The Shut-In Prince’s Splendid Social Debut — Me, a Villainous Imperial, Have Spent the Last Fifteen Years Fighting the “Wicked Thoughts” Eating Away at My Mind. When I Finally Returned to High Society, There Were Way Too Many People I Didn’t Recognize

The training grounds.

My days of training with Lala continued.

On rainy days, indoors. On windy days, outdoors.

“Look at that. They’re at it again today.”

“Swinging around that weird instrument like that won’t get them anywhere.”

“Kuh, clinging to the body of an innocent young girl, I’m jea—no, wait. That’s completely outrageous!”

The training grounds were like a field attached to the academy.

Since all the students passed by this way on their way to class, we inevitably drew attention.

“Ya!”

Pupii.

Lala swung the “Trumpet” without minding those voices.

It seemed she absolutely had to graduate because of her family circumstances, so her expression was all seriousness.

Her footwork and body usage had improved considerably.

All that remained was getting her to use magic.

“Lala, focus on the flow of magic power. Picture yourself moving it.”

According to Serta, you could not use magic unless you learned how to move magic power.

“…U-Uyuu, somehow, my body feels hot…”

I placed a hand on Lala’s back and poured magic power into her.

It was [Magic Opening], the same thing Serta had done for me before.

After imitating it, I had become able to do it too.

“Haa… haa… uyu… …Fei!”

Pupii.

I refrained from having Serta teach Lala magic directly.

If people thought A Class’s Serta was favoring someone in D Class, it would attract disapproval.

“Good. Three more sets. Focus.”

“Uyu…”

Pupii.

The training days went on.

Morning classroom lessons. Lala fell asleep.

“Hey, Lady Lala. This is not a place for sleeping.”

“…Uyuu…?! …I-Is it morning already?”

“…It’s already noon.”

At noon, I ate lunch with Lala in the cafeteria.

“Lala, want a fried shrimp?”

“…Is that okay?”

“Sure. Eat a lot and grow big.”

“Yay…!”

Afternoon. As usual, we headed to the training grounds with Lala.

“All right, let’s go at it with energy this afternoon too.”

“U… uyuu… m-my stomach is full.”

“Let’s work it off.”

“Uyuu… ppu…”

Lately, it had been like this all the time.

“…You two aren’t planning on going into the dungeon today either?”

A female student called out to us along the way.

It was Polaris, the gyaru noble lady in a tracksuit.

Partly because our seats were next to each other in class, we talked from time to time.

“Uyu.”

“…You’ve started picking up Lala-san’s catchphrase.”

“Oops. …Yeah, maybe I have a little.”

It was probably because I had been spending so much time with Lala lately.

I had to be careful.

“…Well, maybe you two really shouldn’t go into the dungeon as you are.”

Polaris said it with a distant look in her eyes.

By the way, Lala and I were viewed by our classmates as a “pair that had completely given up.”

Since we had not entered the dungeon at all despite being at the very bottom, it was only natural people would think that.

“How’s everyone in class doing?”

“…You’re asking me that?”

Polaris gave me a bitter smile.

It did not sound promising.

“Hmm… at this rate, it might get bad—probably. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad. …If things start looking hopeless for me too, maybe I’ll do some traaaining—…just kidding.”

“…I see.”

Was the problem the strength of the monsters, or was there another factor?

Right now, I was fully occupied with Lala’s training, so I did not have the spare attention to worry about the others.

“—I might need to rethink the approach a little.”

Polaris let those meaningful words slip out.

It was an expression unlike her usual self.

“Pola-cchi, come on, let’s go already—”

The moment another gyaru noble lady called to her, Polaris immediately slipped back into her usual gyaru expression.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming—. —Well, let’s both do our best, Yoan-sama.”

And with that, she flashed her usual double-fanged grin—nii.

◇◇◇◇

One month later.

“Ei!”

Poron♪

At last, Lala managed to produce a “Note.”

Or rather, maybe it would be more accurate to call it a “stream of notes.”

They crept along the ground, struck the target, and the target exploded.

“Uyu…! …H-How… was that…………?”

Lala turned to me nervously.

The power was sufficient too.

“Yeah. Pass.”

In ERT, you had to select the appropriate skills from the skill tree, but it seemed Lala’s already came equipped with them.

“…I did it! I did it…!”

Lala hopped over to my side—pyon pyon.

“…”

Then she looked up at me with a gaze that was clearly asking for something.

“You worked hard, Lala.”

“…Uyu.”

I patted her on the head—yoshi yoshi.

Lala pursed her lips and gave a small smile.

(She’s gotten weirdly attached to me…)

Over the past month, Lala had developed a “habit of being patted.”

At first, I had trained her strictly, but little by little she had started sinking more and more often into depression over her own uselessness. In the end, she had a complete mental breakdown.

“Lala is a bad child……! Lala is uselezzzzz!” she had cried.

So I hurriedly changed the policy and switched to praise-based growth.

When I patted her on the head, her movements improved dramatically, so I decided to make it a regular thing.

As a result, she became able to use magic just three days later, which made me think I should have done it sooner.

“…To think such magic really exists.”

Even Serta was surprised by Lala’s magic.

Which made sense.

This magic, known in the ERT era as “Note Magic,” was exclusive to Bards.

It was magic that could only be cast while holding a “weapon that produced sound.”

“S-Serta-san, thank you very much as well… The reason I became able to use magic is thanks to your advice.”

Lala reported that shyly to Serta.

Since Serta had always been watching from a distance, the two of them had already become acquainted.

“No. Even so, it is mysterious magic. It is as though she is sending out magic power itself. And that power… is it perhaps closer to a physical attack…?”

That was how Serta analyzed Lala’s magic.

As expected of a Witch, she was almost exactly right.

“That’s right. Although Lala’s ‘Sound Wave Magic’ is magic, it combines both physical and magical attributes. In other words—she can handle any monster the same way.”

“…!”

Serta was stunned.

She had probably realized the limitless potential Lala possessed.

Lala herself, meanwhile, was just tilting her head.

…Now then, the preparations were complete.

“Then let’s go test it right away, Lala.”

“Heh?”

Now that she had a means of attack, all that remained was raising her level.

“At last, it’s time for practical application, Lala. —I hereby permit your dungeon run.”

“…?!”

We headed into the dungeon for the first time in a month.

◇◇◇◇

We arrived on the first floor of the dungeon.

It was time to test the power of Lala’s “Note Magic”—or rather, “Sound Wave Magic,” as it was called in this world.

“U-Uyuu…”

Lala’s face was stiff with tension.

Clutching the “Trumpet” tightly, she walked with her toes turned inward.

“Nervous?”

“Of course… I am nervous, you know.”

She was probably still haunted by the image of “defeat.”

A month ago, she had not even been able to stand up to the monsters on the first floor.

“It’s okay, Lala. I guarantee how strong you are now. So be confident.”

“…U-Uyu!”

Lala nodded firmly.

A few minutes later, as we walked through the dungeon, we encountered our first monster.

“Bumo?”

“…!”

It was a Moss Turtle Cow.

Lala’s fated opponent.

“Y-Yoan-sama…”

Lala sent me an anxious look.

Her mental state was probably the next thing that would need work.

“Lala, remember your special training until now. I drilled one thing into you over and over, right? What was it?”

“…!”

Lala turned to face the Moss Turtle Cow as though remembering.

“Bumooooooo!”

The Moss Turtle Cow recognized Lala as an enemy and charged.

Lala’s body moved exactly as it had been trained to.

Nothing like the slow girl she had once been.

“Uyu… Compared to Yoan-sama… it’s incredibly slow!”

“Bumo…?”

Lala dodged the Moss Turtle Cow’s charge.

Then, without pause, she swung the “Trumpet.”

“Yaa!”

Poron♪

A stream of notes burst from the “Trumpet.”

It hit the Moss Turtle Cow head-on.

“Bumo…?! Bumooooooo…!”

The Moss Turtle Cow turned to mist and vanished.

One hit.

“Did I… do it…?”

“That’s right, Lala. Congratulations.”

As she heard my words, the meaning of what had happened slowly seemed to sink in.

She turned toward me.

Her face was overflowing with excitement and joy.

“I did it…! I did it…! Yoan-sama…! I defeated a monster…!”

“Uoh…”

Lala jumped at me, and I caught her.

A small body. A modest chest.

Lately, whenever I had the chance, I had been feeding her a lot in the hopes she would grow more.

Of course, that was not something that would happen overnight.

“Ah… I-I’m sorry. I-I got excited, and, um, without thinking…”

Lala pulled away, her face slightly red.

“It’s still too early to get excited, Lala.”

“Eh?”

“Your potential can’t be measured on the first floor. Today, we’re going as far down as we can.”

If the current Lala polished her technique, she could conquer this dungeon solo if she wanted to.

Of course, I had no intention of letting her do anything that reckless.

“…! H-How far are you planning to go…?”

Lala asked fearfully.

“Let’s see… for now, let’s try for the fifteenth floor.”

“Th-The fifteenth floor…?! If I remember right, the recommended level for the fifteenth floor is…”

Roughly speaking, the recommended level rose by one with each floor.

That stopped being accurate in the deeper layers, though.

“Yeah, around Level 20.”

“…?!?!? I-Impossible…! Isn’t that the floor where everyone in D Class is right now…?!”

Everyone in D Class was still around there?

Now I was starting to worry whether they would really be all right for the “exam.”

“A-At the very least, let’s stop around the fifth floor today…”

“No. Your ability is at a much higher level than you think. You need to know that now.
—You need to know what it means to become strong in this world.”

“…!”

Lala was by no means talent destined to remain small.

Partly because she was the first disciple I had taken, I wanted her, if possible, to have a real success experience and gain confidence.

Besides, Lala still had not mastered “Sound Wave Magic” in the truest sense.

Until she reached her original ideal form, she needed to keep advancing in the dungeon.

…That said, this might have been my ego too.

Maybe it was not a good thing to place too many expectations on her.

“Well, I won’t force you, though…”

“…The fifteenth floor… I’ll go…!”

Lala said it with eyes filled with determination.

“Lala…?”

“Uyu… Lala believes in Yoan-sama… If Yoan-sama says we can go, then it must be true. So, um, Lala wants to do her best…”