The Gatekeeper's Gaze and the Shadow of an Unwelcome Leader
Early morning light filtered through the small window, gently awakening me from my restless sleep.
"Mmmh..."
I had finally passed out last night after everything that happened.
My back ached despite the blanket I had spread on the hard floor.
Casher, who had claimed the entire bed as her own, slept curled up like a caterpillar under the covers.
"Casher, wake up and get ready to go."
"Mmm... okay."
Her sleepy eyes blinked open as she tossed the blanket aside and sat up on the bed.
"......?!"
I watched in silence, then my eyes widened.
It was because of the outfit of my childhood friend who had just woken up.
"Ah... um."
Casher was wearing only her underwear.
Had she taken off everything because she felt stifled in her sleep?
I stood there in stunned silence, my mouth opening and closing without words.
"Haaam— I couldn't sleep properly because I was tense. Dorn, you must have slept well this time too..."
The cat girl, lazily yawning while sitting on the bed, finally noticed her own disheveled state.
Her golden eyes flicked toward me, and a violent earthquake seemed to erupt in her pupils.
"Kyaaah!"
Casher screamed and hurriedly covered her body with the blanket.
"How long are you going to keep staring?!"
I stood there in a daze, got smacked in the face by a flying pillow, and turned my head away.
Lucky me.
After calming down the jumping Casher, I finished getting ready for the entrance ceremony.
Standing under the cold stream in the public shower room, the memory of what I had just seen kept replaying.
'She was wearing even her underwear like that...'
The provocative leopard-print underwear over her already perfectly developed body had left my lower body stiff in an uncontrollable way.
'Does she usually wear something this daring?'
Or was it special for last night only?
Thinking about it, Casher's earlier words about always being welcome to climb into bed now carried a whole new meaning.
If she had really been tempting me...
"Aaah, you damn hooligan!"
Maybe because I had never properly talked to a girl even in my previous life, I punched myself in the head and berated myself as an idiot who couldn't even eat breakfast.
I should have just jumped into bed right then...
But the chance had already slipped away.
'If it's really not going to work, I'll use Thought Encroachment—'
"...No, even if I do that, it still won't be right."
Not just anyone either—using my ability on my childhood friend and crush.
I felt a wave of self-loathing just for having the thought, sighed, and left the shower room.
"Hurry up!"
Casher, now fully prepared, called out with a hurried voice.
We left our luggage at the inn and headed toward the Cradle.
On the way, Casher teased me, saying I was as vulgar as a gentleman.
Honestly, it had been mutual fault, but...
Since I had gotten such a good show, it was fine.
With a grin, I put up with her playful pout while walking through the northern streets of Tomeron.
"The gate is open today."
The entrance to the Cradle, which had been tightly shut yesterday, stood wide open.
"It's a golem!"
"Wow... I've never seen one that big before."
Casher and I exclaimed in amazement at the massive earthen golem.
It seemed to be a security unit, standing at the entrance, checking freshman identification papers and controlling access.
'I bet the witches made that too.'
The witch race, which is as intelligent as the demons that rule the entire Demon Realm.
Even if it wasn't a golem, almost all the useful and amazing technologies were created by them.
"Here!"
Casher handed over her fresh-faced entrance certificate with a cheerful voice, politely showing it to the golem.
When I offered mine as well, it responded in a mechanical voice: "Pass." and stepped aside.
As for the interior of the Cradle, it felt like arriving at a university campus that was too friendly with nature.
'No, for a campus, isn't it a bit too big?'
The walls of the Cradle were already laid out along the ridges of the Dragon Bone Mountains.
If you thought about it, it could easily be the size of a small city.
"Follow this sign, I suppose."
Casher pointed to the direction sign.
An arrow pointed northeast below the sign that read "[Entrance Ceremony — Grand Auditorium]."
As we walked side by side toward the Grand Auditorium following the sign.
"?"
Suddenly, a shadow fell over us.
Before I could turn, a tall demon male brushed past me.
I naturally looked toward the long legs and saw the man stride ahead.
'Whoa, crazy...'
I couldn't help but let out an involuntary exclamation.
I would dare say he was the most handsome man I had seen in both my past and present lives.
Slightly tousled silver hair, sharply defined T-zone, sharp eyes and prominent eyebrows, and a cold mask that seemed to have seen through three entire dramas.
'How is he even like this?'
Even a man would feel unrealistically perfect.
Surrounding us, I wasn't the only one; other demons had also turned their heads, including Casher.
The men, of course, walked ahead with their long legs.
"......"
I was left behind, feeling strangely uneasy, and muttered so Casher could hear.
"Is he also a freshman? He's incredibly handsome."
"Eh?"
The way she was staring made me feel like I had given something away.
Casher turned toward me with a snort.
I saw mischief flickering in her yellow eyes and realized too late.
"Dorn. You're jealous, aren't you?"
"What? Suddenly jealous? No, that's not it."
I waved my hand to deny it, but Casher's expression clearly said she didn't believe me.
"Hehe, you're so cute when you're like this~♡"
She giggled and playfully poked my arm, and blood rushed to my face.
I was so embarrassed that I sped up, and before long we arrived at the Grand Auditorium.
'The auditorium is huge too.'
This was big enough for a soccer match.
The students who had arrived earlier were mostly just rolling their eyes around, standing awkwardly.
We had heard that seniors wouldn't participate in the entrance ceremony, so they must all be freshmen like us.
'There are probably a little over a hundred.'
Even though Casher and I weren't the first to arrive, the place felt so empty, maybe the number of new students was less than expected.
As I was thinking about various things and looking around, I spotted a familiar face over there.
It was the same breathtakingly handsome man from earlier.
'His height makes him stand out.'
He was still drawing everyone's attention.
A moment ago, I had been too focused on his face and hadn't noticed, but he had beast ears like Casher's.
He must be a beastkin of the werid type.
'Looking at the ear shape, dog or wolf? Now that I think about it, his face is exactly the kind of wolf-like beauty that girls love.'
Why were his shoulders so broad? It was as if he was the only one in the world.
I desperately prayed that his waist was at least 3cm and the entrance ceremony was about to begin.
"Beginning now, the 427th Cradle Entrance Ceremony will commence."
A clear female voice filled the noisy auditorium.
It swallowed all the sounds in the room like magic and emitted an overwhelming presence.
My body stiffened as if a mouse in front of a cat.
I barely managed to turn my head to find the source of the voice.
'When did she get there?'
Six demon males stood on the wide stage of the auditorium.
Among them, a beautiful woman in a gray suit with short hair and a cool forehead stepped forward alone toward the elegant wooden podium.
She had a dignified and mature atmosphere with her slightly indifferent eyes.
She lightly licked her thick, deep pink lips and said.
"Freshmen, please line up in an orderly manner."
How strange.
Even without a microphone, her voice filled the entire auditorium.
As if mesmerized, the freshmen including me moved in a wave and somehow lined up.
The beautiful demon female on the stage nodded in satisfaction at the sight.
"Before we begin the ceremony, let me introduce myself. I am Lemier, serving as the Vice Principal of the Cradle."
Her presence was something else.
It was the vice principal after all.
No wonder—being the vice principal of the Demon Realm's top educational facility meant everything was on another level.
Beautiful appearance, polite and elegant words, and tremendous aura...
I mentally raised my evaluation of the Cradle while inwardly sighing, but it was shattered right away in the following story.
"Originally, the headmaster should have conducted this entrance ceremony... However, the headmaster is suffering from a severe hangover due to drinking too much yesterday and will be unable to attend. I humbly ask for your understanding."
-?
"Actually, that's a relief. The more I see it, the more harmful it is... Even if he had attended today, he would have just been talking nonsense, wasting our time. I'm glad we can save our precious time."
-???
Question marks floated above the heads of the freshmen including me.
A headmaster unable to attend an important event like an entrance ceremony because of a hangover.
Forget whether this really was the top educational facility in the Demon Realm...
'Normally, even if something like this happened, the subordinates or colleagues would make up some excuse and just move on, right?'
The other freshmen also looked as if they were thinking the same thing, blinking in confusion.
But the expressions of the people on the stage remained completely calm.
It seemed this kind of thing wasn't a first.
For some reason, an unfamiliar scent reached my nose and I scratched the bridge of it while nodding.
That's right.
This was the Demon Realm after all.