With its Japanese school-story setting, the academy held Saturday morning classes, and background students could be seen arriving for school.

And there was Harem Academy's student council president. Gremory, a beautiful brown-haired girl, walked down the academy corridor in the fresh sunlight, a gentle, faintly mocking smile on her lips. She thought of Kim Yohan, the man recently dragged into this place.

"Hehe~."

Perhaps seeing the losers gathered in the old school building had made him realize he couldn't win over the heroines. He had given up on their routes, avoided school to stay away from them, and never left home except to engage in the part-time-job content.

He had briefly visited school on Friday... but what could he accomplish in a single day? He must have come to scout things out, trembling with fear.

She couldn't help laughing. Her professed expectations had been empty words; she hadn't truly expected anything from him. But to think he couldn't even do a proper job as a clown.

"Hmm~ Maybe I should have the heroines trigger a home-visit event?"

As Gremory entertained that thought—

"... Hm?"

A glimpse through a corridor window brought her to a halt.

She wasn't the only one. The uncanny background students in the corridors, on the grounds, and along the route to school also stopped moving.

"—???"

They stared at the 'thing' rapidly approaching the school gates.

Her eyes could see it clearly, but her mind couldn't comprehend it. Her body stiffened, freezing in place. The mockery slipped from Gremory's face, and a stupid sound escaped her.

"Huh?"

RATTLE, RATTLE! CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER—!!

Wheels thundered as a cart—or a chariot?—charged toward the academy without hesitation. But it wasn't horses pulling it.

Pink, blue, green, purple, blonde.

The uncanny heroines with their multicolored hair ran with smiles on their faces, pulling the vehicle.

And in the center of the chariot—

Yohan, now the overlord of this dating-sim world, stood with a calm expression.

"..."

Sion stood demurely beside him aboard the chariot, looking conflicted.

"Um, Yohan..."

"What, are we going too slowly?"

I immediately bought a toy whip from the menu shop and lashed it at the uncanny psycho heroines.

WHIP-CRACK~!

"Run faster, faster, you cyber sows."

"Yessir☆ Understooood~ Master!"

BOING! B-B-BOING!?

Broken mechanical sounds rang out as heart- and star-shaped effects burst from the uncanny psycho heroines.

"..."

Sion quietly shut her mouth.

The chariot raced unhindered through the school gates. The student council president had personally led a crowd of uncanny background characters out onto the grounds to greet us. At the sight of Gremory, I stopped the chariot and stepped down.

RATTLE—TAP.

The hem of my white coat swayed as I stepped briskly off the chariot. When Sion and I dismounted, the waiting uncanny psycho heroines praised us from either side. They had gone completely haywire, their forms flickering and wavering with static.

"Praise! Prostrate! Praise! Prostrate!"

... Sure, this was the pentacle hypnosis I'd cast, but it was still ridiculous.

"Instead of prostrating... say 'Hurray.'"

"Praise! Hurray! Praise! Hurray!"

Gremory's forehead creased at the sight, her eyebrows trembling.

"What is this...?"

How? By what means? There had been countless runs, but nothing like this had ever happened.

In less than a week, after coming to the academy for just one day, he had won over every heroine? ... No, he had made outright slaves of them. It was impossible.

Yes, he had used some trick. A bug had occurred.

Gremory tried to restore the uncanny heroines to normal and regain control, but... it was impossible. Stronger magical power blocked her.

She flinched at the magical designs engraved in the heroines' eyes: [The Fifth Pentacle of Venus].

HUMMM—.

She felt the magical power of the being invoked for this spell.

'... Don't tell me this belongs to the true body's—!?'

Student council president Gremory's face filled with horror. Her body trembled. Unconsciously backing away, she ordered the uncanny background characters:

"... Stop them."

Yohan's voice immediately rang out.

"Deal with them."

The wavering designs of [The Fifth Pentacle of Venus] flashed in the uncanny heroines' eyes. They drew a chainsaw, a katana, a chain sickle, a crescent-bladed polearm, and a morning star respectively, then charged and slaughtered the uncanny background characters.

WHIRRR! SLASH! CRUNCH! CRACK!

With the uncanny creatures tearing into each other, nothing remained to stand in our way. I approached Gremory with Sion, just as we had when we met her in the sunset-lit corridor on our first day in the game.

STEP—STEP—.

Only this time, Gremory wasn't the one smiling.

"I've won over every heroine, just as you wanted. What do you think?"

I stopped before her with a gentle smile.

"Am I qualified to win you over now?"

Gremory forced a smile onto her contorted face.

"Haha... More than qualified."

Then she snapped her fingers, changing our location.

SNAP—.

We were transported to the student council president's office—the location for the game's ending event, which had never once been used.

Gremory perched against the expensive-looking desk in the student council office.

"Well~ Even if you used a shortcut, you're the first to win over the heroines."

Her expression composed once more, she glared at Sion and me.

"In honor of that, I'll tell you something you'll like."

Her eyes curved into a smile.

"What would you do if the people who died here weren't really dead?"

"What you just said—"

At Sion's reaction, I raised an arm to stop her and gave her a look.

"I'll leave this to you, Yohan."

She nodded. It was nice how quickly she caught on. Made things easy.

I addressed Gremory.

"I'm curious. Then where are the people who died here?"

"Who knows~ If you end this game, will they live? Will they die? I'm not really sure myself."

"Really? Then I don't need to know either."

Gremory's and Sion's eyes widened at the same time. Ignoring that, I spoke to Sion.

"We agreed to rescue twenty-five living people. You don't need to feel responsible for people who aren't here, whose lives or deaths we can't even confirm. And you don't need to put yourself in danger for them."

More precisely, I didn't.

"... Besides, nothing good comes of listening to a devil's offers."

I narrowed my eyes and took a step forward. Gremory's shoulders jerked.

"...!"

The mask of composure she had painstakingly put back on cracked. In a coquettish voice, she made another offer.

"Haha... But you know, I can understand that woman needing to go back. But do you?"

"Hmm~."

When I stopped at those words, Gremory spoke seductively.

"You've won over every heroine and seen the game's ending. You're the master of this place now. The academy is your toy box. You can indulge in every pleasure you desire, you know? ... You can do whatever you want with me, too."

Gremory untied the ribbon at her collar, exposing her cleavage.

A devil indeed. I'd just said nothing good came of listening to one, yet her offer was so amusing I had inadvertently listened.

I took another step.

"Go on, turn stones into bread."

Gremory's face stiffened.

"... Stay away."

"Fall from a cliff without harming a single hair."

I seized the stumbling Gremory by the throat and slammed her onto the desk.

BAM!

"Agh...!"

Her brown hair fanned out, and her large breasts bounced.

"Tempt me, devil."

As Yohan's mockery, his scorn, echoed through the room—

"Aaah..."

She tried desperately to push him away, but the robe's magic protected him. So...

Gremory reached out and seductively stroked Yohan's back. Her legs wrapped around his waist.

"... I'll be your servant. I'll love you. I'll lick away your wounds and loneliness."

I couldn't help laughing. How could devils all be so alike? They mocked, sneered, threatened, then begged to be spared just this once.

... Well, no, people were the same, weren't they?

Smiling faintly, I whispered gently into Gremory's ear.

"Thank you."

Then I pressed her forehead, pushing her back.

"But no thanks. I have enough love."

"...!!"

Sure, receiving love from others would be nice. But something mattered more than another person's love, which might or might not even exist: cherishing and caring for yourself.

I took a metal pentacle made of lead from inside my coat. The good thing about Friday was that Saturday came next.

[The Second Pentacle of Saturn]

The destructive pentacle magic that had reduced Edward's zombie legion to powder.

Honestly, I'd liked its power so much that I'd studied and memorized a ton of pentacle magic, focusing on whatever looked useful. And yesterday, I'd had the hypnotized psycho heroines draw magic circles all over the academy.

Not a nationwide transmutation circle... an academy-wide magic circle.

"Aaaagh!"

Gremory's nails lengthened as she aimed for Yohan's back, but Sion immediately caught her hand.

SMACK—.

Budget-model Grizzly was doing a good job.

Holding down the wide-eyed Gremory, I recited the spell.

"O king astride a dragon, O crone leaning upon a squire, O pig, dragon, and owl."

My voice resounded, and the building shook.

"O spirit of Saturn, answer my call."

I declare: world, shatter.

Light poured from the pentacle, destroying the false world that barred the caster's path.

RUMBLE—.

The academy and the students' bodies crumbled and scattered.

And...

In Yohan's little studio apartment in the outside world.

Even separated from them, he was still the grimoires' master. <The Lesser Key of Solomon> opened joyfully in response. Light shone from its open pages.

FLUTTER—!

It sent magical power through the gap Yohan had created, aiding his spell.

And...

HUMMM—HUMMM—!

Sulking over why its own magic wasn't being used, <Mysteries of the Worm> vibrated violently on the bed.