It had already been three days since I earned points from Professor Stanley and was treated like a hero.
Ever since then, Stanley had been acting as though he were deliberately avoiding me during lectures and instruction.
He really was a narrow-minded old man.
He could just act like nothing had happened.
Anyway, time passed without much trouble, and every night I continued training inside Admuasil’s Space, steadily improving my skills.
“You truly have almost no talent whatsoever when it comes to martial ability.”
“Ghh.... Shut up! That’s why I’m working so hard!”
Admuasil helped me with any kind of training I wanted.
He could reproduce sword forms and even create virtual opponents suited to my current level.
Training within his space was practically indistinguishable from actual combat.
And yet, my rate of growth still wasn’t particularly fast.
“Ruben. I know you’re trying. And honestly, considering you’re a frail mortal, it’s impressive enough to be worthy of respect. That degree of mental fortitude... an ordinary human would have gone insane by now.”
He was right.
What human could endure the Academy’s training all day, then undergo even more painful training every night?
At this point, it was practically the same as getting less than an hour of proper sleep a day.
But my determination to save the world, combined with the mental strength I had developed after reaching the realm of a Grand Magicmaster, made it possible.
“If what you’ve told me is true, then the life you’ll live after returning to the past will undoubtedly be filled with trials and crises. And most of them will probably be things you, as a warrior, won’t be able to handle.”
“You’re awfully talkative today. I already know that much.”
“Then what will you do if something you can’t handle comes at you right now?”
“Well....”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
Without magic, what means did I have to overcome a crisis?
None.
My aptitude as a warrior was simply too poor, and it would take a long time for me to grow.
Suddenly, I felt incredibly pathetic.
Without magic, I was practically useless.
“Hehe. Nothing comes to mind, does it? In that case, let me make you a suggestion.”
“A suggestion?”
Admuasil playfully spun once through the air, then smiled brightly like a little boy.
“Don’t be so stingy with your magic. Use it decisively when you need to. You only have to keep one rule.”
“What rule?”
“Don’t reveal that a Grand Magicmaster has appeared.”
“...Is that really okay?”
“It’s not a question of whether it’s okay. You need to do it. It would be troublesome if you died again before you managed to grow to a reasonable level as a warrior.”
Admuasil shrugged.
“And you might miss an important opportunity because you’re too obsessed with hiding your magic. Humans are stupid enough to make mistakes like that all the time.”
Hmm.
He had a point.
As long as I only used magic when necessary and kept my identity hidden, it might actually help me grow stronger as a warrior.
“Got it. I’ll do that. Now let’s get back to training.”
“Gladly.”
With Admuasil smiling in satisfaction, we resumed training.
Either way, my goal was to become strong as quickly as possible and reduce my dependence on magic to almost nothing.
For now, I would start by keeping up with the Academy curriculum without difficulty.
***
“Haaah!”
BOOM!
“Guegh!”
My opponent was sent flying, unable to withstand the force behind my sword.
Until yesterday, I had been the one getting knocked away.
But thanks to the training I had undergone within my consciousness while sleeping, I had managed to defeat him after only a single day.
“Seriously, how the hell do you get strong so fast?”
“I just work hard, that’s all.”
Even if I told him the truth, he wouldn’t believe me anyway.
I grabbed my sparring partner’s hand and helped him back to his feet when I suddenly felt someone staring at me.
That irritating, unpleasant presence.
Demonic energy.
I turned toward the source of the demonic energy prickling against the back of my neck.
A black-haired girl wearing an eyepatch was glaring at me with a sullen expression.
Karen held a sword in one hand while sparring against her master, Anna.
Their match was on an entirely different level.
It perfectly displayed the Camille family’s style.
Speed.
Rapid swordsmanship.
Attack and defense came and went so quickly that it was hard to believe they were using the same Standard Swordsmanship as everyone else.
But anyone watching could tell Karen had the advantage over Anna.
Anna’s rapid sword strikes came like an angry storm, yet Karen casually deflected them one-handed without even properly looking at them.
What was this?
Was there some rule that servants had to be stronger than the children of noble families?
“Young Master? What is it?”
That thought made me glance at Tyr.
Right.
She was ridiculously strong too.
If I fought Tyr right now, there would probably be as much of a difference between us as there was between Anna and Karen.
“Nothing. What’s for lunch today?”
“Northern-style vegetable soup and spicy braised goat. There are fried mushrooms too, but you’re bad with spicy food, Young Master, so I’ll eat the goat for you!”
“Uh, sure.”
There really wasn’t anything she couldn’t eat.
Come to think of it, starting next week we would be allowed to leave the Academy on weekends.
I should go eat plenty of good food then too.
“Hm.”
But before that....
I needed to deal with that demon.
***
“Hey, Anna.”
“Ah! Ruben! Come sit over here!”
The cadet dining hall was crowded during lunch.
After finally finding Anna and greeting her, she welcomed me just as enthusiastically.
Now that we had agreed to speak casually with each other, there was no longer any awkwardness or sense of distance between us.
The problem was the sheer number of male cadets trying to sit near Anna.
When she spotted me and cleared the seat beside her, I could practically feel the murderous gazes of the surrounding cadets.
They stung even more than Karen’s demonic energy.
“Fried mushrooms today, huh?”
“Oh, do you like mushrooms?”
“They’re good. Besides, I’m not great with spicy food. Guess I’ll fill up on these today.”
“Then you can have mine too!”
Anna giggled and moved her own fried mushrooms onto my plate.
This was... kind of touching.
She had become my first friend, and aside from Tyr, she was probably the person who treated me the best.
“Thanks. I’ll gladly eat them.”
As I began eating, I glanced around.
Just as expected, Tyr and Karen were eating a short distance away from us.
When a noble was eating with an acquaintance, it was proper etiquette for their maid or attendant to eat far enough away that they couldn’t hear the conversation.
Of course, status mattered very little within the Academy.
But maids and attendants were still bound to their respective families, so they were required to observe basic etiquette.
Attending the Academy didn’t erase the relationship between master and servant.
“Anna. I’m just curious, but how long have you known Karen?”
“We’re practically family. She’s been my closest friend since we were little.”
Tyr and I were close enough to call each other family too, but we had met when we were already somewhat older.
Apparently, that wasn’t the case for Anna and Karen.
“Really? She doesn’t exactly seem like the type who’d be easy to become friends with.”
“Hehe, that’s not true. She might seem cold and blunt, but once you get to know her, she has tons of cute sides too.”
That devilish-looking girl?
Sure, it wasn’t as though she was ugly.
But the atmosphere around her was gloomy enough that no one could call her first impression friendly.
Then again, she was a demon.
Humans and demons were fundamentally beings that could never coexist.
“Really? Hmm. Is Karen from the Camille Territory too? Something about her just doesn’t really feel... Imperial.”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know where she was originally from. All I know is that my father took her in when she was an orphan.”
Anna tilted her head.
“Karen doesn’t remember anything from before she joined our family either.”
How convenient.
Amnesia?
What a crafty excuse, just like a demon.
“But why are you so interested in Karen?”
Anna suddenly narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me.
I sensed danger.
“N-No reason. She’s the person closest to my precious friend, so of course I’d be curious about her.”
“Precious? Me?”
“Of course, of course. Hahaha!”
“Oh my, Ruben! Hehe!”
What kind of ridiculous conversation was this?
Anyway, I hadn’t learned much from Anna today.
The only thing I had confirmed was that Anna cared deeply for Karen.
The question was whether Karen felt the same way about Anna.
Looks like I really did need to talk to her alone.
***
That night.
After confirming that Tyr had fallen asleep, I put on the entirely black tailcoat and shirt I had brought from home, along with a black mask.
I had packed them in case I ever needed something suitable for the masked balls popular among noble society.
Thinking about it now, I had no idea why I had brought something like this to a Warrior Academy.
Still, it was useful now.
After once again confirming Tyr’s steady breathing, I carefully opened the dormitory window.
The night air was still cold, chilling my body as it brushed against my skin.
I looked down.
The ground was frighteningly far below.
My room was on the twelfth floor of the dormitory building.
Anna’s room was on the tenth floor, right?
I raised both hands and casually formed a series of hand seals before casting the Fly spell.
Worried that someone might see me, I quickly closed my window again, then leisurely descended toward the tenth floor.
Finding Anna’s room was simple.
All I had to do was follow the faint trace of Karen’s distinctive demonic energy.
“Found—”
I stopped before I could finish.
I swear I hadn’t meant to look.
It had happened completely by accident.
But through the window, I caught sight of Anna.
Oh.
So Anna doesn’t wear pajamas when she sleeps.
Useful information—
No, not useful at all!
I hurriedly looked away and moved toward the room next door.
There, Karen seemed to have sensed my presence as well.
Her visible eye gleamed as she glared directly at me.
Damn, she startled me.
I thought she was a ghost.
“Come out.”
She had definitely heard me.
Yet Karen didn’t move an inch and simply continued glaring at me.
Demonic energy boiled around her body.
Hah.
So she wanted to do this the hard way?
“This is the last time I’m offering to hear you out.”
I maintained the hand seal for Fly with my left hand while gathering mana into my right and feeding it into the fire element.
If there was one thing demons hated most, it was fire.
Apparently sensing the powerful heat beginning to gather in my hand, Karen slowly stood up.
Thankfully, she was dressed.
“Rooftop.”
With that, I flew straight up.
The dormitory was the largest building in the Academy, and its rooftop was spacious enough for Karen and me to talk without anyone interfering.
Of course, that conversation would probably end with Karen dead.
Tap.
Karen landed with a light sound.
She had come while maintaining her demonic form, complete with black wings on her back and two horns on her head.
That meant she hadn’t come here for a peaceful little conversation either.
If things went wrong, she probably intended to kill me.
What an idiot.
“Why is a high-ranking demon serving as that little lady’s maid?”
“Why is a high-ranking mage attending a Warrior Academy and working himself half to death?”
I asked first.
Demons really had no manners.
“I never gave you permission to ask questions.”
Fwoom!
I activated the 7th-Circle spell Force Field, which I had prepared with Memorize.
Invisible walls instantly rose around Karen.
It was one of the spells I had routinely used when interrogating demons in my previous life.
Only two things could pass through these invisible walls.
Light.
And energy in its purest form.
Things demons had very little affinity with.
“Ghk...!”
BOOM!
Karen fired demonic energy toward me with a startled expression.
But she was too late.
A demon’s power could never break through those walls.
Especially not a spell cast by a Grand Magicmaster.
I rapidly formed another series of hand seals with my right hand.
Each time I snapped my fingers, the temperature inside the enclosed space would rise by ten degrees.
Intense heat.
Something demons absolutely despised.
“From now on, just answer what I ask. Don’t get cocky and throw questions back at me.”
I stared at her.
“I’ll ask again. Why are you serving the Camille family?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
As though I had expected that answer, I immediately snapped my fingers.
For now, it would only feel somewhat hotter.
You can go fuck yourself.
“I’ll ask again. Why are you working under the Camille family?”
“....”
This time, I snapped twice.
By now, Karen should have understood how serious the situation was.
When the temperature inside an enclosed space suddenly rose by thirty degrees, fear naturally began to set in.
Karen’s expression started to change.
“Your answer?”
“...I can’t tell you.”
I snapped again.
The temperature inside was now forty degrees higher than outside.
I couldn’t remember ever seeing a demon endure this interrogation for very long.
Usually, by this point—or at the latest after the next snap—they started spilling everything they knew.
“Answer me.”
“...Graaagh! Just kill me, you evil bastard!”
Fine.
I snapped twice more.
How long could a demon endure temperatures above sixty degrees?
“Just tell me. If you talk, I’ll lower the temperature immediately.”
“Haa... haa.... You’re the real demon here.”
There was no longer any need to snap my fingers.
All I had to do was wait.
Demons had stubborn vitality, so while the heat caused them considerable suffering, they didn’t die easily.
The important part at times like this was showing them that I wasn’t bothered in the slightest.
That I could continue this for as long as necessary.
So I pulled a book I had prepared from inside my clothes and began reading it on the spot.
Watching me casually enjoy the night breeze and read while she remained trapped would probably wear down her resolve far more effectively.
Just as I expected, not even five minutes passed before Karen finally spoke.
“In the basement vault... of the Camille family estate... there is a Magic Sword....”
Her breathing was ragged.
“I came to retrieve it.”
“Oh, come on. You could’ve just said that from the start.”
Clap!
I brought my hands together, and just like that, the temperature inside the Force Field returned to normal.
Relief instantly appeared on Karen’s face.
But the interrogation wasn’t finished yet.
“Does Anna know what you really are?”
“No.”
As expected.
Demons really were experts at deceiving humans.
“You probably don’t have emotions like this, being a demon and all, but don’t you feel sorry for Anna Camille? She thinks of you as family.”
“...Someday, I intend to apologize to the Young Lady.”
“Hmph. Fine. One more question.”
I stared directly into her single visible eye.
“Anna thinks of you as family. Do you think of Anna the same way?”
“I....”
Karen’s visible eye trembled violently.
But the hesitation quickly disappeared.
With firm determination, she nearly shouted her answer at me.
“I would give my life for the Young Lady!”
I see.
There was no lie in her eye.
Rather un-demonlike.
This complicated things.
—We’re practically family.
—Once you get to know her, she has tons of cute sides too.
Damn it.
I really wanted to just kill her.
But Anna’s face came to mind—the same Anna who had given me her fried mushrooms.
That made it difficult.
Damn it.
I never should’ve accepted those mushrooms.
Do I kill her?
Or let her live?
My head hurt.