Newly written bonus chapter 2: The assassin is starving for something to cherish.

“…I want to be a wall.”

—I want to be a wall.

I want to be a wall that watches over my Faves.

Not too far, not too close, watching my Faves from a distance that doesn’t interfere moderately, a wall that just weathers in the rain and wind while ingesting preciousness.

I want to have such an existence.

“Caw!”

“You’re right… this isn’t the time to be saying such things… I have to do my job of watching over my Faves today too, and stock up on material for the novel…”

My Faves… that is the lovey-dovey couple, Alban-kun and Letitia-chan.

Those two are precious.

They are overflowing with tremendous preciousness.

I have read through countless millions of romance novels and Otome novels until now… but I have never seen a man and woman with a more precious relationship than them.

Or rather, they themselves are like the Hero and Heroine inside a novel.

They might even be doing things more eccentric than fictional characters.

Truly, reality is stranger than fiction.

That is exactly why—I can Stan them.

Because I can Stan them—I decided to novelize that couple.

“Alban-kun and Letitia-chan… just looking at them, a romance novel writes itself naturally… Even without looking… inspiration wells up infinitely…”

The “Al x Letty: The Sweet, Flirtatious Happy Married School Life of Two” series that I write and secretly distribute & evangelize behind the scenes of the academy.

Now, it is loved and read by many ladies, and a sequel is constantly being awaited.

Shanoa-chan from the same Class F has completely gotten hooked too…

Writing romance novels is fun… Fufu…

While thinking about such things, I arrived at the Class F classroom.

When I slid the door open with a rattle,

“…Huh?”

Only the figures of Alban-kun and Letitia-chan were missing from the classroom.

Even though all the other students were present.

“…Good morning, Shanoa-chan… Where are Alban-kun and Letitia-chan…?”

“Good morning, Carla-sensei—I mean, Carla-san! U-Um, those two seem to be absent today.”

“…………Eh?”

My Faves—are absent—

I cannot—see—my Faves————

When I understood that, I collapsed from my knees to the ground.

“A… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh…! Too cruel… Too miserable…! To not be able to see the precious figures of my Faves…! And for the whole day…! This is too much…!”

“Ca, caw! Caw!”

Carla, get a hold of yourself! Dark Assassin-maru called out, but I was convulsing from the shock, unable to even focus my eyes.

It’s over… It’s the end of the world…

A day where I cannot ingest preciousness from my Faves is the same as the world being destroyed…

A wall without Faves to watch over is just a wall. No, less than a wall.

The current me is dust and trash with less value than a wall…!

“C-Carla-san!? Please get a hold of yourself! Surely both of them will attend tomorrow!”

“…Hah! R-Right… Why are those two, who are so energetic, absent…? C-C-Could it be that something happened to them…!?”

I grabbed both of Shanoa-chan’s shoulders and shook her violently back and forth, gwan gwan.

I was already out of my mind; I couldn’t help but demand the reason.

“Hauuuuuuu! P-P-P-Please don’t shake meeeeeee!”

“—Apparently~ a ‘Threat Letter’ arrived~♠”

Taking the place of Shanoa-chan whose eyes were spinning, Laki-chan answered while sitting on a desk with her legs crossed.

“Threat letter…?”

“Yup♣ Apparently a letter arrived saying, ‘I’ll tear your couple’s relationship apart~’♦”

“Good heavens, a threat letter is so vulgar! If they do not like it, they should just say they do not like it and go pick a fight fair and square from the front!”

Puffing out her cheeks in anger, Ester-chan also made a displeased face.

Laki-chan shrugged her shoulders,

“Judging from the method of the threat, Paula-sensei said it’s probably just a prank♣ Well, just in case, the two of them are on standby in the private wing—”

“…………Unforgivable.”

“Hae…?”

“Tear the couple’s relationship apart…? Just a prank…? For such a reason… I am forced to endure the pain of not being able to ingest preciousness for the whole day today…?”

I—could not forgive it.

I resolutely could not forgive it.

Aside from my Faves not being able to attend school because of a prank—to go so far as to say “I’ll tear your couple’s relationship apart”…?

—It’s an Anti.

And a considerably malicious Anti at that.

They possess no manners, no respect, and indeed, not even morals.

If you think content does not suit you, you should just leave without saying anything.

That is consideration, that is courtesy, that is how one interacts with content.

Even though they cannot do such a basic thing, to go so far as to threaten my Faves—

I cannot let this slide.

I must not forgive this.

The culprit who wrote that threat letter is my enemy.

No, our enemy.

Of all the readers who love the “Al x Letty: The Sweet, Flirtatious Happy Married School Life of Two” series.

And above all, for the Faves, Alban-kun and Letitia-chan.

As a wall watching over my Faves—

As the couple’s official novelist—

I shall use everything I possess—to bury the enemy.

“The morals of the Fave Fandom… This Carla Rexon will protect them…!”

“Caw!”

▲ ▲ ▲

—I am an assassin.

My job is to locate targets, corner them, and take their lives.

Consequently, I have mastered the skills of profiling and tracking as part of that process.

Having received special leave from Paula-sensei for the express purpose of “securing the culprit & administering punishment,” I immediately set about my investigation.

First, I “borrowed” the threatening letter sent to the Odrant couple and analyzed the handwriting.

Next, I leveraged my connections with the readers of the Al x Letty: The Sweet, Flirtatious Happy Married School Life of Two series to gather information from everyone.

I picked out suspicious individuals, narrowed down the profile of the culprit, and… immediately found my mark.

—Madeleine Doron, a first-year student in Class E at the Royal Academy, along with her two hangers-on.

Rumor has it that she tried to pick a fight with Letitia immediately after enrollment, only to be brushed off by Leonil.

It seems she is the daughter of a noble house that was originally close to Duke Mauro Bertoli.

Which means she likely has a corresponding grudge against Letitia and her circle.

My nemesis… As the guardian of morals within the fandom of my push, I shall bury them in darkness before anyone is the wiser…!

—Is what I would like to say, but Paula-sensei did warn me firmly, saying, “You absolutely cannot kill them by mistake!”

Besides, considering the “doctrine” of the Rexon family, killing them might be a bit excessive.

Therefore—I shall administer my own form of punishment.

“Scuttle… scuttle…”

Behind the school building… in a place devoid of people, I move while concealing myself along the wall.

Stealth steps, quiet steps, assassin steps…

If I really wanted to, I could erase my presence almost entirely.

Not to brag, but I once managed to take Alban’s back.

Heheh… As a wall that watches over my push, there is no greater honor…

Of course, I cannot erase my presence perfectly like Father can.

But at the very least, it is impossible for an ordinary person to notice my approach.

In fact, just around this corner—they are continuing their conversation, completely unguarded.

“Giggle… Serves them right! I hear Letitia Barrow and Alban Odrant are too scared to even leave their room!”

“To be frightened by a single letter like that, what utter cowards.”

“Truly, truly. It’s hilarious~.”

The trio laughs flippantly, mocking the Odrant couple.

…I came to eavesdrop for final confirmation on whether Madeleine and her group were truly the culprits…

“What sort of prank shall we play next? How about dumping buckets of water on them from the roof?”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful! Sounds fun!”

“Agreed! And if we’re going to do it, let’s prepare rotten water!”

—Confirmed.

Madeleine and her group are definitely the ones who sent the threatening letter.

To confess their crime so openly, they truly lack any sense of danger…

Though it saves me the trouble, which helps—but putting that aside, it makes me want to vomit.

I really do want to kill them… Maybe I should just kill them…

“By the way, did you know? Apparently, there’s a strange novel circulating recently using those two as models.”

“Ah, I heard about that~. They say it’s a truly trashy romance novel, don’t they?”

“It seems to be secretly popular among the female students, but it’s so vulgar, isn’t it? To read such a stupid book… it really shows a person’s low breeding!”

—Twitch.

“Truly. I would be too ashamed to even pick up such a filthy thing.”

“Oh, I know! Since we’re at it, let’s gather all those books and burn them right here in the academy! I can’t wait to see what kind of faces they make when the novel modeled after them gets burned!”

“Good idea, good idea! That sounds fun!”

—Snap.

……I snapped.

Something inside me made a sound and broke.

I only intended to eavesdrop today, but… plans have changed.

These girls—these pieces of trash—will be judged right here, right now.

“……Whose book… did you call vulgar…?”

Swaying my upper body unsteadily, I reveal myself from around the corner.

“—Oh my? You are… I believe, from Class F…”

Addressed, Madeleine and the others finally notice my presence.

At the same time, I release the presence I had been suppressing.

The presence known as—Bloodlust.

“My Al x Letty: The Sweet, Flirtatious Happy Married School Life of Two series is filthy…? You’re going to burn the novels I wrote…? D… Don’t, don’t don’t don’t, don’t screw with meeeee…?”

I can feel my eyeballs becoming bloodshot.

My hair stands on end, and my upper body twitches and spasms in small bursts from the sheer rage.

My body was already in combat mode.

Anger and killing intent turn into magical power, leaking from my entire body, clinging to me like sludge.

I feel that if I don’t make these people pay immediately, the blood flowing through my veins will boil and turn into pitch-black petroleum.

That is how much I could not tolerate this.

“Hii…!? W-What!? What is with you!?”

Terrified by the ghastly killing intent I am emitting, Madeleine and her trio back away.

But paying them no mind, I approach them while still twitching convulsively.

“I… I-I-I could yield a hundred million steps and forgive you if you slandered the novel as trash… I-I could yield a hundred billion steps and forgive you if you reviewed it as boring… B-B-B-But… calling it vulgar, or saying it shows low breeding… Looking down on the readers who read my novel… That is something I cannot forgive even if I yield one trillion steps!”

I couldn’t forgive them.

Truly, from the bottom of my heart.

The novel I wrote might certainly still be clumsy.

There might be people who find it boring.

That’s fine. It can’t be helped.

Everyone feels differently, and it is a fact that my writing is still immature.

But—even so, there are people who say my novel is interesting.

There are people who love the work as content, who spend their precious time reading it to the end, and who ask for more.

Those readers, overflowing with love and passion—

…I could forgive you if you only insulted me, the author.

But I will not forgive you for calling the readers who love my novel vulgar.

And to say you would burn the books those readers loved—that is out of the question.

“Y-Y-You people, I will absolutely never forgive you…! Now! Right here! I! Will! Condemn! You!”

This is war.

I shall fight.

I will turn this place into a ground of death.

To protect my push—and to protect the honor of my beloved readers—

“H-Hmph! So that trashy novel was something you wrote. Were you that frustrated to have it mocked?”

“Are you saying you want to go? Hah, picking a fight with three opponents… what a stupid girl!”

“Despite how we look, we have knowledge of magic! We’ll torment you alongside Letitia Barrow!”

Barking spiritedly, the three knead their magic and enter combat stances.

However, “Caaaw!”

Darkness Assassin-maru, who had been circling overhead, lets out a high-pitched cry.

At the same time, he glides toward them.

Seeing that, I knead my magic.

“—Shadow Clone: Chaotic Raven.”

I activate the spell.

Darkness Assassin-maru splits into countless copies, scattering jet-black feathers as they assault Madeleine and the others.

“Kyaa!? W-What!?”

“C-Crows!? Why are there suddenly so many…!?”

“Ouch, ow, ow, ow! S-Stop it! Don’t peck me!”

The trio is confused by Darkness Assassin-maru in the blink of an eye.

Not even worth discussing. Amateurs, after all.

Let’s finish this quickly.

“—Shadow Bind: Black Prison Constraint.”

I activate a different spell this time.

Immediately, Madeleine and her group’s bodies freeze in place.

A massive amount of Darkness Assassin-maru’s feathers have stabbed into their shadows, sewing those shadows to the ground.

With this, they can no longer move.

“M-My body won’t…!?

“Now… you are all no different than fish on a chopping block…”

Swaying my body unsteadily, I move right before Madeleine’s eyes.

Staring fixedly into hers as she trembles in fear…

“I am an assassin… so killing you and destroying the evidence so no one finds out would be effortless…”

“Hii, hiii…!”

“But… I was told I absolutely cannot kill you by mistake… so I’ve decided to inflict divine punishment upon you using a different method… Are you reaaaady…?”

When I asked that—the screams of three girls echoed behind the school building.

—Several days later.

In the Class F classroom, Alban and Letitia were present just as before.

“Man, break’s over already, huh? Short stuff.”

“It wasn’t a break, Alban. It was standby within the individual dorms for safety reasons.”

“Same difference, right? It doesn’t change the fact that it was a happy time where I could lazy around with Letitia.”

“Oh my. I feel happier spending time taking classes together in the classroom or going out on dates than lazing around, you know?”

“Ugh… that’s a bit of a cunning way to put it…”

Alban is talked down by his wife Letitia as usual.

—I watch over those two precious beings from a distant seat, becoming complete air.

As always, with Darkness Assassin-maru perched on my shoulder.

…I had imagined as much, but it seems they weren’t afraid of the threatening letter in the slightest.

Alban even interpreted it as a rare vacation.

With his level of strength, there’s no need to fear whoever the culprit might be.

As a result, Madeleine and her group merely ended up gifting the couple a precious holiday.

What kind of precious interactions occurred while Alban and Letitia were on standby in the individual dorms…?

Just having delusions about it makes my creative drive well up infinitely… Heheh…

As I was thinking that…

“U-Um, Carla-san…”

Shanoa speaks to me.

“Hmm…? What is it, Shanoa…?”

“W-What happened in the end with the culprit who sent the threatening letter to the Odrant couple…? You went to search for the culprit, didn’t you, Carla-san…?”

“Ah… I found them, all right… But don’t worry… I don’t think they’ll ever do anything malicious to those two again…”

“Eh? Why is that…?”

“I had them… become fans…”

I warp the corners of my mouth slightly into a grin beneath my mask.

“I made the culprits… listen to me read the entire Al x Letty: The Sweet, Flirtatious Happy Married School Life of Two series aloud in a pitch-black space for three days and three nights without letting them sleep…”

“Th-Three days and three nights without sleep…!?”

“Yes… Thanks to such personality correction, they have now completely converted into hardcore stans of the Odrant couple… I made their bodies unable to survive without ingesting preciousness… Heheh…”

—I made Madeleine and her trio understand the magnificence of the Odrant couple.

Forcing an increase in a content’s fanbase goes against my policy, but it’s far better than letting malicious antis run wild.

Surely, even now, they are greedily reading the novels while screaming, “Al x Letty is the best!” “Supremely precious!” “Fuhihi, my brain juice is overflowing!”

Yup, yup… Antis decrease, fans increase… It’s a good thing, isn’t it…?

Shanoa looks slightly exasperated.

“H-Haa… But if you punished the culprits, shouldn’t you report it to the Odrant couple? Since you worked hard for their sake, Carla-san—”

“Shanoa… it’s fine…”

I shake my head slowly from left to right and gaze once more toward my push.

“…I am fine being a wall that watches over my push from afar… Just seeing those two looking happy allows me to ingest enough preciousness… That is enough for me… Right, Darkness Assassin-maru…?”

“Caaaw!”