About 10 minutes ago.
Angelica, a second-year female student at the Academy, quietly sat in her seat, observing the surroundings.
All women, women, women.
It was full of female students.
Even in the seats where the new students should be, and in the places where the upperclassmen should sit, there were only familiar faces.
Potential rivals. In front of each other, they laugh and exchange pleasantries, but behind the scenes, they are all thinking about how to find and tear down the flaws of others.
Angelica was no different.
But she didn’t think that was wrong.
Why?
This Esdinas Academy is nothing more than a battlefield of romance that the world has set up.
Though it calls itself a place of learning, the women who enter here are all gathered to marry superior and distinguished men.
Those at the lower end of the power scale aim to marry into a family with greater power, hoping for an advantageous match.
Those at the top of the power structure seek to bring in husbands of a similar status or a notable man they can proudly show off.
The male students who enter the Academy are no different.
Princes, sons of powerful nobles, aim to marry a beautiful woman from a powerful family as their lifelong partner.
Those who excel in swordsmanship or magic are eager to sell their talents and marry into a prominent family.
Angelica was no exception.
The problem was that none of the others really caught her eye.
Especially when it came to the male upperclassmen, the second- and third-year students were just unimpressive.
The decent ones were already engaged or dating other female students, and those still single fell into two categories.
First, those with severe issues, who would take their diploma and return to their hometown to marry someone there.
Though failing to marry someone they met at Esdinas Academy might be considered a flaw, the diploma itself is a powerful asset in the marriage market.
Of course, they might not be able to secure as good a marriage as others.
The other type are those who seek ‘new faces’.
While female students rarely fall into this category, male students sometimes prefer younger ones.
Even now, several third-year male students openly said, ‘We’ll be targeting the incoming 17-year-old first years!’
But.
Despite their boasting, almost none of those men showed up at the freshman welcome event.
“It’s not like they lose mana just from being stared at by women…”
“It’s not that they’re losing anything, but they might feel judged.”
“…?”
“Yes.”
Angelica shuddered the moment she recognized the woman sitting next to her.
“Yurha Silverstar?”
“Oh my, do you like addressing people by their full names, Lady Angelica Valensis?”
“…What brings you here?”
Though her voice shouldn’t sound sharp, the person before her was one she had to be very cautious with.
Those shameless people who even devour noble families.
Silverstar, which tried to improve its bloodline by collecting noble blood both inside and outside Esdinas Academy, driven by their complex over their origins.
And that superior, condescending gaze—despite being mere merchants—daring to claim superiority over the nobility.
“Tsk…!”
“It doesn’t seem like you’re very interested in having a conversation with me, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
Angelica felt a pang of inferiority but…
“You bought a magic lens, didn’t you?”
“!!”
Before she could suppress her feelings, Yurha’s words made her heart sink.
“W-What are you talking about…?”
“No matter how secretly you bought it, you can’t hide the flow of goods. Especially not if you bought it through a butler.”
“…”
“Didn’t it ever occur to you that buying that magic lens might be why the Hall of Courage is devoid of men?”
“Hmph.”
Angelica’s voice sharpened.
“Anyone would think magic lenses were a product of a competing company. Don’t you think, Miss Silverstar?”
Angelica lightly tapped her left eye.
“If the lens I’m wearing right now is one of your magic lenses, wouldn’t that make me a great customer of Silverstar?”
“If you know why I approached you and still say that…”
“I don’t care whether she’s a student at Esdinas or not. The one leading the sales of these magic lenses… Lady Dorma, even if she’s not a student, she’s an excellent merchant.”
Angelica twisted one corner of her mouth as she continued to look at Yurha, who was still smiling.
“Is there something wrong with what they’re selling? It’s just a tool to help distinguish good men.”
“Do you not think that because of that tool, the men are feeling s*xually objectified and that’s why they aren’t here?”
“Then they shouldn’t have developed or sold such an item in the first place.”
Angelica’s response was bold, but she had her reasons.
“Are you curious about how much I paid for it? If so, I’m open to a deal. It’s second-hand, but you’ll need to bring at least 20,000 gold for me to sell it.”
“…”
“Can’t afford that much? Then don’t criticize others for using something they’ve bought. If I want to assess the quality of the man who will one day be mine—”
Creaaak.
The moment the door opened, Angelica felt as though the entire Hall of Courage lit up.
“…?”
Angelica instinctively turned her head toward the source of the light.
When she turned her eyes to the place where the intense light was shining without her knowing it-
Crack.
“!!”
It felt like her eyes were burning, and her body froze in place.
Her eyes weren’t literally burning, but the magic lens she was wearing couldn’t handle the enormous amount of mana it detected and shattered under the strain.
She had been assured that it was safe.
But with the lens cracking in her eye, there was no way she could just stand there—
“Wow.”
She could.
Because Angelica had just witnessed something within that bright, sun-like light.
It was a signal, as if radiating the scorching heat of a golden sun, telling her that this person possessed such an overwhelming amount of mana that the magic lens couldn’t even measure it.
Thud.
With one step forward.
The entire Hall of Courage seemed to shake, her vision tilting up and down.
No.
It wasn’t the hall that shook. His steps were light, but Angelica’s eyes were trembling as she tried to take in the man who had walked through the door.
Even with the lens shattered, preventing her from scanning for mana, Angelica couldn’t stop herself from eyeing the man who had just entered.
“That man is the special admission student.”
Next to her, Yurha Silverstar spoke as if evaluating the scene, but Angelica didn’t even register Yurha’s voice anymore.
Because there, before her—
A golden sun stood. A being so radiant it was blinding, as if crafted by a demon from the deepest part of Hell to captivate a woman’s heart and lead her to ruin—a male with bronzed skin walked confidently.
Yes.
It was right to call him a male.
He had come to this Hall of Courage to choose women like her to devour, and the moment his touch reached her, she would submit like a puppy rolling over, exposing her belly to its master—
“…Huh?!”
Angelica snapped back to her senses.
If she had continued staring mindlessly, that would be one thing, but the fact that his gaze had turned toward her—
“…What? Why is he looking at me?”
Yurha chuckled beside her, but Angelica just sneered inwardly.
That golden sun had looked at her.
Just because their gazes met once, she didn’t really care that the magic lens she passionately claimed was ‘broken’ in her eye.
Even though the lens, which had cost the equivalent of three years’ salary for an average person, had shattered, the simple fact that it had let her see the brilliance of that golden sun was worth it.
“…”
If she could somehow claim that man—
Then she could surpass Yurha Silverstar, who was standing beside her.
Angelica instinctively knew.
She wasn’t the only one with that thought.
* * *
‘As expected.’
The moment I stepped in and lightly released some mana, I could immediately see a few who recognized it.
‘They’re already using lens-type mana scouts? It’s been introduced faster than I anticipated.’
The original plot had been twisted.
At least 30 people seemed to be wearing the tool that was originally supposed to be introduced around the third year.
‘I feel a little sorry for them.’
They probably spent a fortune on it during the early production stages, only for the magic circle to burn and break the moment they looked at me.
‘But honestly, it’s basically like X-ray glasses, so I should block this kind of s*xual harassment completely.’
Those lenses were akin to thermal cameras.
By scanning the body’s mana, the lenses showed where mana concentrated the most within a person, making it a visual aid.
And because the shape of those concentrated areas was revealed exactly as they were, most men couldn’t bear to show up.
Even the very few who had reluctantly come out seemed glued to their chairs, as if they had merged with them.
Swish.
I sat in the front row, in the seat prepared for the special admission students.
There was no one to my left or right, but I confidently entered in front of everyone and caught their attention.
‘They must be curious.’
They would surely recognize that I was a special admission student, considering I was a new face wearing the Academy’s freshman uniform.
And then the question would arise.
Why was I given special admission?
During the ceremony, all of them would probably be filled with suspicion and curiosity.
However.
Of course, those who checked my energy with their magic lenses, as well as those who simply scanned my body with their eyes, would understand—
“That guy…”
“Don’t touch him, you b*tch. I’ll …”
“…How would it feel?”
The moment I enhanced my hearing, I was bombarded with all sorts of dirty comments.
“Did you see earlier? It looked about this big.”
“Think about it. That’s before it’s ‘fully charged’.”
“Oh my god. In that case…”
Despite me sitting right in the front, they were openly assessing me from behind.
And amidst all this—
“…”
I noticed a few male upperclassmen sitting behind me, sending complicated glances my way.
I nodded briefly in their direction, then subtly glanced backward.
“??”
The male students were puzzled by my gaze and turned to look behind them, only to realize what I was implying.
“…!!”
99% of the eyes in the room weren’t on them, but on me.
And even those whose eyes briefly met theirs quickly turned their attention back to me.
“Ah.”
They understood.
My arrival had halted all the teasing, jeering, and mockery that had been directed at them.
‘I’ll remember their faces.’
While the other men hadn’t shown up, these few had, whether they were forced to or not.
‘You will be granted the favor of Hell’s Duke, [Gurda].’
Right now, they were like worms, but by the time they graduated, they might grow to become earthworms.
– Listen carefully, contractor of the Azure Flame.
One of the Dukes of Hell had once told me.
– Once you decide to steal the hearts of women, you will become the enemy of men.
The moment I started building my harem of heroines, I would be met with male jealousy.
– But there is a way to make sure that, if they aren’t your allies, they don’t become your enemies either.
A Duke of Hell, a ruler of the Demon World, the one known as [Hydra], had taught me a certain method.
– [Kegel Extension].
A name that was embarrassingly blatant.
– It’s an earth technique that repeatedly destroys and regenerates muscle tissue, allowing for a specific part of the body to lengthen.
At the same time, though, it could be salvation for some men.
-For those who apply the potion, by the time they graduate at 20, they will have grown a length equal to their age.
-Awesome. Women can enhance themselves, so why shouldn’t men grow too? Hehe.
If their mana pockets grow, the syringe that injects mana must also balance proportionally.
– You will become the savior of all downtrodden men.
I could make any man a solid 20 cm.
– Why do you think the Moai statue worship exists?
