The Demon Prince goes to the Academy

Chapter 106

We went to mess around in the water. As soon as Bertus and I entered the sea, the three incompetent brothers of Class A (Erich, Kono Lint, and Cayer) soon followed us.

Except for Delphin, the only ones other than us who were there were the guys from Class B.

Of course, a little while later, two unexpected people began to approach the water.

“I-I’m… I’m…”

“What’s the matter? Doesn’t it look fun? Let’s go in.”

“I-I’m shy…”

Charlotte, wearing a swimsuit, approached the beach, dragging Scarlett with her. Of course, they wore swimsuits provided by Temple, not bikinis or something—they were just school swimsuits.

Still, all the guy’s eyes turned in their direction momentarily, staring blankly at them. They were obviously great beauties, so it was impossible not to stare.

Erich couldn’t even look in Scarlett’s direction, perhaps because he remembered her beating him up.

“Can we join?”

Charlotte asked us as she was approaching, while Scarlett stood behind her with a red face.

“Sure, Charlotte!”

Ludwig warmly welcomed them, while Bertus just smiled.

As soon as Charlotte came into the water, Bertus poured water over her.

“Kya!”

Charlotte, covered in water, looked at Bertus.

“Why did you do that?”

She stared at him with a chilly look in her eyes.

“This is how you’re supposed to play. How could you be so serious? Really?”

-Woosh!

“Arg!”

“Really now? How could you get so serious when we’re just playing? Can’t you let it go? That’s all you can do?”

-Woosh!

“Hey! Stop it!”

In the end, some harsh words came out of Charlotte’s mouth.

“Hey, hey, if you came over to play, you should play. How could you get angry? Hahahaha!”

“Aaaarg! You’re crazy!”

Bertus suddenly burst into laughter and continued to splash water on Charlotte, to which she screamed and reciprocated his actions. So they ended up splashing water at each other like crazy.

“Hey, guys, help me!”

“Don’t bother Charlotte!”

Charlotte eventually asked for help, and everyone, including Ludwig and Scarlett, started attacking the Imperial Prince.

“Urgh! Uuurgh!”

The scene wasn’t really a brutal one. Bertus didn’t pretend to be a good person and openly fought with the Princess. Of course, it was more like a prank, so it was rather fun and didn’t make the atmosphere turn sour.

The plot of the earlier parts I had written down had completely changed direction. I didn’t know whether that scene could be described as friendly or antagonistic.

Why couldn’t those two just get along?

“Guys! I also need some help here!”

Eventually, that crazy prank turned into a class competition.

* * *

The fierce water fight ended with Class B’s victory, as they had a larger number of people on their side.

“You’re the worst…”

However, due to Bertus relentlessly attacking only Charlotte, she had the advantage, but her eyes and nose were completely red. It seemed like she was made to drink a lot of water through her nose. Of course, Bertus was the same.

“You lost, but you fought well—that’s what you’re supposed to say.”

Bertus spoke while groaning, earning him a glare from Charlotte. Those two were actually after each other’s lives, but looking at them like that made them seem like just a pair of siblings that bickered with each other.

Charlotte murmured grimly, giving Bertus a cold stare. Her glare seriously seemed like she could shock freeze someone with it.

“Let’s play ‘crack the watermelon’. The winner gets to knock the loser on the head.”

“What’s with that all of a sudden?”

Bertus seemed a little perplexed by Charlotte’s casual tone of voice.

It looked like Charlotte really wanted to defeat Bertus completely.

No, how did she know about ‘crack the watermelon’ anyway?

“Are you scared?”

“Ahahahahahaha!”

Bertus burst into laughter at Charlotte’s obvious provocation, then looked down at Charlotte with a grim look in his eyes.

“No way.”

“Bring me a watermelon!”

On their own, Bertus and Charlotte seemed rather kind and sweet.

However, when they were talking with each other, their personalities made a complete 180.

* * *

A watermelon was placed on the sandy beach, and before it, Charlotte and Bertus were facing each other. The one who broke the watermelon first while blindfolded and after spinning ten times would get to hit the loser on the head.

Both their eyes were covered with a towel.

“Th-that… Guys. Isn’t that dangerous?”

Mr. Mustrang seemed anxious when he saw the kids holding a rod trying to crack open a watermelon.

“Whoever manages to crack open the watermelon first after spinning around ten times, wins!”

Ludwig served as the referee. Everyone stood around and watched the sudden watermelon cracking competition, which seemed a little odd but very interesting.

“Okay, let’s start!”

Bertus and Charlotte began to spin around in place.

In fact, the slight hope that they might end up forming a good relationship was nothing but that, a slight hope.

Then, after some time.

-Whack!

“Urgh!”

“Ah, I made a mistake.”

Charlotte hit Bertus’ head with her bat and not the watermelon.

Everyone knew that that swing was never supposed to hit the watermelon, as she hit from right to left, not from top to bottom.

As she wandered about, she kept gravitating towards the direction of Bertus’ voice, not towards the watermelon.

“Hey, how could you do this to me?!”

“It was a mistake!”

-Whack!

“Urgh!”

“Ah, another mistake.”

Charlotte.

She actually wanted to play ‘crack the head’, not ‘crack the watermelon’.

Bertus ripped off the towel and glared at Charlotte with cold eyes.

“You’re dead.”

“It was just a mistake, you know? Are you really going to get mad at me for making a tiny mistake? Wasn’t it you who told me to not take things so seriously while playing around?”

“You did that on purpose!”

In the end, a wild chase ensued between Charlotte and Bertus, who had both taken off the towels. Charlotte, who would obviously fall behind Bertus in physical abilities, got caught with no way of escape.

Bertus, who was seriously pissed off, picked up Charlotte and threw her into the sea.

“Die! Drown and die!”

“You crazy bastaaaard!”

-Splash!

The two ended up laughing at each other’s actions, so everyone also ended up bursting into laughter seeing the scene.

* * *

* * *

Their fights couldn’t get any more intense than that because if either of them died, the other would be deprived of their right to the throne.

So in the end, this just seemed like they were quarreling. In fact, the funniest part was that both of them ended up getting mad at each other.

It seemed like the students of Class A and B were able to talk peacefully with each other, although they weren’t on friendly terms just yet. It was totally different from the original, where they would be at each other’s throats at all times.

Evening time.

After dinner, the teachers told us to gather together. As a precaution against parasite infections or something similar, there were wizards and priests casting various types of purification spells on us. Of course, I got a bit nervous, but thanks to Sarkegaar’s ring, I wasn’t exposed or anything.

After the medical check-up, the teachers announced the results of both classes.

“It seems that both Class A and B have fulfilled the special condition. However, there were four final survivors in Class A and only one in Class B. As a result, taking various other factors into account, the mission ended in Class A’s victory.”

Additionally…

The arc that should have ended in Class B’s victory ended up being Class A’s as the plot had gotten completely twisted.

Charlotte didn’t end up winning. Mr. Epinhauser put up a piece of paper on the wall on one side of the restaurant.

“Of course, although the students of the winning class receive extra points, that doesn’t mean that everyone else got a bad score. Please check the individual evaluation scores recorded on this paper.”

Not everyone part of the winning class would get high scores, and not everyone in the losing class would get low scores. Someone who just lazed about wouldn’t get a lot of points just because their class won.

That wasn’t the end of it.

“In addition, extra merits will be given to individuals who have greatly helped the group or played an important role during this mission. In Class A, that would be Number 1, 2, 5, and 11. In Class B, it would be Number 1, 9, and 11. The reasons are attached to your personal evaluation record.”

Merits.

Bertus, Ellen, Harriet, and I got some merits as well as Class B’s Charlotte, Delphin, and Ludwig.

It was probably because Bertus worked hard taking on the role of the leader, and Ellen and Harriet played a decisive role in the orc hunt, so it was only obvious that they would receive merits for that, and I probably got some because I worked hard in various ways as well.

The ones from Class B probably received merits for similar reasons.

“Merits will be included in your evaluation record, and the person who receives the highest amount by the end of the semester will be given a special award. Also, keep in mind that merits and demerits can cancel each other out.”

If one got demerits for violating the rules or causing accidents, one would be able to get rid of them with one’s merits. For example, they could give one temporary immunity. Of course, everything would be reset after the semester ended.

Anyway, although Class B lost, Charlotte should have received a pretty high score. I didn’t know how, but she ended up completing the orc hunt on her own.

While Mr. Epinhauser was explaining one thing after the other, Mr. Mustrang handed out notes to the sitting students one by one.

“Lastly, write down who you think played the biggest role in this mission from each class.”

Finally, only the MVP vote remained.

I was deliberating whether I should put down Ellen or Harriet, but in the end, I wrote down Harriet.

I thought about writing down my name for a second, but after thinking about it, I felt like I really went crazy, so I refrained from that.

Class A’s voting results were: 2 votes for Bertus, 2 for Ellen, 4 for Harriet, and 3 for me.

Class B’s voting results were: 6 votes for Charlotte, 3 for Delphine, and 2 for Ludwig.

Like that, Harriet and Charlotte were voted as the MVPs.

“Me… Me? W-why?”

Harriet’s face turned bright red as she probably hadn’t even suspected that she’d get elected.

* * *

The MVPs would be given one credit each, so both Harriet and Charlotte would receive credits from the group mission.

At night, the students from Class B suddenly made a campfire for some reason. The guys from Class A didn’t seem to understand why they would make merry around a campfire after they had to sit around one every day before.

However, Lanian Sessor played his instrument and sang some songs, so it wasn’t all that bad.

Most of Class A’s students were extremely exhausted and opted to enter their bungalows and sleep early.

“Don’t those guys ever get tired?” Harriet muttered as she dumbfoundedly watched that scene. When we were on that uninhabited island, their tension was already out of this world, but somehow they got even more excited after they were told to rest.

“Ain’t it fine?”

I was lying on a sunbed while watching them, and Harriet was sitting on the sunbed next to me.

“Anyway, if you have something to say to me, say it.”

“Wha-what?! Wha-what would I even have to say to you…”

Even at night, I could very clearly see Harriet blushing.

“That’s not it.”

“…”

I was lying still while she got a bit closer to me. She sat down next to me, neither moving nor saying anything properly, she was just mumbling for some time. I was looking forward to what she had to say to me.

Finally, after muttering for a while, she properly opened her mouth.

“Well… Tha-tha-tha… Thank you.”

Was she fumbling about just to say that? Apparently, she wanted to thank me for taking care of her during that mission.

Of course, I ended up grinning at her.

“Hehe. really?”

“…Why are you laughing?”

“Specifically, what are you thankful to me for?”

“Wha-what?”

“You said ‘Thank you’, so tell me what you said thank you for?”

When I jumped up, asking her that with a smile, she slowly pulled back.

“So? What are you so thankful for? Huh? Let’s hear it.”

Harriet frowned when I suddenly entered my teasing mode.

“Aaarg! I hate you! You’re the worst!”

“I see, so why did you say thank you to me then?”

“Go away!”

Her face turned even redder before she yelled at me and ran to her bungalow.

* * *

It was a pretty long break. In Temple, I only trained and trained some more almost every single day, so it had been a very long time since I had a moment where I could just let go of everything and laze about.

During the mission, I had to endure a lot as well, more than just training, so that felt like a long-needed vacation in a way.

Ellen asked Harriet to cast underwater breathing magic on her, as she found it rather fun exploring the underwater world with it.

“…Is it that fun?”

“Yes.”

Harriet sent her off, then cast the spell on herself and went out to the sea with Adelia. After returning from her trip, I could see them excitedly chatting with each other. Perhaps it was a very interesting experience for them.

As I said, it had been a while since I had an actual break, so I was just stretching out and relaxing on the sunbed except when I had to eat. When I got back to Temple, I would have to go back to my tight schedule filled with training. I wouldn’t get a day off any time soon after that.

So I was resting with all my might.

Except for eating and sleeping, I just kept on hanging out.

“…Are you a mollusk?”

After staying in that state until Sunday, Charlotte approached me.

“Hm? Why?”

“No, it’s just because you’ve been barely moving since yesterday.”

It seemed like what I did looked quite strange to her as I was only hanging around the sunbed as if I was bound to it.

“I have to work hard again when I get back, so I’m trying to rest the best I can for now.”

“Hah, that’s funny.”

Charlotte had her pretty blonde hair tied in a ponytail. Her hair was thick, so it looked good in any hairstyle. She wore a white sleeveless dress, seeming as if she didn’t plan on swimming. She sat next to me, sipping on her drink.

Charlotte hunted an orc. Her supernatural power was a secret, but it seemed like it was powerful enough to kill an orc.

However, after the mission ended, Charlotte seemed to be dissatisfied about something.

“Did you kill the orc on your own?”

Charlotte seemed a bit dazed after hearing my question but nodded after some time.

“How I did it is a secret, but I did.”

All of Class B got eliminated one after the other. The mission ended with the only survivor remaining, Charlotte, killing the orc.

“Why are you asking?”

She tilted her head as she was asking me.

“No, it just looks like you aren’t really happy about that.”

I only asked things to the extent I could. I had gotten a bit closer to Charlotte, but we weren’t close enough yet for me to ask any sensitive questions.

She had a powerful ability, but one that had to be kept a secret. I seemed worried about her, so she smiled at me.

“Well… I hate relying on my supernatural power.”

“…Is that so?”

Charlotte laughed after that. It seemed like that was all she could tell me. I didn’t know what ability she had, but she hated it.

She lost her composure when the orc approached her so she ended up using her power. As a result, she managed to kill it, but she was dissatisfied with the fact that she had to rely on her supernatural power.

Were there any supernatural power users that actually hated their own power?

That made me even more curious about what Charlotte’s ability was.

____