-717- A significant lesson

In Raphael Men's Dormitory, Rozen's room.

At this moment, Charl and Henri were still in this room, maintaining their huddled position, crouched in the corner, shivering.

"What a disgrace!"

"In a man's room!"

Charl appeared to feel ashamed about being threatened by Rozen, while Henri, due to her androphobia, looked like she might faint any moment.

Watching this pair of sisters, Rozen and Yaya stood side by side in front of them.

"What should we do next?" Yaya asked expressionlessly. "Should I hurt them? Yaya is quite skilled at that, you know?"

With her words, Yaya didn't seem like she was joking at all, which only added to Charl's fear, not to mention Henri's.

"That was just a joke, can you please forget about it?"

Rozen was both helpless and speechless.

Since a while ago, Yaya had been making similar remarks, which frightened the two sisters and led them to hide in the corner, trembling.

Perhaps due to the loss of Sigmund, Charl had become more vulnerable than ever before, or maybe she felt indebted to Rozen, which made her less domineering and proud than she used to be. Under Yaya's threat, she could only show this side of her.

In this situation, Rozen didn't know what to say to Yaya.

Despite the connection through the Shikigami contract, Yaya, knowing that Rozen was safe, couldn't help but worry. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been waiting for Rozen's return at the exit. Given this, Rozen had given the two sisters a little lesson by saying those words to Charl and Henri.

(Well, anyway, this can be considered a lesson.)

Since Rozen knew that Charl acted because of Henri's influence, he naturally didn't seek retaliation. However, he thought that providing them with a slight lesson would be a good idea.

"Alright, both of you, tell us everything you know," Rozen directed a kind gaze at Charl and Henri. "Don't withhold anything, or else I can't guarantee what might happen later."

Yaya immediately concurred with Rozen's words. "So you're interested in doing lewd things to these Vixen, huh? Rozen...heheh....heheheh."

Yaya revealed a very beautiful smile, but her eyes had no trace of humor, sending a chill down one's spine.

Rozen didn't even have time to retort when Charl and Henri reacted strongly.

"L-L-L-Lewd things!?"

"Men! Beasts! Scum!"

Charl's face turned pale, and Henri trembled uncontrollably, leaving both sisters thoroughly shocked.

"Let's forget about it," Rozen sighed, sounding somewhat resigned. "So, are you going to talk now, or should I get less friendly?"

Rozen had to resort to this threat.

This forced Charl and Henri to compromise.

"You already know, don't you?" Charl spoke through gritted teeth. "I targeted you because Henri was taken hostage."

Rozen had indeed deduced this.

The issue was...

"Even though Henri is supposed to be a hostage, she can freely move around the academy. That's obviously abnormal," Rozen made this statement. "The fact that they let Henri move freely in the academy, yet still maintain control over you, using you against me, indicates that they have substantial backing."

Otherwise, to avoid any issues with the hostage, they should keep Henri close at hand to ensure Charl's compliance.

Yet, the other party allowed Henri to move freely in the academy, which pointed to a different scenario.

Namely, that they weren't concerned about Henri escaping or breaking free of their control.

"This could mean one of two things: either they've placed some inescapable magic or toxin on Henri, so they're not worried about her breaking free from their grasp, or they believe they have the capability to maintain tight control over her even when she's freely moving around the academy," Rozen glanced at Henri and concluded. "I've already confirmed that there's nothing wrong with Henri's body, which leads to the latter possibility."

For Rozen, who possessed "Spirit Vision" and various jujutsu, checking Henri's body for any hidden issues was not a challenging task. Therefore, he deduced that the other party had considerable authority within the academy.

"Regardless, the fact that they managed to enroll Henri in the academy implies they have significant financial resources and power," Rozen speculated about the situation. "Furthermore, their confidence in allowing Henri to move freely in the academy without escaping their control is a clear indicator of their substantial influence."

However, the issue lay here.

"As far as I know, the person targeting me at this academy is shrouded in mystery, and very few people are aware of their existence," Rozen calmly stated. "Yet, they wield immense power within the academy, which is highly unusual."

Unless...

"Option one: this person has an accomplice who holds significant authority."

"Option two: this person is impersonating their identity."

Rozen made these conjectures.

"Now, I want to know who this likely accomplice of theirs or the impersonated figure is," Rozen needed to interrogate Charl and Henri in this regard.

"Speak up," Rozen questioned Charl.

"The person who used Henri as a hostage to threaten you, who are they?"

This was the first thing Rozen needed to find out.

Currently, Rozen was suffering from a lack of information, and he hadn't even figured out the true identity of his enemy. If not for this, with Rozen's current strength, he could easily confront them and deal with all of them.

In terms of power, Rozen wasn't concerned about losing to the other party. Therefore, it all came down to a battle of wits.

This also demonstrated that having strength alone couldn't solve everything.

In the past, Rozen had often found himself in situations where he had to overcome stronger opponents through his strategic thinking, whether it was in Fuyuki City, the world of SAO, or the world of Tokyo Ravens.

In other words, Rozen had usually been in a position of using his intelligence to compensate for his lack of power.

Now, it was entirely possible that the other party was also a cunning individual. Rozen didn't want to be caught off guard by someone seemingly weaker.

Therefore, he needed to teach this self-proclaimed clever adversary a significant lesson using his true expertise.