An hour and a half quietly slipped by.
In the evening, the Demon Lord's Royal Restaurant's lights shimmered like a dream in the darkness, emanating a noble and unique magical aura.
Accompanied by the delicate melody of the restaurant's instruments, Lanqi and Huberrian finished their dinner.
The two reluctantly left the restaurant, as if departing from a dream back to reality.
Although Huberrian had also inadvertently become immersed in the demon realm's atmosphere.
It wasn't until she walked through the glass doors that she realized this sign of awakening bloodline made her feel one step further from being human.
In the empty corridor.
Lanqi walked in front, as if taking a stroll.
Huberrian followed behind, dragging a coffin-like gift box.
The corridor was flanked by magnificent skylights, offering a clear view of every star in the demon realm's sky.
Starlight poured down, making this slightly inclined corridor appear like a crystal bridge connecting the stars to the earth.
Though the scene was beautiful, the two figures in it were rather brazen.
Inside the coffin-like gift box, the silver-haired demon lay quietly.
His presence was like a cold jewel, granted a noble resting place.
The corridor reflected a serene light under the illumination of both lamps and starlight.
This walkway would extend all the way to the teaching area, which was their next destination.
Although they needed to wait for some time before the corridor would reconnect with the teaching area, such waiting was a rare pleasure for them.
In this corridor, they could leisurely appreciate the demon realm's starscape, something impossible to see in the mortal world.
Lanqi and Huberrian had no plans to explore other functional area corridors for now.
Because if they wandered off, their navigation demon Bachel might not be able to find them during the next class break.
Huberrian placed the silver-haired demon's coffin at the corridor's end.
This spot was particularly quiet compared to other parts of the walkway, with only the gentle glow of the demon realm's starlight falling around them.
The two sat side by side and began counting their spoils.
A simple search yielded a large number of credit coins.
"What a great harvest! Good deeds really do bring good rewards!" Lanqi said joyfully.
It seemed they could enjoy themselves in the functional areas before returning to the mortal world.
"Yes, yes," Huberrian responded softly with a slightly helpless smile.
She sometimes felt like babysitting when following Lanqi.
After thoroughly searching through the silver-haired demon's possessions.
Both Lanqi and Huberrian's expressions gradually turned surprised.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
"Wait, this guy was incredibly wealthy..."
They only realized after carefully examining the credit coins they'd collected.
The credit coins on the silver-haired demon were all in units of 10!
The black-gold credit coins bearing special symbols gleamed under the starlight. Each of these coins could be exchanged for 10 regular credit coins, or used directly as 10 credits.
This meant the silver-haired demon's credit coins were actually ten times more than Lanqi had initially thought when collecting them.
Lanqi's gaze turned to another item found in the silver-haired demon's inner pocket.
It was a black seal engraved with complex patterns, its shell like black jade, smooth and cold.
"..."
Lanqi tried to understand if this was a magical item, but even he had difficulty discerning its actual purpose.
Finally, looking at the identification documents from the silver-haired demon's body, his expression grew more puzzled.
"Why doesn't he have a student ID, but instead... a Demon King's Castle credential?"
Lanqi's self-musing voice echoed in the empty corridor, creating ripples in the still air.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
In the conference room at the top floor of the Inferno Corridor Academy, the walls were entirely deep purple, with intricate ancient carvings reflecting a heavy mythological atmosphere.
The tall dome above cast down faint starlight, projecting moon shadows and stardust into every corner of the conference room.
A massive round table sat in the center, surrounded by several senior professors, each face written with worry and seriousness.
Their figures flickered in the dim starlight, accompanied by a sense of pressure that seemed to freeze the air in the room, where even the smallest sound could produce strong vibrations.
The Vice Principal sat in the main seat, brows furrowed, silent.
He looked around at each professor in the conference room and said in a grave voice:
"Professors, the special envoy from the Demon King's Castle should arrive at our school in the next few days."
"According to the Principal, this envoy is skilled at disguise and infiltration, and might pose as a student or teacher to observe and investigate the school first."
"During the Principal's absence, we must continue to strictly follow the rules. We absolutely cannot accidentally offend the Demon Lord's special envoy."
As soon as the Vice Principal finished speaking, the other professors nodded but remained silent.
They knew that what truly made the Vice Principal feel like his eyebrows were on fire wasn't because of this Demon King's Castle envoy.
But rather another, more troublesome figure about to arrive at the school—the Blood Clan's emissary.
The Vice Principal rubbed his forehead, looking extremely tired, his breath like winter mist instantly absorbed by the air.
He raised his head, looking forward, his tone powerless, as if talking to himself yet also seeking answers from the professors:
"The pressure from the Demon Realm Education Department is too great. The Blood Clan's emissary will soon arrive in Inferno City. If the emissary discovers that humans have indeed infiltrated our school, violating the 'North-South Treaty,' we'll all be in serious trouble."
The North-South Treaty, also known as the "Blood Clan and Demon Clan Non-Interference Treaty."
In these chaotic times, the Blood Clan dominated the South, with many human kingdom monarchs serving as their slaves.
While the Demon Clan in the North was relatively weaker compared to the Blood Clan, only protected by the natural barrier of glaciers in the extreme North.
The Demon Clan needed to maintain neutrality regarding any matters between the Blood Clan and humans—this was the basic condition for the Blood Clan not to move against the Demon Clan.
However, currently.
The Blood Clan had begun to suspect the Demon Clan was trying to secretly break this balance.
The cause of this matter.
It started with an absurd rumor circulating in the demon realm recently—
Reportedly, the Blood Clan discovered that humans were suspected of disguising themselves as demons, attempting to infiltrate the demon realm to steal demon knowledge.
At first, the Demon Clan didn't believe it.
Usually, it was demons who tried to disguise themselves as humans.
There had never been humans trying to disguise themselves as demons.
Until later.
The Blood Clan Duke seemed to have brutally extracted some key intelligence from the family members of Imperial Laboratory researchers.
And learned that some surviving members of the empire's secret forces were highly likely to be hiding in this Inferno Corridor Academy, and had been for some time!