"I came to this academy to kill a dragon."

Indeed, he said those words.

At first, I thought it was some sort of joke. Killing a dragon with his own hands—the strongest seven of the dragons, those who look down on the world—was an absurd story, something vague like the tales I read as a child. Even so, there was no doubt that he was serious.

"I will never forgive that damn lizard who cursed my little sister... and, by the way, my master, that old man."

With eyes clear as ever, with a firm belief, as if certain of it, as if it was only natural for him to accomplish it, he answered my question calmly.

I never expected such a clear answer, and I was at a loss for how to respond. Did he take my hesitation as disdain? He turned away and said, "If you want to laugh, go ahead." I immediately shook my head to clear up any misunderstanding.

"Why did you tell me this? Is it because I'm a hero?"

I wanted to ask that. Why would someone as strong as him tell me, of all people, such a thing?

Was it because I happened to be the one who overheard? Or was it because I am a descendant of the hero who killed a dragon?

Perhaps my anxiety showed on my face, for he gave a thin smile and shook his head.

"It doesn't really have a deep meaning. Whether you're a hero or an ordinary person, I only tell those I trust. I just thought you, my friend, might want to know."

That smile of his was faint, almost fragile, as if it could be blown away in an instant.

—Dangerous.

I felt it instinctively. If left alone, he would rush at the dragon and die on his own. If he could kill the dragon, he was ready to throw away everything for it. Even if that would lead to the result he desired, I just couldn’t stand watching him walk down that path alone.

"W-will you let me help?!—Though I’m way weaker than you, Clay-kun, and might not be any use..."

He laughed apologetically when I poured out my feelings.

"Thank you. But that's not why I told you this. Don’t worry about it, Weiss."

"...!"

His next words, meant to comfort me, were gentle, but at the same time, they were cruel. In the end, I wasn’t someone he relied on, wasn’t someone he thought could help him. He thought of me as a hindrance.

Indeed, his judgment was absolutely correct. There was nothing wrong with it.

I had only just started to grasp a tiny fraction of my power, and I was still far from being able to match him. But I could understand it, yet I couldn't accept it. This was a matter of my feelings.

—I want to repay him for saving me, even just a little.

I want to return the favor to him, who reached out his hand. I want to become someone he can rely on. I want to stand alongside him, the proud hero he once was.

Is it strange to feel that way? Is it too much? Am I being arrogant?

"So what?"

That day, I swore to myself in secret.

—Someday, I will become a strong, noble person like him.

The earlier claim was responded to without any particular meaning.

・

・

・

—What is this monster?

When she spoke to him in the grand library, Levia was perplexed.

Why was this man so wary of her, even though they were meeting for the first time? She couldn’t make sense of it. There was no reason for him to be so cautious—she thought it was a fateful encounter.

Thinking it was just a matter of his mood, she tried to disarm him by acting like a delicate girl, attempting to seduce him, but not a single bit of it worked. The more they spoke, the more his distrust grew.

—What is going on?

This was the first time she had ever struggled so much to break down the wariness of the opposite sex. Normally, with her charm and the smooth words she was taught since childhood, she could make anyone fall under her spell. But none of that worked on this man.

—This isn’t good. This is my chance to get close to him under ideal circumstances...

She became desperate. Reflexively, she tried to ensnare him forcefully. She stared into his mixed red and black eyes and attempted to dominate him.

But that was the worst mistake she could make.

"What did you do to me?"

"Huh?"

Indeed, she had used her bloodline magic to try to claim him. At first, it seemed to work. But immediately, her magic was rejected by his extraordinary mind.

After that, nothing she tried worked.

"I’ll let it slide this time, but don’t think I’ll tolerate it again."

The man’s wariness soared even higher, and he wouldn’t listen to her, ready to strike at her without hesitation, as if prepared to cut her down on the spot.

"I-I’m sorry!!"

For the first time, too many unexpected things happened. Levia, terrified by the incomprehensible monster before her, instinctively ran away.

—This isn’t what I was told!

Everything was different. She had been told that this man was a recluse who rarely appeared in social circles, someone ignorant of the world. As a child, he had been praised as a "prodigy," and his latent abilities were considerable. She thought he was an ideal catch, easy to control and manage for her purposes, but this was nothing like what she had been told.

It felt as though she had peeked into a room where she thought a small animal was hiding, only to find a ferocious beast inside. Her plan had been thrown into chaos. She would surely be scolded as useless and incompetent once again. Worse, she might be...

"I’ll be discarded...!!"

She absolutely could not let that happen.

For someone like her, with nothing to recommend her but her looks, the options were extremely limited. She had already been half-rejected by her family. If she failed this mission, she would truly die. And worse, she would be stripped of all her human dignity, crushed, drained, and left with nothing.

To avoid that fate, she was willing to do anything.

Even if it meant making others suffer. Even if it meant becoming a puppet of one of the seven dragons who look down on the world.

—I need to change my plan.

The client’s request was the assassination of a high-ranking noble in this country.

"Get close to the next heir to the 'Military Governor General,' extract information, and then kill him."

Deviating from the mission was never an option.