CHAPTER 41: DEPARTURE TO NOXVALEN ACADEMY.

When most people think of noble transportation in a fantasy world, they picture horse-drawn carriages or maybe a portal if you’re particularly dramatic.

But apparently, when you’re headed to the most prestigious demon academy in the world, you get upgraded... or downgraded.

I was currently flying through the clouds in a skycruiser—yes, that’s what the people in this world call an airplane.

Now, I’m the kind of guy who’d prefer a quick portal or something similar. You know, without some petty and idiotic young masters with superiority complexes.

Unlike humble and emotionally sensitive me.

But nope.

This idiotic Altharia Human Empire had a proud tradition of sending students the long way to the Academy.

Why, you ask?

Because some long-dead imperial advisor probably thought, "Maybe we should give the doomed children time to network so they can get emotionally attached before getting collectively screwed."

That was the sentiment, apparently. After all, how else do you turn a bunch of strangers into lifelong comrades in an hour or two, right?

...Okay. Maybe I’m a bit biased.

They hosted this networking event earlier too but I wasn’t invited back then.

All thanks to that bastard Astravore.

Tch... who needs them anyways.

They are just cannon fodders and half of them wouldn’t even be able to make it past the first layer, let alone reach the second where my destination was.

Just then, my eyes wandered towards the small necklace in my hand.

Honestly it was a bit delicate and way too feminine for my taste.

...But I just couldn’t stop staring at it.

Ru gave it to me just before I left the home.

Her teary-eyed face as she gripped her stuffed koala still haunted my mind. She called me ’meanie’ and said I broke my promise but still... still she held onto my cloak as if it would stop me from leaving...

...as if I would change my mind.

This small necklace was the last piece of memory our mother left for her... Ru never kept it out of sight, treating it like her second heart.

And yet... she gave it to me.

"Come back soon..." That was all she whispered but I understood the countless meanings behind that single sentence.

I slipped the necklace back in my cloak’s subspace...

The cloak didn’t respond. It had been like that ever since I boarded the skycruiser.

Believe it or not, it had spent more time with Ru in the past twenty days than even I did.

And maybe... it was missing her as well.

I averted my eyes again, trying to distract my mind.

And thankfully, the skycruiser offered plenty.

The skycruiser wasn’t anything like its counterpart from Earth.

At least... not this particular model.

The center was an open space vast enough to easily fit three football stadiums side by side.

Hundreds of luxurious seats were lined along the curved edges.

And if you thought this open space was it?

Nope. You are completely wrong because this was just the lobby.

The skycruiser also had a fully equipped gym, a training arena with all the latest tech and an anything-to-eat buffet.

You know how lambs were stuffed full before sacrificing... Yeah, same energy here.

Not that I cared, of course.

Bearlo wasn’t with me.

Just looking at that bastard irked me, especially after that whole "I accidentally have a broken skill and mastered a martial technique in two seconds" thing.

So I sent him to the gym. I thought it might help the poor guy get his girlfriend out of his mind.

As for some poor fools getting traumatized by seeing a crimson-furred bear casually benching twice their body weight?

Yeah, not my problem.

I already explained that Bearlo was my summon and even filed all the documentation necessary.

Nobody really even cared enough to ask how a martial artist was able to tame a beast.

They probably figured I used some external artifacts or skills.

But, who cares really?

As long as nobody bothers me on my way to the demon realm, it’s all good.

Not that any of the peasants, ahem... I mean my noble peers had the strength to go against Bearlo anyway.

And once I reached Noxvalen? Nobody would care about him.

The academy didn’t give a damn about titles, background or even species. The only thing that mattered there was strength.

And I sure as hell wasn’t going to stand on a podium and scream, "My butler bear can level up!"

So yeah, I could manage it somehow.

Just then,

A girl walked into the lobby, her blonde hair tied in a neat ponytail and her posture straight.

Her violet eyes scanned across the area calmly.

But I didn’t see her grace or her beauty...

... Or even the fact that her mere presence made half the guys around me sit up straighter.

No.

The first thing I noticed... was how much the gravity was in love with her chest.

Sure, I had seen her before in the memories of the previous Rael but seeing her in person was different.

The girl in question was,

Viola Von Astravore.

The female lead of this story.

And also...

The daughter of the woman I kissed.

Yep.

Life’s sense of humour strikes again.

She was currently one of the strongest students aboard this sky cruiser, thanks to one annoying technicality:

She was the oldest.

She awakened last year on September 29th but Noxvalen’s academic cycle starts on September 20th and runs for a full year.

So, by sheer dumb luck... she missed it and survived.

But that didn’t mean she was free.

Every twenty to twenty five years or "generation" as the people like to call it, one of the ducal family is required to send two direct heirs to Noxvalen

That was the rule.

And this time it was the turn of the Astravore family but unfortunately they only had two heirs who met the criteria.

The Duke’s son... and daughter.

Which meant she was guaranteed a front-row seat to this little hell, no matter what.

So she did the only thing a smart person could do.

She trained like her life depended on it and reached D(-) Rank.

And that training paid off. She didn’t need to enter the [Forest of Unmasked] to take the entrance test anymore as her admission was already guaranteed due to reaching D-Rank.

And that was exactly why she looked so damn calm in a crowd full of nervous wrecks.

Her gaze scanning through the crowd paused on me...

She smiled and waved cheerfully as if her father hadn’t tried to kill me just a few weeks ago.

I mean... to be fair. I did do something worth getting murdered over.

In my defence, though, it wasn’t technically me. That was the previous Rael. I just inherited the trauma.

Before I could think anymore, she was right in front of me.

"Still alive, huh?" she said with her hands on her hips as if she isn’t talking the guy who kissed her mother.

That’s Viola for you...

But she wasn’t alone.

Half-hidden behind her was another girl with platinum blonde hair and golden eyes that kept darting around in nervousness.

I recognised her.

She was the cousin sister of Viola...

The niece of the woman I kissed.

... And also the sacrificial lamb, I mean the third princess of the Altharia Empire.

Seraphina Von Altharia.

"H—hey, Rael," she mumbled, moving her hand in a gesture I could only call a wave.

Yeah... the day’s only getting longer.

___

Author’s Note:

For those still confused about the noble enrollment rules: Every 20–25 years, each ducal family is required to send two direct heirs to Noxvalen.They get a 5-year grace period if the heirs aren’t eligible right away.

The Emperor has to send one of his own kids whenever the ducal heirs are being sent.

As for commoners? Yeah... they get screwed every year.

And for those wondering about the cousin connection,

Viola’s mother, Duchess Astravore, is the sister of the Late Empress of Altharia. Which makes Viola and Seraphina first cousins.