Full Moon — 1
"Congratulations, Michelle."
"Huh?"
Adrian's voice. This time, though, she wasn't hearing it on the grassland—she was hearing it in the classroom. Michelle, who had been standing there in a daze, snapped back to her senses.
What was he congratulating her for? She looked around first.
"Congratulations on having the shortest attention span in this entire F-Class."
"Ah."
Now she understood. Everyone else was absorbed in their materials, but Michelle was the only one on her feet. And in her unbroken hand, she was still clutching a withdrawal form.
"N-no, that's not it!"
She shot back at once. If she were to start listing everything unfair about this, there would be no end to it. Who did he think made her stand up in the first place? He was the one who'd suddenly pulled her into a hug without so much as asking.
Just hugging her like that... making her lean against him... he... ugh...
"Are you that upset?"
Adrian asked, looking at Michelle, whose face had gone completely scarlet.
"No... I'm not."
It's not because I'm angry that my face is red.
"If you're upset, then concentrate longer from now on."
"...Fine."
In the end, Michelle had no choice but to let out a heavy sigh and sit back down.
"Ugh... huh?"
That was when the withdrawal form in Michelle's hand slipped quietly from her grasp. The one taking it was, of course, Adrian.
"I see. A withdrawal form. No wonder you had no reason to concentrate."
"W-what are you talking about?!"
Michelle seized the form with telekinesis and hastily crumpled it into a wad, crushing it so hard it would never return to its original shape.
"I'm n-not withdrawing. Who would even withdraw?"
Adrian merely tilted his head as he watched Michelle react with something approaching hysterics. Of course, that only made her even more embarrassed.
"Then what is this?"
"Can't you tell just by looking? It's scrap paper."
"Fine, I get it. Do you need a new copy of the materials?"
Oh, right. She'd crumpled those too.
"I-it's fine. Who even looks at materials like this?"
"Suit yourself."
Michelle stared endlessly at Adrian's back as he turned away without a care. Not withdrawing meant that, whether she liked it or not, she would remain in this class. The label of failure was a humiliation that cut her to the bone.
And yet—
There hadn't been a trace of teasing in Adrian's whisper. If anything, it had been a temptation so alluring it made a corner of her chest ache.
Adrian was one of the three things she hated most in this world, and remaining in the F-Class would mean becoming a core member under his command. But this was purely for her own future. She definitely wasn't thinking anything else. So...
"I'm not withdrawing."
The girl carefully unfolded the crumpled materials. She couldn't understand it. Why it felt as though even her crumpled heart was unfolding along with the pages.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
And yet not a single student rose from their seat. Having emerged from the individual hallucinations the materials had shown them, they sat dazed for a while, each lost in their own impressions.
I'd keep them studying longer if I could.
But this seemed to be the limit. I had been using the Vampire Lord's authority to keep my own blood under control, but the truth was I'd been as good as coughing up blood this entire time. I needed to find a way to replenish my life force. As soon as possible.
"Everyone except Charlotte, you're dismissed."
I didn't add good work. I was the one who'd worked hard.
But the students wouldn't leave the classroom. What was this about? Dismissal was their favorite thing in the world. Go home already.
"Did you not hear me? You're all free to go."
I don't like repeating myself, but I had no choice. Looking at them, I wondered if they simply hadn't heard me at all. Worried that some of them might have missed it because they were still seeing hallucinations, I even dispelled every last illusion this time.
The students stood up from their seats, fidgeting. But they still wouldn't leave the classroom.
Finally, one of them started walking.
It was Isabel. She walked right up to me and stopped.
"Um... thank you for today's class."
And then she suddenly bowed her head. Afterward, her sincere blue eyes turned toward me.
"There's no need to say that."
"I felt like this was something I couldn't just keep to myself. I thought we'd just be doing self-study from now on, too. But... thank you."
"Thank you for today's class."
At the same time, the entire class bowed their heads to me.
A professor should never show fluster in front of students. And yet I found myself a little flustered without meaning to. Those expectant eyes. What of it? The eyes of the subordinates who'd followed me in the Demon Realm came flooding back, and I found myself biting my lip.
"Hah."
I snorted.
"Everyone, attention."
"?"
The students who had been about to leave after finishing their greetings all froze in place.
"It seems you all aren't tired enough yet. This is why I hate this."
I forced a stern expression onto my face.
"From now on, you will receive countless materials, and you will train until you drop. The fact that 'thank you' is still coming out of your mouths tells me you haven't studied enough."
"......?"
"All of you, return to your seats and resume studying. Will you still say thank you after you've finished all of it? If you do, I'll accept that greeting then."
"......???"
"Thirty pages of material. Don't even think about going home today until you've memorized every last bit of it."
"???????????"
Aaaagh! The students screamed as they trudged back to their seats. Their gazes all turned toward one person—and this time, of course, it wasn't me.
"Isabel! Keep that kind of thing to yourself already!"
"Hey, you guys thanked him too!"
"I'm going insane. How are we supposed to memorize all of this???"
"I want to die. I want to die...."
And yet, even as they busily vented their complaints, their bodies sat down and opened the materials. Once one or two of them started, the rest all began focusing on their studies again as well.
"I'll stop by later to check."
Leaving those words behind, I quickly left the classroom. For some reason, I couldn't keep watching. A strange emotion I hadn't felt in far too long—something subtly different from pain—was blooming somewhere in my chest.
"Lord Jekiel. Does a world where demons and humans live together really exist?"
"Shut up, you idiot. Lord Jekiel said he'd make it happen."
A few foolish faces came to mind. I hadn't been able to protect them until the end. I still hadn't brought them the world I'd promised.
But today, I saw will in the students. I saw passion as well. Their talent is outstanding. If they keep striving to the very end while avoiding their death flags, then truly—then perhaps, someday, I might actually bring about the true ending I promised my subordinates.
"Idiots."
Did I ever say that if they fought for me, they could seize that world immediately? It had merely been for my retirement. Merely to escape the Demon Realm. And yet they believed in me that much?
"Truly... idiots."
If they had just abandoned me, they could have lived out the rest of their lives in the Demon Realm well enough. Even if this world were destroyed by the Demon King's hand, they would have remained the victors. It would have been the easy path, for both body and mind. Didn't you have families? Precious friends? And yet, more than anything—
You're telling me you believed in me.
Hah. I let out a deep sigh. It had been a long time since I'd sighed this heavily.
I will not let your deaths be in vain.
For a while now, it was time to look not at the subordinates in the heavens, but at the students right in front of me. These kids were the key to the true ending.
Failure.
Does having no talent mean having no dreams? Does attaching the word "failure" make a person's dreams and hopes vanish?
No.
They simply come to a certain compromise with reality. I know all too well that they merely push down and suppress dreams that have only grown more desperate.
They will save the world, without fail, and I will make them dream of it with their own hearts. Failure—looking at it now, isn't that actually a rather splendid modifier to put in front of a protagonist?
So you all must never...
Don't say thank you.
Because I'm the one who should be grateful. Because you made me hold a dream—me, who had fallen into a world that wasn't even originally mine, who had merely been living the life of a demon executive. I should be the one thanking you. Probably.
"Ugh...."
Clutching my chest, I went to the bathroom. I heaved out all the blood I'd been swallowing into the toilet, surge after surge. It wasn't easy, after all. Showing individual hallucinations to sixty-four people...
Since my true body is that of a demon, there are limits to using human mana. Wielding magic at the cost of life force was a method all too familiar to me.
It's fine. I'll find a way this time, just as I always have. I will find a means to replenish my life force, no matter what. So I will not stop the dreams they are dreaming.
After wiping the blood from my lips, I looked up at the sky beyond the window. The full moon was unusually bright.
It's tonight.
This was why I'd intended to keep only Charlotte behind in the first place. Six death flags will trigger tonight. The last remaining assassin from the Demon Realm. And the Vampire Queen, Christine.
Starting tonight, those two begin to move.