The next morning. Early hours before the first period classes started.
Dolores found herself in the newspaper club room.
She had dark circles under her eyes from being up all night last night dealing with the student council agenda.
"I have a lot of work to do for the National Collegiate League next week. Should I hold a vigil again today....'
Colosseo. Magic Tower. Varangian. Temisquira.
All of the official organizations of the Colosseo Academy were busy, as the annual competition between the four most prestigious academies in the empire was approaching.
Including, of course, the student council, of which Dolores was the president.
But despite the night's work, her eyes were alight with enthusiasm.
"I'll finish my club work in the morning, then I'll go to lecture, and then I'll have a free period until afternoon, so in the meantime, I'll go find Vikir and get ...!'
Dolores pushed open the door to the club room with a flourish.
"Good morning, everyone!"
Dolores' usual cheerful greeting.
But it's odd how her classmates, who would normally greet her with a cheerful smile, are so quiet.
All of them are looking at her with a strange expression on their faces.
"Spring is coming to our dear Dolores."
"A romance with a younger man, that's great."
"She's younger~ Our Dolores is in a higher grade, but she's younger!"
"Whatever. My junior and her are a campus couple, I'm jealous, I'm jealous!"
"You don't even tell us! It's really too much! Do I need to know about my best friend's love life through a newspaper article?"
...?
Dolores can only roll her big eyes at the comments from her third-year classmates.
Then. Dolores saw a newspaper article being held out in front of her.
It was a newspaper from outside the academy, and it was the exclusive report of a reporter from another newspaper who had infiltrated the academy.
[Exclusive] Springtime for the Student Council President of the Colosseo Academy?
-Ms. Dolores L Quovadis, known as the student council president of Colosseo Academy, has recently been found to be in a relationship...
Ms. Dolores has been the center of attention since the beginning of her enrollment, not only for her literary skills, but also for her beauty...
Her partner, surprisingly, is Mr. V, a freshman two years below her...
Mr. V, who had attracted attention from the beginning of his enrollment due to his outstanding appearance, grades, and athleticism...
The feelings between the two, which are believed to have sprouted during the volunteer work,...
After an ardent courtship on both sides of Dolores part, the relationship appears to have been successful...
The Quovadis family is yet to comment on the matter...
Meanwhile, the citizens of the Imperial Capital, upon learning of Ms. Dolores love life, reacted to the news with comments such as, "It's nice to see," "She's a good girl," and "I'm jealous, but as long as she's happy, it's okay."...
"..., What is this?"
Dolores's mouth dropped open.
I thought there had been a lot of paparazzi coming in from the outside recently, but was it really about me?
A group of third-year students gathered around Dolores as she stood dumbfounded.
"Hey, hey, hey. Here's the guy who's supposed to be 'student council president' and 'the guy the saint has a crush on'. Isn't that him from the first year? Naphtali man! Why did he dress up as a woman at the festival?"
"If it's Vikir, we can send our own Dolores! He's quiet, sincere, and most of all, he's handsome!"
"What a pity! You should have listened to us, then we could have helped you long ago!"
"My dear Dolores~ we've always thought you seemed strangely uninterested in men~ but it turns out you have high eyes, doesn't it?"
"I heard that a well-behaved cat goes up to the stove first~ Ugh! How dare you put this sister aside!"
The girl talk began. It was a conversation that Dolores was having a hard time adjusting to.
"It's not that, it's just that there's something about Vikir that's bothering me...! There's more than one thing about him that seems suspicious!"
But Dolores's excuses only served to reinforce the misunderstanding.
"Yeah, yeah~ That's how it all starts~ with a little something bothering you."
"I've had enough of the prologue~ Now for the main story?"
"What, is Vikir a suspicious? I mean, he's suspiciously handsome, I mean, his eyes are suspicious, his nose is suspicious, his mouth is suspicious, his skin is suspicious~ I wonder if it's a human being!"
"That's right, I was intimidated by his witch costume at the festival the other day, even though I'm a girl. We need to be more like Dolores!"
That's all anyone who's ever seen Vikir dressed as a woman at a festival is still talking about.
Realizing that all excuses were useless against this tide, Dolores stormed out of the gathering spot.
"Ugh... If this happens, it becomes more difficult to find it."
It seemed like I would have to refrain from meeting Vikir for a while.
I didn't want to spur on the gossip.
Just then.
"...!"
As she exited the lecture hall and turned onto the trail, something caught her eye.
"Ugh! This crazy dog again!?"
"Die, die, die!"
"Ouch! I'm bitten! It hurts!"
The familiar voices were coming from behind the building.
Dolores walked over to where the voices were coming from and saw an amazing sight.
Yousphere, Realbelt, Yellowlove, Aimcom, Redmin, and Southmiddle.
A group of sophomores from the Cold Warriors' B class.
This group of three boys and three girls were making a ruckus among themselves.
And in the middle of it all, a black puppy.
Growling...
It was a stray that Dolores called 'Choco'.
When they was almost expelled from academy, their family sent a delegation and begged them for it, and she let them go with a memorandum that they would never bully the weak again… But they're causing trouble again?
Dolores stepped forward in alarm.
"You're doing this again! You really need to get expelled from academy for once...!?"
But I couldn't finish my sentence.
That was because the six men and women in front of me were all covered in blood and tattered clothes.
Choco. The black puppy was moving swiftly and viciously, baring its teeth and nails to bite at the six individuals.
… Growl!
The way it moves, it looks like a fierce beast. It may have been small in size, but its fighting instincts were jaw-dropping.
Its strength and speed were beyond the reach of most fighting dogs.
And these six bullies who were being scratched and bitten were running away crying.
"Aaah! If it weren't for the promise to the saint, then aahh!"
"Yeah, but I don't think I can catch it even if I spend mana, so just run!"
"Kaaaak, what the hell is that dog, it's so fast, why are you so scared!"
Dolores stood with a dazed expression and watched the bullies disappear into the distance.
Hack-hack-hack-.
The black puppy chased after them for a while, but then turned and walked away.
"Hey, Choco~"
Dolores called to the black puppy as it walked in the opposite direction.
...?
The dog turned his head as if he recognized his name.
Dolores took a few steps toward the black dog, who had stopped walking, and reached out her hand.
The black puppy slinked back, avoiding her touch, but Dolores persevered and picked him up.
'Mmm... do you have a caring owner, I can smell the scent in your fur.'
Dolores buried her face in the black puppy's chin and neck and sniffed.
The fluffy fur smelled faintly of something good. A familiar scent.
Dolores quickly realized what it was.
'It smells like basic shampoo, an amenity provided in the Academy's dormitories. The owner must be a student. Who is it?'
If a black dog has ever had a bath, it's probably in the dormitory.
Dolores opened her mouth to ask if any of the students in the dormitory had a black puppy.
"You're... tougher than you look, chasing six people away, but you still shouldn't fight so recklessly, those guys were only frozen because your sister gave them a firm warning, and I hope you don't think everyone else attacks like that, because you shouldn't do that."
....
The black puppy just looks away, not sure if he's listening to Dolores or not.
When he seemed to ignore her, Dolores spoke up, half joking, half serious.
"Choco, you keep ignoring your sister, and I'm going to have you neutered?"
At that, the black pup's ears perked up.
…Pot!
It scrambled out of Dolores' arms, pawing the floor and running away.
"What? Choco, wait!"
Dolores ran after the black puppy, but it was much faster than she thought and quickly disappeared into the bushes.
"Well, he's a guy who doesn't give up his side. Like who~"
Dolores smirked.
These days, I think there are quite a few cases where I get dumped.
Whether it's the Night Hound, Vikir, or Choco.
Just then.
"...ck."
A groan came from the floor behind me.
I turned to see the boy who had been chased by the black puppy earlier lying on the floor.
Yousphere, one of the Cold Class second years.
Dolores let out a small sigh and stood in front of him.
"So, why were you bullying the puppy who can't talk again?"
"Uh, no offense, Ms. President, but this time that bitch... no, puppy attacked us first!"
"How can that little guy attack you first?"
"No, Ms. President, you saw it earlier! That thing has really sharp teeth and nails, and how fast it is, even faster than our family's tame wolves...!"
"Enough with the excuses."
Feeling the disdainful glare Dolores was sending him, Yousphere really did look resentful.
"Hah. In the past, I was attacked by the 'Night Hound' but why am I so unlucky these days?"
Dolores flinches at the passing remark.
"...you. What did you just mutter?"
"What? Ah, ah, ah. I didn't mean no luck, I just meant... I don't really have anything going for me these days...."
"Not that. Before that."
"Yes? Ah, the Night Hound?"
Yousphere hesitated for a moment, then ran a hand through his bangs.
X
And there it was, the faint scar of a sword wound.
"...I got this way because I was walking down the street at night and got grabbed by a masked maniac."
"A masked maniac?"
"Yeah, but I didn't realize it at the time, but now that I think about it, he looked exactly like the Night Hound or some kind of villain."
Yousphere's testimony was remarkable.
According to his statement, he and five of his bully friends had met the Night Hound in person.
This was before the Night Hound's behavior had been reported in the media.
Dolores asked with a serious expression.
"...So, the date you met the Night Hound was the day of the freshman welcome party?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"And that was before the Night Hound was even called the Night Hound, before he went on his terrorist spree in the Imperial Capital, right?"
"Yes. I remember it clearly, the stork's beak mask. The voice that sounded like scraping metal."
Yousphere spoke up, clearly intimidated by Dolores's momentum.
"We tried really hard to find him too. We also hire a criminal investigation agency. But everything failed. I can't seem to get my head around it."
"No wonder. The Imperial Guard and the Imperial Army tracked it, and they couldn't catch it."
"That was back when the Night Hounds weren't that infamous. Will they now accept our request because the crime investigation agencies are crazy?"
Dolores was troubled by Yousphere's words.
'Why did the Night Hounds attack them?'
Dolores had done a detailed investigation into the backgrounds of these six bullies in order to expel them.
According to the results of the investigation at that time, these six bullies were really frogs in a well, with no scope of activity other than their own territory and academy.
'So they don't have any grudges with the outside world, do they?'
It seems that the Night Hound has some kind of connection to this academy.
I had a strong feeling about that.
Yousphere shuddered, remembering the nightmare of the day.
"He knew not only our names, but our parents' names, and the location of our families."
Dolores did some quick math.
"If he knows that much about the academy, he can't be a freshman. He's at least a sophomore, maybe a senior?
It's a theory I've been thinking about for a while. This made it even more likely that the Night Hound's informant was inside the Academy.
There was even a slim chance that the Night Hound himself could be inside the Academy.
"...."
Dolores turned her head and looked down at the Yousphere.
…Pas!
A white light rose up and healed his wounds.
When Yousphere looked up with a dazed expression, Dolores spoke in a stern voice.
"You guys. I want you to keep what I've just said a secret."
"What?"
"Don't tell anyone, and I'll take care of it from now on."
At Dolores's urging, Yousphere nodded dumbly.
Perhaps he understood Dolores to be trying to steal the show by reporting their testimony.
But the more scoundrels like this are, the weaker they are against the strong.
Yousphere would only be released if he promised to keep his friends in line as well as himself.
"Remember, if anyone else hears about this, you will be expelled."
Leaving Dolores bloody threats behind.