“Really? Whoa! What is this sorcery?!” Paper books were very valuable, and the only writing utensil generally available was a quill pen. The demons had made a number of classroom supplies based on Shinichi’s knowledge, to which the children let out small gasps of delight. “If we could sell this pencil and eraser…” The merchant child immediately started thinking business. “Do what you want, but we’re going to start the lesson now.” Shinichi smiled, clapping his hands together to quiet down the class. “Our first class will be on the peak of academia and the basis of everything: math.” He intentionally tried to make it sound cool, then turned to the blackboard and wrote a simple problem on the board. “What is fifteen plus seven?” “Umm, one, two, three…” Rino and the other demons started counting using their fingers. The human students looked at them in wonder. “Twenty two, right?” “Correct,” said Shinichi, smiling at the boy from Boar Kingdom who’d answered. While an illiterate farmer’s child might not have even been able to do math, the nobles and merchants could obviously handle basic addition and subtraction. “Next question. What’s twenty-five times seven?” “Huh? What does times mean?” The demons didn’t even know the concept of multiplication. “Ummm, seven groups of twenty-five…” The noble from Boar Kingdom knew what he was talking about, though it took him some time to solve the question, since he didn’t multiply things very often. One of the daughters of a merchant from Tigris must have used it on the daily, because she quickly raised her hand. “One seventy-five.” “Correct. That was fast.” The girl smiled bashfully. “Hmph…,” Rino pouted, but Shinichi was busy looking around at all the students. “As you can see from that little test, it seems like there’s some difference in your ability to do math. I’m going to have you all study at a level appropriate for you.” Shinichi had guessed this might be the case, which was why he was prepared. “Arian, please teach the demons addition. You’ll use that textbook—First Grade.” “Roger.” “Sanctina, you work on times tables—up to multiples of nine—with the Boar kids. The book for second graders.” “Leave it to me.” “And I’ll work on long division with the Tigris team. If we have time, we can move on to decimals and fractions.” Shinichi picked up the third-grade books from Celes’s cart and handed them out to the merchant children. He’d pulled what he learned on Earth out of his memory with Search, then used Healing to mend any wrist inflammation while he transferred the information to paper. He ended up with these gems. The students’ eyes grew wide at the sight of the textbooks, which were better than any other course material they’d ever seen. Shinichi started to carefully teach them math. About thirty minutes passed when the dark elf boy shouted in annoyance. “Mr. Sotoyama, why should I even learn this stuff?” “What?” The human children let out small cries of surprise. “Why? If you can’t do math, you can’t buy things,” replied a girl from Tigris, but the dark elf just seemed more perplexed by her answer. “If you want to buy something, you can trade meat and clothes for it. You don’t need…this.” “…Huh?” Something wasn’t clicking in their conversation. Shinichi was happy that there were these small disparities. “Demon society has currency, but it’s more common to barter and trade,” he explained. Their lack of knowledge on this wasn’t because they were uncivilized. Quite the opposite, in fact. It was just a facet of their society. Their country had been founded on the basis that strength meant everything. The strongest one was king. Unlike human society, the child of a demon king didn’t automatically become the next king by virtue of their blood. In the end, strength was the only real proof of a king. No one would follow a weak ruler. If there was someone confident in their strength, they might try to usurp the existing king, which was a commendable act according to demon standards. Power was everything. Strength was justice. That was the only absolute in demon society. “That’s why demon countries are founded often and destroyed regularly,” Shinichi said. They were hunters who lived off the monsters they killed. There was little necessity to protect fields and farms, and they weren’t tied to the land. That made it easy for them to come together and separate over and over. “To expand on currency—it only has value when its country of origin exists. Demon society doesn’t have much trust in it because countries are so easily torn down. Instead, they focus on trading.” “Huh…” was all the students managed when they got a social studies lesson they didn’t bargain for. Shinichi smiled wryly and turned to look at the dark elf boy. “We were talking about whether math has any use, and the answer is yes, absolutely,” declared Shinichi. If humans began conducting more trade with the demons, math would be essential to make sure the demons weren’t being conned during the exchange. He found it hard to imagine a demon would be satisfied with this explanation, so Shinichi explained it in a way they would find interesting. “It’s useful for winning a battle.” “Really?!” He started to look a lot more interested. Shinichi grinned as he wrote another problem on the chalkboard. “Let’s say you have three hundred men in your troop, and you’re fighting against six thousand enemies. How many opponents does each person need to defeat in order to win?” “Uh…a lot!” “Daddy could beat them all by himself!” “If you don’t know, just be honest, all right?” Shinichi gently urged the dark elf boy and Rino, then called on a girl from the Boar Kingdom. “What’s the answer?” “Six thousand divided by three hundred is twenty people.” “Correct.” The demons gasped happily. “See? Math has many applications. And it’s the basis of understanding science, which we’ll cover in the next class.” “Oh, we get to study science?” asked Rino, who was familiar with the term. “What’s that?” Rino had heard this word on more than one occasion from Shinichi, but the other students weren’t familiar with it. Shinichi wanted to pique the children’s interests. “Science is great. If you study it, you can understand how the world works and be able to use spells like this.” He took out a lump of coal he’d hidden in his pocket and quietly cast magic on it. “Disorganized carbon connections—realign in orderly beauty to transform your shape, Element Conversion.” Magical light burst from his palm, and the jet-black coal turned into a translucent diamond. “““Aaaah!””” “Here, take a close look.” Shinichi set down the diamond in front of the startled students. “It’s hard… It’s the real thing!” “It’s so sparkly. Amazing, meow!” “Let me see! Let me see!” The students gathered around the diamond, forgetting they were in the middle of class, and stared at the shining stone. In particular, the dvergr boy couldn’t hide his excitement, thinking he’d be able to make the ideal equipment if he had that magic. “This is how math and science can be useful. That’s why you need to study hard.” “““Yes, Mr. Sotoyama!””” All the students nodded, eyes shining, including the dark elf boy who hadn’t been motivated a moment before. Hee-hee-hee. You really can make people do things with obvious bait. Not everyone could to make themselves suffer through years of study and tests for an uncertain gain far in the future. Shinichi looked happily at all the students, now focused on their textbooks, lured by their own desires. They wrapped up their indoor lessons—math and then science. Other than Rino, the demon meatheads had run out of steam for concentration by the third hour of lessons. Shinichi passed out gym clothes to the students. “Next is physical education. We’ll be exercising.” “Yaaaay!” “Urgh…” As many students started to chatter in glee, the girls from Boar Kingdom screwed up their faces in disgust. They headed out of the classroom to change, followed by the Tigris girls. Meanwhile, the demon girls—all except for Rino—started to pull off their uniforms right there, not caring that boys were present. “Aaaah! Tama! Aloe! What are you doing?!” cried Rino. “What? We’re changing, meow.” “…Uh-huh.” “You can’t do it here!” Rino pushed the two out of the classroom. One Boar Kingdom boy watched them leave and tried to divert the attention away from his blushing cheeks. “H-how shameless!” “Really? I don’t think it’s anything to get worked up about,” noted the dark elf. He continued changing, completely unfazed. He was desensitized to seeing girls in their underwear, since topless mermaids and nearly nude succubi were always around him. “…You’re so mature.” The boy looked at the dark elf with respect. “What? You’re weirding me out.” His brow creased. Shinichi smiled, watching the exchange. “Such curiosities bring boys together.” “Stop being stupid. We need to go.” Celes pinched Shinichi’s cheek, almost as punishment for him seeing the catgirl in underwear. They led the changed students to the gymnasium, which had been built next to the school building. “Wow! It’s so big!” “Even the ballroom in the castle isn’t half this size…” The gym was designed based on Shinichi’s memories, spacious enough for a game of basketball or volleyball. The size left the students wide-eyed. Shinichi turned to them. “All right, let’s start with ten laps around the gym.” “Ten whole laps?!” shrieked the girls from Boar Kingdom. “You got it!” The demons and the boys dashed off. “If you collapse, this kind Saint will heal you. Off you go.” Shinichi clapped his hands to hurry them on. The Boar Kingdom girls reluctantly started walking. The catgirl zipped past them several times, finishing the ten laps in less than two minutes. “First, meow!” “Aren’t you dizzy?!” Shinichi gawked at her physical abilities. She was able to maintain a 32-feet-per-second rate for the full ten laps without losing any speed on corners. After her was the dark elf, then the dvergr, the dryad, and Rino. “The demons clearly have a higher physical-ability level.” Even battle-averse Rino had mastered her dance practice and traveled far on foot, making her base physicality completely different from the humans’. The Boar Kingdom boys finally finished roughly a full minute after the demons. “Huff, huff… So this is what the demons are capable of…” The noble sons were confident in their physical prowess, as they’d studied swordplay and horseback riding in their youth. That’s why they were so upset when they felt the insurmountable difference between the two races. “I can’t believe I lost to some catgirl…” “What’s that? If you’ve got a problem with me, just come at me, meow!” The catgirl’s tail started to bristle. Shinichi gently placed himself between the two children. “All right, all right. If you want to fight, you can do it during the break.” “They shouldn’t fight during the break, either,” chastised Rino from behind him as he pulled the two students apart. Meanwhile, the girls from Boar Kingdom had somehow managed to finish the ten laps around the gym, even if they lagged behind the rest of the students. Shinichi waited for them to catch their breath. “All right, now that you’re warmed up, we’re going to start a special lesson only available here at Demon King’s Academy: magic.” “““…Huh?””” The children were frozen with shock. “Wait. We can’t use magic!” “Hee-hee, how sad, meow.” The catgirl was poking fun at the boy from Boar Kingdom as payback. Shinichi placed his hands on their heads to keep them quiet as they were about to start arguing again, then turned to the human students to explain. “I’m aware none of you, other than the five demons, can use magic. With enough training, though, humans can cast spells.” “Really?” “I haven’t always been able to use magic, after all.” “What?!” Shinichi had only just shown them Element Conversion, so the students let out gasps of disbelief when they heard he’d started off with no magic at all. Rino was able to testify on his behalf, since she knew what he had gone through. “It’s true. Shinichi couldn’t use magic in the beginning, but after me and Celes cast tons of spells on him, he could!” “It’s kept a secret from the general populace, and it’s rarely practiced because it takes so much effort, but the Goddess’s church uses the same method to raise magic users,” added Sanctina. She herself had spent her childhood having spells cast on her by the Elderly Cardinal Cronklum, which eventually led to her being the genius she was. “Then, that means we can…?” “You can use magic, too,” said Shinichi. The human students gulped audibly in excitement. They had good reason to be eager. If they could unlock the secret power, they could stand at the top of the social hierarchy—with money and clout. Any adult in their situation would be frothing at the mouth, ready to get started. “If I can be a magic user, I can bump my older brothers out of line and become baron instead…” Shinichi looked coolly at the Boar Kingdom boy whose ambitions were getting the best of him. They don’t even know they’ll be taken down a peg or two when we introduce them to the insurmountable Demon King, he thought. Cute. “You bring them up to tear them down. You’re so nasty,” Celes snapped through Telepathy as she watched over the class from beside the wall. Shinichi smiled. “That’s just another lesson. It’s great to aim high, but too much ambition will destroy them. I’m not taking away their right to chase their dreams, but it’s important they’re aware of how they measure up.” Shinichi had lost his childhood friend because irresponsible adults kept pushing her to her limits. “All right, let’s start the lesson.” As part of the class, he was going to have them do a little experiment, which he kept as a secret from the students, calling over Celes and the other teachers over to join them. “First, let’s join hands and form a big circle.” “Okay!” said Rino. “I call the spot next to Rino. Oh, and a girl on the other side, please,” requested Sanctina. “Your allergic reaction to men still hasn’t gone away?” Rino asked. “Maybe with special training,” said Shinichi as Rino squeezed his right hand in hers. On the other side of Rino was Sanctina, followed by Celes and Arian. “You want me to hold hands with a demon…?” “If you don’t like it, then get away, meow!” The Boar Kingdom boy and catgirl were at it again, but they obediently joined hands, giving in to their dreams to be magic users. “All right. We’re going to spread magic into your bodies through our joined hands,” explained Shinichi. “Really?” “Uh-huh. The kids from Tigris might remember doing this before.” “I do! When I was helping Sanctina before!” called out a girl named Elma. Shinichi nodded back to her. In fact, she was the reason he’d even thought of trying this experiment. “Sanctina, you can take over from here,” he instructed. “Understood.” They had practiced this among just the teachers, so Sanctina was able to start her explanation without any hesitation. “Start by taking some deep breaths, in and out.” “Haaaah. Huffff.” “Are you feeling relaxed? We’re all going to distribute magic to the person on our right. Don’t try to resist. Just focus on passing the warmth you feel coming from your left hand all the way through you and into the person on your right.” “Ummm, left to right…” Sanctina waited a moment for all the students to process this information, then she closed her eyes and started to concentrate. “All right. Let’s begin.” The Saint took the magic activated in her body and passed it through her right hand to Celes, who then passed it on to Arian, and then into the students. “Aaah?!” The Boar Kingdom children let out yelps of surprise at the strange sensation, but the magic continued to flow down the line and finally reached Shinichi. “If you feel anything strange in your body, don’t suffer through it. Let us know.” It spread through their bodies a few more rounds. Sanctina delicately controlled the flow, gradually increasing the speed and heat. If this goes as planned, they’ll be magic users in no time. Every human had a magic system in their body that was always generating this secret power, even if the amount was minuscule. It had to be true, considering every person had magic sucked from them if they touched a magic conductor. It just didn’t mean they had enough energy to convert their imaginations into reality. It’s basically a muscle group. Muscles atrophied without use. In a similar way, the magic production systems remained weak when people didn’t expend their powers. That was why you could force magic into the system by casting a spell to make it start working until it was functional. Like a magic version of an Ab-O-Matic belt. The problem was efficiency—they’d cast hundreds of spells on Shinichi for him to reach his current level. That was where this plan came in. Instead of expending magic on spells, they would do this “rotational training,” which moved the same amount of magic through a circle forever. We already have a case study that proves it’s effective. Shinichi looked at the girl standing across the circle from him: Elma. She looked like she could still handle more. When broadcasting the events with Elazonia to the entire continent, Sanctina had joined hands with this exact girl. Shinichi had questioned whether Sanctina had chosen Elma to attend Demon King’s Academy because of her own feelings toward her, but Sanctina had denied it with a shake of her head. “Í took heed of your order,” she had said, “and selected normal kids with a tendency for magic and experience in a learning setting.” She had seemed a little apprehensive. “But I swear I felt no magic from Elma when I first met her. Did something make her grow that quickly in such a short period?” Shinichi quickly realized the cause. Tens of thousands of people’s concentrated magic had gathered to Sanctina—through Elma. That had kicked her development into overdrive. I admit it was careless. I was painfully aware that exposure to magic was enough. He thought of the beast morphs in the restricted zone and the little girl, Elen, and others exposed to the dragons’ magic waves. A powerful external source had boosted their magic incredibly fast. If they’re overexposed, they’ll turn into beasts, since their bodies won’t be able to handle it. As long as we’re careful, they should be able to use magic while keeping their human forms. The magic surging through his body became gradually hotter, causing the human children to start to sweat. “Agh…” When Shinichi saw one of the Boar Kingdom girls keel over in pain, he called for them to stop. “Sanctina!” “Let the life power inside your body shine even brighter, Self Healing Power Boost.” Sanctina didn’t need to be told. She stopped the flow of magic around the circle and released it as a Healing spell. A gentle light filtered over the students, and they all stood up with renewed energy, even the girl who had fallen to her knees. “How about we do a quick test to see how our training is going?” Shinichi gave Celes the cue. She nodded, telling the human students the same thing she had taught Shinichi before. “There is no need to overthink things. Spells are nothing more than a way of using magic to change reality to meet your imagination.” “We can change reality…?” “Imagine a flame,” said Celes, and a small flame flickered up from her fingertip. “Draw a picture of one inside your mind, then believe that it will ignite from your finger.” “A red flame…burns…” “Do you feel the warmth of magic welling up inside you? Concentrate that into your fingertip, speak an incantation, and release the spell.” “Burn flame! Fire!” they shouted, holding an image of fire in their minds. A tiny red flame sputtered for just a brief moment from the fingers of five out of the ten human students. “Whoa! It really worked!” “Hey! Why won’t mine do the thing?!” “Looks like a success.” Shinichi watched the children create a big fuss and nodded in satisfaction. Sanctina’s eyes were wide. “I didn’t doubt you, but I just can’t believe it can be so easy to make so many magic users…” “Well, you can’t really call them magic users yet.” The students were fumbling to light a flame again, while Shinichi and the other instructors moved over to the wall so the students couldn’t hear them talking. “If we keep this up, I imagine they’ll all be able to light some kindling. We’ll be lucky, though, if even one of them turns into a magic user powerful enough to heal major injuries or defeat monsters,” said Shinichi. He sounded harsh, but there was a huge difference in magic talent between individuals. Even though her pervy antics seemed to overshadow her talent, Sanctina was a genius—one in a million. Not everyone was capable of becoming even close to her. “I think it’s incredible that anyone can learn to use magic!” Arian exclaimed. “I agree,” said Sanctina. Compared to the method of casting hundreds of spells on a person, Shinichi’s rotational training would be able to generate large amounts of skilled magic users using very little magic. If this method became widespread, it wouldn’t be too far off in the future before all of humanity could use magic. “I don’t know why no one ever thought of this. It’s so simple…” Sanctina looked to the heavens. “It takes a lot of courage to try a new method that might fail when you’ve already got one that’s proven to work,” Shinichi explained. “I do think there are people who thought of this rotational training before me.” “Really?!” Arian cried. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.” Sanctina looked doubtful. They didn’t think of it simply because they were at the apex of humankind. “Think about it. Would magic users be happy if there were more magic users?” asked Shinichi. “Uh, but that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Arian cocked her head to the side, a good person at heart. “…Interesting.” Sanctina had seen how wretched humans could be during her time at the church. She grimaced, realizing quickly what Shinichi was saying. “No idiot would be happy to have competition,” the Saint explained. “Exactly. Magic users are valuable because of their rarity,” said Shinichi. If diamonds were as common as any normal pebble, no one would shell out a fortune to buy one. In the same way, magic users would become valueless if all humans could cast spells. “In fact, you can say the ‘strong’ only exist by virtue of comparison to the ‘weak.’” Value was relative. Someone who could smash a boulder with their fist was considered strong only because most people couldn’t manage to do the same thing. If every human could blow a mountain to smithereens, the boulder smasher would be ridiculed. “Basically, for the magic users to be at the top, they need people below them.” It was just like it took thousands of exploited workers to make a single rich person or a horde of soldiers to carry a hero to victory. “As long as there’s a social hierarchy with magic users at the top, there will always be people who can’t cast spells under them. Even if someone did think of this rotational training, they wouldn’t let the world know of their discovery—or they would be six feet under.” That was exactly what happened in the ancient civilization: A divide between magic users and non–magic users remained unaddressed, ending in terrorist attacks launched by beast morphs. The situation wasn’t that dire yet, but the church used to have all people who could cast Healing and Resurrection spells under their control. If the church had continued to expand its power, they would have repeated history. It could even have led to the birth of a new Elazonia. “But I’m not in the business of magic. I’m fine with getting rich from charging students astronomical fees to enroll in Demon King’s Academy—where you, too, can learn to become a magic user!” “You’re just asking to be dogpiled.” Celes sighed. Shinichi grinned. “Ha-ha-ha, it’s my job to be despicable.” My only reservation is that the boom in magic users might slow scientific development…, he thought. He was hoping they could decrease their workload by becoming like the elves, who were hardly working. That would leave more human resources to allocate to other uses and maybe lead to newer technologies. I imagine this won’t be easy, but it’s important to benefit the bottom line and narrow the status gap. We don’t want to repeat the same mistakes as the ancient civilization… Shinichi looked up at Rino mingling with the other students. “Drat! Why can’t I get this to work…?” “Heh-heh! Humans are so pathetic, meow.” “What did you say?!” “Tama, you shouldn’t tease people! Norman, I’ll try lending you some magic. Will you try one more time?” Rino asked. “I feel that hot energy flowing through me again… Come on, Fire!” Norman chanted. Rino was taking on the role of older sister, since she had more experience under her belt. With her guidance, even the struggling students were able to create a fire—to their great excitement. Shinichi had one wish as he watched the scene. I want Rino to make friends that are on equal footing with her. Uropeh had been controlled by a friendless girl with no peers to stop her from hurting others…until she became evil incarnate. There was a chance that Rino—heralded as the “Goddess” in the footsteps of Elazonia—might go down the same blood-soaked path. Shinichi had no intentions of letting anyone do anything to cloud Rino’s smile, but… We can’t always be by her side. He could hope for another seventy years at best, even if he had a long life. Meanwhile, Rino would live for another hundred and fifty years…maybe more. That meant Shinichi, Arian, Celes, even Sanctina, would only be by her side for half of her life. I know it’s only normal for the oldest people to die first, but it would be miserable to be around for decades after… Even her parents—the Demon King and Regina—would perish before her. Once she was left all on her own, she would be driven mad in the way only solitude can do. Her smile would be lost forever. Imagining that crushed Shinichi’s heart so much he thought it would break. I honestly couldn’t care less about world peace. He just didn’t want the day to come when Rino would be left in a world without her friends, used and abused by the public, until she become as spiteful as Elazonia. I know I’m being as overprotective as the Demon King right now… He wanted to make sure Rino had some friends her own age who could support her even when everyone else was gone. The problem is that a human wouldn’t live much longer than us. If he continued to run the school, the students would interact with the real Rino—not some goddess or superstar—while he continued to educate the younger generation. He could also try finding students from other demon races with longer life spans. Rino must have noticed his gaze, because she beamed and waved at him. He waved back with a smile, concealing every hint of sadness in his heart. Two weeks after classes had started at Demon King’s Academy, the instructors were heading to the classroom for the first block of the day when they heard a commotion from inside. They stood just outside the doorway. “What’s happening?” Shinichi cracked open the door to peek inside. Inside, he saw the catgirl, Tama, and the third son of Baron Siamese, Norman, shouting at each other. “I dare you to say that one more time, meow!” “Yeah? I’ll say it as many times I want!” “Calm down, please!” Rino shouted. “She’s right! We’re supposed to be the representatives of our countries. We have to get along…” The other students tried to calm them, but the angry pair wasn’t listening. They were facing off in the middle of the classroom, looking like they were about to fight any moment. “Those two…,” Shinichi said. “We have to stop them!” Arian tried to rush into the classroom, but he stopped her. “Wait. Let them continue.” “But if they start fighting…” “That’s fine.” Shinichi understood her concern, but he looked stern. He wouldn’t let her intervene. The students didn’t realize the teachers were watching. Tama and Norman raised their voices. “What’s wrong with calling someone stupid, if they’re really stupid?! You still can’t even subtract two digits, dummy!” “Look who’s talking! You can’t even cast Fire by yourself, so who’s the real dummy here, meow?” “There’s no connection between magic and intelligence!” “Oh maybe, meow. Anyway, I have no business talking to someone who can’t even win a race against a girl, meow.” “Sh-shut up, catgirl! You smell like an animal! Pee-ew! Take a bath!” “I take a bath every other day, thank you very much, meow!” The surrounding students were at a loss for what to do. Shinichi smiled wryly. “It’s your average little kid fight.” But this verbal attack between Norman and Tama was like a mini version of the conflict that was eventually going to happen between humans and demons. “Even if they have the same origin, humans and demons have become separate races. They don’t just look different. They have physical, magical, and intellectual disparities. Their understanding of common sense and customs are different. It’s hard to believe they’ll get along without a problem.” “…I suppose,” said Celes unhappily. There was infighting between demons and even between humans. It was natural for fights to break out between different species, too. “Rino wishes for humans and demons to coexist,” said Sanctina. “Which is why we shouldn’t stop them here. It’s better if they blow off steam.” Shinichi raised his hand to stop her from mediating. “There will be greater disputes someday. Even after we’ve gone.” “Shinichi…,” Arian whispered. They could guess the true meaning of his statement when he gritted his teeth in frustration. The instructors looked worried, but they obediently stayed put. Shinichi’s expression was resolute as he continued to watch Norman and Tama bicker, and Rino desperately try to get between them. Only in fairy tales can you defeat the big, bad wolf and live happily ever after. Real life isn’t so easy. This fight was symptomatic of larger and smaller issues that wouldn’t be solved anytime soon: monster attacks, human war, anti-demon terrorism. There was even the possibility that another Demon King would come attack the surface human world. Shinichi was going to die before Rino, which meant he couldn’t shield her from these things forever. He needed her to get small opportunities to practice, so she could build the skills necessary for overcoming those problems on her own. All he could do was grant her this school, where she could make friends for her long lifetime. Norman and Tama had no way of knowing Shinichi’s true intentions as their fight escalated. “Shut up, harlot!” “What?! I’m not a pervy succubus, meow!” “You’re always wagging your tail and trying to seduce boys!” Norman reflexively pushed her shoulder away. She staggered back a step. Her feline eyes flashed as she leaped so high her head almost hit the ceiling. “No more, mreow!” Sharp claws extended from her right fingertips, slashing down toward Norman’s stunned face. They were sharp enough to tear through a human body. However, the third son of Baron Siamese escaped unscathed. Rino had jumped in front of him, blocking the cat claws with her slender arm. “…Ah.” Rino winced in pain. She didn’t have enough time to perfect her defensive spell. Blood trickled from her arm, puddling on the floor. “Lady Rino?! Wh-what have I…?” Tama’s face paled, and her knees gave out. She was terrified the Demon King would kill her. However, Rino smiled, ignoring the pain, and took the catgirl’s hand that was stained with her own blood. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop you sooner.” “L-listen to yourself! It’s all my fault! You didn’t do anything wrong, meow!” “No. Friends should stop each other from fighting.” “Friends…?” Even though they were demon students at the same school, Tama had kept the tiniest bit of distance from Rino. She was the Blue Demon King’s daughter, after all. The catgirl blushed on hearing Rino considered her an equal…and a friend. When she saw Tama’s tail twitch happily, Rino smiled. She was thinking of a certain woman. “It’s really lonely to not have anyone yank you back on the right path.” The one who strayed had cried out in hate with her dying breath. For as long as she lived, Rino would never forget the fact that she couldn’t make her smile. “But I’m really bad at being forceful.” Wounds to the body could be healed with magic, but wounds to a friend’s heart were different. You couldn’t use Install to fix heartbreak.
Chapter 81
28 min read