Five hours had passed since everything happened. Enrico and Valença paid for a carriage to take them back to the academy, accompanied by a dissatisfied Angela. As she entered the carriage, Valença thought that she wished she could have stayed longer being carried on his back. Enrico exchanged a few words with the carriage owner and entered right afterward. That battle had been difficult, so he was feeling quite a lot of pain.
"Enrico..."
"Yes?"
"Do you want to rest your head on my lap?"
[You're not going to accept, are you?]
The system did not want him to accept, as that seemed embarrassing for her. Valença, on the other hand, was nervous, wondering if he would accept, especially since she had only done that while Enrico was in that strange, unconscious state.
"Of course."
[You're not embarrassed?]
To her surprise, Enrico lay down. He had already wanted to rest for some time, and with his body aching, continuing to walk would be a pain. So, he would not refuse a good opportunity to rest. Valença's eyes seemed excited, even though some sadness was still present.
She began stroking his hair, but her expression became a little sad as she started remembering how Val'Drakar would always leave to let her be alone with Enrico whenever she began doing that.
"So it was you? Well, that makes sense. I don't think Val'Drakar would do that."
Valença looked at Enrico in confusion, and he explained that once he had felt as if someone were stroking his head. She had done that many times, not just once, but he did not need to know that.
"I'd like to ask you something... What was that state you were in?"
She had wanted to know ever since she saw him like that, but with all the training she had been doing to improve herself, she had not been able to ask Val'Drakar many times. And whenever she managed to, he remained silent, not wanting to reveal anything to her. Maybe it was something too dangerous for her to know.
"You know that technique I failed at? Well, it's that one. It's a secret of my family, so I can't reveal it."
He lied. That family did not even know that it existed, but he preferred not to tell her about it and end up losing someone because of it. Besides, their potential was already high, so it would not be necessary.
Valença nodded and continued stroking his hair.
'So that was the technique he failed at... It makes sense, after he came out injured from that cave.'
Enrico began to feel sleepy, so he closed his eyes. With a smile on her face, Valença maintained a calm and affectionate expression. If Enrico returned to being the way he was before, she would not give him a chance like this, but she would try to make him return to how he was now, no matter what.
'I really started to love him... Damn, my rival.'
Finally, after some time, they arrived in Sanos. Valença woke Enrico up, who still wanted to have rested a little longer.
After saying goodbye to the maid, who seemed to become increasingly dissatisfied with them having entered a dangerous dungeon, they walked toward Astrong Academy, and the two arrived a few minutes later. Valença was thinking about what kind of girl he liked, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of running coming from ahead.
"But wha—"
Enrico was hugged by Yumeha, who was happy. Right behind her came Rina, Aoi, Seraphina, Serenya, and Kai, all running. Everyone seemed surprised because of something, except Kai, who looked excited.
Valença looked at Yumeha with an extremely calm yet deadly expression. Seraphina and Serenya asked a question at the same time.
"Reaching Circle Two is amazing, Enrico!"
"Subordinate, you really reached Circle Two..."
"How did you—"
He was about to ask the question, but he looked at Yumeha and realized. Since the two of them were linked, she had probably reached Circle Two at the same moment as him, and because of her excitement, everyone ended up finding out.
Yumeha seemed to realize something and knelt down, her face filled with guilt.
"I'm sorry for hugging you without your permission, Master."
"You don't need to apologize. You're my Musubinin, so it's fine."
Her eyes sparkled because her master was so kind. That should have been a gift from God for her after enduring so much. Valença, on the other hand, wanted to understand that Musubinin business better and what it had to do with hugs.
"Enrico, why don't you become my Ketsumei already? I'm sure we have the same potential now. We're perfect for each other."
Rina tried to convince Enrico with her words. She did not understand why he still had not accepted her as his Musubinin.
Aoi, standing behind her, was surprised behind that mask. Now she truly believed that Enrico had the same potential as them.
The conversation between Rina and Enrico went on for quite a while. He insisted that he should wait longer, while she insisted that it should happen soon. Kai wanted to interfere and ask for his rematch to happen soon, so he took a step forward.
"Enrico, I'm getting stronger. And I know you've completely surpassed me now, but I want to fight you."
"Of course. How about tomorrow, after classes?"
"...You accepted? All right, I'll see you tomorrow."
Kai immediately became excited and went to the training field, even though it was already close to night.
Valença was irritated about something, and upon seeing Enrico surrounded by those girls, she decided to mark her territory. She took a step forward and placed her hand on his hair.
"Enrico, I wanted to ask you something before we were interrupted."
Rina immediately narrowed her eyes. She did not like the way Valença had approached Enrico at all, but instead of complaining, she crossed her arms and waited. Serenya also noticed Valença's intention and looked away, pretending not to care, although her expression had clearly become more irritated.
Only Aoi remained calm, observing everything from behind her mask. Judging by the gleam in her eyes, however, it was clear that she was finding the situation quite amusing.
Enrico, on the other hand, did not seem to care much about Valença's hand on his head.
"Go ahead."
Valença took a deep breath. She had thought about that question several times, but now that she finally had the opportunity to ask it, her heart began beating faster.
"What kind of girls do you like?"
Rina leaned her body slightly forward, waiting for the answer with a competitive expression. To her, this already seemed like a competition, and she was determined to prove that she was the best choice.
Serenya kept her arms crossed and tried to appear indifferent, but her attention was completely focused on Enrico. She did not want to admit that she was curious, much less that the answer could make her happy or disappointed.
Seraphina and Yumeha, on the other hand, became thoughtful, with great curiosity appearing on their faces.
Aoi remained motionless for a few seconds and then seemed to want to smile behind her mask.
[Enrico, isn't that the question that her friend should have asked Kai?]
'Yes...'
Valença's friend was not a very important character. She did not even have a name in the original story and was simply someone who gave Valença advice about love. Her friend was not even a mage, just a civilian, but it seemed that there was some problem, because it was not this friend who asked the question, and she did not ask it to Kai either.
[Then why was this question asked to you?]
'It should be obvious, shouldn't it?'
[It's unbelievable that someone actually has feelings for you...]
Enrico had already noticed that Valença was acting differently around him, especially that day. Before that, it had only been a suspicion, but during that period, he managed to understand very well what she was feeling.
The problem was that, depending on his answer, she could end up changing her personality. Even so, he decided to be honest about his preferences.
Why lie? Besides, perhaps that answer could even make her more determined to become stronger.
"I mainly like beautiful and strong girls."
Valença remained motionless for a moment. Her heart raced, but she tried to hide her reaction and simply looked away, satisfied that the answer was not far from what she had expected.
Rina smiled confidently.
"I knew it."
She put her hands on her waist, clearly satisfied, as if she had just gained a small advantage in the competition.
Serenya, on the other hand, turned her face to the side and let out a laugh characteristic of her arrogant noble personality.
"Hohohoho, of course you would like strong and beautiful women, since you're by my side."
Seraphina and Yumeha immediately began planning to work harder to become stronger.
'Then I need to become even stronger...'
'I'll become strong for Master too!'
Aoi, meanwhile, placed a hand on her chin, seemingly thoughtful.
'That's the perfect description of me. Should I accept this confession just so I can have fun messing with them?'
Seeing the girls' expressions, Enrico realized that most of them liked him. The only one who did not show it was Aoi, but with that mask, how could he know?
'I think I may have caused some trouble for the academy.'
He looked at the girls with a somewhat innocent expression, while the shining system called him a monster and said that those girls should not fall in love with him.
[You idiot.]