“Haa... fine. I’ll give you a chance for Anna’s sake. Consider it an honor. You’re the first demon I’ve ever spared with my own hands.”
Of course, I couldn’t simply let her live for that reason alone.
I needed to attach a condition.
I tore off the topmost button from my tailcoat.
The thing glittered brilliantly, made from blue sapphire. Just how extravagant was this outfit?
After pressing the hard sapphire once to make sure it was solid, I carefully gathered mana into both hands and began pouring it forcefully into the gem.
The 9th-Circle conditional spell I was about to cast was extraordinarily difficult and complicated, so it couldn’t be activated with hand seals.
I had to scrape together every bit of concentration I possessed and devote it to the incantation.
“...May the wind that pierces through the soul read my will. Infinite light that nurtures all life and embraces all creation, heed my words and lend me your strength.”
Only after chanting the incantation for nearly five minutes did the spell finally begin approaching completion.
“Glyph of Warding!”
The instant the spell was completed, thin strands emerged from Karen’s body and began flowing toward the small sapphire between my hands.
The sight of her radiant life force being drawn into the jewel alongside her black demonic energy was quite spectacular.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Of course, it was probably a little painful for Karen.
Glyph of Warding.
A higher-order spell derived from Energy Drain, as well as a form of ancient magic.
Its defining feature was that a “condition” could be attached to it.
The target’s life force was stored inside a gemstone, and the moment a specific condition set by the caster was fulfilled, the gemstone would shatter.
The condition I had placed on the spell was:
“If the demon Karen betrays Anna Camille, or takes the life of another human without Anna Camille’s permission.”
In other words, Karen could no longer kill any human without Anna’s permission, nor could she betray Anna.
The instant she did, the sapphire in my possession would shatter and take Karen’s life with it.
Or I could simply break the sapphire myself.
A very convenient spell in all sorts of ways.
“What the hell did you do?!”
Karen stared in horror at the tiny sapphire now containing her life force and demonic energy.
She probably understood roughly what had happened.
“It’s an extremely powerful conditional spell. To put it simply, I’m holding your life in my hands.”
I stared at her.
“High-ranking demon Karen. From this moment onward, you are forbidden from killing any human without Anna Camille’s permission. You are also forbidden from betraying Anna Camille. The instant you do either, you die.”
“You bastard!”
What?
What are you going to accomplish by baring your claws and throwing demonic energy around?
I casually tossed the sapphire containing Karen’s life into the air and caught it again, grinning broadly.
“Better than dying, isn’t it? Just behave yourself.”
Karen continued glaring at me coldly, her eye burning with fury.
Too bad.
From now on, she would have to become a nice, obedient little demon whenever I was around.
“That should wear off in about twenty minutes. Once it does, get yourself back inside. See you tomorrow.”
I was getting sleepy and exhausted, so I left Karen there and returned to my room.
Who would have thought the day would come when I spared a demon?
Academy life really was interesting.
***
Several days passed.
“Young Master! Wake up! Hurry!”
Ah....
Tyr.
Please.
It’s the weekend.
Let me sleep a little longer.
Seriously.
“It’s the weekend! We have to go out and have fun! Hurry up!”
Damn it.
I had finally fallen asleep after spending several hundred hours training inside Admuasil’s Space, and now she was waking me up because she wanted to go out.
I was going insane.
Even with this much training, I was barely managing to keep up with everyone else.
“This is going to be so much fun~”
Must be nice being naturally good enough that you can play around and still keep up.
Whether she understood my feelings or not, Tyr was standing there holding one outfit against herself, then another.
Perhaps because she was an attendant, or perhaps because her family wasn’t particularly well-off, she only owned two sets of clothes for going out.
Yet she kept alternating between them over and over.
Hmm.
Maybe I should buy Tyr some clothes today.
Starting this week, Lion Heart allowed its cadets to leave the Academy on weekends.
Of course, if someone spent every weekend fooling around and their grades plummeted, they had only themselves to blame.
In the past, almost no one bothered going out.
This was a remote region in the North, after all. There was nowhere worth visiting, so most cadets simply remained at the Academy and focused on training.
But when that caused enrollment numbers to decline, the Dean personally had a Teleport Station installed.
One connected directly to the Imperial Capital.
After roughly washing up and changing into casual clothes, I headed downstairs from the dormitory.
Anna and Karen were standing there as though they had been waiting for someone.
“Yo, Anna.”
“Ruben! Why are you so late?! We almost left without you!”
Isn’t that something you say when we actually made plans to meet?
I found it ridiculous that Anna had decided to wait for me on her own and was now complaining, but after spending several days with her, I had learned that she naturally had a somewhat scatterbrained side.
I should probably just accept it.
“Yeah, sorry. But you’re really dressed up today. Meeting someone?”
“H-Huh? Dressed up? Me? Really?”
“Yeah. Really. But could you back up a little? People might misunderstand.”
“Then let them misunderstand! Hoho!”
Anna curled her hand into a loose fist and playfully tapped my shoulder.
Karen glared at me with her eye practically glowing.
And finally, Tyr looked at Karen and blushed.
Wait.
Tyr?
Don’t tell me you....
“Um, Young Master? Why are you staring at me like that?”
“...Nothing. We’ll talk later.”
This was driving me insane.
She hadn’t seriously fallen for a demon, had she?
I had no idea how I had ended up going out with this particular group, but at this point I felt like I would rather spend the day buried in the training ground practicing.
“Wow, there are already so many people here.”
Unfortunately, regardless of what I wanted, we had already arrived in front of the Teleport Station where the cadets were gathering.
Most of them were wearing casual clothes instead of their usual uniforms and waiting excitedly for their turn.
Seeing them like this really reminded me how young they all were.
For a moment, nostalgia washed over me as I looked at the Teleport Station again.
A massive masterpiece of magical engineering designed for long-distance transportation.
Its engine, constructed from a mixture of spirit stones and Grade-1 Magic Stones, generated enormous amounts of mana.
That mana was then used as fuel to cast the 7th-Circle spell Teleport toward a predetermined destination.
At this size, it could probably transport around fifty people at once.
Of course, if I wanted to, I could personally cast Teleport a hundred times a day.
But since I wasn’t a registered high-ranking mage, I couldn’t use personal teleportation whenever I pleased.
If I did, the Imperial Magic Tower would probably come down on the Seirin family like a hammer.
When I thought about things like that, life really had been easier when I was a Grand Magicmaster.
“Ah, we’re on Platform D. Looks like we’re next.”
Following Tyr’s guidance, we entered the fourth platform.
Seriously, though.
Thinking of installing something like this inside the Academy....
The Dean seemed to have a better head for business than his appearance suggested.
“Platform D teleportation will begin in one minute.”
It wasn’t long before the Teleport Station’s announcement echoed out.
The platform itself was simply a flat white floor with enough space for roughly a hundred adults to stand on.
All you had to do was stand here, and in an instant, you would be transported to the Imperial Capital.
“Five... four... three... two... one....”
The instant the countdown ended, I felt as though I had suddenly been dropped from a great height.
It was the unique nausea caused by Teleport, a spell that folded space itself.
Everything around me seemed to spin wildly for a moment.
Then gravity abruptly returned, and we dropped onto solid ground.
“Ugh...!”
Several cadets covered their mouths, barely suppressing the urge to vomit.
First-time teleportation sometimes caused that reaction.
I looked around and found myself in a completely different yet deeply familiar place.
Countless people moved busily through a Teleport Station nearly as large as the entirety of Lion Heart Academy.
“Wow! It’s been forever! Hurry up, Young Master!”
An excited Tyr rushed ahead.
Lorendel.
The proud capital of the Lorender Empire.
True to its reputation as the most magnificent city on the continent, beautiful architecture and works of art decorated nearly every corner of the city.
Haa.
It had been so long.
How long had it been since I last saw the capital looking this peaceful?
I almost felt like crying from how glad I was to see it again.
“Ruben! I only came to the capital once when I was really little, so this is practically my first time. You can show me around today, right?”
“Sure. But you’re paying for lunch.”
“Y-Yeah? D-Don’t worry! My family is rich!”
Look at her trying to act tough.
And even if her family had money, imagine a baron’s daughter bragging about wealth in front of a count’s son.
Sometimes she really did seem a little dumb.
“Right, then. Let’s go!”
Well, fine.
Today was a day for peacefully eating, playing, and enjoying ourselves.
Days like this were necessary too.
The weather was nice.
The atmosphere was nice.
It felt like nothing but good things were going to happen this morning.
***
“Wow, Young Master! Today is so much fun!”
“Me too! Ruben! Let’s come out like this every weekend! I love it! Karen, you like it too, right?!”
“I do not.”
Then why do you keep fiddling with that new bracelet you bought?
Figures a demon would act all gloomy about it.
After eating at the meat pie shop I always visited whenever I came to the capital, we went on what could only be called a shopping rampage.
Now both my hands were weighed down with bags.
Meanwhile, Anna had employed the miraculous logic that since she had paid for lunch, I should pay for the clothes.
Thanks to that, half of this month’s allowance had vanished.
Of course they were having fun.
They weren’t spending their own money, and they were getting everything they wanted.
Money-devouring monsters.
“Ruben! What’s down that alley? Let’s go!”
“Ah! My Lady, it’s dangerous to go alone!”
“Wait! Karen! Take me with you!”
I had been thinking it was about time to head back, but Anna was apparently still bursting with energy.
She darted into an obviously suspicious and gloomy-looking alley.
Karen immediately chased after her.
And then Tyr, acting like Karen’s little puppy, ran after them shouting for her to wait.
All three vanished from my sight in an instant.
My head started hurting.
Should I just leave them behind?
Seriously, I wanted to get back, rest, and—
Wait.
“Magic?”
I could sense ominous magic coming from the alley they had entered.
This capital was where everything in the Empire gathered and flourished.
Naturally, that meant bad things gathered and flourished here too.
Criminals, for example.
“Haa... those idiots.”
The moment I realized what might be happening, I hurriedly pulled on my mask.
If a fight broke out, I might have to use magic.
Better to conceal my identity.
I rushed into the alley.
Four suspicious men wearing hoods were in the middle of activating a Magic Trap.
My three companions stood trapped inside it, looking bewildered.
Anna and Tyr had no idea how to respond to an organized magical attack like this.
Karen couldn’t reveal her true identity either, so she had no choice but to remain trapped.
Seriously.
I spent all that money, and now I have to clean up their mess too.
What was that about it feeling like something good would happen today?
What a load of crap.
“Look at that one with the eyepatch. Not bad, right? She’s got this kind of... dangerous vibe.”
“Not bad? I’d be grateful just looking at someone like that. I like the blonde one myself.”
“The one who looks like a potato with red hair, we can mess with him for a bit and dump him somewhere.”
“Huh? Who’s that broke-looking brat over there?”
That last comment about the broke-looking brat....
That was aimed at me, wasn’t it?
These bastards were talking about the youngest son of Count Seirin.
“...I’ll kill them.”
Karen’s eye gleamed with fury from inside the trap.
But she couldn’t actually kill them.
Karen was a good little demon now.
If she killed a human without permission, she would die too.
Apparently remembering that herself, she looked rather awkward when our eyes met.
“They insulted the Young Lady!”
Yeah.
Except I got insulted the worst.
Could you care about me a little too?
“Hey, you. Yeah, the shabby-looking kid.”
One of the hooded men maintaining the Magic Trap turned toward me with a mocking grin.
“Why don’t you quietly turn around and leave? We’ll have some fun with these pretty ladies and send them back afterward. Don’t worry. Go wait somewhere safe.”
What an idiot.
Did they have any idea who they had just messed with?
A candidate for the greatest warrior of the Seirin Territory.
The daughter of Baron Camille.
And a high-ranking demon.
“All four of you have to work together just to cast a piece-of-crap spell like that?”
I scoffed.
“If you drop to the ground right now and apologize ten times, I’ll let you leave with nothing worse than broken fingers.”
“What?”
The tallest of the hooded men threw his head back and burst into laughter.
“Puhahahahaha!”
For a moment, his hood shifted enough for me to see his face.
....
I knew that face.