However, Ursula looked completely justified. Even with her cheeks still being pinched by Hachiman, she raised her chin high.
"I'm the dragon clan leader. I have the right to cancel their engagement and decide their marriage partners again."
"If they're not convinced, they can come challenge me."
Among dragons, strength ruled above all.
She had become the dragon clan leader through sheer power. Anyone who didn't listen would get beaten.
Not convinced? Then knock me down
She just couldn't get the upper hand with Hachiman. Everywhere else, people had to follow her will.
Though in theory the Human-Dragon clan was subordinate to the dragons, she was the dragon clan leader from another world. There was no way the Human-Dragons of this world would submit just because she showed up claiming that title.
She had gone straight to their home and beaten them into submission before they lowered their heads, and then she conveniently sent this Human-Dragon young lady, who had both strength and status, to fulfill the Human-Dragon clan's mission.
Of course, Ursula would never dare speak to Hachiman like that. Those words were only meant for Miime.
Before, she had been completely controlled by the collar around her neck. Now Hachiman's life energy was astonishingly vast, and his strength seemed to be growing rapidly. When the collar was removed in the future, she wasn't even sure she could beat him.
Still, even though she couldn't fully grasp how strong he had become, she had already noticed the changes in the girls around him who were once just ordinary humans, such as Kaede, Suzu, Rurikawa Tsubaki, and Shion.
It wasn't just their obvious improvement in temperament and appearance. Their very level of life had changed. Though their strength was still weak, they already had potential that deserved attention.
Even the ordinary humans around him were growing so quickly. Naturally, she had to be cautious with him.
If she won by some stroke of luck, she would mock him and find a way to take him back to Dragon Island.
If she lost, she would accept it. So many demi-humans had already been defeated by him. Losing wouldn't be shameful.
But she believed her odds of winning were slightly higher.
The five snow women of the Snow Woman clan could deal with the four great elves by Iris's side.
The three succubus demon sisters could handle the three mermaid divas.
Miime and Seira of the Human-Dragon clan, along with herself, could take on Iris, Aegis, and Lumilia, the three elf princesses.
The vampire Tsukishiro Saya, together with the few vampires she had brought back this time, could fight the six vampire sisters of the Kiriya family.
It might look evenly matched at best, but she still had other trump cards.
When the time came, she would find a few human girls as well. Even with Kaede and Rin interfering, she would definitely win her showdown with Iris.
On their side were races with especially strong desires, no weaker than Iris's elves and mermaids. In fact, even stronger.
"..."
Sitting nearby, Kaede, Suzu, and Rurikawa Tsubaki had no idea that Ursula was already thinking about how to deal with them. But even without knowing that, they were stunned by Ursula's casual declaration of canceling someone else's engagement.
So this was the dragon clan leader?
The values of otherworldly races were truly different from theirs.
Naruse Mio and Naruse Maria, who had entered with Hachiman, exchanged looks. This was their first time meeting the Dragon Emperor brat, whom they had only heard about in passing from Iris and the others.
No wonder she ran out to find reinforcements. If Ursula dared act this arrogantly in front of Master Onii-chan, she would definitely be beaten every day until she couldn't get out of bed.
As the strongest shrine maiden of the ogre clan, Origamine Ouka found it hard to watch.
Perhaps the Human-Dragon clan had originally descended from dragons and humans long ago. But that was ancient history. Now the Human-Dragons were a native race of this world. How could they be pushed around by dragons like this?
Still, Origamine Ouka could only tell herself she would stand up for Miime in the future.
Right now, just suppressing the chaotic desires caused by the miasma raging inside her body was already taking all her strength.
If she confronted Ursula now, she would lose control and cry out first.
What was wrong with the student council today... Earlier they had been dragging her in to join them, and now lunch break was almost over but they still hadn't started.
They had just discussed everything with Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana. As soon as Hachiman returned, they would begin. No need to ask his opinion. If he didn't object, that meant he agreed. They could explain afterward.
Who knew Ursula would suddenly come back with people... It was all Ursula's fault.
"And the other demi-humans? Don't tell me you forced them to come serve me too?"
Seeing that even Miime hadn't agreed with Ursula's behavior, Hachiman bit into Ursula's smooth cheek in frustration and changed the topic, looking at the girls behind Miime. He had known them before, but this was technically their first meeting.
In truth, he wouldn't refuse beautiful meat delivered to his mouth, nor would he complain about them bringing women to him.
But clearly Ursula's methods weren't as gentle as Iris's. She couldn't persuade others with reason and emotion to willingly join.
He had no interest in forcing anyone against their will.
After all, he didn't lack girls around him. Why get close to girls who didn't like or need him? The girls who liked him were already more than he could properly cherish.
Instead of playing the tyrant, he might as well go comfort Yukinoshita Yukino. Lately everyone kept running to the Service Club, leaving her alone to guard it. She had worked hard.
"They're not Human-Dragons. They won't listen to me so easily. I just happened to run into a vampire on the street and followed it to their base. After learning about their situation, I found they were quite pretty and also in need of your assistance."
Ursula pouted, dissatisfied at his suspicion.
"You have awakened magic essence, don't you? You can awaken their bloodlines and increase their strength."
"You help them awaken and remove their bloodline defects, and they'll willingly serve you."
She hated losing, but she wasn't stupid. Why would she do something that would upset him?
If she really wanted to use underhanded methods, she could simply control pretty girls directly. Why go through the trouble of searching?
Besides, with Hachiman so prominent now and so many forces offering people to him, she could just pull a few girls from school who had feelings for him, so they wouldn't be dragged away by Iris to fight her.
"The news about awakened magic essence only reached Iris this morning, right? Ursula, you moved that fast?"
Hachiman froze. He had only gained awakened magic essence this morning, and by noon Ursula had already brought people?
Even if Iris told her directly, that was unbelievably fast. Or had Ursula been planning this for a long time?
"Lord Hikigaya, these are vampires with defective bloodlines. Lady Ursula did not force them. On the contrary, they are the ones seeking your help. If not for Lady Ursula, they likely would not have had the chance to meet you."
Seeing the mighty dragon clan leader in her heart being casually toyed with by Hachiman, unable to resist at all, Miime quickly stepped in and gestured to the vampire girls behind her.
"Please come forward and briefly introduce yourselves."
At her prompting, a pair of twin girls with nearly identical faces, one with short black hair and the other with short white hair, exchanged glances before stepping forward. They bowed deeply to Hachiman.
"Lord Hikigaya, I am Yasuhisa Kurona. You may call me Kuro."
"I am Yasuhisa Nashiro. Lord Hikigaya, you may call me Shiro."
After them, a quiet purple-haired girl took a deep breath, holding the hand of a timid girl hiding behind her. She gently pressed down on the smaller girl's head as they bowed together.
"Lord Hikigaya, I am Kirishima Touka."
"Fue... Fueguchi Hinami..."
Hachiman already knew their names, but watching them introduce themselves one by one still made him sigh inwardly.
Earlier, the eldest daughter of the Kiriya family, Kiriya Nadeshiko, who had joined Iris and acknowledged him as her master, had mentioned this.
The Kiriya family hadn't been taken for experiments, but other vampires had.
Some people, obsessed with longevity, conducted inhumane human experiments, trying to fuse bloodlines to obtain a vampire's long lifespan. They failed, creating defective products instead. These were even harder to awaken than normal demi-humans and couldn't be safely used.
Thinking about it now, those so-called failed artificial vampires must refer to ghouls. In the original story, ghouls were an experimental race raised in captivity. In this world's setting, they were likely classified as vampires. After all, their defects matched many vampire traits.
"Lord Hikigaya, I am Yoshimura Eto. Please rest assured, we are all willing. Lady Ursula did not force us. On the contrary, we are very grateful she gave us this opportunity."
Small in stature, with messy green hair and a beautiful face that gave off a literary girl vibe, Yoshimura Eto had been quietly observing everyone on the sofa.
After the others finished, she licked her lips and slowly walked up to Hachiman, directly unfastening her clothes in front of him.
"Now, I can prove my loyalty to you with my actions."
For Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana, who were experiencing the hidden world firsthand for the first time, seeing Eto raise her legs without hesitation and remove her final covering was utterly shocking.
Ursula, on the other hand, nodded in satisfaction. Not bad, not bad. She would cultivate this promising talent well.
The six sisters of the Kiriya family were probably already drawn to Iris's side. But she had six vampires here too! Not sisters, so slightly inferior, but Tsukishiro Saya likely had relatives. She could have her call more reinforcements.
Origamine Ouka, who had long awaited the grand gathering, trembled all over, wholeheartedly approving of this new vampire.
'It's here, it's here, it's finally starting! Hurry up! I really can't hold back any longer.'
Prove her loyalty?
Hachiman watched Yoshimura Eto step forward and reveal herself without reservation. He sighed inwardly.
Even knowing she wasn't naive or pure, no one would blindly trust such loyalty just because a beautiful girl offered herself so decisively.
That loyalty needed quotation marks. It came with conditions.
Still, it was indeed the fastest way to grab his attention.
He didn't remember the original ghoul storyline clearly.
He vaguely recalled that Yoshimura Eto was among the strongest ghouls, establishing the Aogiri Tree organization under the identity of the One-Eyed Owl.
It was hard to say whether she truly acted for the ghouls' future, hoping to change their tragic fate and create a world where humans and ghouls could coexist, or whether she simply wanted to overthrow the CCG and the twisted system above it.
But in this world, the situation of ghouls likely wasn't optimistic either.
Although officially the elf princess Iris served as an ambassador promoting exchange between demi-humans and humans, and mermaid divas worked as popular idols to improve public acceptance, and humans were gradually more open to demi-humans...
No matter how accepting, they would only accept races that could coexist peacefully. They would never accept ghouls who needed to eat humans to survive.
If Yoshimura Eto knew he had awakened magic essence that could awaken bloodlines and bring new life to ghouls, her shameless display wasn't impossible to understand.
Even though his awakened magic essence only worked on female demi-humans.
"Yoshimura Eto, was it... Eto, do you know Takatsuki Sen?"
Hachiman suddenly asked as Eto turned slightly, letting him see more clearly.
"Takatsuki Sen is my pen name... Have you read my novels?"
Facing him again, Yoshimura Eto had been wondering whether she should kneel more decisively. Hearing his question, she froze.
She understood why he didn't react strongly to her body. On the way to Sobu High with Ursula, they had seen many stunning girls.
Even in this student council office alone there were several beauties. Compared to them, the ghouls had no advantage. That was why she had deliberately waited until last to show her "sincerity."
She had already accepted that this was his territory.
With a dragon clan leader and elf princess at his side, he could easily claim far more than a school. Yet he stayed here. Perhaps he had a special preference, enjoying contact with lively young female students.
But why bring up Takatsuki Sen?
Many demi-humans hid their identities to live among humans. Ghouls, as near-artificial demi-humans, had to do so even more.
As a half-ghoul born of human and ghoul, her identity was even more sensitive.
From a poor background, she had submitted manuscripts to survive. Takatsuki Sen was her pen name. Her novels weren't unknown, but not famous enough to attract someone like him.
A major figure served by elf princesses and dragon leaders being her fan? She didn't believe that.
"I haven't read your novels. I've just heard of you. I didn't expect Teacher Takatsuki Sen to be such a petite and cute girl."
Hachiman smiled at her puzzled expression.
He knew she was guessing why he knew her. Coincidence, or prior knowledge?
He didn't need to explain. Just mentioning it was enough to show he wasn't ignorant about her.
"You flatter me, my lord. I'm no longer a young girl."
Yoshimura Eto relaxed slightly and smiled back.
Her development had long since stopped, but her age didn't lie. She was older than the ghouls behind her.
"I quite like you, teacher. I'm interested in your novels too. But today we won't discuss plots. You don't need to keep standing. Squeeze into the sofas on both sides."
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