The Heavenly Demon Must Know Shame
Lunchtime was supposed to be a happy occasion for any student, but it didn't apply to us at all right now. Everyone in our group was mentally shattered after being tormented by the Heavenly Demon throughout the morning classes.
"...You okay, Shao Mei?"
The one in the worst state was Shao Mei. Not only had her great-grandmother observed the class, but the way she'd picked fights with the professors left Shao Mei unable to lift her head the entire time.
"Oppa, how am I supposed to show my face at the Academy now...? Should I just drop out? If I drop out, you'll come with me too, right...?"
"Get a grip, Shao Mei! That's exactly what your great-grandmother wants! Don't let her push you around!"
I tried my best to encourage her, but the light refused to return to Shao Mei's unfocused eyes. Everyone wore pitying expressions at the sight. Even Cayen—who usually got jealous without any reason whenever it came to my lovers—was sympathizing with Shao Mei this time.
"...Sorry, Artin. I don't think I can take classes with you while the Heavenly Demon is around."
"Yeah... it's pretty burdensome for me too..."
Even Zorba and Violet, who had always been my reliable allies, declared they would be taking classes separately for a while after getting fed up with the Heavenly Demon's trolling.
"I-I'm sorry, Cayen! I think I need to take classes with Sir Zorba...!"
"Uh... okay, Claire?"
Claire looked back and forth between Cayen and Zorba before following after Zorba. So she's the type who picks men based on their faces? I'd seen it—the way her expression shifted as she compared Cayen and Zorba's faces, like she was deciding which heroine to pursue in a game. Never mind that neither of them was even considering a romantic relationship with her...
Anyway, the only members who gathered for lunch ended up being me, Shao Mei, and Cayen.
"What should we do? Should I hole up in my room and study alone for a while? It'd be a shame to lose attendance points, but at this rate I won't be able to accomplish anything!"
"Calm down, Shao Mei! You still have to pass your midterms!"
"How can I calm down?! She's sitting right over there, blatantly eavesdropping on our conversation while pretending she isn't!"
Shao Mei kicked her chair back and stood up, pointing toward a spot about five tables away where the Heavenly Demon sat eating. She wore a lofty expression as if she'd simply happened to visit the cafeteria, stuffing the student-exclusive special set meal into her mouth. But at the Heavenly Demon's level, she could hear conversations from hundreds of meters away if she focused.
"Look at how she's perking her ears up while deliberately avoiding eye contact! Is she a stalker?! Or is our great-grandmother the villain this time?! If so, let's take her down right now!"
"...Hang in there, Shao Mei."
When Shao Mei collapsed back into her seat with a completely broken expression, I patted her shoulder.
"Cheer up. I'll keep that old hag occupied this afternoon so you can go rest. Got it?"
"Hiiing, Oppa..."
Shao Mei threw herself into my arms. There were many students in the cafeteria and Cayen was sitting right there, so normally I would have been conscious of their gazes, but...
"Is that Shao Mei?"
"The... Heavenly Demon's great-granddaughter?"
"Oh my... the poor thing. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to show my face around here..."
The rumors had already spread throughout the school. Instead of curious stares at the scene of Artin, Agnez's fiancé, being unfaithful, sympathetic looks poured in.
...Seeing that made this entire situation start to piss me off. Why should the woman I love have to endure such pitying gazes from others? Shao Mei was not a woman who should be treated this way!
Unable to hold back my anger, I stood up from my seat, walked over to the chair across from the Heavenly Demon, and sat down.
"Heavenly Demon, are you really going to keep pretending you don't know what's going on?"
"...Oh! If it isn't Artin, who will become my direct disciple? What a coincidence meeting you here!"
Even though she'd been eavesdropping on our entire conversation just moments ago, the Heavenly Demon's shameless acting was utterly despicable.
"Stop it already. I know exactly why you're doing this."
"...What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean."
"Don't play dumb. You've realized you're at the biggest disadvantage in the bet, so you're pulling this, aren't you?"
"Ha! What nonsense! Would there be anything impossible for me—the one who rebuilt the Taesan Dojo's secret techniques—to teach?"
The Heavenly Demon smiled at me while leisurely sipping her tea, but in that moment I saw it. The tea leaves in the cup she held were trembling faintly.
As I thought, this damn old hag!
The bet Professor Senia had proposed a few days ago—where the three of them would each teach me and the midterm results would decide the winner—looked fair on the surface. In reality, however, the Heavenly Demon held a severely disadvantageous position.
When Prince Richard was a freshman, he had taken a total of sixteen exams after surpassing the midterm passing line. In every single subject, he had either approached the highest score ever recorded by a freshman or broken the record entirely to set a new one.
That meant I also had to score at a similar level across roughly sixteen subjects... And the crucial factor was the distribution of those subjects.
"While you, Heavenly Demon, are limited to advanced subjects like martial arts and combat practice where it's difficult to rack up high scores, Marianne selected easier ones like basic swordsmanship, kingdom combat techniques, and royal etiquette."
"...I don't really understand what you're..."
"On top of that, Professor Senia took charge of eight out of the sixteen subjects, covering non-combat areas such as administration, magic, and imperial history. Since the two of you took all the physical examinations, right?"
"...Ahem!"
The moment Professor Senia—an alchemy professor considered one of the foremost theoretical geniuses of her generation—took on eight subjects, the Heavenly Demon had been put in an overwhelmingly unfavorable position. Even with identical scores, the one who had scored in four additional subjects would clearly be seen as the winner.
"...I am the Heavenly Demon! Overcoming such irrationality and standing above the heavens is what a Heavenly Demon does. Would I really nitpick over something so petty?"
"You're not nitpicking because you can't, which is why you're staging this silent protest instead, aren't you?"
I can teach him better. Focus only on my classes on the days I'm responsible. Everything the Heavenly Demon had done all day was essentially a silent protest carrying that message.
How did I understand the Heavenly Demon's thoughts so well? Because in the second round, Unicor and the Heavenly Demon shared an eerily similar side. Dealing with a spoiled brat was all about experience.
I could be certain of my theory from the Heavenly Demon's current reaction. She was still pretending to be relaxed, but the tips of her slender eyelashes were trembling faintly.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but the fact that you've sat before me must mean you've developed sufficient will to earnestly learn from my teachings, correct?"
Look at this shamelessness. Even after having her shallow scheme completely seen through, the Heavenly Demon was subtly inviting me while maintaining the dignified appearance of a master who had reached a lofty realm.
But I wasn't the type to simply raise the white flag.
"Before that, apologize to Shao Mei and my friends. No—apologize to everyone who took the class with us, including the professors."
"...What?"
At my words, the Heavenly Demon's eyebrows began to twitch. The flawless mask of the absolute supreme master known as the Heavenly Demon was starting to peel away.
"Your behavior was more rude than necessary. Not only toward me, but toward Shao Mei and the professors as well. You even disturbed the other students taking the class, so apologize properly."
"...Do you even realize what you're saying? You dare tell me—the absolute supreme Heavenly Demon—to bow my head to others?"
The water glass in the Heavenly Demon's hand rippled violently.
Soon after, even the faint energy rising from her body caused the surrounding buildings to vibrate and cracks to form in the glass.
"I am the peerless supreme Heavenly Demon! I bow my head to nothing under the heavens and oppose everything above them! And you dare tell someone like me to lower my head before others...!!"
"Yes. Isn't it proper to apologize when an apology is due?"
I answered firmly while clenching my fists tightly. Cold sweat flowed across my palms and my throat burned. These were signs that my body was feeling fear. Having only just stepped into the beginning of the Awakening realm, my body was instinctively cowering when confronted with the anger of the Heavenly Demon, who had reached the Transcendence realm.
"...How arrogant. A weakling I could crush with a single finger, yet so arrogant beyond your means. Do you truly believe I won't touch you because of my great-granddaughter?"
"I'm not considering taking on a disciple who doesn't even know right from wrong."
"Ha, for someone saying that, you look quite pathetic! Trembling in fear like a mouse before a tiger!"
The Heavenly Demon laughed arrogantly while observing my trembling hands and contracted pupils. But it didn't matter. This level of pressure? I was rather used to it. Facing the Black Dragon—one of the Four Great Subordinates—before I'd even reached the Superhuman stage after Awakening had been far worse. When I'd wandered into the Demon King's Castle alone, I'd crossed hundreds of life-or-death lines. When I'd confronted the Demon King one-on-one, merely standing before the sleeping Demon King had felt like my soul was rotting away. So this? This was ridiculously easy.
"It seems the Heavenly Demon doesn't like bitter things. Or perhaps there simply hasn't been anyone around to tell you the right things for a very long time."
"...What?"
"Therefore, as a disciple receiving your teachings, I will fulfill my duty by preventing my master from going astray."
"Ha! And how exactly do you plan to do that? Surely you don't intend to try beating me down?"
Unfortunately, that was impossible. It was unlikely my fist would even reach her, and even if it did, the protective energy surrounding her would snap my arm with a sickening crack.
...But as always, there was a way. Especially when dealing with this type of opponent.
I thrust my arm toward the Heavenly Demon at the maximum speed I could manage. But of course, the Heavenly Demon blocked both my arms—not even with her hands, but using only the chopsticks she'd been eating with.
"Ha! Is this how you plan to teach me! You're ten thousand years too early, my disciple!"
The Heavenly Demon looked at me with a sneering smile, but at this moment, I had essentially won.
At the same time, I glanced at her tray. On the nearly finished special lunch set was one dessert that didn't belong: yanggaeng. From what Shao Mei had told me, it was the Heavenly Demon's favorite dessert. Like how Unicor couldn't give up carrot cake, I'd heard she had never yielded when it came to yanggaeng—even during her grandson the War God's childhood.
"Heavenly Demon, yanggaeng confiscated for three months."
Using the memorized spell Magic Hand with my bound arms, I snatched the yanggaeng from the tray.
"...Huh?"
The Heavenly Demon's eyes widened in shock at the unexpected sight. After all, no one had dared touch her dessert for over a century. The very concept of having her yanggaeng taken had probably been erased from her mind long ago.
Before the Heavenly Demon could react, I quickly stuffed the entire yanggaeng into my mouth and began chewing.
"Mmm, this is delicious."
Yeah, this yanggaeng was genuinely excellent! Being top-grade, its subtle sweetness and perfect chewy texture were superb.
"...Aaaaaah!!! My, my yanggaeng!!!!!!!!!"
Seeing me, the Heavenly Demon's dignified expression completely collapsed as she wailed like a little girl.
"Spit it out! Spit it out right now! My yanggaeng! It's so precious I can only eat it once a day!"
The Heavenly Demon lunged forward as if to pry open my mouth and retrieve it, but since my goal had been confiscation rather than savoring, I chewed roughly, swallowed, and showed her my now-empty mouth.
"I ate it all, so how are you going to take it back? Want to smell my breath?"
"...You damn bastard!!!!!!!!"
When I shrugged and blew the sweet fragrance of the yanggaeng toward her with a soft puff, the Heavenly Demon's eyes rolled back in fury as she grabbed my collar and began shaking me wildly.
But through all the shaking, I saw it—Shao Mei's moved expression as she looked at me for taking revenge on her behalf.
Heh, so this is the sweet taste of revenge...
But confiscation shouldn't end with just one time. Even as I was being swung through the air, I began considering future methods to seize the Heavenly Demon's yanggaeng.
Was I not afraid of the Heavenly Demon's anger? What more could happen besides death? Having even rejected the Status Window's suggestions before, I had no fear.
"My yaaaaanggaeng!!!!"
That day, the Heavenly Demon's hollow screams filled the cafeteria like a strangely pleasant orchestra.