The owner of Gamhwa — Yu Inna.
A being who could raise my affection simply by feeding me food imbued with Gamhwa.
From the moment I faced her, I had prepared myself to keep seeing the affection-increase window.
Because if it was her, there was a high chance she would use Gamhwa in a situation where my Protection couldn't guard me.
If she used her ability directly through Gamhwa, not even I could predict how much my affection would rise.
"Are you trying to keep me standing here?"
"...?"
But she only asked with a puzzled expression, as if unaware of whether my Protection had disappeared or not.
I had thought she used Protection every time we met, but perhaps it wasn't to that extent.
When I stepped slightly aside, Inna took off her shoes and immediately headed for the kitchen.
It felt like she had caught a whiff of traces of my cooking.
It hadn't suited Lee Seora's palate, but it might suit Inna.
Following her with slight anticipation, I found that Inna had completely discarded what I had done, donned an apron, and was immediately preparing to wash the dishes.
Even though detergent might splatter on the clothes that I had thought were slightly warm for attire transitioning into summer, she immediately began washing the dishes and spoke.
"If I had really been here, I should have stopped you from cooking. Don't you think so?"
"No, it's not that someone told me to. I just wanted to cook for you."
"That's what I'm saying. If she did something wrong yesterday and you were trying to scold her through cooking, and if you had made it with that meaning, I would understand. But that's not the case, right?"
This cooking was, so to speak, a gift of gratitude.
A repayment for fighting hard yesterday.
I hadn't known that Lee Seora would make a face like she was dying the moment she ate it.
And neither did I know how nightmarish this body's cooking was.
While Inna made a flamboyant attempt at the fried rice I had failed at, the Student Council President came out having changed clothes. Wearing a neat black suit.
"So what exactly did you do to make her end up like this?"
By "like this," she probably wasn't referring to me wearing only pajamas.
Could it be that she had already guessed the situation regarding my Protection?
Though her body was looking at the frying pan, anyone here could tell that all of Yu Inna's nerves were focused on the President.
In the silence where the sound of dripping water and the gas stove's flames could be clearly heard, the Student Council President opened her mouth.
"It was my mistake. The mistake of thinking that Kim Haneul's strength alone would be sufficient. He probably thought that just the two of us would be fine, but..."
Contrary to her expectations, had an unfavorable situation occurred because I didn't step in?
Knowing that the Student Council President had been fighting fairly well, I understood why Kim Haneul had left us behind.
It was because the enemy's forces kept being reinforced midway.
If only personnel hadn't been replenished, it was a situation the Student Council President alone could have sufficiently resolved.
Since it was a situation that had been resolved fairly well, I wanted to wrap things up here, but the woman who was making breakfast in my place after I had ruined it didn't seem to have any intention of ending things here.
"If you know you made a mistake, you should be punished. Then scold that child who failed to keep you safe!"
A sudden declaration. As I was wondering who she was speaking to, I soon realized who the command was directed at.
"Huh? Surely not me?"
I had no intention of scolding anyone, so being suddenly told to do so was bewildering. However, perhaps taking my words differently, a scoffing laugh that seemed to find this amusing came from where Inna stood.
"Then shall I scold her? Yes, she'd hate it more coming from my side, so after I finish preparing the meal..."
"If that is Ms. Erika's choice, then I shall endure it with all my might."
The girl who, because she hated the Student Council President, was trying to scold her directly, and the Student Council President who, though she hated Inna, wouldn't resist her regarding this particular punishment.
Having heard both their stances, I spoke with a sour expression.
"...Why are you suddenly turning me into trash?"
This way, it seemed like Inna, who hated the Student Council President, thought it wasn't worth scolding her directly and had instead outsourced the scolding to me.
As if failing to protect me for a single day was such a huge sin. Anyone listening would think the Student Council President had a duty to protect me.
For now, although Kim Haneul and Lee Seora were acting strangely, we weren't even in a romantic relationship.
The Student Council President might have had a minimal duty to protect students, but honestly, the atmosphere between us wasn't one of speaking because of such obligation.
"Since I don't think the President has any duty to protect me, if you're going to scold someone because of me, don't do it and don't receive it either."
Worried that something strange might happen where I couldn't see, I had spoken in a decisive tone.
If she still ended up going through with it or taking it after I had spoken this much, it wouldn't be out of genuine concern for me but acting on her own desires, so I would really have to cut ties with her.
"Got it~. Since the Student Council President obviously has no duty to protect you, let this matter end here!"
"I'm fine with—"
"The fried rice is done, so let's all eat before talking~."
Before the Student Council President could say anything, Yu Inna cut her off and held out the fried rice.
A meal shared by three.
The meal ended shortly, and after even finishing the dishes, contrary to what she had said earlier, Yu Inna immediately tried to leave the house with the President.
"You need to rest properly on your days off. Right?"
Had she come not to do something about the day the Protection had disappeared from the start, but to interrupt the time the Student Council President and I could spend together?
At the shoe closet, the girl with black-green hair sparkled her eyes and then gently pressed her lips to my cheek—as if I had come out to see her off—before pulling away.
For a moment, I froze wondering what strange thing she was doing, but immediately relaxed upon seeing the system window.
[You have received the Blessing of Gamhwa. Though not as potent as possessing true Gamhwa, you will receive goodwill from those who become targets of Gamhwa's use, including the world. When your Protection returns, the Blessing of Gamhwa will be removed.]
A blessing usable only in limited circumstances when Protection was absent. It was a perfectly welcome gift for me, who had been inwardly worrying about what to do now that my Protection was gone.
"See you tomorrow morning."
She left with the President. Until they closed the door and moved away, I stood still, then began searching through what had been called my room. To finally find the cell phone and wallet that were the most essential prerequisites for daily life.
*
Yu Inna and Lee Seora.
The two women who were in the worst possible relationship, if one could call it that, walked silently toward the main road.
Because both liked the same girl at the same time, the two were in a relationship where they could not like the opponent who would steal that girl from them or try to do something bad to her. Not exchanging a single word was, if natural, only natural between the two.
"So who was targeting whom?"
But because there was a target aiming for that girl, Inna had no choice but to ask the Student Council President.
Gamhwa was also a useful ability for gathering information, but in this world, there was a separate ability most suited for obtaining information.
Though she disliked the Student Council President, she acknowledged that ability alone.
Having been at the scene herself, it would have been easy for the Student Council President to know about the incident that had occurred then.
"All three. In my thoughts, I surmise that all three targeted her simultaneously. When I contacted him earlier, I was told that several puppets with abilities were sent to Kim Haneul. Seeing that they deliberately sent numerous resources without abilities to us and made a certain proposal, it seemed they had business with the two of us as well."
"A proposal?"
To the question asking what the proposal was, the Student Council President ignored her. She had certainly been wrong to fail to protect Erika, but that didn't mean she had to shrink endlessly before Yu Inna.
"Well, fine. With this much information, I should be able to find out about the enemy to some extent."
Perhaps knowing that the Student Council President wouldn't tell her, Inna stretched her arms wide. Though it wasn't even noon yet, the reason she'd come out immediately was likely to pull the Student Council President out of there, but also the enemies targeting Erika.
"Honestly, it was unexpected. I thought you wouldn't miss this opportunity."
"I think you're greatly mistaken. The reason I wanted to break through your Protection was because I wanted to convey my heart directly to that child. No Protection? Then there's no reason to break through. If she had come out refusing to open the door, it would have been different—"
—Didn't Erika do no such thing to me? Then I have no reason to use forceful methods either.
With those words, Yu Inna walked on toward the brightly spread road. The Student Council President, who had come out alone, watched her back.
Yu Inna didn't want to make Erika her slave through Gamhwa. She wanted to love her.
Of course, as she had said, if Erika had refused to open the door and rejected her to the end, the story would have been different. But Erika had opened the door, and Yu Inna had entered the place inside that door, so there was no longer any need to think of hypotheticals.
However, conversely, it also meant that Erika, having lost her memory, would no longer refuse Yu Inna. If she hadn't lost her memory, she would have never opened the door for Yu Inna even if it killed her.
Had Yu Inna known that and come? Seeing her words that she would have tried to break through with Gamhwa if the door hadn't been opened, it seemed she had somehow learned the news that Erika had currently lost her Protection...
'This must be one of the sins I must atone for.'
The sin of creating a crack in Erika's heart. Because of that, Erika had received a shock and lost her memory. And was that all? Even a woman trying to force her way into that memory was right beside her.
In that state, having even temporarily lost her Protection, Erika had become more vulnerable than a baby chick.
Now she had to fear not only the Queen of the School who could even break through Protection.
Having fallen defenseless among the numerous beasts at school — Yu Inna, whose heart could change at any moment, and an idol who possessed the ability to naturally command people despite being an idol, among others — she was as good as dropped without a single thing to protect her.
'If so...'
Thinking of people who could follow her words while also being able to help Erika, the woman fidgeted with the smartphone in her pants pocket.
Though worried about what would unfold starting tomorrow, she soon followed behind Yu Inna, who seemed about to part ways at any moment.
Because it wasn't only Yu Inna who had been enraged by yesterday's attack on Erika.
Yu Inna glanced back for a moment to where the Student Council President was following her, but simply walked on without showing any reaction.
It was the beginning of a tacit alliance to find the culprit of yesterday's incident.