Best Not to Meet His Eyes

Best not to meet his eyes at all—just bow low to the ground.

Within the royal office, the King of Draikna accepted a report from his court mage.

"You're telling me the prince did away with an entire bandit crew on the road from our kingdom to the Empire?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. And he did not simply destroy them—he brought their mountain stronghold itself crashing down, ensuring they could never rise again."

The report recorded what Prince Demesis had done at the bandits' main lair.

"These were no ordinary thieves lurking in the hills. They called themselves Revenger—a headache of the worst kind, wedged between our kingdom and the Empire, murdering and plundering travelers for years on end."

The report condensed it all into a brief line—the prince happened upon them in passing and destroyed them—but the Revenger Bandits were hardly so weak.

"Every last one of them was a cut above a D-rank mercenary, and they were veterans of mounted combat. Why else would they have dared hunt Dragonians without fear and lasted this long? Every time we raised a punitive force, they scattered into guerrilla warfare and kept shifting their camp—vicious, slippery devils who were never easy to root out."

It was a relief like having an aching tooth finally pulled—yet the prince's solution had been so clean, so effortless, that it somehow left a sense of emptiness behind.

"Fools. Ill-starred fools. To think they dared lay hands on our second prince."

The king shook his head slowly.

The Dragonians did not fear the prince and sing his praises from afar for nothing. Touch him the wrong way, and you die. Any creature that drew breath bowed its head of its own accord before an overwhelming absolute—no one had imagined these men would walk to their deaths willingly.

"So that one is dead as well, then? Galek Yukrian."

"Yes, Your Majesty. According to the survivors' testimony, he was the very first to be erased by the prince's Breath."

"Hmph. That one had gnawed at our kingdom stubbornly since the Continental War. And in the end, he went and met a natural disaster."

It had not even been a punitive expedition aimed at the bandits. The prince had simply crossed their path on his way to the Academy, and they had died in an accident—if that did not count as a natural disaster, what did? So the king reasoned.

"One of the continent's S-rank criminals, erased by the prince."

In his mind, one more menace that had threatened the realm was wiped clean away.

"Just as with the subjugation of the Western Demonic Realm. The prince truly does make short work of everything, doesn't he?"

"He is the one upon whom the Progenitor Dragon bestowed power directly. To us Dragonians, he is no different from a dragon god."

King and mage fell quiet for a moment, recalling Demesis's past. The Progenitor Dragon, which had appeared without warning, bestowed the Dragon Heart upon Demesis and departed—and Demesis, awakening after ten years, became a being feared even by the monsters of the Western Demonic Realm. Every affair involving him shattered common sense this easily and left awe in its wake.

"I wonder what will happen at the humans' Academy. Inform the Emperor of Gloria and the other key figures of this incident, and instruct them once more to take special care around the prince."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will send word again at once."

What the king feared was the Imperial Academy being wiped off the map in a single day, just as the bandits had been. They would have to handle the prince with the utmost care, so that no such calamity ever came to pass.

"The prince has left us the investigation into the bandits' backers, and into the wizards who traded in Dragonian blood. Set that work in motion as well."

"I will inform the Special Affairs Department at once and have swift measures taken."

Having come merely to deliver a report, the court mage departed laden with a whole bundle of orders.

"Ah, yes—is the residence where the prince will stay in the imperial capital prepared?"

"You need not worry, Your Majesty. We purchased a mansion near the Academy and staffed it entirely with Dragonian servants."

"That sets my mind at ease. Surely none of them has never laid eyes on Demesis before?"

"We selected Dragonians from our own kingdom and sent them ahead, but volunteers proved so difficult to find that we also hired a number of Dragonians who had been working in the capital."

"That much should be fine."

The prince's daily life would be just fine. So the Dragonian king concluded, and let the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠matter rest.

"So this is the imperial capital."

From inside the carriage, I took in the city through the window. I would have loved to climb down and wander about, gawking at everything, but since I could hardly drive the horses myself, watching from here was the best I could manage.

The humans' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠city was far more advanced than any Dragonian village. Cutting-edge magitech devices unlike anything I had ever seen caught the eye at every turn, and elves, dwarves, and all manner of races mingled as they strolled the streets.

"We have arrived, Your Highness."

The carriage rolled to a stop before a stately residence. Stepping out, I found a mansion as grand as any noble's.

"This way, please. The servants are assembled to greet you."

With my cloak wrapped about me, escorted by knights who kept a good three meters back, I entered the mansion.

"Hrk...!"

"Th-that's..."

The moment I drew near, several of the servants who had been standing at attention to welcome us blanched in terror. They were Dragonians who had never seen me before. Back home, any Dragonian who had seen me—or lived through me—knew without being told to retreat or bow their heads and look away; these servants, poor souls, had tried to sneak a look at my face without knowing any better. They blacked out on the spot and were only now, barely, lifting their heads again.

A familiar sight. So familiar, in fact, that I no longer paid the slightest mind to those who feared me.

"You must be the head butler of this estate, and you the head maid. I leave myself in your care."

"Y-yes! Lord Demesis...!"

The seasoned old butler's legs were trembling like leaves. Merely answering my words must have demanded the greatest courage of his entire life as a Dragonian. The head maid, for her part, was barely pinning down a consciousness that kept trying to flee—never mind answering, she was straining with everything she had just to stay upright.

No wonder no one wished to attend me. Dragonians too terrified to even come close.

I decided to stop tormenting them and moved on into the mansion. I had no taste for pinning frightened people in place just to watch them shake. Letting them keep their distance and slip away on their own was the only courtesy I could offer—and the only way they could ever bear to face me.

"Because our return route passed through the bandits' stronghold, the schedule in the capital has grown tight. Your entrance examination is set for tomorrow, and your interview with the headmaster, along with your meetings with the palace's dignitaries, has been postponed until after."

"Understood."

My captain of the guard, briefing me on everything that lay ahead. From here on, Wreckar would oversee the mansion's security and deliver the rest of the assorted reports. For official matters, I could simply leave the instructions to him.

After a reasonable look around the estate, I dismissed Wreckar. He was my personal escort knight, yet he always stayed a good four meters away. That uncanny distance never once shrank.

Please, let me find a friend at the Academy—someone who might come closer and speak with me at ease. I stepped into my private room and, as I unpacked, cherished that unlikely little wish.

The next day. The entrance examination hall of the Imperial Academy.

The exam supervisor, Alex, was guiding the candidates into place.

"The entrance examination proceeds in four stages: the mana assessment, aptitude identification, the practical exam, and the written exam. We will begin with the mana assessment, so all candidates, please gather here."

On the platform before the gathered candidates sat a crystal orb for mana testing. Alex explained the procedure: one need only channel one's mana into the orb to be measured.

"Please step up to the platform in order."

The candidates began taking their turns. Mana poured into the crystal orb revealed its nature, attribute, pattern, intensity, and power.

At first, the candidates had watched the testing quietly, curious how it would proceed, but as the exam wore on, their decorum began to fray.

"It's just a standard mana-testing artifact. Nothing special about it."

"With my mana, passing is a foregone conclusion. Wish they'd hurry things along."

Admission went to the candidates with the highest combined scores across all four exams. Those who still had other tests to sit idled their time away, watching the other candidates mid-assessment with lazy, half-lidded eyes.

"Heh heh, look at that one. The orb isn't glowing one bit. Just how weak is your mana?"

"Judging by those clothes, that's some commoner who crawled up from the countryside for the exam. He ought to know his place."

The children of reasonably renowned noble houses sneered at the other students.

"I know it's the Imperial Academy, but really—am I expected to study alongside brats of that caliber?"

"Ones like that will weed themselves out. It's not as if any random rabble can walk in—this is the finest institution of learning on the continent."

As the nobles' voices rose, the atmosphere frayed along with them. Those whose standing was no lesser joined the mockery, while those from weaker houses, or with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no backing to lean on, quietly flushed red. Some candidates glared at the nobles in open displeasure; others wilted and dropped their heads.

Alex regarded it all with detachment. It happened every year at the entrance exams, after all. No matter how loudly the Academy proclaimed that it asked no man's station, class was alive and well in the Empire. Students yet to enter treasured such things—but once they were inside, once they survived the brutal training that cared nothing for bloodline and jostled shoulders with the continent's strongest, they would finally learn how worthless their petty little nameplates truly were.

Alex skimmed the candidates' faces, then turned to the list of names the examination office had specially flagged for caution.

Names like these—genuine ones, at that. Royalty, the children of powerful houses, and the rest of the mighty cared nothing for what became of commoners. They stood so high above it all that they had never once experienced what it meant to be one.

Monsters of other races, too. The Imperial Academy did not admit humans alone; talents from beyond, scarcely known to ordinary people, gathered here.

What a dazzling list.

The truly exceptional would be sorted separately into the Academy's Special Class. Alex found himself looking forward to what monsters would appear this time—as an entrance examiner, unearthing raw gems overflowing with talent was his greatest joy.

There was, however, one strange instruction attached to this year's exam.

With this person, it would be best not to meet his eyes if you could help it—and to bow low.

Not even the Empire's third prince had come with such an instruction. What absurdity was this?

The second prince of the Draikna Kingdom, Demesis. He had subjugated the Western Demonic Realm, and lately, word was, he had wiped out an infamous bandit crew near the Empire's borders. A Dragonian trailed by nothing but bizarre, terrifying rumors. Some dismissed the stories as tall tales exaggerated by Dragonians; others proclaimed the birth of a true monster who would threaten the continent.

This, he supposed, he would simply have to see for himself.

Alex folded the list away and carried on with the mana assessments.

Creak.

Hrk—

"Wh-what the—!"

Outside the examination hall, a sudden commotion began to churn. Groans and screams were drawing closer and closer. Then, as every mouth fell silent and every mind sharpened—

The doors of the examination hall swung open, and a figure stepped through.

An ordinary grey cloak hung about his shoulders, a hood shadowing his face—yet the moment Alex's eyes found him, the strength drained from his knees.

"Aaagh!"

The candidates nearest the doors fainted where they stood.