Under Rinslet's attentive care, Altair, Est, and Carol enjoyed her homemade crepes, with even Fenrir getting a share. Indeed, the young noblewoman personally served her spirit, her maid, and her spirit's companion, an impressive feat.

What surprised Altair was Rinslet's culinary skill. Compared to Saeko, who excelled at Japanese cuisine, Rinslet, hailing from a noble fantasy family, was a master of Western-style delicacies like these crepes. Both were exceptional in their own right.

Her personality was charming, her appearance delightful, and her cooking remarkable!

Oh no, he was growing fonder of Rinslet by the minute!

Sorry, Est!

Though he felt a twinge of guilt, Altair couldn't resist Rinslet's allure. He ate another crepe to distract himself, then patted Est's head. Est reveled in the affection, loving his gentle gestures, and followed suit by taking another crepe.

After breakfast, Altair and the others followed Rinslet to her classroom.

At Areishia Spirit Academy, Rinslet belonged to Raven Class, a group known in the original story as a gathering of problem students. The main troublemakers were Claire Rouge and her close friend Rinslet Laurenfrost, with the rest being unnamed background characters.

Today, the classroom had two new faces besides Altair and Est: Kamito Kazehaya, arranged by Greyworth to join Raven Class as a new student.

As Altair entered, he overheard Kamito and Claire arguing.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Anywhere but here with you."

"What's that supposed to mean? You're my contracted spirit! If you don't sit with me, where else would you sit?"

"I told you, I'm not your contracted spirit!"

"What's the big deal? I just didn't let you… k-kiss… Fine, I'll let you form a contract now! Right here, right now! Do it, and then stay by my side like you're supposed to!"

Good grief, walking in on such a heated exchange, was this really okay?

Altair glanced at Claire and Kamito. Claire, face red with embarrassment, was shouting at Kamito with her neck stiff.

"It was a joke!" Kamito retorted, flustered by her intensity.

The surrounding students, drawn by the commotion, whispered among themselves, thinking their voices were too low to be heard.

"Did you hear? That Demon King is making a move on Claire."

"Terrifying. They say the Demon King is a lecher. What if he comes after us too?"

"What do we do? Should we ask the teacher to lock him up?"

"He's the Demon King. The teacher can't beat him, right?"

The last comment was true. Their teacher couldn't defeat him. After all, Kamito had been known as the strongest Blade Dancer years ago, even if he'd earned that title disguised as a girl.

Altair mentally nodded in agreement with the final remark.

"Such a racket, Claire Rouge."

Rinslet, watching the squabble, couldn't resist joining in. Having been informed by Altair about Kamito's identity as the Dark Elf King, she had little interest in him. With Altair and Est by her side, she felt she'd hit the jackpot. She just wanted to needle Claire.

"You can't even control your own contracted spirit, making a scene in the classroom first thing in the morning. What a failure, Claire."

"Rinslet!"

Claire glared at her, teeth gritted. Rinslet, brimming with confidence, stood with one hand on her hip, chest puffed out. Behind her were Altair, Est, and Carol, bolstering her self-assurance.

"Mind your own business! I'll handle my spirit just fine!"

After Altair's revelation the previous day, Claire had reflected and decided to contract Kamito. Conveniently, Kamito was confined to a shack near the stables by Ellis. So, Claire used her whip to drag him to her room and demanded he become her contracted spirit.

Despite Altair's warning that Kamito was the Dark Elf King, Claire, like in the original story, was undeterred. She rode roughshod over him, insisting he comply.

Kamito was dumbfounded. What was with this girl, capturing him out of nowhere and demanding he be her contracted spirit? What kind of tactic was that?

Claire's reasoning was that Kamito had disrupted her purification ritual, causing her to miss contracting a sealed spirit. She couldn't blame Altair, so Kamito was the scapegoat. Plus, he'd seen her body, so he had to take responsibility by becoming her contracted spirit.

Kamito was exasperated but couldn't bring himself to fight her. Besides, Claire's dorm, even the sofa, was better than that shack.

So, he spent the night in her dorm, leading to a predictable bathroom mishap that caused chaos late into the night.

This morning, Claire dragged him to the classroom without even time for a canned meal, annoying Kamito. He decided to teach her a lesson by pretending to agree to a contract, leaning in as if to kiss her, since high-ranking humanoid spirits required a kiss to seal a contract.

But Claire chickened out, too nervous to go through with it.

Rinslet had needed significant mental preparation to kiss Altair in her shy state, so Claire, with her more prickly personality, was even less ready.

This led to the current scene, where Claire's frustration with Kamito caused her to blurt out her embarrassment.

"They seem to be getting along well." Altair mused, observing the unfolding drama. It was textbook: Claire, the classic tsundere heroine, and Kamito, the typical nice-guy protagonist. The more tsundere Claire acted, the more Kamito would be wrapped around her finger, eventually leading to her shy acceptance of him.

This scene suggested everything would proceed as expected.

"Alright, you lot, stop standing around and take your seats!"

The Raven Class teacher finally arrived, entering the classroom and ordering everyone to sit.

Claire seized the chance to pull Kamito to the seat beside hers. Resigned, Kamito sat down, proof he was already under her thumb.

Rinslet led Altair and the others to her seat. With four of them, they took up two rows. Rinslet sat in her usual spot, Altair beside her, Est, as his spirit, on his lap, and Carol in the row behind.

Once everyone was seated, the teacher, who bore a striking resemblance to a certain flat-chested club president from another series, clapped the desk.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, listen up. Starting tomorrow, the selection matches begin. If you want to participate, you must form your teams and register with me by tonight, or you'll be disqualified."

The selection matches were for choosing the school's team for the Blade Dance festival.

The previous Blade Dance was an individual competition, where Kamito, disguised as a girl, dominated and won. This time, it was a team event, with each nation sending a representative team.

Areishia Spirit Academy represented the Ordesia Empire, so they held internal selection matches.

Hearing the teacher's announcement, Altair couldn't help but chuckle.

"With things as they are, do we even need to compete in these matches?"

He glanced at Rinslet, who caught his words and turned to him, nodding with a confident smile.

With Fenrir on her left, Altair on her right, and Est, another high-ranking spirit according to Altair, at his side, Rinslet held three top-tier spirits. What could anyone else bring to challenge her?

Rinslet Laurenfrost was invincible!

***

Hi guys, I hope you're all doing well! I want to share that I'm currently working on a new project related to Lord of Mysteries.

If you're interested, feel free to visit my profile and start reading. Below is a brief summary:

[Lord of Mysteries: Incarnation of Chaos]

Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone from a Lovecraftian world got isekai'd into another world built on Lovecraftian themes? Well, it's absolute chaos.

Meet Alaric, a human(questionably) survivor of the madness and chaos caused by a certain crawling chaos, who, thanks to the kindness of a certain bubble daddy, got isekai'd into the "fake it till you make it" world.

What will he do in this strange new world? Climb the ladder of power to become that impossible god unless you're just a pawn of a certain russian priest or a certain goth mommy?

Or become a cheshire cat, leaping onto the 4D chessboard to disrupt the schemes and mind games of these bizarre folks?

For Alaric, it's not a tough choice. But before he picks either path, he must, of course, uphold the time-honored tradition of isekai'd victims(questionably) that forms the foundation of this world.

What's that tradition?

Keeping a diary.

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[Alaric's Transmigration Diary]

[Day 1: I encountered Amon. Used a special technique to summon a projection of the Ancient Sun God, who personally delivered a heavy slap to Amon. Hope Amon appreciates this weighty paternal affection.]

[Day 2: I received an invitation from the Aurora Order. Told them I want it all... looks, brains, and combat prowess... and invited them to join my newly founded Joker Club.]

[Day 3: I met Leonard and acknowledged Gramps Pallez. Declined Leonard's enthusiastic suggestion for the old man to move in with me, as I'd rather not have a old man critiquing my every move, even in private moments.]

[Day 4: I told Klein I plan to pray to a deity named The Fool. Watched his eyes widen in shock and kindly offered him some eye drops.]

[Day 5: I listened to Medici perform a two-hour comedy routine. Suggested he go professional and invited him to share a meal.]

.

.

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[Day 666: I fully absorbed a certain crawling chaos fragment within me. From now on, I am the Fifth Pillar.]