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The peerage ceremony finished without a hitch…… I think. I say that because I was so nervous, I couldn’t remember a single thing, okay.
I do remember the king being surprisingly young and handsome. Ah, aw, ouch! Ruti-san, please stop with the pinching!¹

「Isn’t your fickleness getting worse lately? To begin with, Natsuki, were you interested in men?」
「Umm, I didn’t mean it like that you know…… Also, I’m not really interested, I just thought that he looked cool.」

It’s not even at the level of love or hate, really. So I hugged her and patted her head to cheer her up, and maybe it’s because she felt better now, she now hugged me back.

「Ahem!」

Ah, Nera-san was here. We shifted from cozy to serious and turned to face Nera-san.

「Now then, we will be introducing the two of you to the other members now. They are already gathered in the training grounds, so let us go.」

I was really nervous at the ceremony but will I be nervous here too? I’m used to being in front of people because of the work at the cafe but I’m not really used to this many people.

Led by Nera-san, we’re now at the training grounds. There really are a lot of people. There’s about 50-60 of them, maybe?
First, our leader began with a command. And as you’d expect from people that went through training, they all move in unison. It’s going to be bothersome, but we’re going to need to go through the same training as they do, right?

「And now, Natsuki-kun, Ruti-kun, come on stage.」

Since it seems like it’s our turn, we stepped onto the stage. Ohh… the view is amazing. And since I’m not as nervous as expected, I feel relieved…… Still, I wonder why the crowd is so excited.

Out of curiosity, I listen in and, “Our order finally has some beauties!”, ”I’m definitely going in!”, or so, is all I hear. Eh? Aren’t we like, super-targeted?² Or rather, the female members’ stares towards the guys feel absolutely chilling.

Also you, who’s casually trying to peep under my skirt from under the tall stage, my culotte skirt doesn’t actually provide absolute protection, so please stop it.

Joining the order might have been a really big mistake……
We finished our introductions while I was a bit conscious about my skirt, so I thought that we could finally leave the stage but…

「And now to get to know and to confirm the ability of our new recruits, I believe we should hold a mock battle. Are there any volunteers?」

Leader, why would you even say that? Ahh, now see? The guys are raising their hands really fast and all.

「Then Kerry and Jeff, you two are a team. We’ll be doing a 2-on-2 battle.」
「Yeeeeesss!」
「Oi, Kerry! We’re going in close quarters and pinning them down!」³

Wait-wait, you’re too aggressive, aren’t you two from the Order of Mages? Fight with magic, magic I tell you.

With that, we’re going to have a mock battle for some reason. Since we can’t do anything about it, I talked to Ruti while doing some warm-ups.

「How should we handle them?」
「Hmmm, if we’re allowed to kill them, then one hit from you should end it but that’s probably not allowed……」

That’s just plain disturbing. Is she actually angry? Well, the pindown talk was an obvious show of ulterior motives, so yeah.⁴

「I’ll keep them in check while you shoot them when you see an opportunity, how about that?」
「Got it. But if they get near, get behind me okay?」

After all, I can break free, but if Ruti gets grabbed, I can’t really see her shaking them off.

「Now then, are both teams ready?」
「「Ye~s」」(Couple)
「「Yeah!」」(K & J⁵)
「Very well! Ready…… Begin!」

Just as the match began, Kerry and Jeff began charging towards us. Wait, are they actually serious about the pinning down thing!? The desire of men in its extreme…⁶

However, Ruti made an ice pillar immediately and made it burst. It’s a miniature version of the one she did at the slime mountain, huh. But to make up for it, there are about a dozen of them though.

「Wuo!?《Oh wind, be a storm, protect my body!》」
「Dyamnit!《Oh ice, be my shield, repel the menace!》」

A normal person would probably collapse from all the fragments raining on their body, but as expected of a mage from the order, they warded it off with wind and blocked it with a shield of ice. Well how about this new fragment. I fired a laser breath at the ground below their feet.

「「Nooooo!?」」

Ohh, they’re flying, they’ve been blown away. I can hear the female mages cheering, “Finish them!” and stuff.

「Crap, the princesses are actually really tough, huh. I really thought it would be easier to get close.」
「Looks like we can’t go through if we don’t get a bit more serious.⁷」

We’re suddenly getting the princess treatment for some reason and moreover, it looks like they still haven’t given up on pinning us down. We might get done-in if we’re not careful enough.

And then Kerry and Jeff’s gazes got somewhat sharper. I need to focus or…… What, Kerry suddenly rushed in!? Since there’s a big cloud of dust, the two of them might have launched him by clashing both of their wind magic together.⁸

「You!」

Ruti promptly made a wall of ice to block his path but Jeff’s magic immediately destroyed it.
Crap, I can’t use my breath as versatile as Ruti does with her magic. No choice, now that he’s this near, I’ll just smack him down!
I enlarged my claws to maximum size and removed its sharp edges. With this, I have a one-meter long club complete. And now to smack hi…… huh?

「Nywa!?」

After feeling a somewhat slimy sensation, my claws hit the ground… He parried it? Then that means……

「I finally got this far. Now, prepare yourselves, princesses.」

Geh! Kerry! Immediately feeling danger approaching, I wrap my tail around him. Now, if I just throw him to make some distance…… Hyii!? I suddenly got some goosebumps for some reason.

「Yooo! It’s super smooth. I’ve never felt a tail this smooth before.⁹」

Stop-Stop-STOP! Only Ruti is allowed to touch it, so stop! Fygi! Gross! No to sexual harassment!

But if I let him go now, I don’t know where he’s going to touch me next, so I can’t just do it thoughtlessly. I try to think of what to do while enduring the disgust and… I noticed that it’s awfully quiet and the air is suddenly cold.
I look to my side and I see Ruti, wearing a faint smile that I can’t feel any warmth from at all…..

「A bit toooooo mischievous, aren’t you? Se~n~pa~i~?¹⁰ 」

And before Kerry could say anything, the area around him was blown away.

1. Lyly: It be jelly time
2. Lyly: Chuckles I’m in danger
3. Lyly: Bois of pure thirst, they are
   Fire: Now, they’re in danger
4. Lyly: Of course she is, girlfriend
5. Lyly: Aka, Thirsty Bois
6. Lyly: You underestimate the bois of thirst
7. Lyly:Thirst power?
8. Lyly: Excuse me, what?
9. Lyly: Uh-oh
   Fire: This is sexual harassment!
10. Lyly: Ah, he’s dead
    Fire: Yandere Mode, activate. You will not be forgotten thirst boi