Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Going to the Academy (4)
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I felt my sleepiness vanish in an instant as I sat up in bed.
For a while, things had been so quiet that I'd almost forgotten, but a succubus's staple food was man's essence, after all.
I'd heard that thanks to evolution, they could survive on regular food instead of a man's essence.
But food alone probably wasn't enough to satisfy.
Nania scratched her cheek and said,
“Until now, I've been living without any essence, so I've managed so far, but now that I'm an adult, my consumption has increased, and regular food is starting to fall short…”
“I see… How can I help?”
Nania put on a prim expression and looked at me.
“You know, Raden.”
“…”
I knew what Nania was hoping for, but I had no intention of doing that right now.
It might earn me criticism for being a eunuch, but in clichés, the hero stays celibate until defeating the Demon King.
I wanted the cliché ending where the hero beats the Demon King, so I didn't want to do anything that went against my role as the hero.
“Sorry… For certain reasons, I have to maintain my chastity until I defeat the Demon King.”
“That's ridiculous. You're just scared, Raden.”
“…”
With nothing to say, I quickly turned my head away to avoid her gaze, and Nania let out a deep sigh before pulling me into her arms.
I didn't resist and let myself be drawn into her embrace.
With her smaller frame pulling my body, the position felt awkward.
It was physically uncomfortable too, but I obediently became Nania's cuddle toy.
“I don't expect that much, so just stay stuck to me like this while we sleep.”
“That'll do?”
“Yeah. Just having our bodies pressed together lets me absorb a little bit. It's minuscule compared to actually doing it, but if we stay like this all night, it should barely stave off the hunger.”
Since I wasn't a succubus, it was hard to gauge exactly how hungry she was for essence.
But as a racial instinct, holding back couldn't be easy.
I felt grateful that she was content with just a hug and had traveled with me without complaint all this time.
Nania, hugging me, skillfully shifted her body to find a comfortable position.
One where she could sleep easily, and so could I.
As I started to drift off, feeling Nania's warm body heat, a sudden sense of déjà vu hit me.
This warmth in her arms, and the succubus's signature sweet, mind-clouding scent.
It felt familiar, like something I'd sensed while sleeping before.
I shook Nania, who was burying her nose in my chest and pretending to fall asleep.
“Hey, have you snuck hugs while I was sleeping before?”
“Zzz…”
She was obviously awake but brazenly pretending to sleep.
“I'm not mad or anything. I get that you were just trying to survive.”
“…”
“I'm just curious about the truth. I won't scold you.”
At that, Nania slyly opened her eyes.
“Really…?”
“Yeah.”
Nania's lips twitched for a moment before she nodded.
“When did you start?”
“Um… back when we were in Daven territory…”
“Weren't you supposed to be slaving away in Rainy's room? How'd you get out?”
Even after all our long travels, Nania's guard had only recently lowered a bit, but I remembered Rainy keeping a close watch on her at home.
Breaking through that surveillance to sneak out wouldn't have been easy.
“…When the Saintess went to your room, Raden, I went with her… She said it was embarrassing to go alone.”
Memories flashed of mornings when I'd woken to find Rainy sleeping beside me.
I'd never imagined Nania was there too.
I grabbed Nania's horn and tugged.
Her horns were sensitive, making her helpless whenever I grabbed them.
“Eek… You said you wouldn't get mad!”
“Sigh, I can't forgive lies. I thought you were pitifully starving without essence, but you'd been feeding behind my back.”
“…”
Nania, with her horn gripped tight, averted her eyes guiltily.
Yet she didn't pull away even a little—guess essence tasted that good.
She'd been sneaky, but I had no intention of kicking her out now, so I stopped scolding and closed my eyes.
I felt Nania squirming in my arms.
And so, my first night at the academy came to an end.
***
“Be careful out there.”
“Yeah, if you get bored, read some books over there.”
“Ugh… I've read so much while getting educated that books are kinda…”
“You can't go wandering outside without me. If you get caught by the academy guards and they find out you're a demon, it's holy water torture right away.”
“Uuu… Got it…”
Nania looked sulky, her expression sour.
Locked in this room all day in a world without internet—even I'd be sad.
Understanding her feelings, I patted her head and said,
“I'll get back as early as possible.”
“Okay!”
With a bright smile, Nania waved me off as I left the dorm.
I'd grabbed an academy map while buying daily necessities yesterday, so finding the swordsmanship department was no problem.
Glancing around as I entered the swordsmanship department, I headed straight for the office.
Since academy registration had ended long ago, I'd figured I'd just prep for winter semester classes for a while.
Though after exposing the fake hero's true identity and getting him to quit impersonating, I planned to leave right away, so whether I'd actually teach was questionable.
“Ah, you're the new professor, right?”
“Yes, that's me.”
“In an hour, just jump into Swordsmanship Class 4! The training hall is Arena 3. Come back after, and I'll make your semester schedule!”
“Yes…? I'm jumping straight into class?”
“We've been short on professors, so we've been combining classes. Now that you're here, we'll split them back up and hand Class 4 to you!”
“…”
I'd heard the academy wouldn't hire unskilled professors just to maintain prestige, no matter the shortage.
I knew that, but it was more dire than expected.
“Got it for now…”
“Oh, here's the roster!”
I took the thick stack of papers.
A quick flip showed about 50 students in my class.
Running a combined class with 50 per group… I could imagine the existing professors' hard work.
“Thanks.”
“Yeah, hold out as long as you can!”
“…”
With the office staffer's ambiguous send-off, I headed to Arena 3 for my first class.
40 minutes until class, but since it was my debut, I figured I'd go early and check out the training space.
“Oh…”
As expected of a rich academy, the arena was huge despite being indoors, plastered with expensive magic tools.
I fiddled with them, instinctively learning how to use them.
Activating one made a dummy pop up from the floor; another auto-cleaned the interior—pretty useful.
Wham!
I lightly kicked the dummy to test its toughness, then sat on the podium pondering the lesson as academy students in uniforms started trickling in.
‘They train in uniforms?’
I'd assumed training class meant gym clothes, but surprisingly, they wore regular uniforms.
Should I tell them to change? But I was a total newbie professor, fresh to the academy yesterday.
Students knew the system better than me, so I kept quiet.
The academy uniform must be like steel skirts that never tear, no matter what.
“Um… hello…?”
“Yes, hello.”
“Y-You're the new professor, right?”
“Yes, that's me.”
At first wary, the students swarmed once I confirmed, bombarding me with questions.
“Got a girlfriend?”
“How old are you?”
“Wow, you're young…”
Class 4 was all girls, and true to form, they curiously dug for my personal info.
Prime age for romance crushes, so I got it, but as their bubbly energy drained my vitality, I firmly protected myself.
“I-I'm a married man.”
“Aah…”
At least they had some sense—at my declaration, they cautiously backed off.
Good, good—don't touch a taken man, that's manners.
Relieved, I sighed inwardly when one girl pointed at my hand.
“But why no ring?”
“Huh…?”
“Shouldn't you wear a wedding ring if you're married?”
Sharp deduction.
Cold sweat trickled down my back as I improvised an excuse.
“W-Well, since we're training, I took it off.”
“Hmm…”
As she grilled me, the door creaked open, revealing familiar bloodshot eyes.
“Daisy! Looking pretty today too!”
“Ahem, commoner. Wanna go shopping after class?”
The other students spotted Daisy too, and half the attention on me shifted to her instantly.
“Ramu looks cute today too.”
“Of course Latina! Let's go shopping together.”
Daisy handled the charging girls with her harmless smile.
Our eyes met, and feeling glad to see her again, I waved.
Unfortunately, Daisy didn't seem pleased—her eyebrow twitched, her smile crumbling.
With Daisy as the last, the headcount matched the roster, so I used magic to remotely close the door.
“Ooh…”
Eyes wide, the students applauded the futuristic auto-door.
I smiled gently at their amazed stares.
“Now, we'll begin unlimited sparring with the professor. Daisy, come forward.”
Daisy ignored my call, glaring up at me with a rotten expression.
“Um, Daisy? I called you.”
“Ah… thanks.”
She'd ignored me, pretending not to hear, but couldn't blow off her friend's nudge and dragged herself onstage.
I spun the wooden sword and whispered a cheery greeting just for her.
“Looking forward to working with you, fake hero.”
“…Fuck.”