“Follow me.”
Fortunately, Ritt moved quickly.
Hurry up and follow me. I’m getting dizzy.
Taking shallow breaths, I made my way out of the garbage disposal site.
‘Now this is sex.’
As the clean air filled my lungs all the way down, my head seemed to clear.
The cleaning magic on my uniform removed the lingering smell.
I feel alive again.
I quickened my pace toward my office.
Behind me, I could see Ritt walking with their head hanging low.
‘No, why are they making this awkward for me?’
Anyone watching would think I was some vicious professor dragging an assistant away to chew them out.
That would be a gross misunderstanding.
After that practical training, all eyes were already on me.
I could not afford to create even more negative public opinion.
“Raise your head, Ritt.”
People are staring, you punk. And quit looking so gloomy. Are you going to your death or something? Are you?
[‘Ritt’s’ Favorability slightly increases. +5]
Huh? Why did it go up again?
***
“Follow me.”
At Lucas’s words, filled with authority that brooked no refusal, Ritt rose and followed him.
Ritt had followed him for now, but an inexplicable sense of guilt kept making their head droop.
The future ahead was as obvious as staring into a flame, and that frightened them too.
Once this walk ended, they would probably die.
Lucas had disposed of even the powerful Levi with ease, so perhaps he would at least kill them without pain.
No, they still wanted to live.
There was no way to hide the despair sinking deeper and deeper into their heart.
“Raise your head, Ritt.”
“…….”
At that moment, Lucas’s firm voice pierced Ritt’s ears.
Ritt slowly lifted their head and looked at Lucas.
He still did not so much as glance their way, yet somehow, his back inspired a strange sense of reassurance.
As they walked toward his office, countless gazes fell upon Ritt.
It felt as though everyone were condemning them, just like when their brother had died.
Just as Ritt’s eyes were about to fall again, Lucas’s voice came once more.
“Keep your eyes forward. You have done nothing wrong.”
Their heart…… felt lighter.
Ritt walked for quite some time in a daze, and by the time they came back to their senses, they had already arrived at Lucas’s office.
THUD-!
The office door slammed shut with a heavy thud.
Fear surged back into Ritt.
“Sit.”
Ritt obediently sat down.
“I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself.”
At Lucas’s words, Ritt felt their heart drop with a thud.
Right.
I’m not completely innocent.
I’m a spy between Lucas and the Demons.
My role was to report his every move, and I had reported the information that Lucas’s practical training would take place in for as many as five days.
That disaster had happened because of my report.
I…… am not innocent.
Ritt knew that very well.
And yet, for some reason, tears began to fall.
Ritt lowered their head and started crying.
***
‘Ah, why the hell are they crying?’
I had only started with a light joke because I thought all the attention we got on the way here might have made them uncomfortable, yet this bastard was crying.
It was not as though my joke had been moving…….
I mean, honestly, disappearing after the practical training was dereliction of duty.
But I am an extremely benevolent professor, so I had tried to open the conversation with a bit of humor while letting the matter slide gently.
Instead, it backfired.
‘My jokes don’t work on this one.’
That was the conclusion I reached.
Ritt seemed to have a tendency to take life a little too seriously.
I carefully opened my mouth again.
“Don’t cry.”
Why the hell is a grown man bawling just because I played one little joke on him?
I did my best to comfort him in my own way, even handing over a handkerchief and kindly telling him not to cry.
“I’m sorry, Professor. I’m really sorry.”
“Enough. I wasn’t trying to reprimand you.”
“Hic!”
Ritt stopped crying and looked at me.
Ugh, look at all the snot on that handkerchief.
But if I pointed it out, Ritt might start crying again, so I held it in.
“I-I’ll wash the handkerchief and…….”
“Forget it. Keep it.”
“What? But…….”
Ritt’s eyes widened as they looked back and forth between the handkerchief and me.
Why would you give back something covered in your filthy snot?
I do not want it even after it has been washed.
“That handkerchief is yours now.”
In that instant, Ritt’s face visibly turned red.
At the same time—
[‘Ritt’s’ Favorability greatly increases. +40]
I really cannot figure this Demon out.
Their Favorability went up just because I gave them a handkerchief?
Still, it was better than their hostility going up.
But that was not the end of it.
[Favorability has exceeded 100.]
[ System unlocked.]
What the hell is this now?
===
▶Development
For targets whose Favorability exceeds 100, stats can be invested to increase Loyalty or develop the target.
The currency required for development is the target’s excess Favorability, and once points have been invested, they will not disappear even if Favorability decreases.
===
For a moment, I doubted my eyes.
What the hell does this mean?
Development?
You mean this damned fucking garbage game even had a pet system?
Sure, there were clear differences, but no matter how I looked at it, was this not basically a pet system?
At least it was a relief that developing them did not cost paid currency.
[Items that increase Favorability can be purchased from the Gold Shop.]
……or so I was about to say.
Anyway, that was only an option.
Favorability itself could still be raised depending on how much effort I put in.
In other words, the importance of Favorability grinding had once again come to the fore.
‘Then can I see something like pet information too?’
The moment I thought that, a new notification window appeared and laid Ritt’s information bare.
===
▶Ritt (Riritt)
A Lesser Demon hybrid of the Dream Demon race and the Fox Race.
Strength: 34
Intelligence: 55
Magic Power: 20
Charm: 72
.
.
.
===
For a moment, I could only doubt my own eyes.
The name Riritt was written clearly in the name field.
And then there was the information that Ritt was a hybrid of the Dream Demon race and the Fox Race.
As far as I knew, only one Demon like that existed in my world.
‘The Queen of the Dream Demons, Riritt.’
The strongest queen in the history of the Dream Demon race.
A queen with powerful leadership who united the Fox Race and the Dream Demon race.
That Demon was Riritt.
I did not know how Ritt had evolved into Riritt, but that was not what mattered.
“Ritt.”
“Y-Yes, Professor…….”
Ritt’s face looked ready to burst from how red it had become as she answered my call.
If I had not known her true identity, I might have thought, Why is this bastard acting so damn creepy?
But now I knew she was Riritt.
I knew she…… had Fox blood.
The Fox Race had a custom of courting someone of the opposite sex by giving them an object carrying their own scent.
Accepting that object was the same as accepting a marriage proposal.
In other words, without even realizing it, I had proposed to that Demon.
‘Ah, fuck.’
So my first-ever proposal ended up going to a Demon.
Life really is…… bitter.
***
Ritt—or rather, Riritt—could not hide the pounding of her heart.
‘Sigh…… why am I like this?’
Her face was heating up embarrassingly, and her heartbeat was growing louder and louder.
‘Professor only gave it to me without any special meaning. Get a grip.’
Lucas surely did not know what this handkerchief meant.
He knew that she was a Demon, but he would not know that she had Fox blood mixed in.
Even if he did know, how could Lucas, a human, possibly know the customs of the Fox Race?
But even if Lucas had not understood what he was doing, this entire sequence of events was like a contract engraved into the soul.
From the moment she accepted the handkerchief from him, Lucas had become Riritt’s mate.
It might mean nothing to Lucas, but it was not meaningless to Riritt.
No.
It held tremendous meaning for her.
Riritt buried her face in the handkerchief.
She could barely…… bring herself to face Lucas.