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It was the first time Roan, in his three years in the Demon King Academy, got to taste the legendary Charcoal Grill Minotaur Ribeye. He had to admit that the rumors were not unfounded. The texture and flavors were nothing short of mind-blowing.

‘Speaking of which, is Professor Enos okay with this? If I remember correctly, the first furiataur was a demonified minotaurus.’

Roan imagined someone serving him a plate of grilled monkey. That immediately destroyed his appetite.

Egor carefully carried a bowl of vegetable nut stew and sat down opposite Roan. He first murmured his prayers before picking up his fork.

This fellow was probably the most polite high demon in the Demon King Academy… it was truly unfortunate that he was a man.

“Senior Roan, you aren’t going to write home?”

Egor addressed everyone senior, even to his peers and juniors.

Roan found it awkward at the start, but he slowly got used to it as time passed.

“I’m an orphan,” Roan replied nonchalantly while munching on his steak.

Stunned, Egor lowered his head and apologized, “S-s-sorry.”

Roan interjected with a wave of his fork, “Don’t apologize. Didn’t you hear Enos? The word ‘sorry’ doesn’t exist in hell. Be more confident when you cross me the next time.”

That was what other demons initially did, though they dared not do so openly later on. At least they wouldn’t murmur spells anymore.

The moment someone provoked Roan, he would write to the Ministry of Truth, reporting that XX had discriminated against him on Year XX Month XX Day XX, and that XX was XXX’s child.

He was exploiting his ‘protected species’ entitlement to its greatest value!

‘Got a problem with that? Tell your daddy to complain to His Majesty Demon God! You should be grateful that I’m playing nice by not freeloading on my meals and groceries!’

“Hahaha…”

Egor laughed upon seeing that Roan was still in the mood to joke, but he still asked out of worry, “Actually, my family happens to have some ties with Ministry of Internal Affairs. If you don’t mind…”

“There’s no need for that.” Roan stopped him with a wave. “Just write in for yourself. There’s no need to say anything on my behalf. We’re only classmates; you aren’t obliged to do anything for me. Besides, I have already decided where to go.” �

“Where do you intend to go?” Egor asked out of curiosity.

Roan snickered. “I’ll go wherever demon kings go.”

Egor was initially dumbstruck. It was a long while before his eyes slowly widened.

“D-Demon king?!” He stared at Roan incredulously. “Are you mad? No, I-I-I don’t mean to look down on you, but you have only scored Fs in your practical lessons. Shouldn’t you give it more thought…”

Roan had Fs because the lowest score was F. If there was a G, there was no doubt that he would have gotten it.

“Hahahaha!” Roan laughed loudly to conceal his awkwardness and helplessness. He patted Egor’s slender shoulders and said, “Magic is just one of the many tools to achieve a goal. Don’t rely too much on it. I have other things up my sleeves too.”

“Other things?” Egor gulped as his slender body trembled.

“A secret.” Roan revealed a mysterious smile.

In truth, he still had no idea what he should do. He could only take a step at a time.

He couldn’t tell this fellow he planned to flee if things went awry on the surface. Anyway, he looked no different from a human other than his inhumanely dashing good looks.

But Egor took his words for real and looked at him with admiring eyes as if he was a hero.

His response was so satisfying that Roan couldn’t resist the urge to continue.

“How can a man live his life under the shadows of others? We should stick our chest out and live our worth! Only gutless cowards hide behind others!

“Cough! Of course, I don’t mean to say that you’re a gutless coward. What I mean is that if I don’t go to hell… Cough! I mean, if I don’t go to heaven, who’ll go to heaven? Not only will I go to heaven, but I’ll fiercely barge through its doors! Just wait till I become a Demon King. Hmph!”

‘I’ll make sure to buy a manor in the human’s Holy City!’

Pah! Pah! Pah!

Before Egor could gush over those words, an applause echoed from the canteen entrance.

“Hahaha! Well said!”

Roan looked past the table of goblins guzzling their food toward the entrance. The moment he saw the person who had just spoken up, he nearly slid off his chair.

Evan Krueger, a Half God-tier (X Tier) lich!

He was the principal of the Demon Capital’s Demon King Academy!

Roan’s face tensed up. He silently murmured Soul Guard’s incantation, fearing that the other party would see through his true thoughts.

Fortunately, the respected Principal Evan Krueger wouldn’t stoop so low as to cast Soul Siphon on a mere student.

Casting spells that were above tier-4 was forbidden in the Demon Capital, let alone directing them at humans protected by the Demon God.

That would have been equivalent to walking into a Chinese National Park and shooting a panda’s balls.

Looking at Roan’s solemn expression, Principal Evan nodded in approval. His eyes looked so benevolent as if he was looking at his child.

“Your courage is praiseworthy. The talents in hell have declined in the last five hundred years, and our Demon King Academy has become a mere playpen for scions to gild their name. How lamentable! Who could have thought the bravest one would be a human? It’s not to say that humans are unworthy; all worshipers of the Demon Gods are equal.”

‘Looks like even Half-Gods aren’t free from politics,’ Roan thought bitterly. ‘That’s all the so-called power amounts to.’

He put on his most honest look and replied, “Principal, you are flattering me! As you have said, all worshipers of the Demon God are equal. I might be a mere Bronze-tier, but I’d like to offer my measly strength to His Majesty Demon God!”

Those words seemed to contradict his earlier words, but that was not the case.

The Demon God encouraged the ambitious. He even once famously said ‘Demon kings who don’t aspire to become the Demon God aren’t good demon kings’.

There was nothing bad about quoting those words once in a while, but only the foolish would truly attempt that.

Principal Evan looked at the human lad with approving eyes. He was getting more and more fond of the latter.

He was once a human too, and he had only been an ordinary necromancer till he was eighteen. Of course, he had already reached Gold-tier, three tiers above Bronze-tier, but that was not the main point!

The main point was that he had the conviction of the strong!

In contrast, the incubus sitting opposite him might be at Silver-tier, but he kept weeping like a little child. It was too much even for an incubus!

The incubuses from a thousand years ago weren’t like that!

Back then, incubuses had eight pecs and wielded the power to destroy human knights with bare hands. Even furiataurs feared them!

But now?

All they had left was their ability to seduce!

Principal Evan couldn’t see any ambition to become strong from Egor.

Even if the demons who had sent out letters today found good jobs and lived plentiful lives from now on, he, as their teacher, would still look down on them from the bottom of his phylactery!

‘These weaklings! How disappointing!’

Principal Evan smacked his cane on the ground in irritation. He turned to Roan and said, “I’ll remember you, young lad. Come to my office after you’re done with your meal. I want to hand something to you. Think of it as a… gift.”

After speaking his piece, the old lich cloaked in a gray robe drifted away.

Egor stared at Roan with reverent eyes. The latter was practically his idol by this point.

Roan, on the other hand, couldn’t lift his spirits. Instead, he felt a headache settling in.

‘Ugh. Feels like I went overboard boasting…’

He just wanted to be a small fry Demon King living far from the Demon Capital and near the human cities, able to flee at the slightest hint of danger. He wasn’t an undead but an unskilled necromancer anyway, so it was not as if he could pose any threat to humans.

If the surface religions were fine with it, he wouldn’t mind changing his faith either.

‘Let’s hope trouble doesn’t come knocking,’ Roan prayed earnestly to the Demon God.

…

After dinner, Roan worriedly made his way to the Professor’s Tower. He rejected Professor Lilith’s offer for a remedial lesson and headed straight for the principal’s office at the tower spire.

He knocked on the door and entered.

The old lich was standing by the window, smoking on a crooked pipe. A trail of smoke rose into the air like crushed souls.

‘There might just be crushed souls inside his pipe.’

Looking at the old entity worrying about hell’s future, Roan bucked up his courage and respectfully spoke up, “Principal Evan, I have come.”

“Come here, child,” Principal Evan amicably called him over without turning around.

Roan obediently went up to him.

“I’m glad you remember our promise.” The old lich extinguished his pipe and stuffed it into his gray robe. Still looking out of the window, he asked, “Tell me, what do you see?”

Not knowing what the old lich was getting at, Roan replied probingly, “…The Demon King Academy?”

“What else?”

“The West Tower’s canteen… Ah, I mean the Demon Capital.”

“Set your eyes further. Can’t you see? The ashen ceiling that’s a poor replica of moonlight, and the lava that spurts nonstop from day to night… Demon God above, this is hell! This is the place we have endured for a thousand years!” the old lich exclaimed in indignation.

‘Who would have known?’ Roan scoffed, but he knew better than to argue here.

“I see it… but as someone reaping off others’ fruits of labor, I have no right to say those words.”

To be life, life here wasn’t too bad. Lava might spurt all day long, but the fact that he was still alive spoke volumes. However, the old monsters from another era might have a different take.

Principal Evan nodded in approval. He looked outside the window and gazed upon the city that looked wealthy yet impoverished.

With a wistful voice, he murmured, “We have been underground for so long that our children think… we were born here.”

‘Is that not the case?’ Roan wondered.

“It wasn’t like that a long time ago. In the distant First Epoch, we were no different from the surface dwellers. We, too, lived on the vast surface. We had our kingdoms, and we worshiped our own gods…

“The undead are averse to light, and demons are fond of the night, so we would dwell in caves or shadowy valleys.”

“…”

‘So how are things different from now?!’ Roan retorted speechlessly.

The old lich, immersed in his old memories, spoke with nostalgia, “…Now that I think about it, it has already been a thousand years.”

A thousand years ago, the Netherworld God Hagen died. This gave a chance for the Ors Empire, who worshiped Saint Sisto, to move in and unify humankind.

Since then, the Netherworld God’s old subjects were forced to migrate underground to survive, and that place eventually became known as hell.

Following that was the Second Epoch.

In the earlier years of the Second Epoch, the First Demon God Odiss took over the fallen Netherworld God and became the ruler of the undead and the demons, thus unifying hell.

But Odiss’ strength was limited.

The underworld suffered a few internal conflicts in the meantime, and Odiss himself unfortunately died in one of them.

The current Demon God Bayeris was the third generation.

Bayeris’ rule was the longest of the three Demon Gods, going at five hundred years to date.

The underground dwellers’ living conditions had greatly improved under Bayeris’ rule, such that even lower demons could fill their stomachs now, but their military might was declining with each passing year.

Principal Evan watched in frustration as hell declined with each passing day.

Five hundred years ago, one had to be well-connected to become a demon king! Only useless trash who remained at Bronze-tier despite being on the verge of reaching twenty would work in Ministry of Internal Affairs.

But now, everyone was trying everything to get into Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The younger generation had forgotten the prosperous world their people had once lived in; their eyes were only on what was directly ahead of them.

Compared to the abundance of the surface world, the underworld was a flea’s leg!

That was why Principal Evan was heartened to see a young student who shared his ambition, and he decided to give him a little push.

As an old lich who had lived a thousand years, he had amassed tremendous wealth and influence. A student of his happened to have become a powerful official in hell’s Inner Circle.

Unlike the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Truth, the Inner Circle was power in hell was centered. It was a place closer to the Demon God than the Demon God Church. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to claim that it was the equivalent of a celestial court.

“I wrote a recommendation letter to His Majesty Demon God’s Inner Circle. Your name is in it.”

Roan was astonished.

‘Good lord! He circumvented the Ministry of Internal Affairs and went straight for the Demon God’s Inner Circle?!’

But instead of celebrating the good news right away, he vigilantly asked, “I’m grateful for the high opinion you have of me… So that I can be prepared for what is to come, can you tell me the content of the letter?”

Principal Evan revealed a bright smile. He was delighted by Roan’s composure.

“Demon King Lej Dragul’s domain has just fallen. He’s a Diamond-tier furiataur and a duke… You should have heard of the Draculs if you’re well-versed in the circle of nobility.

“You wouldn’t have been qualified to work for the Draculs, but that fellow screwed up big time. Lej’s domain core was destroyed, and he even lost his life. Not even the Draculs, known for their ability to spread dread on the surface, dare to touch this scalding lavastone…

“While this might be a scalding lavastone for others, it’s an opportunity for an amateur like you.”

Roan’s heart skipped a beat.

‘W-wait! A Diamond-tier furiataur?!’

He might not know Lej Dracul, but he knew Professor Enos, who could intimidate a person into peeing their pants with just a glance. He had no doubt that a furiataur at that level could squish him firmly into the ground with their pinky!

Similarly, he also couldn’t imagine how powerful the human heroes had to be to vanquish a monster of that tier.

“It might not be appropriate to entrust such an important domain to a newbie like me…” Roan carefully construed his words as beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

But Principal Evan magnanimously waved his hand as if saying ‘There’s no need to thank me when you make it big in the future’.

“Inappropriate? All worshipers are equal before the Demon God! The situation on the frontlines has been getting increasingly urgent, but everyone is busy shirking responsibility. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has been struggling to find someone to take over. You are secured for the position with my recommendation letter, so put your heart at ease!”

‘That’s totally not what I’m worried about!!!’

Seeing Roan’s ‘vigilant’ expression, Principal Evan nodded like he understood his feelings and patted his shoulder with a smile.

“I know what you’re worried about, but there’s no need to be. Your predecessor got done in because he was a pretentious smart-ass. He went on the offense, wanting to prove himself to His Majesty, but he suffered a defeat as a result. But you are a smart one. I trust you to do the right things at the right time instead of being blinded by your pride.”

“You… are right,” Roan squeezed out a smile that looked not much more radiant than the lava.

The letter had already been sent. Struggling was futile at this point, and it could instead cost him the goodwill of the powerhouse before him.

This was the only thick thigh he could clutch onto now.

“May I know where the demon king domain is located? I’d like to look up on the area so that I can make preparations.”

“Haha! I’d expect no less from a student who scored full marks in his papers! I knew you’d need those, so I prepared them on your behalf.”

Principal Evan turned around and pointed at the stack of books on his table.

“The demon king domain you’ll be taking over is located on the borders of Lyon Kingdom, in the fief of Lyon Kingdom’s Duke Campelle.

“There’s a free city nearby with a populace of a million… but don’t worry too much about them. Those people are small fry. Their interests aren’t aligned with their fief lord and clergymen, and sometimes, they might even sell their souls to us.

“Each demon king domain has its own strategic goal. The one you’ll be taking over is located behind the human world, far away from the frontlines. Your goal is not to invade the surface but to do everything you can to strengthen the demon king domain.”

That was good news for Roan. It meant that he didn’t have to dispatch skeleton soldiers every now and then to draw aggression.

In the worst-case scenario, he could seek refuge in the city and disappear amidst the crowd.

Roan’s nervousness finally alleviated a little.

Just then, his beloved Principal Evan handed him another huge gift.

“…Speaking of Duke Campelle, I suddenly remember a spoil of war I stole from the humans a long, long time ago. Give me a moment.”

Principal Evan smacked his forehead. He turned around and drifted into his meditation room. Five minutes later, he returned.

Roan looked at the necklace that the benevolent-looking old lich was handing him in confusion.

“This is?”

“The Isaac Dynasty preceded the Lyon Kingdom. This is the relic of their final king, ‘Incompetent King’ Isaac the Fourth.”

“…”

‘This relic doesn’t sound too useful just from the sound of it.”

Principal Evan, however, begged to differ.

“Just like you, he had no magic talent in his younger years, but he eventually attained power comparable to comparable to the gods. I obtained this relic of his from a Lyon knight. Judging from the energy it’s emitting, its creator must have at least been at Half God-tier.”

“Half God-tier?!” Roan was taken aback.

“That’s right.” Principal Evan nodded. “It could be beyond Half-God, but that’s the limit of my perception… The lingering energy is weak, but my instincts won’t be wrong. I have only felt the same aura from the three milords.”

‘The three milords… should be referring to the three generations of Demon Gods.’

Roan tightened his grip of the necklace, his heart pounding fast. But he was also bewildered as to why Principal Evan would hand this to him.

This gift was too valuable no matter how highly this esteemed lich regarded him!

“You’re wondering why I handed it to you?” Principal Evan smiled amicably.

“This necklace might have been created by a Half-God-tier expert, but its sheer power is nowhere near that level. It’s more like an antique. My interest in it stems from its owner, Isaac the Fourth… It’s rumored that he’s the only mortal who reached Half God-tier without relying on Saint Sisto’s power, and he did it alive.”

Unlike the undead, a human’s lifespan was only a short hundred years.

Principal Evan was curious to know how someone could attain power that intimidated even the gods in such a short time.

Rumors had it that Saint Sisto had personally issued a divine edict to make arrangements for the Ors Empire’s crusade against the Isaac Dynasty.

The pretext of the crusade was Isaac the Fourth’s blasphemy, but there was probably much more to it than that. After all, the entire Isaac Clan was massacred, signaling the end of their bloodline.

It was rare, even in the history of the Ors Continent, for someone to go this far.

“…Out of interest, I devoted twenty years to researching Isaac the Fourth’s relics and even devised elaborate measures to acquire his diary from the human nations.

“Unfortunately, the content of his diary was written in obscure cryptography, and just deciphering that took me a lot of time. Many things happened in between too, so I ended up tossing this to the corner of my meditation room.”

At this point, Principal Evan flashed a radiant smile as he took out two books from his robe and handed them to Roan.

“I believe it’s time to entrust this job to the young… I have high regards for your academic endeavors. Perhaps, you might be more suited to that than magic. You can spend your spare time looking into it. Even if you don’t make any progress, it’ll give you an insight into the surface human society and the Lyon Kingdom.”