"As a repayment for saving me... you can do whatever you want to me now, you know...?"
Claudia's breath was warm against his neck as she leaned into him. Her loose bathrobe slipped slightly, exposing the elegant curve of her shoulder and the pale, soft skin beneath.
Faced with a scene that would make any normal man lose his composure and surrender to the moment, Haruki's mind remained as sharp and still as a frozen lake. He looked at her with a calm, analytical gaze, eventually letting out a quiet sigh.
"It seems you won't let me leave unless I give you what you're looking for," Haruki noted.
"Hehe... don't think too much. Just... please—"
"Fine."
Haruki moved with a cold, focused efficiency. He didn't hesitate, reaching out to pull her close. To an observer, it was a passionate embrace, but to Haruki, it was almost like a mission. He held her with a detached intensity, his fingers tracing the silk of her skin—a texture so smooth and firm it felt as if it were trying to pull his palm in.
It was a sensory overload, a velvet trap designed to break a man's reason. Yet, Haruki's spirit held firm. He allowed the heat and the proximity to test his boundaries, pushing the moment until Claudia was nearly breathless, her mind clouded by the intensity of the contact. Only when she was on the verge of surrendering entirely did Haruki pull back his hands and stand up.
"Is it... is it over?" Claudia asked after a long moment, her eyes misty and her voice trembling. Her brain felt like it had short-circuited from the rush.
"Yes. It's over."
"That was... incredible. I've never felt anything like that," she whispered. "But now I'm not sure who was actually repaying who."
"It doesn't matter. It was a useful experience for me too," Haruki replied.
He meant it. While a normal boy would have only found physical pleasure in the act, Haruki had treated it as a trial for his mental fortitude. His resistance to the "weakness of the flesh" had leveled up. He had looked into the abyss of desire and hadn't blinked.
He knew that to truly conquer his spirit, he probably should have seen it through to the end. But Haruki wasn't a machine, and he wasn't heartless. He didn't want his first time to be a transaction or a training exercise with someone he barely knew. If he was ever going to go that far, he wanted it to be with someone who truly shared his path.
Claudia was a magnificent woman, but she wasn't the one.
The morning after his intense night with Claudia was a quiet Sunday.
Normally, Haruki would have spent every second of the weekend training with the Ser-Veresta. But today, he had an appointment. He left the dorms and headed for the shopping district outside the Seidokan gates.
"Sorry! Have you been waiting long?"
Julis came running toward him, breathless. She wasn't in her school uniform today. She wore a stylish, slightly short pink-and-black sundress with ruffled knee-high socks. She had clearly put a lot of effort into her appearance, looking every bit the refined yet modern Princess.
A normal guy would have started with a compliment. Haruki checked his watch.
"You are three minutes and eight seconds late. It's acceptable."
"Ugh, the weather was just so nice... I accidentally overslept," Julis grumbled, looking a bit sheepish.
"It's fine," Haruki said, shaking his head. He had spent the extra minutes practicing his Sense of Fluctuation.
Ever since claiming the Ser-Veresta, his perception of thermal energy had become vivid. He could "feel" the heat in the air and the way it vibrated. Mastering the "Fire Wave" was now only a matter of time and repetition.
"I'm really sorry," Julis persisted, her royal sense of duty kicking in. "As an apology... I'll do whatever you want for the rest of the day."
Haruki looked at her. "Then stay with me for a while."
"S-Stay with you?" Julis froze, her face turning a bright shade of peach. "I... I'm not that kind of girl! You can't just... we have to build a proper foundation first... we barely know each other..." Her voice grew smaller and smaller as she trailed off in embarrassment.
"I meant stay with me so we can find the assassin," Haruki said flatly. "Wasn't that the point of calling me out?"
"Oh... right. Of course." Julis's face turned even redder, this time from pure mortification.
Haruki ignored her internal crisis. He kept his perception extended to the maximum range, mapping the surrounding streets. While Claudia had suggested acting as bait, Haruki preferred a proactive hunt.
The culprit was attacking Seidokan candidates. That meant they likely had access to campus data. It also meant they were likely working for—or with—Allekant Academy, the masters of cybernetics. On a Sunday, an insider would likely sneak out to meet their handlers in a place where they wouldn't be seen.
Haruki had identified the perfect location: the Slums.
Asterisk was a city of corporate monopolies. Where there is extreme wealth, there is extreme poverty. The slums were a grey zone filled with Genestella who couldn't cut it at the academies and criminals hiding from the Foundations. It was a lawless labyrinth of abandoned construction sites and interconnected tunnels—perfect for a secret meeting.
"You want to go into the Slums?" Julis asked, her tone shifting to one of concern as they reached the border. "It's dangerous. The Re-Development Zone next to it is even worse. It's full of old structures and blind spots."
"Every student in Asterisk has to wear their school crest, right?" Haruki asked.
"Yes. It's our ID, our life-line. If you lose it without a formal duel, it's a nightmare to replace."
"Then that's how we find them," Haruki explained. "A normal Seidokan student wouldn't be caught dead in the slums on their day off. If we find someone with a Seidokan signature hiding in a basement here, we've found our rat."
They began their search, moving through the cramped, smog-filled alleys of the slums. Julis looked at the struggling people with a deep, somber sadness that Haruki noted but didn't comment on. He wasn't here to fix the world's economy; he was here to hunt.
They found no Seidokan signals in the slums proper, so they moved into the Re-Development Zone. The area was a forest of half-demolished concrete skeletons.
Suddenly, Haruki stopped. His senses picked up a group of jagged, aggressive vibrations closing in.
A dozen students wearing the dark uniforms of Le Wolfe Black Institute emerged from the shadows. Le Wolfe was famous for its thuggish culture, a school where "victory at any cost" was the only rule.
"Well, well," the leader sneered, drawing a heavy Lux. "A Seidokan Princess and a new face. You two lost? This isn't the park, little girl."
"Your attitude is lacking," Julis said, her eyes narrowing. She didn't even reach for her weapon yet. "Strength should match the ego. You don't have the rank to speak to me."
"Kill them!" the leader roared.
The Le Wolfe thugs lunged forward, brandishing a variety of bludgeons and Lux blades.
Julis didn't move until they were in range. "Burn... no, just a light sear will do. Cornucopia!"
A whirlwind of brilliant crimson flames erupted around her, expanding in a rhythmic pulse. The thugs were swept off their feet, their clothes scorched and their weapons flying from their hands. Within seconds, the entire squad was groaning on the ground, wisps of smoke rising from their singed hair.
"Hmph. Not even a warm-up," Julis said, flipping her hair back. She glanced at Haruki. "Why didn't you help? Do you always let the girl do the heavy lifting?"
Haruki had stood by with his arms crossed, watching the flow of her fire. "Two reasons. One, you didn't need help. Two, a Genestella woman is not a 'weakling' in need of protection. You're a warrior. Act like it."
Julis pouted. "You and your logic..."
She walked over to the leader, a boy with a messy mohawk who was trying to crawl away. She stepped on his hand. "Talk. Who paid you to wait here?"
"I... I don't know!" the thug whimpered. "Some guy gave us a stack of credits to 'teach a lesson' to anyone coming from Seidokan today! He didn't give a name!"
"What did he look like?"
"He was wearing a Seidokan uniform! Short hair, glasses... he looked like a total nerd!"
Julis looked at Haruki. "Short hair, glasses... Seidokan uniform..."
"Silas Norman," Haruki said, the name clicking into place. "The one with the perfect alibi."
Suddenly, the "vibration" of the area changed. A cold, mechanical hum filled the air.
"It seems my 'hired help' was even more useless than I anticipated," a voice echoed from the top of a nearby ruin.
They looked up. Standing on a concrete beam was a student in a Seidokan uniform, adjusting his glasses. Behind him, three massive, combat-ready Al-D units descended from the shadows, their optics glowing with a lethal red light.
The mastermind had arrived.
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