The next morning, Ayabe Yuuma opened his eyes with the gaze of a dead fish, rising from the canopy bed in his private room at the temple.

Last night’s scene clings to his mind like a nightmare, refusing to let go.

The jealousy of Saint Agnes caused an explosive surge of sacred magic. As a result, the three attendants who received the blessing buff were forcibly pushed beyond their limits in terms of beauty and affection for Yuuma, transforming into terrifying carnivorous women.

“Hero-sama, please try my home-cooked meal…”

“No, first let me massage your tired body!”

“Both of you, that’s indecent! Hero-sama, please allow me to be your attendant!”

After that, the three women erupted in fierce competition over Yuuma, turning the room into a battlefield. All Yuuma could do was shrink into the corner of the bed while silently thinking (Stop it… I want to sleep alone…).

In the end, other priests who heard the commotion intervened and forcibly led the attendants away. Even until the door closed, they continued sending hot glances toward Yuuma.

“Haa…”

A heavy sigh escaped. No matter how this was a different world, it all ended up being the same.

Once again, my 【Liquid Self】’s essence had dragged me into another disaster. The hellish days back in Kumamoto flashed vividly through my mind.

What should I do? How can I get out of this situation…

No, forget it.

Within three seconds, Yuuma abandoned his thoughts and surrendered to resignation. This hopeless passivity was the core of Ayabe Yuuma as a person.

“Why am I like this…”

As he muttered his usual lament, something happened.

“Yuuma-sama! Good morning!”

The door burst open with force, and Saint Agnes appeared with blinding light. She wore an expression full of smiles, as if last night’s commotion had never occurred.

“Now then, Hero-sama! Please prepare yourself! Today is the day you have an audience with His Majesty, the King of the Principality of Albion!”

Agnes was completely unaware that her jealousy magic had caused last night’s disaster. In fact, she proudly boasted, “My sacred power has purified the attendants as well,” completely oblivious to the vicious cycle she was creating.

“…Ah, yeah. I understand.”

Yuuma had no energy left to resist and could only nod.

◇

The palace of the Principality of Albion was more magnificent than anything Yuuma had imagined. Towering white spires reaching toward the sky, polished marble floors, and tapestries of heroes adorning every wall.

However, Yuuma’s heart did not stir at all.

(Uwa… This is definitely going to be a troublesome situation…)

His 【Liquid Self】instincts were already sensing the presence of new trouble..

The audience hall was vast and had a high ceiling. On the throne at the front sat an elderly man with a silver-white beard, exuding authority—the King of the Principality of Albion himself.

“Raise your face, hero from another world.”

A heavy voice echoed. Yuuma cautiously lifted his head.

“I have heard from Saint Agnes about you. Well done. My Principality of Albion welcomes you with the utmost respect.”

“A, ha… Thank you…”

Yuuma’s lackluster response caused a slight murmur among the courtiers. However, when Agnes proudly puffed out her chest beside Yuuma saying “Hmph,” the murmurs quickly ceased. It seemed that in this country, the authority of the Saint was absolute.

“Then, hero. Before you embark on your journey to defeat the demon king, I must first see your strength. I order a joint training exercise with our nation’s strongest knight brigade.”

“Eh?”

At the word “training,” Yuuma’s face twisted.

(No! I’m a pacifist and clumsy at sports, and most importantly, I just died! Why am I being forced to fight again?!)

For a boy who was always last in physical fitness tests and belonged to the club that returned home early, training with a knight brigade was akin to a death sentence.

“I, um… decline…”

“An excellent idea, Your Majesty!”

Yuuma’s weak refusal was drowned out by Agnes’ cheerful voice.

“This is a great opportunity to show Yuuma-sama’s true power to the people of Albion!”

(Please stop! I don’t have any true power! All I have is the ability to be swept along!)

Of course, no one heard Yuuma’s inner scream.

Just as the King nodded in satisfaction, the heavy doors of the audience hall opened with a loud sound of hard footsteps echoing through the room.

From that sound alone, it was clear that the knights’ spines straightened, and tension filled the air.

The one who appeared was a woman.

Wrapped in silver armor, she wore an impressive long sword at her waist. Her fiery red hair was tied into a ponytail, and her twin eyes were sharp like steel, glowing with cold light. Her beauty rivaled the polished armor. Just by standing there, the atmosphere of the room tightened instantly.

“Female Knight Commander Matilda von Eisenberg, reporting for duty.”

Her voice was firm. She was indeed the commander of the Albion knight brigade.

Matilda bowed to the King and then turned her piercing gaze toward Yuuma. It was an appraising, merciless look.

“…Your Majesty. This is the ‘hero’ summoned by the Holy Maiden?”

“Indeed, he is.”

“Haa…”

Matilda briefly answered before letting out a clear condescending sigh.

“I’ve heard rumors about this… He seems like a weak man. Can this man really defeat the demon king?”

At those words, Yuuma nodded fiercely in his heart.

(Right! I think so too! It’s completely the wrong choice of personnel! Please send me back to my original world immediately! )

However, contrary to Yuuma’s thoughts, Agnes beside him puffed out her cheeks in indignation.

“What do you mean, Matilda! Are you trying to insult Yuuma-sama? This man is the one and only hero chosen by God!”

“The standards by which God chooses are beyond our understanding.”

Matilda replied sarcastically before turning back to Yuuma.

“Hero. I await you at the training ground. I shall reforge that weak soul of yours.”

With those words, Matilda turned her back on Yuuma and walked away. In his mind, Yuuma envisioned the hell awaiting him and silently despaired.

◇

The training grounds of the palace were filled with earth, sweat, and the heat of men.

Strong knights shouted as they clashed swords and thrust spears. In that rough environment, Yuuma, dressed in a simple shirt and pants lent from the temple, looked like a lost puppy who had wandered into a flock of sheep.

“Come on, take your stance.”

Before him, Matilda tossed a wooden sword at Yuuma. Yuuma hastily caught it, but his arms trembled from its weight.

“I won’t hold back. Show me the full strength of a hero.”

There was no trace of mercy in Matilda’s eyes.

At the corner of the training ground, Agnes cheered, “Yuuma-sama! Please do your best!” as if she had come for a picnic. That Holy Maiden seemed to have misunderstood the one-sided beating about to begin as some kind of grand debut ceremony for Yuuma.

“…Then, I shall proceed!”

At Matilda’s declaration, her figure vanished from sight.

It seemed so.

The next instant, an extremely sharp pain pierced Yuuma’s abdomen.

“Go… fu…”

His breath caught, and Yuuma collapsed to his knees on the spot.

“…What is this? Already over? I haven’t even landed a single blow yet. This was just a warning strike.”

Matilda’s eyes looked down at him as if he were trash.

From the surrounding knights, stifled laughter leaked out.

“Hey, hey, that’s the Hero-sama?”

“The Saint summoned some kind of defective product!”

It was humiliating. But more painful than that was…

(I want to go back… I want to return to Kumamoto… No, Kumamoto was also hell, but…)

His past trauma resurfaced, and tears welled up in Yuuma’s eyes.

(Why did I come back to life? Is it just so I can be someone else’s punching bag again? )

Doubt about his own existence spread through him, along with deep despair and self-pity.

“Stand up, hero. The training has only just begun.”

Matilda showed no mercy. When Yuuma somehow managed to stand up, a horizontal strike came flying at him this time. He instinctively tried to block it with the wooden sword but was blown away by the sheer impact, sending both the sword and himself rolling across the ground in an undignified manner.

“Gyaah!”

He let out a pitiful cry and spun around like a top before crashing into the corner of the training ground where Agnes had been cheering.

And unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—he landed right on top of her, burying his face in her soft chest.

“Kyaa!? Yu, Yuuma-sama!?”

Startled by the sudden situation, Agnes was shocked. But when she realized that the man she loved had buried his face in her chest, her cheeks instantly flushed red.

(M-maybe I have to play dead again…! Please, my acting skills…!)

Yuuma cracked his eyes open slightly and desperately pretended to be unconscious.

Agnes watched this utterly disgraceful scene while clenching her lips.

Her beautiful face has lost its usual smile.

At first, she believed that Yuuma would display his hidden power and astonish Matilda. However, reality is merciless. Her beloved Yuuma, whom she reveres like a god, is being toyed with like an infant by a single female knight.

Agnes’s thought process differs slightly from that of ordinary people.

She will never consider the possibility that “Yuuma-sama might actually be weak.”

Her thoughts are as follows:

―How dare you torment my beloved Yuuma-sama so one-sidedly?

―That female knight… I can’t forgive her!

―Yuuma-sama is mine alone, and for this woman to touch him… it’s unforgivable!

―Especially hurting him…! It’s worth a thousand deaths!

Snap.

A sound of something snapping echoed within Saint Agnes.

“…How dare you… how dare you do that to my Yuuma-sama…!”

Her eyes lost their light, replaced by an endless blaze of jealousy.

An overwhelming amount of divine magic, far greater than yesterday, surged from Agnes’s body, enveloping the entire training ground in pure white light.

◇

“Wha…!?”

Matilda, who had been about to deliver the final blow to Yuuma, suddenly opened her eyes wide at the sudden surge of light.

The source of the light was Saint Agnes standing at the corner of the training ground. She glared at Matilda with a demonic expression.

“Receive divine judgment for your impudence! Pay for the crime of hurting my beloved Yuuma-sama with your own body!”

With Agnes’s scream, the surge of light condensed into an extremely thick beam of light and rushed toward Matilda.

(Oh no, am I going to die!? That female knight is going to die!? )

Yuuma, pretending to be dead in Agnes’s arms, was stunned by the sheer intensity of the killing intent. The jealousy of a yandere… terrifying indeed.

Matilda reacted instinctively. It was divine magic from a saint. There was no way it would pass without consequence.

And then, the light consumed Matilda’s entire body.

“――――”

However, neither the expected impact nor pain arrived.

Instead, Matilda felt a warm and pleasant sensation like spring sunlight enveloping her body.

“Mm…? What is this…?”

Matilda looked down at her own body and realized something was wrong.

First, the fatigue she had accumulated from tormenting Yuuma vanished as if it had never been there. Her sweat dried up, her breathing stabilized, and in fact, her physical condition was better than before training began.

Next, she felt an unprecedented power surging from deep within her muscles.

(What is this power…!? My body feels light…)

She tested it by lightly swinging the wooden sword she was holding.

Whoosh!

A sharp, heavy wind-cutting sound echoed far more intensely than before. Clearly, her physical strength had leveled up several notches.

(This is the saint’s “blessing”… But why? That was undeniably a killing intent…)

But the true anomaly began here.

The moment Matilda glanced at Yuuma, who was lying in the mud as if she saw him that way,

Thump!

Her heart gave a huge, pounding thump.

(Wha… what is this feeling in my chest…? )

Just moments ago, she had thought of him as weak, pitiful, and trash-like.

Yet now, seeing his form, her chest tightened unbearably.

His mud-stained cheeks. His eyes moist with tears. His weak, pleading expression.

All of it appeared to Matilda as immeasurably… adorable and arousing a protective instinct.

(Cu… cute…!? W-why am I thinking this man is… cute…!? )

Matilda was thrown into intense confusion by this first-ever emotion. Her long-established knightly beliefs and common sense were shaken to their core.

(Ab-absurd! This weak man, me…! What is this feeling!? Is this the trial bestowed by God…!? )

Her face rapidly turned crimson.

Agnes’s jealous blessing buff didn’t just enhance physical abilities. It also imposed a terrifying curse: forcibly raising the affection level for the subject of the caster’s love—Yuuma—to maximum.

“Na, na, na…”

Matilda opened her mouth and made meaningless sounds.

Then, she approached Yuuma, who was being held by Agnes, and said in a trembling voice,

“Y-you…! You have quite the determined look in your eyes…!”

At those words, Yuuma’s eyes widened.

(Eh? Eyes? I thought I was staring blankly and foaming at the mouth just now…? )

He didn’t understand. Where had the cold-hearted instructor gone? Before him stood a blushing, fidgeting maiden in love.

Matilda coughed deliberately to hide her nervousness.

“Hmph…! Well, I’ll let you off for today. But with such skills, you won’t even be able to defeat a slime, let alone the demon king!”

Her tone was harsh, but her voice wavered and her gaze shyly darted left and right. A perfect tsundere.

Then she leaned close to Yuuma’s ear and whispered hotly,

“…T-tonight… come to my room. I’ll… make a special exception and drill the basics of tactics into you… one-on-one… all night… o-okay…!?”

Her voice was so faint it seemed like it would vanish.

(All night… one-on-one… basics…? No no no! This is about training! It must be! But I can’t refuse…! I’m already done for…)

His 【Liquid Self】brought conflict, and ultimately, his resignation to being swept away dominated Yuuma’s heart.

◇

The knights watching the training from a distance were all stunned by Captain Matilda’s sudden change in attitude.

“This is a joke… That ‘Ice Maiden’ Captain called Matilda… she’s acting affectionate…?”

“Am I dreaming…?”

“Hero-sama… what kind of magic did you use…?”

It was no wonder they didn’t know. This wasn’t magic—it was an extraordinary accident caused by a yandere saint.

Agnes, who had been watching Matilda whisper in Yuuma’s ear nearby, couldn’t possibly ignore it.

“Wha…! What are you whispering to my Yuuma-sama, you!”

“Bzzzz!” Jealous magic sparked around Agnes again, showering Matilda with divine light particles that further reddened her face.

“N-nothing! It’s a military secret!”

Matilda shouted and hastily moved away from Yuuma.

Yuuma himself was simply stunned by the direct nighttime invitation from the female knight.

(Another one… another pattern…! )

Inside, he screamed.

A yandere saint tosses the sparks, and the surrounding women ignite. This is exactly the same scenario as the hell I saw in Kumamoto!

Saint Agnes’s jealousy causes a worst-case chain reaction. The more she burns with jealousy and unleashes her magic, the more the surrounding women receive blessing buffs, strengthening Yuuma’s harem.

Unintentionally reinforcing his harem despite having no intention to do so. A perfect example of a vicious cycle.

As for the cause, Agnes herself was watching Matilda’s change in attitude and nodded contentedly.

“Hmph. Even that cold-faced female knight had no choice but to change her heart before my divine power.”

(Another noble knight who will protect Yuuma-sama has been added! All of this is thanks to my deep and profound love for Yuuma-sama! )

Her positivity goes way too far. It seems the word ‘backfire’ isn’t in her dictionary.

Yuuma, while getting up from his muddy body, pondered about his future life in this other world.

The yandere saint with wide-open pupils.

The three maids who evolved into carnivores.

And now the newly added strict tsundere knight captain.

His harem in this other world was steadily becoming unshakable—though not by his own will—and taking its worst possible form.

“I… didn’t I come here to defeat the demon king…? No, actually, I just wanted to live peacefully…”

Yuuma’s lament from his soul.

It was drowned out by the knights’ cheers and Agnes’s smug laughter.

No one heard it, and it vanished helplessly into the blue sky of Albion.

At that moment, Yuuma suddenly felt a strange gaze.

From the distant corridor window of the palace overlooking the training ground, a figure had appeared for an instant.

(…What was that just now? )

It might have been his imagination. But the lingering sensation of that gaze on his skin was clearly different from anything he’d ever experienced before.

Not like the madness of a saint or the passion of a knight.

More sticky, more like appraising something with an alluring and ominous quality.

Like the gaze of a snake at the bottom of an abyss, sizing up its prey.

A chill ran down Yuuma’s spine as he sensed the premonition of new trouble.