The Demon Prince goes to the Academy - Chapter 199

“Wh-where are you going?!”

“Let go, I’m going to fucking crush all of them.”

“I’m fine! I’m fine, okay? I’m not even hurt!”

“No, that bastard can’t just get away with fucking with you. How could he cast a destruction magic spell close to others? That fucker has to get beaten up to fucking learn his lesson.”

Harriet immediately grabbed the hem of my shirt and held me back before I could run out of the dormitory. It seemed like she was rather shocked because she thought I would cause a major commotion.

The three idiot brothers immediately ran away as soon as they noticed that my judgment was seriously twisted, saying that it was bullshit.

“I told you he already got a demerit, and he got reprimanded and told that he shouldn’t do something like that again! That guy won’t do something like that again in the future, so you don’t have to be so worried!”

Eventually, after arguing for a while, I gave up. Harriet told me to calm down and dragged me to the tea terrace, sitting me down.

“I seriously can’t tell you anything… It really wasn’t that dangerous a spell, even if it actually hit, I would’ve been alright.”

“It still was hella reckless, dangerous, and—what’s more important—it was done on purpose.”

No matter how mischievous one might be, how could they target spots close to people with their magic during magic lessons and just call it a mistake? Just what the fuck was wrong with that bastard’s head?

Harriet kept staring at me nervously as I got more worked up.

She seemed to be worried that I just might break into the Orbis Class’ dormitory while she wasn’t looking.

She told me to calm down and even poured me a cup of tea, which was rather unusual.

“Although I’m curious if we would get the reaction we wanted, but I’m also quite scared of what might happen. I can’t predict what you’re going to do, after all.”

“…Huh? I didn’t really cause that much trouble, though?”

The corners of Harriet’s mouth twitched, her expression a puzzled one, at my small protest. 

“It’s only the beginning of the second semester of our first year, and you don’t think that having caused that much trouble already is problematic…?”

“…Right.”

The others were living a quiet life without causing any trouble, so it was already quite ridiculous to say that I didn’t cause that much trouble when I did what I did.

“And when Erich said that he got hit, you didn’t really care, but why are you so angry when I didn’t even get hit?”

“That’s…”

Well…

Just when I was about to say something, I was tongue-tied. What should I say?

I had a really bad impression of that guy Erich, so I didn’t really care whether he got hit or not. Of course, I was the one who set that punk to behave the way he did, so even if I didn’t like what he did, I would just be shooting myself in the foot.

Harriet slightly raised her face.

It seemed like she was somewhat happy that I got angry on her behalf after all.

“…You’re a friend.”

That was all I had to say.

“…And Erich isn’t?”

“Why would I be friends with that guy?”

Yeah, it’s true, so to speak, that I snapped in the end. It wasn’t the action, but who they did it to that mattered.

“Friend…”

Harriet seemed to let the word roll in her mouth.

She didn’t look disappointed or sad, rather, she seemed relieved and somewhat happy.

She was showing me an expression I had never seen on her face before.

“…”

Then Ellen, wearing her training suit, went up to the tea terrace and met my eyes. Since it wasn’t really a public place, it seemed like she probably went all the way there looking for me. 

Did she really go there just to ask me to go to the training room with her?

However, she just looked at me and Harriet for a moment before she turned around without saying a word.

Was she not looking for me?

“Anyway, don’t cause any trouble because of me. I can take care of my own problems.”

“Alright, I got it.”

Harriet was sitting in a position where she couldn’t see Ellen, so she just nagged me for a while and told me not to get into any trouble and behave.

Finally, after giving me a long lecture Harriet sighed and sipped her tea. 

I did have some business with Harriet, actually.

“Hey, you know what? Don’t you want to make something like that?”

“Make something? Like what?”

Harriet tilted her head at my question.

“Like a club.”

“…A club?”

Harriet looked surprised as if she was wondering why I was mentioning clubs all of a sudden.

“You research magic.”

“Right.”

“Mostly with Adelia. Right?”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with clubs?”

Harriet seemed a little impatient, as if telling me that I should quickly get to the point.

Just like Ellen, Cliffman, and I practically lived in the training room, Harriet would often stay locked up in the magic lab unless something out of the norm happened. Adelia was the same.

While she didn’t think so, she was one heck of a nerd—for magic only.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you got together with others more often?”

“Got together?”

That school building wasn’t a club building.

However, as my novel had become reality, there was no law that would forbid us from doing something like that. Of course, I had no intention of joining any club, though I did have some connection with the religious club ‘Grace’, but they wouldn’t limit me.

Just like Ellen had become stronger earlier than she had in the original, I hoped that the others would also become stronger than they were in the novel.

Ludwig was the only case where it would be best to just leave him alone.

Harriet worked hard just short of me, but there was no reason why I couldn’t show her a slightly better way of doing things.

“For example, if you got together with the wizard majors from Class B and created a Magic Research Club, wouldn’t it be nice to talk with them about magic and get to know some spells that you might not have known of? You’re not limited to any particular field of magic, right?”

“That’s right, but… With students from Class B?”

“Yes.”

“Well…I’m not sure about the Magic Research Society of Royal Class, but I do know the clubs that are out there. However, the standard of discussions and research at a student’s level couldn’t be higher than just consulting a teacher. That’s why I don’t go to places like that…”

Harriet seemed to have reasons as to why she hadn’t joined any magic research clubs on her own. She seemed to think that research subjects students could cover weren’t at a high enough level for her.

However, that reaction alone could be called a success.

In the original, just mentioning doing research with the inferior B Class students would have disgusted Harriet.

However, Harriet’s personality was completely different at the moment.

Her attitude was more like, “What good would come from joining a club where just some students gathered together”, not, “Why with students from Class B?”

She didn’t hate the idea, she just didn’t understand why she would do something like that. That was how much she changed.

“No. I’m sure it’ll be of help to you.”

“…Why do you think so?”

There were two students with magic talents in Class B.

Christina, who had talents in Alchemy and Enchantment.

And Anna de Gerna, who had a talent in Black Magic.

Both of them also had very strong talents in their own right and would become forces to be reckoned with during the Gate Incident.

However, it wasn’t those two who had magic-related talents that would help Harriet grow further.

“That guy called Louis Ancton from Class B would be a great help to you.”

“What… That guy? But he isn’t a wizard, right?”

Harriet wasn’t really interested in Class B, but she obviously knew who was who. That was why she also knew about Louis Ancton’s talent.

“You do research on magic.”

“Yes, I know…”

Louis Ancton had an ‘academic’ talent. He was just smart.

Although he couldn’t use magic, he was walking down the path of a wizard who would only study magic as a science. He was outstanding in the theory of it, but couldn’t put it into practice.

Class B’s Cristina and Anna de Gerna would often take Louis Ancton’s advice to further their magic later on.

After acting all prickly, he would start to grow closer to his classmates after a while.

He was like a growth potion when it came to kids with magical talents.

If it were the original novel, Harriet would absolutely hate the idea, but her personality had become very soft compared to the past, so I told her that, thinking she would accept.

If they studied with Louis Ancton, both Harriet and Adelia, as well as the Class B kids, would benefit from it.

Of course, it seemed a bit heavy-handed that I had already finalized the plan in my head without asking the concerned party what his intentions were even once.

They wouldn’t just do it for one or two days. I was sure, though, that all of them would have a good time.

Harriet seemed to think about it.

“Hmmm… I’m not really sure.”

“Then you could just get together and have a chat. If you think it’ll be helpful for you, then do it, if you don’t think so, then don’t.”

“…If it’s like that, I could give it a try.”

Harriet nodded, saying that she could try if it was just that much.

Alright.

I just had to carefully lay one paving stone after the other to create our road to the future.

I wasn’t sure how much they would be able to achieve together, but I could at least suggest some research projects, including the possibility that the Warp Gates could connect us to a different world.

It would be great if they could figure out the cause behind it, but it also didn’t really matter if they didn’t.

They might also end up making things that would have taken much longer to develop.

It also rang true that their achievements in the field of magic would increase tremendously just by meeting and acting together.

Louis Ancton, who wasn’t a wizard but knew a lot about magic, could help all of them achieve something greater.

That was the picture I was painting in my mind, but then Harriet asked me something, her face a little flushed.

“B-by the way, you… Why would you be interested in something like magic research? Y-you… You have a supernatural power, right? If you joined a club like that with me… You probably would be really bored… Will you be okay?”

Huh? What did she mean?

“Me? Why would I do something like that?”

“’…Huh?”

I mean, I was just suggesting that the kids who were really knowledgeable should get together twice or thrice a week and discuss and research magic together, I wasn’t saying that I would join them, was I?

Harriet looked a little puzzled by my words.

“Y-you won’t join?”

“No, of course not. I’m not a wizard, and I don’t even know a single thing about magic. What could I even do to help you?”

Harriet seemed to have gleaned, “Let’s make a research club together!” from my words.

No, come to think of it, it was only natural that she thought I meant that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a reason to say things like, “ Let’s get some kids together and create a club!”

So Harriet thinking that my idea was to create a magical research group together with her was probably more natural than I thought.

However, it was still rather obvious.

When Harriet realized her mistake, her face got redder and redder.

I reached my limit!

“Did you want to be in a club with me?”

‘H-huh? Wh-what?”

As I poked at her with a smirk on my face, Harriet’s face seemed to grow hotter.

“Why do you want me to be there?”

“Wh-what?! I… I… What do you mean? Ha, haha! Why would I want to start that kind of club with you, who doesn’t even know the basics of magic? I… I thought you meant that because you put it like that! So what could you even do when you joined something like that? That’s what I meant! Even if you wanted to join, I’d reject you! It’s not like I wanted to create it with you or something. I don’t! And I never will!”

As soon as I poked at her, Harriet flew into a rage and rapidly fired words, just as I expected. Seeing Harriet so angry after some time, I felt refreshed as if a ten-year congestion was finally going down.

“No, if you don’t want me there, then just ignore me. Why are you getting so angry? You’re even wearing the earrings I gave you. You know, it’s kind of unhealthy to have such severe mood swings all the time.”

“Aah! Seriously, why are you doing this to me? I mean, just be nice or be mean, just pick one! H-hmpf!”

“H-hey. Hey. Girl, p-put that down. You’re not supposed to throw these things. Ah.”

“I’m going to throw it! I’m really going to throw it, no matter what you say!”

Harriet had lifted up a teapot containing hot tea and glared at me as if she was about to throw it at me any time.

The hands holding the teapot shook, and she eventually put it down without throwing it. Of course, she was still huffing and puffing.

I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing because she ended up overplaying her embarrassment with extreme anger.

Of course, even though I wouldn’t sign up for the club, that didn’t mean I would leave all the work to Harriet.

“You’re not that close to the students of Class B, right?”

“…I just know what they look like. We don’t even greet each other.”

Harriet had become very close to Class A’s girls, but she still treated the boys of her class like before except for me. Not to mention the students from Class B. 

“I won’t join, but I’ll try to convince the Class B kids. I don’t want you to do everything yourself.” 

“…You are?”

Harriet seemed surprised that I would go so far.

“Yeah, as you said, I’m just an outsider who doesn’t even know the basics of magic, but I’m quite the bastard, so I’m very confident that I’ll be able to make some people gather up, even if they don’t want to.”

“Are you saying that you’ll just drag them here by force if one of them doesn’t want to come?”

“No, do you really think I would do something like that?”

“I really think you would, though? You thug.”

“No… Girl, I was just kidding.”

Harriet also had a means to tease me, as did I, so she immediately targeted that spot as soon as she saw a chance.

“Anyway, I’m quite good with words, so I should be able to convince them to gather up.  The rest would be up to you and the other kids.”

For the common goal of improving their skills in magic, the magic majors of both Royal Class A and B would be working together.

Originally, Class B would be the only one that’d do something like that, and that would only include Class A a lot later.

I was just making it happen ahead of time.

Just as Ellen had learned how to strengthen her body with magical power in advance, I could also make Harriet become a much more powerful wizard earlier.

Harriet seemed to have let go of some of her worries when she heard that I would be in charge of gathering people for the time being.

However, Harriet was still pouting.

“…Hey.”

“What? Do you have something more to say?”

“If you really want to work together to make the club, I could let you in.”

“…Huh?”

“What?! Even though I really hate the idea, if you really want to or something, I could at least let you join!”

What was she talking about? I didn’t even intend to join in the first place, and I had no clue about magic, so it would be meaningless for me to join.

So what did she mean by, “If you want me to, I could let you join?”

While I was thinking about that, I couldn’t help but notice the pained look in Harriet’s eyes. Her expression looked the same as before, but her eyes didn’t.

‘This…’

She was asking me to create the club with her.

Then she should’ve just asked me to do that. Did she not want to ask me that first, so she made it as if I really wanted to join?

Requesting something like that sure fit her quite well.

Her worries didn’t last long.

“Sure, I guess there should be at least one person in charge of chores and odd jobs.”

I didn’t know a single thing about magic, so I wasn’t sure what I would be doing in a Magic Research Society, but I was sure there would be some tasks I could do.

To be exact, it didn’t really matter.

If I said no there, I could predict what kind of expression she would make.

I didn’t want to see her look like that.

“Then let’s do our best together.”

“Hmpf, it can’t be helped then.”

Did she notice that her expression and tone didn’t match at all?

I had never seen her smile so brightly before.