After Akuto was healed, they all gathered in the forest without knowing what to do. No one understood the situation. According to Korone and Hiroshi, Eiko had returned, put on her clothes, and then left in anger. That left no one who knew the whole story. They were having trouble discussing the issue. Akuto insisted they should return to the academy while Fujiko insisted they should activate the keys here. The others were unsure who was right. Out of all of them, only Keena remained cheerful. She looked like she was having a picnic.

However, Fujiko seemed to be acting oddly to Akuto.

“So that’s the current state of things.”

As Akuto explained the situation, Fujiko was fidgeting restlessly and biting her nails. Once he finished his explanation, she spoke up.

“Can I see those keys?”

Akuto did not want her taking any unnecessary actions, but then he recalled a certain fact.

—Come to think of it, this is somehow related to her brother.

He did not have a particularly logical reason, but he did feel a bit sorry for Fujiko. And so he lined the three keys up in front of her.

The first was a keychain shaped like a person that could record audio.

The second was a memo pad-sized plate that could take photos and be drawn on.

The third was an object that looked exactly like a key to a door.

Fujiko placed them in her hand, brought them up to her face one at a time, and carefully scrutinized them.

She no longer had the look of the perfect high-cla.s.s girl or the look of the evil queen. She looked like nothing more than a girl desperately trying to search her memory.

“Are these yours, senpai?” asked Akuto.

Fujiko did not reply, but the familiar way with which she held the keychain and plate gave a tacit affirmation.

“You said your brother was a horrible person, but what did he do?”

When he changed the question, Fujiko shook her head.

“I do not know. However, I feel as if I must learn the truth.”

Saying that, Fujiko toyed with the third key that did not seem to be hers. When she twisted the head of the key, it made a clicking noise.

The key then emitted a roar followed by a light.

“This is-…!”

They all looked at the key.

It began drawing a magic circle about 5 meters across in the air around them.

“This is a teleportation magic circle,” said Korone.

Keena looked puzzled and asked, “What does that mean?”

“Anyone within the circle who wishes for it shall be transported to a preset location. s.p.a.ce is twisted to open a hole that the target individual is dropped through. The target individual is not broken down and transmitted, so it is the safer variety of teleportation,” explained Korone.

“Anyone who wishes for it? Then…”

Akuto began to speak his fear, but his fear came true in the next instant.

Fujiko disappeared. And she was still holding all three keys.

“W-wait! What happens if the keys disappear?” frantically asked Akuto.

“Do not worry. For safety purposes, the magic circle will not immediately disappear. It will disappear in about a minute and it can be used to travel until then.”

“Then do we need to decide whether to follow her within the next minute?”

“Yes. However, there will be no problem if we are inside the magic circle when it disappears. We will simply be left here.”

—I get it.

Akuto resolved himself. He looked at the others and saw only looks of people intent on sticking with this to the end. Once he mentally gave his intent to transport, his body suddenly seemed to grow lighter. In the next instant, he felt like he was falling. It seemed he really did fall. He felt like he had fallen atop stone pavement from a bit off the ground. He braced himself and found himself in an unfamiliar place.

He looked around. It was an underground area even larger than the crypt. He was only guessing that it was underground, but he saw no chance of that being wrong with how distant the ceiling was above him. The area was tall enough for an entire building to fit inside. It was large in the other two dimensions as well. He thought an entire city might fit inside.

And a gate was located just in front of where Akuto and the others had appeared.

—A palace?

Akuto was at a loss for words. The others seemed shocked into speechlessness as well. The splendid gates before them were ornamented with gold. Akuto and the others seemed to be standing next to a wall. That wall had a giant gate. Beyond the gate was a stone-paved path about 100 meters long with an altar at the end.

“There’s an altar there,” said Akuto before a figure appeared in front of the gate.

This figure stood imposingly in their way as if to keep them from pa.s.sing through the gate. The figure was not all that tall but was oddly intimidating.

“Hi there, hi there,” said the figure while lifting up the brim of her hat slightly.

“The student council president…” they all said in surprise.

“This is the goal. It was a fun game, wasn’t it?”

The president smiled and the three officers appeared from behind her. One slender girl was dressed all in black, one tall girl removed her three-meter-tall armor, and one muscular girl looked sleepy and still had the arms and legs of a beast.

—These three… The thought had crossed my mind, but I never thought it would be true.

Akuto carefully observed the three officers.

There was no mistaking it. The three monsters protecting the treasures had definitely been them.

“A game?” said Junko in displeasure.

“Ah ha ha ha,” laughed the president. “Yes. This was a piece of entertainment put on by the student council. It was a treasure hunting game. Did you enjoy it? The prize is…let’s see. How about a kiss on the cheek from me?”

The president smiled at that, but she and Keena, who was shouting “Yay! A kiss, a kiss!”, were the only two smiling. The three officers stared spitefully at Akuto. When she noticed this, the president turned toward the three of them.

“C’mon, I’m doing my best here! Smile! Smile! Get them excited!”

“Ah…ah ha ha ha ha!”

“Don don pafu pafu!”

“This is so much fun, gya! That’s the president for you! She’s a genius at hosting games, gya!”

The three officers forced themselves to laugh, but this excited only Keena.

“There is no way that is what this is. Can you please explain what is going on?” asked Junko.

“Like I said: it’s a game. I made sure that map was found, sent the three officers out to get in the way, and will award the first person to arrive here.”

The president’s smile disappeared.

“I refuse to believe that,” insisted Junko, but Akuto tried to hold her back.

“No, this is fine. And it was a fun game, right?”

When Akuto agreed with her, the president’s forced smile returned.

“Yes, yes. Right? It was fun, right? Ah ha ha ha ha.”

“Ah ha ha ha.”

Akuto laughed stiffly back.

But those laughs changed to dry sounds of shock. Fujiko, who had silently held the keys up to this point, suddenly began running.

“I must pa.s.s through here!” shouted Fujiko.

She pulled a medicine bottle out of her pocket and threw it to the ground where the student council president stood. Smoke shot up and robbed everyone of their vision in no time.

“Oh, no!” shouted the president in panic.

Fujiko leapt into the smoke. The three officers tried to stop her, but she slipped through the gate before they could.

They next thing they knew, Fujiko was running along the stone-paved path to the altar.

“Senpai!”

Akuto tried to pursue her, but the president’s sharp voice stopped him.

“Stop! It’s too dangerous!”

The unusual tone to her voice stopped Akuto. He turned to look at her.

“This is no game, is it?”

“You all already knew that. I do thank you for attempting to read the atmosphere, though. Anyway, this is obviously no game.”

The president shook her head in resignation.

“Is that a possession of the old demon king up ahead?”

“Yes. This is the lowest level of the academy’s underground labyrinth. The final battle was fought underground and this was the demon king’s base.”

“Why is it still here?”

“You will understand before long. But let me tell you one thing: do not pa.s.s through this gate.”

The president stared at Akuto as she spoke. Her gaze was filled with an odd intensity.

However, Akuto was not about to fall back so easily.

“Why?” he asked while staring her right back in the eye.

Hiroshi and even Junko instinctually stepped away from the two of them.

“Because. No matter what happens now, do not move from that spot. You pa.s.sing through that gate would not be good for anyone involved.”

The president spoke in a quiet but grave voice.

Fujiko had realized that the faint light coming from the key was pointing towards the altar. And she was certain this light would reveal her past. She believed this would solve all of the contradictions she had felt for so long.

She ran across the stone pavement. No one followed her. As she approached the altar, her pace slowed and she checked on the keychain and plate.

—I need to confirm my palm with the plate and play that voice with the keychain. This altar must have some magical system built in and that is the process to open it.

She searched the altar. It was made of metal and the size of a double bed, so it looked like a platform for human sacrifices. It had writing carved into it in a relief.

A keyhole was located to the side of that writing and Fujiko had a feeling the key she held would fit.

“I have to use this…”

She inserted the key. A low rumbling could be heard. She quickly realized that the altar itself had activated.

The plate in her hand lit up. It was only a toy, but it had the ability to detect mana communications. After receiving the signal, it displayed She took a photograph of her own palm and sent it back. A reply immediately came. She pressed the keychain’s b.u.t.ton. Her brother’s voice played, followed by the vocalized pa.s.sword.

Hearing the nostalgic sound of her brother’s voice brought tears to her eyes. Those tears fell to the altar just as the altar began to rise up.

When Fujiko heard that voice play, she moved away from the altar.

As it rose, it opened up by unraveling like a box made of interwoven wood. A hole leading underground then opened. That hole spread until it covered the entire pedestal of the altar.

Finally, a silver cylinder rose up from the hole.

It was ten meters across and stopped when it was sticking up to a height of about five meters.

A crack then appeared across the side of the cylinder. The cylinder began to slowly open to the left and right.

“What is going to happen?” cut in Akuto.

Behind the student council president, a silver cylinder was rising up beyond the stone-paved path.

“Well, you have committed a crime that you must pay for,” said the president while shaking her head regrettably.

“A crime?”

“You dug this up. We tried to stop you. You understand that, right?”

“I do. You did not want anyone to find this. I understand that now.”

“What I wanted was to maintain the status quo. Or perhaps I should say to preserve it. At any rate, the government wanted to pretend this did not exist.”

“Because it belonged to the demon king?”

“Yes. We of course work for the government. We are studying to one day become bureaucrats. And once you become the student council president, you are already working for the government. However, the government is not one solid ent.i.ty. We are from the main faction that wishes to leave the relics of the demon king be. We do not know what would happen if we destroyed them and it could cause great destruction if it was learned how to use them. Not even the black magicians wish to touch these relics of the demon king. In most cases, it seems certain qualifications are needed to use them and we do not know what those are. If you carelessly approach them, you will die.”

The president explained all this indifferently, but her words made Akuto gasp.

“Die!?”

“Yes. Etou Fujiko-kun may be done for. However, letting this happen is the punishment you must face. I do not know how close the two of you were, but remember that this sacrifice is your fault.”

“I was led here by Teruya Eiko…” said Akuto before falling silent in the most unsightly fashion.

However, the president did not overlook this.

“Pathetic. She was most likely working for the radicals in the government. They wish to purge all of the black magicians. They even wish to start a war to do so. This may have been part of their preparations toward that end. Or they may have known you did not possess the qualifications and were therefore luring you to your death. At any rate, I do not know what exactly those creepy people are plotting, but they will undoubtedly go farther than the main faction of the government.”

“Understood. So you are asking me to stay here and watch?”

“Yes. Do not think of trying to save her. This relic of the demon king will do nothing more than kill the unqualified person. It will not leave that territory,” explained the president.

But that did not sit well with Akuto.

“How can you know that?”

“After the demon king lost the war 100 years ago, the black magicians sealed his possessions in various places. A few of those relics have since been found. Both the black magicians and the government have tried to activate them. A few skilled people found the means of activating them and they proved it at the cost of their lives. And this is the most recently discovered relic.”

“Then her older brother was…”

“So it seems. We do not know the details either, but we simply want to let this relic rest in peace. You gave us the map and we located it here. In other words, we succeeded in the treasure hunt much more quickly than you did. When we asked the government whether we should dispose of it or not, they told us to preserve its current state. Thinking back, there may have been some deals and arguments between the main faction and radical faction at the time. But I will obey my orders regardless.”

The president raised a finger and drew an imaginary line in front of the gate.

“I will show no mercy if you cross this line.”

The silver cylinder began to open before Fujiko’s eyes. White smoke flowed from within. It seemed to have been cooled inside.

When the cylinder fully opened and Fujiko could see inside, she spoke without thinking.

“This is…!”

A giant black beast was curled up within.

—A dragon!

Its black body was covered in scales of black steel. Its horn was a giant screw made of steel. It had a silver glowing saddle on its back. This was the legendary dragon the demon king was said to have ridden into battle.

It was curled up with its tail pressed against its head, but it stirred and began moving. It slipped out of the cylinder with speed unbefitting of its size. It was about 15 meters long. It spread its folded wings as if stretching. It seemed to hold command over a s.p.a.ce larger than its physical size.

“So it has been 100 years since I fell asleep.”

He spoke. His face looked like a dinosaur or lizard, but his voice held great intelligence. His gold eyes opened and stared at Fujiko.

“But I recall being awakened just once. It was an imperfect activation, however. I think it has been 10 years since then. However, I take no joy in being woken for no purpose.”

The dragon was only speaking to himself, but it was more than enough to frighten Fujiko.

“Y-you are…the legendary…”

“Are they speaking of me in legends? Try not to make me feel old. I was created to serve mankind and approach all of them impartially, but I was given a personality. And I prioritize acting in accordance with my personality over following my duties.”

The dragon’s voice rumbled deeply.

“E-excuse me, but wh-what do you mean by that?” asked Fujiko in a trembling voice.

“That I am selfish.”

The dragon stuck his head out toward Fujiko as if threatening her. Fujiko screamed and fell backwards. The dragon let out a laugh.

“It pains me to be feared like that. And there is no need to be afraid any longer. I a.s.sume you are the one who activated me and you are unqualified. The unqualified are unable to make full use of me. And if my power is used recklessly, I will cause harm to mankind,” said the dragon.

“Wh-what do you mean now?” said Fujiko in a trembling voice.

“When an unqualified person activates me, I must respond by swiftly killing that person,” replied the dragon calmly.

And then the dragon opened its mouth wide in Fujiko’s direction.

“President!” cried Akuto.

They had all heard what the dragon had said.

The student council president replied in a bitter voice.

“Do not make me repeat myself.”

The atmosphere grew as heavy as lead. No one said a word until Keena spoke up.

“A-chan! You need to save senpai!”

“I know that…but…”

Akuto was frustrated at the fact that he could not run forward. It was not that he was being held back by fear, laziness, or malice. It was because he understood that abandoning her was the right decision from the government’s standpoint.

—The world can’t be shown that the demon kings’ power is still this strong!

A part of him felt the same way. Also, he had come to the academy to work with the government. For that reason, he could only say the president’s decision was the right one.

“I have no choice but to go along with the right decision!” roared Akuto.

Keena then raised her voice to drown out his voice.

“A-chan, you idiot! You don’t know how senpai felt about all this!”

As soon as Keena shouted that, Akuto felt an odd numbness spread through his body. He did not know what it was, but everyone except Keena had an odd look on their face. It seemed they were all feeling the same sensation.

—Eh?

He felt something suddenly flow into the back of his mind. It felt like dreaming while awake or having someone else’s memories enter his mind.

He was running.

He was being pursued.

He was filled with intense impatience and fear.

This was someone’s nightmare…no, their actual experience.

He hid a key at that hot spring shrine. He jotted down something on the toy plate and took a photograph of the cave entrance. He had promised to take a photograph with the plate and show it to his little sister. He had never imagined he would use it this way.

He altered the landscape of the forest to throw off his pursuers. This was high-level magic he had been granted by Muleet, the G.o.d of the nation’s land. He had received the divine protection of Muleet more than anyone. It would be impossible to completely lose his pursuers, but it would buy him time.

He then entered the ruins of the knight equipment laboratory. He hid the plate on a shelf in the back. His reason for this was simple: he was being pursued by the knights. He hoped this would reveal their crimes.

He continued to run. This would reveal their crimes. When he reflected on that fact, he realized where he would hide the last key. He ran.

He had to let someone know about that man at all costs. He had to reveal the truth about the man who had lied to him.

The seal to the demon king’s final fortress had been broken and he had been sent to survey the area despite being a student. That was when that man had spoken to him.

“Could you investigate how to break the seal on that dragon? You only need to investigate it. Just between the two of us, it seems the next demon king has awoken. The government plans to reseal it after the survey is complete, but I would prefer to completely destroy it.”

Who would have thought that had been a lie!

He had known that he was the only one who could break the pa.s.sword on the most difficult of the demon king’s relics. If he only had to break the pa.s.sword and not the seal itself, he could manage. He had done some background research on that man. The man was not a black magician. He was one of the leaders of the Public Safety Committee. It was only natural to trust him.

But he eventually realized that the man was actually hatching a frightening plan.

He could hardly believe what that plan entailed.

He entered the crypt. After learning of that plan, he had done more research on the man. He had discovered something unbelievable: that man was thought to have died in the war. That was 90 years ago. Who was this man?

He opened the box and searched for ashes. Naturally, none were found.

Yamato Bouichirou.

He would use the grave with that name to hide the toy keychain with the recording of the pa.s.sword.

It saddened him that he was forced to overwrite the recording of Fujiko’s voice. Now he would not be able to hear her voice just before he died.

But it was best to leave behind the method of removing the dragon’s seal for the next person to come along.

He listened to Fujiko’s voice one last time, etched it into the back of his mind, overwrote it with the pa.s.sword, and placed it in the box.

He then created the map.

If possible, he wanted a black magician to find the map. He could no longer trust anyone but them. That was an odd thing. He had held such a prejudice against them before, yet now it was the government he could not trust.

The only place in the academy he could think that a black magician would go was the Mental Training Room. He had thoroughly investigated them out of his prejudice, so he was the only non-black magician who knew they used that place to communicate.

He attached the map to the wall.

He then left a hint as to what crimes he was trying to bring to light. He hid the map over the portion of the const.i.tution that approved the establishment of the Imperial Public Safety Committee.

He doubted anyone else talented enough to break the dragon’s seal would appear for several decades. No one in the government could break the seal other than by following the hints he had left behind. And if all went well, the pa.s.sword would fall into the hands of the black magicians who worked in secret. Even if that did not happen, the map would cause enough of a commotion that it would be seen by the government’s main faction and normal people before his enemies. If that happened, it would be impossible for them to monopolize the dragon.

And with that complete, one task remained.

He had to erase his memories of the pa.s.sword itself and of hiding the map. He would soon be captured. Once he was, he would be killed and necromancy would be cast on him. He had to erase the records of his memories from his G.o.d Muleet while he was still alive.

He used his authority as an a.s.sociate priest to summon his G.o.d. He erased the appropriate records of his memories. He was forced to erase most of his school life. This would likely be hard on his family after his death.

His job was now done.

That man stood before him. The man was unpleasantly beautiful. He gave a cheerful and refreshing impression, but he was different on the inside…or perhaps he was not. It may have been that cheerful and refreshing side that had led him to work so hard toward his objective.

“Really? You erased your memories!? That keeps us from acquiring that dragon! Well done! This will delay our work by quite a bit. But this just means I need to think of another method.”

The man shrugged. It served him right.

But he could not stand up to that man.

He would soon be killed.

The man stretched out his hand.

There was pain.

And shortly thereafter, only darkness.

“What was that!?” said Akuto.

Everyone else had the same expression as him.

Korone calmly explained, “These were memories recorded by the dragon. That dragon is illegally logging and saving the memories of every imperial citizen.”

“So is it the G.o.d of the black magicians!?” asked Akuto in shock.

“It seems that function alone has continued even as it slept. No one was able to use it in that time, but after one hundred years, it is usable once more.”

Despite Korone’s explanation, there was one thing Akuto still did not understand.

“Why were those memories sent to all of us?”

“I believe someone acted as an intermediary. I do not know who, though.”

Akuto looked over at Keena. She only gave a blank look in return. It seemed she did not know either.

—It doesn’t matter who it was. We have seen it now. That is all that matters.

Akuto smiled in Keena’s direction.

When she noticed, she smiled back.

“Okay!”

The student council president easily picked up on that atmosphere.

“This means nothing. I will not hold back,” she said before making shooing motions toward Hiroshi and Keena.

“Korone,” instructed Akuto.

Korone put on those roller skates she seemed to have taken a liking to, dashed over, grabbed Hiroshi and Keena under each of her arms, and moved away.

“Hattori-san,” called out Akuto.

Junko shook her head and said, “A Suhara follower does not retreat.”

“You can’t do this. There is no reason for you to force yourself. This is my responsibility for sticking my head where it didn’t belong.”

“No, I need to pay Teruya Eiko back for what she did. I also think you made the right decision. And…and…” Junko trailed off, blushed, and continued quietly. “And you chose me, so I will-…”

“Eh? What was that?” Akuto asked because he could not hear her.

“You idiot! What I mean is-…” shouted Junko.

However, Akuto was once more unable to hear what she said. Before she could finish, Akuto’s entire body was knocked back by an impact.

—Wha-!?

He was slammed against the ground before he even knew what was happening.

The same happened to Junko. And she seemed to have taken more damage than him. She groaned and was unable to get up.

“What did-…?”

He looked up and tried to say “what did you do?”, but another impact struck him from the side.

However, Akuto managed to see what had hit him this time.

The student council president’s arm had grown. She may have momentarily created more of the tissue forming her arm or it may have been a strike created solely out of mana like Junko’s copies. Either way, the president had punched Akuto from the side while standing still ten meters away.

“The gong rings the instant you decide to fight,” declared the president. And then she made a disinterested addition. “I saw those memories the same as you did. I understand how you feel. But I cannot allow you to pa.s.s for the sake of what I believe in.”

“Then…” Akuto stood up. “Enough surprise attacks. Let’s have an enjoyable fight.”

“It seems you like fighting even more than your appearance lets on. Then let us have an enjoyable fight. It’s been awhile since we met, but I have yet to introduce myself, have I? My name is Lily Shiraishi. I have a bit of a short temper.”

Lily stretched out her right arm once more. Akuto twisted his body in an attempt to dodge it. And then a strike came from the opposite direction. Akuto was. .h.i.t directly on the jaw. Lily had stretched her left arm out from below.

“At least expect a feint. You must not be as used to fighting as you let on.”

Akuto shook his head to clear his muddled mind.

“Your judgment was wrong, president. I hate fighting.”

“Come to think of it, these three mentioned that. They said you hesitated a lot despite your ridiculous strength.”

Lily used her chin to point at the three.

“Is that so? Well, they were quite kind. They avoided making any fatal injuries. That is, except for the last one.”

“When she transforms, she grows truly wild. Now, enough chatting. I am known to be quite kind as well. I would like to knock you out as quickly as possible.”

As Lily said that, she pointed behind her.

The dragon fired something from his open maw. The legends said dragons breathed fire, but this dragon released a metal rod carved into a screw.

This meter-long metal rod stabbed into the ground with a great roar. The stone pavement was torn apart between Fujiko’s legs where she still lay collapsed. It then rotated as it dug down into the ground.

“I created that within myself, so it is a portion of my body. Projectiles are cowardly, so one should wear down one’s own body. That is how the previous demon king thought. Now, girl. Stand and face me. I provide even the unqualified with a chance to fight. The previous demon king told me to prioritize my feelings over my duties and so I shall,” said the dragon.

Fujiko stood on trembling legs.

However, those memories she had seen were still lurking in the back of her mind.

—Brother…

She had learned the truth. The feelings she had held for ten years had all been based on lies. This made her feel that everything about her was meaningless.

“So you have stood. But you can do nothing with such shaky footing,” declared the dragon coldly.

“There you have it.” Lily shrugged at the dragon’s words. “It would be best if you were unconscious. You don’t want to see a drill tearing into a girl’s body, do you? Once it kills Etou-kun, the dragon will go back to sleep. If we then destroy the recorded pa.s.sword, everything will be over. It will all come to an end while you sleep.”

“I’m standing up to you because I can’t accept that.”

Akuto stared directly at Lily.

“Then what will you do? Overcome me and fight that dragon?” she said mockingly. “Doing that would be the same as choosing to be a demon king.”

She was right about that, so Akuto was at a loss for words.

“I-I just need to do it in a way that doesn’t make me a demon king.”

Lily burst out laughing.

“Ha ha ha! Excellent! I certainly can’t let someone pa.s.s if they aren’t even prepared to do what must be done!”

—I-it may be true that I am not prepared….

Akuto realized that his feelings were wavering. He had a bad habit of trying to look good, so he had a feeling he had come this far on nothing but momentum.

However…

“Do not worry! Do not worry about that, Sai Akuto!”

He heard a voice.

Junko had stood up.

Akuto looked up.

Junko raised her voice as she spoke to both Lily and Akuto.

“You may not be prepared, but I am! If you become a demon king, I will kill you!”

Those words brought clarity to Akuto’s mind. He stood up as well.

“Honestly… If you say that, I have no choice but to get up.” Akuto looked over at Junko. “I know how problematic my personality can be.”

Junko blushed as he looked at her.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“I want everything to go well both in the present and the future. It makes me indecisive and I lack resolve. But if you will kill me, then maybe I can accept what might happen.”

Akuto smiled.

Junko looked away and said, “Y-you are pathetic.”

“There you have it, president.”

Akuto turned back toward Lily. Her expression was one of admiration.

“You’re quite the lady-killer. You would make a great ruler.”

“Eh? I’ve never thought about it that way.”

“I see. So you don’t even realize it.”

With that comment, Lily’s arms grew once more. However, they stretched toward Junko instead of Akuto.

“Kh!”

Junko somehow managed to stop the punch with her sword, but the punches continued on and on. She was ultimately unable to withstand it all and was blown away.

“Hattori-san!” shouted Akuto.

Junko groaned after being knocked to the ground again.

“Uuh… I’m fine, so...”

“Understood.”

He understood Junko’s resolve painfully well, so he turned to face Lily.

“Here I come.”

Akuto recalled the amplified tornado he had used in the crypt. If he could remember that wind spell, he could reproduce it without the bullet. He recalled the spell pulse that bullet had caused. He moved his fingers such that it drew out the same signals in his brain and used language to follow through with those signals.

“Transform this stirring in my heart to wind!”

A whirlwind appeared in Akuto’s hand and instantly expanded into a tornado that approached Lily. This roaring tornado was several dozen meters tall, but Lily received it with an unconcerned expression.

“This is nothing but mana wind. The flow of mana can be stopped with more mana. That is a lesson you need to learn.”

Lily created wind in her hand as well. This wind also instantly grew into a tornado. When it collided with Akuto’s tornado, the two winds disappeared as if they had never existed.

“Remote mana attacks are easily eliminated by controlling mana. The way you once broke your enemies’ arms and legs with mana pressure would be impossible without a great difference in power. One’s power weakens considerably at a distance,” explained Lily.

“Thanks for the lesson. I’ll take that to mean a direct fistfight is the best plan. That brings it down to a simple matter of how much internal mana we have. With your small body, you should be at a disadvantage,” said Akuto.

He had meant it as a casual comment, but the three officers watching on all stiffened as if they had been struck.

—?

Lily began acting oddly. She lowered her head and began trembling while her hand slowly crawled along the brim of her stylish hat.

The three officers all began panicking.

“Not good, gya!”

“Nothing good comes of the president touching her hat!”

“Gaahh!”

Lily’s entire body was trembling.

“My small body?”

When Lily raised her head once more, her expression was overflowing with anger. She grabbed the brim of her hat and pulled it to the side to reverse the hat’s direction.

“Ahh! She finally reversed her hat!”

“She can’t be stopped once she does that, gya!”

The three officers all clung to each other and trembled in fear.

“Diiiieee!” roared Lily.

Both of her arms disappeared from her body.

—Ah!

Akuto was shocked. No, he did not even have time to be shocked. Fists rained down on his body from every direction.

“Waaah!”

While being pummeled from every direction, Akuto saw that every direction around him for several dozen meters was filled with fists.

The torrent of blows tossed Akuto’s body into the air and refused to let him fall. The fists dancing around in the air looked like a sphere several dozen meters across. And Akuto was at the center floating around like a feather in the wind.

After seeing that Akuto was no longer moving, Lily finally brought an end to the fists. The look in her eyes had finally returned to normal.

“So you are finally unconscious.”

After seeing Akuto fall to the ground, Lily returned her hat to normal and checked behind her.

Fujiko seemed to be somehow avoiding the dragon’s attacks. However, she specialized in making medicines, so she could not handle close quarters combat. She had been backed up against a corner.

“Poor thing. But I will make sure to take revenge for you,” muttered Lily too quietly for Fujiko to hear.

But then…

“This isn’t over yet,” rang out Akuto’s voice.

Lily turned around in shock.

Akuto was covered in bruises, but he stood up. He moved forward on unsteady legs.

“You want more!?”

Lily sent out intense punches with both arms. She had not lost her cool this time, but she still sent blows accurately at Akuto’s vitals with the same force as before.

However, Akuto did not stop walking forward.

“Ha ha. You really are kind, president. You went out of your way to teach me how to fight. I get it now. If you know it’s coming, it doesn’t hurt! That’s the trick,” muttered Akuto.

“Ah ha ha… So you’ve caught on!”

Lily laughed out of bravado but was actually half filled with fear. The student council president was known as the strongest in the school. Her fists had once destroyed an entire group of knights that had called her short. Yet Akuto continued forward despite receiving those fists.

“You three!” shouted Lily to the three officers.

“Right!”

The three officers straightened up and immediately prepared for battle. One hardened her clothes into a silver color, one put on armor, and one transformed into a beast.

“Don’t hold back! Get him!”

The three officers displayed a perfectly coordinated formation. They attacked Akuto from three different directions simultaneously. A silver blade came from above, a beast’s fangs came from the right, and an axe as tall as he was came from the left. Each of these attacks had troubled him before and now he had no way of avoiding them.

However…

Akuto did not stop moving forward.

He caught the silver blade with his teeth, he grabbed the beast’s claws with his right hand, and he grabbed the axe with his left hand despite the blade digging into his fingers. And he continued forward while dragging the three officers along with him.

Lily continued the rain of blows, but Akuto did not stop.

Finally, Akuto arrived right in front of Lily. He shook his body to throw off the three officers with surprising strength. They flew about ten meters through the air.

“Waaah!”

“Gnyaaah!”

“Ohhh!”

The three of them let out different screams as they crashed into the floor. They slid across the floor while producing a tremendous racket.

Lily stopped her fists. While sweat poured from her brow, she looked up at Akuto.

“This is no joke. Why do you need to go this far?”

“I just have a feeling. I thought up a way of resolving all of this nicely, so I want to try it out. I haven’t given much thought to the repercussions, but I just have a feeling it will work.”

Akuto looked down at Lily with his battered face.

Lily shrugged.

“Are you stupid? If you’re willing to put in this much effort for a reason like that, I don’t even care anymore. I was going to show you my best attack, but never mind. You’ll either be killed by the dragon or Hattori, but this will kill you either way.”

When Akuto realized what she meant, he gasped.

“Then…”

“Shut up. I didn’t lose. I just can’t be bothered to continue fighting.”

Lily pointed behind her.

“Thank you,” said Akuto with a bow.

“You should be thanking Hattori. This is based on my trust in what she says. I am still convinced what you are doing here is wrong.”

Lily used her chin to point toward Junko. Akuto turned around to find Junko finally standing back up. She held her bruised cheek in embarra.s.sment and waved her hand to urge Akuto on.

“I will bring this all to a happy ending. Do you really think I’m wrong?” Akuto asked Lily.

Lily lifted one corner of her mouth and replied, “It’s because you’re wrong that we call you a demon king.”

Akuto tried to pa.s.s by Lily, but she called out to him as if she had suddenly remembered something.

“Wait a second.”

“?”

Akuto stopped and Lily instructed him to crouch down.

He did not understand but did so regardless. Lily stretched up.

“I forgot to give you your promised reward.”

Lily then kissed Akuto on the cheek.

Fujiko trembled in fear as a metal rod crashed into the wall like a stake next to her face.

She no longer had any means of resisting. She had used up all of the medicines she had on her. Not to mention that she was not sure those medicines worked on dragons.

Even while driven up against that wall, Fujiko continued to think about her brother.

For quite a long time, she had viewed her brother as dishonest. However, it turned out her brother had been honest and strong. Her childhood image of him had been accurate. But it was too late to regret it. Even so, she could not help but feel frustrated that she had taken such an odd direction for her life. She had always wanted to love her brother and she regretted suppressing those feelings. The effort she had put into creating her outward face had been for nothing and the cowardly means she had used to create her secret face had been nothing but a meaningless bluff put on by someone without the talent of her brother.

—But I will be set free from all of this when I die. According to the common religious beliefs, I suppose I will be going to join my brother.

Fujiko seemed to lose her mind with that thought and a smile appeared on her lips.

And as she smiled, the dragon opened his maw wide. A metallic smell flowed out from deep within his throat. Fujiko felt sick to the stomach.

And then…

“It’s okay now, senpai. I will handle this.”

She heard Akuto’s voice.

Fujiko turned toward it.

His tall form had pa.s.sed the gate. He stood directly behind the dragon. Despite clearly being so battered he could barely stand, he was puffing his chest out proudly.

The dragon turned his head to look as well.

“Most humans who act so tough are actually very shallow. Having the unqualified act as if they are qualified only irritates me.”

As the dragon spoke coolly, he opened his mouth toward Akuto and fired a metal rod carved with a spiral at tremendous speed.

It was about a meter long and it caused a tremendous roar as it rotated.

However, Akuto did not evade it.

“Ryaaah!” he shouted as he mustered up every last bit of strength.

He swung his right fist toward the rotating metal rod.

As it rotated and flew through the air, the metal rod crashed into his fist.

The painful sound of metal sc.r.a.ping against metal reverberated throughout the area.

“What!?” cried the dragon in surprise.

Akuto’s fist stopped the metal rod in midair. It did not stop rotating, but its tip did not drill a hole in Akuto’s fist. Sparks flew from the fist and the rotating tip of the metal rod and the metal rod finally let out a great noise as it rotated. With a dry sound, the metal rod fell to the ground.

“I don’t really know how to fight, so this is the only method I know.”

Akuto shook his right hand as if it hurt.

The dragon spoke up in an interested voice.

“I do not know if you are qualified or not, but it has been 100 years since I met someone like you!”

“That’s just because you’ve been sleeping for the last 100 years. You’re overselling this.”

Without waiting for Akuto to finish speaking, the dragon swung his tail to the side. His tail was as thick as a log, but Akuto stopped it with his fist.

Sparks flew from between the dragon’s scales and Akuto’s fist. The dragon pushed his tail down to knock Akuto the ground.

Nevertheless, Akuto held his ground and pushed back the dragon’s tail. While covered in sweat and breathing heavily, he swung his hand once more.

“What are you doing?” asked the dragon in puzzlement.

“Thinking about how to end this so I don’t have to kill you and you don’t kill me or senpai. I think an old-fashioned brawl would be best. Even if we are different sizes.”

Akuto seemed to be completely serious, so the dragon let out a laugh.

“Ha ha ha ha! No one has ever said that to me before! Fine. Let us have a wonderful brawl!”

The dragon and Akuto stood facing each other and sent metal rod against fist and tail against fist. They both managed to count up to 20 blows, but they were too tired to continue counting beyond that.

And…

The dragon may have decided this would be the final blow because he swung his head toward Akuto. As that head approached with a roar, Akuto sent out his fist.

The sound of metal clashing and then breaking rang out.

Once that noise died out, the human and dragon slowly collapsed to the ground simultaneously.

As Fujiko watched this unfold before her, she could not comprehend what had happened. Even so, she knew what she had to do.

Fujiko ran over to Akuto.

“What is your name?” asked the dragon from where it lay next to Akuto.

As he lay face-down on the ground, Akuto was sick of it all but felt he had to answer.

“Sai Akuto.”

“What a horrible name.”

“They gave it to me at the orphanage. Leave me alone. What about you?”

“Peterhausen.”

“What a horrible name.”

“My dead master gave it to me. He had a terrible naming sense, but I quite like it.”

“Sounds like you had a good relationship with your master.”

“He was an excellent man. And I hope that relationship can continue.”

“Isn’t he dead?”

“With my new master.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Congratulations.”

“You are a fool, Sai Akuto. I mean you.”

—What?

Akuto instinctually sat up.

“What do you mean?”

“Once I awaken, I require a master. Otherwise I will kill everyone who awakens me.”

“But don’t I need to be qualified?”

“Defeating me is part of that.”

“No, wait a second! I refuse! I don’t want this!”

“Are you sure? If you refuse, I must return to killing the people around me.”

“No, wait! So what responsibilities do I have to take on if I become your master?”

“Nothing. However, my master is generally referred to as the demon king.”

—Oh, no… I didn’t think about the consequences again…

Akuto held his head in his hands.

And suddenly Fujiko ran over and embraced him.

“Wah! What are you doing, senpai?”

“Please stop calling me that!”

Fujiko looked at him with teary eyes.

—This is not good. Did her personality change due to the shock of what she saw?

“No, senpai. Calm down…”

“I told you to stop calling me that! Oh, my demon king! I will serve you for the rest of my life as a black magician!”

Fujiko pushed Akuto down to the ground.

“W-wait!”

—This is going to make my dream even harder to achieve… I wanted to be a top cla.s.s national…what was it again?