Why Did One Increase?
On the way back to the Academy after wrapping up his meeting with Marquis Anes and the Crown Princess.
Meetings with people who played in politics only ever dragged on into awkward favors if you let them run long, so a quick escape was the right call. Getting played once or twice was one thing—any more than that and you were just a fool. Or a complete idiot.
...But what are these brats still doing here?
Several auras still lingered in his room. And the weird part? There weren't four of them—there were five.
Four would obviously be the four Demon Kings, but what the hell was the fifth? Why five?
Had the student dorm supervisor come chasing after them? Looking for students who weren't in their rooms?
Doing her job diligently was fine and all, but if she ended up pissing the kids off...
His kids were only nice to him. They weren't nice to people in general.
With those worries swirling through his head, Lethe finally let out a sigh and headed for his room.
But when he checked again, the auras lingering inside were gradually drifting farther away.
Looks like they'd given up on any further sit-in and were heading back to their own rooms.
The dorm supervisor must've pulled it off, Lethe thought as he approached his door.
They'd clearly tried hard to erase their traces and auras, but it was nowhere near enough.
Maybe they could fool someone else, but not him. Especially not those four Demon Kings.
Living together hadn't just made them more sensitive. If anything, Lethe had grown even more attuned to them than the other way around—enough that he could easily pick out even the traces the Demon Kings had worked so hard to wipe away.
Looks like they recalled their familiars too. More importantly, Sitri—when the hell did that girl plant a familiar on me?
He'd known about the familiar itself. The question was when she'd done it.
Her skill with familiars had always been impressive, but he hadn't expected her to grow this much.
As the one who'd raised them, he felt proud—but the problem was her using that ability for weird stuff like this.
Stepping inside, Lethe suddenly found himself hesitating. Should he check or not? Should he trust his kids or not?
After mulling it over, he decided to start by opening the wardrobe.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
Just as expected. A few of the clothes that should have been hanging inside were gone. His trust had been betrayed!
The moment he saw the scene before him, Lethe couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle.
Seriously, kids. If you're going to do this, why bother erasing your traces and auras? If you're going to leave a big "I was here!" sign like this, wouldn't it be better to just do nothing at all?
Oh, look at that. And they stole quite thoroughly while they were at it. One coat, two shirts, one pair of pants...
Ah. Please. Don't touch the underwear. They didn't go that far, right? Thank goodness. The underwear's still intact.
The fact that he was sighing in relief over something like this suddenly struck him as a little absurd.
He'd known full well that those girls would become the future Demon Kings.
He'd wanted to change that. He'd pictured them standing by his side, fighting the bloodthirsty warmongering demons together.
But it seemed fate itself couldn't be rewritten. In the end, they had chosen to become Demon Kings.
And yet those terrifying beings called Demon Kings had come all the way here just to steal clothes!
I should be grateful. Yeah, I am grateful, but... kids. If you keep doing this, even I'm going to get scared.
Thinking that, Lethe patted the empty spot on the sofa next to where he'd been sitting.
"Come sit here."
No answer came. Well, there hadn't been anyone to answer in the first place.
But Lethe waited. As if dealing with a cat that was hiding somewhere, watching him.
After a short while, he spoke again toward someone.
"Hurry up."
Unlike the other kids, this one didn't respond well to long speeches.
At least when she was alone, you had to keep it short but clear for her to nod along.
"El."
Calling her by name must have been the last straw. A head of silver hair peeked out.
Her sparkling orange eyes were filled with the image of Lethe looking back at her.
"Come here."
When he patted the seat beside him once more, the Demon King who'd been hiding all this time came toddling over.
She glanced at Lethe's expression once, then quietly settled her rear onto the sofa.
"...How did you know?"
The silver-haired Demon King seemed genuinely curious about that.
She'd put so much effort into hiding, only for him to notice this easily. It was a little frustrating and a little disappointing, but since it was Lethe, she could let it slide—or so El thought as she looked over at him.
"As if I wouldn't notice your aura, El."
"...The other Demon Kings didn't know."
He could roughly guess what she'd say next without hearing it. Because they hadn't known—because they never imagined the Iron Witch approaching—they'd all died. It was obvious even without looking.
"Astaroth, Marmar, and Sitri all headed back. Did you stay behind because you still had something to say?"
"...No."
"Then what?"
"..."
El didn't answer right away, just fidgeting with her fingers. Looking at her like this, she was the spitting image of an ordinary girl.
No one looking at this girl would ever imagine she was a Demon King, or the Iron Witch, or the one who'd silently snuffed out the lives of the hardline demon factions.
"...Wanted to."
At last, El's lips moved and she mumbled out an answer. But her voice was far too quiet.
"I can't hear you, El."
"..."
Ah, right. This Demon King—if you said you couldn't hear her, she'd just clam up even more.
Of course, as someone with experience, he knew exactly how to make El's voice louder. There were a few side effects, but the effect itself was guaranteed, so he decided to go with it for now.
"Hold on a second, El. Your hair's a little tangled. Let me see."
"Ah."
He gently ran his fingers through hair that looked like threads spun from silver. A comb would've been better, but unfortunately there was nothing here to brush her hair with right now.
El always liked having her hair stroked like this.
As a bonus, her usually tiny voice got much louder at times like these.
"Want to try saying it again, El?"
"I-I wanted to..."
Still not enough. Yeah, maybe stroke her hair a little more?
"What was that?"
"...I-I wanted to see you...!"
"I see."
But if you wanted to see me, wouldn't it be better to just knock on the door and come find me? Sneaking in without a sound and watching from the shadows—most people would just think of that as an unwelcome guest.
The words nearly slipped out, but Lethe clenched his teeth and held them back. If he actually said that, this fragile Demon King would take a massive hit to her heart and end up somewhere sobbing, "Hic... hic..."
"There. All done. The tangles are all gone."
The moment Lethe's hand left her hair, El's eyes filled with clear disappointment.
If only he'd stroked it a little longer. Like before, when he'd keep petting her until she fell asleep right beside him.
That man's warm touch, and a gaze even warmer still. To soak it all up freely, nestle into his arms, press her lips to his cheek, and go a little further until she became one with him...
"El."
"Y-Yes?"
This is bad. Had he somehow overheard her thoughts? Th-That can't happen. If he did...
"Do you like me that much?"
"...Is it not okay? To like you? Lethe."
Sharp as ever, El picked up on the intent behind the question and turned it back on him.
They were showing this much affection, yet he kept subtly dodging it.
Was there some reason she wasn't allowed to like him? If there really was, she'd fix it no matter what.
"There's nothing wrong with it. Yeah, nothing wrong at all... but if you're going to like me, it'd be nice if you could do it a little more comfortably."
"Couldn't. Understand."
"The other students are giving you a pretty hard time, huh? The Empire's people, plus the elves and dwarves."
"...A little."
She hadn't even been at the Academy for a few days, and already the signs were showing.
We still hate you. We just wish you'd leave. You crazy warmongers!
You said you wanted peace, right? Then try harder. Lower yourselves more and say you're sorry!
"But it's okay. Did. Expected."
"I see."
The side that started the war had been the demons. And then the side that first proposed peace had also been the demons.
How could people who'd suddenly gotten beaten up and suffered every hardship imaginable look on them with any goodwill?
They'd figure they could keep fighting themselves, so there was no need to go out of their way to bow their heads and make nice.
"You too, El, and Astaroth, Marmar, and Sitri as well. I hope you'll put up with it just a little longer."
"That's the reason?"
That's right. That was the reason. He was sick of a future where they had to fight and keep fighting.
If they were really going to live here, if they were going to spend time with the people who liked him, then a calm lake was better than a storm-tossed sea, wasn't it?
"Some among them will try to provoke those who extended a hand to the Empire—those demonfolk called the Four Heavenly Kings—and will stop at nothing to rekindle the sparks of chaos. Can Sir Lethe prevent that?"
He wasn't doing this for the Crown Princess or anyone else. It was for El, for Astaroth, for Marmar, for Sitri. For the four Demon Kings he had saved.
These were kids who'd come this far for his sake. So he wanted to live alongside them all the more.
He hoped they'd be accepted not as beings of fear, but as people you could get reasonably close to and get along with.
Since things had turned out this way, having Demon Kings and Heroes as Academy classmates wouldn't be so bad either.
"I like you all. Astaroth, Marmar, Sitri, and you too, El. So I don't want you hearing mean words or getting dirty looks."
Of course, for that to happen, this side also had to stop constantly provoking the Demon Kings.
Lethe himself would handle that somehow. He'd make sure everyone knew these Demon Kings were by no means harmful beings.
That made Academy life all the more important. If they got along well here, it would be solid proof.
If there was one thing that worried him, it was the Heroes, of course. Beings who inevitably ended up opposing the Demon Kings—how on earth was he supposed to get the two groups to get along—
"Lethe."
El, sitting beside him, suddenly tugged on Lethe's sleeve.
Wondering what it was, he looked at her, and the Iron Witch's face turned red.
"One more. There's."
"One more what?"
"...Reason I came."
There was more? Don't tell me, after "I wanted to see you," it was something a little more intense?
"That."
"That?"
The place El pointed to was none other than the wardrobe. Why suddenly there?
"Astaroth and Marmar and Sitri."
"What about them?"
"Request. Said they forgot."
So what on earth was she even trying to say—
"...Don't tell me."
"Hm?"
"Those brats forgot to grab the underwear. And they asked you, El, to bring it for them?"
Nod—
Aigoo, aigoo, my head. You kids, seriously...
"They said they need five pairs."
Why did it suddenly go up by one? What? What the hell is going on here?!