Eluka stood nearby with a binder tucked under her arm, clapping for Natalia. “And the winner in the battle to clear the dungeon fastest is—Natalia! You beat him by a lot. I mean, more than thirty minutes? Chris is a good shot, but you’re on a whole different level, Natalia.”
“I’m honored to have your praise, Examiner. By the way, it looked like this dungeon went on deeper... Why was it blocked?”
“Oh that. It’s just spawning season for the dungeon boss. We probably better close it off more properly,” Eluka murmured as she jotted down the results in the binder.
Like Allen, Eluka had long since graduated from the school, but sometimes she did some small jobs around campus. Today, she watched over the battle between Natalia and Chris as the dungeon supervisor.
Charlotte came over with a towel and a bottle. “Well done, Natalia. I made some herbal tea... Would you like to try it?”
“Thank you very much. I’ll have some.” Natalia took the bottle and slowly drank the tea.
Allen walked toward them in leisurely steps. “Good, you finished in less than three hours this time. Must be your personal best, Natalia,” he commended her.
“Hmph, I’m not surprised. But...” Natalia frowned and pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket. It had a long list of names, and there was a cross drawn next to everyone except Chris. She glared in the direction where Chris had run off. “Chris is so persistent. It’s just him now. The only one stupid enough to still pick fights with me.”
“Well, the last bastion is always the hardest one to conquer. Let’s be patient.”
“If you say so.” Though she still looked frustrated, she nodded. By now, her wariness around Allen had faded away completely. She stared at the column of crosses and let out a thoughtful sigh. “But we’re really just a step away from conquering the whole school... I never would’ve imagined we could crush all the opponents except Chris in under a week. I can’t believe it went so fast.”
“Hmph, I told you so.” Allen chuckled. The speedy resolution was the result of his efforts as Natalia’s personal coach in overcoming the power struggles. “There’s no need to take on a whole mob when you can just lop off the heads, one at a time. You challenge the leader to a duel in the field they’re most confident in. Beat them at that, and they can’t deny you’re far above their level.”
“It’s a simple method, but very effective in making them see the hierarchy,” Natalia agreed.
For students who were skilled beast tamers, she’d challenged them to a competition in capturing magical beasts. For those who specialized in potions, she’d competed with them in brewing potions. For those who were best in battle, she’d confronted them in a straightforward duel. But that wasn’t all Allen had taught her.
“Hmph... Your wily tricks impressed me, Dark Overlord,” Natalia said. “I never knew you could triumph over an enemy by making their people fall instead of fighting them head-on.”
“Right? There’s a special pleasure in winning without a fight.”
When they got wind of the fact that the boss of an enemy doted on their little sister, Natalia became good friends with her. When they figured out that the enemy had a soft spot for their grandmother, Natalia gave them a set of healthy foods to supplement the diet that was popular with elderly people. With those kinds of behind-the-scenes maneuvering alongside the competitions, everyone except Chris soon waved the white flag and left her in peace.
Allen gave a light pat on Natalia’s shoulder and said with a bright smile, “For now, I’m only teaching you merciful methods because you’re up against other students, but if you want, I can show you some tricks that’re just within the legal boundaries. Brainwashing, blackmailing, bribing... If you use them well, there’s no weapon that’s more fun than those.”
“Heh heh heh...interesting. I’ll look forward to the lesson.”
“Mwa ha ha... I have high hopes that you’ll master them admirably.”
“I-I think Natalia’s getting more and more naughty...!” Charlotte looked pale, but she didn’t try to stop Allen. She had watched over them closely over the past week, and she’d seen that he wasn’t teaching her anything dangerous. Despite her many battles, Natalia hadn’t suffered any injuries. This was also the fruit of Allen’s training.
“Heyyy, Boss! Great job with your challenge!”
Three of Natalia’s followers were running toward them, grinning from ear to ear. One of them was the dragonoid whom Natalia had whacked for getting her a croquette bun. Natalia greeted them with a smile.
“I’ve wrapped things up for the day. How did yours go?”
“Perfect!” the dragonoid exclaimed. The other two looked excited as well, their eyes glittering.
“I just beat—I mean, had a talk with the guy who used to treat me like a flunkey, and everything’s patched up with him now!”
“And I went to the cheeky, spoiled brat of the main house of my clan, and—well, after this and that, I got him to apologize!”
“And I faced off with the asshole who slept with my girlfriend and sunk him—I mean, swam with him in the sea!”
They seemed to be mindful of Charlotte’s presence nearby, reporting their feats of revenge in euphemisms. Natalia listened closely to their accounts, then smiled with satisfaction.
“Well done, everyone. I’m proud of you.”
“Ah...thank you, Boss!” The trio clung to Natalia and dissolved into tears. “This is all thanks to Coach!”
Of course, by “Coach” they didn’t mean Allen. As she soothed her followers, Natalia looked at the open field behind them.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Coach Gosetsu. I’ve tried to train them up before, but...I admire your mastery of the carrot-and-stick approach. You must be a very distinguished Infernal Capybara.”
“Oh no, not at all. I am but an aged creature.” Gosetsu bowed respectfully from where she stood on the field. Behind her figure clad in a military uniform and holding a whip, the rest of Natalia’s followers were sprawled on the ground like heaps of corpses. While Allen guided Natalia, Gosetsu had been drilling them hard.
Gosetsu looked at the three followers who had successfully taken their revenge and gave them a glowing smile. “It’s all because of your diligent, hard work that you attained your goals today. I merely gave you a hand. With that pride in your heart, keep striving in your life of devotion.”
“Yes, Coach! Thank you so much!” the trio gushed. “Thank you for your training, too, Comrade Roo!”
“Hee hee. If you want me to chase after you or wrestle with you, I’ll take you on anytime.” Roo, who was treading on some fallen followers for fun, grinned proudly.
The tattered followers who’d been crawling on the ground hauled themselves up, their faces contorted in desperation. “Ugh... We’re not finished yet, we can take more...! Please continue the training!” they exclaimed. “We’ve had our revenge already, but we want to become stronger! Please, Coach!”
“Ah, what commendable mettle. Well then...” Gosetsu cleared her throat a little, then bellowed, cracking the whip, “Enough rest, all of you! We don’t have time to be crawling around like maggots! Get up and run one lap around the island! After that, karate kumite with me! Be prepared to be so crushed you won’t have the spirit to cry or laugh!”
“Yes, Coach!”
“Woo-hoo, more chasing! I’ll nip at you if you fall behind, so run fast!”
Natalia bowed deeply at the manic group running into the distance. “Please take good care of them, Coach Gosetsu, Roo.”
While it was a heartwarming scene, Allen wasn’t quite satisfied. “Hey, how come Gosetsu is ‘Coach Gosetsu’ now, but I’m still ‘Dark Overlord’?” he said with a frown. “I wouldn’t mind if you call me Professor Allen or something.”
“Well, you’re not the ‘Professor’ type, are you? The Dark Overlord is the Dark Overlord. Don’t be conceited,” Natalia retorted point-blank, then did a long stretch. “Anyway, let’s go to the cafeteria to celebrate the win. I’m starving.”
“Good idea. Remember to eat your greens,” Charlotte said kindly.
“I-I do these days. Since you told me to, Char,” Natalia mumbled.
Charlotte giggled. “Yes, you’re a very good girl. Way to go, Natalia!”
Eluka, who had been watching over the sisters from a distance, drew closer to Allen and whispered in his ear. “Looks like they’re getting along well. You could say they’re close as sisters now.”
“I hope that’s the way it’ll end up...”
“Oh, don’t know what Natalia thinks about her sister? You haven’t asked her yet?”
“I have to walk on eggshells when it comes to anything related to Charlotte. It’ll be a bit longer before we can really open up to each other,” Allen sighed. He knew that Natalia had felt real anger when he mentioned Charlotte’s name in the cafeteria the other day. Watching the friendly sisters, he went on under his breath, “I’m still trying to build a trusting relationship with Natalia. I’ll have to be cautious and take baby steps.”
“Hunh. Even you get cautious when you’re dealing with your girlfriend’s little sister, I guess.” Eluka smirked and smacked Allen’s back repeatedly. “Anyways, the battles in the school are settling down, so Papa’s satisfied now. All that’s left is making Natalia happy. I’ll be here to help till the end, so good luck.”
“Appreciate it... By the way, what’re you going to do once this is over? Will you pick up the research on Charlotte’s family again?”
“Well, Papa helped me out with that too, so it’s pretty much done...” Eluka glanced at the sisters. Her expression looked slightly tense. “But I can’t say anything right now. I’ll tell you another time, once things calm down here.”
“All right...” Allen gave a heavy nod. Judging from how Eluka spoke, it couldn’t be good news. If he was honest, he was itching to find out, but he had more pressing concerns at the moment. So he decided to put aside the question for the time being.
“With you two, I’m sure everything will be all right,” Eluka encouraged him, cracking a goofy grin. “Once everything’s resolved with Natalia, maybe I’ll go back to your city. I wanna see Jill too.”
“Jill? I saw him the other day,” Allen said. Jill was the young man in a wheelchair who worked at the enchanted objects shop Allen and Charlotte had gone to on their first date. “He said something about wanting to ‘pay me a proper visit.’ What was that all about?”
“Oh, that’s ’cause we’re going out. Jill and me,” Eluka said breezily.
“Right, I see... What?!” Allen shouted in shock. Charlotte and Natalia turned around to look.
“Aren’t you coming with us, Allen?” Charlotte called to him.
“Hurry up, Dark Overlord! Let’s talk strategy for the next step!”
“All right, all right... Hey, Eluka! You better give me the details later!”
“Ooh, this is new,” Eluka teased. “You sound so curious. You wanna hear how your sis is doing?”
“That’s totally irrelevant!”
“Huh?”