The Demon Prince goes to the Academy
chapter-28

I was returning to my room.

Getting involved in major events, such as just now with Ludwig, seemed to earn me achievement points. Of course, regardless of that, I knew that I could earn some by completing challenges such as ‘Slap the Emperor in the Face’….

But wasn’t that just a bit unfair?

I got 100 points for surviving and overcoming the risk of death, and yet I got 100 points just because Ludwig was getting humiliated in the same place I was at? Wasn’t that completely insane?

Were they telling me that my life was on the same level as Ludwig getting called a dog?

While I was musing over the amount of achievement points earned, no message popped up. I guessed they must have their own rules. Just thinking about that made me feel tired.

Most of the main story took place in Class B and its dormitory or classroom, so Class A could almost be considered a vestige of the main story. That meant, it was mostly filled with things I was unfamiliar with.

When I returned to my room, I filled out the blank name spaces based on the names I heard in the self-introduction.

Class 1-A.

I couldn’t remember all their talents. There were also some people I completely forgot.

1 – Bertus de Gardias (Swordmaster, Villain)

2 – Ellen Artorius (Munchkin)

3 – Marianna de Grantz (Electrokinesis)

4 – Harriet de Saint-Owan (Magic)

5 – Cliffman (Something having to do with close quarter combat.)

6 – Heinrich von Schwarz (Pyrokinesis)

7 – Adelia (Something on the Magic side)

8 – Kono Lint (Teleportation)

9 – Erich de Lafaeri (Lackey 1, somehow will become Paladin?)

10 – Cayer Voiden (Lackey 2, early game villain. Can’t remember more.)

11 – Me

And Class B.

1 – Charlotte de Gardias (Unknown)

2 – Louis Ancton (Smart. Nerd)

3 – Scarlet (Supernatural power, immune to magic.)

4 – Ashir (Divine power… Probably?)

5 – Christina (Alchemy, Enchantment.)

6 – Anna de Gerna (Black magic, not a bad girl.)

7 – Ibia (Telepathy)

8 – Destomolian (Witchcraft, Supernatural power, savage bastard.)

9 – Delphine Izadra (Archery)

10 – Lanian Sessor (Music)

11 – Ludwig (Stamina, munchkin pretending to be weak, main character)

Although I didn’t have any detailed knowledge about a lot of the talents, I was roughly able to sort things out, as hearing their names kind of made me remember some things.

Who I had to remember weren’t the original main characters anyway. Most of the people I would run into were the Class A kids.

Anyway, unlike in the original, Charlotte and I were added, so there were 22 students.

Among them I had not a single clue what talent Charlotte had. What kind of talent would she have? Don’t tell me it’s the same as Bertus’? Since they were family, there was a good chance that they might have the same talents.

However, now wasn’t the time to deal with Charlotte.

I got 100 points for escaping the Demon King’s Castle.

Then I earned 1000 points for saving Charlotte.

After that I used ‘A Writer’s Advice’ twice, spending 150 points each, so 300 points.

And just then I got 100 points as a reward.

I had a total of 900 achievement points available to me.

To give myself a talent with achievement points, I needed at least 1000 points.

[Swordsmanship – 1000 Points]

[Archery – 1000 Points]

[Magic Sensitivity – 1000 Points]

.

.

.

In fact, this was an incredible ability. Bertus had to endure enormous pain undergoing that huge procedure to acquire three talents. However, I could just get talents by using achievement points.

Of course, achievement point costs would be subject to change.

Maybe after I get my first talent, the second one might be more expensive. It was a pity that I didn’t know how expensive they would get.

If I get 100 more points, I would be able to get my first talent, unless the prices suddenly changed.

There were obviously some incredibly powerful talents. For example, those comprehensive talents.

[Weapon Mastery – 10000 Points]

[Magic – 20000 Points]

One of Ellen’s many talents, Weapon Mastery, required 10000 Points, and Harriet’s Magic required 20000 Points. I could save up my points and then put them into one of those talents, but who knew how many years it would take until I got that many points saved up. I wasn’t even sure if the price would still be the same at that time.

When swordsmanship reached its peak, there were some cases where it evolved into Weapon Mastery, but what was with this?

And Weapon Mastery and magic, swordsmanship included, could only create enormous synergy if there were other talents supporting them. Most of them had to be backed by magic related talents.

In the case of Magic, even if one had that talent, one couldn’t learn any if one didn’t possess magic sensitivity, magic aptitude and, most importantly, a great deal of intelligence.

I wanted to become a wizard the most. It was safe and powerful.

However, would I be able to master the science of magic filled with technical terms that would make my head spin? Even if my talents for magic were fully developed, there was a strong possibility that I wasn’t able to understand the science behind it.

Or could I become a wizard after I upgraded my brain by getting learning-related talents? I’d love to have a talent that would make me smarter, but….

Under the premise that I want to become a wizard, I would need at least four lesser talents to meet the requirements. One talent for the corresponding magic system, magic sensitivity, mana control and brain reinforcement.

It would be nice to get all that before I die of old age.

In the end, there was only one answer.

A Supernatural ability.

Supernatural powers could exert their strength with only one talents. A-3 had Electrokinesis and A-6 had Pyrokinesis.

However, there was a problem with supernatural abilities.

At a lower level, the abilities were either too weak or not controllable. In other words, it was difficult to make use of them whenever one needed them. Therefore, those who used supernatural powers had to develop them through continuous training and control. Just like others had to do swordsmanship training or magic research.

But in the end, it would be better to dig the well early than uselessly dream of becoming a wizard by saving hard on my achievement points of which I didn’t know when I would get some.

Swordsmanship could evolve into Weapon Mastery and if one studied various schools of magic, those who originally didn’t have the Magic talent could develop it.

Some talents evolved. Especially supernatural abilities tended to do so. The reason for that was, as one became able to control one’s ability and one’s understanding of it deepend, one could discover the hidden aspects of the ability.

A-3, who utilizes electricity, would later be able to use a power stronger than what she was able to use now, and A-6, who used flames, would later be able to ignite things without combustion..

If I were to buy a talent using my achievement points it should be something one wouldn’t be able to obtain through normal means. With all my aptitudes, I could just acquire those normal talents by doing some repetitive training. The problem was that I didn’t know how long it would take though.

Supernatural powers couldn’t be obtained through effort, regardless of one’s inadequacies or aptitudes. However, I could buy supernatural powers with my achievement points.

It might not be useful right away, but it had a strong potential for growth.

So, there was no other option for me other than supernatural powers.

So which supernatural power should I choose….? At the lowest level it wouldn’t be of much help anyway.

I had to decide based on future developments.

It was quite funny that I was planning away the 100 achievement points I hadn’t even received yet.

Let’s go to sleep.

* * *

On the next day was the entrance ceremony. The entrance ceremony was held for children who had entered the higher education course in Temples gigantic square. The sight of more than 10000 students having their entrance ceremony here was truly breathtaking.

Setting up that there was an entrance ceremony itself seemed like a pretty unreasonable move on my part. When one gathered tens of thousands of children in one place, it would naturally create some world chattering noise.

However, the Royal Class’ entrance ceremony was held separately.

The reason for that seemed to be to make the Royal Class children focus on their work rather than get dragged to some large scale events. I didn’t even bother explaining that bit.

Come to think of it. making those other kids uncomfortable while giving us this comfort seemed pretty much like discrimination, didn’t it? They basically put on some frivolous show, making the other students quite exhausted, while they kept the privileged away from it.

That’s how it was.

I felt my face turn red in embarrassment at how carelessly I wrote these things. It was an entrance ceremony for only 22 students, so the procedure was rather simple. Even with the Prince and Princess there, it didn’t seem much different.

The attendance ended with the introduction of the general teachers of the Royal Class, that is, the principal and the people who will be in charge of us in the future.

Then we were led to the class building dedicated to the Royal Class close to the dormitories and were told to sit in our classroom. That fast pace wasn’t all that bad.

Class A’s homeroom teacher, Epinhauser.

Unlike Class B’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Mustrang, he had a very business-like, cold personality.

He was looking at us with a stiff expression on his face. He was that type of person that thought he was the only smart guy in the room, so he was treating us no different from ordinary students.

“On Mondays and Thursdays, we will have a common class in this classroom.”

“On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, you can take the classes you requested. The lecture list and their outlines are all written on the document distributed. Students who do not know how to proceed, come to me separately. You might not know which classes to take.”

“You children have great talent, but do not be fooled into thinking that you are geniuses in every field. What I’m meaning to say is, don’t try to take classes you won’t be able to understand yet.”

“No. 1, you shall be the temporary class leader. If you want to replace your class leader, report to me after you do. Most things I have to tell you will be communicated through No. 1.”

He didn’t even call the Prince by his name and some of the students were rather taken aback at how casually he referred to him, but Bertus didn’t seem to care.

“Also, if you believe I might be of help with any grievances, problems or quarrel, please ask for help.”

“And, if there is a big fight, call me immediately, and while I wish to prevent any student from getting killed as much as possible, I cannot say that it never happened. So that you can be more cautious of each other, you have to know each other’s talents, so we created a list. Check it out later.”

Mr. Epinhauser was muttering some words with bloody content quite casually, like a narration. Someone raised their hand at that cruel closing remark.

“What would happen if you page a teacher when there’s a big fight?”

No. 8, Kono Lint. He probably was curious. I knew the reason he asked as well.

If we were to fight among ourselves , would that be a problem that could just be resolved by getting a teacher involved?

That seemed to be his question. It kind of showed his confidence orrather arrogance.

Mr. Epinhauser seemed familiar with that question as well.

“You are under special supervision and valuable talents of the Empire, but you may also hold the power to endanger yourself and others.”

Mr. Epinhauser explained calmly.

“As a teacher of the Royal Class, I have the authority to take emergency measures in case something like that were to happen.”

“Emergency?”

“It means that if the situation is not favorable, the student can be promptly disposed of.”

Those words chilled the atmosphere in the classroom.

This place only held precious people with great talent.

And here someone was, standing right before them, telling them, if something goes wrong, he can kill them. He spoke calmly as if what he just said was a matter of course.

“Are you capable of that?”

No. 10, Cayer Vioden remarked rather sarcastically. Mr Epinhauser didn’t react much to that obvious sarcasm.

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years now.”

This time no one dared to say anything sarcastically again.

No, well, they probably were scared because they were kids.

But why was I also scared? Why? Was I too old? Did I maybe grow soft? Was it because this was just too cruel? Can a teacher even do that?

Contrary to that atmosphere.

-Wahahahaha!

One could hear laughter from the next classroom. It was Class B.

“Then I hope you have understood my words and be careful.”

However, there was no laughter to be found in Class A.

“And No. 11.”

Huh?

“You follow me.”

Huh? Me? Why so suddenly?

I didn’t really expect that development, you know?

Teacher?

* * *

The classroom building for common education was built right next to the Royal Class’ dormitory, so there was no need to go around the entire Temple on the days of common education.

About 100 students were getting educated there, but the building was slightly smaller than other Temple buildings. There, not only teachers, but also faculty and other personnel were second only in number to the students.

…However, I just set it up like that, I actually had no idea what they were doing.

There were dozens of people in the first year teacher’s office, excluding the homeroom teacher. I wasn’t sure if all of them were teachers, but I was pretty sure that the other year’s teacher’s offices looked the same.

Certainly, the number of students and staff should be about equal or even greater.

Mr. Epinhauser took me to his private room and instructed me to sit down in front of him.

I felt like a patient who just came to the hospital after being diagnosed with a serious illness waiting for some bad news.

I wasn’t really sure, but I felt like I was in some sort of trouble.

He rummaged through some papers and talked to me without looking at me.

“No. 11, Reinhardt.”

“Yea- Yes.”

He looked at me calmly.

“You have a lot of aptitudes, but no talent, correct?”

“Ah, that…. Yes.”

Why was he talking to me as if I was a beggar?

He was cruel and cold-hearted, but I didn’t set him up to be human trash, though?

“What classes are you going to take?”

“……Yes?”

Something completely unexpected came out of Epinhauser’s mouth. He put a document down in front of me. Each student’s profile was organized there.

The document he presented to me was the profile of No. 3, Marianna de Grantz.

“No.3, Grantz, a holder of supernatural powers.”

“……Yes.”

What about it? He rummaged through the papers and showed me another page.

“This is No. 5.”

“……Yes.”

“Cliffman is a Combat talent.”

“Yes.”

So what? While I was having such thoughts while looking at him, Mr. Epinhauser was just staring at me silently. His eyes were scary.

So there were people in this world that could scold someone with just their eyes.

“Students with supernatural powers usually sign up for special lectures on meditation and psychic control. There aren’t many with supernatural abilities, so they need specialized lectures like that.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You don’t have to take any of those lectures through, now do you, No. 11?”

“Yeah…. Well.”

I didn’t know about later, but I didn’t think I needed to take them for now.

“Cliffman is a combat talent. It is rather rare. Hand to Hand Combat, Gladiator, Martial Arts, Archery… They say it encompasses all kinds of combat talents.”

“Yes.”

He showed talent in everything to do with the way of battle. Cliffman only had one talent, but in terms of just that one talent, it was a comprehensive talent far superior to Weapon Mastery.

“No. 5 who is a combat talent, will take lectures centered on physical training, weapon skills and sparring. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

Oh man, I now knew what he was talking about.

“Your other classmates have a set direction how they want to specialize. They roughly know what they need to learn and what classes to take.”

“Yes.”

“But No. 11, you have aptitudes in all fields, but nothing you excel in.”

I knew he wasn’t trying to scold me, but I sure felt like he was.

“You probably have no idea what you need to learn. Correct?”

He seemed to think that I needed help.