Chapter 1 - I am a professor. Not a war hero.
Chapter 1 - I am a professor. Not a war hero.
- Due to the skill, 'Enlightenment at the End of Death', you can select the target to regress to. -
Death, finally arrived. This was the 29th death.
However, unlike other times, it was incredibly refreshing, even relieving.
'With this, all preparations are complete.'
Already, from the 28th run, I had succeeded in conquering the Demon King and making her completely my own.
Even so, the reason I came to the 29th run and faced death again was not just to get my hands on her, but to test every possible variable to know everything about her inside and out, so that I could hold her tight and ensure she wouldn't even dare to think of escaping.
'Thanks to that, I've grasped everything, down to the most trivial details.'
I found out everything, from the fact that the noble Demon King is actually a 'day-time dominant, night-time submissive' type, to every single one of her erogenous zones.
I know what type of partner she likes, what kind of guy she hates, what food she likes, where she starts washing when she bathes, and even the tiny habits she shows without realizing it.
I have finished preparing thoroughly to ensure success in this run.
"Immediately after the First Continental War broke out, a commoner soldier deployed to the battlefield without parents or relatives."
- ...Confirmation result: the base unit exceeds 100,000. -
"Doesn't matter. Select anyone among them."
Anyway, thanks to the skill 'Transformation', I can change my appearance and physique as I please.
Since I already knew exactly what style of partner the Demon King likes, I had made up my mind to proceed accordingly.
- Proceeding as requested. Starting regression. -
My corpse growing coldly, the world that looked translucent gradually becomes blurry.
I go back in time and regress into the body of a perfectly ordinary commoner soldier.
After that, I will mobilize everything I've accumulated so far to become a war hero, and then, after being pushed aside, I can naturally go meet the Demon King.
There are many other attractive women, so why the Demon King, her?
'Anyway, it's an ending where the demons win no matter what. So I have to pick the right side. A human standing behind the Demon King, secretly manipulating her. Isn't that funny? And no matter how much I fucked her, I never got tired of her. That woman.'
Repeated deaths, repeated regressions, the thought that I can't go back.
With all that overlapping, maybe my head has gone a bit crazy.
But who cares? Smiling, I moved toward the light that was gradually becoming clearer.
If I can't get out of this world, shouldn't I try my best to live in it?
And since I have to live anyway, it would be even better if the strongest and greatest woman on the continent is mine.
Tak, tak-tak-.
Klaus, having written 'Combat Magic Lecture' in large letters on the blackboard, pondered for a moment.
Should I write my name next to it, or underneath?
Or maybe I shouldn't write it at all and just finish here?
While he stroked his chin in thought, the bell signaling the start of the lecture rang.
Dal-kak-.
Then, the cadets who had been waiting outside entered with very cautious expressions.
Usually, they would enter during break time and take their seats, but since Klaus was contemplating something with such a serious expression, it seemed no one could easily enter.
If a human cadet, unable to watch any longer, hadn't opened the door and entered, Klaus would have faced an empty classroom without a single cadet on the very first day of course registration.
As one person sat down and stared at Klaus, only then did the cadets outside start to enter the classroom and take their seats one by one.
Klaus, staring blankly at them, confirmed that, as expected, her figure was not visible.
'She only starts attending my lectures from next time. Even though she was supposed to follow the schedule her uncle set for her, she felt curious and secretly changed her classes.'
However, just because she isn't here doesn't mean I can slack off.
The demons encompassing the entire East, the woman standing at their pinnacle.
That is why the Demon King is an opponent who doesn't do anything half-heartedly.
If I get a bad reputation here, that in itself is no different from shortening my own lifespan.
"If everyone is in, the last cadet to enter, please close the door. Now, welcome to my lecture, cadets. As you can tell from the name, my lecture focuses on teaching Combat Magic, and..."
As the professor in charge, he explained in an orderly fashion what his lecture pursues and how it will be conducted.
And then, he brought up the part everyone would be most sensitive about: the exam.
"There will be one exam in the middle, and one at the end of the semester. There will be no written test; it will be replaced entirely by practicals."
At the mention of no written test, the cadets from the Western Alliance, especially the human cadets, let out a sigh.
Conversely, the demon cadets from the East let out shouts of "Oh!"
It seemed the human cadets were feeling quite a bit of pressure because they had to compete with demons, who strangely risked their lives on moving their bodies.
'Can't be helped. I'm terrible at written tests too.'
He was someone who had broken through this carnage by throwing his body into it from the start.
It's not that he looks down on written tests, but there are things in the world that cannot be explained by words or writing alone.
Klaus thought that this Combat Magic was one of them.
It is impossible to master it by talking, explaining, writing it down, and memorizing it for a hundred days.
You have to bump into things, get broken, get back up, charge again, and then get beaten up properly.
Combat Magic is not centered on 'magic', but on 'combat'.
And there is only one way to win in combat: I live, and the enemy dies.
The easiest, fastest, and most effective way to achieve that was to throw one's body into the fray.
Beon-jjeok-.
One of the human cadets raised their hand.
It was a young man who clearly had the sense of privilege of the nobility plastered all over him, and it was obvious without looking why he raised his hand.
"Although it is a Combat Magic lecture, it is ultimately based on magic. I do not understand why there is no written test for magic."
Was it a question born from pure curiosity about not having a written test, or was it just simple nitpicking born from a kind of superiority complex that nobles have toward commoners?
Klaus thought it was the latter nine times out of ten, and while smiling, he answered him.
"If you have any complaints about my method, you can leave the classroom."
"...."
At Klaus's words, the noble cadet's face turned bright red with shame.
It seemed he had intended to leave a good impression on the other cadets from the start, but since the professor had blocked that at the source and even embarrassed him, it was understandable.
"The same goes for all of you. If you have doubts about the exam, or if you feel offended by my words and actions, you can just not take this lecture. The Combat Magic lecture is, after all, about teaching magic to be used in combat; it is not a lecture for debating magic or researching formulas."
At those words, a slight commotion arose among the cadets.
The cadets who enter this Continental Academy are not ordinary cadets.
They are mostly children of prominent noble families, and there are even royalty and imperial family members.
No matter how much they are professors, it was a situation where there was nothing to gain by taking such a high-handed attitude toward those who would hold everything on the continent in their hands in the future.
However, at Klaus's very next words, the classroom fell into absolute silence.
"I have one question. Why do you have doubts about the 'Combat Magic' I teach? Not as a subjective opinion, but as an extremely objective one, I think I know better than any cadet here how to operate Combat Magic."
Who was it that saved the Western Alliance, which was in crisis during the Continental War?
And who was the man that even the terrifying Eastern Demons called a devil and feared?
Everyone sitting here knows the answer to that.
Even the brats who have never participated in a war, and the trash steeped in a sense of privilege, all of them.
"The full-scale lectures start in three days. That is all for the explanation of my lecture, and cadets who wish to take the Combat Magic course should write their names and races on the paper. If you have any further questions, you may ask. Of course, I will not accept questions with rude intentions."
It was a remark openly targeting the noble cadet from the human side.
Thanks to that, the cadet's face turned red once again, but there was nothing he could do.
It wasn't because they were cadets and the other was a professor, and they were holding back out of respect for him.
'He knows his place. He knows there's a reason why a guy who looks this normal is called a devil by the demons.'
This is why I went through all that trouble to become a war hero in the First Continental War.
Because just by mentioning my name, humans, elves, beastmen, and demons alike couldn't treat me carelessly.
Because whether noble or royal, they all had to check my mood at least once.
'Of course, they couldn't get rid of their idiot ideology steeped in a sense of privilege, so they ended up failing miserably in the Second Continental War.'
The expiration date for this title of war hero isn't far off either.
They say humans are a race of oblivion, and also that people are different when they are in urgent need versus after they've gotten what they want.
Even now, military forces of commoner origin were being continuously purged.
Among them, there were cases where, unlike me who retired honorably, they were arrested on various charges, suffered harsh ordeals, or in severe cases, died.
Klaus himself had even died in prison once for being too cocky.
"Professor-nim, I have a question."
A female cadet raises her hand cautiously.
Lustrous blonde hair, turquoise eyes, a gorgeously well-proportioned body, striking appearance, pointed ears.
Confirming that the other person was an elf, Klaus examined her face closely with the thought, 'Could it be?'
And soon, confirming that the elf cadet was the her he knew, he smiled inwardly.
"What is your question?"
"It is a personal matter, but it is also a part that everyone might be curious about. How were you able to be certain of victory in the Mera Battle that occurred at the end of the Continental War?"
"I would have been very happy if it were a question related to the lecture."
I said that, but I had no intention of not answering.
Even if not as much as the Demon King, the female elf cadet, Natasha Belarus, was a decent trophy in her own right.
Since she was an opponent who was always beneficial to maintain a smooth relationship with, it was clear that a moderate acquaintance would be a benefit in this life as well.
"What is your name?"
"I am Natasha Belarus."
"Good, Natasha. Then, tell me briefly about the Mera Battle."
"It is the battle where, at the end of the Continental War, after the most important Southern Front was breached and the demons were about to solidify their victory, you stopped over 30,000 demons in the Mera region with a force of about 1,000 troops. It was to the point where the word 'miracle' was more fitting than 'great victory'."
At the explanation of the Mera Battle, the elves and beastmen cadets, centered around the humans, smiled brightly.
If one were to count famous battles of the Continental War, it is definitely one of the top five.
What was unexpected was the reaction of the demon cadets; even though they were the ones who lost the Mera Battle and should have found it very unpleasant, they were wearing strangely excited expressions.
And the reason for that was revealed soon after.
"The person who commanded the army at the time and led that miraculous victory was Professor-nim Klaus, who is standing in front of me."
They wouldn't know how much trial and error I went through to orchestrate that miraculous victory.
Klaus muttered that to himself and smiled.
However, that smile only appeared to the cadets as if the war hero was thinking about that time.
"Even now, opinions are divided on the reason why victory was possible. The overwhelming superiority in magic utilization, the advantage of the terrain, even the carelessness of the demons. But the difference in the commander's capability can be said to be the biggest factor. Because other commanders would have retreated. What on earth did you see and what did you believe in, Professor-nim Klaus, to be able to win the Mera Battle?"
Because after dying about 29 times, I've become numb to death?
Because I've already experienced it several times, so the picture is drawn easily?
This is probably the answer closest to the truth, but not a single person would believe this.
"Well."
Perhaps the cadets from the Western Alliance might secretly want to hear an answer that talks about the shortcomings of the demons.
Even now, a picture of quiet confrontation between the East and West, demons and the Alliance, was being drawn little by little among the cadets, knowingly or unknowingly.
At such a time, do they want me, a war hero, to mention the greatness of the Western Alliance and the shameful defeat of the Eastern Demons, and have a bit of a mental victory?
'Sorry, but.'
I had long since given up hope on the Alliance side.
"The heavens just helped."
An answer that acknowledges the Alliance's victory but does not provoke the demons.
With that, Klaus ended the class by saying that was all for today and had the cadets stand up.
Placing the paper on the table, he said once more that cadets who wish to take the lecture should write their names on this paper, and then left the classroom first.