Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Early evening.

Quite a few people had gathered at Onyx Square.

Rain, the maid, was cooking outdoors over a roaring fire, a large pot perched atop the logs. Lily, wearing her glasses, was busily scribbling something onto parchment with a quill pen.

Lowell, who had come at Khal’s invitation, was busy observing the atmosphere of the school.

Meanwhile, Khal and McCally were in the middle of an experiment.

Bang!

The moment Khal injected his mana into the flask filled with solution, it exploded with a tremendous noise.

This was the seventeenth time.

“Aaaaagh! I told you not to cause a Mana Break so crudely! You idiot!”

Exasperated, McCally began hurling insults at Khal.

Snap!

A vein popped on Khal’s forehead as he retorted, refusing to back down.

“If controlling it were that easy, this school would be packed with people.”

“….”

Lowell, who had been watching the scene in silence, turned to Lily.

“Which one is the master?”

“It might be confusing, but it’s obviously Professor McCally.”

Lily nodded as if Lowell’s reaction was perfectly natural.

“Dinner is ready.”

“Wait, I’ll help too.”

At Rain’s announcement, Lily stopped writing and began helping move the cutlery and plates to the table.

When Lowell stood there just staring at them, Lily tilted her head and spoke.

“Why don’t you help, too?”

“Huh? Oh… okay.”

Lowell, who was used to having servants prepare everything for him, began setting the table under Lily’s direction with a look of reluctance.

A short while later.

As Rain politely lit the candles, the surroundings were brightly illuminated. On the table, a delicious evening meal was neatly laid out.

Rain naturally took a seat next to Lily and placed a napkin on her lap.

Finding the sight strange, Lowell looked at Khal.

“Doing things yourself that you could just order a maid to do, and even dining together… I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Do you not have hands and feet? If it’s something you can do yourself, you just do it.”

Khal spoke as if it were no big deal, stabbing a piece of meat with his fork and popping it into his mouth.

Lily looked at Khal with an incredulous expression.

“You know it’s shameless to say that when you didn’t even help, right? You never move unless I tell you twice.”

“A man who is easily moved lacks charm.”

“Good grief… I wonder who he took after to speak like that.”

McCally clicked her tongue and then looked at Lowell.

“So, my disciple. If you invited a friend, you should introduce him.”

Startled, Lowell introduced himself.

“I am Lowell. My school is Biblio Magias. My major is swordsmanship, and I recently became friends with Khal through a minor incident.”

McCally let out a small smirk, muttering, “It’s obvious without even looking.”

“I see you’ve recognized that rough and crude kindness of his.”

Lowell nodded in agreement.

“That is correct.”

McCally sipped her wine and looked around with a warm smile.

“Somehow, having more people around makes me feel quite satisfied. So, Lowell, what are your impressions of this place?”

“Pardon?”

Lowell was a bit flustered by the sudden question, while Khal muttered beside him as he tore into his meat.

“My first impression was: ‘How can a human live in such a shabby place?’”

“Shut up!”

McCally barked, cutting Khal off.

“….”

The others watched, momentarily lost for words at the outburst.

“Ahem. Ignore what that fellow says.”

Embarrassed, McCally added in a whisper, “I do clean it these days, though.”

Lowell smiled softly and thought about Onyx Square.

Other schools have relatively luxurious facilities where they steadily improve their students’ skills. In contrast, the facilities of Onyx Square were unfortunately lacking in many ways.

Furthermore, the head of the school, McCally, was still analyzing the Heart Method of an ancient Grand Master and had yet to complete her research.

In such a situation, how many students would actually show interest? Lowell himself had initially ignored this place, trapped in his own narrow prejudices.

However, after meeting Khal… the landscape he saw when taking a step or two back was different.

When he looked up, he saw the moonlight crumbling between the leaves, and he found himself naturally listening to the sounds of insects in the grass.

At first, he thought the scenery was the only good thing because the facilities and research were lacking. But now, Lowell realized his heart had become peaceful.

‘He said the research is gradually being refined since Khal joined. This school will likely produce results that surpass Sceletus soon.’

After finishing his contemplation, Lowell spoke with a gentle smile.

“I think it’s a place where there’s a joy in seeing things change day by day.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Pleased with the answer, McCally grinned.

“I think so, too.”

Feeling quite excited, she poured wine into her empty glass.

“…Professor.”

Just as Lily was about to urgently stop her, thud.

Khal snatched the wine bottle from her hand and balanced it right on top of her head.

“Stop drinking. Don’t get drunk and start acting out again.”

Snap!

“You brat! How dare you! Haven’t you heard the saying to treat your teacher like gold?!”

Khal smirked.

“I value you more than gold.”

“Shut up! Where do you get off babbling such insincere words!”

Outraged, McCally threw a punch at Khal, but—

Grab.

As if he had already anticipated it, Khal used his long reach to push her head back, causing the punch to miss completely.

“Aaaaagh!”

McCally flailed her arms and legs in frustration.

“Hahahaha!”

Watching the scene, Lowell burst into laughter.

* * *

The night deepened.

After everyone had left, it was time to be in the dormitory, but Khal had returned to the lab at McCally’s request.

“If you don’t sleep at night, you won’t grow taller. Why did you call me?”

Snap!

“I don’t have any more height left to grow, you brat.”

McCally narrowly suppressed her anger and showed Khal a bracelet made of woven threads.

“…What is that?”

“Hehehe, curious? Your master has finally perfected a technique.”

They say seeing is believing. McCally put the bracelet on her wrist and reached toward a seed sitting on a plate.

“….”

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When she snapped her eyes open—

Flash!

The bracelet on her wrist was torn to shreds.

“…That’s.”

Khal, who initially looked uninterested, couldn’t hide his admiration as he saw the seed on the plate split open, a stem over 30 centimeters long sprouting out.

Usually, when McCally generated mana, the stem would only grow about a centimeter or so. This was a growth rate at least thirty times faster than usual.

McCally grinned confidently and spoke.

“I intend to name this technique ‘Trigger.’ I’m going to pass everything about it down to you from start to finish. I don’t plan on teaching it to anyone else except Lily and a few others, so use it well.”

“….”

Looking at her triumphant expression, Khal found himself unable to argue for the first time. Was it a sense of awe? He felt something like that.

She had been researching for a long time without completion. Most would have given up, unable to see the path ahead. McCally must have resented her situation at times as well. She must have been afraid. Nevertheless, her passion had not flickered out, and it was finally bearing fruit.

McCally stood before Khal, looking more beautiful than anyone else in the world.

* * *

Around the time the sun reached its zenith.

“Yawn.”

Unable to overcome his physical fatigue, Khal was walking with his eyes half-closed from drowsiness. He eventually reached the point where he leaned against the shoulder of Lily, who was walking beside him.

“Get it together.”

Thwack!

Lily’s face turned bright red as she lightly tapped Khal’s head with the thick book she was holding. The small impact made Khal rub his eyelids and barely regain his senses.

Lily checked their surroundings before whispering to Khal.

“What’s wrong with you lately?”

“I’ve been overpacing. I haven’t even slept an hour recently.”

After answering, Khal stretched his stiff body and lightly loosened his muscles.

“…Are you even human? Even during exam periods, I can’t go that far.”

Lily’s eyes widened in disbelief. Eri, who was walking with them, spoke up with a blush on her face.

“Oh my! Could it be you’re doing something else at night…?”

“Aaaah!”

“Mmph!”

Hearing her, Lily dropped her precious book on the floor and hurriedly covered Eri’s mouth.

“What are you talking about, Eri!”

Lily’s face turned as red as a carrot as she flustered about, not knowing what to do.

“Mmph!”

Eri smiled broadly and pointed at Lily’s hand covering her mouth. Lily looked reluctant but decided to get a promise from Eri before letting go.

“No saying weird things!”

Eri nodded while still smiling.

“Phew.”

Freed from Lily’s hand, Eri laughed refreshingly and spoke to Khal.

“Kalliant. When you’re tired, a pie made with honey and citron is just the thing. I’ll write down the recipe for you, so give it to Rain.”

“No. I don’t need—”

Just as he was about to refuse, Eri began scribbling on a notepad with a serious gaze. The speed was so fast that even Lily seemed surprised. When Khal looked over her shoulder, he saw words written in a very beautiful script, perfectly aligned.

Rip!

Having finished the recipe, Eri pressed it into Khal’s hand.

“There. You can look at it if you’re curious, Khal.”

Her tone was bright and cheerful, but the eyes of Eris von Isilia—not Eri—as she turned her back to Lily were incredibly grave.

‘Ho.’

Realizing the recipe contained some kind of message for him, Khal scratched the back of his head and naturally resumed the conversation.

“I guess I have no choice.”

“Hohoho, the effect is perfect. Come on, let’s go. Lily, we’ll be late for class at this rate.”

“Wait, slow down a bit! Khal, see you later!”

Pulled along by Eri’s hand, Lily said her goodbyes as she hurried off.

Khal didn’t even glance at them as he unfolded the paper Eri had given him.

[I heard there’s a large-scale training session starting today? It’s probably confidential for students, but I heard the location is likely Mystic Mountain. That’s the place in Isilia where the most people go missing. Instructor Lizark is hostile toward you, so you’d better be careful. I recommend just skipping it and saying you’re sick~, Kalliant-kun!]

Khal smirked at the letter filled with worry and advice, then promptly tore the paper up. Showing such confidential information to others would bring no benefit, and besides…

“There’s no reason to avoid a festival that’s been prepared so diligently.”

Though it was his past life, the idea of him—the former Demon King—avoiding hardships and adversity was absurd. A Demon King, by nature, was a being who inflicted hardships and adversity upon others.

Regardless of how things turned out, the sleepiness had completely vanished thanks to Eri’s information. Khal…

Creeak!

He threw open the doors of the training hall and strode inside.