"We need to decide the order."

Isabelle swept a resolute gaze over the gathering. Her eyes shone blue as the morning star, bright with unyielding determination. She had the persuasive force one would expect of the Hero's bloodline.

"Shall we settle it by force?"

Elpihera rose, purple mana sparking in her eyes. Her father was the great mage who, legend had it, had brought down three fortresses in a day and a half.

"Force! How about arm wrestling, then?"

Esidisi thrust up a hand. She took after Einar—at least in martial might—the man said to have piled corpses into mountains and stained the sea with blood. The iron rod held between her slender, snow-white fingers snapped.

CRACK!

"Let's skip the nonsense and roll dice. I'll roll last."

The disciple of the vampire lady who had slain an Elder Vampire through sleight of hand alone and claimed the throne of Prizhenkaya's backstreets answered with a smirk...

"No, I seriously want to go home now. Doesn't anyone else find this weird? This whole situation? Am I the only one?"

"What is?"

"Normally, if several people all fall for the same person, they don't sit around discussing it like this, do they?"

Oscar, who had somehow become the Hero's Party's designated voice of reason, sighed deeply.

He honestly had no idea why he was mixed up in this. Really. He was beginning to think it would be more productive to spend this time going out with his friends from the Knight Department—most of them women—or simply practicing another sword swing.

"That only applies to normal situations."

"Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures."

"With Uncle's personality, it's not like any of us has a chance right now."

Isabelle looked around. A profound sense of defeat hung over the Hero's Party like a dark cloud. This could not continue.

She had to admit the truth. Almost everyone here was a rival. They were predators who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and were watching for any opening to pounce on Ivan.

But what was the point of competing if they couldn't even reach the starting line?

"We need to work together until we at least stand a chance."

This was the only solution the Hero's Party agreed on.

'Even if it means letting him take concubines...!'

'Wife or concubine, none of it matters unless we can drag him to the altar first!'

'Still, surely the principal wife should be an elf?'

Even in a premodern fantasy world, taking concubines was not something to be proud of. A handful of great nobles might cautiously sneak another concubine into their household, only to earn a beating on the back from their wives.

A marriage between great noble houses naturally meant a union between nobles. Marriages among the nobility of this era were often more equal than those of the twenty-first century. A man who took a concubine had to accept the resulting chill in his relations with his wife's family.

Thus, in a society where monogamy was the accepted norm, several women simultaneously courting one man was peculiar. Most people would click their tongues and condemn it.

Yet even the United States, champion of capitalism, had had no qualms about forming a united front with the Soviet Union, ringleader of communism, to defeat the Demon King (an aspiring art-school student).

Sometimes, sharing a boat with one's enemies was a rational choice in pursuit of a greater cause and overarching strategic objectives. Even the hunters who killed tigers in Korea had adopted three-against-one asymmetric tactics as standard doctrine.

According to Lanchester's laws, sufficient numbers could overwhelm qualitative superiority.

"This isn't the time to fight among ourselves."

"Let's face facts, girls. I come first."

"Honestly, if we're talking precedence, I believe I should be first. I've heard humans tend to struggle with counting time in years, but let's settle this before we go any further."

After a fierce dispute between Elpihera (first encounter: twelve years ago) and Esidisi (first encounter: eight years ago), the Hero (six months since first encounter) decided to resolve the party's discord through outside counsel.

"This is driving me nuts..."

Dragged into the room, Eugene, the operation's architect, gave a quiet groan. Was this how Paris had felt, standing before three goddesses and having to pick Miss Universe Greece?

At least the goddesses had brought gifts and made their offers first. The difference was that the Hero's Party refused to bargain with fate.

"Let's go with Droan, Kallion, Thilles, then Krasilof."

"Yes!"

"Yay!!"

"Why?! What's the basis for that?!"

Eugene glanced above the women's heads and quietly answered.

"Level, lowest first."

"Oh."

* * *

"Come to think of it, don't we have no students from Droan?"

The plan revolved around grouping students by country of origin and checking each group for spies, but there were no freshmen from Droan.

The only Droan freshmen were Morde and Esidisi, and Morde was a Huscarl. A Huscarl who had even been beaten within an inch of his life by Droan rebels, at that.

They had hit a snag on the very first step. As Oswald frowned, Eugene chuckled and answered.

"Since when were we actually trying to catch spies? We were just planning dates. All we have to do is tell Boss to take Miss Esidisi out first!"

"Well, that's true, isn't it?"

"Exactly! You're worrying over nothing."

* * *

Ivan regarded Esidisi with some bewilderment. He had been called out separately as part of the plan to divert attention, but her reaction was far too natural.

"So I just happened to? By coincidence? Quite amazingly! Make a restaurant reservation, but by mistake! I booked it for two! Perfect timing, right?!"

Chattering away, Esidisi strode ahead. She was headed for one of the top restaurants in all Prizhenkaya.

This was an era without the concept of fine dining. Yet with the rapid expansion of the economically active population and the emergence of wealthy commoners, restaurants selling a taste of aristocratic dining were hardly unusual.

"..."

Without much comment, Ivan ate the dishes set before him one after another. Rich and sweet. As was typical of Krasilof cuisine, the meal consisted mostly of the high-calorie fare characteristic of cold regions.

Every course was familiar. He had already had more than enough experience with Krasilof's aristocratic cuisine. Mostly at victory banquets, between the greasy lips of great nobles.

The menu brought those days back. He continued eating in silence, his fine cutlery clinking.

'I've blown it...!'

Esidisi could not hide her dismay.

Meals were the only times Uncle had shown strong emotion, so she had planned to take him to the finest restaurant in the city. That plan had collapsed spectacularly.

Unlike Droan, this country had a highly developed food culture. Within just six months of studying abroad, Esidisi had learned the city's list of good restaurants by heart.

And the restaurant she had painstakingly selected from that list was a dud. She set down her spoon sadly.

It was a very Droan sort of failure: assuming that everyone else would like what she liked.

* * *

[Favorability toward Character: Esidisi Einarsdottir]

[25 (Neutral)]

"What on earth did she do to come back with a lower score in half a day?"

"Apparently, they went to a restaurant."

"If Boss cared about food, he wouldn't normally eat that crap."

Eugene clutched his forehead and sighed deeply.

"Let's not expect too much of a Viking..."

"Miss Esidisi ranks second in orchestral conducting."

"Let's not dwell on the fact that the conducting department is worse than a Viking."

A conductor had to master every instrument in a symphony orchestra while also coordinating all the parts as a whole.

Naturally, that was absurd to expect of young freshmen who had only just turned twenty. From an outsider's perspective, conducting students that age were simply magicians waving batons.

In any field, a specialist who doggedly pursued one path had an advantage over a generalist proficient in several. To Eugene, who had devoted himself single-mindedly to theology, the conducting department was little better than Droan.

Fortunately, there were no music students present, so they could quickly move on to the next topic.

"Let's leave it to Miss Elpihera. They're out boating on the lake, right? How far have we gotten with the checks?"

"We just finished Kallion, and we've only just started Thilles. But do we really need to take this so seriously? There's no way there's an actual demon spy."

"If Boss finds out later that we half-assed it, our relationship rating could turn 'Hostile.'"

"Oh."

Neither Yuri nor Oswald wanted to die within three seconds. They agreed without further comment and went off to fetch the next students.

"Aaagh?! Who are you people?! Let go!!"

"Shh, Mr. Petrick. From now on, that man is a friend from your hometown."

"Who the hell is he?! Let go! Do you know who I...!"

"Shh, quiet. Focus on this coin."

The abducted student nodded, clear drool running from his mouth.

"Now, what's that man's name?"

"My... friend... Yevgeny... He's loved me since we were little... We'll have the ceremony... in a country... where same-sex marriage is legal..."

"... Why do you keep coming up with backstories like that?"

"Because it's more fun."

Oswald, already more than half an elf in spirit, smirked as he swung the coin on its string.

* * *

Peaceful days followed. The Hero's Party took turns going on dates, one day each, while the trio 'befriended' the students taking Ivan's classes.

Two weeks passed in this manner.

While investigating the thirteenth student on their suspect list, Eugene froze and looked up into empty air. The instant he raised their Affinity, the Status window had begun to blaze blue.

[Quest Registered!]

["???-Rank Quest" Dark Clouds over Thilles.]

[You have detected a conspiracy circulating among the noble houses of Thilles. The seeds of a long war, sown on the Eastern Front in years past, are now beginning to ignite.]

[Objective: Prevent civil war among Thilles's three great comital houses.]

[Optional Objective: Ensure the survival of Gilles Vert de Etakrich.]

[Optional Objective: Encounter Maximilien de Etoile.]

[Additional Objective: Keep the total number of destroyed domains at 15 or fewer.]

[Additional Objective: Ensure the continued existence of Thilles's royal house.]

[Reward: Extend the continued existence of the United Kingdoms by 10 years.]

"Wow... Fuck."

Eugene fell silent, worrying at his lip.

A demon spy? Ridiculous, but fine, suppose there could be one.

But what was this? The continued existence of the United Kingdoms? Weren't Gilles Vert and Maximilien those guys from the Hero's Party?

A ???-Rank Quest? That was the same difficulty rating as the quest to kill Boss...

"I don't think this is something we can handle ourselves."

"Is it that serious?"

"Worse than you'd think. Go get Boss. This is no time to mess around with dates or anything else."

Eugene groaned and clutched his forehead.

He'd started this so lightheartedly. Why did everything have to get so tangled up again?