The Demon Prince goes to the Academy Chapter 208

Chapter 208

The atmosphere of the Orbis Class' dormitory was slightly different from the Royal Class' dormitory.

The Royal Class' dormitory, with its path lined with columns leading to the entrance, felt like a huge temple in a way. Its architectural style felt curvy and rounded.

The dormitory of the Orbis Class felt a little stiff, however.

I wouldn't call it crude, as it still was a magnificent building.

If the Royal Class' dormitory felt like a splendid temple, then Orbis Class' felt like a castle.

A serene castle.

That heavy, overbearing architectural style already made us feel the atmosphere that enveloped the whole Orbis Class. 

While the Royal Class was more free-spirited, the Orbis Class was a place where military-style discipline reigned supreme and hierarchies were very clear. 

The building itself seemed to show that order and unity the Orbis Class valued.

It was a magnificent place, but it also seemed incredibly breathtaking.

“Wow… This is the first time I've been to this place… It's fascinating.”

“I thought it would be similar to ours, but it's completely different.”

Kono Lint and Cayer also expressed their appreciation. The atmosphere surrounding the dormitory buildings of the two classes was just as different as the classes. Unlike the other two, who were simply expressing their thoughts about the building, Erich seemed rather uneasy. 

“Everyone is staring at us…”

“I guess so. We're in our school uniforms, after all.”

Although there were only a few Orbis Class students, there were still some students who hung around the dormitory who had gotten used to only seeing the Orbis Class uniforms. 

They passed by and stared at us. They didn't talk to us or try to pick a fight, but they were looking at us as if they wanted to say something like “Why did they come here?”

They didn't know us specifically, but they recognized the uniforms we were wearing.

We were faced with that pure hostility just because we were part of the Royal Class.

It was then that we realized that we were in a place filled with people who hated us.

Erich's words seemed to have startled the other two. Feeling the enemy's hostility in their gazes, it seemed to have finally hit them just where they were.

The Orbis Class, like the Royal Class, also only consisted of a small number of students. At most, there should've been around 130 people who were part of it.

The conflict between the Royal Class and the Orbis Class was one-sidedly caused by the Orbis Class.

In other words, the Orbis Class simply one-sidedly hated us, and because the students of the Royal Class felt that they hated them, they also started to dislike the Orbis Class.

The Royal Class didn't have a need to surpass anyone. There were only some individuals who didn't see the need to put in any effort, but if they overcame their own laziness and worked hard, they would be able to achieve outstanding achievements in their respective fields of study.

Since they had no one set as their 'goal', the Royal Class didn't see the need to use something like the feeling of inferiority or hatred towards someone else to use as stepping stones to promote the students' growth. 

However, the Orbis Class practically forced their students to see the Royal Class as an enemy to overcome.

So it was only natural for them to act that way.

All the students coming and going, regardless of whether they were seniors or in the same grade as us, reacted as if we were invaders who had entered their territory.

“You look like you're in the lower grades. What's going on here? Didn't your seniors teach you that you won't have a good end if you recklessly waltz into the Orbis Class?”

Judging by the other students' hostile gazes, it was only natural for someone who appeared to be a senior to appear before us and tell us something like that.

Their momentum was kind of crude, but it seemed to be a warning. They didn't know why we'd gone there, but they were telling us to get the fuck out because we would only be met with hostility.

He seemed to act considerate because we looked like we were in the lower grades.

He was a handsome guy with blonde hair and golden eyes.

When someone who appeared to be a senior suddenly approached us and said something like that, those three immediately got scared.

“I'm here to fight someone.”

“…What?”

Of course, I wasn't scared at all.

* * *

I might win, I might lose, I might get beaten up like a dog.

But so what? The shame of defeat and humiliation were nothing. I wouldn't end up dying, after all.

I didn't know if I could call that a major growth in terms of my mentality, but after visiting the Darklands, there had been a clear change inside of me.

I had already seen what lay beyond mere violence. I'd seen people rise from the dead and had cut the necks of these corpses rushing at me and smashed their heads in.

Winning or losing in that kind of fight was just that, after all. There was no reason to feel happy about winning or despair over losing.

Even though I had said that I'd come to take revenge for my classmate who got beaten up by someone, those weren't my true intentions.

I was there to earn achievement points.

That was all.

B-but since I had undergone such big mental changes, shouldn't it be fine dressing up as a woman and taking part in that beauty pageant to get some points…?

No.

That was just a little…

It was something that far surpassed humiliation and shame.

I didn't think I could handle that! I could easily take a beating, though! Anyway, while my mentality had changed, I couldn't handle something of that level yet! It felt like I'd lose something else other than my life if I did that. I was still traumatized after playing with Kono Lint's feelings. I didn't want to do that again!

“…You're here to fight someone?”

“Yes.”

That person, who seemed to be a senior in the Orbis Class, seemed rather dumbfounded by my nonchalant comment that I had come to fight someone.

“I'm Reinhardt, Royal Class' Number 11 of Year 1 Class A. To be exact, this friend here seems to be getting bullied by a first-year of the Orbis Class for no reason, so I personally came here to resolve the situation.” 

I explained my purpose with no hesitation to that senior's face, who wasn't even part of the Royal Class, but the Orbis Class. All three of the idiot brothers were looking at me with admiration in their eyes as I proudly stated that I had come to fight with one of the first-years.

A bastard among bastards. He's the real deal.

That was what their expressions seemed to say.

“Bullying?”

“Yeah, I wanted to leave it alone for some time, but it seemed to be pretty serious. So could you go and call that guy?”

That senior just stood there and looked at me and the three others alternately.

He seemed to be beyond bewildered and even a little interested now.

“Okay. I'm not going to order you around when you're here to solve your personal problems. I'll get the guy for you. Who is it?”

Right…

Come to think of it, I hadn't even asked who he was. I wasn't even the slightest bit curious about who was bullying Erich because I didn't even care about whether I won or lost.

When I looked towards Erich, he hesitantly opened his mouth.

“It's… Orbis Class Year 1 Class A Number 5 Lilka Aaron.”

“Ah.”

…Wasn't that the name of a female student?

* * *

Orbis Class 5 of Year 1. Lilka Aaron.

She wasn't someone that had any screen time. Nilssonia and Adler Belkin, who took swordsmanship classes with me, had some importance, as they fought against Ludwig at the beginning of the second semester, but that girl didn't even have that kind of role—She was outside of the scope of the original story.

It was somewhat understandable why Erich just kept on getting beat up by that girl and didn't even try to tell a teacher.

I was more than sure that he felt ashamed that he'd got beaten up by a girl. Even Kono Lint and Cayer didn't seem to know that it was a female student up until then. 

No. But why the hell would he be ashamed of that?

To begin with, wasn't Ellen the strongest first year in the Royal Class? Did that not matter?

I was getting beat up by her every day, but I didn't feel the least bit ashamed, I was just grateful.

…To be honest, sometimes I got annoyed, though.

Anyway, that was what one called useless pride.

The Orbis Class senior who called out to us was a fourth-year. Even though we belonged to the Royal Class, he didn't seem to be that upset about our request because we were first-years.

Some first-years came to get some revenge for bullying them in a so-called confrontation.

That concept itself seemed quite strange and interesting.

Unlike the Royal Class, the Orbis Class operated like an army.

“Gilliot!”

“3-B-4 Gilliot! Present!”

The senior, who introduced himself as a fourth-year, made a passing junior sprint over to him with a single word.

I didn't know what 3-B-4 meant, but it seemed like they were stating their position if put into military terms, right?

Was he saying that he was the Number 4 of Year 3 Class B?

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Looking at the junior who approached us at a quick pace, he pointed towards the Orbis Class dormitory.

“Make the first-years gather in the public training hall. All of them.”

“Yes!”

Without even asking why, as soon as that order was issued, the guy disappeared towards the dormitory, sprinting at top speed.

-Good day!

-Good day!

When I thought of it, I saw a lot of juniors who would bow at a 90-degree angle to greet their seniors on our way.

The atmosphere there was so different from the Royal Class. All three of the idiot brothers stiffened at the sight of that.

In fact, it seemed like they got even more scared seeing the Orbis Class go about things like that.

“Let's go, guys. Everyone's going to gather up now.”

And while he spoke in a commanding tone to his juniors, he spoke rather gently to us.

There was something even more frightening about that.

Translator – KonnoAren

Proofreader – ilafy

The Royal Class also had that public training hall that the unknown senior mentioned. However, I had never been there because each dormitory floor had a training room in their annex. There probably weren't many students of the Royal Class made use of it, either.

Since we'd gone there and went straight to the training hall as they were gathering up, we should have been the first to arrive there, but the first-years had already arrived there as if they had used some kind of magic.

Perhaps they'd rushed there as soon as they heard someone say, “Gather up!”, I could see a lot of them holding their breath, keeping their mouths shut.

Apparently, it was the place the seniors used to discipline their juniors.

The Orbis Class' public training hall was definitely well-used.

The worn floor, the training swords that showed signs of heavy use, and the multiple scratches on the scarecrows were evidence of that.

Those that worried that the seniors were going to beat them up to punish them suddenly realized that the situation was completely different from what they expected when they saw their senior bringing us wearing our Royal Class uniforms to the training grounds.

There were about twenty people gathered there, including us.

Maybe those were all of Orbis Class' first-years.

There were four of us.

And there was also the fourth-year senior who'd ordered them to gather up.

I also saw Nilssonia and Adler Belkin, with whom I was already acquainted with. Both of them had their eyes wide open, having no idea why I was there.

I had gone to the Orbis Class to gather achievement points, but there were other reasons as well.

Starting from the second semester, the Orbis Class would start getting more involved in the main plot. I also had the personal desire to see what kinds of guys the characters I'd described were.

The starting point would be the festival, so no matter whether I intervened then or not, those guys and the Royal Class were destined to be intertwined.

The clash between the Orbis Class and the Royal Class was bound to eventually happen, no matter what I did.

There was someone among them who was supposed to be the villain of the second semester arc, but later became Ludwig's rival.

Of course, I couldn't just immediately recognize him just by seeing his face. Although I had described his looks, I couldn't remember everything, and even if I did, I couldn't actually draw up a face from just a few lines of writing in my head.

However, there were people who can be recognized by their atmosphere alone.

The guy who was just watching the situation with calm eyes even though he was suddenly called there stood out to me.

He was the only one that didn't seem nervous at all.

That might actually be Grayden Amorell, Year 1 Class A's Number 1 of the Orbis Class.  He was the strongest of the Orbis Class' first years.

His role was to overwhelmingly beat Ludwig during the festival before losing to Ellen.

However, just like Ellen was a real monster, that guy was as well. I was no match for him at the moment.

If he'd been the one that'd bullied Erich, I would have unconditionally lost to him, but as it Lilka Aaron who did it, that wasn't necessarily the case.

He had a cynical and cold personality. At first, he seemed similar to Ellen, but he was completely different from her.

That didn't mean he was a bad guy.

However, there was another guy I was paying close attention to.

He stood out like a sore thumb for different reasons than Grayden Amorell.

If Grayden stood out because he was really calm and not showing any nervousness, unlike the others, that guy was completely different.

His eyes seemed kind of unstable. Something about that bastard was just a bit off. The feel about him was slightly different from Dettomolian or Anna de Gerna.

That bastard's eyes made it look like he would end up causing a huge incident.

Obris Class Year 1 Class B Number 10.

The last place of the Orbis Class.

He was the real villain of the semester.

Ender Wilton…

I couldn't read that guy properly, but I could see in him as much as I knew.

Aside from the fear and nervousness caused by this assembly itself, I could see those twisted feelings of inferiority and blazing hatred in his eyes.

He was placed lowest in the Orbis Class, which valued hard work and training. He was in Class B Number 10 in a school where all the teachers and seniors were teaching them that they could overcome anything with effort alone.

In that place where their rankings were rearranged every semester, he had been B-10 for both the first and second semester.

He was slowly going crazy due to his utter disillusionment and ever-growing inferiority complex because he couldn't get stronger no matter how hard he tried.

In the original, that guy got defeated by Ludwig, the last place of the Royal Class, during the preliminary round of the festival's tournament.

Currently, Ludwig was overwhelmingly stronger, but in the original, he should have been completely defeated by B-3 Nilssonia during that spar.

Ludwig and that guy were the last ones to compete.

The battle between the strongest of the Royal Class and Orbis Class ended with the Royal Class' victory.

In the fight between the last places, he was also defeated.

He was never able to show any results, even though he tried, and he even lost to Ludwig, who was part of their rival class. As such, he was recognized as the weakest of the weak.

He had no talents, and although he wanted to overcome everything through effort, he couldn't even do that.

That guy eventually ended up going down the wrong path by dabbling in black magic to become stronger.

And in the first semester of his second year, he beat up everyone in the Orbis Class and rose up to Year 2 Class A Number 5.

Then he'd challenged Ludwig, who'd defeated and humiliated him during the festival, to a duel.

However, Ludwig didn't just play around either.

After losing to Grayden Amorell during the festival, he'd gone through rigorous training during his winter vacations, so Ludwig, who had become a second year, was a lot stronger than he was at the time of the festival.

Ender Wiltson became stronger, but Ludwig still ended up defeating him after some struggling.

He was defeated even though he'd resorted to black magic…

He was still the same as he was when he was in last place, the only difference being he'd gotten stronger through black magic, but that guy got stronger without any of that.

The only difference between them was that Ludwig had a talent while he didn't.

Ender Wilton despaired before that wall which he simply couldn't overcome, even by using forbidden powers, which eventually drove him crazy.

He became more and more dependent on black magic, and he couldn't stop himself, even though he knew that it was simply a shortcut to his own ruin.

Ludwig heard from Anna de Gerna, a gifted black magician who watched their duel, that Ender Wilton seemed to have gotten involved with black magic, so she investigated him.

Eventually, Ludwig would find out that Ender Wilton had become stronger through a forbidden power and would try to stop him before he would cause bigger problems.

Ludwig would meet up with Ender Wilton alone.

It was to give him one last chance to turn back, even though he had already crossed the line so many times, but it didn't work

Ender Wilton had no intention of listening to him, after all, and when he realized that he was found out, he planned on killing Ludwig by stabbing him with a knife to keep his mouth shut.

However, he was just defeated yet again by the one who had beaten him so many times before.

And then he'd gone berserk.

Ender Wilton's body, which had been exposed to too much black magic, was left in an incredibly unstable state, so the black magical power dormant in his body started to overflow, turning him into a monster.

Ludwig fought him in his monster form engulfed in black magic, and after many twists and turns, he succeeded in killing Ender Wilton.

To summarize, there was a crazy bastard in Temple who tried to get strong by even using the power of black magic who had ended up turning into a monster which Ludwig got rid of.

That was it.

This wasn't only a major plot point but the start of another one.

How did Ender Wilton, a combat major student, get his hands on black magic?

Who was it that cast forbidden black magic on him?

That was what led to the next event.

The fake villain, Grayden Amorell.

And the real villain, Ender Wilton.

I checked both their faces.

Of course, while he wasn't present, the mastermind behind the curtains was a man named Aaron Medera, a spy of a secret magic society called the Black Order. That was an issue I would have to take care of later.

____

Chapter end