The Narrow-Eyed Villain of the Demon Academy
chapter-176

Kyle, who had been tormenting Luna relentlessly while pretending to be a good-for-nothing, I discovered his true identity as a spy for the human realm and brought him over to my side.

I threatened him with a half-truth that I had fed a type of Gu Poison, Twin Tail, to him and his younger sister.

Kyle fell for it and signed the Demon God's oath, and now he was bound to follow my orders.

Some might see it as tormenting Kyle, who had done nothing wrong, but that's a misunderstanding.

First, by cutting off the information about the Demon Realm he would have given to the humans, I was able to safely pass the midterm exams.

Second, Kyle would eventually thank me for it.

‘The group that raised Kyle and supports his little sister isn't as good as they seem.’

Not only was it not a bad thing from the demons' point of view, but it could also be seen as unfavorable from the humans' point of view.

The group was involved in all sorts of things, starting with human experimentation.

Swish-.

I pulled out a badge from my pocket.

It was an item I had obtained after defeating Besaha, a 6th Circle mage from the human realm.

The badge represented the ‘Imperial Family.’

‘The Imperial Family.’

Fundamentally, they were definitely on the side of justice, but that didn't mean they only did morally right things.

After all, in this story, the Imperial Family was destined to get their hands dirty.

However,

‘Kyle at this point in time wouldn't know that.’

I looked down at Kyle.

"You son of a bitch! Do you know how much I've suffered because of you?! Really…!"

He grabbed me by the collar, tears streaming down his face, and burst into tears.

Sigh.

I let out a sigh at the sight.

Did this guy even know…

Common sense dictated that the probability of the Imperial Family bringing Kyle, who had been sent to the Demon Realm, back to the human realm was practically zero.

‘There's no way they would abandon the only leverage they have to control his magic prodigy little sister….’

In a way, Kyle was pitiful.

From the moment he was sent to the Demon Realm under the pretense of curing his sister's illness, freedom ceased to exist for him.

But there was no need to tell him that.

There were more important things to discuss now.

For now, I felt the need to calm Kyle down, so I greeted him in a gentle voice.

“How have you been?”

"Does it look like I've been well?! I'm going to gouge out your eyes and replace them with different ones!"

"Haha, I already lost them once and got new ones."

"Shut up!"

Kyle cursed.

If it were like before, I would have threatened him to speak politely, but seeing his complexion, it seemed he was genuinely full of resentment, so I decided to let it slide.

Pat, pat—.

The moment I patted him on the back.

Waaah—.

“……Sob, sob.”

Unable to control his emotions, Kyle's eyes began to well up again.

It seemed he really went through a lot….

Even his way of speaking seemed to have changed.

I remember him speaking in a self-absorbed tone, similar to Samuel, but now it sounded like he had been beaten down by the world.

Why do I feel so attached every time I see him?

‘Could this be what they call paternal love?’

I felt a sense of kinship seeing this weak creature after only seeing monstrous beings.

Maybe that's why I took a liking to Luna, who was similar to Kyle.

Anyway….

I continued to pat him on the back until he calmed down.

After a while, Kyle seemed to have calmed down and opened his mouth.

"Do, do you know how I've been living? As soon as I got here, I was targeted by the head of the Bares family and was forced to consume another Gu Poison, had to do all sorts of chores, spilled all the information about the human realm, and even carried out all the orders you gave me, and all I got in return was discrimination for being a half-demon. The food was tasteless, and really. Really, I…!"

"C, calm down.”

I broke out in a cold sweat, trying hard to calm Kyle down.

Besides, I had no idea Crete had fed Kyle another Gu Poison.

In fact, this was also something I had intended.

When I had Kyle drop out of Sytan and come here, I wrote him a letter to deliver.

The contents of that letter.

It was….

—He is a spy from the human realm. I have already brought him over to my side, but be extra careful as he may betray you at any time.

Of course, there was a possibility that Crete might kill Kyle, so I added ‘one more sentence.’

That's why Kyle was still alive, albeit in a miserable state.

Tsk, tsk.

He couldn't even express his gratitude.

Still, I felt a little sorry for him, so I decided to endure his whining just this once.

More importantly,

“Did you find out what I asked you to?”

This was the main point.

I had instructed Kyle, based on his ability to gather information, to find out about hidden dungeons and treasures in the Demon Realm.

Swish, swish.

Kyle wiped the remaining tears from his eyes and opened his mouth.

“……I found out some things, but not much.”

“Why not?”

"Are you seriously asking that? They threw me in jail as soon as they got the letter you sent to the head of the family! What did you write in that thing?!”

“Ah, that's why.”

If that was the case, it made sense for Crete to detain Kyle.

I then asked Kyle another question.

“Did anything else happen besides them ordering you to be detained? Did they react strangely, for example?”

“Hmph, why should I tell you?”

“If you don’t tell me….”

Swish.

The moment I twitched my hand.

― …….

Gu Poison peeked out from my pocket.

Startled, Kyle's face turned pale.

It was clear that he was terrified.

“Th, that’s…!”

“Shh, keep your voice down. My baby gets anxious around strangers.”

“Baby, my ass. It’s all my fault for being a lousy older brother….”

As I put Gu Poison back in my pocket, Kyle let out a deep sigh.

Still afraid of Gu Poison, he began to speak haltingly.

“Well, it’s not like he reacted strangely or anything. He just muttered, ‘It seems the time has come.’”

“Hmm, was there any change in his behavior?”

“If you’re asking if anything changed after that, I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t in the Bares family before then.”

“I see.”

It was certain that there was some sort of reaction.

The time has come….

What could that possibly mean?

And what was Crete planning?

It was now clear that it was related to the ‘additional sentence’ I had written in the letter to Kyle.

No answer came to mind immediately.

There were only countless speculations.

‘But at least he was able to carry out some of the things I ordered….’

It wasn't a complete waste.

It seemed Kyle had managed to obtain information while at the Bares mansion.

I was very curious about his methods.

How did he manage to gather information under Crete’s watch?

I was able to find the answer to that soon enough.

"When I said I wanted to go outside, the head of the family immediately gave me permission. It’s the first time I’ve seen a demon like that.”

“…….”

Oh dear.

I sighed inwardly.

The arrogant Crete.

As he did with me, he had allowed Kyle to wander outside even though he didn’t trust him.

How could demons be so consistent?

Did they have that much faith in Gu Poison?

Or were they so sure that no one could escape their grasp….

‘It’s almost frightening.’

If Crete had acted this way without the skill to back it up, I would have scoffed, but he had the ‘ability’ to be arrogant.

It was rather convincing.

As I came to terms with why Crete had let Kyle wander around, I moved on to the main topic.

“So, which hidden dungeon did you learn about? Do you have a map or anything?”

“……You and the head of the family, you’re both the same, using me like this.”

“That’s life.”

“Shut up.”

While muttering curses, Kyle began to tell me about the hidden dungeons he had learned about.

And after hearing all the information about the hidden dungeons Kyle had discovered, I couldn't help but stiffen my expression.

These dungeons were….

The rewards are too lousy!

“How did you manage to find out about such dungeons?”

“……I worked hard to find them. To begin with, the Demon Realm is in ruins, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all the treasures were taken by the humans. So, this is all that’s left.”

“…….”

Still, this was far below my expectations.

All the hidden dungeons Kyle had found were of intermediate difficulty or lower.

This meant that the items inside would not be very valuable.

However, it was a shame to miss out on the dungeons he had gone through the trouble of finding.

“Let’s go together later.”

“What, together? With you?!”

“Then who should I go with?”

“Don't be ridiculous!”

“Oh my, mind your language. The young lady might hear you.”

“Your precious lady isn’t even here.”

Kyle seemed to be fuming.

But it couldn't be helped.

Wouldn’t it be easier to find our way if Kyle came along?

Anyway,

Let’s save the reunion joy for later.

The Bares’ escorts seemed to be preparing to return to the territory.

They shouted at us.

“You two get on board!”

Thump—.

I put my hand on Kyle’s shoulder and said,

“Come on, let’s go! Home!”

“That’s not my home….”

Kyle wiped his tear-stained face with a rough hand, his expression gloomy.

I grabbed his arm and forced him onto the carriage.

“I want to go home….”

……Even after getting on the carriage, Kyle couldn’t shake off his gloom and continued to shed tears.

* * *

The Bares mansion.

A maid was rushing through the halls.

Her destination was the room of the lord’s daughter.

She had been serving and caring for the young lady since she was a child.

Having lost her mother at a young age, the maid’s heart ached whenever she saw the young lady’s gloomy demeanor.

She was on her way to deliver news that she hoped would cheer her up.

Knock, knock—.

She was so out of breath from rushing that she could barely speak as she knocked on the door.

“My, my lady. Please open the door!”

“…….”

But there was no answer from inside the room.

Naturally, the door remained closed.

Only a cold silence filled the air.

So she shouted,

“The lord and your escorts have returned!”

― …….

But the door remained shut.

“My lady….”

Realizing it was futile, the maid turned to leave.

Just as she was about to walk away, disappointed,

Creak—.

The door to the young lady’s room opened.

Bares Rene.

A hint of a smile touched her usually gloomy face.

“……You’re finally here.”

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