Chapter 6
-Screeech!
“Ugh, it got away again.”
I casually brushed the blood splattered across the back of my hand away, then continued peacefully along the forest path.
……Peaceful?
That word wasn't very convincing, considering I had just twisted a monster's neck until it snapped….
But what else could I do!
This much was just part of my daily routine now.
That wasn't the problem.
These days, I had developed one very serious concern.
And it was a damn huge concern.
“How am I supposed to follow her to the academy?”
That's right.
This was an emergency of the utmost urgency.
My life plan for the future had gotten slightly—no, unbelievably—tangled.
Our Pinkie. No, Sis Isabel was the heroine of the original story.
The author had apparently wanted to give the protagonist some kind of special quality, so they had set the spirit mage profession at an utterly absurd level.
It was so rare that one appeared only once every hundred years, if that.
It was even a cheat-class profession!
And Isabel had been born with that talent.
Thanks to that, in the original story….
The academy's dean came to personally escort Isabel away.
That's where the original story ended, and the problem began from here.
The world I remembered was definitely an ordinary romance fantasy.
There was a villainess who met the male leads at the academy, flirted with them, and made them jealous, but in the end, everyone lived happily ever after. You know the type, right?
As for combat, there was a midterm where they killed a few goblins and a practical exercise where they hunted some kobolds. That was about it.
The setting itself was fairly peaceful.
There was no Demon King.
There was no mastermind plotting to destroy the world, either.
At least, not in the original story as I remembered it.
“…Weak.”
The overall level of martial power in this world was low.
Well. It was a romance fantasy.
Are we okay up to this point?
You get that, right?!
Demons and demon worshippers who had never existed in the original had appeared.
And from the moment they appeared, the story had changed.
What if the demon they had been trying to summon was on a level similar to the ones I had faced in the tower?
It was horrifying just to imagine.
From the imperial prince, son of the emperor, to the heir of the Grand Duke of the North, the mage tower master's disciples and professors, and even the heroine Isabel—the main content would be watching every last one of them get slaughtered.
The power of love and friendship would make them shout, “For our friend, let's gooo—!”
It would all be over before that could happen.
[I Was the Weakest Demon in the Demon Realm, but I'm a Heavenly Demon in This World?!]
A novel with a title like that might be born.
Of course, the protagonist would be on the demon's side.
“……”
So there was only one conclusion.
I had to follow Isabel to the academy, but….
The problem was that I had no way to do it.
The Astell Imperial Academy didn't care about social status.
Whether noble, commoner, or imperial, anyone could get in as long as they had talent and could pay the tuition.
You might be wondering, “Then why not just go?”
Ah, I wanted to, but there was an admission requirement….
The minimum admission age was fifteen.
Hmm.
Isabel was fourteen.
She would be enrolling next year.
And me.
My mental age was twenty-three.
As for my body….
Even if you were being extremely generous, it was ten years old at best.
“……”
How was I supposed to follow her?
***
Do you know what happens when you share your worries?
The answer.
Now there are two people with worries.
Sorry, I'm an extreme T.
Anyway.
Rather than stew over this worry alone, I decided to dump it on someone else.
And not just anyone, either. Someone incredibly powerful.
The four strongest beings in the world! The so-called Four Emperors!
If it was the Extreme King, one of them, getting me into the academy shouldn't be difficult.
She could probably finish it with the twitch of a single finger.
Of course, I kept the entire story about the original hidden.
How could I possibly tell her that this was actually a romance fantasy novel?
“……So that's why you came looking for me?”
The Extreme King looked down at me with her arms folded.
“Oh, what are you talking about?”
I shook my head and smiled nonchalantly.
“You're the one who came looking for me, Extreme King.”
“……”
After a brief silence, the Extreme King's eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well.”
I raised one finger.
“You clearly said it last time. ‘I'll keep an eye on you!’”
“……”
“So you came to keep watch over me, didn't you?”
“…You.”
The Extreme King's eyebrows trembled.
“You really are an obnoxious little brat.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“It wasn't a compliment!”
How did we meet, you ask?
It was nothing special.
I briefly released Heaven-Slaying Star.
More precisely, I let a little killing intent leak out.
And before long, the Extreme King came looking for me of her own accord.
She had said she would keep an eye on me when we parted, after all.
It felt exactly like pressing a single summon button.
Of course, I had no intention of maintaining Heaven-Slaying Star for long.
My body was still nine years old.
If I recklessly drew up my power like I used to, I would be the first one to break.
That would be the absolute worst-case scenario.
“Uuuugh—I'm annoyed! I'm so annoyed!”
The Extreme King scratched her head vigorously and glared at me.
“I knew it!”
“You knew what?”
“You were the one who took care of those demon worshippers.”
“Wow.”
I put on an impressed expression.
“You just hit the **key point** dead-on.”
Bonk.
“Ow.”
“This isn't the time for jokes!”
The Extreme King tried to hit me on the forehead again, but barely managed to stop her hand.
Apparently, her conscience bothered her about hitting a child too much.
“The academy problem is one thing.”
The Extreme King's expression grew serious.
“But there's something else I'm curious about.”
“What is it?”
“You.”
Her tiny finger pointed at my face.
“What exactly are you?”
“……”
“That's not killing intent a nine-year-old could produce.”
The Extreme King's gaze sharpened.
“How do you possess that kind of power?”
As expected, she was quick to catch on.
She hadn't recognized Heaven-Slaying Star itself.
But she could tell that something was strange.
Power an ordinary child could never possibly possess.
And the little brat in front of her had it.
“Hmm.”
I propped my chin on my hand and pretended to think.
Then I opened my mouth.
“Actually, I'm……”
“……”
“An ordinary, super-kawaii, sickly pretty boy from a rural village?”
“……”
Silence descended once again.
The Extreme King's expression stiffened.
It looked like a fist might come flying instead of a knuckle tap.
Time to stop while I was ahead.
“I'm a regressor.”
Of course, that wasn't the truth.
“…Huh?”
The Extreme King's eyes widened.
“Once.”
I slowly continued speaking.
“I saw the world come to an end.”
“……”
“And then I returned.”
Yes.
A regressor.
It was the most plausible lie I could think of.
Saying I had transmigrated would be dangerous.
The demon was also an existence that had crossed over from another dimension.
If I said that I, too, had come from another world in a situation like this….
From the Extreme King's perspective, I would be no different from a demon, either.
But if I was a regressor who had returned to save the world, that changed things.
Heroes and prophets—beings who knew the future—were perfectly plausible in this world's setting.
“…How am I supposed to believe that?”
As expected, she didn't believe me right away.
That was a natural reaction from the Extreme King.
“You.”
The Extreme King narrowed her eyes.
“You're not actually a demon, are you?”
Good.
That was the question I had expected.
I slowly exhaled.
“Phew.”
“……?”
“I wasn't going to tell you this much.”
The Extreme King's expression stiffened slightly.
“Extreme King.”
“W-Why are you suddenly calling me that?”
I opened my mouth with a serious expression.
“You sleep in teddy bear pajamas, don't you?”
“……!”
“And you sleep while hugging a stuffed rabbit.”
“……!!!”
“And because you're self-conscious about having a small chest, every day you—”
“S-Stop it!!!”
It happened in an instant.
The Extreme King's face turned bright red, and her tiny hands flailed wildly in the air.
“How do you know that?!”
“……Heh.”
“No, no.”
The Extreme King stared at me with a confused expression.
“That's information no one could possibly know……”
Heh.
It was information known only to the Extreme King and the readers of the original story.
The Extreme King's greatest weakness was that she liked cute things!
No one else might know, but there was no way a demon would know that, right?
“I believe you!!”
The Extreme King shouted frantically.
“I'll believe you for now!!”
“Bwahahahahaha!!!!”
“Waaaaah……”
Pathetic Extreme King! Keeeeyaaah!!!!!
***
After parting ways with the Extreme King.
I threw myself down flat on the grassy clearing in the middle of the forest.
I could see the sky.
The blue sky visible between the branches and the warm sunlight soothed my mind.
On top of that, there was a pleasantly cool breeze.
It was a peaceful scene I had never once experienced in the tower.
“…This is nice.”
I muttered without realizing it.
Anyway.
The biggest problem, getting into the academy, was solved!
“If that's the reason…. I understand. Leave it to me!”
When I explained that the demon worshippers had targeted the academy before my regression, the Extreme King accepted it surprisingly quickly.
Of course, I hadn't actually regressed.
But as long as the result was good, what did it matter?
As expected, this was what the strongest person in the world was for: putting her to work.
I never knew how convenient it was to know just one powerful person.
It was even better that she would solve the academy admission problem for me.
To be honest, I had been a little worried.
If a brat who wasn't even ten suddenly announced that she was enrolling, anyone would find it strange.
But whatever.
You just had to come up with a method.
“Why are you so small?”
“Oh. I'm a commoner, so I didn't get enough to eat while growing up!”
A perfect excuse.
If that's unfair, then buy me a meal.
I looked up at the sky again.
And then I suddenly had a thought.
Heaven-Slaying Star.
Even the name of my Trait was ominous.
The name itself meant a star of slaughter bestowed by the heavens.
In other words, it was an ability specialized in slaughter, destruction, and massacre.
The way to grow stronger was simple, too.
See blood.
Kill enemies.
Get drenched in more blood.
What a convenient ability.
The problem was that it was just as dangerous.
It was an ability far too disruptive to bring into a pink-hued romance fantasy academy.
I might accidentally let a little killing intent leak out while chatting with my friends during class.
Then what?
The students around me would faint, and the professors would go on high alert.
The academy would label me a dangerous individual.
And my happy academy life would be over.
“……”
It was horrifying just to imagine.
But was I supposed to find some other way to fight now?
I didn't want to.
It sounded like a hassle.
I had lived my whole life with this power.
Swordsmanship? Magic? Archery?
I could manage basic attacks, but….
But why go out of my way?
Heaven-Slaying Star was certainly a dangerous power.
But if I could control it, that was another story.
Normally, it would make you drunk on blood, consume you with killing intent, and eventually make you forget even who you were.
That was what made Heaven-Slaying Star truly frightening.
But I had a way to prevent that.
Was it Floor 55 of the tower? Or 56?
I couldn't even remember exactly.
What I met there was an old Buddha-statue-like man who possessed not even a speck of mercy.
He smiled, but the things he did were more vicious than a demon's.
I had no idea how many times that old man had nearly killed me.
I was beaten until I nearly lost my mind, pushed to my limit, and at the very end, a Trait had been formed almost by force.
What I gained as a result was.
【The Pinnacle of Control (統制)】
【You completely control yourself.】
【Whatever it may be.】
When I first saw it, I thought it was nothing special.
But I was wrong.
Because I had this Trait, I could use Heaven-Slaying Star without losing myself.
The captain and my teammates could see me as a comrade rather than a monster.
“So……”
I raised my hand.
It was small.
Because it was the hand of a nine-year-old.
“The problem right now isn't power.”
The power I possessed was sufficient.
No, it was overflowing.
The problem was the vessel that had to contain that power.
What would happen if I fully unlocked Heaven-Slaying Star with my body in its current state?
I would burst before my opponent did.
My opponent would be perfectly fine while my muscles tore and my bones broke. That would be pretty unfair, wouldn't it?
So, for the next year.
What I had to do was simple.
Eat well and sleep well.
Build up my body.
“Let's focus on growing first.”
I'll slowly recover the strength of my prime.
When that time came, there would be no one in this world who could stop me.
I rose from my spot, satisfied.
Hmm.
Should I head home soon?
I think turkey was on the menu for dinner tonight.
…
Wait.
The path visible between the trees.
And the sky growing darker by the moment.
“……”
Come to think of it.
I came into the forest without telling anyone, didn't I?
notes