First Battle 1

"Huft...."

Emile held her full stomach and thought that she had eaten too much. She looked at Haru who was feeding Karen with a complex expression. She thought his food would be horrible, but she didn't expect that it would be this delicious. She felt that the chef who served her father would lose without being able to fight back if their food was compared to Haru's.

But she had one thing that she might worry about and that was her weight would increase after she had eaten too much.

'Well, I just can't train harder....'

Emile thought before she continued to eat since she might not able to stop.

Hayato's appetite was really good and he ate a lot of foods that had been cooked by Haru and forgot that his little sister was being fed by Haru. If this continued then Haru might really become his brother-in-law, but he didn't know that since his focus was on the food on the table.

"Ahh...."

Karen opened her mouth waiting for him to feed her.

Haru fed Karen calmly since he had gotten used to pampering his woman. He was about to feed her again, but he heard someone calling his name.

"Oh, Kasugano Haruka."

Hearing that voice, they turned their attention and saw three girls along with a boy who was wearing a collar around his neck.

"..."

Haru looked around and felt quite speechless when no one commented about the chain collar on the boy's neck.

"President."

Emile and Hayato were a bit surprised when they saw Claire.

"President?"

Karen looked at Haru and asked, "So that blonde with the drills is the one who you have dueled with yesterday?"

"Hey, Karen!" Hayato was surprised when Karen was so rude.

"Don't be so rude, Karen," Haru said.

"Well....."

Karen looked at Claire then looked at her airport

"........."

Karen suddenly felt a threat from this girl and pinched Haru's arm telling him to feed her again.

"Ahh....."

"..."

Haru sighed and continued to feed Karen. He wasn't blind enough to see what had happened, but he pretended to not know anything.

"What?!"

Claire was surprised when she saw how close Haru and Karen were, especially when she saw him feed Karen right in front of her. She frowned and asked, "Who is that rude girl?!" She also looked at the roll cake on the table and suddenly felt very uncomfortable when she thought the cake which she had eaten last night was being baked by him for this girl.

"Sorry, this is my..."

Hayato didn't end his sentence since someone had answered Claire's question.

"She's Karen Kisaragi."

Then the boy with a collar on his neck looked at them with a smile. "Hayato-sama's little sister." He walked toward them and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Claire-sama's assistant, Chris Steinbelt, middle school second year."

"Oh, nice to meet you," Hayato also said.

But Claire didn't care about that and her mind created a lot of imagination since she knew that the relationship between Haru and Hayato was very close to each other and it wouldn't be surprising if the relationship of Haru with Hayato's little sister would also be very close. She suddenly thought the girl in the wheelchair in front of her was a threat to her.

'Wait! I need to care about this guy?!'

Then she calmed herself and said, "This is good timing." She looked at Haru and said, "Kasugano-kun, I have something to talk about with you."

"What's wrong, Prez?"

Haru looked at Claire curiously.

"Yes, I want you to help out the student council," Claire said.

"What?!" 2x

"Why does he need to help you?" Emile looked at Claire and asked, "The duel yesterday should have been settled with his winning, right? There's no obligation for him to do as you say." Her mood was good when she was fed food, but became irritated when she saw a student council trio in front of her.

"Emile!" Hayato tried to stop Emile since he knew that this guy loved to cause trouble.

"Calm down! Of course, it's not compulsory," Liddy said.

"He's simply being recruited," Erica said.

Haru looked at Claire and asked, "Can I fight with Savages?"

"..."

Everyone was startled by this question.

Claire who looked at Haru could see his burning desire to fight against Savage. She didn't know what had happened, but she knew that she could make him closer to her. She simply nodded and said, "Yes."

"Claire-sama!" 2x

Liddy and Erica were startled when they heard what Claire was saying since they knew how dangerous Savage was.

"Calm down, you also know his strength, right?" Claire said.

"...."

Liddy and Erica were silent since they had seen Haru win against Claire in a fair duel.

Claire looked at Haru again and said, "Kasugano Haruka, I would like you to join Selections, a special unit under the student council."

"Selections?"

Haru wasn't sure what "Selections" were.

"You would follow the order of Warslan HQ, who manages the Little Garden. You would remain a student but execute a mission like a full-fledged Slayer would," Claire simply said.

"The mission will include guarding various facilities, bodyguard duties and, of course, actual combat against Savage," Liddy added.

Karen held Haru's sleeve tightly and wanted to stop him, but she had a feeling that it was impossible to restrain him.

"Due to the Savage Nest elimination mission the other day, we don't have enough Slayers. We require immediate reinforcements," Erica said.

"Just as Liddy said, this is not compulsory. However, I believe in....."

Claire looked very serious and said, "Noblesse Oblige!"

"Those with power should wield it for the sake of those without it."

Haru didn't care much about "Noblesse Oblige" since such a thing was simply impossible.

Do you want to sacrifice yourself for a stranger? No.

Haru only cared about the people that he cared about since protecting everyone was simply impossible. He wasn't a hero and also didn't have a hero complex, but he was an actor. He needed to show that he was benevolent while he wasn't.

"I agree with you," Haru said.

Claire smiled and asked, "Do you agree to join the Selections?"

"Yes."

Haru nodded since he needed to slay down 100 Savages and becoming "Selections" was the perfect chance.

"Haru, do you really want to do it? Real combat isn't the same as a duel," Emile said.

"That's right, you should think more carefully," Hayato said.

Haru shook his head and said, "I have made my decision."

"...."

Looking at his expression, they knew that they could do nothing to change his opinion.

"Let's go and I'll tell you a lot about Selections," Claire said.

"Alright."

"Haru, you sure want to become a Selections?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, I have to fight Savages sooner or later having earlier experience, and knowing one or two tricks will increase my chance of survival," Haru said.

"Be careful, alright," Karen said.

Haru nodded and talked with her for a bit telling her that he would be alright.

Claire was irritable when she saw how close both of them were. "Let---"

*Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*

Suddenly a loud noise could be heard within the town.

"What?"

Erica looked at her PDA and said, "Claire-sama, we have an order to sortie."

"Right."

Claire nodded and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to the real battlefield."

Haru nodded and walked with them.

"Haru, be careful!" Hayato said.

"Don't go dying on me," Emile said.

"..."

Haru was speechless and only waved his hand while following the student council trio.

Karen looked at Hayato and Emile then asked, "Is it alright to leave him alone?"

"He's stronger than the two of us," Hayato said.

Emile sighed and said, "Even though it is hard to admit it, it is the truth."

Even though Karen had heard that Haru was strong, it really surprised her when both of them said those words.

"Do you have a video of his duel yesterday?"

Emile and Hayato looked at each other and nodded.

---

Entering the command center, Haru could see a lot of people were focusing on their job. He looked at the large hologram monitor and saw a huge monster that was shaped similar to a bug with black metallic color.

"What's the situation?" Claire asked.

"We're tracking three Savages. There's damage to the Zwei Island city block."

"Evacuation is nearly complete."

"Haru-sama!" Meimei waved her hand when she saw him.

Haru only nodded and could see Charlotte beside her.

Chris, who also walked with them, joined since he was also the main analyst in the Little Garden.

Looking at Chris, Haru said, "He's certainly amazing."

"Well, his brains and skills put him above even Warslan HQ's intelligence division. He truly belongs here," Charlotte said.

"We have a visual on the third Savage."

"Put it on the main screen!"

"What?!"

Everyone was surprised by the size of the Savage which appeared on the screen since it was at least five times larger than the usual Savage.

"Giant, right," Claire said while looking at Savage.

"It's a Trenta-class."

Chris tried to search for data about this Savage and said, "Its estimate ability value is unknown."

"Tch! We have to deal with one of those..." Liddy knew that it would be a hard battle.

"Claire-sama, prepare the sortie," Erica said.

Claire looked at the Trenta-class Savage on the screen and said, "Kasugano Haruka, on second thought, I'm going to pass to display you today."

Haru smiled and said, "You worried about me?"

Claire knew that it wasn't time to be flustered by his question since the matter was serious, but it was hard to do when he was right in front of her.

"You don't need to worry about me since even if I can't help you with the battle. I can at least help you to evacuate someone if there is someone who is trapped there," Haru said.

"But...." Claire was worried.

"My specialty is survival. I know that you worry since it is my first time in combat and you also worry that I'll cause trouble in this operation, but you don't need to worry, and please believe in me." Haru looked at Claire and said, "Belief in the man who has defeated you."

"..."

Claire looked at him for a while and sighed.

"You need to hear each of my commands!"

"Yes." Haru smiled.

"Claire-sama!" 2x

"It's alright." Waving her hand, Claire said, "Even though he might not be able to help that much in the battle, he will be very helpful at helping people who are trapped in the battle."

"..."

Haru wanted to refute, but he was too lazy to correct Claire's words.

It was better to show through action rather than words.

"Then, let's so, we need to go to Zwei Island as soon as possible!"

"YES!" 3x

It was Haru's first time to go against Savage, and it would be lying if he wasn't curious about it and somehow also anticipated his first battle.