Chapter 3 Part 2
Now, we were enrolled at Altena Magic Academy, where Merlin is the headmaster at.
The Altena Magic Academy used to be a magic academy for humans, but due to the influences of the great war that broke out in an unstable world after subjugating the Demon King, it is now a magic academy for the demon race.
Incidentally, it’s within commuting distance from the mansion.
And in the past ── it was a venerable magic academy where the strongest man on Earth had enrolled despite being only a villager.
Well, I heard that he was actually only registered and hardly went there.
Apart from the history of the magic academy, Anastasia and I, who are the transfer students, tried to go through the gate of the magic academy, but ──
“Hey, you? I haven’t seen you around before, have I? The uniform is ours, but…”
A guard stationed at the gate asked me.
His ears are long, and he looks like someone from the demon race. Well, this is a country of demons after all, so that’s a given.
“Oh, we are transfer students”
“Transfer students? Come to think of it, I did receive a report like that. Please wait here for a moment”
The guard then went back to his security post and fetched some documents.
“Hmm…Ephthal Alcott…”
Looks like he’s using photographic memory magic to make an image of my face to the document.
The guard looked at the document then at me and gave a small nod.
“And Anastasia…family name is unknown”
Unknown?
Come to think of it, I’ve never heard of her full name, I wonder why.
Well, I guess it’s because of ‘that’.
Just then, the guard asked Anastasia, “Can I have a look at your shoulder?”.
Anastasia grimaced for a moment, but dexterously shifted her uniform to reveal the nape of her neck and shoulder.
“This crest…”
“Is there a problem?”
Well, it’s natural that the crest caught his attention. It’s a bit special even among the standard slave crests after all.
“No, it’s not for me to interfere as long as she’s allowed to enroll at the academy. By the way, Ephthal-kun?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Being armed with a sword is allowed, but there’s a licensing system. Therefore, I’d like to register your sword”
“It’s not a sword, but a katana, though”
As I held out my right hand, I handed the katana with the scabbard to the guard.
The guard pulled the katana out of its scabbard ── and his expression changed as he examined it.
“E-E-E-Ephthal-kun?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“T-T-T-This sword, could it be ──”
I grinned and replied.
“Yes, this is the Raikiri”
“It is said that it was once owned by the Demon King’s commander-in-chief…a rarity of SSS-rank…!”
After saying that, the guard started frothing at the mouth and collapsed on the spot. It was as if he suffered anemia.
Well, maybe it was a little…too stimulating for ordinary people.
And so, we headed to our classroom.
Despite being transfer students, we didn’t go to the staff room nor the office, but we headed straight to the classroom as if it was normal.
Though, I’m only doing this because Merlin told me to….
“Wa-Wait…why did a human come here as a transfer student?”
A blonde girl sitting in front of me said in a low voice.
By the way, Anastasia is sitting next to me.
“The other person seems to be a demon…but like I was saying, why is there a human here? I don’t get it?”
Then, the one who responded to the question was a silver-haired guy from the demon race who sat diagonally to the right from where I was sitting.
He has fairly long hair and a slender build…one could probably say that he’s a good-looking guy, too.
“Hey-hey, Maria? You’re an elf too, aren’t you?”
Wait, this blonde girl is an elf?
Well, it’s true that her skin color is absurdly white and her ears are even longer compared to those of the demon race.
“But, humans aren’t good at magic, right?”
“They are in heat all year round, and their numbers are high, so the balance of power is just barely maintained. At the very least, humans are mismatched for our magic academy”
“It is said that demons and humans learned magic side by side in the past, so I guess it’s not unprecedented…but really, just why?”
“Oh, come to think of it, there was a rumor that in the era of the Four Emperors, humans could use magic reasonably well. Well, that’s not important anymore. Anyway, now that we’re talking about humans, it’s pretty much a given that they are not good at magic”
“So, why is there a human here?”
“Perhaps ── he’s a human authority figure or something. I guess he must have talked to the executives of the academy and forced his way into this elite academy”
It’s a bit embarrassing because it’s not necessarily…wrong.
“Well, I guess that it’s probably something like that”
“So, do you think that humans, the trash that is lesser than demons, can keep up with this elite academy’s education?”
“Hey Abe…that’s a bit much, and he can hear you, you know?”
Abe suddenly hits his desk with a bang.
“Huh? I don’t care even if he can hear me. Or rather, I’m saying it out loud so that he can hear! Does he have any idea what sort of ridiculous acceptance rate we had to overcome in the exam just to get in here?”
“Hey ── stop it!”
“Studying with a stinking ‘human’ sitting near to me? There’s no way I can accept it! This is an academy for the elite of the elite where only superior species like demons and elves are allowed to go, you know?”
I see.
He seems to have a lovely personality.
Abe smirked at me when I didn’t say anything back.
“If you’re a coward and don’t say anything back even after all this…then you’re going to be my gofer from now on. Well, even the bastards who talk back, are called out to the back of the academy building and then get beaten up to make them my gofer”
As I glared at him, Abe whistled a “Whew”.
“Oh? Are you going to retort with something? You, a mere human?”
And that’s when the blonde-pink ombre haired girl named Maria struck her fist on Abe.
“That’s enough!”
“Well, you said it yourself, didn’t you? I’m just speaking for everyone ──”
Maria then started to subdue Abe with her palm.
“I know what you mean”
Maria turned her gaze to me and said.
“It’s Abe’s fault that it turned out to be extreme or rather, vulgar, but you know…”
Then, as if to spit the words out, Maria continued.
“It’s true that humans…aren’t well thought of after all. I don’t discriminate on the basis of race, but I do discriminate based on a merit system. My pride won’t allow me to be in the same class as a failure. You aren’t going to be able to cast magic very well anyway, so with that in mind, I’d recommend you to stay out of our sight as much as possible”
When I looked around ── there were definitely cold gazes flying towards me.
So I sighed oh-so deeply.
── This is the beginning of another difficult road for life at a magic academy….
And so, the morning homeroom began.
“Now, before introducing the transfer students, I would like to inform everyone here of a change of the homeroom teacher”
A slender, tall figure with silver hair that reaches down to her waist.
She looks to be in her early twenties, and looking good in a tight suit ── but come on, isn’t this bad?
“Be honored. I, Merlin Alcott, your headmaster, will personally teach everyone here”
I mean, Merlin hasn’t changed her family name since I adopted her.
And naturally, the classroom went deadly silent, and after a while, my classmates started buzzing with conversations.
“Hey-hey, what’s going on?”
“The hero of the demon race is…?”
“To begin with, she’s kind of a hero, a living legend. She’s just a headmaster in name only, isn’t she?”
“But aren’t we lucky if we think about it? I can’t believe Merlin-sama is teaching us!”
That’s where Abe, the good-looking silver-haired guy from earlier, raised his hand.
“May I ask you a question, Headmaster Merlin?”
“Oh? What is it…? Errr…”
“It’s Abe. Abe Portes”
“Aah, right, I still can’t remember the names of the students I’m not interested in”
Those words caused Abe to mix anger into his expression for a moment, but he continued on as if he had regained his composure, “In the eyes of a living legend, that’s what I am now, huh…”.
“Why would the headmaster be our homeroom teacher?”
Merlin looked at me and winked, then said.
“It’s because a special student has enrolled in the academy”
Uhh…Merlin?
I don’t think that’s a good idea, you know?
“Special…you say?”
“It’s probably going to be a lot of work getting an outside element that’s far too different in level into the mix. So that’s why I’m here to coordinate”
Abe seems to have misunderstood something as he laughed at those words.
“I see. This guy seems to be the son of a very influential person. So much so that Merlin-sama has to go to the trouble of doing so. Being overprotective here, aren’t you?”
“Hmm. Does it look like that to you?”
“Yes, I can’t see it any other way. To me, he’s just an ordinary human ── an inferior one”
“Look, is it really so odd that a human enrolled in a demon’s magic academy, student Abe?”
“Since we are the chosen elites of the chosen race…”
“Well, it’s true that humans are, on average, inferior to us in terms of their individual magic ability in this age. I don’t deny that part. Magic is the pursuit for truth, and you can’t see the truth if you twist the facts after all”
“Yes, exactly”
“But it’s a third-rate mage to see matters only through entrenched stereotypes. Listen. Magic ── is the art of manipulating unorthodox miracles. You must know that ── the foundation of a mage is the ability to see things as they truly are”
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean by that…?”
Merlin then winked at me again.
“You too…should make a lot of observations about that boy, the transfer student. It’s undoubtedly a great opportunity for you to dispel your own ── stereotypes about the humans”
Then Merlin bowed deeply to me and said.
“Now then…please be gentle…with the fools of our academy”
After saying that, Merlin said, “That’s it for the homeroom”, and left the classroom.
I thought to myself.
── Hey, Merlin? Surely you’re not going to let me live a peaceful student life…are you?
And just as all eyes in the class were on me, the first-period lecturer came into the classroom.
