The misfit of demon king.., p.2
The Misfit of Demon King Academy: Volume 5, page 2
Misha tilted her head questioningly, but Mom kept on speaking anyway.
“I knew you’d understand me, Misha. Anos is kindhearted but has lots of strength. He’s the Demon King, after all! Wasn’t his speech at the Demon King Reordination Ceremony just the greatest?”
“Yeah.” Misha turned around, her long platinum-blonde hair swaying behind her. I caught a glimpse of a faint smile on her face.
“You know, I was actually really nervous during the ceremony,” mom was saying.
“Why?”
“I was worried! Could Anos really speak in front of so many people? What if he forgot what he wanted to say? But in the end, he was amazing! He said everything without making any mistakes!”
Misha blinked, her expression blank as always.
Mom seemed to think of the Demon King Reordination Ceremony as some kind of children’s recital. There really was no winning against her. It was as though she was warning me not to think of such a trivial event as an achievement. The ceremony had offered the first public words of the Demon King of Tyranny after two thousand years of absence. The people of Dilhade had no choice but to obey me. But, indeed, all I had done was speak without stuttering. Dilhade’s future, the future of peace, was still yet to be achieved. Mom’s eye-opening view was a reminder for me to work hard without becoming arrogant. I had to keep that in my mind.
“Good morning,” Misha said.
Mom whirled around. “Oh! Good morning, Anos. You’re just in time for breakfast. Could you wait in the living room for a bit?”
“Where’s dad?”
“He’s already eaten and is back at work in the workshop. We’ve received loads of requests from people asking for your father to make ceremonial swords. Business is booming thanks to you, Anos dear!”
The swords dad made were swords forged by the Demon King’s father. I’d only just reincarnated, so people probably wanted them as a token of good luck.
Misha came over carrying the large plate she’d finished arranging breakfast on.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
The two of us moved to the living room.
Just then, a sound came from the entrance of the shop. Someone was knocking on the door. Misha must have heard it too, because she tilted her head.
“It’s rare to have a visitor so early.” I made my way to the shop front, unlocked the door, and opened it.
“Ah...”
Standing outside was a girl with brown hair and brown eyes—Emilia.
“Hmm. A rare visitor indeed. What do you want?”
Her head was lowered, her gaze fixed on the ground as she bit her lip. “Um, are you busy right now?”
“We were just about to have breakfast.”
“I see.”
“Oh? Is that Emilia?” mom asked, appearing over my shoulder.
Emilia bowed. “Hello.”
Mom clapped her hands together happily. “Perfect timing! Would you like to eat with us? Misha was here practicing today, so we made loads extra.”
“No thank you. I’m in a hurry today. If you’d excuse me.” Emilia swiftly turned on her heel.
“Emilia,” I called, making her stop. “You came to see me, no? I’ll hear you out.”
“But...what about your breakfast?”
“You swallowed your pride to come and see me. I’m sure whatever it is you’ve come to say is more important than breakfast.” I turned to Misha. “Sorry, Misha.”
She shook her head. “Go.”
“See you later, Anos. Good luck with work!” mom called, waving me off with a smile.
Outside the store, I turned to Emilia. “Did you want to talk at the castle?”
“No. Just while walking is fine...”
“Then let’s go with that.”
We slowly made our way down the road leading to Delsgade. Emilia followed at a slight distance behind me, dragging her feet gloomily. She remained silent for a while, and I slowed my pace without pressing her. Eventually, she made up her mind and spoke up.
“I wish...for an audience with the Demon King.”
Her voice was a mix of humiliation and shame. Even now that the truth was out, she must still have been struggling to accept me as the real Demon King, but she had to at least understand. If not, she wouldn’t have requested an audience with me. But her emotions had yet to catch up. Up until today, the pride of being royalty had been everything to her.
“Granted.”
Seeking an audience with me right now was the equivalent of asking for salvation. I had a pretty good idea what Emilia’s wish was.
“There’s no place for me here. Not one at all...”
“Perhaps so.”
“You said you’d save your people from their tragedies. If so, then you should save me.”
I came to a stop. Emilia paused too.
“I beg of you,” she mumbled.
It must have been quite humiliating to beg for charity from one’s mortal enemy. The vexation was clear on her face. But Emilia had reached her limit with her current self.
“If you are the true Demon King of Tyranny, that is.”
“Emilia.” I turned and looked her straight in the eye. “Do you truly wish to be saved?”
“Of course I do.”
“Will you swallow all your complaints in order to be saved?”
After thinking for a moment, she nodded. “Yes.”
“I will not allow your tragedy, but remember this: the only one who can save you is you, for the only one blaming you is you.”
Emilia stared back at me confusedly.
“Do you enjoy teaching?”
“I don’t dislike it. It’s just the only job I stuck with,” she said ashamedly.
“Then I’ll arrange for you to return to work. However, your destination will be the Hero Academy Arclanisca.”
“In Gairadite? You want me to teach humans?!”
“It won’t be a problem for you. Besides, no one in Gairadite will care about whether you’re royalty or not.”
“But that place will discriminate against demons no matter what!”
“Exactly. All demons are the same to them. Whether the Demon King or a hybrid off the street, we’re all equal.”
She gaped wordlessly for a moment. “How will that help? Doing that won’t—”
“You said you wouldn’t complain.”
Emilia fell silent.
“If you continue teaching for a year or if you make a notable achievement, I will promote you back to the Demon King Academy and grant you a position equal to those of the Seven Demon Elders.”
“Are you serious?”
“I don’t lie.”
“What would be considered a notable achievement?”
“The details will be sent to you later, but as for now, the people of Azesion have lost all trust in the Hero Academy. The students have become rather unruly. You just need to get them back on their feet.”
Emilia thought for a moment, then said, “Very well. Please keep your word.”
She just had to hold out for a year or so until things got better. After that, she would reobtain her past position and honor, and return to her former self. That was probably what she was thinking, anyway, but such naivety was wishful thinking. She was about to learn firsthand what it meant to seek salvation from the Demon King of Tyranny.
“Emilia, you came to me for salvation. With that in mind, I will not allow you to abandon your salvation and flee.” I warned her with a threatening look. “Do not forget this. No matter how harsh and cruel the trial that awaits you, you will definitely be saved.”
§ 2. The Sleepy Witch
After parting with Emilia, I sent a Leaks message to Melheis regarding her situation. He would immediately arrange for her transfer to the Hero Academy. However, I had more time to spare than anticipated. I had expected her to put up more of a fight, but it seemed she’d become a lot more docile than before. That must have been down to how harsh her days had been until now.
“Anos.”
I turned around to see Misha standing with a basket in her hands.
“Breakfast,” she said, offering the basket to me. “I packed it for you.”
“I appreciate it. Sorry for the trouble.”
Misha smiled and shook her head. “Are you going to Delsgade?” she asked.
“I’ll be going later, but it’s still a little early.” I stored the basket away in a magic circle and thought for a moment. “Hmm. I have an idea. Let’s go to your house.”
Misha blinked a few times then tilted her head.
“We talked about it once before, remember? I’m going to go and wake Sasha.”
If I recalled correctly, we’d talked about it shortly before the educational exchange with the Hero Academy. I’d made a promise to wake up Sasha, who was terrible at getting out of bed in the morning.
“I’ve put it off until now, but this is the perfect time to go.”
Misha nodded and held her hand out to me. “She’ll be delighted.”
When I took her petite hand, she cast Gatom. Our vision turned pure white and then faded to reveal a different scene.
We were in a spacious room with a high ceiling and multiple ornate pillars. A red curtain was fluttering around the open window, from which sunlight was streaming in. The bright rays fanned out over the canopy bed, yet the person lying in the bed showed no signs of rousing. Dressed in a pink negligee and with her hair untied, Sasha was snoring away peacefully.
“She’s out like a log.”
“It’s her second sleep.” Misha pointed at the window.
“Hmm. So she opened the window then went back to sleep anyway.”
Misha nodded. “Maybe it’s her third.”
I approached Sasha and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Sasha,” I called, but she didn’t respond. If she was like this every day, that she could make it to school on time at all was impressive. I put my hand on her head and nudged her lightly. “Wake up already. Or should I shake the whole house instead?”
I’d added a bit of magic into my words, which made Sasha crack her eyes open.
“Misha? Is it morning already?” she mumbled. She must have still been half asleep to be mistaking me for Misha.
“Have you forgotten your master’s face?”
Sasha’s blurry eyes stared up at me. “My master? Anos? My Demon King...”
“That’s right. It’s your Demon King. I came to wake you up.”
“What? That’s weird. Anos couldn’t be here...”
Her speech was still slurred with sleepiness.
“We spoke about it before. Now I’ve gone out of my way to come here. It’s about time you woke up.”
“Oh, so it’s a dream...”
She wasn’t listening.
“It isn’t a dream. Wake up.”
“Anos is cold even in my dreams.” Sasha grabbed her sheets and rolled over, turning her back to me.
“Sasha.”
“I’m still sleepy.”
I extended my hand, but she grabbed it and tried to drag me into the bed.
“Nngh... Then how about this? You can sleep with me. My bed’s big enough for both of us...”
“I believe I’ve said this before, but don’t think you can sleep before me.”
“Hmph,” she grumbled, like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. “Anos would never do that, even in a dream...”
Her grumbling was incomprehensible. It was like she had no intention of waking up.
“Stop whining so much.”
“If you want me to listen to you, you should keep your word...”
Sasha rolled back towards me. The sheets shifted to reveal her thin negligee.
“What word am I keeping?”
“You said you wouldn’t let me sleep,” she said, pouting. “If it’s a dream, you could at least hold me a little.”
“Hmm. I guess there’s no helping it.”
I reached for Sasha and touched her.
“Ah! Hee hee... You can come closer, closer...” she said, giggling happily.
“Sure.” I proceeded to pick Sasha up.
“Eeeeek!”
With Sasha in my arms, I got up from the bed. “Well? I’m holding you now. Good grief, to think you can’t even get out of bed alone. A child could do better.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Misha shaking her head faintly. Had I done something wrong? Apparently not. The next moment, Misha gasped and started nodding furiously instead. It seemed I’d done the right thing after all.
“Huh? Anos?” Sasha blinked in my arms and stared up at me. Her sleepy gaze gradually grew steadier until she was finally able to speak again. “What happened just now? Huh? Wasn’t that a dream? Why would Anos be here?”
“I promised you, didn’t I? I’m here to wake you up.”
“Oh. I see. Th-Thanks...” she said in spite of all the questions she still seemed to want to ask. “By the way, Anos, can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Did I, um, say anything weird?”
When I looked at her questioningly, she attempted to explain herself.
“I...I thought I was dreaming. Yeah, I mean, I was having a weird dream, so I might have said something weird. Did I?”
“You said a lot of incomprehensible things, and whined about not getting up until I held you. Thus, here I am holding you.”
Sasha sighed in relief, then tilted her head. “Why would you pick me up when I asked you to hold me? I’m not a child.”
The moment after she’d said that, Sasha’s mouth fell open. She looked panicked—as though she’d just dug her own grave.
“I didn’t think it was all sleep talk,” I said. “I assumed you wanted me to wake you up, but it turns out that was all because of your dream.”
“Y-Yeah, that’s right. A dream. It was all because I was dreaming! Not that it matters, of course. That aside—”
“What were you dreaming of?” I asked.
Sasha gaped. “O-Oh, well, you know...”
“It had to be a rather good dream, judging from that blissful look on your face.”
She turned away, blushing. “Y-Yeah. It was a good dream.”
“You called my name too. Was I in your dream?”
She clutched my sleeve. “You were...”
“I see. So even the former walking nightmare can now appear in good dreams. And then? What was I doing in your dream?”
“Wh-What?!” Sasha yelped.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing...”
I stared at her forlorn expression.
“Hmm. It seems I’ve pried too far. Some things aren’t meant to be shared. I won’t ask any further.”
“Ah...”
I tried to let Sasha down, but she kept hold of my sleeve to stop me.
“You were...” she muttered quietly.
“Hmm?”
“You were carrying me. Just like this.”
I laughed heartily and ruffled her loose blonde hair. “There was no need to hide that so stubbornly, was there? How childish.”
“Sh-Shut up. Who cares about that?” Sasha clung to me tightly, making her sister giggle. “Jeez, what are you laughing at, Misha?”
“I’m just glad to see you happy.”
Sasha looked a little guilty at that.
I chuckled heartily. “Bwa ha ha. I can never tell who’s older between the two of you.”
“Sasha’s the older one.”
“You should try to act more like the younger one, Misha,” Sasha grumbled sullenly.
Misha tilted her head. “How so?”
“However you can. Maybe by being more lazy than I am.”
Misha froze, unsure how to respond, but she eventually seemed to realize something and opened her mouth. “Being born second makes me lazy already.”
“Smart-ass!”
What a sharp rebuttal.
“Ugh, whatever.”
Sasha started kicking her legs in the air, so I put her down. A magic circle appeared beneath her feet and moved upwards, turning her negligee into the black Demon King Academy uniform. She was dressed in the blink of an eye.
“What should I do?” Misha asked, looking up at me. She seemed to be bothered by being told she didn’t act like a little sister.
“I don’t think it’s something to worry about.”
“But I’m still worried...”
“Then how about you try asking for something every now and then?”
“Asking for something?”
“A little selfishness might make you seem more like the younger one.”
Misha thought for a moment, then turned to Sasha. “I’m sad.”
“Wh-What’s up with you all of a sudden?” Alarmed, Sasha stepped closer to Misha.
“I’m sad that Anos won’t go to class anymore.”
It was then that Sasha caught on to what she was saying. “Oh, that’s right. But now the truth is out, there’d be a huge commotion if the Demon King of Tyranny attended class.”
“Yeah...”
“I’m a little sad about it too, but it can’t be helped,” Sasha said, linking hands with Misha gently.
“I’m sad for Anos as well.”
“For Anos?” Sasha looked at me curiously. “But he’s already proved he’s the Demon King of Tyranny, so there’s no need for him to attend anymore, right?”
“There was never much reason for me to attend in the first place. But those dull classes weren’t the worst thing in the world, especially with you guys there.”
“Really?” Sasha smiled. “But that means... Becoming the Demon King of Tyranny wasn’t all good, huh?”
Misha nodded in agreement.
“Oh, there’s no need to feel down about that. There was a lot to prepare, but now everything’s ready for today.”
“Huh? Wait... Hold on. What are you talking about?”
The two sisters looked at me.
“I’m talking about my return to school, of course.”
“WHAT?!” Sasha yelled in disbelief.
§ 3. An Unusual Transfer Student
Demon King Academy Delsgade.
Alongside the bell signaling the start of class, manic cackling rang out from the corridor. The door to the second lecture hall slammed open with a mighty bang, revealing Eldmed, the Conflagration King, dressed in his trench coat and top hat. With his cane in hand, he marched up to the teacher’s podium.
