The difficult part of an infiltration mission is balancing work with everyday life.
After all, I was at the Academy as a student.
Though the higher-ups at the Academy knew my role and offered some conveniences, even they insisted I attend classes.
Something about not being able to prevent me from failing due to attendance issues?
I didn't care about graduating, but I wanted to avoid repeating a year. If I failed, Prince Ellen would insist he couldn't leave me alone, extending my Academy life by another year.
So I diligently attended classes.
Besides, unlike my previous life, many Academy classes were actually interesting.
In that sense, I thought the classes during this second-semester field trip evaluation would be quite enjoyable.
"Adam. Let's go."
"...Again?"
"Yes. We can't just stand here."
But participating in classes meant I was just serving as a sandbag every day.
While I was known as the royal family's sandbag with history and tradition, I hadn't been beaten this badly before.
After Daisy's incident, Prince Ellen had witnessed an achievement worthy of a highlight reel titled "The deceased's awesome gameplay in life," and his fighting spirit had ignited.
Another romance fantasy female lead?
Tears are blurring my vision.
"Adam. Me too."
"...Can't you see the pitiful corpse collapsed right in front of you?"
Even as I lay defeated on the ground after being thrashed by Ellen, Asran approached to ask for a match.
These stubborn romance fantasy male leads. Seeing this display doesn't frighten him—he probably wants to become a man worthy of standing beside them.
"If not now, I don't think I'll ever win."
"..."
Or is this bastard just attacking because he thinks this is his chance to win?
"You're dead."
"Huh?"
No matter how exhausted I am, I'm not going to lose to the Little Sword Emperor.
"..."
With that thought, I clashed swords with him, but after about three exchanges, I felt a slight sense of crisis.
I had been going easy on him, but...
He's already at this level?
I wondered if this was the talent of a romance fantasy male lead candidate, but even accounting for that, something seemed off, so I probed a little.
"That's unfair."
As I frowned slightly and muttered, Asran averted his gaze.
"I, well... I got a little help from the Sword Emperor! Just a little. Like other students in the sword club..."
Without me saying anything more, his explanation resolved my doubts.
Romance fantasy male lead buff plus Sword Emperor buff.
If the Little Sword Emperor got it, I wonder when Prince Ellen will get it too.
"I've been waiting."
"Pardon?"
However, after all classes ended, as I dragged my tired body back to the dormitory, the Sword Emperor stood before me.
"Let's have a private session, it's been a while."
"I don't think I can today..."
"Life is always difficult."
"..."
With this sudden buff time, I was dragged like a cow to slaughter for another beating.
* * *
"Why does my stamina keep increasing?"
After about a week of life in Rias Fiefdom.
Despite being used as a sandbag for almost a week, I was puzzled by the fact that my stamina wasn't depleting—it was actually increasing.
"Areas designated as magical regions are rich in magical energy, so stamina recovers quickly. Plus, Rias has more dungeons than other magical regions, and temporary dungeons appear frequently. The magical energy emitted by dungeon cores is so substantial that they say you accumulate magic just by breathing."
Violet explained that people like me, who store a lot of magical energy, would feel the effects even more.
No wonder the Sword Emperor dragged students for training even after classes ended.
It was an educational method utilizing Rias's characteristics.
"But why are you telling me this so late again?"
"Excuse me? I told you this as soon as we arrived in Rias."
"I didn't hear it."
"That's because we went straight to the tribal village. I heard it from a friend."
Violet frowned, then suddenly realized something and widened her eyes in shock.
"Wait, do you not have friends?"
Gasp!
Gasp!
I get why Violet is surprised, but why are you?
"Just eat your food."
I sighed deeply as I stuffed a piece of meat into Bell's mouth.
"The sword department doesn't have the atmosphere to share such information."
"Why?"
I glanced at Violet's side.
Violet blinked as she watched Daisy quietly eating breakfast, then said "Ah" with a look of realization.
"Everyone's been working hard lately."
Regardless of Daisy's image, seeing a massive sword literally crush a dungeon had a profound impact on the sword department students.
No one would think "I want to be like that..."
But at least it made them realize that a sword at its peak could accomplish such feats.
Thanks to that, the sword department was following the Sword Emperor's hellish training without complaint.
"What about the magic department?"
"Similar situation, but the feeling is a bit different."
From what I heard, the magic department was less focused on improving abilities and more on trying out spells they hadn't been able to use in practical situations.
"Even if you squeeze out all your magical energy, it's almost fully recovered after sleeping. It's like, if not now, when will you ever cast these spells?"
But even that can't happen all the time, she says.
"This is important, so I'll tell you again soon."
"Ah, you mean the Night of Demonic Energy?"
"What? You already knew about this?"
"Of course."
I'd heard it was the day when the evil god's fanatics would be active.
Uncle Arwen and the others were all waiting for that day.
"Then this is simple. The atmospheric magic includes demonic energy. On that day, don't use magic. And don't absorb any."
Saying that, she poked Daisy's side, making her jump in surprise and look at Violet.
"Got it?"
"O-Of course! I'm not an idiot!"
"..."
I'm sorry to Daisy who pouted and protested, but she might need to act a bit foolish.
* * *
The Night of Demonic Energy.
A day when demonic energy mixes into the atmosphere, something that doesn't happen in ordinary regions.
Wild animals that absorb demonic energy could transform into monsters, breaking free from their species' limitations.
Already classified monsters would become stronger and more violent than usual.
Ordinary people risked internal injuries or worse if they mistakenly absorbed the demonic energy.
Conversely, black mages could use stronger powers, like monsters, on this day.
That's why humanity sealed off areas with such anomalies and designated them as magical regions.
"And yet they established a fiefdom in such a forbidden area."
No matter how I thought about it, Rias Fiefdom was truly insane.
"No, they managed it well."
"If it was managed well, how did black mages infiltrate?"
"Ugh!"
No matter how I looked at it, this place was clearly created by the author to establish an activity area for part 2.
Or maybe they didn't give enough importance to the second son here during the Academy arc, and hastily created this setting to give him a buff since his abilities were ambiguous.
Gerard, the second son of the border count.
Inferior to Prince Ellen and the Little Sword Emperor in swordsmanship.
Inferior to the magic-wielding prince in magic.
Inferior to Prince Acid in power.
Inferior to the future guild master in wealth.
The reason he could be active in part 2 was not only because Rias Fiefdom was his home, but also because he inherited Rias's blood strongly, making him unaffected by the Night of Demonic Energy.
Of course, Gerard himself didn't know this fact yet.
According to future spoilers, he would learn about it from Violet when she joins in part 2, at least four years from now.
"But is it okay to set our target on the Night of Demonic Energy?"
The Night of Demonic Energy is dangerous for ordinary people, dangerous enough that even a mediocre friend would need to play a major role.
They say you can build resistance through training, but that's just enduring.
It's the worst day when the enemy gets stronger while we get weaker.
"What else can we do? The fanatics only come on that day."
The opponents are the elusive devotees of the evil god.
Unless we have bait to lure them out, we'll have to wait on the Night of Demonic Energy despite the risks.
"Don't you have any?"
"Do you?"
"I think you might."
But why are these guys asking me for bait?
"How would I have something like that?"
"Just be honest. I'll understand."
"Yes. If you confess honestly, I'll reduce it to three days in the underground prison."
"Honestly, if you said 'I'm actually an apostle of the evil god!' right now, I wouldn't even be surprised."
"No..."
These bastards are openly treating me like a spy.
Honestly, I can understand the fire-wielding brat, but...
"Can I just leave?"
What are Uncle Arwen and Taylor thinking?
"I'm sorry!"
"I was wrong!"
The arsonists aren't trying to burn our house—they're targeting these people's homes.
They've already set fires multiple times, yet these guys still don't get it.
"Are you confident about the Night of Demonic Energy?"
"Do you really have a method?"
But those words sparked suspicion in Uncle Arwen's eyes.
It's understandable to be suspicious when a newcomer to Rias claims to know a solution that even the Rias family couldn't find.
"Who do you think I am?"
But who am I?
"The one who stole Prince Acid's first love."
"The one who stole Lord Gerard's first love."
"The one who stole Arwen's... *sniff* first love..."
"..."
Uncle Arwen jokingly started it, Taylor picked it up, and the fire-wielder tried to spike it but scored an own goal.
"No..."
As the situation suddenly shifted from WWE to UFC, Uncle Arwen looked wronged.
"That's correct."
"Huh?"
I cleanly acknowledged it.
"The lover of Saint Daisy. And since ancient times, holy power has been the natural enemy of demonic energy."
It's no coincidence that the Rias Fiefdom is one of the places with the most goddess worshippers in the Empire.
The power of holy energy in Rias has been proven to the extent that numerous priests and knights from the Holy Nation reside there in preparation for contingencies!
"N-No way?"
Uncle Arwen, who first understood the meaning of my words, looked at me in shock.
"Yes, that's right."
To prevent my annoying (fake) lover's whining.
And to score points in advance so I can borrow the magic sword when needed!
Plus, as a bonus, to catch the black mages and fanatics hiding in Rias and score points with the Empire—it's a three-birds-with-one-stone plan!
"Operation name: Midnight Date."
"*Cough!*"
Except for one love-challenged person's internal injury, it was the most perfect plan prepared.