Chapter 78

Heine makes an innocent smile

If you look down on humans too much youll regret it onii-san . (Heine)

With those parting words, they left for the front row of the auditorium .

Arnos-kun . (Eleonor)

Eleonor makes as small beckoning gesture and whispers to me

Hey . Did you forget my advice? (Eleonor)

Humans havent changed in 2000 years? (Arnos)

She nods .

Then theres no problem . Humans are always plotting something and they soon realise its pointless . It will be the same now as it was then . (Arnos)

Eleonors face goes blank listening to my words .

What was your name in your past life Arnos-kun? (Eleonor)

The same as it is now . (Arnos)

Arnos Voldigod? (Elenor)

When I nodded Eleonor tilted her head like she was trying to remember .

It seems humans have completely forgotten my name . (Arnos)

No matter how famous you were then you should still be careful now . (Eleonor)

Giving me a warning Eleonor heads back down to the seats .

Eleonor . (Arnos)

She turns around with a questioning look .

What was your name before you reincarnated? (Arnos)

Same as you Arnos-kun . Ive been Eleonor for a long time . (Eleonor)

I knew all the important people in Azeshion but Im not familiar with that name . Even looking directly at her origin Im sure I never met her in the age of myths .

I dont think we ever met as I dont recognise you . (Arnos)

If she has her memory from her previous lives then theres a very high probability that she was born after I died . It was probably some time after the demon king of tyranny was renamed to Avos Dillheavia .

Later then . (Eleonor)

Eleonor heads of to Heine and the others .

When did you meet? (Misha)

We met by chance on the day we arrived in Gairadeite . (Arnos)

Misha stares at Eleonor sitting down in the front row .

. . Looks sad (Misha)

Eleonor? (Arnos)

Misha nods .

She seems very carefree though . (Arnos)

Surface appearance . (Misha)

I look at Eleonor but I can only see a carefree person with a no tension expression on her face .

Could be something else . (Misha)

Is it hard to explain? (Arnos)

Misha nods .

Forget about it . (Misha)

No . (Arnos)

At the very least Eleonor knows what the Academies scheme is and it seems that she doesnt agree with it otherwise there would be no reason to give me any advice .

If that is the case then its no wonder shes suffering even with her laid back personality .

Mishas demon eyes see through people more than most .

Ill bear it in mind . (Arnos)

Misha blinks a couple of times .

Arnos is kind . (Misha)

No . Its because you have excellent demon eyes . (Arnos)

Misha shakes her head .

On about Eleonor . (Misha)

Does it seem like Im being meddlesome? (Arnos)

Something else? (Misha)

She seems to know what happened in the years after I died . Its possible she might have a lead on Avos Dillheavia . (Arnos)

Misha looks at me while Im talking .

It cant be helped if I end up helping her while dealing with this dull plot . (Arnos)

*Fufufu* Misha laughs softly .

Arnos like . (Misha)

Misha sees straight through to my true motive .

Yare yare . This is actually a bit embarrassing .

Sit down? (Misha)

Aah . (Arnos)

The seating in the auditorium is roughly divided into two and according to the sign the hero academy is to the right of the blackboard and the demon king academy is to the left of the blackboard .

Moving over to the left side we sit in the middle .

While waiting students slowly start filtering into the room . After a while, Misa, Sasha, various royals and members of my fan union also enter .

Are all the students of the hero academy attending? All the seats bar one are taken on their side .

Just like our school is divided into black and white clothes theirs is divided into scarlet and indigo blue .

Scarlet is for those belonging to Jergakanon and looking around the room theres not many of them .

My back was tapped with a finger just as class was about to start .

Arnos-sama, whats happened to Ray-san? Misa asks in an anxious voice .

Oh yeah, that guy hasnt come yet .

He fell asleep again . (Arnos)

Hes a shameless guy sleeping through the first day .

Well . Not like hed get much out of the class anyway . Hell turn up later with an innocent look on his face no doubt . (Arnos)

Ahahah . thats true . . (Misa)

The bell rang out and unlike our school, this one gives off a gentle tone .

Menou and a stern-looking man in the prime of his life entered the auditorium .

The man is wearing a red robe and looks very inflexible . A teacher from the hero academy I assume .

Sit down everyone .

The man spoke in a low voice and all the students still standing immediately sat down .

As weve been telling you for a while the academy exchange starts today . For those of you from the demon king academy I am Diego Kanon Ijayshka . Im the headteacher here at the hero academy and Im also the teacher in charge of the selection class Jergakanon . (Diego)

The headteacher of the selection class . Theyre pulling out all the stops for this exchange .

By his name, Diego is also one of the Kanon reincarnations and hes no doubt a graduate of his academy .

It seems some of them who studied here now teach the next generation of heroes and pass on their teachings .

Looking at him I cant see the Kanon from 2000 years ago . Another miss .

Let me introduce my disciple . This is Menou Historia Sensei who teaches at the demon king academy . Shes an excellent person whos been teaching 3rd-year students at the demon king academy for many years . Make sure you arent rude to her . (Diego) (1)

Menou takes one step forward .

Im Menou Historia and Ill be in your care during this exchange . Nice to meet you all . Menou says with a smile .

Now then since this is the first day and we dont know each other very well yet this class will be a simple recreation class to help us get along . (Diego)

Using magic Diego writes on the blackboard .

Competetive academy class

Competetive academy class . Its an exaggerated name though . The students of each school give questions and the other side answers them . The rule is to compete for the highest score . (Diego)

I see . By asking and answering questions you can see the level of knowledge between each school .

Now then lets begin . Lets have the hero side set the tone . 2nd place Ledoriano . (Diego)

Ledoriano stood up when called .

Ask a question . (Diego)

Certainly . (Ledoriano)

Ledoriano pushes his glasses up with his index finger .

Ill start with a beginner question . Please explain what the effect of the magic Consecration <Rihido> is and show the formula . (Ledoriano)

The demon king seat side was suddenly noisy .

Eh? I have no idea what that is . .

Same here . We havent learnt that .

Ah, but the 3rd years might know .

Menou claps her hands .

Yes yes everyone quieten down . 3rd-year Libest-kun . (Menou)

Libest stands up .

Im sorry but . do you know the answer? (Menou)

. . No, I dont . Isnt this fundamentally flawed though Menou sensei? How can I know what they are taught at other schools? How can this be a proper ice-breaker unless the questions are limited to general knowledge? (Libest)

I think this is general knowledge though . You say the class itself is at fault for not being taught it but isnt it actually your own fault for not studying enough? (Ledoriano)

Libest starts to look angry .

Alright then . In that case, can you describe and show the effects of Demonization <Nedora> . (Libest)

You can see Libest thinks theres no way he will know, however, Ledoriano simply smiled .

Sure . (Ledoriano)

Drawing the formula on the board he begins to explain .

<Nedora> is a magic that is mainly used to transform animals . Basically, its physical abilities are strengthened but the changes vary depending on the caster and the animal . Sometimes its intelligence decreases, other times it increases and sometimes it increases enough that they become able to understand human language . Also, the animal that has <Nedora> cast on it changes its appearance into that of a demon . In the current Deiruheido unless certain conditions are met <Nedora> is forbidden from being used . (Ledoraino)

Libest just looks and has nothing to come back with .

How was that? (Ledoraino)

. . Correct answer (Libest)

Menou seems really impressed with Ledoriano after seeing the formula and listening to his explanation .

Hmmm . It seems the 3rd year students are offended by my beginner problem . Considering the level difference between us it might be better to cancel this competition or would you like a handicap? (Ledoriano)

Umu, you might be right . Its true none of them seem to know what <Rihido> is . . Diego speaks in a troubled voice though a sly expression was creeping onto his face .

Diego sensei can you come here a minute . . (Menou)

They both move over to the corner of the platform .

. . This isnt what you said before . You said this competition was intended to let each side know what they have learnt and what they dont know . (Menou)

I doubt the other students could hear what was being said but I could hear them .

It was but that was because I assumed they knew at least common level things . I honestly didnt think the level of the demon king academy was this low . No, sorry . This was outside my calculations . (Diego)

Laughter leaks from the hero academy side .

Unlike Menou who was whispering Diego was speaking at full volume .

Everyone, its rude to laugh . No matter how low level they are theyre doing their best . (Diego)

Turing his back to Menou, Diego address the students .

I didnt miss the contemptuous look that briefly crossed his face .

On the surface, it looks like hes rebuking the students but hes just treating us with contempt . He doesnt dare to insult the demon king academy directly so he does it this way by saying we are doing our best .

Lets think of a method to match our levels as much as possible .

Menou bites her lip .

It must be frustrating for her . Officially they are playing innocent but this hostility is barely dressed up . Its pretty nasty .

Its almost as if all the students at the demon king academy are considered lower beings than the hero academy students . If by some miracle Diego doesnt feel that way there was still no need to be that rude .

In this nasty battle, the humans are one step above the mazoku .

The art of belittling others without fighting is not something the Mazoku can imitate since as a race they are honest to a fault .

The humans are starting to get a little intolerable with this .

<Rihido> is a magic that gives sacred power to weapons, armour and tools . (Arnos)

I stand up and start answering .

Simply put <Rihido> promotes the function of an object . A sword, for example, would cut better . Taken to its extreme its possible to create simple objects or turn existing objects into magic tools . Practically though that would require the magic power of over 100 sages so its not really possible . (Arnos)

I draw the magic formula on the blackboard using magic without leaving my seat .

Arnos-kun . . (Menou)

Menous face broke into a broad smile looking at me .

How was that? (Arnos)

. Correct answer . . the magic formula is also correct Diego says almost in a growl .

However, the part where you say that <Rihido> in its extreme can make tools or turn them into magic tools is a gross exaggeration . At best it would have the power near to that of a magic tool but it wouldnt be one . It is factually wrong to say it can be used for that . It seems you have studied reasonably well but have been misled by exaggerated research results . (Diego)

Laughter leaks from the hero side at Diegos words .

I thought he might be slightly better than the others but it seems hes stupid .

Magic tools dont work like that .

Thats right . A magic tool is something that has its magic built into it so its origin is different .

It seems like he has misunderstood the basics of magic .

Yare yare . Humans and their common sense . They always get too caught up in it .

To be honest I saw this coming though .

Fumu . If you dont know how then let me show you . (Arnos)

I stand back up and walk over to the platform .

On my way down I point to a sword thats hung on the wall near the ceiling and pull it down slowly in front of Diego using magic .

Stepping up on the platform I hold my hand over the sword and the magic formation for <Rihido> appears .

I finish and turn the sword around and present the hilt to Diego .

. This is . . no way . . (Diego)

Diego touches the sword without any fear and when he does the blade emits the glow of magic .

All the students of the hero academy leaned forward .

Oi . ! Its a lie right!? That glow . . !

Impossible . . ! Thats . . thats a holy sword!

Impossible . . He said <Rihido> could create magic tools! Thats not a magic tool, thats a holy sword!

Wait . thats not the problem here . Isnt he a mazoku! They cant use <Rihido> in the first place!! Thats a magic only allowed to be used by a hero!!

Diego stares at the holy sword in amazement . It seems like he cant believe whats happened .

You need to discard that common sense and stare deeper into the abyss Diego . If the headteacher in charge of the school doesnt know the answer then all the students will be ridiculed . (Arnos)

(1) Yes, he does call her his disciple . Not sure why though . The only other translation would be pupil or follower .