The hero is now gone, but I’m still here, now what? (Undergoing editing)

Fafnir spread her wings and slowly began her slow descent from the sky as me, Laceresta, and Zathania prepared ourselves to jump off of the saddle and into the ground- well, Zath looked a bit- and is- more reluctant to do what Laceresta and I have been doing for the past few hours now but she’ll get the hang of it eventually.

 

I nodded encouragingly at her as she stood at the edge of the saddle, I gave her an understanding smile when she walked back and decided to sit this one out.

 

The sudden burst of air as Fafnir got close to the ground caused my hair to ripple outward and Laceresta’s grin to increase in ferocity, when we were close enough, I bent my legs and jumped down and so did she- I landed with a soft ‘hup!’ and a bounce before settling down while the Beast King, true to her name and role, caused a miniature earthquake to erupt with her as the epicenter.

 

I sighed at that, “that was wholly unnecessary,” I scolded lightly.

 

We both walked forward to allow for Fafnir to land and as we stood in place, Laceresta turned and tilted her head at me, “what was unnecessary?” She asked, her voice a tone of genuine confusion.

 

“You know-” I gestured at her and did my best to find the words that wouldn’t make fun of her weight because well, she is heavy and if the abs on her visible stomach are to go by, it’s but not because of fat.
I tried to find the words, continuing to gesture around and eventually, I just decided to be blunt, “- the earthquake,” I started, “you didn’t need to cause an earthquake with your landing. You’ve never done it before, but you did it now you showof-” I paused and then sighed, “sorry, just… the fight got to me,” I admitted after a brief moment of self reflection, “just- uh… I don’t really know what to say so… you know- I’m sorry? I guess?”

 

“What for?” Laceresta asked, “you had a point,”

 

“I-” Before I can continue talking any further, Fafnir landed and Zath jumped down from her saddle, I turned to my maid and gave her a smile, “how are you doing?” I asked and her lips curved slightly upwards to return my gesture.

 

Zath walked forward and held my hand, “a bit shaky,” she admitted, “that… I’ve- I never knew that a Demon Horde would come down on the school like that.”

 

I looked away, refusing to meet her gaze, “... I’m sorry,” I started, feeling downright apologetic now that the event had passed and I was staring at the damage caused by the Demon invasion to our school: the wall in front of us had a massive hole on it thanks to Fafnir’s explosive entrance earlier, the floor on the area we were walking on was lined with cracks from the same reason, and the students, from what I could see from here, were all lying down on hastily prepared bedding, most of them were unconscious too…

 

I met Zath’s eyes then quickly looked away-

 

I- I wanted to say that I knew about the invasion, I really, really did but- I stopped when a large hand landed on my shoulder and Zath’s grip on my hand tightened, “we know,” I heard Laceresta say, “apology accepted and besides,” I turned my head to see her shrug, “what happened is not really that important, every one of us would’ve fought a Demon or two sooner or later,”  she said so confidently that I fully believed that she didn’t care about the effects of the sudden invasion when she shrugged, “this was just a fast track to that,”

 

Zath nodded, “she has a point, Neo. We would’ve fought them sooner or later.”

 

“I know that but…” I wanted to say that I could’ve prevented this by just speaking out a week ago and the Demon King would’ve been hesitant to send his horde when the school is on guard and wary of them teleporting in- but then how the fuck do I explain to them that the Demon King wouldn’t be weakened and would be nigh-impossible to defeat if this invasion didn’t happen?

 

I looked up at the sky, hoping for an answer from the Goddess just as Fafnir’s new humanoid form stepped up to my right, I moved my gaze downward and met her gaze, her onyx eyes burned into mine and I was forced to look away from the guilt- she- she didn’t have to go through all of that. She didn’t have to fight the Demon Duke-

 

I sighed, why am I feeling so fucking sappy right now? I- you know what? I might as well tell them about the thing that’s plaguing my mind, “if I say that the Demon King would slow down his advance thanks to this invasion, how would you react?”

 

“If you’re asking me,” Fafnir started, “then that’s good, isn’t it?” She said with a tilt of her head, she raised her scaly, gauntleted hand and with a swish of her tail, added, “sure, a few students could’ve died back then but no one did, right? So what’s the problem? We won.”

 

I looked at her, and I mean looked at her, just to spot a lie- her body was covered from head to toe in black scales, every inch of her had the stuff save for her face, the entirety of her collar, as well as a small part of her chest, which showed a “bit” of cleavage.

 

Fire climbed up my neck and into my cheeks from ogling her so blatantly and I looked away and up at the scaly crown on her head, too afraid to stare at her face and see her current expression, she had… well, the crown on Fafnir’s head covered only the upper part of her forehead and it looked like an arrowhead of sorts, one that went upward.

 

In the corner of my vision, I noticed her eyes move to meet my line of sight and I quickly looked away, opting to stare at her forearms, which, unlike the snake-like scales found across her body, possessed a series of large, multi-layered layered scales that looked like roof tiles that started from her fingers then up to her elbow- creating this gauntlet like feature on her arm.

 

“Neo?” She asked and I refused to meet her eyes, let alone answer, so instead, I looked at her legs, which much like her arms, had large, multi-layered scales that formed knee-length boots- Her hand grabbed me by the chin and I was forced to look at her expression which… unlike the judging look that I expected was… dead serious.

 

Fafnir’s eyes narrowed, “Neo. Talk to me.” She said and I pouted- this is so unfair! “Are you okay?”

 

Despite being held by the chin, I did my best to convey a nod, “yweah,” I answered, happy to know that she was serious when she said that we won- which, yeah, we did, we won against the horde and no one died even when I kept the knowledge of the invasion secret.

 

That’s good, isn’t it?

 

“I believe you,” Fafnir said, then she let me go and all four of us walked in complete and utter silence towards the “entrance” of the gymnasium, and I only noticed it now but there, at the bottom of the massive hole on the wall that Fafnir created through her entrance earlier had a few of our teachers as well as a few notable members of influential Houses, some of them were the respective heads of their Families as well and among that group is my maid’s Dad- Line.

 

And they were staring at us with expressions that I couldn’t read, some of their faces were twisted into a frown, others looked like they had swallowed something sour, and to my right, I heard Laceresta tell Zath something about bloodlines that reached their dead ends…

 

What?

 

I met Line’s warm gaze and everything clicked-

 

Wait- wait- wait- do they think that me and my group are “close” with each other?!

 

Geesh, now I can’t help but feel a bit awkward, Zath’s father had an expression that made me think that I’m meeting my boyfriend’s- wait- well, I guess if I’m going with the misunderstanding then- girlfriend’s Dad or something…
I looked away from Line and turned to Zath and considered on whether or not to tell her father that I am not in fact in a relationship with his daughter but judging by the warm smile that Line was shooting me with… he would think that I’m “joking” if I say that…

 

Goddess how annoying.

 

We walked up to him and he- a Scion of a House, - decided to give me- a mere princess, - a bow of respect, “thank you for accepting our House as your Vassal, Princess Neophyte Astral Everlast-” okay, so he used my full name so he’s serious, also, their House? I thought it was only Zath that went under me?.. “- I cannot thank you enough for giving us such a great opportunity,”

 

“Well, Zath is great,” I said and Line smiled, “I honestly won’t have this any other way even when you know- Vassalhood was the last thing on my mind,” I said with a chuckle, honestly, I never thought of making Zath my Vassal until it was mentioned…

 

His smile grew, “it’s great to hear that you think so highly of my Daughter, so please, you can call me-”

 

“Old man, get to it, we kinda need to start doing things across the school,” Laceresta said with a growl.

 

Line chuckled and fixed his glasses, “sorry about that,” he said, “ah, well, I suppose I should let you youngsters do your own thing,” he stepped aside and I stared at him in contemplation… he wouldn’t mind if I call him Doc right? He looks the part; with his bearded face, glasses, lab coat, blue undershirt, and a black pair of pants and shoes…

 

Eh, I probably shouldn’t so I should settle with what the Hero calls him ingame, “thanks for this old man.” I nodded at him.

 

“O-old-”

 

A giggling Zath dragged me away from the stuttering Line and we ran past several teachers as well as the people repairing the hole in the gymnasium’s wall, and just as we were about to enter the gym, the principal decided to call me, “If I may, Neophyte,”

 

We both stopped and turned Ms. Dialecta, who, if before was wearing a crisp three-piece suit, now had an entire set of ice armor present across her body, covering it and releasing a constant aura of frost that felt very cool right now but I got near her at some point during the invasion and I swear it was freezing then.
Ms. Dialecta stepped forward and a wave of cold washed over me and Zath, when she reached us, she gave me a grateful smile, “I want to start by saying that your help and aid in supply relief has greatly helped us,” she said, “and not to mention, the fact that you and your Dragon killed that Demon Duke as a pair, we, the teachers, would’ve had a hard time doing what you both did, so thank you, Saintess,”

 

Fafnir nodded and so did I after a second of contemplation on whether or not to tell her that I am not in fact, the Saintess.

 

Ms. Dialecta continued, “but I don’t think words will ever be enough so I want to invite you to the hastily planned award ceremony of our school three days from now,” I nodded again, that is something that I knew will happen after this and… fuck me, I’m gonna become Crown Princess because of this won’t I? Okay- it’s probably not the end of the world if that happens, maybe Adamantite can like, pull something out of his ass and get back the title or something, I dunno-

 

Noticing that the woman in front of me was giving me an expectant stare, I nodded and thought that it was the end of the conversation but- “and if you will, can I ask for your help in rooting out any potential Envy Demons hiding around our school?” Someone behind her stepped forward and handed her a log book, which she presented to me, “they will undoubtedly send in infiltrators here and I’ve already sent out a few parties to search for them but it would be great if you could provide your aid as well,”

 

I took the logbook and gave her a determined nod, “we’ll find those Demons,”

 

That was the end of the conversation and as we started walking towards the entrance to the hallways of the school building, I couldn’t help but scold myself at the fact that I completely forgot about the Infiltration Arc which if memory serves me right, will be caused by the janitors working for the school but also some of the students which meant that the Envy Demons would first take over the places of the Janitors but then eventually would move to start replacing students.

 

And as more and more Demons spawn their kin, a murder mystery would start and it’ll lead to uncovering the Demon General of Envy that spawned here in school… and all of that will happen around the 2nd Quarter exams so I’ll have months ahead of me to search the school for the damn things and prevent them from killing Lucille-

 

“Neo?” Zath’s voice stopped my train of thought and I focused back on the present to realize that we were now walking along the hallways of Pledge Academy, “you okay? You almost bumped into a wall.”

 

“I-I’m fine,” I said to the concerned looks of my friends, I squeezed Zath’s hand, “I promise I’m fine.”

 

“If you’re sure,” Laceresta shrugged while Fafnir and Zath nodded.

 

I knew they didn’t believe me, I knew but- but just this once, I- I’d let myself deal with this silently. Bit by bit. I’d take out the infiltrating Demons until there’s none of them left in the school and when that’s done, I’d start working on… well, I’d have to go with the Hero and protect her when she goes out to do her self/skill/power-discovery journey, and we’ll have to leave the Academy for two months at most-

 

“Neo.” I was pulled away before I could faceplant into the wall, “are you okay?” Zath sounded serious.

 

“I- I am! I promise!” I said again, repeating my reassurance, “it’s just that I have a lot on my mind right now,”

 

“Well you better clear it up then because we’re not gonna be able to fight the Demons here properly if you don’t,” Laceresta said, she shoved me further into the hallway, “now come on, we need to continue, I saw a hallway that didn’t have an ounce of light a few meters back,” she said, “might be a trail that we can follow to an Envy Demon.”

 

I only nodded, opting to keep silent about the fact that it was possibly Lucille’s chase scene that caused such a thing to happen. And that scene didn’t have an Envy Demon, but instead a Wrath Demon of the hound variety, so we’ll have to search for that one too, then I’ll pretend to be surprised when we see it.

 

I nodded, “yeah, we should probably go and see if it’s a trail.”