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*Crzzt*, *Boom!*

I was currently bullying a poor dummy in the time capsule as I was trying to practice my control over [Discharge].

It wasn't just because I desperately needed to become more adept at utilizing it more efficiently, it also served as an escape from my own thoughts for a while.

Too much had happened in one day, and although it appeared to have ended somewhat well, a certain amount of stress still piled up. Even more so when trying to decipher Lindsey's strange behavior before she had left.

Although she had said that everything was alright, I was still scared that I might have broken one of the most important tools needed to defeat the demonkind.

That was also something that I had been thinking a lot more of. It was something that I had to some extent repressed, the fact that war would be on us in the future, threatening to annihilate all of humankind.

The more I thought about it, the more I started to see that I might currently be making a huge mistake.

There was a big chance that by becoming friends with Lindsey I was obstructing the creation of the hero's party. If Lindsey had become friends with me, who did not get along with anyone, didn't the chances that she would start to socialize with James decrease drastically?

In the end, it felt like I had a choice to make, with three different alternatives.

The first alternative was the easiest, most clear-cut one. Breaking up any connection I had with Lindsey, making sure she didn't regard me as a friend anymore.

The problem with this alternative was that I enjoyed her company a lot, even with all her quirks, and she had said that I was her first friend. Still, it might be something I had to be prepared to do.

The second alternative would be to try my best to make peace with my former friends. This alternative had a lot of upsides. Not only would it make it natural for Lindsey to become a part of their clique, but it might also let me lead a more peaceful academic life.

However, I didn't want to make peace with them. They were the ones who didn't accept me and I was not about to lower myself to appease them. No, I would rather fight the demons by myself.

The third option was probably even worse, something I had thought about when Lindsey talked about how no one got along with each other after I had gotten kidnapped. Although I assumed Brad, Sarah, and James to still be quite close to each other, who knew what would happen with their potential military force if they didn't manage to make more comrades?

The solution to this issue was to make myself into even more of a villain than they already saw me. Though, this also meant that I, at some point, had to leave the academy so that Lindsey might join James's party. The positive thing about this was that it might make Lindsey superfluous, as they might make someone else a member instead.

If they managed to get Akane and Suzuka they might be able to fill her place, as Lindsey was pretty much a hybrid of these.

I had no intention to make a decision right now, it would be stupid to do something drastic without spending more time reflecting on the pros and cons. There could also exist a fourth alternative, just that I didn't see it right now.

Even though I wouldn't call myself stupid, I was by no means the smartest. Maybe I could reveal my secrets to my master one day if I started to trust him enough.

Having punished the innocent dummy enough, and using up another 15 virtual hours, I exited the capsule.

Picking up my daggers from the box in the capsule, I was going to check the time on my DAD, only to be surprised by three different messages.

The first one was from Mike, asking if I wanted to practice with him tomorrow, to which I just sent a simple *Sure*. The second was from Lindsey, and it was just as simple as her uncle's, *Hey, do you want to hang out tonight? I want to see the new Tom Pardy movie that just came out!*.

I had some conflicting feelings about her proposal, but in the end, I just said yes to her as well, happy that she still wanted to be around me.

The third one was of an entirely different kind, making my head cool down a lot.

*Hey. I think we need to talk. Could you please come to Underside at 17.00?*

It was a text from the succubus, and she asked me to come to the same restaurant where she had asked for advice regarding James.

'Should I go?'

I didn't know. On one hand, I didn't dislike Sarah, my feelings toward her had just become very neutral. Yet, there was a part of me that desperately wanted to meet her.

'Fuck it.'

****

I had arrived at the restaurant where I was met by a waiter who took me to a private room where Sarah was waiting.

Somehow, my heart was beating fast, knowing I would have my first real conversation with her.

In many ways, I had liked Sarah the most out of my former friends. The always cheerful girl who had always worried about me, even helping me with my training by healing me. Even though I was a lot older than her mentally, she had felt like an older sister.

The waiter opened the door, not waiting for my heart to calm down. And there she was, sitting on one of the couches by the table, dressed in a blue sundress with white flowers.

Seeing her instantly got rid of my nerves, and instead, I remembered the spite I had for all of them, her included.

I casually walked to the opposite couch and sat down, none of us speaking a word as we looked at each other for a couple of seconds. She wore the same expression as in the cafeteria; complicated, containing several different emotions.

In the end, I was the one to break the silence, "You wanted to talk?" Closing her eyes, she took another couple of seconds of silence before she started to talk.

"Yes, thank you for coming."

Her pleasantries were, in this situation, quite unpleasant, making me feel a bit agitated, "What do you want?" She flinched a bit at my words, not expecting me to be so blunt. I didn't come here to be rude, but I sure as hell didn't come here for a nice little chat, therefore wanting her to get to the point.

Fidgeting with her fingers a bit, she couldn't hide the fact that she was nervous about talking to me, "Okay, I'll get on with it. Miren, I know that what happened at the ranking matches wasn't your fault, we all do, but..."

Raising a single brow, I was curious what she was about to say, having already stated they everyone was well aware that it had been an accident, "But, what?"

Sarah steadied herself and looked into my eyes, "But you didn't seem to care if he died at all! Do you really not care about taking someone's life?!"

In spite of her trying to act composed, she was barely holding herself back from screaming. Her question was a valid one though, and if I had a bit more patience I could probably give her a better answer, but right at this moment I only answered with a simple, "I don't."

There was a lot more to it than that, but in essence, I didn't care if I claimed the life of an enemy, and in that situation, Arthur had been my enemy. I couldn't fight without the intent to kill anyway, so it had been necessary to force myself into this kind of mindset.

This time my words affected her a lot more, tears already starting to form in the corner of her eyes, as she lowered her gaze. "Miren, have you killed someone?"

It was a weird question, but I interpreted it as a way of challenging my words. If I hadn't killed someone, how could I know how I would feel about it? So in order to not create any chances of rebuttal to my way of fighting, I told her the truth.

"I have."

Her body started shaking as she couldn't stop her tears from falling. Not minding her pitiful appearance, she raised her head again to look at me. A slight tinge of guilt grew in me for making her cry, but my feelings of spite overwhelmed it.

"Even though I might have the right, could I please ask of you just one more thing?", she asked with an unsteady voice.

"Sure."

She exhaled a bit to steady herself and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Will you kill James?"

Another question which I chose to give her the simple answer, "That depends."

Sarah swallowed, almost as if to not completely lose control over her tear ducts, "Depends... on what?"

"Depends on if the safety devices work this time."