Advent of the Three Calamities

Following Linus's defeat of the Terror-ranked creature, his team shot up all the way to first place. The gap between them and the second place became incredibly wide, and by the end of the entire event, the team managed to rank first by a large margin.

Because the rankings were displayed in real-time, a lot of the cadets were shocked by their sudden increase in points, and complained about them possibly 'cheating', but their words were quickly dispelled the moment the video of their achievement was shown.

All the first years watched the scene in stunned silence, unable to say a single word.

Even if they wanted to say something, what could they say?

The evidence was there for everyone to see. Furthermore, with the current Black Star being present in the group, all noise ceased.

...At least, the surface noise.

Secretly, everyone was talking about the clip and Linus who had managed to coordinate such a flawless performance.

Linus's reputation within the first years wasn't bad, however, he was never truly considered among the top cadets.

That all changed after the clip.

His reputation skyrocketed, and when the clip of his team defeating the 'mother' was released in an attempt to boost the Academy's popularity, his popularity reached even greater heights. Breaking- [The birth of the third star from the Evenus Household? What is the secret? How can they produce such outstanding talent one after another?]

Headlines appeared all over the place.

Everything was great.

...Or at least, it was supposed to be.

"Why am I being punished?"

"Are you really asking such a question?"

"But I was right."

"It doesn't matter. You overstepped your boundaries."

"But I was right."

"Aigoo, are you a child?"

A day after the events, Julien was summoned to a meeting with the Head of the second year. Arrianna Scholes, with her curly brown hair, loosely hanging oval-shaped glasses, rosy red lips, and piercing eyes, sat with both hands on her face.

Sitting alongside her were two other Professors.

They were none other than Lambart and Heart.

It was Julien's first time coming face-to-face with the Head of the second year, yet she spoke as if she already knew everything about him. No, maybe she did. It wasn't particularly hard to know about Julien.

He was that popular.

"There are rules that we have to maintain, and your conduct wasn't appropriate. I understand you wanted to push your brother, but you ended up nearly costing the lives of four cadets. In such troubling times, we can't afford for you to play such dangerous stunts."

There had already been multiple complaints being filed to the Academy.

The clip of Linus and his team had gone quite viral, but alongside the positive publicity were multiple negative reports from several worried parents.

"I know you can take care of the 'mother' by yourself, but cutting the communication device directly and ignoring the Professor's commands? That's not something that we can overlook. No cadet is above their Professor."

Julien's face fell.

It looked like he had a few things to say but held himself back at the last moment.

With a sigh, he lowered his head and nodded.

"Alright, I apologize."

He was indeed wrong in that regard.

"Good."

With a satisfied look, Arianna was just about to dish out the punishment when the door of the room came to an abrupt open and a figure came in.

"Who d―"

Everyone in the room froze, their gazes locking onto the figure that had just stepped in. With long, cascading black hair and eyes as dark and unfathomable as the abyss, Delilah entered the room.

She looked around the room before settling her gaze over to Julien.

"Is he being punished?"

Her quiet, yet crisp voice sounded within the confines of the room. Snapping out of it, Arianna hastily nodded her head while standing up.

"Yes, Chancellor. I was about to tell him his punishment."

"Oh."

Delilah settled her gaze over Julien who looked back at her with a lost look.

'What are you doing here?'

Delilah nudged Julien with her finger.

"Come with me."

"Hm?"

Julien's brows rose up in surprise. Arianna and the two other Professors also looked shocked,

but Delilah was quick to speak,

"I'll handle his punishment. I need his help."

Without waiting for the others to reply, Delilah turned around and left.

Clank!

A strange silence filled the room after her disappearance. It was a silence that lasted a few seconds before Julien stood up and excused himself.

He was just as confused as they were but much preferred this.

How bad could his punishment be?

***

Click, Clank-

Delilah's heels clicked through the empty corridor that led to her office. I followed closely

from behind while keeping my lips pursed.

We eventually reached her office, and upon entering the space, a sweet scent wafted through

the air.

It was the scent of chocolate.

A lot of it.

'Oh, no.'

Expecting the worst, I pressed my lips tightly and stepped into the room.

"....Eh?"

The sight that I expected to see wasn't there. Instead of a room filled with wrappers, I found myself staring at a spotlessly clean room. How was this possible? Was this the same Delilah

that I knew?

No, this didn't make sense.

Did she hire someone to do the cleaning for her?

"What are you doing?"

Overhearing Delilah's voice, my brow raised. I sat down on the sofa opposite Delilah's desk

and once again looked around.

"...Did you hire a new assistant?"

"Assistant?"

Delilah looked confused.

"No."

"Then...?"

I looked around the room, and once again looked at how spotless it was.

"Why is this place so clean?"

"I cleaned."

"You?"

"Yes."

I covered my mouth.

Of all people, I didn't think Delilah would start cracking jokes.

"What's so funny?"

But maybe she wasn't?

"No, I'm just surprised by the fact that you cleaned up the place by yourself."

"Is it that surprising?"

"Yes."

I didn't even hesitate with that. Thinking about the first time that I met her, this was indeed a

huge step up for Delilah. This place looked entirely different from the mess it once was.

"...oh."

Delilah's brows lowered a little. She almost looked a little sad. My brow twitched at the sight

and I pursed my lips.

"Good job."

"Yes...?"

Raising her head a little, Delilah leaned forward a bit.

"What did you say?"

"I said good job."

Delilah's face froze for a second. As her cheeks subtly twitched, she massaged them both with

her hands. Pursing her lips, she looked back at me.

"Can you repeat that?"

Uh? Why would she?

"Repeat."

"Good job?"

Delilah ended up massaging her cheeks again.

"I couldn't hear. Can you repeat that again?"

"Are your ears okay?"

"Repeat."

"Good job?"

"Hmm."

Delilah's cheeks squished as she pressed into them with greater force. My fingers twitched all

of a sudden. Fuck, I want to touch them too.

"Repeat?"

"What are you...? Weren't you here to give me punishment?"

Delilah's eyes suddenly narrowed and I felt my heart stop. As her nose scrunched up, she

leaned back on her chair and reached out for her drawer where she retrieved a small diary. I felt the diary was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't recall where I had seen it before. Without looking at me, Delilah reached out for the pen and started writing. From time to

time, she would look at me and shake her head.

"Tsk."

Did she just click her tongue?

"What are you do-"

"Here."

Delilah suddenly passed a slip in my direction.

I glanced at it for a brief moment and tilted my head. It was a simple slip that said, 'I won't do

it again.'

"What's this?"

"Fill it."

"As in...?"

"Your punishment. Write the words one hundred times."

"A hundred!?"

"Yes."

"What, why?"

Delilah took her sight away from her book.

"I know you're the one who lured the 'mother' to your group to train them."

"Ah..."

All words of protest left my body and I slumped back on the sofa.

I didn't think anyone would find out and thought I had managed to get away with it, but Delilah saw right through me. Indeed, the incident wasn't accidental. I had purposely lured the 'mother' in the direction of the group after using Etherwave to scout for an appropriate

opponent for them.

I thought I had been extremely secretive, with not even Amell noticing anything strange, and

yet, Delilah somehow knew about what I had done.

How...?

"Are you going to write?"

Seeing the look Delilah was giving me, I lowered my head in defeat and started writing.

Whatever, taking into consideration what I had done, this punishment was rather lenient.

"....Okay."

'I won't do it again.'

'I won't do it again.'

'I won't do it again.'

***

Seeing Julien writing, Delilah's eyes narrowed. He was so focused on his work that he didn't

even notice her gaze. Scribble Scribble~

Delilah focused her attention on Julien's face and then looked down at her diary.

There were two new bullet points.

[⚫Very impressed with my cleaning. Couldn't stop praising me.]

[Very stingy.]

Delilah's eyes narrowed.

There was something about the two bullet points that didn't quite fit. But what exactly was it?

They were both correct.

Tilting her head, Delilah scratched the side of her face.

The more she thought about the two bullet points, the more her head hurt. She really couldn't

see what was wrong with the two bullet points.

Eventually, Delilah decided to give up.

She would figure it out later.

Shifting her attention back to Julien, she held her head with both hands. She just observed him

as he diligently fulfilled his punishment.

Unknowingly, her hand reached out for her drawer where she took out a chocolate bar.

Skilfully unwrapping the bar, she took out a small chocolate cube and directly placed it near

Julien who subconsciously opened his mouth.

Placing the chocolate in Julien's mouth, he closed his mouth and started chewing.

"Thanks."

At the same time, he didn't forget to thank her as his brows furrowed and he started mumbling, 'So sweet. What sort of-' That was when realization struck him and his head flicked up to see Delilah taking out another

cube and placing it near his mouth again. Seeing the flustered look on Julien's face, Delilah's

lips subconsciously pulled up as her tone changed.

"Eat~"

A notification once again flashed across Julien's vision.

Holding onto his chest, Julien took a deep breath and mumbled in a tone only he could hear,

'You'll be the death of me.'

It was unfortunate that Delilah was no regular human.

Overhearing his words, Delilah's lips pulled up more. '...I don't mind.'