Somewhere along the way, his polite way of speaking had disappeared completely and he had started to speak like a dictator or a tyrant. Akuto was waving his hands around emphatically, and his hair had become disheveled as he gave his impassioned speech. Among the listening students, it seemed that some had been entranced by what he was saying. But the moment there was a break in Akuto’s words, they would shake their heads and slap their cheeks in a panic, trying return to their senses.
However, Akuto’s speech left a strong impact on the students’ minds. They interpreted his words to mean that, though they were unsure whether or not he would become the Demon King, he would certainly propagate his way of thinking by focusing on challenging the discipline and order of the Academy. Of course, Akuto himself realized that this was exactly what he’d ended up saying.
—Will I be able to get through school like this...? Well, if I let this shake me up, things will just get even worse.
“That is all that I have to say. Please forgive me for causing such a disturbance. Let’s enjoy our meal,” Akuto said, trying his best to sound as subdued as possible. But his attempt only made him give off the image of an evil, wealthy aristocrat.
“I can’t believe a transfer student would speak like that, let alone a first-year...”
“So he’s not just a normal guy after all...”
“What are we going to do? It looks like he is going to divide the school and fight over it...”
“There can’t actually be anyone who would side with him, right? No way...”
“You never know, if he does have a talent for magic, maybe...”
The commotion in the cafeteria showed no sign of quieting down. As the center of attention, all Akuto could do was anxiously try to focus on sitting upright and eating his food properly. Indeed, by the end of the ordeal, he had no memories of what he had eaten or even what it had tasted like.
○
The next morning.
Akuto couldn’t sleep for almost the entire night. Breakfast was strangely quiet, which put him on edge. He finished the awkward meal and then made his way towards his homeroom class before the opening ceremony. Akuto arrived at the classroom five minutes early, but as he opened the door and went inside, he was met with the inquisitive gazes of the female students.
—That’s right, the girls...
Naturally, the rumors had spread to the female students. It was possible that Akuto’s broadcast had been audible in the girls’ dorm as well. In fact that must have been the case, as the girls seemed to immediately recognize Akuto’s face.
—I have to calmly smile back at them...
“Good morning,” Akuto said.
There was a brief uproar of responses, some voices sounding flirtatious and some disgusted. It seemed that there was an even split of girls who were impressed by him and girls who hated him.
But Akuto’s eyes were glued to a single female student in the classroom. A conspicuously beautiful young girl with glossy hair and almond-shaped eyes — it was Junko. At this point, Akuto remembered which class he had been assigned to.
—This is Class A... I forgot about my promise to get in touch with her yesterday...
Junko seemed to be intentionally trying to avoid meeting Akuto’s gaze. Since none of the other students were asking Junko about him, it would appear that she had kept her bond with Akuto a secret.
—I’m screwed...
In order not to cause any trouble for Junko, all Akuto could do was pretend he didn’t know her. Without meeting anyone’s gaze, Akuto sat down at the desk that had been set aside for him, the one in the very back of the classroom. Then the door at the front of the classroom opened and Miss Mitsuko walked inside.
“Okay, everyone sit down. I’m Mitsuko Torii, I’ll be your homeroom teacher for this year, too. Nice to meet you all. Although, for the most part this is the same class from the middle school, isn’t it? I’ll run through attendance. Absences are... Oh, looks like Soga is absent again, as usual. I wonder if she’s off sleeping somewhere. Can someone give her a call?” Speaking in a half-hearted tone, Miss Mitsuko closed the roll book and looked towards Junko.
“With attendance over, normally I’d have you decide on a class representative. But since we mostly have the same students as before, it’s fine if we just ask Junko Hattori again, right?” Just as Miss Mitsuko was confirming with Junko, who was nodding her head in agreement, suddenly a voice interrupted them.
“Miss Mitsuko! Electing the class representative without a vote would invite autocracy into our academy, and would hinder progress!”
Akuto felt a bad sense of foreboding at the sound of the voice, as it sounded like it was copying Akuto’s own speech. When he looked towards the one who had spoken, his apprehensions proved to be correct. The boy who had called for the speaker the night before was sitting diagonally in front of Akuto. He was giving him a thumbs up with the same wild and unruly look as before.
“I nominate Akuto Sai to be our class representative! Everyone heard his speech, and I believe that he can prove to us that he won’t become the Demon King by becoming the class representative and helping everyone!” The class was immediately in an uproar.
“Okay, quiet everyone!” Miss Mitsuko clapped her hands.
Akuto unconsciously looked towards Junko. She averted her eyes, but for just a second, Akuto was able to get a peek at her expression. Rather than anger, her face looked like she had been unfathomably humiliated and was desperately trying to endure the shame.
—Suhara’s followers take pride in their official posts, and value loyalty above all else, after all...
Akuto panicked. He had already betrayed Junko on several levels. Even though she had been the first friend he’d ever made.
“Miss Mitsuko, is my own will not taken into consideration? I refuse the nomination,” Akuto said, raising his hand. “Instead... I would like to join the cleaning committee. If you have that here.”
Miss Mitsuko’s face had been carefree, but when Akuto said this, it suddenly stiffened.
The mood in the class completely changed as well. Up until then it had been a slightly unsettling atmosphere, but with Akuto’s remark it was as if the temperature had suddenly dropped below zero.
“Wait... Akuto...” Finally, Miss Mitsuko opened her mouth. “Do you know what you are saying?”
“What?” Akuto didn’t understand what was happening. He couldn’t even hazard a guess as to what had made the air in the classroom become so tense.
Then, as if just speaking the words itself was revolting, Miss Mitsuko informed Akuto,
“When a war with another country or demons occurs, and the secrets of the Academy need to be protected, the cleaning committee is entrusted with ‘cleaning up’ the secrets of the school... in other words, they destroy the school and murder all the students. This committee existed only during the war, and now it is a loathsome group that exists in name only. I can’t believe you’d say such an awful group’s name...”
—What the hell?!
Understandably, Akuto balked at his own bad luck. Although he didn’t know anything about the group the teacher mentioned, he had still ended up using the exact terminology to refer to it.
“No, no! I just wanted to become a committee member, nothing more...”
As he let these words out without thinking, the classroom froze over once again.
“No, I don’t mean like that—” Akuto tried to clarify, but it was already too late and his words didn’t reach anyone.
This was because at that moment, Junko let out a shout — closer to a shriek — and stood up from her desk.
“Akuto Sai! How dare you toy with my heart?!” She glared at him, hair disheveled and with a bloodcurdling expression.
Akuto thought it was natural for her to be angry, but...
—That’s a really awkward way to say it.
Still, Akuto managed to stay strangely calm. Even as the rest of the classroom looked back and forth between Akuto and Junko.
As he’d feared, they seemed to be misunderstanding the situation.
“I thought I said that if one of us breaks our vow, that betrayal would be paid back in blood!” Junko pulled a wooden sword out from the side of her desk.
—If you start talking about vows and stuff, then the rest of the class is definitely going to misunderstand what kind of relationship we have... If she would just cool off a minute and think about it, she’d realize this isn’t good for her either...
“Right, the vow... but it’s not as if it was a vow of marriage or anything like that, right? Although it was between a boy and girl, wasn’t what we did in the empty bus together nothing more than two friends having fun?” Akuto said.
Everyone in the class suddenly had looks of comprehension on their faces.
—Crap.
At that moment Akuto finally realized his mistake, but it was already too late.
Junko was so beside herself in rage that Akuto could imagine a bright red aura emanating from her body, and she pointed the end of her wooden sword at Akuto. The sword was a magic item — an artifact — the light radiating off of it was not Akuto’s imagination this time, but a torrent of mana.
“H-H-H-How humiliating! I challenge you to a duel! Right here, right now!”
Junko pulled out another wooden sword from a bag hanging on the side of the desk, which seemed to be filled with them. She pointed the hilt at Akuto and threw it to him. He instinctively caught the sword, but without knowing what he should do, all he managed was a look towards Miss Mitsuko.
“She’s a Suhara follower, right? They are allowed to challenge others to duels. It’s in the school regulations,” Miss Mitsuko said coldly. It appeared that Miss Mitsuko also thought of Akuto as an enemy of women everywhere.
“The winner can be the class representative!” the troublesome student behind Akuto’s seat declared, looking excited. He patted Akuto on the shoulder and gave him a look of respect as he whispered to him.
“Name’s Hiroshi Miwa. Please call me Hiroshi! And please let me call you boss! Boss! You’re amazing! My grades here are super low and they treat me like a delinquent, but your ideas totally resonated with me! It made me think that someday I might be able to make somethin’ outta myself!”
—Isn’t it his fault we’re in this situation right now?
Akuto thought, but he didn’t have the time to be distracted by Hiroshi.
“Hiyaaaahhh!!” With a shout, Junko suddenly launched an attack at Akuto.
“Whoa!” Akuto had been sitting, but he fell backwards in his chair and managed to dodge the attack. It seemed that his work as a delivery man had trained his body and reflexes in a way he hadn’t realized.
“Okay everyone, it’s dangerous so please step back.” Miss Mitsuko directed the class away from the duel and clapped her hands. Everyone except Junko and Akuto drew close to the walls of the classroom. Miss Mitsuko clapped her hands again, and a mana field enveloped Junko and Akuto. With her magic barrier, it seemed they would be able to fight to their hearts’ content without damaging the classroom.
—Now I’ve really been backed into a corner. I have to figure out a way to get out of this situation... All I can do is to try and calm Hattori down...
Akuto glanced at Junko’s face. Her eyes were burning bright red, and Akuto got the feeling she wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say.
“Hyaaaah!” She attacked a second time. Akuto jumped backwards to avoid the attack.
“Fight hard, boss!” From outside the mana field, Akuto could hear Hiroshi cheer him on.
Akuto was seriously fed up with him.
—How can I get Hattori to calm down...
But no matter how hard he tried, he could only think of one method.
—I guess this is all I can do.
“Gwaaaahhh!” The third attack. In a strange move, Akuto moved forward to square up with Junko’s attack.
Akuto stuck his head out in front of the wooden sword’s downward trajectory. At the moment when it looked like his head was going to be smashed, Akuto twisted his body, dodged the sword, and moved forward to slip under the hand guard on Junko’s sword.
“What?!” Her surprise caused the anger in her eyes to disappear.
The gazes of the rest of the class were glued to the action between Akuto and Junko.
An earthquake-like commotion erupted throughout the classroom.
Akuto had embraced Junko’s body from the front. With both of them being such a good-looking, matching pair, it looked like the embrace of two lovers, reunited after a long period of separation.
“Calm down...” Akuto whispered in Junko’s ear.
“Ah!”
Whether because she was ticklish, or just because it was the natural heart-thumping reaction any girl would have, Junko fell backwards as if her waist had gone limp. In order to prop her up, Akuto put a hand behind her back, and this pose made him look as if he was forcing her to kiss him.
“W-What are you... Let m—” Junko groaned.
“I won’t let go until this misunderstanding is cleared up,” Akuto said with a serious look on his face.
“What’s there to misunderstand... Everything up until now... And even now! What are you trying to do by embarrassing me like this? How humiliating!!”
“It’s all a misunderstanding. I’m not doing this on purpose to spite you, and I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“R-Really...?” Calming down a little bit, it seemed that Junko was ready to listen to Akuto’s words.
Akuto also felt slightly relieved, and gently spoke to Junko.
“That’s right. So please, let me re-swear our oath right here. I swore that oath to you because I truly liked you, and my feelings back then weren’t just superficial.”
However, the entire class clearly heard those words.
At this point, both Junko and Akuto finally became cognizant of the current position the two of them were in.
“Crazy... The Demon King sure is somethin’ else...”
“Junko’s known to be the strongest, straight-laced class representative, but he broke through her defenses... Not just that, but he made her fall for him...”
“Not even now, she had already fallen for him...” Everyone was whispering to each other.
In an instant, Junko’s face turned bright red.
“You’re only making it worse! How much more humiliation are you trying to put me through!” Junko yelled. After shaking her body to free herself from Akuto, she swung down at him with all of her strength. From his position, he couldn’t move away from the attack.
“Crap!”
Seeing that he wouldn’t be able to dodge, Akuto raised the sword held tightly in his hand. Even if he couldn’t avoid the attack, he could still block it. He braced himself for the impact and put all of his strength into the hand holding the sword.
And then...!
BANG!
A power that even Akuto himself couldn’t have imagined erupted from his right arm. There was a sensation of a burning mass of power flowing from his arm into the wooden sword.
—I have to stop!
Akuto thought instinctively, but it was impossible to stop the outpouring of power. The moment he thought the heat would be released from the sword, there was an explosion of light between Akuto and Junko.
The center of the classroom was filled with a pure white light. The blast easily broke through the mana field that Miss Mitsuko had put up, and spilled out into the classroom.
“Get down!” Miss Mitsuko shouted in surprise.
In the same moment, the roar of the explosion filled the classroom.
Miraculously, none of the students were injured. But the walls of the classroom had been blown apart on all sides. Akuto and Junko stood frozen and dumbfounded, in the middle of all the other students who were covered in ash and tile debris.
In the blink of an eye, this incident became known to the entire school. Based on this, the entire rest of the student body decided exactly what
they thought of Akuto.
2 - The Odd Observer
“Well, it wasn’t your fault. You were just counter-attacking after being challenged to a duel, that’s all,” said Miss Mitsuko to Akuto in the school infirmary.
“I didn’t actually counter-attack, though...”
“It’s just a formality. If we don’t put it like that, then you’ll be charged the cost for rebuilding the classroom. Hmm, but in truth, you don’t understand anything that happened, right?” Miss Mitsuko said, looking troubled.
Just as she said, Akuto had absolutely no idea what had happened. As he racked his brains with a perplexed expression, Miss Mitsuko continued.
“Mana fills the air, and you create effects by shaping that air. Energy is poured into the Earth from the power plant at the center of the imperial capital, and mana resonates with that energy. That’s why on the surface, mana appears to be energy... This is all common magic knowledge, correct?”
Akuto already knew that much.
“But there’s more that you don’t know about mana and energy. After all, that’s what you came to this academy to study. You see, mana can be stored inside the bodies of living things, and energy can be extracted from them. It’s pure calorie consumption, essentially. The amount of mana stored differs from person to person. The more mana in your body, the easier it is to produce a large effect, even if it’s based on the mana present in the atmosphere. A person’s will is conveyed from the electricity in their brain. That electricity manipulates the mana in a person’s body, and resounds with the mana outside their body. This is the composition of magic. This is also the reason people have different levels of magic ability. The true indicators of magical ability are a strong will that is capable of managing the electricity in the brain and the amount of mana stored in one’s body. This information isn’t kept secret, but most ordinary people go their whole lives without knowing this.”
“Then, that means I caused that explosion?”
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 1 Page 4