## Chapter 162 – Collusion (7)
The first thing Number 25 saw when he opened his eyes again was a ceiling that felt both unfamiliar and familiar. His head was foggy, and his vision showed him only a blurry, clouded world. Number 25 shook his head from side to side, trying to escape the dizziness.
“You’re awake?”
Then, he heard a familiar voice right in front of him. The voice was so clear that it cut through his hazy mind in an instant. It was then that Charlotte’s face came into view, looking at him with a kind smile.
He felt a slight dizziness, but it was bearable. Number 25 endured the temptation of the firm thighs he felt behind his head and tried to get up, but unfortunately, he remembered what had just happened. The aftermath of him unloading inside Charlotte’s… *ahem*, combined with the shame of knowing that people were watching, made it hard to bear the memory of losing consciousness.
If he could, he wanted to lose consciousness again. But there was only one thing Number 25 could do. As if a spring had been released, Number 25 shot up and looked at Charlotte, asking in a worried tone.
“What am I going to do now?”
At this rate, the title of “pervert of the academy” would follow Number 25 for the rest of his life. Charlotte watched Number 25’s reaction and said in a teasing voice.
“What does it matter what they call you at the academy? You’ll be with us forever anyway, right?”
Number 25 looked her straight in the eye with a face that looked like he was about to cry.
“W-well, that’s true… but I still don’t want to be called a pervert by other people.”
He didn’t really plan on attending the academy, but this was a different matter. If he made a good impression at the tournament, but all his achievements were forgotten and he was called a pervert who had public sex with a woman in an empty classroom, he would pass.
“Isn’t being a pervert a good thing? It means you can do that kind of stuff with me anytime, anywhere, right?”
The thought of being able to have sex with Charlotte anytime, anywhere, made his ears perk up for a moment, but he shook his head and barely maintained his reason. Charlotte, who had been watching Number 25’s reaction, burst into laughter and stroked Number 25’s head as if to tell him not to worry.
“I’m just kidding. You don’t have to worry about what happened just now.”
“…Really?”
It was strangely quiet, considering the commotion that had occurred. When Number 25, still unconvinced, gave her a suspicious look, Charlotte sighed briefly and opened her mouth.
“Don’t you trust me? I’m starting to feel a little hurt.”
At Charlotte’s words, which sounded slightly dejected, Number 25 was startled and waved his hands.
“N-no! It’s nothing like that.”
Charlotte, a small smile on her face, got up and stretched, looking at Number 25.
“There’s still some time left until the next match, right? Let’s take a walk.”
After speaking, Charlotte grabbed Number 25’s wrist and went outside without waiting for his answer. The hallway, which had been crowded with students, was now so quiet that you couldn’t even see an ant. Could Charlotte have taken care of everything to keep the secret? Such a chilling thought crossed his mind.
Charlotte seemed to know what Number 25 was thinking, and she simply looked around with a mysterious smile.
“This place has changed a lot too.”
“Were you originally at the academy?”
“I didn’t attend, I just came to hang out sometimes. You know? If you’re in District 7, all you do is fight.”
“But isn’t it getting better these days?”
Charlotte answered in a calm voice.
“It has to get better. After all the effort we’ve put in.”
Charlotte, who knew better than anyone what sacrifices had been made and what efforts Acer had put in to bring District 7 to where it was today, had no choice but to be more desperate than anyone else. However, she knew that if she showed it, Acer would have no one to lean on, so she was trying to remain as calm as possible.
“I’m glad, though.”
“About what?”
“It seems like the Demon Lord has changed a lot since meeting you… and so have I.”
“I’m glad I met you two too.”
What if Acer hadn’t been patrolling? What if he hadn’t bought Number 25 from the slave trader? Number 25’s life would have been completely different from what it was now. Charlotte messed up Number 25’s hair in response to his admirable answer and praised him.
“You used to just tremble, but now you’re good with words.”
“That’s all thanks to you, Charlotte. I experienced the pain of having my horn broken from the beginning….”
Charlotte playfully nudged Number 25’s shoulder and said.
“What? Are you still holding that against me?”
Number 25 touched his horn, which had grown back to its majestic size, and said playfully.
“That’s right. I’m still holding it against you, so please treat me carefully.”
“I don’t know how to treat you carefully. How about I prove it again tonight?”
As they walked and chatted, they came outside the building. The dazzling sunlight found its way into Number 25’s eyes, indicating that a lot of time had passed. Perhaps because it was the biggest tournament in the academy, there were many street vendors, and it seemed that many outsiders who were not students had also come.
Charlotte took Number 25 to a nearby street vendor and asked again.
“How do you feel about the match?”
“I was surprised because it was easier than I thought. I don’t think my opponent was that weak….”
“If you know the meaning of participating in this match and the rewards you get, then of course no mediocre guys will come out.”
“Is that so?”
The match ended with a single exchange, so he couldn’t properly gauge his opponent’s skills. But if this level of skill was the average, he thought it would be much easier than catching monsters in District 2.
“But you shouldn’t be too careless. It’s obvious, but the higher you go, the more skilled people will come out.”
“Oh, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Why aren’t you in the same position as the Demon Lord? I’ve heard other people say that you’re on the same level as the other Demon Lords….”
“Oh, that? It’s nothing.”
Immediately after, Charlotte grabbed Number 25’s hand and smiled brightly.
“If I were in such a stuffy place, I wouldn’t be able to be with you like this, right? I like this better.”
Number 25, his face red, avoided Charlotte’s gaze and replied with an awkward smile.
“I’m hungry from walking around so much. Aren’t you?”
When Number 25 nodded instead of answering, Charlotte immediately took a seat at a nearby stall and ordered two servings of an unidentified dish that was listed as the specialty, then started talking again.
When Charlotte saw the food that came out while they were having a pointless conversation, a complaint full of dissatisfaction popped out of her mouth without her even realizing it.
“…What is this?”
The food that came out after a while looked quite different from the food she had eaten in the castle. Charlotte sighed briefly at the indescribable appearance and stirred the food with a fork, saying.
“Well, there’s no way there would be decent food at a stall run by students for the sake of memories.”
Number 25 closed his eyes tightly and put the unknown object in his mouth. Number 25’s expression, which had been filled with fear at first, gradually began to relax, and he nodded up and down a few times as if to say it was okay.
“It’s not bad.”
“Really? Then you can have mine too.”
Charlotte handed her bowl to Number 25 as if she didn’t care, and watched him eat with a pleased expression.
While they were eating, someone tapped Number 25 on the shoulder.
Number 25, startled, looked back and saw two women he had never seen before standing there. Anxiety washed over him in an instant. The taste disappeared from his mouth, and cold sweat began to flow down his neck. Could they be the people he saw in the classroom earlier? Number 25 glanced around, unable to swallow his food properly.
He reflexively looked at Charlotte as if asking for help, but she shrugged with a meaningful smile.
A woman with short brown hair and big eyes, resembling a puppy, approached Number 25 with a shy expression and handed him a piece of paper.
“You’re the one from earlier, right?”
“Yes?”
Number 25 was flustered by the unexpected situation and seemed to have lost his words.
“I enjoyed the match! If you don’t mind, could you sign this….”
“S-sign?”
Number 25 took the paper with a dazed expression, wrote the number 25 on it, and returned it to them. The students who received the autographs held the paper in their arms as if they had received a precious gift, and bowed repeatedly as they left.
As the students left as if a storm had passed, Charlotte opened her mouth as if she had been waiting for this moment.
“Looks like you already have fans?”
“Fans?”
“I told you earlier, what this match means and what the rewards are.”
“From the perspective of students who pursue strength more than anyone else, if you win with an overwhelming performance, then of course more people will follow you. Apart from joining the Demon Lord’s command, you can have your own power.”
“Your own power….”
“It’s not a big deal. Don’t you think it’s better to just enjoy the popularity for now?”
He had never seen anything good come from being popular with other women. Number 25 tried to ignore the goosebumps on his body and asked about the question he had first felt.
“But what happened earlier?”
Charlotte didn’t avoid the topic and answered immediately.
“What? The fact that we got caught having sex? It’s simple.”
Saying it’s simple makes me even more anxious. Could she have gone to each person one by one while Number 25 was unconscious and taken care of them or blackmailed them to keep them quiet? Such an extreme situation came to mind. If it was Charlotte’s personality, she would be more than capable of doing that.
When Number 25 was lost in thought with a frightened expression, Charlotte glared at him and asked.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You didn’t do anything weird, did you?”
“I told you it’s nothing. I just erased the memories of the people nearby. You didn’t even know what happened at first because of that, did you?”
Certainly, when he first opened his eyes in the classroom, it felt like he was dreaming. As long as Charlotte said there was no problem with such a confident expression, Number 25 had no choice but to trust her completely.
After confirming that he had finished all the food, Charlotte got up and said to Number 25.
“The next match will be starting soon.”
“Yes. I think I should go now.”
Charlotte approached Number 25’s ear and slyly stroked his crotch with her hand, whispering.
“If you win this time too, I’ll do something nice for you again. Okay?”
Charlotte, watching Number 25’s reaction, waved her hand with a smile and saw him off, and Number 25, who now had a reason to win, walked back to the waiting room.
