"That's right. Now we can develop peacefully by this lake for a while."

Shami squatted by the shore, nodding in satisfaction.

"Just now was the first time the Fishman Race and the Demon King fought side by side. Let the future Fishman historians remember this moment well."

As Shami was talking to the little red fish, four girls wearing Saint Karno School uniforms had already arrived by the lake, standing behind Shami, leaning forward, and looking curiously.

"Shami, did you drop something into the lake? Remember to say it was the original item, then you can get gold and silver ones."

The Elf Maiden warmly reminded.

"What kind of fairy tale is that?"

Shami realized there were now four girls beside him, severed his connection with the little red fish, letting it survive in the water on its own, and stood up.

The five had parted ways at the school gate in the morning and only met again now.

Joining the four girls, Shami asked concernedly about their first day at school.

"How's campus life?"

This question seemed to hit a sore spot for the four girls, as their little faces darkened, except for the Magical Girl.

The Elf Maiden recalled some unpleasant memories and quickly checked behind her once more.

"We should have lost them, right? In the city, we already made sure to shake off those guys from the Assassin Academy who were tailing us..."

"Why were we tracked by the Assassin Academy on the first day, Lureya?!"

The white-haired girl swallowed nervously.

"Shami, can you handle the medical expenses for over 300 people?"

"What did you do?!"

Shami's gaze immediately shifted from the flat-haired blonde to the white-haired girl.

The white-haired girl was still tense.

"Maybe we don't need to... The teacher said injuries are understandable since it's a spar, but it's the first time seeing so many people injured..."

The Dragon Race Maiden also appeared to be barely hanging on.

"School isn't fun at all..."

"You all look exhausted, even though it's only the first day of school!"

Shami frowned and looked over, noticing the exhausted expressions on the faces of the three girls, aside from the Magical Girl whose expression was slightly more normal.

Seeing the four's poor condition, Shami decided not to press for answers in public.

School-related troubles could only be freely discussed in private between two people.

It seemed he would need to find time to counsel each of the four girls privately.

Shami led the four girls into the woods.

The reason he gathered the four girls this time, aside from learning about their school experience, was even more importantly to deal with the unfinished business left after defeating Bichu'er.

After dealing with Bichu'er, 99% of the aftermath had been tidied up, with only one thing left unaddressed——

The treasure chest found in Bichui Cave.

Shami took out the old treasure chest, which had been emitting a foul smell when it was picked up from the trash pile, but after a self-cleaning enchantment by the flat-haired blonde, the exterior had been cleaned.

It was a generally dark black treasure chest with decorative carvings; it looked pretty good overall.

In the one or two weeks following the defeat of Bichu'er, Shami had been studying how to open this treasure chest.

He believed that this chest, hidden deep in the cave by Bichu'er, must contain a lot of treasure.

But Shami had never found a way to open it, and later forgot about it due to the Magical Girl's matters, leaving it set aside in the Demon King Ring.

Now, Shami planned to gather ideas from everyone. Since he had no clue about unlocking the treasure chest, he might as well let his Demon Envoy girls give it a try.

"Since school is so tiring, let's relax and play some exhilarating games."

Upon hearing "games," the white-haired girl's first instinct was to look for a waterfall curtain.

"If there's no waterfall curtain, then let's go to the tree hole!"

The others couldn't follow the white-haired girl's train of thought.

"Why is Lina so obsessed with waterfall curtains?"

"The most exhilarating thing is opening a treasure chest, of course."

Shami placed the treasure chest in the center of the group.

"This is the chest we got from Bichu'er. Now, each of you has a chance to try opening it."

"In other words, Shami can't open it himself!"

The Elf Maiden, seeing through everything, glanced over.

Shami remained silent.

The treasure chest opening segment began.

The white-haired girl seemed slightly disappointed.

Compared to opening a chest, she felt that "full-body mouth massage" was indeed more thrilling.

However, since it was Shami's request, she still pondered over it.

"If it's a treasure chest, shouldn't it be possible to chop it open with a sword? If it faces a huge threat, it might open automatically."

"Lina's suggestion will be the last resort."

Shami's impassive voice followed immediately.

Considering the possibility of traps that would destroy the contents inside if opened forcibly, they didn't want to waste all the previous time and effort.

"A chest that opens automatically when detecting an enemy loses the meaning of a treasure chest."

The Magical Girl piped in.

"This seems to be a password-protected treasure chest."

The Elf Maiden took a closer look at the treasure chest; it had something resembling a combination lock on the front. After studying it for a bit, she looked towards the purple-haired girl beside her.

"Let's have Elze try; she's from the Wisdom Academy, so she must have some knowledge on unlocking things."

"Why are you so naturally looking at me?! I just started my first day! Is this your suggestion, Lureya?!"

The purple-haired girl stepped forward, examined the chest closely, then looked seriously at the Magical Girl.

"Since this is a treasure chest, maybe Saili has some relevant magic that could help?"

"It's turned into a game of hot potato with you three!"

Shami looked at the Magical Girl.

The Magical Girl slowly crossed her arms and pondered.

"Does anyone have anything left behind by Bichu'er? Preferably hair. I can study Resurrection Magic and just ask him."

The girls shook their heads.

"This feels like a massive project."

Despite gathering ideas from everyone, they received nothing feasible. Looking at the treasure chest, Shami decided to default to the initial method he had never tried—taking out an axe.

"My suggestion was accepted!"

The white-haired girl cheered, raising both hands.

Everyone watched eagerly.

As both hands lifted the axe over his head in readiness to chop the treasure chest open, it suddenly moved with a clamor and opened automatically.

The inside of the chest was dark, seemingly covered by a curtain, and suddenly, a pair of eyes appeared in the darkness.

At the same time, a voice emanated from the chest.

"Wait a minute! Everyone! I'm opening automatically! Don't harm an innocent Treasure Chest Monster! Treasure Chest Monsters have actually cooperated with the Demon Race before!"

"The chest spoke!" ×4

Shami, surprised, lowered the axe and looked at the treasure chest in front of him.

"What exactly are you? Why can a chest talk?"

The chest faced Shami, and he surmised this was its "face."

"Ah, because I'm a Treasure Chest Monster. Have you heard of Treasure Chest Monsters?"

Shami frowned.

He had clearly used detection magic on the chest earlier, which showed it as just a normal treasure chest.

"Why did I get the information that you're a regular treasure chest?"

The voice of the Treasure Chest Monster seemed a bit smug.

"That's because the Treasure Chest Monster tribe possesses a unique ability to even deceive the Demon King's Detection. Treasure Chest Monsters typically have two states. In the regular state, they are indistinguishable from an ordinary chest. It's only in the Treasure Chest Monster state that there's a life force fluctuation. This is our ultimate trick to lure in adventurers and catch them off guard for a counterattack!"

Shami touched the chest in front of him.

[Species: Treasure Chest Monster]

[Current State: Alive]

Shami trusted the words of the Treasure Chest Monster in front of him.

[The Treasure Chest Monster can freely switch between two states: monster and chest. Only in the monster state can relevant information be obtained.]

It seems the Demon King's Detection isn't always foolproof.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.