As expected by Shin, Eriri also couldn't withstand the intense battle for long and soon passed out.
What was worse, Eriri fainted midway, which made Shin quite uncomfortable. Therefore, Shin tried to bestow upon Eriri the substitute ability of Ai Hayasaka.
The result was quite pleasing. Ai Hayasaka's maid outfit substitute really helped Eriri regain her energy, allowing her to recover and enabling Shin to continue the battle until the end.
One can only wonder what expression Ai Hayasaka would have if she knew that her substitute ability was almost being used by Shin as an energy booster for girls.
"Ha... I can't go on, this time I really can't continue no matter what..."
In the messy art club room, Eriri lay on the floor, drenched in sweat, her golden twin tails weakly spread out on the ground.
Those golden twin tails had been held by Shin quite a few times, and Eriri was a bit worried that they might accidentally be pulled off by Shin.
Fortunately, Shin had very precise control over his strength, and what Eriri feared did not happen, and most likely would not happen.
However, Eriri did not know that her ability to recover her stamina and energy midway was entirely due to Shin bestowing upon her Ai Hayasaka's substitute ability, which had now disappeared from her.
Eriri simply thought that she had persevered through sheer willpower to do that kind of thing with Shin, which made her even more attached to him.
"How does your body feel?"
Shin looked at Eriri, who was lying on the floor without caring about how dirty it was, and with a smile, he reached out to help her sit up.
Ai Hayasak's maid outfit substitute had the ability to restore energy and stamina, and also possessed a certain degree of healing ability—provided that the recovery was within the scope of "maid work."
Since Eriri could really recover her stamina with this maid outfit substitute, it meant that she somewhat recognized Shin as her "master."
Thinking about it, the way Shin and Eriri interacted before could not really be called a couple's relationship, but rather resembled the kind of coercive relationship seen in doujinshi.
Although Eriri did not openly acknowledge this strange relationship, as a doujinshi artist, she certainly had this awareness in her heart.
Therefore, some of the actions just now were recognized by the substitute as "maid work," which eventually restored Eriri's energy and stamina and provided her with a certain degree of healing.
Otherwise, given Eriri's condition after her first battle, having been whipped by Shin, she would probably be unable to move by now and might even need to be sent home to rest.
"You have the nerve to say that, you were so rough..."
Eriri complained with a hint of anger, being helped up by Shin—strangely enough, even though it was her first battle, she felt her physical condition was not bad.
She had prepared herself for the possibility of having to take leave and be sent home, but now, apart from a little discomfort, she was actually okay?
She even felt that going to class wouldn't be a problem, as long as she walked carefully and didn't show too obvious signs of injury, no one should notice anything unusual.
"Isn't this to let you know the real reactions of girls during battle?"
Shin brought up the excuse Eriri had initially used, picking up the draft papers from the table nearby and smiling at Eriri.
"Now you should know which parts of your draft have awkward movements, right?"
"Tch, I know, I know, alright!?"
Eriri's face turned red again, she could hear the teasing tone in Shin's voice and knew that he had seen through her little scheme from the start.
In a fit of pique, she grabbed the draft papers from Shin's hand and stuffed them into her bag.
She could revise this draft slowly at home, after all, the purpose of today had been achieved, and she had finally experienced firsthand the feeling of the battles she had observed before.
It must be said... it was quite wonderful, Eriri felt she might get a bit addicted.
But thinking about the many girls around Shin, Eriri felt a bit disheartened.
Although she had made exaggerated progress with Shin, she didn't seem to have any special competitive edge, as the girls around Shin all seemed to be of high quality.
...
Although during the time alone with Eriri, Shin used "Black Bird Requiem" to fix the outcome that "the teachers would not notice anyone's absence"...
But obviously, only the teachers wouldn't notice, the classmates were quite aware of it.
However, since both Shin and Eriri were quite popular in the class, even though they noticed, no student brought it up.
Thus, several class periods passed uneventfully.
But when Shin returned to the classroom, he was immediately questioned by Megumi Kato about his earlier whereabouts—presumably Eriri also had to deal with questions from her friends.
"Something came up with business, so I had to leave for a while."
Shin naturally lied through his teeth—although this lie was quite believable.
After all, in Megumi Kato's eyes, Shin was doing business with the Shinomiya family, and since it was the Shinomiya conglomerate, it was normal for unexpected situations to arise, right?
However, Megumi Kato puffed out her cheeks slightly, looking a bit unhappy at Shin, not being fooled:
"Shin-Kun, do I look that easy to fool?"
As she spoke, she pointed to Shin's neck, her tone even more displeased.
"There's a mark on your neck."
"Oh?"
Shin was taken aback, then instinctively touched his neck—he had almost forgotten, there was indeed a mark on his neck.
That was from when Eriri had just regained her energy midway and instinctively bit Shin's neck with her little fangs. To prevent Er's teeth from being damaged, Shin had withdrawn his protective "Ki."
But afterwards, he had forgotten about it, and now Kato Megumi had noticed.
"Ahem, just a small accident."
Caught in the lie, Shin felt a bit awkward and quickly wiped the mark on his neck with his fingers—using the nourishment of "Ki," the mark disappeared instantly.
Seeing Shin's action, Kato Megumi sighed deeply, and her previously hesitant mood became resolute.
She was the first to arrive, but so many had overtaken her... Megumi Kato also made up her mind, she had to take the initiative.
If she continued to delay like this, wouldn't she end up with nothing?
To be continued…
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus