Chapter 4
Let me ask everyone. What comes to mind first when you hear the words 'entrance ceremony'?
"Finally, I hope there will be infinite glory and blessings upon all the students entering our Halo Academy..."
What else could it be? The principal's speech. Or should I call him the president here?
Anyway, long and boring speeches seem to be the same wherever you go. Maybe I'm the only one bored, because the eyes of the incoming students standing beside me are sparkling brightly.
As the president of Halo Academy, supposedly the finest educational institution in the Minerva Empire, he must be an important person, and perhaps they were happy to hear such an important person explain things so kindly.
To me, though, he was nothing more than a portly old man saying something inspirational. I wished this would end as soon as possible.
'But how much money did they pour into this place?'
The entrance ceremony was held in the grand auditorium, and its scale was terrifying. It was about the size of two ordinary gymnasiums joined together.
It was presumably built to accommodate not only the freshmen but also their parents and the many people who had come to see promising talents. Even so, there was no denying that it was enormous.
'...I can't see a thing.'
Above all, I couldn't see the president's face from the podium. I couldn't see the faces of the people sitting in the chairs beside him either.
Part of the reason was that I was sitting toward the back, but my eyesight was also somewhat poor. Reading and writing every day had naturally weakened my vision.
It wasn't so bad that I couldn't manage everyday life. If it had been, I would have gotten glasses long ago.
I had already experienced the inconvenience of glasses enough in my previous life, so I took good care of my eyesight.
"...And with that, I wish you all good fortune. This concludes my speech."
As soon as the principal's—no, the president's—speech ended, thunderous applause erupted. I had been spacing out and was startled, so I automatically started clapping.
After the applause died down and I thought we would finally be heading to the dormitories, an announcement rang throughout the auditorium. For the record, that was being broadcast with magic.
[Next, Princess Cecily Drat Isilia Vin of Helium will deliver her remarks.]
Fuck. There was still more?
While I grumbled inwardly, the auditorium began to stir.
-Are they really enrolling? A demonkin?
-Even so, I have to admit I'm a little uneasy...
-Wow... she's gorgeous.
It was embarrassing to say this with my own mouth, but I was sure everyone knew that people's views of demonkin had changed because of The Chronicle of Xenon, which I had written myself. But this was the extent of that change.
I couldn't even begin to imagine how much discrimination demonkin had endured before. They had always been treated as nothing more than walking time bombs, so it must have been severe.
Perhaps for that reason, demonkin apparently rarely ventured outside Helium. Cecily's decision was that radical—and that bold.
'...But I still can't see a thing.'
Even when I narrowed my eyes and focused on the podium, I couldn't make out the princess. It would have been strange to see her face in detail from this distance anyway, but to me, all that was moving was a black blob.
People around me were showering her with praise about her appearance, calling her pretty, beautiful, well-endowed, sexy, and so on. Unfortunately, I couldn't see any of it.
I should have sat in the front. This was all because I was used to always sitting in the back during my previous life.
Wooong-
[Ah. Ah-ah. Hello, everyone. It's nice to meet you. I am Cecily Drat Isilia Vin, the princess of Helium.]
Wow. Her voice is incredible. She'd be a huge hit on the radio.
Perhaps I wasn't the only one who thought so, because the auditorium fell silent the moment Cecily opened her mouth. How beautiful did a voice have to be to quiet a noisy auditorium in an instant?
Cecily continued saying what she wanted to say in a seductive, sultry voice.
[As you all know, though you may still find it difficult to believe, I am a demonkin, said to be the darkest beings in the world. Some of you may still feel uneasy around me, and some of you may even despise me.]
Perhaps it was because her words carried such a powerful appeal, but I cleared my head of all distractions and began listening seriously. Maybe the others felt the same way, because everyone adopted a solemn expression and listened attentively.
Cecily seemed to look around the audience once before expressing her feelings honestly in a powerful voice.
[Then one day, after a certain book was published, people's views of demonkin changed. That book portrayed us not as time bombs that could explode at any moment, but as pitiful beings who yearned to be human. Through that story, it directly revealed the wish we longed for more than anything.]
"Hmm..."
I gave an awkward smile. Hearing those words directly from her, of all people, made my face burn.
Did Cecily know that the author of The Chronicle of Xenon was in this auditorium? She probably wouldn't know even if the heavens collapsed.
[So, just as the book showed, I will show you. I will show you that we demonkin can laugh, talk, grieve, and enjoy ourselves just like humans do. I will show you without fail. Thank you.]
Those words showed her will and determination in full, rather than merely offering empty pleasantries.
She was truly amazing. At this moment, the only expression I could think of was that she was incredible.
Could I do something like that? I could say with certainty that I absolutely couldn't. I hadn't lived a life as full of twists and turns as Cecily, nor did I possess her courage.
'...Not bad.'
I sincerely cheered Cecily on as I watched her leave the podium. Seeing it in the newspaper had been utterly absurd, but now my heart felt deeply moved.
If the heroine of a novel appeared in reality, she would look exactly like that. I couldn't think of anything except how extraordinary she was.
'I wish I could have at least seen her face properly.'
I regretted not being able to see her face because my eyesight was poor. Well, she was a freshman too, so surely our paths would cross at least once.
[This concludes the 1,012th entrance ceremony of Halo Academy. Freshmen, please check the classes to which you have been assigned. Classes will begin tomorrow. This concludes the ceremony.]
At last, the long, long entrance ceremony was over. I could check my class in a little while, so I planned to head to the dormitory first.
I remained where I was even as people streamed out of the auditorium. If I joined them now, I would only get shoved around, so I planned to leave after most of them had gone.
"Isaac!"
"Huh?"
"Over here! Over here!"
Then I heard someone calling my name. It might have been a namesake they were calling, but it was a voice I knew, so I had no choice but to turn around.
When I turned, I saw a man waving his arm. He had the same red hair as me and golden eyes like a bird of prey. Standing beside him was a woman with navy hair and similarly golden eyes.
As soon as I recognized their faces, I smiled broadly and ran toward them. I couldn't help smiling at the joy of seeing them again.
"Brother! Sis!"
"It's been a long time, Isaac."
"Have you been well?"
They were my older brother and sister. Their names were Dave and Nicole.
My brother had the stern image of a warrior, looking exactly like our father, while my sister took after our mother and was an exceptionally beautiful woman.
"What brings you here?"
"What do you mean? We came to watch our youngest brother's entrance ceremony."
Nicole bent slightly at the waist and answered in a gentle voice. The reason she bent over was to bring herself down to my eye level.
Even if her face didn't resemble him, perhaps she had inherited her physique from our father, because she was extremely tall. She was probably taller than most men.
"Have you been doing well? How are Father and Mother?"
At that moment, Dave asked about our parents.
I met his golden eyes and answered him kindly.
"They're the same as always. I imagine they'll probably stay that way for the rest of their lives."
"Really? Our parents are something else. Do they really like each other that much?"
Dave chuckled before glancing around. There were still quite a few people who hadn't left yet.
So Dave lowered his head slightly and asked me in a whisper.
"I'm sorry for asking this the moment we met, but can you tell me when the next volume is coming out?"
"... ..."
As expected. I instantly stiffened before putting on a wounded expression.
Dave was startled by my expression and began babbling out excuses. Beside him, Nicole's eyes narrowed sharply.
"N-no, of course! Seeing our youngest brother is more important! But I can't help being curious..."
"Quiet. Is your little brother less important than a book? You're hurting his feelings. Isaac, you can ignore that idiot, all right?"
"...Yeah."
For the record, if you added my age from my previous life, I was older than both of them. But I didn't pay the slightest attention to such a trivial matter.
It would only make my thoughts more complicated, and the two of them were more mature than I was in some ways. Or maybe I had simply grown older without growing up.
"Tsk... Anyway, I'm sorry. You must be under quite a bit of stress too, and I misspoke."
"No, it's fine. By the way, did you hear the speech Princess Cecily gave earlier?"
Changing the subject was the best thing to do in this situation. The moment Dave heard my question, he turned his gaze toward the podium. Nicole and I followed his gaze as well.
Princess Cecily was still standing on the podium. Someone was beside her too—the imperial princess, Rina, whom I had seen at the entrance to the Academy.
I didn't know what the two women were talking about, but they both looked extremely cheerful.
"She certainly has what it takes to be a princess. I couldn't do something like that in front of everyone."
"Mm... Right?"
"So, how does it feel? Your book was essentially what put the princess of Helium on that podium, after all."
Nicole asked me that in a subtly teasing manner. But I couldn't answer easily.
Should I say that it didn't feel real, or that it felt strange?
I had felt moved while listening to the speech, but now I felt awkward. I couldn't quite believe it was really because of me.
The reason I felt this way wasn't only because of my previous life. More than anything, I had no experience of the world as it was now.
I had never seen discrimination against demonkin with my own eyes, nor did I know what incidents or crimes demonkin who had turned into demons had committed. I was not even very familiar with this world's common sense.
"...To be honest, it doesn't really feel real. You know as well as I do that I've never gone outside and only read books at home. I don't know because I have nothing to compare it to."
"Honestly. I've told you time and again, don't sell yourself short. You're a precious treasure of our family. Understand?"
After hearing my answer, Nicole gently stroked my head. When I looked at her face, she was wearing a pleased smile.
I smiled brightly as well, trying to live up to her expectations. Nicole responded by lightly pinching my cheek.
"If you need anything, ask me or my brother. Our majors are different, so I don't know how much help we can be there, but we can help with everyday life."
"Yeah. Got it."
"When you're living at the Academy, you need to focus on your studies. Don't feel pressured to write for no reason. Understand?"
"Yeah."
"Good boy. Our Isaac."
Nicole tended to see me as a child. In fact, my entire family did.
Although I had been an adult for a long time, they would probably treat me this way until the day I died. Still, I didn't feel particularly bad about it. Perhaps it was because the family I had been able to rely on in my previous life had suddenly vanished.
Family affection was such a warm and lovely thing. Since I had realized that fact so late, it was even more precious to me.
"Then go on. Contact us anytime if you want to see us."
"All right. I'm off."
As I walked away from them, I waved vigorously. The two of them waved back, sending me words of encouragement.
Leaving that heartwarming reunion behind, I headed to the dormitory first. The map and the location of the dormitories had all been explained by a guide assistant before the ceremony.
"La la la~"
I was in a good mood at the thought of relaxing comfortably in the dormitory for the rest of the day.
*****
Meanwhile, in the auditorium Isaac had left behind.
On the auditorium's podium, two beauties rivaling elves were chatting with bright expressions.
One had jet-black hair and blood-red eyes, while the other had golden hair and blue eyes, each radiating a different kind of charm.
In particular, the black-haired woman had horns jutting from her head, making it obvious to anyone that she was demonkin.
That was right. They were Cecily, the princess of Helium who had enrolled at Halo Academy, and Rina, the imperial princess of the Minerva Empire.
The two women were laughing merrily and genuinely enjoying themselves like ordinary girls.
"Bwahahaha! That part was really... Ah, Lady Rina. Do you know that scene too? The part where Mary kicked the thug?"
"Ah~ Of course I do. I believe the name of that kick was..."
"The Hectopascal Kick. I heard that, in that world, it was one of the names of storms."
"Pfft! I remember. It was so satisfying back then."
Rina, the imperial princess of the Minerva Empire and a fellow freshman with Cecily, let out a demure laugh.
She would have loved to laugh as loudly as Cecily, but she maintained the dignity expected of an imperial princess. Cecily was the unusual one for laughing so heartily without caring what people around her thought.
"It seems you're also an avid fan of The Chronicle of Xenon. You even know details like that."
"Of course. Honestly, I doubt there's anyone who has read The Chronicle of Xenon only once. I can guarantee it. But..."
Rina trailed off for a moment as she looked Cecily up and down. Everything about her was perfect, to the point that even calling her beautiful felt inadequate.
If Rina had taken her pure and innocent image to the extreme, Cecily had taken a mature image to the extreme. In particular, one part of her stood out the most.
That was her chest—in other words, her breasts. Rina herself was fairly well-endowed, but Cecily's... I will leave it at that.
The only blemish was that she was demonkin, but honestly, in the face of beauty like that, countless men's hearts would have been melted even if The Chronicle of Xenon had never been published.
Rina carefully composed her expression before asking Cecily,
"...What do you think of the author of The Chronicle of Xenon?"
"The author?"
"Yes. They didn't just ease the burden of the demonkin's fate; they made it possible for everyone to understand us. Aren't they essentially our benefactor?"
Rina, too, had treated demonkin like bombs before The Chronicle of Xenon was published. In fact, she had once been attacked by demonkin who had turned into demons while she was outside the imperial palace.
Since then, she had thought of demonkin as people wearing the mask of a demon, but her attitude had completely changed after The Chronicle of Xenon appeared.
"I was attacked by demonkin who had undergone demonization too. After that, I couldn't stand the sight of demonkin. But my view of them changed after this book was published."
"... ..."
"Even I think this way now, so I'm curious what you think, Lady Cecily."
At first, Cecily looked dumbfounded by the question, but she soon gave a gentle smile.
They say there is nothing more beautiful than a smile filled with sincerity. Cecily was proof of that at this moment.
While Rina admired her lovely smile inwardly, Cecily placed a hand over her heart and began to speak.
A wistful tenderness shimmered together in her blood-red eyes.
"Benefactor... Even that word is far too inadequate. They were the only person who saw us demonkin as humans rather than demons. If I had my way, I would give them everything I have."
"You feel that strongly?"
"Yes. Our people have a history of being treated as demons for over a thousand years. Do you remember what Sakran said at the end of volume five?"
"Ah. That part..."
Although the story was not yet complete, if readers were asked to choose The Chronicle of Xenon's greatest scene, they would unquestionably pick the latter part of volume five. That scene perfectly represented the demonkin's lonely fate.
Cecily spoke in a low, subdued voice, as though she were still lost in the lingering emotions of that scene.
"I... want to become like Sakran. A demonkin who ends their life as a human, not a demon, even at the final moment."
"... ..."
"Then what do you think of the author?"
"Ah, I..."
Rina was momentarily flustered and avoided Cecily's gaze. Hearing Cecily's true feelings made her feel rather pathetic by comparison.
Perhaps thanks to her quick thinking as an imperial princess, however, Rina hurriedly forced an answer out.
"Someone I want to lock up in the imperial palace and make write?"
"...Pardon?"
Ah. I had messed up.
Rina belatedly realized that she had misspoken and hurriedly covered her mouth. But once words were spoken, they could not be taken back.
Cecily stared blankly as Rina's snow-white face reddened in real time, then burst into laughter.
"Bwahahahaha! What's that supposed to mean? Was that your true feeling?"
"Th-that...!"
"No wonder you said that in the newspaper. You really meant it?"
"P-please, listen to me!"
And so, the friendship between the two women only grew deeper.
"Achoo!"
At the dormitory, Isaac was writing when he suddenly sneezed.
"Snff. Ah, fuck. I got spit on it."
He tore the manuscript, smeared by his spit, into shreds.