Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

Akuto had a bad feeling. However, this was no vague foreboding; it was a grounded prediction. And his unpleasant prediction turned out to be right on target. As he rested in the dorm once night fell, more and more injured students were brought to the dining hall. Only the night shift was in the infirmary, so they could not treat everyone"s injuries there.

Akuto had been sipping on some after-dinner tea with Hiroshi and Korone, but more and more tables had to be moved out of the way to fit the male students who were lined up like giant tunas in a fish market. And if this was a fish market, the fishermen must have gotten an excellent haul. The number of injured continued to grow. The students who were followers of Ko Ro and hoped to be doctors rushed around performing first aid.

“This is all because they went treasure hunting, isn’t it?” asked Akuto.

“That’s right, aniki,” replied Hiroshi.

“Why do they feel the need to get injured over something as childish as a treasure hunt?”

As soon as Akuto said that, the dining hall’s atmosphere suddenly froze over. The other students thought he was insulting the injured. Looks of anger and hatred gathered on him. After all, the students here valued reckless actions and saw commotions like this as a virtue.

—c.r.a.p.

Surprisingly, Akuto was sensitive to that sort of atmosphere. He stood up and walked over to a first year treating the wounds of a second year. He put on his biggest smile as he spoke.

“I am actually a follower of Ko Ro, too. If you tell me how to perform healing magic, I can help. And even if you don’t, I can help in some other way.”

The two student’s faces paled to an even greater extent than if he was some quack of a doctor who would most certainly kill the injured student. They both could only shake their trembling heads.

“You don’t need to be afraid of me. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Akuto crouched down and the first year performing the healing cried out and ran away. The badly injured second year shouted “I’m healed! I’m healed! I really am!”, got down from the table, and hopped away on his one good leg. “O-okay, sorry. I"ll just stay out of the way.”

Akuto backed away and returned to his seat.

He asked Korone, “Can you help them attend to the injured?”

“Yes. I have been instructed to act according to the wishes of my subject.”

Korone began walking around to the different injured students. She was very popular. All of the injured students frantically waved their hands to draw her over to them as she pulled a healing device out of her bag.

As Akuto watched Korone heal the students one after another, he decided this would make it easier to speak with the injured. He approached a nearby boy and asked a question as gently as possible.

“So were you attacked by something?”

The boy looked shocked, but he responded with an almost sulking look rather than falling silent. He was a large first year who likely took pride in his strength.

“Yes. I was attacked before I even knew what was going on. That thing was powerful.”

“Are you sure?” asked Akuto.

The first year and all the others turned to look at Akuto. The delicate atmosphere that had temporarily left fell back over the dining hall.

—I see. They took that to mean anyone who lost to it was just weak. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I was simply asking if this thing was really there.

Upon realizing that, Akuto cleared his throat and chose his words carefully.

“My apologies. I was asking if this monster really did exist. After all, look how many of you have been injured. If all of you attacked it together, surely you could handle even a powerful monster.”

“We didn’t attack it together. We were all separate,” said the first year in a blunt but annoyed tone of voice.

“Then did you all attack it at different times?”

“We didn’t attack it at all.”

“Oh, so it attacked you. But with this many people, couldn’t you have joined together then?”

Akuto asked this because he was legitimately curious, but the first year’s reply was filled with irritation.

“You don’t go treasure hunting in a big group. We all headed out on our own. No team was bigger than two people.”

“Oh, that’s right!” said Akuto loudly when he finally caught on. “You were treasure hunting! You all wanted to get there ahead of everyone else! My apologies once more. I completely forgot about that! If it hadn’t been for that selfishness, such a large number of people would never have been injured!”

The dining hall froze over and silence fell.

—Oh, c.r.a.p. I said something else that could be taken the wrong way.

Akuto raised his voice so everyone could hear as he tried to smooth things over.

“No, I just wanted to say that you would have had better results if you had worked together. Everyone in this school is a valiant warrior, right? If you had some excellent commander, you would be able to produce quite a bit of power.”

The first year must have been so irritated he no longer cared because his next statement was filled with contempt.

“Shut up. We don’t have anyone to act as a leader.”

“What about the ranking system? If you let the person ranked at the top command you…”

At that point, Akuto realized something. It had not occurred to him until he had already spoken.

—Oh, no. I’m the one that defeated the people at the top of the rankings!

Akuto was unsure of what to say now.

The surrounding students were muttering among themselves.

“Is he saying this would have gone better if he led us?”

“He’s saying we should give in to the great demon king.”

“Wait, so did the demon king set up this entire thing? Was he planning this?”

“Come to think of it, he was the one that found the map and it was his girl that spread it around.”

The situation had taken a turn for the worse. The gazes that gathered on Akuto now were a mixture of cold looks and fearful ones.

Akuto shook his head and stood up.

“That"s not what happened! I would gain nothing from doing that! All I have done is point out your weaknesses! However, I had no intention of criticizing you. I simply said you should work together! For example, if everyone shares their information on what they were attacked by, you should be able to work out a strategy for fighting it.”

One of Akuto’s greatest weaknesses was his bad habit of trying to make himself look good at times like this. However, he did have a decent argument here, so the grumbling injured students gradually began exchanging information with those around them.

“It turned into a fog, so my attacks didn’t work.”

“That’s what got me too. And it was too dark to tell for sure, but I think there were a bunch of bugs flying around. I couldn’t figure out where to attack.”

“That’s right. The fog was the main body that attacked by controlling those bug-things. There was nothing I could do.”

As they spoke, they eventually began discussing how to defeat this enemy. The discussion grew quite heated which was fine, but it quickly shifted over to fighting over who would play what role.

“Like I said, the decoy just has to draw the bugs away.”

“Yeah, but who acts as the decoy!?”

“Someone who’s good at running away.”

“Don’t be stupid. The decoy has always been the guy with the thickest armor.”

“What? Are you saying I’m wrong? And don’t call me stupid.”

“That’s not the point. Your way of thinking will mean we have to change who takes command.”

“That’s right. Who will take command anyway? Are we going to have a tournament to decide?”

“If we did that, it would end up being a fight over who gets the treasure in the end.”

“Well, what’s wrong with that? Then we’d know who the truly strong ones are.”

Killing intent began to fill the room. Akuto had been the one who created this situation, so he raised his voice to put a stop to it.

“Everyone calm down! You don"t need to fight over this. You don"t even know if this treasure exists. And even if it does, it seems to have been left there for a long time. How about you just a.s.sume there is nothing there? That will bring everything back to how it was beforehand.”

But his words only needlessly fanned the flames.

“You’re the one who found the map!”

“This isn"t about the treasure anymore! We’re going to fight that monster to take our revenge!

The injured students began making a fuss. It rubbed Akuto the wrong way how they had switched over to an objective of revenge. He felt that was nothing more than hiding their own weakness.

“Then why don’t you go back on your own and lose again! I can’t speak with fools who refuse to face their own weakness! Why do you refuse to work together!?” he shouted in annoyance.

His voice was so loud that everyone in the room froze in place.

—I’ve done it again…

However, it was too late to stop now. It was in everyone’s best interests if he used this situation to bring an end to this treasure hunt.

“The incompetent should not go on risk their lives just to look good! If you want to go, do so after proving your power! Do not sneak around for your own self-interest if you do not have the guts to do that! That is all I wish to say!”

Akuto ended his speech by slamming his hands down on the table. He began sweating from both embarra.s.sment and regret, but after that challenge, he might be attacked in his sleep if he tried to back out now. He straightened his back, glanced forcefully across the entire room, and boldly walked out of the dining hall.

Hiroshi followed him while shedding tears of pa.s.sion.

“That’s my aniki for you! You were so cool!”

“That isn’t what I was going for.”

“Don’t be so modest! …Oh, I get it! Instead of conquering the academy by force, you plan to get everyone to naturally revere you! And you’re teaching them how to make brave decisions on their own! You have such foresight! I always learn so much from you!”

“Okay… That’s good…”

Akuto did not have the energy to argue with Hiroshi, so he continued on as energetic as ever.

“Yes! I’m so glad I’ve stuck with you! And I of course used a Speaker to broadcast that speech throughout the dorms!”

“To both dorms?”

“Of course!” replied Hiroshi with great satisfaction.

—I can already tell this is going to get a lot worse…

Akuto felt a headache coming on. He soon realized worrying about this would not help, so he stopped thinking about it.

The following day, Akuto received a summons in the early morning. It was from the student council president. Akuto was an early enough riser that he was already awake when she contacted him, but the president herself sounded tired. Once he arrived in the student council office, the president was resting her shoulders on her desk and looked like she was about to nod off.

“Sorry about calling you here so early. Um, I heard that speech yesterday. That thrilling one.”

Akuto could not tell if she was displeased or just tired, so he was unsure on how to reply. She was a girl yet she looked like an oddly intimidating boy, so her expressions were hard to read.

“That was embarra.s.sing,” said Akuto as he bowed his head.

“No, it’s all right. It pained me to see all those injuries, too. The reason I have summoned you here is so you can use your authority as head public morals officer to give an official command banning the treasure hunt. You can do so at the morning a.s.sembly,” explained the president with a yawn.

“An official command?”

“Yes. The public morals committee has the authority and you can punish the students who disobey. Doing so too often would turn this into a reign of terror, of course. At any rate, your speech yesterday more or less said anyone strong could go. You know how dangerous that is, right?”

“You’re right. I apologize for saying all that without permission.”

“Nnn, it’s not really a big deal. And if you’re going to apologize, it should be for breaking your promise not to tell anyone about that map.”

“I am sorry about that. I should have watched over it more carefully.”

“No, as long as you apologize. And to be honest, it might have gotten out from here.”

The president laughed lightly.

When Akuto thought about it, he had left the map with Korone and she would not have let her guard down. That meant Keena would have had to steal it from the student council office. However, he saw no reason to point that out.

“I will take responsibility by announcing the official command,” promised Akuto before glancing around the student council office. “Are the three officers not with you?”

“No. They had some minor business to take care of. They"ll be back in time for the morning a.s.sembly.”

The president then drove Akuto out of the room so she could announce the special morning a.s.sembly.

An hour later, the entire student body was lined up in the schoolyard. Both the middle school and high school were there, so it was quite a sight. Akuto and the student council president stood in front of them all. An artificial creature known as a Speaker was floating in the center of the podium placed in the schoolyard, so the words of whoever stood on the podium could be heard by all present company.

—Looks like they aren’t here.

Akuto noticed that Junko and Keena were missing from the line of students from Cla.s.s 1A. He understood that neither of them would want to face Akuto right now, but it still bothered him that they were missing.

As he thought about that, the student council president finished her greeting from atop the podium. However, Akuto had not been lost in thought for all that long. All the president had said was, “Good morning, everyone. Now, the head public morals officer has something to tell you.”

Akuto frantically stepped up onto the podium. Most people would be nervous while standing in front of the school’s entire student body, but Akuto was not one of those people. He put together the words in his head, gave a short greeting, and began to get to the topic at hand. But what happened next stopped even Akuto from continuing.

“Sai Akutooo! I just have to prove I’m powerful, right? Then that’s what I’ll do!”

The next thing Akuto knew, a girl had jumped up from the lines of students. She had long green hair tied into a ponytail. After jumping several meters up into the air, she rotated around with her hair waving around, stuck her right leg out, and then began gliding directly toward Akuto.

“Gooo! Exploding Midair Triangle Kick!” she shouted while focusing mana in her right foot.

As that foot began to glow, it shot straight for Akuto’s face.

—Not good.

Akuto took a step to the right atop the podium. He had enough time to easily evade the kick. However, Akuto quickly realized he had been too naïve. The way the girl had been gliding across at an unnatural trajectory through the air showed she was flying at high speed rather than falling. She was moving at tremendous speed, but she could still control her flight. And as proof, she immediately redirected her kick towards his face.

—Should I knock it aside with my hand? No, then I would lose control of my mana!

Akuto was unsure what to do. He could not allow himself to lose control of his mana and cause an explosion here. However, he could not deflect this kick without using mana.

—That means I have to avoid it at the last second!

Akuto made up his mind almost instantly. If he moved aside now, her foot would simply follow suit. In that case, he would have to move his head out of the way right before the kick landed.

“Take this! Right on target!” shouted the girl confidently.

However, Akuto’s reflexes were better than the girl had expected. He swung his head to the side at the last moment as if turning away from her. He just barely managed to avoid her glowing foot.

“I missed!?” shouted the girl.

—I did it!

Akuto gave an internal cheer.

But in the next instant…

With a silly-sounding squishing noise, Akuto felt something soft on his face. His vision went completely black. For an instant, he was unsure what had happened. His cheeks were strongly trapped between two soft objects. He felt like some soft cloth was covering his head.

“Kyaaah! Wait! No!”

When he heard that scream from above his head, Akuto finally realized what had happened.

The girl was straddling his face. He was still standing, so it was something like a reverse piggyback ride.

“Wah! Wait!”

Akuto could not just throw the girl off of him, so he had no choice but to remain standing where he was.

It must have been a ridiculous sight for anyone watching. And there were plenty of people watching. Basically, Akuto was standing upright with his head stuck up a girl’s skirt and his face pressed against her crotch while the entire student body watched on.

“What are you doing, Sai Akuto!?”

The girl must have been unable to concentrate enough to control her mana because she didn"t take flight again. She complained to Akuto while working to keep her balance.

“You’re the one that tried to kick me!”

“Hyaah! Don’t talk! It tickles!”

“Oh, sorr-…”

“I said don’t talk! Don’t move!”

“I won’t, so you climb down!”

“Hyah! I-I’m stuck. I can’t move! I’m going to fall!”

“Then don’t move. I’ll lower you down.”

Akuto felt around until he had his hands around the girl’s waist, lifted her up to remove her legs from his shoulders, and then tried to lower her down while almost embracing her. The girl slowly slid down his body with her legs wrapped around his body.

But when he had lowered the girl far enough that her face was right in front of his, she tightened her legs around his body so she could not be lowered any further.

“Hurry up and get down,” he said.

The girl before him had clear facial features and was very beautiful, but she seemed to show her emotions too clearly so she seemed somehow off balance. This was the same girl who had challenged Fujiko the day before.

“What is it?” asked Akuto in confusion.

The girl’s face was only about 10 cm from his. Her breath tickled him.

“You"re even more handsome up close,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Her legs were still wrapped around his waist, so she was now hanging down in front of him.

“Thanks, but could you get off of me?” said Akuto while feigning calm.

The situation may have just been so strange his senses had numbed over, but not even he was sure. It was also possible his odd desire to look good prevented him from letting him lose his cool in front of others. Either way, he kept his back straight and reacted coolly as this girl embraced him.

“You’re quite interesting! Hey, why did you dodge my kick like that?”

The girl had a smile similar to a child who had found a new toy.

In the hopes that she would climb down quickly, Akuto responded to her question while facing away.

“If I tried to block it, I would have lost control over my mana and caused a giant explosion. I just have too much power. Since you were obviously controlling your path, I decided to dodge at the last second. I thought you might have flown behind me and hurt yourself if I had gone the other way. If you understand, then please get down.”

However, it seemed Akuto’s words had only amused the girl further.

“You’re amazing! You thought through all that in just an instant! I’ve only ever met one other guy like you! Whose woman should I be? If you want, we can do it right here and now.”

The girl began thrusting her hips against Akuto. Her crotch was in the perfect position to press up against Akuto’s hips, so it was an unquestionably very obscene action.

“Get off of me.”

Akuto began to grow a bit fl.u.s.tered and he removed the girl’s arms from around his neck. However, the girl’s legs were strong enough that she could hang on without her arms. And once she saw an opening, she wrapped her arms around his neck again.

—What is with this girl?

Akuto looked around in hopes of finding help. The student council president only gave an odd bitter smile and spun her arm around to tell him to hurry up and do what he came here to do. Meanwhile, the teachers were too dumbfounded to do anything and the students had turned into a sea of muttering.

“Wait, wait. What is going on…?”

“Don’t tell me they’re going to do it in front of everyone…”

“I think they might be already.”

“I can’t tell with the skirt in the way, but is she not wearing any panties under there?”

“But even if he’s the demon king, isn’t he a bit too calm for that?”

“No, can’t villains take a woman without so much as changing their expression?”

“Y-you’re right… But seeing this makes me feel like I’ve lost to him as a guy…”

“He’s doing it in front of the entire student body… There’s no way we can match that…”

—Wait! What the h.e.l.l is going on here!?”

Akuto was utterly confused, but he was unable to get too forceful with a girl even in a situation like this. He calmly cleared his throat and shouted as loudly as he could.

“Silence!”

His voice was amplified by the Speaker, so it resounded throughout the schoolyard with a bit of feedback. After gathering the student’s attention, he cleared his throat once more. The schoolyard was covered in silence as everyone"s attention was directed towards him.

“Everyone! Yesterday, I said you should prove your strength before pursuing the treasure. It seems she took me at my word and challenged me. However, you should think of that as wasted effort.”

Akuto had given up on removing the girl and instead spoke with her still hanging onto him. His statement caused another wave of muttering to spread throughout the students.

“I see. He’s saying he’ll do the same thing to anyone who challenges him.”

“He must have used some kind of magic to seduce her.”

“Did he do something when he had his face pressed against her crotch?”

Those fearful voices spread through the students.

—No, you misunderstand… But I guess I can’t blame any of you. There is something seriously wrong with this girl! Please understand that!

While Akuto shouted internally, he knew that would never resolve the situation. He had to carry out his duty and then step down from the podium as quickly as possible.

“I am using my authority as head public morals officer to ban anyone from attempting the treasure hunt! Anyone who disobeys should expect to be punished! That is all I-…”

As Akuto tried to conclude his statement, he was cut off by the students. They were all booing his ban.

—In a normal situation, I could have phrased it in some way that restrained their dissatisfaction, but I can’t persuade anyone like this.

Akuto was troubled, but then he heard a voice from nearby. The girl was speaking up so the Speaker would pick up her voice.

“You can"t go back on your word word. If you think we’re not good enough, then do it yourself.”

The students cheered at that.

Some of them began shouting their support of the idea.

“That’s right! Why don’t you go and get the treasure!?”

“If you think we’re weak, then you should take responsibility!”

“Don’t take all the treasure for yourself!”

Akuto was unsure how to handle this hostile reaction, so he turned toward the student council president. The president made a shooing motion as if to say he could do whatever he wanted.

—Well, at least no more students will risk their lives anymore.

Akuto made up his mind.

“Understood. I will go. However, all other students are banned from approaching within one kilometer of the locations marked on the map.”

With that announcement, Akuto stepped down from the podium. Once he did, the girl finally stood on her own two legs. Akuto pointed at her in order to ask the president who the girl was, but the president only shrugged.

“Who are you?” asked Akuto.

The girl shook her ponytail and replied, “Teruya Eiko. I was just wanted to tease you, but it looks like we might get to know each other a lot better. It would be worth remembering my name.”

“Just try to do something about it over the weekend starting tomorrow. And if you fail and try to hide it, at least hide it well.”

From her att.i.tude, it was clear the student council president did not approve of Akuto going off treasure hunting. After that speech, she had called him to the student council office to lecture him.

“I"m sorry. And I only have to find out what this monster is, don"t I? I will be treating that as my goal,” he replied.

The three officers (vice president, secretary, and treasurer) had returned and were giving Akuto resentful looks, so he had been trying to defend his case.

However, the three’s harsh looks did not disappear. They were all third year girls with an odd intensity to them. The vice president had bold eyebrows and gave a wild impression. The secretary was quite tall for a girl and always seemed to be without emotion. The treasurer was slender and beautiful, but her skin went beyond white and approached being sickly pale.

Akuto could instinctually tell that the three of them were not normal girls and did not want to displease them, but it seemed their moods were not going to improve.

“Don’t worry. I won"t cause any problems for you,” said Akuto once more.

“Oh,” began the president as if she had something to say. “Um, if you do fail, we won’t tell anyone, so you can just come back. Yes, that’s fine. That would be perfectly fine.”

She seemed to be vaguely agreeing with him, but…

“You make it sound like you want me to fail,” he said in confusion.

She nodded and said, “You can take it that way if you like. We just want to forget any of this ever happened.”

“In that case, you should have stopped that strange girl. As the student council president, you should not just ignore something like that,” protested Akuto in a fair bit of annoyance.

“Yes, well…you know. I didn’t want to interrupt you while you were enjoying yourself,” she said hesitantly.

“I was not enjoying myself. What are you even thinking? And who is that girl anyway? She disappeared while I wasn’t looking afterwards,” said Akuto as he pressed the president for an answer.

The president’s cheek twitched slightly and she placed a finger on the brim of her hat. Akuto did not understand what that action meant, but it clearly scared the three officers.

—Eh?

Akuto found it odd, but the president immediately removed her hand from her hat. She tapped the finger on her desk instead while her cheeks tightened in annoyance.

She said, “She may have been wearing one of our uniforms, but she is not a student. I cannot say anything more. There are certain things I am not allowed to say due to my position as student council president. But there is something I want to tell you. I"m not sure if I should call it a warning or a request, but do not let that girl do as she pleases. And try to have some sense. There are some truths that must not be brought to light.”

Akuto couldn"t understand the president or her att.i.tude. But after being told so bluntly, he had no choice but to obey.

“Understood.”

Even after Akuto left the student council office, the president’s statement left him with feelings of suspicion.

—I need to make my preparations.

Akuto opened the knapsack he had borrowed from the school’s travel supplies and then placed it on his dorm room floor, but the two people standing on either side of the knapsack bothered him more than what he would put inside it.

He had not asked Korone or Hiroshi to come along. Korone was not a problem because she was his observer and could be reliable in a pinch. The problem was Hiroshi.

“I’ll go with you, aniki! I’m prepared to give up my life if you’re in danger!”

Hiroshi continued to expand on his determination at length, but Akuto calmly thought instead of listening to him.

—He’s going to come with me no matter what I say, so telling him not to would be useless. But with that Teruya girl and everything else, there are just too many strange aspects to this. He might come in handy on that side of things, but I’m not sure I can protect him if we"re confronted by the creature. He could easily get hurt in all this.

As Akuto thought on, he finally came to a decision.

“Could you fill this knapsack with some supplies? I have something else I need to take care of,” he said.

Hiroshi seemed deeply moved that he was being relied on, so he ran to get food from the dining hall while half in tears.

—Now then…

After mustering up a small amount of courage, Akuto pulled out his student handbook and began a telepathic conversation.

Half an hour later, Akuto waited quietly in a room of the academy’s underground labyrinth. He had been there once before. It was originally a bunker used for conducting strategies during the Great War. It was separated from Fujiko’s secret lab by a single wall.

“You certainly have guts. How dare you show yourself before me?” said Fujiko as she appeared before Akuto with a look of displeasure.

“I would not have blamed you had you not come, so thank you for showing up.”

Akuto stood up from his chair and bowed his head.

The memories of the incident from the other day had been erased from all of the other students, so only Akuto and Keena were aware of Fujiko’s true ident.i.ty. And it was because Fujiko knew this fact that she had responded to his request.

“Are you planning to threaten me?”

“No, you would not give in to that anyway. Not to mention that n.o.body would believe me if I tried to reveal your intentions,” replied Akuto immediately.

“Then what business do you have with me? I haven"t given up on making you my slave,” insisted Fujiko with a stiff expression.

However, Akuto simply answered honestly.

“I know. But I think we should have a more normal relationship. A relationship as uppercla.s.sman and undercla.s.sman.”

“You know,” Fujiko folded her arms in annoyance and looked down at Akuto. “I would prefer it if you did not view my ambitions as a black magician so lightly. To a black magician, the demon king is the symbol of liberation, but I intend to become someone even greater than the demon king.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about because I have no intention of becoming the demon king.”

That decisive statement left Fujiko looking disappointed.

“Wh-what do you mean? You saw through my plan and set up a trap for me…”

Instead of pointing out that it had been Keena’s odd actions that had done that, Akuto simply stared Fujiko directly in the eye.

“Wh-what is it?” she asked.

“Senpai, I want you to teach me how to use magic in combat. I still lose control over my mana and do not know how to use it properly. And my official lessons are not enough for now.”

Akuto spoke in a truly serious manner which left Fujiko shocked.

“So you came to me?”

“Yes. I thought the person I knew who is most used to fighting would be best.”

Fujiko gave a cruel smile at that.

“I might lead you into a trap.”

“I expect you to, but I still think learning from you would be best.”

He was speaking from his heart, so his expression remained serious as he said that. Fujiko looked utterly confused.

“H-how softhearted can you be? Or are you trying to show off how good a person you are?”

“No, I"m not claiming to be anything. I do take my irritation out on others at times. However, I feel that I can trust you.”

“That is what I am saying makes you softhearted.”

“No, it doesn"t. You"re a terrible human being. You"re selfish and you rely on and abuse power, yet you manipulate others to further your goals. That makes you paranoid. That"s why you"re hiding in fear.”

“Wha-…?”

Fujiko was left speechless.

—Did I go too far? But I’m fairly certain all of this is true.

While silently regretting it, Akuto tried to fix things with his next words.

“As I said before, that is why I am able to trust you. After all, someone who never trusts others will always be working for their own self-interest. So as long as I give something in return, we can make a deal. As for what I will give you in exchange for being taught how to use magic, how about I promise not to make any sort of attack on you? With how much you like planning things out, I think you should find this reasonable.”

As Akuto pressed Fujiko for an answer, she slammed her hands on the table in annoyance.

“Don’t act like you know what goes on in my head!”

—She insists she is a villain, so I was trying to compliment her villainous side… Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to get along with her after a.n.a.lyzing her to that extent.

Akuto folded his arms with a troubled look, but he knew that would never solve anything.

He bowed his head and said, “I apologize for being so rude. But I came here knowing the risks. And you want to make me your slave. This would make me your student, which is similar.”

“D-don’t say it like that!” shouted Fujiko in a shrill voice as she pounded on the table again. “Fine then! I will teach you what you want to know. I will teach you how to fight! But you cannot complain if I attack you in your sleep now! You are a demon! You are the demon king!”

—I got what I wanted, but it looks like I angered her.

Akuto shrugged.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“What!?”

“Um… Could you stop calling me the demon king?”

“No! You may not accept it, but you do have the potential!”

Fujiko pounded on the desk for a third time.

Fujiko then told him to open his student handbook. He was to take notes in it.

“Magic refers to any phenomenon caused by the atmospheric mana reacting to your internal mana. You know that much, correct? Your internal mana reacts to the electrical impulses in your brain. That is simple as well. Now, it is the G.o.ds that decide how mana behaves. Energy is released into the earth from the central generation facility, so this is something other than energy. You could say this is like programming the mana.”

Akuto knew that much, but the rest of what she said were things he only vaguely knew about.

“The G.o.ds decide how mana behaves. Mana appears to be almighty and that binds it. This causes a problem for the G.o.ds. The G.o.ds constantly monitor the contents of human brains via mana and log everything they see. That is the simplest way of explaining it. You can think of the G.o.ds as computers or as personalities that become the target of worship. Because they monitor people’s feelings, they can give different blessings to different people based on those peoples’ individual actions. The logs themselves are not made public, but you could say they use the convenience of magic to force people into doing good. The G.o.d Ko Ro views charity as a virtue and the G.o.d Suhara views heroism as a virtue, so they make the magic required for such actions easier to use.”

Normal people simply worshipped their G.o.d, but the upper levels of society had transformed it into a system. However, it was not hidden that this is what the G.o.ds were. It was simply that many people did not to want to consider it too much. Anyone related to academism knew this and most intellectuals chose to go through the motions of being religious despite knowing better. Doing so allowed them the convenience of magic, so it was well worth their while.

“That is why many graduates of this school ultimately hope to become priests that can influence the ‘system’ of the G.o.ds. And it is the black magicians that choose to oppose that system. In other words, we are opposed to being bound to it and want to restore free will. Or at least, that is the goal of the organized black magicians. It is true that there are many who are simply petty criminals.”

Akuto cut in there.

“So how does a demon king fit into all of this?”

“You don"t know despite being one yourself? Although I suppose no one would have told you. Every child born in this country is baptized, correct? That baptism is a contract with a G.o.d and one cannot use magic without it. However, those who are not baptized are not able to live as normal human beings. The previous demon king questioned that fact. This information is not exactly kept secret either. It just seems that no one cares.”

“And how does this tie into using magic?”

“Certain types of magic require certain qualifications or else their use is considered a crime. However, this does not mean it is impossible for those without the qualifications to use them. For example, one normally needs a license to use flight magic, but it is taught to everyone in this academy. This type of magic is known as a forbidden spell. Even if you cannot use the spell without the qualifications, you can use it if you trick your G.o.d into thinking you are qualified. People who do that are known as black magicians. However, the G.o.d still sees that you used the forbidden spell. You can trick your G.o.d into thinking you are qualified to use the forbidden spell, but your G.o.d will penalize you for it afterwards. In other words, the more often you use black magic, the weaker you become.”

“Then is there any point in being a black magician?”

“Not if that was the only option. This is why black magicians had their own G.o.d. A G.o.d of freedom. A G.o.d that did not forbid anything.”

“And where is this G.o.d?”

“It no longer exists. It was destroyed during the war. It is the dream of all black magicians to recreate it. That is why some black magicians are working to corrupt a high priest. Only a high priest and those around them have the knowledge needed to create a G.o.d.”

“I see,” Akuto nodded.

Fujiko had briefly covered what one would learn in first year lessons.

—But it sounds to me like the black magicians are being selfish too. If I think that differently from them, maybe I really will avoid being the demon king.

Fujiko then finally arrived at the true purpose of the lesson.

“Now, about fighting. I explained all of that because what types of magic you naturally specialize in come from which G.o.d’s baptism you received and how your mind works.”

Fujiko reached for Akuto’s student handbook and drew a diagram. She drew four intersecting lines to create a star shape. It was a matrix with eight points at the end of the lines. And she wrote a word at each of the points like the numbers on a clock.

“Illusion”, “Healing”, “Telekinesis”, “Explosion”, “Spiritual”, “Tool Control”, “Religious”, and “Transformation”.

“These are the eight types of magic one can specialize in. As this diagram suggests, no one can specialize in two types opposite each other. Someone who specializes in illusion magic will have difficulty with spiritual magic. Using that knowledge is one trick to improving your abilities.”

“What do you specialize in?”

“Transformation magic. I can change the composition of materials using mana. Those with this specialty can create potions and even change their shape. My specialty is more on the side of creating potions, though. What matters for now is that I have difficulty with explosion magic. We practice every sort of magic in our lessons, but it is best to avoid using your opposite type in a fight because it will be ineffective. You are obviously the opposite of me. You clearly specialize in explosion magic.”

“That means I should focus on that, right?”

“Yes. Once we know that much, the next step would normally be practicing until you get the hang of it, but you don"t have the time for that.”

Fujiko placed a large handgun on the table.

Akuto looked at it in confusion.

“What is that?”

“It is an incantation gun which allows mana to be placed within the bullets. The mana is placed in the bullets ahead of time and the mana’s effects show themselves once it is fired. Anyone can use the weapon, but someone who can control their mana well can produce many different effects by regulating the bullet ahead of time.”

Fujiko lined up some bullets in front of Akuto.

“Do you always carry this around?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“For starters, I think it’s illegal.”

“Not in this academy. Everyone here can use magic even more dangerous than this.”

Fujiko opened the revolver cylinder and showed him how to use it.

A gap appeared in the conversation there. Something that had been bothering Akuto floated up in the back of his mind.

“You are the dorm leader, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then do you know a girl named Teruya Eiko?”

“No, I don"t. …By any chance are you talking about the girl who was clinging to you at the morning a.s.sembly?” asked Fujiko as her expression stiffened.

“Do you know anything about her? The student council president said she didn’t, but she seems to be hiding something. She even warned me to be careful around her.”

A thoughtful expression came over Fujiko.

“That girl confronted me for some reason as well and it had been bothering me.”

“Did she attack you?”

“No, she only confronted me. And the only thing I can think of that we have in common is the treasure map.”

Fujiko had spoken that last statement while lost in thought, but she quickly silenced herself as if she had said too much. And Akuto didn"t overlook it.

“What do you mean? Do you know something about the map?”

Fujiko’s expression grew cloudy.

“N-no… I had only suspected that my late brother might have made it.”

“Then…”

“I-I was wrong. My brother told me as much.”

“Uh... I thought you said he was dead.”

“I used necromancy. I"m a black magician, remember?”

Fujiko looked like she was only putting on a strong front as she said that. Her arrogant exterior had simply disappeared.

“If I recall, dead spirits created with necromancy can’t lie. Sorry. It must have been hard on you to use necromancy to speak with your brother.”

After seeing the look on Fujiko’s face Akuto had tried to apologize, but she raised her voice as she grew a bit upset.

“Not at all! He was a horrible person! He disgraced my proud family! I have a lot of memories of him being with me when I was little, but that probably means he was a filthy pedophile! If he were alive today, I am sure he would have become a lowly degenerate!”

—If you’re worried about disgracing your family, why are you a black magician?

Akuto kept that thought to himself and chose to change the subject instead.

“Well, this Teruya Eiko bothers me. But I have problems with being forceful enough when it comes to girls…”

Fujiko stared at Akuto with resentment in her eyes.

“You were certainly forceful with me.”

“Yeah, but you’re evil. You can’t exactly expect me to show you kindness,” replied Akuto reflexively.

Fujiko held the incantation gun toward Akuto and spoke with her voice trembling.

“I hate those who oppose me and those who obey me are weak.”

“I"m sorry you feel that way.”

Akuto respectfully took the incantation gun she was holding out.

Akuto tried firing the incantation gun in the forest behind the school building and it seemed to be working well. He had placed steel cans at a distance as targets and he quickly figured out how to accurately blow them to smithereens. He could control the path of the bullets and the timing of the explosion with nothing but his own will, so it was quite easy to use. And unlike when he used his own magic, the power was restrained to a set range. Akuto was relieved to finally have a weapon he could control.

And it seemed Hiroshi had finished packing the supplies. The boy showed up behind the school building with a giant knapsack on his back. Korone was with him.

“Aniki! Just to be sure, I prepared enough supplies to last us an entire week!”

“Thanks… But you should have split the supplies into two bags.”

“I can’t make you carry the supplies, aniki! Just leave it to me!”

“You can carry everything if you want, but I don’t want you to attempt too much and waste all of your effort because of it.”

“Don’t worry! I always waste all of my effort!”

“Oh, I see… Fine then. Now, let’s get going,” said Akuto.

But Korone cut in to say, “But it is the evening. I thought we were leaving in the morning.”

“Let’s get an early start. I want to leave while no one is watching. We can’t let ourselves be spotted.”

A voice from above responded to Akuto’s statement.

“Who can you not let spot you, Sai Akuto!?”

Akuto looked up in shock to find Teruya Eiko standing in a tree. She didn"t seem to mind that he could see her panties. In fact, she was puffing her chest out in pride while spreading her legs so he could get a better look.

“What are you…”

Before he could finish his question, Akuto noticed the panties quickly approaching him. Eiko had jumped down. She twisted her body around in midair to nicely land on Akuto’s shoulders like he was giving her a piggyback ride.

“You promised to bring me with you!” shouted Eiko with an excited look.

“I don’t remember promising anything.”

“I’m coming with you even if you didn’t promise anything. Got it?”

Eiko began rubbing her hips up against the back of Akuto’s head.

“Hey…” Akuto started, but it was Hiroshi who began protesting in earnest.

“Get away from aniki, you wh.o.r.e!”

“Don’t use such filthy language! And I’m free to climb up on his shoulders if I want to!”

“No, you are not! Aniki is mine!”

“Are you gay? Even if you are, he certainly isn’t. Just look how red his face is. Look, look.”

Eiko continued to grind her hips up against the back of Akuto’s head.

His ears were trapped between her soft thighs and he could definitely feel his cheeks turning red.

“G-get off of me.”

As usual, Akuto was still unable to use force at times like this. In the same way, Hiroshi continued to protest but never once touched Eiko.

“Please take me with you. Of course, I’ll follow you even if you refuse.”

“Not a chance!” shouted Hiroshi.

“But it might be dangerous,” argued Akuto.

“C’mon!”

After they all argued back and forth for a few minutes, Korone suddenly spoke up.

“Arguing will not resolve anything. And the sun has already set. How about we camp here for tonight?”

And so they did.

—Wait a second. Why are we camping in the forest behind the school?

By the time Akuto realized that, he was already lying in his tent. Eiko had disappeared at some point, but she was clearly watching them. When he tried to sneak out of his tent and escape from her in the night, she had suddenly appeared from behind a tree.

—So she’s monitoring us. She isn’t an artificial human, so has she been trained in how to stay awake all night? Honestly, who is she?

Akuto eventually gave up and went to sleep.

Akuto woke Hiroshi very early the next morning to begin their journey (and because he would have felt like a complete idiot if any other students saw them camping in the forest right out back), but Junko was returning to the academy at the same time. She came back after being summoned by her father.

Her father had told her that Teruya Eiko had infiltrated the school as an officially designated spy. He had no knowledge regarding her mission or who she was working for.

The Hattori and Teruya families had a long history. They both followed the Suhara religion, but they often came into conflict over differing interpretations of the religion’s doctrines. The Hattori family had chosen to aid the peacetime government in national defense while the Teruya family saw that as weakness and viewed dedicating one’s life to honing one’s military might as a virtue.

—If one of them has infiltrated the school, their goal must be…

Junko naturally thought of Akuto. She had headed back to school even before the flying buses were running so that she could arrive at Akuto’s dorm room window as quickly as possible. However, one glance was enough to tell her that Akuto was gone. The curtain was wide open and the bed was neatly made up.

“He’s out? This early in the morning?”

Junko moved to the girls’ dorm and knocked on Keena’s door. She received no response, but Keena had not locked the door. She turned the k.n.o.b and entered.

The room was filled with stuffed animals and empty bags of food and Keena was in a deep sleep.

“I feel bad for doing this so early in the morning.”

Junko shook Keena as she spoke in her sleep.

“I can’t eat anymore Koshihikari…”

“What?”

“But I can still eat more Milky Queen.”

“Wake up Keena!”

Junko shook her harder and Keena finally sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Is it morning all ready?”

“It"s early. I"m sorry, but the situation is urgent. Where"s Akuto?”

“Hm? A-chan left.”

“Left where?”

“To go treasure hunting.”

“What? Is he that foolish?” she replied due to her ignorance of the events that had transpired during previous days.

“No. It’s real. A pirate’s treasure is hidden somewhere in the academy. Only a truly courageous adventurer can get it.”

“Enough!! Tell me the truth!”

“I am telling the truth. It must be Captain Kidd’s treasure. It has been 50 years since it was said his grand voyage ended at this academy, but it still hasn"t been found”

“This has always been a landlocked area!” shouted Junko.

She decided it had been a mistake to ask Keena, so she headed off to find someone more trustworthy to ask. However, she did not get any actual information until breakfast.

“That idiot went off on that treasure hunt to take responsibility.”

“Yeah, with that weird girl. Not Keena, but that girl with the long green hair. I’d never seen her before. Is she really a student here? Or is she a graduate?”

“Does it matter? Though, they seemed really close.”

“Yeah, after what they did at the morning a.s.sembly… Ha ha ha! Oh, it’s hard to just out and say it.”

“C’mon, say it. They did that!”

“And at the morning a.s.sembly. I still can’t believe it!”

The girls did not hold back in their conversation with no guys present, but what they said was just too much for Junko. She almost pa.s.sed out.

—What are you thinking, Akuto!? And don’t tell me it"s Eiko that you"re with.

Junko then acquired a copy of the treasure map, made her preparations, and ignored the head public moral officer’s ban as she headed out to secretly pursue Akuto. By the time she did, it was well past noon.