The Mad Dog Descends
Why are these people like this? It's not even entertaining.
Kiara rested her chin on her hand, looking utterly bored. It was the third day since the Academy's first semester had begun.
The Knight Division was swinging swords under the guidance of famous knights. From afar, the Grand General occasionally watched over them.
The Magic Division was learning more sophisticated mana control, with rumors that the Court Mage would be coming to oversee them.
The Theology Division debated good and evil, with the Holy Knight Commander present to moderate the discussion. And the Administrative Division? They just did everything.
From the basics of managing a territory to understanding and handling people's hearts. If you weren't going to become a knight, mage, or priest, the main focus was learning how to live in the future.
In truth, it was called the Administrative Division in name only—it was basically where they gathered everyone else.
For that reason, there were quite a few lower nobles in the Administrative Division. These were the lower nobles who had been pushed around and stepped on from all sides. Banding together was their only path to survival.
“Students. I have one question for you.”
An elderly professor with a stern expression began to speak. At first glance, he might seem like an ordinary educator. But Kiara knew a little about this man.
He’s not even that impressive of a noble himself, yet he’s one of those idiots who finds superiority by tormenting lower nobles. I’ve heard stories about him before.
But most people didn’t know that about him. He hid it well so that rumors wouldn’t spread. Since he had nothing to do with demons, there was no issue.
In fact, he was someone who trampled on lower nobles. The examiners must have praised him as a good man and accepted him. That was the kind of person this professor was. A disgusting one.
And probably… the question that was about to come out now—
“Let’s imagine there’s a very dangerous demon here.”
—was meant to tear apart the lower nobles who had banded together to survive.
“There is one person on the left. There are five people on the right.”
People who had clung together just to endure somehow at the Academy. A twisted human who wanted to watch them fight each other.
“The demon is heading toward the right. In your hands, you hold something that can lure the demon. If you throw this to the left, the demon will go left instead.”
The lower nobles who understood the intent of the question began to panic. This wasn’t a question where they could band together and come up with the best answer.
“So, what choice will you make?”
Would you kill one to save five? Or abandon five to avoid killing one? The more they discussed it, the harder the question became.
“Ah, and as a reference, their status is the same as yours. Their abilities are similar, and so is their age.”
He even made their status and the value of their lives identical. Watching this, Kiara felt nauseous. The professor was already glancing at the lower nobles with a faint smile. They, who had no way of knowing this, put their heads together.
A few stale moral and ethical points came up. If there had been commoners there, the decision would have been made immediately. Kiara decided to watch and see what they would do.
“As expected… that must be it, right?”
“I think this is the right choice.”
She could already predict what answer they would give. One versus five. If they had to choose one of the two, it was only natural to choose the five as the most rational option…
“I won’t choose either.”
At that moment, Estelle spoke from behind in a firm tone. The professor and the other students turned to look at her.
“If there is something in my hand that can lure the demon, instead of leading it in one direction for the sake of the five, I will become that one person and move far away from them.”
Here we go again. Kiara wore an expression of pure exasperation. She always thought that just being good would solve everything. One day she’d get properly burned and stop saying things like that.
“Student. I asked you to choose between the two.”
That wasn’t the answer the old professor wanted. He was determined to see the outcome he desired. After forcing them to choose one without fail, he wanted to feed his superiority complex with the line, See? The morals and ethics of lower nobles are indeed worthless!
“I believe this is also one way.”
“You speak of self-sacrifice so casually. Do you really think you could do that if the situation actually arose?”
This was one time Kiara found herself cheering for that disgusting professor. You always think being good will fix everything? Do you think other people don’t know that? Or that they don’t do it because they don’t want to? Is that why they act differently from you?
“Ignore such ridiculous nonsense. What do the other students think?”
“We… think it’s better to sacrifice one to save the five…”
“As expected. Yes, that’s what ordinary humans do.”
The professor looked at Estelle with a mocking smile.
“Much better than someone who talks as if they’re something special.”
Hmm. Suddenly watching this made her irritated. It was satisfying to see that annoying girl get put in her place. But the one running his mouth wasn’t exactly a good person either, was he?
Ah. She couldn’t hold back anymore. She didn’t want to take sides, but she had to step in. Professor. What would you choose? she would ask. If he truly believed he was superior to them, she would check whether he could give a different answer.
But before Kiara could act, someone else moved first.
BAAAAAANG—!
With a tremendous roar, the entire door was ripped off its hinges. For reference, it wasn’t made of wood. It was sturdy steel, built for emergencies. That door now lay crumpled on the floor like a piece of paper.
“W-what the— Who are you?!”
A man who had suddenly appeared after smashing the door.
“Didn’t you just say demon?”
“What…?”
“You said demon. So I came to kill it.”
The one who had descended upon the classroom with a murderous aura. A monster whose mere presence made people shrink back instinctively.
“Cain?”
It really was Cain. Kiara ended up smiling. He wasn’t an Academy student. Nor was he a professor. He wasn’t even in an educational support role like the Grand General, the Court Mage, or the Holy Knight Commander. She had no idea where he had suddenly come from.
“Isn’t it?”
“It is not! Y-you madman! This is destruction of Academy property! Do you even realize that?!”
Whether the opponent was Cain or a commoner, nobles tended to act arrogantly first. That was how most of them behaved. At the old professor’s shout, Cain crossed his arms.
“I know.”
“You know, yet you still do something like this…”
“It’ll be back to normal by tomorrow anyway, so don’t worry too much.”
So where’s the demon? Why did you bring up the demon story? The professor even pointed a finger at him in the middle of his demon-centric rant. How could he so casually change the subject as if he’d done nothing wrong? This was all Union property. How dare a commoner destroy it and act so brazen?
“I told you, it’ll be restored.”
If he told Wilhelm or Arhen, it would be done in no time. They’d probably even install a sturdier door. One that could withstand two hits next time.
“Want me to tell you why I brought up the demon?”
Kiara, who had been snickering, casually cut in.
“That old professor over there posed this problem. One person on the left. Five people on the right. The demon is naturally heading toward the right. If you could change the demon’s direction, what choice would you make…?”
“What are you even worrying about?”
Cain strode straight up to the professor.
“You kill the demon.”
“What?”
“That’s the correct answer, isn’t it?”
“What the…”
It could technically be considered a correct answer. It was removing the root cause. But from the professor’s perspective, it was an unwanted reply. This was a question meant to probe the other person’s morals and ethics. The professor, wearing a sneer, quickly spoke up.
“No.”
“No?”
“There’s a part of the problem you’re missing. This demon is incredibly strong. It can never be killed. It can never be defeated. The only thing possible is luring it away! So, Cain. Would you save one? Or would you save five!”
Why are you even worrying about that? Cain answered, saying he didn’t understand.
“I kill the demon.”
“I’m telling you it’s a demon that cannot be killed!”
It cannot be killed! It cannot be defeated! The demon here is that kind of demon! At the professor’s shout, Cain stepped closer. After staring at him for a moment, he tilted his head at an angle.
“Now that I look at you, you seem to have an incredibly high opinion of demons.”
“What?”
“A demon that cannot be killed. A demon that cannot be defeated.”
“What are you—”
Crack!
Suddenly, the professor collapsed sideways. Both of his legs were bent at grotesque angles, dangling limply.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!”
Whether noble or commoner. Whether young or old. When bones break and muscles tear, it hurts. The fact that he could no longer walk filled him with terror.
“Aaaagh! Aaaaaagh!!”
At the shocking sight, all the students stood up.
“Sit down.”
But at Cain’s single command, they sat back down.
“Hey.”
“Aaaaaagh! Aaaagh!!”
“It’s not like you’ll die just because your legs are broken. If you keep screaming like that, people will think your legs got cut off.”
If they had been completely severed, it might be more difficult, but with holy power, the bones would heal cleanly. As a noble, he could receive plenty of holy power treatment. It was completely different from commoners, who could die from such injuries.
“If you’re going to keep screaming, should I break both your arms too?”
At the kind suggestion, the professor hurriedly shut his mouth. Good job. Cain smiled as he stepped forward.
“You said it earlier. A demon that cannot be killed. A demon that cannot be defeated.”
The professor nodded frantically—he didn’t want his arms dangling too. Then Cain declared with finality.
“There’s no such thing.”
You tear demons apart and kill them. That’s it.
“Hmm.”
Whistling a tune, Cain did a little shoulder dance. Yeah. This was exactly why he did mental reformation.
“Hey, Cain. What the hell did you do this time? Why did you break the professor’s legs?”
“Brother. Don’t worry. Cain? I’ll clean this up neatly. I was the one who strongly insisted on the Academy, after all. It’s only right that I take responsibility. So could you please stop hitting him now?”
The trash prince had become a decent person who worked hard, and the romance fantasy male lead who only cared about the female protagonist had regained his intelligence. Unlike Wilhelm, Arhen had a very good reputation. So he was quite useful for covering up all sorts of incidents.
Cain looked at his fist with a satisfied smile.
I need to beat them more in the future.
Even though he had only hit them moderately, they were doing this well? Then if he hit them more, wouldn’t they do even better?
“So. What’s the business?”
Without even turning around, Cain asked. From beside a pillar, one of the Special Task Force members appeared.
“This is a message from the Captain of the Special Task Force. She says there is urgent information to deliver.”
“You could have just told me through them.”
Even as he said that, he quickly followed the member. There was only one reason Yuris would call for him.
It was a demon.
A demon had appeared somewhere. And Cain’s prediction hit the mark perfectly.
“Lord Cain.”
“Yuri.”
“The contractor we identified last time has begun to move.”
Only middle demons and above could form contracts. In other words, they had detected quite a killable demon.
“Why aren’t you and the Special Task Force moving?”
“There are quite a lot of them. If there are five contractors, that means at least five middle demons. When you add the demons following them, it will easily reach several dozen. We judged that this would be a suitable stage for you, Lord Cain.”
She had naturally assumed Cain would be delighted. But Yuris’s observation of his reaction was slightly different.
“Hmm.”
“Lord Cain?”
He didn’t accept immediately and seemed to be thinking about something. This was completely unlike the usual Cain. The moment demon was mentioned, his eyes would change first. So why did he look as calm as a still lake right now?
Don’t tell me… he noticed?
To be honest, this information could have been delivered through a regular member. But because she wanted to see Cain, she had personally requested a meeting. Was he going to scold her for wasting his time? As Yuris’s anxiety grew stronger—
This… seems like that.
Cain was considering another possibility.
When the Academy arc starts, there has to be an attack. This early in the semester, when everything is still chaotic, is the most perfect timing.
At that exact moment, the contractors suddenly began to move. The Special Task Force resources monitoring the demons were being drawn there. From his experience as a PD, this was a kind of buildup. They were pulling external support forces as far away as possible.
In the meantime, the Academy would be ambushed by demons. If support arrived too quickly, there would be no room for a dramatic performance. It was a device created to produce an appropriate crisis situation.
A demon would soon appear at the Academy. Without fail. Therefore, he must not leave the Academy yet.
—That would have been the extremely rational answer.
“Where is it, Yuri?”
“Yes, Lord Cain. I will guide you personally.”
But a demon had appeared first. It was a demon! How could he possibly hold back? He had to tear it apart and kill it. He would kill that demon over there and then quickly return to the Academy!