The Demon Prince goes to the Academy

Four students of Class A survived.

Ellen, Harriet, Kono Lint, and me.

After getting exposed to a great amount of fear and stress and using high-tier attack magic—somehow maintaining focus—Harriet almost immediately fell asleep, seeming as if she fainted.

I returned to the camp carrying the sleeping Harriet on my back. Then, after laying her down in one of the huts, I went to the campfire.

The fire was extinguished, but it was already dawn, the sky was getting brighter.

“…Isn’t the mission supposed to be over with this?”

We found out that the others weren’t actually humans but orcs, and we killed one. Kono Lint made the hopeful connection that the mission should be over.

“There might be one more left.”

“Tha-that’s…”

There were two targets. If the trail Class B followed also led to an orc, the correct answer would have been that there were two orcs.

“Then, do you mean we have to go out and hunt that other orc as well?”

“If Class B managed to kill that orc, the mission would be over.”

But there was the problem.

Class B didn’t have the ability to actually fight an orc.

So originally, they would just be chased around by the orc, getting eliminated one by one, leaving only Ludwig and Delphine, then Ellen would dramatically appear and block the orc.

In the original, Ellen had already hunted the other orc by herself, and she also killed the remaining one on her own as well. At that moment, seeing Ellen displaying her skills for the first time, Ludwig started growing… Because Ellen was right in front of me, that probably wouldn’t happen.

While Class B would self-destruct while trying to fight the orc, Ellen was sitting next to me, staring blankly into the sky.

What should I do?

I would have liked to help Charlotte, but for that, Ellen had to step in, not me. Although it seemed that she’d come along if I asked her. That was what she was like.

“H-huh… Wha-what is this?”

Suddenly all of our artifacts began to light up.

-Flash!

And, with a flash, we were all transported somewhere.

After the recall artifact suddenly triggered, we landed on the shores of a different island, similar to the one we were on before.

The only difference was that there were a lot of bungalows one could only find in a resort built near the beach.

“The special mission has been completed. As such, the group mission will now end.”

Standing in front of us were Mr. Epinhauser and Mr. Mustrang. Harriet seemed more surprised than us because she had been transported all of a sudden while she was asleep.

The sky gradually brightened.

* * *

“Class A had a total of four survivors and killed the orc. The student who killed it was A-5 Harriet de Saint-Owan.”

Mr. Epinhauser looked towards Class B.

“Class B had one survivor and killed the orc. The student who killed it was B-1 Charlotte de Gardias.”

Charlotte frowned as if she wasn’t happy with the result, crossing her arms.

There was only one survivor in Class B, and Charlotte was the one who killed the orc.

There were so many implications coming with that simple result that I couldn’t help but be a little dazed.

Since Charlotte wouldn’t have been able to hunt the orc using a weapon, she must have used her supernatural power. Although it was not known what kind of power Charlotte held, that confirmed that it could be said that it was strong enough for her to kill an orc on her own.

Originally, Ellen was supposed to kill both, but although the rest of Class B didn’t manage to kill one, there was the variable, Charlotte, who actually killed an orc.

“We will inform you of the overall results of the mission and who won at a later date. Go rest for now.”

After telling us to use the bungalow found at the back, Mr. Epinhauser walked away. Blunt as usual.

“You guys have been through a lot. Take a good rest today.”

Mr. Mustrang guided us to the bungalow, telling us to rest regardless of class.

The group mission was over.

[Quest completed.]

[You have earned 1000 achievement points.]

My strongest desire at that moment was to go to sleep, disregarding the points I earned.

* * *

The ones that got eliminated first had been summoned there as well by the recall magic and had to wait until the mission was over.

Although they had to wait, it was a place completely different from the wilderness we stayed in before; it was decorated like a resort.

The island was shaped like a crescent moon.

The bay-type beach was calm and perfect for swimming, and we were served proper food and fully equipped accommodations—completely different from the rough housings and food we’d eaten thus far.

After the mission was over, we had time to play in that place for the whole weekend.

Therefore, in a way, the ones who were eliminated first had it quite good.

I fell asleep as soon as I lay down and woke up around noon. Of course, they prepared a new set of clothes for me, so I changed out of all my clothes, from my underwear to my coat.

I could see Ludwig and the other guys from Class B playing on the beach. The only thing that was different before was that they were wearing proper swimwear.

“Hey, Reinhardt.”

“Hey.”

Bertus, dressed in comfortable clothes, looked at me and raised his hand. He held a cup filled with a lemon-flavored smoothie in his right hand. I, too, was lying on a sunbed, absentmindedly sipping at a fruit punch.

I didn’t really like sweets but sometimes I craved them—especially after going through something like that. I was replenishing calories.

I just completely spaced out because something cool went down my throat while I was that mentally exhausted.

The way Bertus looked seemed like a wealthy, handsome young master.

He collapsed on the sunbed next to me and burst into laughter.

“If I knew things would end up like this after giving up, I would have done that sooner.”

“That’s right.”

It seemed that Bertus found it rather ridiculous that the ones who got eliminated the earliest got to live the high life while he was working his butt off. Of course, those who had survived the longest would get a higher individual score, so if one cared about their grades, it would be the best to survive until the very end.

He sighed as he laid down on the sunbed next to me.

“It’s like heaven because we are now supported by our environment.”

When I thought of the place as an uninhabited island, I was so sick of it and wanted to leave as soon as possible, but now that the place was properly equipped with the required facilities, I could finally enjoy the scenery; it was an outrageously beautiful place.

“But I sure hope I won’t have to do anything similar to this in the future.”

“I wholeheartedly agree.”

It felt even more terrible because I had to experience all the dog shit I wrote myself. How could I have made kids go through an episode of Law of the Jungle? It was even more amazing how I managed to sleep peacefully after doing that.

Anyway, the group mission ended on Thursday morning, earlier than the originally scheduled Friday evening. We could spend our weekend and the remaining time at that jewel-like beach.

In other words, that was the start of our real trip. Bertus got up from the sunbed, looked down at me, and laughed.

“Anyway, you did a great job, Reinhardt. Tell Ellen and Saint-Owan the same. It seems that both of them are sleeping.”

“Okay. You suffered a lot as well.”

Ever since I took the initiative and told him that we had to do something, Bertus led the kids. It was true that he had to suffer through a lot—he even had to face an orc on his own.

I made eye contact with Liana, who was lying calmly in the sunbed to my other side, sipping on her drink.

“You went through a lot as well.”

Liana nodded her head to my rough praise while lying.

“You too.”

What was that?

Was it a stretch to think that the group mission created some form of camaraderie among the Class A students?

That reminded me again that if we were to go through school together, there was a possibility that a unique bond might form between us.

* * *

* * *

As the day advanced past noon, the dead asleep people also started to wake up.

“Urg… My whole body is aching. I think I’m going to die.”

“A-are you okay?”

“No… What about you, Adelia?”

“I-I just… After I got taken, I just ended up here… I was scared and surprised, but I wasn’t hurt.”

“That’s a relief… Let’s go eat something.”

“Yeah. There’s a restaurant over there.”

“I’m finally getting something proper to eat…”

Harriet came out with an empty expression on her face and then headed towards the restaurant together with Adelia; it seemed like she was physically as well as mentally exhausted because of the spell she cast in the jungle in the middle of the night.

When she walked past me to get to the restaurant, Harriet met my eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yeah.”

She avoided my gaze for some reason.

After reaching a safe environment, she might have recalled many things, like how she hugged me and cried while whining to me.

It seemed like she came to her senses after she entered a safe zone and remembered how she relied on me when she had a mental breakdown.

Wha-what have I done? Just what did I say? I must have gone crazy! That just had to be it!

It seemed like that was what she was thinking.

She’d probably be that way for a while.

-Reinhardt, won’t you come swimming as well?

In the distance, I could see Ludwig, who was playing with the other boys up until then, beckoning me to come over. Since the mission was over, these guys were frolicking about just because.

“I’m sick and tired of swimming, you bastard!”

-Is that so? Then there’s nothing we can do about that!

Were those guys actually crazy? How could they keep on playing like that?

-Puhak!

And I could see a girl in a swimsuit splashing around in the sea outside the bay far off in the distance.

That girl.

Ellen shook her head for a while and eventually returned with some lobsters skewered on a javelin. She trotted over to me in her swimsuit and pointed the spear—and the large lobster—towards me.

“Let’s eat this.”

“…Again?”

It was a little surprising that she asked to eat together with me.

Did she really want to eat that again?

* * *

The restaurant.

The children ate different types of food and a lot of them; only Ellen went ahead and caught another lobster for herself.

She only wore one of her training suit jackets over her swimsuit. In fact, there were quite a lot of students only wearing their swimsuits to eat.

“…Do you really want to eat that again?”

“I want to eat it properly cooked.”

That girl seemed to wonder what the giant lobster would taste like if it were properly cooked, so that was why she handed the lobster over to the restaurant staff at the time.

All the staff there were people who worked at Temple. So if the chef of that place was the same person that made our dinners, then they were definitely skilled.

Of course, Ellen didn’t want to only eat lobster. She already stuffed fried rice, sausages, and pasta into her mouth. She ate even more than usual because she couldn’t properly fill her stomach for the last few days.

Soon, lobster grilled in garlic butter with gratin on the side got brought to our table.

When I tried that properly cooked version, it tasted even better.

It was only natural that the eyes of the students who were stuffing themselves with various dishes in the restaurant crowded over to us because of the delicious fragrance.

However, there was only a single lobster dish as Ellen hunted it herself.

“You can eat some.”

When I said that, Harriet, Liana, Adelia, and Bertus came over and tasted some of it.

“It’s okay.”

“I might be sick and tired of this, but it certainly is still very delicious.”

Everyone said that the cooked version of the lobster was even more delicious.

“I do like it, but I think the one we had on the first day was a lot better…”

Harriet seemed to remember the lobster she ate on the first day to have tasted even more delicious because she didn’t expect it to taste good. It was a psychological thing. Seeming as if she really hated remembering that time, her face turned really red.

Those factors couldn’t be ignored either.

The guys from Class B also came closer and asked Ellen if they could eat some of it. They even took turns tasting a bite.

“Did you learn how to share your food now?”

“I can just catch more.”

“Oh, is that so?”

It was a rather simple way of thinking. If there wasn’t enough, she could just catch more.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to eat lobster for a while, but when I put it in my mouth, it was so delicious that I ate quite a bit of it.

Then I remembered something I had completely forgotten.

“Ah, the leather!”

“Oh.”

Ellen seemed to have only recalled it at that moment.

* * *

After dinner, Ellen and I went to Mr. Epinhauser. In the end, he also wanted to enjoy the same things we enjoyed, so he was lying on one of the sunbeds wearing an Aloha shirt.

To be honest, I certainly felt it again at that point.

That the world there was really weird.

There were even things like Aloha shirts. It was like my mind was in a complete mess when I put in these costumes. There were even synthetic fibers. I had no idea how they fabricated them, though.

It was a ridiculous world that could be better described as a mix of modern and contemporary medieval fantasy.

“If it’s about that, you can take it back with you. I’ve been entrusted with processing these things, so you should be able to get it by the time you’re back in Temple.”

When we asked what happened to the jaguar leather, Mr. Epinhauser gave us a really unexpected answer. The mission was over, so I didn’t even know that he had that kind of role.

“Think of it as your spoils of this mission.”

Perhaps they left that job to a person who was experienced in handling animals. After selling it, Elle, Delphin, and I would share the money earned between us.

After my hunger was sated, I laid back down on a sunbed, and Ellen laid down on the one next to me.

I felt like I could sleep there for two days.

The pocket money Temple gave us was also quite large, so there was no need to rush to get more money. There was nothing wrong with just relaxing there.

“What are you going to do with the money?”

“Nothing much.”

Ellen also didn’t think that much about it either.

Even if she didn’t say anything, she also must have been very tired, so she immediately fell asleep—only the sound of her steady breathing reached my ears.

She had done a brilliant job without uttering a single complaint or whining. In fact, I saw Ellen getting very exhausted a lot while we were roaming through the jungle.

She had gotten really dirty and sweaty in the jungle, but at that moment, her face and hair were clean and soft.

I put a towel over that sleeping girl’s legs and got up. It was a bit sad.

Really.

All it took was a proper place to sleep, something delicious to eat, and fresh clothes to wear that made the most fierce hell into a paradise.

I guess living life wasn’t anything special after all.

-Reinhardt! Come on! It’s fun!

“Are you that crazy about swimming?”

Ludwig had eaten and gone back into the water, making a huge fuss again.

-Pat

“Who cares?”

Suddenly, Bertus approached me from behind and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Opportunities like that won’t come often, so how about we go and play?”

That reminded me that Bertus never actually went into the sea up until then.

It was the boss’s order, after all.

“Haaa… Alright, let’s go.”

I’ll show you just what it means to play in the water.

____