"Oh, Kenji, you're finally back."
"Yeah, it's been awhile."
One of the guys in the class bumped fists with Kai.
(A/N: I remember reading a novel with a secret identity and the author kept calling the character with his real name while the characters called him by his fake name, it worked better than constantly switching so unless it's a secret from even the readers, secret identities will be revealed by narrations from this point. If I have a lot of chapters in queue, I may decide to rewrite the secret identity part in the past chapters but for now, I'll stick with editing the prologue, may rewrite it several times until I get a proper one though.)
"I heard that you were taking a break from school because of family problems but you aren't a noble, right?"
"I'm not. It's just that my sister had some problems and I had to go help her settle them."
Yoko who overheard just as she entered the room closed her eyes because of Kai's lie.
Sister, I wonder what Amelia and Erina would do if they heard that.
"You took a fourth of the year off, what kind of problems were you facing...? You know what, don't answer that. I'm actually worried at what those problems might be."
Kai's classmate said so as he left.
"Yeah, now that I've realized it, you barely attended school."
"True. Not like I have a use for lessons that don't understand the basic concept of true magic though."
"...For not having a use for it, you were plenty informed before."
Kai shrugged.
"I had to at least memorize the book to not seem suspicious."
"No, not everyone could just memorize the book. In the first place, books are expensive and only nobles would be able to afford them..."
In Gaia, books are all handwritten. Though if compared to Earth, it would only be a matter of time because Gaia looked like the middle ages.
I don't think I should advance this world with any knowledge from Earth too far. Even Superbia had only used things from this world and improved them.
Of course, Kai couldn't say he used nothing from Earth but he kept it to a minimal. The most he shared would be knowledge and that's only to Amelia.
Kai went to his seat beside Yoko and Natsumi. When he got there, Natsumi had her face turned away with a pout.
"...What's wrong with her?"
Yoko ignored Kai's question and sat down.
I guess it's about me. I did nothing in the past month though...
"Haru-"
Natsumi turned her face away even more.
Kai sighed before sitting down.
"Come on, what's the problem? You can't just pout like this all day."
"Idiot."
Natsumi insulted him before completely ignoring all of his questions.
I guess I'd have to resort to that.
"I'm sorry."
"Do you know what for?"
"...No."
"Then don't say sorry, idiot."
My trump card was countered.
Natsumi's pout became rounder. Kai was just about to pull both her cheeks but stopped himself when he remembered where he was.
I don't want any more rumors sprouting... The last time we saw each other was the feast after I created the weapons because I had been busy but she wasn't sulky when I saw her then.
Kai thought of more possibilities but ended up blank. He then decided to leave it for later as it wasn't that important a matter.
"Everyone, starting today you're going to have a subsitute teacher to replace me. I'm going to be taking a leave for the rest of the school year to take care of my wife because she's due by then."
The professor walked in and said so with a sheepish smile.
"Woo! Congratulations!"
"Doing work both day and night, amazing!"
"Your receding hairline still has hope!"
"You bastards, who the hell said that last line?!"
The professor roared at the boys who had all began screaming.
"Alright, professor Amon. Please enter."
Seeing as how the professor couldn't do anything to the class, he sighed and gave the cue to the teacher waiting outside the door.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"This is your new substitute teacher, he'll be teaching in my place for the rest of the year. Though he's only a substitute, I can vouch for his teaching skills. Now, please introduce yourself."
Amon nodded at the professor.
"I give you my thanks, professor Bant. A pleasant morning to everyone, this one is named Amon, I may look young but I assure you all I'm above the age of twenty, I may only have a paltry amount of experience when it comes to teaching, I assure you all that I will help you through this arduous year and help you achieve what you've all wanted."
Amon had one hand on his chest and his body slightly bent forward, it appeared as if he was a noble or related to one because he had etiquette. To top it off, he actually talked in a way that no commoner- or rather, nobody in this day and age would talk like that.
Just as Amon's words faded, killing intent burst out of Kai but he managed to retract it the instant it appeared. Everyone around him felt it but brushed it off, only Natsumi and Yoko felt that it was Kai who had released the killing intent.
"Kenji, what's wrong?"
Natsumi asked Kai, removing any traces of her former mood.
"...It's nothing."
Though he said that, Kai continued to stare daggers at Amon.
"It's obviously not nothing."
Yoko said without looking at Kai and instead, inspecting Amon.
"I don't see anything weird about him other than the way he talks. Is there some bad blood between you two or something? It doesn't seem like he's a fighter... a mage, maybe."
Kai retracted his gaze just as Amon was about to look at him. His gaze then traveled to Yoko who was still inspecting him. That single gaze sent chills down Yoko's spine. Every cell in her body was screaming danger.
"K-Kai..."
She was shaking as she tried to grab Natsumi's hand. Natsumi saw her and held Yoko's hand in her hands.
"Yoko, what's wrong?"
Kai released his aura, enough to surround Yoko but not hinder anyone else. After a few seconds, Yoko finally stopped trembling.
"Kai... what was that?"
Natsumi asked Kai.
"It doesn't look like he's trying to hide it, why is he even going in as a professor?"
Kai furrowed his brows.
"Kai!"
Natsumi put some strength into her voice. Kai had just employed a sound-proof barrier.
"Beings that manipulate humans, demons. But that's not all, even demons have royalty. This one is Marquess Aamon, quite the troublesome foe, he has something like a magic eye that shows him five seconds into the future. Natsumi, Yoko, don't react or attack him, he will blow his cover and everyone in this room excluding us will die. He's at a level we can't take right now, a fifth stage demon."
They're earlier than expected, what made them advance their plans?
Kai had his magic ready and could cancel his transformation at any moment.
Our only hope is the peaceful demon faction leader, Paimon's group's interference. It's doubtful if they're near. For now, I have to make sure to do everything I can to not irk Aamon.
"Yoko, Natsumi, whatever you do, do not antagonize him. Avoid him as much as possible, I'll inform Erina and the others."
Kai's persona, Kenji wasn't switched on nor should he be. Kai needed to prepare for any attacks from the council at any moment, his identity as Kenji wasn't as important. But with the arrival of the demons, Kai was now cornered between a rock and a hard place.
At worst, I have to request help from grandmother or even be forced to use 'that' depending on the circumstances. But if it's power I need...
"Hey."
"What is it?"
Natsumi asked while still comforting Yoko.
"I need you (your help). Come to my room later tonight."
"Hoeh?"
Natsumi let out a dumb voice.
"Although you're going to have to bleed a little (as a catalyst)."
"E-eh... Kai, aren't we going too fast (first time)?"
Kai raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think there's any better time, the demons are here so our lives aren't assured, don't you think so? If you're afraid, I'll try to make it as painless as possible so don't worry (healing magic)."
"...Take care of me (take responsibility)."
"...?"
Yoko would normally point out the misunderstanding by now but because she was quite occupied trying to steel herself, she didn't listen to their conversation.
(A/N: I took the liberty of translating what they're really talking about.)
Now that I have Natsumi's blood, I can go ahead with the next ingredients... chalk is important too apparently, I can easily find that so let's put that out for later.
Kai was trying to remember the ingredients required to make a traditional magic circle. Kai normally uses magic to carve it into surfaces or even make it float in the air, but a traditional magic circle required many complicated materials which made Kai wonder why they used so many unnecessary items. Though, Kai needs to create a traditional magic circle with all the components attached.
In the end, Amon's class went without incident and Yoko finally recovered herself after it finished.
----------------------------------------
Time passed until it reached nighttime. The boy's dorm- as the name said, was for boys and girls were absolutely banned from entering while boys were banned from the girl's dorm.
Three knocks on Kai's door.
"Come in."
While wearing a hood, Natsumi entered the room.
"P-pardon my intrusion..."
"Well, let's get started."
"A-all of a sudden?! Aren't we going to take a bath or anything first?!"
"Why would we take a bath? You can use it if you really want to though."
Kai pointed at a door on the side of the room and went back to the table to write something.
"Thank you..."
Natsumi walked through the door and Kai could hear the sound of water filling the room.
Weird girl.
"Now, with those ingredients, I can use the floor here to..."
In that instant, it all came back to Kai. Before, he was too caught up with the method to use the magic circle and how to deal with the demon, now that his mind was back to its normal state, he realized it. Though he didn't know how long he had been in that state, it was evident that he had taken awhile because he could hear the sound of the door from the bath opening.
"Natsumi, there's been a misunderstanding-"
Kai wished he could've spoken sooner. There, Natsumi was walking towards him in nothing but her underwear.
"I-I'm sorry if my body is a bit..."
"...And I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."
"Eh?"
Kai bowed.
"W-well, you see... I was going to create a magic circle and I need a drop of your blood from a fresh wound, the royal family of Alteria has a special activation spell molded into their blood... I'm sorry for making a lady such as you bare yourself before me and not partake of the feast- I mean, not take responsibility but only Amelia and Erina are in my heart right now. If you really can't handle that I saw you then you can hit me all you want but..."
Natsumi was blinking over and over during Kai's explanation but immediately afterwards, her eyes began to water. With a comedic look, tears began to drop in droplets from her eyes.
This is going to take awhile.
----------------------------------------
Natsumi was sniffling over and over while covering her face with the hood she wore before wrapped around her.
"..."
Kai was right next to her contemplating about what to do. It had already been two hours yet she was still crying though she was crying more from embarrassment rather than sadness.
"I'm *hic* okay now..."
"...I'm sorry."
"It's... *hic* okay. It was my *hic* fault for misunderstanding you... *hic*. We can start now."
Though she said that, her eyes and nose were still red. Kai did as she asked, he removed the carpet and began drawing a magic circle with chalk.
"It's done."
Natsumi held out her hand on top of the circle and Kai pricked her thumb with a needle. A single drop of blood fell onto the circle and it began to glow brightly.
"It's open."
Kai stood straight and went into his battle gear, the trench coat and weapons were equipped but instead of a normal sword or a scythe, he had a long blade wrapped in cloth.
"Using the circle to summon the portal, I, Kuroshi Kai, have filled the conditions to undertake the trial of the spirits."
YOUR VOICE HAS BEEN HEARD. THE PORTAL IS OPEN.
A deep voice shook the room and Kai closed his eyes once the words faded.
"Reo, here I come."