''Listen, Claire.''

Amidst the intense sounds of the battle between Chloe and the demon, I walk in front of the stunned girl and put my hands on her cheek.

''I don't know what happened, but you need to step up and defeat that demon, else all of us will die here.'' I tell her while staring straight at her trembling green pupils. ''Lady Luminous can't hold it for long.''

''Eh?! I-I...'' She turns her gaze down, clenching her trembling fists.

I'm employing an extremely advanced technique here—lying.

In truth, Chloe can easily hold off that guy for at least half an hour due to the stats difference, and even I can use light magic to defeat it as well, but I need to push Claire here. She is an important force for us in our future, and I won't let her rot like this.

''Claire, please.'' I push my face closer.

The girl in front of me bites her lips lightly, then finally lifts her head to look at me with a determined expression. And-

''Y-You're too close...!'' She immediately blushes and pushes me away weakly.

''Could you two please stop flirting and help me?!'' Chloe's resentful voice sounds in the distance.

I release Claire.

''Phew... Thank you, Aurora. You saved me.'' Claire calms herself and unsheathes her sword. I also pick up my sword that I just dropped as well.

''No problem.''

Chloe said she couldn't find an artisan to commission a Katana for me, so I'll have to use this for the time being. I should be able to use it just the same though.

Simultaneously, our swords begin to glow. A chilly aura envelops the blade of my sword, while bright gleams of golden light fill Claire's.

[Acceleration].

We both shoot ourselves forward at the same time, aiming straight for the demon.

Meanwhile, Chloe is doing a pretty good job of keeping the guy at bay, seeing that her breath is still even, and she has no injuries.

[HP:70/77]

Hmm, he lost some HP. It seems like even level 10 resistance skills are not absolute.

''Hap—!''

Claire bravely jumps into the sky and slashes down with her sword.

[?!]

The demon, who's casting a dark beam while fending Chloe's strike, immediately notices the energy radiating from Claire's sword and quickly falls back, enabling him to barely dodge the attack.

While he's still recovering, I run up to him from the side and slash my sword diagonally upward, my blade scrapes against his bleach-white skin, successfully inflicting a whole 1 HP worth of damage to him. This is just unfair.

''Aurora, focus on binding him!'' Chloe shouts and begins to chant.

''Alright!''

I sheathe my sword and quickly run behind the demon. In response, he instantly turns around and attempts to shoot the dark beam at me. But before he can do that, Chloe has already finished her chanting.

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[?!?]

From the ground, dozens of fire chains burst out, binding the demon's whole body, its hand with the beam tied to his back, thus eliminating the chance of it shooting anything at me.

[Huh? Huh? Huh?]

As the creature struggles while letting out confused noises, I quickly cast two additional ice cuffs on his ankles, fixing him to the ground.

''Claire!''

''Right up!''

As the two of us try to maintain our binds from the demon's struggle, Claire once again jumps at it with her shining sword.

[ςŒω℘υℑϖτξℜÄσρÆψℜρℵ℘∅ψωŒøϖ—!!]

A painful shriek can be heard from Jalk as Claire's sword smoothly runs from the top of his head to his abdomen, almost splitting the body into two halves. The cuts reveal pitch-black flesh with no organs and no blood inside—completely in contrast to his bleach-white skin.

''I-I did it!''

I can see Claire's face lit up through the split, and her body relaxes.

[HP:2/77]

''?!''

Wait, it's not dead yet!

''Claire, the magic in his hand!'' Chloe hurriedly runs to Claire.

''Eh?!''

I immediately aim my hand at the demon's lower abdomen.

Gauntlet of Severance set to 1.1 meters. [Light Magic].

Just as Chloe pulls Claire over and covers her eyes, a small beam of light bursts out from inside the demon's lower body, bringing his HP to 0, the dark magic in his hand dissipates at the same time.

His body soon turns into dust and disappears with the wind.

[You have defeated a Lv.35 Demon - Jalk]

[Achievement unlocked: Jalk - the Lackey]

[1 skill point acquired]

''Phew...'' I let out a sigh and straighten my back.

''T-Thank you, Lady Luminous...''

''Hah... Be careful the next time.''

''Understood...''

Judging from her reaction, it doesn't seem like she noticed my light magic yet.

The barrier surrounding the plaza is disappearing as well. I should probably change my fake status a bit to deceive people. Let's make the MP almost depleted.

Before long, the barrier completely disappears together with the nasty atmosphere. I can immediately see a sea of guards and staff members standing outside.

''The barrier is gone!''

''Any injured?!''

''Medics! Go in and check on Lady Luminous!''

A bunch of people flood toward us.

...This is going to be a pain, isn't it?

''?!''

Suddenly, the cold feeling earlier runs down my spine again. I quickly turn my head to scan for any anomaly, and surely—

''...''

Through the sea of people, I see a girl wearing the uniform with pink twin-tail hair looking in my direction. My eyes meet her crescent-shaped eyes, which have a bright yellow cross in each pupil. An unreadable grin appears on her face before she turns and walks away.

That look in her orange eyes... How do I describe it, piercing?

Either way, I'm pretty sure the chill I felt was from her. I'll have to tell Chloe later.

''Amelia Luminous, are you alright?''

Hm? Why is there a little girl here?

''I'm fine, principal.'' Amelia bows lightly. ''Thank you for asking.''

...Really?

''You met a demon, right?'' The principal—a little girl with short black hair and black eyes asks.

''Yes, principal.''

''Hah... All three of you will need to follow me for some questioning, unfortunately.''

The principal then turns around while muttering something like 'Why did it have to happen on the first day...'.

Well, there goes the speeches, I suppose.

----------------------------------------

After we provided the information regarding the demon to the principal and the staff members, we were released. They thanked us for defeating a calamity, especially Claire, she got quite a lot of benefits from that.

The rest of the festival unfortunately has to be postponed until further notice.

Right now, I'm in Chloe's room after we bid goodbye to Claire.

''I didn't know Claire was like that, too.'' Chloe lets out a sigh. ''In the first place, the game didn't reveal the protagonist's past at all.''

''That's unlucky.''

''Well, all in all, this one ended alright. Claire gained a decent chunk of experience from it as well.''

Yeah, she gained a whole 4 levels, so that's pretty good.

''Ah, when will the festival be reopening again?''

I'm still craving those potato tornados.

''It took two days in the game. This should be much faster because there is no casualty.''

''I see.''

CLACK—!!

''You two...!''

Suddenly, the door flings open, and a very panicked Nydia runs in. She immediately breathes out in relief when she sees us unscathed.

''I was so worried...''

''Your lady won't be beaten that easily.'' Chloe shrugs.

''Yes, yes, My Lady is the strongest... Aurora, are you alright?''

''I am. Thanks for asking.'' I reply.

''N-No problem...''

'''' ... ''''

Well, this is the end of this whole incident, I suppose.