024

About two hours after I started my training.

Yuria regained consciousness and slowly sat up.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Yuria said, wiping away the hardened blood.

Truthfully, I was about to carry the child to the infirmary as soon as she fainted, but Rozalin stopped me.

‘Her heart is still beating. Her holy power is circulating well, too. She'll wake up on her own, so you should worry about your own body, Teacher.’

As she said, Yuria’s condition was almost no different from before she fainted.

“That's why you're the more urgent one right now. Do you know what it means for that zombie bitch to collapse with a nosebleed? She's a bitch who was perfectly fine even after saving thousands of knights in near-death states.”

“BackthenIwastheSaintsomycurrentphysicalstateisdifficulttocomparelackingobjectivedatabutyourightnowGreatGeneral……”

“But your body, Teacher, is what pushes her divine power almost to its limit. That means it’s nearly a resurrection, or an abyss even deeper than that. Maybe every time you swing your sword, your soul gets dragged to the Demon Realm and back?”

Next to me, Yuria was saying something or other about her knowledge, but Rozalin paid no attention and just went on with her own words.

However, Rozalin's words were worth paying attention to.

“It might not be the Demon Realm, but it does seem like a serious problem.”

“Teacher, is your body cursed or something……”

Rozalin furrowed her fine eyebrows and was lost in thought.

It didn't seem like she was just saying it.

“A curse.”

“It's something demons do often. They set specific conditions, and if those conditions are broken, people die.”

“What in the world are demons?”

At my question, Yuria and Rozalin stared blankly at me.

Perhaps because the night had deepened, one side of the sky was growing dim.

“Come to think of it, you’ve never seen a demon, have you, Teacher?”

“First time hearing about them. All I know is what I've heard from legends or myths.”

Even before Rozalin's regression, people who spoke of a serious situation that would befall us had flocked here indiscriminately.

Because of that, I was forced to go along with various changes, but I couldn't just keep being dragged along without knowing anything.

Above all, don't these people consider me important?

“Avril said so. That after one year, the demons invaded. And they fought for nine years, and after ten years, humanity was destroyed. He said he didn't know what happened between those short sentences.”

That was right.

I did not understand him, and I did not understand them.

“I have to understand to be able to empathize and act.”

“It's such a terrible story, so I didn't want to tell you……”

“I'm curious about that myself. You talk about demons and the future and what not, but to me, you just look like a bunch of lunatics.”

Rozalin glanced around cautiously.

I looked to the west.

The sun had completely set, and nocturnal birds were flying in from far away.

The night could not be stopped just because someone tried to block it.

“You said it's going to happen anyway.”

“Demons are beings who have crossed over from the abyss.”

Yuria slowly opened her mouth.

For some reason, it felt like the story would be a long one, and the surroundings seemed to grow dark, so we moved to a classroom.

“Honestly, humanity doesn't really know where they came from, or how. All we know are their habits, forms, and purpose.”

As soon as we arrived at the lecture hall, I used a firesteel to light the lamp.

A soft orange light danced, scattering the darkness.

“They try to take everything from humanity.”

“Everything?”

“Energy, emotions, culture, history, life…… everything.”

“That’s too abstract.”

“It’s because each and every one of them is different.”

With a clatter, Rozalin pulled out a chair and sat down.

Leaning back, she balanced on the chair’s rear legs, rocking her body back and forth.

It seemed like a protest, that she didn't feel like explaining.

“Each individual had a different appearance, ability, and purpose. There was a pretty-looking one whose purpose was to rape all human men, and there were cases where small, bug-like ones swarmed together and ate away at the books in libraries.”

“The most threatening individual identified was the World Eater. The one who eats the world.”

“The world……?”

“A mountain in the northern part of the Empire suddenly opened up. Teeth came out of it, and it just came munching and crunching on the Empire. And it ate so meticulously, its about fifteen rows of teeth ground like gears, tearing everything apart.”

…….

I couldn't quite comprehend Rozalin's nonchalant explanation.

A mountain in the northern part of the Empire, what?

Even the flame of the lamp seemed to move with bated breath.

“If it weren't for that bastard, we probably would have lived for about another half a year, don't you think? It completely annihilated what little of humanity was left.”

“Another threatening individual identified was Nightend. The one who ends the night.”

“The night, you mean that’s……”

“Ah, that flaming chicken! There's this weird bird-brain. It’s a thing with thirteen wings and seven tails, its whole body is on fire, and it flies about 1km up in the sky. Thanks to it, the nights were hot and bright. Every single day was a tropical night, my eyes were blinded, I couldn't sleep, you know?”

They were enemies beyond imagination.

They fought against enemies like that? Humans?

When I discreetly turned my head, Sordian, too, had a shocked expression.

So I asked.

“How in the world did you fight?”

“Eh. We just threw ourselves at them, of course.”

Rozalin laughed as if it were obvious.

“People just fought recklessly until they could kill them. We organized the demons' systems, shared their weaknesses, tried every possible method……”

“Humanity shaved away the lifespan of its species to build up records.”

Having never experienced that era, I couldn't say a word.

I tried to vaguely imagine it.

If I, my students, the people of the nearby villages were to face such a situation.

How many would be able to survive?

How much pain would they be in, how would they scream, how would they fall into despair…….

Clap!

What cut off my train of thought was the sound of Rozalin's clapping.

Before I knew it, her clear eyes were filling my vision.

Reflected in her eyes was me with a frightened expression.

The mirror reflecting my image tilted, drawing a gentle curve.

“Teach. If you worry too much about the abyss, you'll fall into it and go crazy. So you have to be careful.”

“……I'll be careful.”

“I told you not to worry. I said the veterans who fought the demons for 10 years are back, didn't I? We're preparing in our own way right now, you know?”

“Can we win?”

“Aww, Teacher. Why worry about something like that.”

Rozalin, who had shot up from her seat, patted my shoulder with a loud thud.

“It's not about whether we can win; we won every time except for the very last one.”

The people who survived until the very end, leaving countless deaths behind them.

“This time, we'll win even more overwhelmingly. That's why you have to be alive, Teacher.”

“Are you making other preparations too?”

“Of course.”

Rozalin strode over and stepped onto the teacher's platform.

She picked up a piece of chalk and began sketching a map.

A surprisingly elaborate drawing of a map appeared on the chalkboard.

It was so detailed that Sordian, who saw the map, flinched in surprise.

“Damn it, Guard Captain, this is a world map. And this scale is……”

“Is it real? You bet. I told you. I'm saying I was the Great General of this humanity. You think I'd be some idiot who can't even draw a world map?”

“Damn it, do you know that if this gets out of this classroom, it's an immediate violation of the Imperial Security Act?”

“Security, my ass! By the time they catch and punish me, the demons will already be appearing, so who cares!”

With a grin, Rozalin began to add drawings to several points with the chalk.

In the northern mountains, the World Eater.

From the east, Nightend appeared.

Besides them, the names and appearance locations of countless great demons were filled in.

The number was well over 70.

“Half of them, here—this much……”

From the north to the east, the spaces the Empire had designated as barbarian lands were encircled into one.

“The Wolf King will, ta-da, take care of them.”

“The Wolf King?”

“There is. A lunatic. In fact, he's a guy we have to be as careful of as the demons.”

A person they had to be as careful of as the demons would take care of all the demons?

When I seemed not to understand, Rozalin thought for a moment, then her eyes sparkled.

“Teacher, you thought we who came back from the future were all crazy, didn't you?”

……Ahem.

“He's crazier than all of us combined.”

I was convinced in an instant.

So he was really a strange person.

Seeing that I seemed to understand, Rozalin tapped the chalkboard with a satisfied expression.

“And the demons that will appear here, in the Belmein Kingdom, are like this.”

“So ten of them.”

And one of those ten would appear right here, at Akarind Academy.

“The demon that appeared at Akarind Academy was the third demon to appear in this world. Three months into the Demon Realm's invasion. Before that, a demon appeared about once a month.”

And she said that I would die to that demon.

“Well, not just you, Teacher, a lot of people die. The time when we were preparing and bracing for the demons is worlds apart from when we weren't. About twenty thousand people died in a week then?”

Twenty thousand meant that several territories were completely devastated.

The current number of students at Akarind Academy was about 450, including the advanced class.

Even including the instructors and related personnel, it didn't exceed 500.

The population of the territory and surrounding villages was about four thousand, which meant that four villages of this size had completely disappeared.

“So we're going to stop that first.”

“Did you say the first invasion is a year from now?”

“The scholars at the Royal Academy of Scholars are perverts. They love recording this stuff. That's why records of the first demon invasion are overflowing.”

The place Rozalin pointed to was a forest not far from here.

“Dipesti Forest. A year from now, a mutant monster will appear here for the first time. It's called a Cyclops, a monster with one eye, its skin is bright blue, and it’s pretty big. About…… 5m?”

“At that size, we should use mages or siege weapons to deal with it……”

“Its individual name is Giant-Block. Ranged attacks and magic were ineffective against that monster. Because of that, the twelve mages from the Magic Tower who were dispatched were eaten, and the one thousand five hundred soldiers of Viscount Dipesti who led the siege weapons were hunted down.”

It was a horrific outcome just to hear about.

But.

“That's why we can handle it easily. And only we can handle it.”

Rozalin smiled playfully.

“That's why the role you have to play is big, Teacher. You get what I mean, right? Teach us, refine our swordsmanship, and quickly make us into talents like Pan. So we can go wham-wham, catch monsters, and save this world!”

“But if they're that kind of enemy, if we mobilize the Knight Orders or something……”

Rozalin wagged her finger.

“No can do. It'll get taken.”

“Taken?”

“Demons aren't all bad. These guys, they have many uses. Well, it's better to show you this in person later. Anyway, you have an assignment, Teacher. You are to train the students and the guys I brought with me rigorously so they can fight a giant a year from now!”

Yuria also nodded her head as if in agreement.

It seemed that whatever came from the demons was something truly important.

“Then I can't just end my duel with Gwen half-heartedly……”

“Can't you just talk to Avril and get her kicked out? How arrogant, the future of humanity is at stake and she's just acting on petty jealousy……”

“She’s the Chairman’s daughter.”

At my words, Rozalin froze.

“Huh?”

“Gwen, she's the Chairman's daughter.”

The reason Gwen was baring her claws and growling at me was simple.

After the Chairman retired, she was supposed to be the one to control this school, but people who suddenly came from the outside began to run the school as they pleased.

As someone who originally thought everything should revolve around her, she must not have liked it.

“So for the image of Akarind Academy and its future education, I definitely have to face her at least once.”

In other words, if I could persuade and convince Gwen, the other people inside the academy would also reluctantly follow.

What could they do if the Chairman and the Chairman's daughter both agreed?

“I've got a grasp of the swordsmanship's fundamentals, so I'll figure it out.”

“How naive.”

Sordian snorted.

“Did you say you were going to persuade and convince the Class B instructor with that trash swordsmanship of yours?”

“You think I can't?”

“This is advice from someone who's also been an instructor, however briefly.”

A clear sneer was on his face.

“If you go out and fight with that kind of trash swordsmanship, you'll just piss her off. I'd bet on it.”

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