a little gap between sessions. Starting tomorrow, I’ll get back to fluffing!!! I really do need to conquer all the fluff in the girls’ dormitory first!)

That wish of Fina’s would soon be effortlessly ruined by Izumi.