I read the book 'The Strongest Demon Slayer’. It was almost like a fantasy story. Except it explained affinities, hybrid affinities, and everything else in great detail.

The only problem with the book was that it jerked off the main character too much. It was as if the main protagonist was the best human ever.

How the hell did that village get its hands on it? They were some kind of phantasm of the past; I had thought at most around 30 to 50 years. But now I wasn’t so sure.

A strange feeling bubbled inside my chest. It wasn’t anger about not knowing something. No, I was excited about what this world had to offer.

An announcement came from the intercom. "We would like to warn all the students to stay in their rooms. A murderer has been committed on the ship."

I closed my book. Gem and Bets stopped playing chess and stared at me.

"Do we get involved with this?" Asked Bets. He looked calm on the outside.

That's what I admired about him; he was always calm. There wasn't a better second-in-command than him.

"I don't think we will have a choice on the matter,” if the killer got found out, we would have a murder hunt on our hands, and every one of the students would be a suspect.

There wasn't a murder on the ship in the original story. This was something created by my interference. Then going by that alone, there were already some obvious suspects.

"So what will our next step be?" Bets inquired.

"Well, preparation is key to these things," meaning I had no idea what to do, and I was trying to come up with something.

***

Sei knew he was dreaming but was so comfortable he didn’t want to wake up.

A younger version of Sei had a broad smile as he stared at a mirror.

In the mirror, instead of there being a reflection of himself, it was a woman. She had an otherworldly beauty; there were no imperfections to her.

The only strange thing about her was the fox ears coming out of her silver hair and a silver tail swishing behind her.

"Mom! Mom! Why're you sealed in a mirror?!" It was a question the younger him asked a lot. He was practically jumping in excitement.

"Did you come here secretly again?" The woman smiled, and her hand moved through the mirror, ruffling younger Sei's hair. "What did I tell you about this?"

Younger Sei looked down. "Don't do it again…"

He had sadness written all over his face and was about to cry. "But, mom. Why does father hate you?"

"Oh, he doesn't hate me. We did have you after all," his mother used her hand to cover a chuckle escaping her lips. Then her eyes turned cold for a split second. "Though the family elders and others are a different story."

That was a look that Sei would understand much later and never noticed back then.

"Hm?" Younger Sei tilted his head. He didn't understand why anyone would hate his gentle mother.

..

Time moved fast; the next scene was Sei lying beside his father's corpse.

His mother stood atop a mountain of corpses. She had a deranged smile on her face. "Hahahahaha! I will kill you all! All of you! Everyone in the world! I will bathe the Seimei Clan in blood!”

She looked enraged, and it was as if all those moments where she acted like his mother were all lies.

Then her gaze turned toward the younger Sei, and her smile widened from ear to ear, almost splitting her face in half. "My son, my beautiful son. You released me! So this is all your fault. Now it's your responsibility to grow stronger! So one day you can become a delicious dish for your mother!"

Suddenly, Sei opened his eyes, and a familiar ceiling greeted him. He was in the infirmary. There were dozens of other beds around him; most had green covers and some weak barriers around them.

He took rapid breaths and noticed he was sweating a lot. "Fuck, why did I have to remember that?"

He touched the injury on his stomach and winced. The wound was a bit deep, though not enough to hinder him for long. But it was still early in the exam, and cuts would only continue adding up.

He wished he had that regeneration like Agon. Yesterday he was almost half-dead, but now he was jumping around like a baboon.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

'As a half-demon, shouldn't I have some kind of regeneration? What bad luck, it seems like I got the short end of the stick.' Sei sighed.

"We would like to warn all the students to stay in their rooms. A murder has been committed on the ship." A voice came over the intercom, waking him up from his contemplations. Despite the grim announcement, Sei wasn’t too worried. There was nothing he could do about it in his condition.

"You're finally awake," Anika smirked with a devilish glint in her eyes. "I thought you would end up like a sleeping beauty, and a prince would come and kiss you."

Unfortunately, fate had cursed him with having her in the adjacent bed. It was annoying. She constantly screeched at everything. For some reason, she was very antagonistic to everyone.

"How are you and Agon? Do you have any injuries that might hinder the next phase?" Sei tried to drive the conversation away from something that might grow into a fight.

Anika frowned and seemed like she was offended by his words.

‘Damn it! She’s going to start a screeching match. Why did the headmaster have to assign me to such a team?’ Sei accepted his inevitable fate.

But Anika took a deep breath, and her crazy stare calmed down. "No, we're both well. Though-"

"So you're the Seimei guy," someone interrupted them. The newcomer had a slouched back, tired eyes, and a coffin on his back. "My name is Mino. Nice to meet you."

He walked closer, and with each step, Sei grew more vigilant. He observed every nook and cranny of Mino's movements.

"I'm Sei. Nice to meet you too," Sei knew about him.

Mino's clan was one of the great four clans, the Shi Clan. But everyone else called them the Corpse Collectors or grave robbers behind their backs.

They were a clan who stole the corpses of strong exorcists and used their Ord abilities to awaken the dead.

It was the understatement of the century to say they were a clan disliked by most.

Most countries banned human control abilities. Except for York, the same country the Shi Clan originated. They controlled the country from behind the scenes.

"I heard you were a once-in-a-thousand-years talent," Mino smirked, his pupils enlarged. "Wanna fight? The Shi Clan's techniques, considered the strongest throughout the years, against talent that appears once in a millennium. Aren't you curious which one is better?"

"Fucking corpses all day must have rotted your brains too," Anika got up and walked close to the man. "We aren't allowed to kill each other on the ship. So why don't we just have a death battle on the next stage of the exam?"

"No. The rules said that we couldn't kill the other. It never said anything about maiming. I could cut all your limbs off, and it wouldn't be against the rules as long as you’re still alive." Mino shrugged and put the coffin down and was ready to open it.

"Wow, you're really taking your interpretation of those words to the next level," Anika whistled, and her Ord started pouring out of her body and turning thin, almost string-like.

Mino didn't look worried by this and tugged at his coffin. But his eyes widened, and he looked back. His coffin had shut in place. "Huh?"

"What? Surprised?" Anika smirked arrogantly and looked down at Mino. "You think I would leave this room unattended? I assumed from the beginning that no one would follow that rule. So? What now? Wanna continue fighting? Kekekeke, I have you totally beat."

Though she was on his side, for some reason, Sei felt annoyed by the look on her face.

If every person were born with one thing they were good at, Anika would be a genius-level bully. She knew how to get under people's skin through pure talent to be an asshole.

Mino stared at her as she ranted about how stupid he was. She took a deep breath, about to go into another long-winded brag.

Mino stood up and cracked his index finger with his thumb. "You're from the Raion Clan, right? You should have studied a bit more in history. If so-"

Whatever he was about to say, he stopped. A strict presence descended. It wasn’t necessarily an intense pressure, yet it felt dangerous and mysterious.

A woman wearing a suit walked in with rectangular glasses reflecting the light. “Why’re you brats acting so casually when there has been an announcement that a murderer is running amok? Right now, you’ve gone to the top of my suspects' list.”

No matter how one looked at her, she had the vibe of a strict teacher, which made her appear trustworthy. Yet she didn’t ooze strength.

But Sei couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Every instinct in his body was screaming that this woman was dangerous!!

Mino stared at her for a few seconds before smiling and raising his arms. “I surrender. You’ve got me. Who would have thought that the Sun Kingdom would even bring out its Specialist Exorcists to deal with little old me.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “You’re making it sound like we’re ganging up on you. When we both know I would be more than enough to deal with a little squirt like you.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Mino smirked and punched his coffin, creating cracks all along the wood.

The strict-looking woman didn’t seem impressed. “You think I don’t know who that corpse belongs to? If it were your father, he would have been a dangerous opponent. But you’re just using your father’s toys.”

Bloodlust filled the room, and Mino looked at the woman with murder written all over his eyes. But the woman smirked and nudged her head. “You might be the strongest in this generation. But don’t go biting too high, brat. I’m sure you will have the qualifications to come and try me in a year or two.”

Mino put the coffin over his shoulder and walked toward the woman. It looked like he was going to attack.

But when they were within arm’s length of each other. Neither said anything, though the woman had a smirk on her face. Did she enjoy this confrontation?

Anika touched her nose. “What a creepy bastard. He smelled like blood.”

“Hey! Does anyone want snacks?!” The door to the infirmary opened, and Agon and Miku came in with huge smiles on their faces, their arms filled with different junk food.

Before Sei or Anika could reprimand him, another announcement came over the intercom. “Another dead body has been found. We will start an immediate investigation into the matter. So we ask every student to show up in the dining room. Don’t worry. You aren’t suspects. We’re just getting witnesses.”

Another death? What the hell was wrong with this exam? Were the participants addicted to killing?!