498 Intermission - The Fanclub's Enforcer

Odeta punched the dummy in front of her while under the watchful eye of Sebastian, the two of them alone inside the mansion's training grounds for Odeta's usual training session.

She raised her hand and clenched her fists before unclenching it, repeating the motion several times.

It was still not enough. She was still not strong enough.

Everytime Aster decides to dive into the Dungeons, she has always included at least Katsuki or herself in the party.

Thanks to her strength, she has always occupied the role of the party's vanguard and tank, something that she has taken a lot of pride in.

The Amrap will never forget that sight when Aster had first appeared in front of her, how she had saved her sister from certain death all by herself. Then later fighting off those monsters in the Dungeon with such ease and possessing such strength despite being so young.

It was no surprise that she had set Aster as her role model and has been striving to become as strong as she is ever since that fateful day.

Though Aster claims that Odeta was already physically stronger than her, Odeta knew that if Aster were to fight her seriously, the Amrap would not stand a chance in winning.

And despite how hard Odeta trains, it felt like the gap between them never decreased.

Most people might start to have some resentment because of this, but Odeta was not most people.

In the first place, her true goal has never been to surpass Aster. Her real goal was to become strong enough that she is able to protect Aster from anything.

And since she does not think she was able to stop a dragon in its tracks yet, she still did not think she was strong enough.

She punched at the dummy again, the target shaking from the impact but remained whole.

The Amrap stopped before turning to the Wrunch behind her, "Hey Sebastian?"

"Hmm… What is it, Miss Odeta?"

"How do I become strong?"

The Head Butler exhaled through his nose, "There are quite a number of people who would already say that you are strong, Miss Odeta. But I suspect that is not the answer you are looking for. Thus, I would ask what is Miss Odeta's idea of strong?"

Odeta answered almost immediately, "Being able to stop an angry dragon in its tracks!"

To the Head Butler's credit, his face showed no visible changes when he heard her words and even nodded along like it was a normal request.

As strong as Sebastian was, even he did not have the confidence to be able to stop a full grown dragon in its tracks.

He would know, since he had fought one before and it was an experience that he would rather not go through again if he could help it.

Sebastian looked at the Amrap in front of him with a serious face, "That is indeed quite strong, Miss Odeta. I am afraid the path to such strength would not be easy and dedication is needed to grow to that level. However, I believe that you have the capacity to reach there one day since you seek this strength not for yourself but for the Young Mistress."

Upon the mention of Aster, Odeta started to laugh heartily, "Wahahaha! That's right! I'll be the one to protect Sister Aster!"

Sebastian nodded, "And you have been doing a great job at it, Miss Odeta."

She frowned, "Ugh… But I'm still not strong enough! How did you become so strong?!"

He grinned, "I did not become this strong overnight, Miss Odeta. In fact, when I was your age, I was much weaker than you are now."

"Mmm… Then how do I become as strong as you?"

"I would say that you simply need to continue what you are doing. It's not like your strength has stopped increasing, has it?"

Odeta looked down at her fists, "But it's still not enough. When we fought those Orcs, I could not blow them away with a single punch! What if the next time we meet a monster that I'm not strong enough to hold back and Sister Aster gets hurt because of that?!"

"You are not alone, Miss Odeta. Did you not defeat the Orcs together with the others in Young Mistress's party?"

She shook her head, "If I was strong enough, I would be able to beat them all by myself! Arghhh! Is there some magic that can instantly make me stronger?!"

"Even if there is such magic, I would recommend against it, Miss Odeta. Strength gained through this way usually does not last or they might come with severe drawbacks. Doing so might end up hurting Young Mistress in the process as well. I recommend that Miss Odeta stick to gaining your desired strength though training, at least for the time being."

"Mnngghh… Alright…" The Amrap sighed, going back to punching the training dummy.

Behind her, the Head Butler continued to watch over the Amrap's training. Despite what one might think, he did not utter a single lie during the earlier exchange.

Sebastian truly believed that given time, Odeta could eventually gain the strength to fight even dragons head on.

After all, she's one of the chosen companions of the Young Mistress. It would be unthinkable for someone in that position to be anything but extraordinary.

Odeta gave a loud roar before punching the dummy with all her might, this time managing to completely destroy it.

Sebastian clapped, "Congratulations, Miss Odeta."

"Wahahaha! This is nothing!"

Right then, Katsuki appeared with a grim look on her face.

"Apologies, Sebastian. I need to borrow Odeta for a little while," The Inugami requested.

The Head Butler did not even look surprised and simply nodded at her, "No need to apologise, we were just finishing up anyway."

Sebastian gave the Amrap a nod before leaving, letting the two girls have their privacy.

Odeta frowned at Katsuki, her demeanour changing slightly, "What is it? I'm guessing it's something involving Sister Aster?"

The maid nodded, "Unfortunately yes. There's a group of students petitioning for us to revoke our no interference policy."

The Amrap furrowed her brows, "What? Have we not already made it clear that this was not negotiable? We agreed to lift the restriction over time while Sister Aster is in school right?"

"Yes, that's why the petition is coming from the final year students. They will not be able to experience it since they will be graduating this year."

"Well tough luck for them, their fate just sucks to be born too early."

Katsuki chuckled, "Ufufufu~ I suppose that is right, so could I ask that you do the usual?"

"Hmph, I just need to go there and intimidate them right? Are you expecting them to get violent?"

"I doubt they would dare after what you did to the first few groups of dissenters. But I suppose we should still expect the worst just in case."

Odeta cracked her knuckles, "Of course. I guess we're leaving now since you came all the way here and interrupted my training?"

"Yes, I had Mary prepare a portal for us beforehand so we can go whenever you're ready."

The maid gestured to an ominous looking tear in space behind her.

Odeta nodded and stepped through the portal without another word, the scenery around her changing into an empty classroom.

She waited inside the classroom until the door slid open and several older students were shoved into the room unceremoniously.

"Hey! What's the big idea! We were just collecting signatures for our petition! We're not even doing anything illegal!" One of the boys cried out.

"Yeah! We're your classmates too! So what's with this treatment?!" Another girl protested.

The classroom door slammed shut, their escorts not even gracing them with a response.

Odeta grinned, intentionally baring her teeth to let out a growl that caught the attention of the new arrivals.

"All of you… I heard you were planning to try and revoke the policy to not disturb Sister Aster?"

The students that were just brought into the room gulped collectively before slowly turning to face Odeta.

The first boy quickly straightened himself before walking forward to stand in front of her, "We… We just wish to have a chance to at least interact with her! Is that wrong?!"

"Sister Aster is not some exotic animal that you can approach for your own entertainment. She is here to learn and grow stronger. This rule is in place so that no one is to disturb her."

"Ea… Easy for you to say! You get to meet her whenever you want, Odeta! Yet the rest of us can only look at her from afar! And for final years like us, we won't even get a chance to talk to her after this year!"

Odeta's smirk widened and she advanced on him, causing the boy to take a few steps back in fear.

The Amrap was a head taller than he was so she was literally looking down at him when she growled her next words, "Too fucking bad. We didn't set these rules for your convenience, bastard. Now you can either swear that you lot won't try this again or I will make you all regret it."

The boy shivered but steeled himself, "I… I will not! I--"

He didn't get to finish his words before Odeta reached forward and grabbed him by the head, lifting him off the ground to glare at him.

"The hard way it is then…"

Screams came from the classroom but anyone who passed by and heard the noise barely even reacted much to it.

This was just another day in school after all.