Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin

Did the Dopamine Hit?

“There was someone I’ve wanted to introduce to you for a long time.”

“Introduce...?”

“What kind of person?”

I turned toward the bedroom.

The room where we had just been huddled together, playing board games.

“Princess-nim, would you come out for a moment?”

I called to the girl behind the thin door, who had probably heard our whole conversation.

I kept my voice soft, like I was telling her it was safe to come out.

Creeeak.

A moment later, the closed door opened.

Her voice came through first while she still kept herself hidden.

“Are you sure... this is truly fine?”

“Haven’t you been watching them this whole time too, Princess-nim? If it’s these two, we can trust them.”

“Even so...”

“I’m sure this will become a good bond for you too, Princess-nim.”

“......”

A soft silence settled in the room.

Then Carmilla slowly peeked through the crack in the door.

Silver hair like moonlight. Red eyes blooming within it, like magnolias.

Her worried eyes blinked as she looked over at us.

“......”

“Come here.”

She had been frozen in hesitation, but when I called, the princess came running over in quick little steps.

She stopped behind the sofa, like she was hiding behind me.

The two girls across from us stared with wide eyes.

They thought there were only three people in the room, and then a fourth appeared.

“Who...?”

I introduced her casually.

“She is someone I serve.”

“Take it as an honor. Normally, this lady would never bother mingling with lowly humans...”

“Princess-nim says she’s happy to meet you both too. She’s shy, so she isn’t very good with words.”

“V-Viktor! How dare you!”

Thump thump.

Soft little fists hit my shoulder in complaint.

Meanwhile, the two girls across from us kept studying Carmilla.

“Someone Sir Viktor... serves?”

“Ah, you are...?”

Ranne looked completely confused.

Alice, on the other hand, seemed to recognize Carmilla.

Which made sense. Alice had seen Carmilla during the practical.

“You were the one who helped me back then... with Viktor-nim...”

“Hmph... so you can recognize me, it seems.”

Only then did Carmilla introduce herself.

“My name is Carmilla Blandir. A pureblood vampire, heir to the Blandir Dynasty, and master of Viktor here.”

“V-vampire? And a pureblood...?”

Maybe it was because what they were hearing felt so far removed from their world.

Both of them looked shaken for a moment.

Well, humans and vampires had barely interacted for a very long time.

People only vaguely knew that a non-aggression treaty was in progress between the two sides.

To people who had never seen one in their lives, this probably felt like a distant myth.

They likely did not even know the New Kingdom had been established, or that harmony had already broken.

Maybe only the imperial family and a few high nobles knew that much.

The Empire was probably getting ready for war little by little too.

I decided to keep things light today and just let them get acquainted.

So I explained my relationship with Carmilla in broad strokes.

War, rebellion, all the heavy parts were left out.

For now, I wanted them to grow closer.

It was about time to build the protagonist party.

I continued.

“She’s a vampire, and royalty on top of that. I’m serving as her aide for the time being.”

“An aide? Sir Viktor, do you also have ties to the vampire dynasty?”

“That goes back a long time.”

“To have ties deep enough to aid a princess of a nation... just what kind of past do you have, Sir Viktor...?”

“Princess-nim is currently in hiding due to unavoidable circumstances. Please keep everything related to her strictly confidential. I introduced her because I judged that I could trust you two.”

“O-of course! This is quite shocking, but...”

“Yes...! I-I will too...”

Trust.

As if reacting to that word, both of them nodded.

Ranne and Alice turned their attention to the silver-haired girl.

“A-a vampire... I’ve heard a lot about them, but this is my first time seeing one in person.”

“Same here! And royalty too... though if it’s Sir Viktor, I guess it makes sense.”

A few comments slipped out.

“Hmph, do not pretend we are close.”

Then Carmilla puffed out her cheeks.

Something had clearly bothered her.

From behind the sofa, she grabbed my arm tightly.

Maybe hugging me outright embarrassed her, so she only clung to one arm shyly.

Her expression stayed prickly, but even the tips of her white ears were flushed red.

“Everyone, take ten steps away from Viktor.”

“Princess-nim?”

“Viktor is my retainer. That makes him no different from mine.”

Her lips jutted out.

Maybe she felt left out because everyone had been talking around her.

Those few sharp lines were enough to tell she was sulking.

“I won’t hand him over to other girls.”

“Y-yes...?”

Alice’s pupils shook, startled by the sudden turn.

Carmilla glared at both girls, especially Alice, and said,

“It means stop wagging your tails at him.”

“...Princess-nim.”

That dropped like a bomb.

I could only let out a long sigh.

Carmilla kept fidgeting with my arm like she had done nothing wrong.

“Viktor is the bad one.”

At this rate, they still needed time to get used to each other.

***

A week passed after that.

Academy life had now gone past one month.

I carried on with my usual routine, with nothing much changed.

Went to lectures, put the Class E Shuttles to work a bit, fooled around with Princess-nim...

-After your speech, I heard they’re plotting something.

-Class B Top Seat has been contacting several assistant professors in the academy, and Class B students are spreading nasty rumors about you, Sir Viktor...

Just like Ranne told me before, the atmosphere in the academy was turning ugly.

Maybe it was because I rammed into them like an eight-ton truck last time.

Those Class B punks seemed seriously irritated.

-I don’t know the details, but they looked like they were preparing something.

Still, nothing major had happened yet.

To be precise, it felt like they were biding their time to drop something big.

Soon... it had to be time.

Even with an unseen execution platform creeping closer, what I felt was excitement, not fear.

Everything was spinning in the palm of my hand.

All I had to do was wait for the fruit to ripen.

Then one day, while I kept living like that.

“Hm?”

The big one finally arrived.

“Well now, what kind of situation is this?”

The moment I stepped into the classroom, I saw the scene.

The mood was very different from usual.

Class E students, including the Shuttles, sat there with their mouths tightly shut.

A few of them had bruises on their cheeks and around their eyes, like they had been hit.

“Ha...”

The air was cold and frozen.

And among those kids were a few outsiders.

“Class B students... what brings you to our classroom?”

It was the Class B bunch.

Only the stronger ones seemed to have come.

Second seat, third seat, and even the top ten below them.

“Oh, you finally showed up?”

The one leading those delinquents.

Bright yellow hair, bronze-tanned skin.

“I thought my neck would snap waiting for you, you son of a bitch.”

Class B Top Seat, Caitlin Lettuce.

She had been waiting for me while sitting on my desk.

Her eyes sparked in that familiar way, static crackling in the air.

“I got bored waiting... so I tuned up a few loudmouths.”

A sneer.

“Looks fine, right?”

I was still standing at the front of the classroom.

The Shuttles who met my eyes bit down hard on their lips.

Bruised faces, eyes full of frustration.

“B-bro, boss...”

“We’re sorry, we...!”

It did not look like they had been beaten too badly.

More like they had been toyed with for fun.

At the very least, though, their pride had clearly been ground into the dirt.

“What an unusual way to welcome a guest.”

“You didn’t show up no matter how long we waited, so I figured maybe you ran.”

Caitlin rose from my desk like she was kicking it aside.

Her attitude and gait were rough as hell.

She swaggered right up to me.

In her yellow eyes, my white Jester Mask was reflected.

“You know how protagonists are supposed to appear last?”

“Ha... your mouth still runs just fine, huh?”

“It’s all I’ve got.”

“I’ve been going easy on you, and now you think I’m a joke?”

“No matter how I look at you, you don’t look like a dick... unless you were a man? Are you that blond, tanned femboy type?”

“What the hell are you even saying, you psycho.”

Grab.

Her hand clamped onto my collar.

Stinging static ran through the fabric and into me.

“How about you read the room.”

“People have never called me bad at reading the room.”

“So you’re doing it on purpose?”

“Oh, you only realized now? Guess you’re not very sharp.”

“What is wrong with you?”

Smack.

Caitlin scowled hard and let go.

“Hey, trash.”

Class B students drifted over beside her.

They surrounded me and bled killing intent, pressing in.

“You’ve got no clue how much effort I put into setting this up so I could deal with you myself.”

Thud.

A light fist hit my chest.

Caitlin’s lips twisted into a mocking grin.

“I’m filing a Ranking Match against you, bastard. Two days from now, at the Public Sparring Arena, in front of all first-years.”

Her bright yellow pupils were full of ridicule.

“Go embarrass yourself where everyone can watch.”

“......”

A Ranking Match meant three or more professors had already approved it.

So there was no way for me to reject this challenge.

I had walked right into the trap.

Was this what they had spent the last week preparing?

I put on a grave expression and slowly rubbed the edge of my mask.

“What? Scared? Wanna get on your knees and beg?”

“......”

She kept jabbing at me, and I held it in.

Otherwise she might have seen my expression under the mask.

I took a deep breath.

Then I gave my answer to the challenge.

“Hey...”

The corners of the mask split all the way to my ears.

I tried to hide it, but it all leaked out anyway.

“How about we put a bet on it? A duel by itself sounds boring.”

“What? A bet?”

Caitlin frowned like I was talking nonsense.

I was already grinning from ear to ear.

Holding back the laughter that kept trying to burst out, I said,

“The loser... becomes the winner’s lackey from now on.”

“What?”

“And does anything the winner wants.”

It came.

My dopamine.

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