Chapter 3 - Wise Academy Life
Chapter 3 - Wise Academy Life
Ttak!-
"Auuuu!!"
This was the fifteenth flick on the head.
It was fortunate that he had pulled his punches as much as possible, just a light tap; if he had hit her with full force, Cecily, who had been hit so many times, might have been suffering from a concussion by now.
"Stop. 30 minutes have passed, Cadet Cecily."
"O-one more time! I feel like if I do it just a little more, I'll see the countermeasure!"
"Too bad, but that's it for today. Until next time. Ta-da, that's the end."
Klaus said this, straightened his posture, and lightly raised both hands.
A posture clearly stating he had no more will to fight.
Even the human nobles, who would stop attacking if someone surrendered like this because of the eyes watching them, had to admit that from the perspective of the demons, who loved honorable duels so much, this was a state where they could no longer attack.
"Grrr!"
Cecily couldn't hide her frustration, having been thoroughly flicked on the head by Klaus without being able to do anything herself.
However, she soon steadied her breathing and stepped back quietly.
From Cecily's perspective, she hadn't gained nothing from this sparring session.
She had learned more details about Klaus's movements, which she couldn't possibly keep up with.
Of course, Klaus had intentionally gone easy on her so she could understand immediately, but the current Cecily couldn't notice that.
"Just how strong are you?"
Cecily, who had straightened her posture following Klaus, asked that.
He didn't answer her question immediately and just shrugged his shoulders, so Cecily let out a groan and opened her mouth again, muttering something that sounded like a monologue.
"Some people only know you as a great commander, an invincible leader, but that was all wrong. That's just a mask, you're a much scarier man, and you're hiding it! That was right! Idiots! Why don't you believe the words of those who actually clashed with him directly?!"
That's because it's uncomfortable if they hype me up too much like that.
Conversely, those who fought me directly want to inflate my abilities as much as possible so their own defeat can be somewhat justified, that's why.
Klaus, muttering that to himself, slowly moved his feet.
And then he approached Cecily and gave her another light flick on the head.
Ttak-.
"Ouch! Why, why are you hitting me! The sparring is over, isn't it?!"
"Because I'm grateful."
"Eh? No, why are you saying thank you with something like this..."
"Actually, humans like me were always busy putting me down, but the demons are the exact opposite. It's truly funny that the ones who acknowledge me aren't the ones saved by me, but the ones who were frustrated by me. I was just thinking something like that."
There was something that worked surprisingly well on this tomboyish demon woman: someone who had no equal suddenly showing a weak side at some moment.
Not that he should overuse it, but showing it just once in a while.
In that way, he had shaken Cecily at crucial moments, sometimes killing her at the decisive moment, and conversely, sometimes drawing her to his side.
It was different from Natasha, who was smart and quick-witted, so it didn't work well on her, or Yulia, who had such high pride that she didn't like people who showed weakness.
"Hey, I have a question. Professor Klaus-nim."
"If that's another question about whether we can spar again, I'd like to ask you to do it later."
"It's not like that! What I'm curious about is..."
"Why did you stay on the human side until the end of the war, even while receiving such poor treatment and even being driven into a corner as a traitor? Is it something like that?"
Then Cecily nodded silently.
It could be said to be one of the things that generation was most curious about.
Those who didn't participate in the war directly, or even if they did, participated at the very end and didn't really have a chance to clash with Klaus.
So, those who had heard about the existence of Klaus until their ears wore out from the veterans or survivors.
'I did that to create a reason for the Western side to not call me a traitor even if I didn't stand on the human side anymore, along with sympathy, and to create a reason for Yulia to unconditionally have to capture me.'
Currently, it's safe to say there are almost no trustworthy retainers by the Demon King's side.
Even the captain of the royal guard, who could be called the protector of the Demon King's family, had long been co-opted by her uncle.
It was Yulia who entered the academy as a cadet just before the academy started, based on the judgment of the few subordinates who thought the academy might be safer than the Demon King's family.
Her uncle had absolutely not yet completely conquered the East.
There were many who were keeping neutral, and a small number of those who were loyal to Yulia still remained.
Above all, he lacked justification, the justification to push out the current Demon King and take that seat.
In the end, he decided to cause trouble at the academy and mobilized the Shadows to try and throw Yulia to the human nobles.
To ruin the Demon King as the Demon King, and to reignite the atmosphere that had gradually subsided after the armistice.
'Even if Yulia hasn't been harmed by those guys right now, she's grinding her teeth more at her uncle than at the humans... Anyway, the Second Continental War is bound to happen. Even if it's not Yulia, if humans, or if not humans, other races of the West, or if not that, some demons who don't listen to Yulia launch a preemptive strike. It's something that will happen eventually in any direction.'
Some parts have no branching points at all, and some parts can be changed sufficiently.
Just like how even if you can stop Yulia from completely losing her mind, you can't stop the Second Continental War in the end.
While thinking about other things for a moment, Klaus soon realized that Cecily was staring at him as if she wanted an answer.
Since it was a question he had heard countless times from others, there was nothing particularly difficult to think about.
"Shall I say that at the very least, I wanted to see the end of the work I was in charge of."
"Is that all? It's not that you did it for fame or loyalty?"
"Some people said that too. To be honest, it's not that I didn't have any of that, but after some time passed, I just thought it was all meaningless. I want to get out of this hell quickly. To do that, I have to do my best. Let's leave it at that."
Klaus smiled calmly, asking if that was enough of an answer, then suddenly changed his tone and pretended to be angry, telling her to go back, wash up, and not be late for class.
At that, Cecily felt her curiosity deepening, in addition to the admiration or respect she originally had, as she looked at the man who somehow felt more like a perfectly ordinary person than a demon.
"Are you really thinking of just burying this matter?"
"..."
"It's not like it's a particularly powerful family, is it? It would be better to just let it pass quietly. Even now, they say the beastmen and elves are laughing at us, so if we blow this up again..."
"What foolish talk! When you test the waters, you have to react more than necessary so they never do anything foolish again. Do you want to experience a large-scale civil uprising, like the one that happened when we just took such a sloppy attitude and the commoners rose up again?"
The faces of the other nobles gathered at the middle-aged noble's words stiffened.
Some had expressions as if they had stepped in shit just thinking about it, and some seemed to be showing fear, perhaps because they had been burned quite badly during the civil uprising.
"This cannot go on. No matter how mediocre the family is, they are still nobles who rule a region! If their authority falls, the underlings will surely treat even those above them recklessly! Think about the time of the war. The way those lowly commoners dared to 'demand' things from us just because they achieved some merit!!"
It was a passionate speech, as if he were spitting blood.
Whether they were swayed by his eloquence, the nobles who had been making sullen expressions nodded one by one.
As the reactions of the nobles sitting in their seats were quite positive, the middle-aged noble continued to speak while maintaining his momentum.
"We must ensure those lowly ones never look up again. Thanks to whom are they living, yet they dare to open their eyes straight, make eye contact, hold their heads high, and try to stand in the same place as us? Do you intend to keep watching that ridiculous sight?"
"Absolutely not!"
"It's too much for the lowly ones even now! Those things that dare to try and match us nobles by using the war!"
The meeting hall was suddenly blazing.
Watching that scene, Grand Duke Josef, who was chairing the meeting, nodded.
They stirred up the wind as he wanted, and because of that, the nobles rose up again.
With this, he now had a justification to gently trample the arrogant commoners who had been quite full of themselves lately.
"Um, but if I may."
A quiet voice, but a man no one could treat lightly because he sat in the seat of a Marquis.
When Marquis Kienmeier opened his mouth, the nobles shut their mouths on their own.
One of the few high-ranking noble commanders who achieved victory with his own ability during the Continental War.
Furthermore, Marquis Kienmeier was one of the very few nobles whom commoners also evaluated relatively well because he had a friendship with the great war hero.
"Are you really planning to stir up the Continental Academy? There isn't just us humans there. There are beastmen and elves, who are allies of the Western Alliance."
"Don't worry, Marquis Kienmeier. What we are aiming for is, at most, a justification for internal reorganization. There aren't only noble cadets at the academy, are there?"
"...Are you planning to turn the arrow of suspicion toward the commoner cadets? Not the demons?"
"There's no benefit in touching the demons. I hear even the woman called the Demon King is there, so excessive stimulation won't do any good. It doesn't look good, either."
At those words, Marquis Kienmeier sighed inwardly.
They say things like that, but in the end, isn't it that they are scared of clashing with the demons?
He understood because they had been tormented like that for 7 years, but it was truly funny and pitiful that they still didn't understand that part to death.
"Didn't you say there's nothing certain other than their testimony anyway? That means it wouldn't be a problem even if someone claimed that someone tried to harm them. If we push it by saying their testimony came out inevitably due to someone's threat, it's not impossible."
"Viscount Homburg is right. What we want isn't the truth, but a justification to suppress the internal unruly movements first."
What they want is simple.
The noble cadets who suffered at the academy were attacked by commoner cadets who held a grudge against them; they were so uneducated and reckless that they did cruel things, and the noble cadets who were shocked by that didn't even testify properly.
It is the lowly commoners who move recklessly even inside the academy.
They attacked the nobles! They did it because they thought it wouldn't be a problem even if they touched them!
It doesn't matter whether the world accepts those words or not.
In the human world, the power of the nobles is overwhelmingly strong anyway; they just lacked justification.
With this, they will cut off all the commoners who were acting up without knowing their place after the war.
And return to the time when nobles were the most superior and glorious beings again!
'...is what they must be thinking.'
Sigh, Marquis Kienmeier sighed once more.
At times like this, he resented the heavens for making him born as a noble.
More than half of the people gathered here were guys who were busy running away during the Continental War.
They even packed their assets very thoroughly even when they ran away.
The nobles right in front of him were the ones who didn't care at all whether the country fell or people died.
While considering it disgraceful even to touch a commoner, they have a sense of rivalry with them.
What an ironic and funny scene this is, he really felt like holding his stomach and laughing.
"Turning the arrow of suspicion toward the commoner cadets and using that rumor to stimulate the anger of all the nobles within the kingdom, and giving a reason why one should not move recklessly against commoners. Well, that's fine. But everyone, it seems there is one thing you are forgetting."
"What is that? Marquis Kienmeier?"
"Have you forgotten who is at that academy? That man is there, yet you intend to create a justification simply because they are 'commoners' without any reason inside the academy?"
For a moment, silence fell over the meeting hall.
Even though they were nobles who ignored commoners so much, even if it was a place where high-ranking nobles among those nobles were gathered, mentioning that man's name was a burden in itself.
"Don't worry, Marquis Kienmeier."
At that time, Grand Duke Josef, who had been quietly listening only to the nobles' words, opened his mouth.
"If you are worried about him, there is no problem. Because there is a suitable person waiting to deal with that very man."
The nobles gathered in their seats quietly waited for Grand Duke Josef's next words.
And a few days later, a group of humans began to ride their horses toward the Continental Academy.