I Became a Demon Who Can Never Be Headpatted in the Academy?!

Professor Malea’s cooperative task was the first main quest that a player of Legend of Academy would experience.

Therefore, you had to form a party of four, and unlike when doing sub-quests, you couldn’t give up or ignore the quest if you were at a disadvantage.

However, as it was a tutorial-like quest placed in the elementary school chapter, the difficulty itself was nothing special. As Professor Malea said, you just had to defeat the monsters, collect the hidden treasure chests one by one, and return.

But that wasn’t all. A single quest could be cleared in various ways, and the details of the story changed through interaction with various characters.

As this was the true fun of Leoa, players couldn’t just hunt a few monsters and become ‘first place’ in this cooperative task.

The most important point here was to enter the giant treehouse at the north end of Star Shadow Forest by ‘9 minutes 30 seconds’ of game time. ‘Sitri’s party’ would arrive at the treehouse after 9 minutes 30 seconds, so if we wanted to get first place, we had to arrive first.

“…So, we’re planning to move faster than Sitri.”

“I didn’t expect her to use a full-fledged magic tool like a dowsing rod. It even feels a bit underhanded.”

Esme and Thorrin quickly understood my explanation. As they were doing the cooperative task together, they probably wanted to get first place if possible.

“Water spirit! Child of bubbles! Naiara! Wind spirit! Zephyra! Help Murmur!”

The hidden magic that could be used after learning dual casting was used perfectly as I remembered it.

As expected, this kind of magical knowledge that only players knew was quite helpful.

“Huh…? Murmur? What kind of magic did you just use?”

“I summoned the water spirit and wind spirit together with dual casting.”

“I know that too. But there’s only one spirit summoned in front of us?”

Esme pointed to a squishy creature with wings that was spouting giant bubbles.

“Because I summoned it with dual casting. The basic elements that make up this world reacted and fused the spirits.”

“Composition… basic…? Fu, fusion? Where did Murmur learn this kind of magical knowledge?”

“I learned it from a book in the library.”

Somewhere in the academy’s massive library, there must be a grimoire about ‘fused spirits’.

Esme wouldn’t search through all 10,000+ grimoires in the library to see if what I said was true or not. This much of a white lie wouldn’t be a problem.

“Anyway, Thorrin, come here.”

“A-are we going to ride on this spirit?”

“Yeah, soon…”

— Poof!

Before I could finish speaking, the flare that Professor Malea shot into the sky exploded with a loud sound and a bright red light.

“…The task has started. We have to move faster than Sitri, so we’ll ride this fused spirit.”

“Oh, it looks like it’ll be really fun!”

Thorrin was delighted and climbed onto the fused spirit’s body in one go with his small but strong body.

“Esme, come on too.”

“Are we really… going to move by riding on this spirit? Isn’t it too dangerous?”

Strangely, she’s trying to back out in this kind of situation. I have no choice. I have to use Esme’s personality.

“Esme.”

“No matter how I think about it, it’s dangerous. Murmur, let’s walk for now, and if we’re really going to be late…”

“Are you scared?”

Esme, who had been talking excitedly in a cute voice, trembled her eyebrows.

“Hoo, hohoho! Murmur, you’re so funny! Would I, Esme Bloodberry, be scared of this kind of spirit? Let’s go quickly!”

Esme really isn’t honest. Look at her climbing onto the spirit in an instant without me even offering a hand.

* * *

“S-seniors said this cooperative task would be easy…”

“Aren’t the monsters stronger than we thought?”

The academy students, wiping the sweat from their foreheads with their sleeves, were lightly complaining.

Just like the ‘knowledge of the game’ that Murmur had, Professor Malea’s ‘first cooperative task’ was famous as a ‘reasonably easy test’ even by the common sense of this world.

To get first place, you needed a lot of preparation like Sitri, but if you were just talking about whether you could pass or not, it was a test that anyone could pass unless they were an unbelievable dropout.

This easy test was subtly strange this year. The monsters were so strong that the students who participated in the test felt blatant fatigue, and their lips were pouting.

“Hmph… still, we’re steadily scoring points.”

“That’s right, the last place is already decided, isn’t it?”

“You’re talking about Murmur, right? She was probably planning to get first place with the Princess’s help!”

The students naturally laughed as they thought of Murmur’s ‘misfortune’.

They couldn’t stand the fact that Murmur, a demon race who was naturally ignored and oppressed, was strangely getting along with the Princess, Nikea.

That was the common sense they had learned from adults, and at some point, they had come to think that way themselves.

“Since the last place is decided, let’s just pass.”

“Yeah, yeah. If we just find the treasure… huh?”

One of the students, who had been talking excitedly, blinked and looked somewhere before shutting his mouth.

“W-what’s that…?”

“Why? Is there another strange monster? It’s hard, let’s run… huh?”

— Thud thud thud!

The students, who had dirt on their hands, all stood up and stared blankly at the entrance of the forest.

“What is it?”

“I-it’s a monster…! But it looks squishy!”

“H-huh? It looks cute!”

The students were purely bewildered by the sight of Murmur, Esme, and Thorrin riding on a giant squishy creature that was spouting white bubbles and water droplets.

To the elementary school 5th graders who had not yet learned summoning magic, Murmur’s ‘spirit’ was a very bizarre magic. Moreover, it was not just a simple water spirit, but it was fused with a wind spirit.

“…Murmur! This is too fast!”

“Waaah!! It’s so fast!!!”

Esme, who was holding onto Murmur’s waist and trembling, screamed in terror, while Thorrin raised both hands high and screamed in thrill.

The two screams disappeared in an instant as the squishy creature sped through the forest, and the students stared blankly at its back.

“…What is she… doing?”

“Huh… where is she going so fast? What is she doing?”

“I-it looks fun? What is it? Why don’t we learn that kind of magic?! That’s unfair!”

The children, who had been singing about Murmur’s misfortune, naturally began to bloom the emotion of ‘envy’.

“Wow… she’s really doing something absurd! Murmur is. Lachesis! Are you not hurt?”

Among the students, Lachesis, a student with blue hair, was staring at the path Murmur had taken with strangely shining eyes.

“Lachesis! Lachesis! You’re not hurt, are you? It’s scary to explain to your brother.”

“Ah, sorry. I just saw a magic that I wanted to remember with my own eyes.”

The girl, Lachesis, smiled awkwardly.

This girl, whom Murmur was destined to meet someday, had a great interest in Murmur even before that meeting took place.

“It seems like the first place in this task is decided.”

* * *

“Thank you. Everyone.”

Nikea said, after looking at the hand mirror that the head maid, Liora, was holding and checking her condition one last time.

“Perfume! Put on perfume!”

The maid, Maris, who was panting and took out perfume from her pocket, naturally sprayed peach-scented perfume on Nikea, who was sticking out her neck.

It was natural for sweat to form on the body and for hair to become disheveled when running, but Nikea, who had to play the role of a figurehead today to meet the arbitrary expectations of adults, dressed herself up as much as possible.

“I’ll go in. Everyone, please relax.”

“There is no need to be nervous, Princess.”

Nikea smiled at Liora, who was giving her words of encouragement until the end, and then knocked on the door of the ‘Headmaster’s Office’ in front of her.

“Welcome, esteemed Princess. Headmaster Cosmos is waiting inside.”

Sylvia, the headmaster’s secretary, an elf with scarred ears, opened the door and spoke politely, and Nikea nodded before carefully entering the headmaster’s office.

“Welcome.”

“It is an honor to have a private meeting with you after a long time, Headmaster Cosmos.”

“Hmm~ I wouldn’t call it a private meeting. I was planning to have a leisurely tea time here with Nikea today.”

Nikea’s eyebrows twitched, and she rolled her red eyes, half-expecting something.

‘Are you really… calling me here for a tea party? Headmaster Cosmos should know that I have to do a cooperative task today, right?’

Nikea, who couldn’t even guess what Headmaster Cosmos was thinking as she smiled slyly and sat back down, reluctantly sat on the soft sofa as she was gestured to.

In front of Headmaster Cosmos, a glass of coffee with ice was already set up, and in front of Nikea, only an apple pie with a sweet fragrance was prepared.

“What would our Princess like? Bitter tea? Sweet juice? Coffee? Soda?”

“I don’t intend to be extravagant. Please just give me something ordinary.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Sylvia brought Nikea a peach black tea with ice floating in it. Of course, Nikea had no intention of drinking it.

“Headmaster Cosmos…”

I need to finish this quickly and get back to Murmur. With only that thought in mind, Nikea realized that Headmaster Cosmos was watching the cooperative task with magic and was at a loss for words.

“…You deliberately called me here, didn’t you?”

“Which is it? Actually, there was something I really needed to discuss with Princess Nikea.”

“But I can feel the intentionality. You called me because you knew I was in the same group as Murmur, right?”

Nikea’s words were sharp, to say the least. Headmaster Cosmos was still watching Murmur’s performance with magic at this moment.

“If you ask like that, I guess I have to say yes.”

“…I’ll take my leave now. If it’s an important matter, let’s talk about it next time…”

Nikea got up from her seat, but Sylvia was blocking the only way out of the room.

“Don’t think badly of me.”

“…Murmur has worked hard to prepare for this task. You may not know it, Headmaster, but it’s not right to blatantly interfere like this.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t help Murmur.”

“What kind of… nonsense are you talking about?”

Headmaster Cosmos smiled gently.

“Nikea just said it, didn’t you? That Murmur worked hard? What will happen if you, as a teammate, perform well here?”

“Cooperative tasks are naturally…”

“No, to the eyes of those self-important adults, ‘Murmur’s performance’ won’t be seen. They will only see Princess Nikea’s wonderful performance. No matter how hard Murmur has tried, it doesn’t matter.”

Nikea swallowed hard and sat back down on her chair.

“Please explain in detail.”

“The results of this task will be a good spectacle for the troublemakers who are watching the academy. If our princess achieves great results here, Murmur will end up proving nothing.”

“What is she supposed to prove?”

Headmaster Cosmos gave a sly smile.

“Well…”

“I am Murmur’s friend. Please tell me clearly, Headmaster!”

At those words, which strangely felt emotional, Headmaster Cosmos turned her head.

“Is Murmur a descendant of the demon god?”

“… …That’s completely unrelated to this cooperative task.”

“There’s a saying that a promising tree is recognizable from its young leaves. I’m curious to see what kind of magic Murmur, who showed an ‘understanding of magic’ that was impossible for an elementary school 5th grader in the fight with Colette Bloodberry, will show in this test, which has a considerably higher difficulty.”

Nikea swallowed hard and quickly took a few sips of peach black tea.

“If you perform well here, the nobles will start to chatter again. They’ll say that because she wasn’t in danger, the hidden power of the insidious and terrifying descendant of the demon god wasn’t revealed. And? They’ll say that Princess Nikea is hiding the fact, unlike the Crown Princess. They’ll be singing with joy that they have a new topic to chew on at social parties.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Of course it is. Everyone is expecting Murmur to unleash the hidden power that a descendant of the demon god can show when placed in a dangerous situation. Yeah, like dark magic, blood magic, or summoning demons…”

“Murmur doesn’t know that kind of magic. She doesn’t use it. You know that! She just… didn’t have any friends on the weekends! She just studied hard, that’s all!!”

Headmaster Cosmos did not answer and smiled. She knew that kind of information, even without Nikea desperately telling her.

Conversely, Nikea was so anxious that she clenched her fists at the unpleasant feeling of her neck and armpits becoming wet with sweat.

“…What do you think, Headmaster? You said before that you wouldn’t let the academy’s students be bullied.”

Nikea dared to hope. That the woman in front of her would be Murmur’s ally.

“Well.”

“Please tell me! It’s embarrassing to say this, but… you’ve known me for more than just a day or two, right?”

“If our Princess Nikea says so, then I have no choice.”

Headmaster Cosmos opened her mouth, her eyes fixed on Murmur, who was riding the squishy creature into the giant treehouse.

“I don’t want to kill her.”

“Headmaster…”

“This test is about proving how natural it is to protect my precious students. So, Nikea…”

Headmaster Cosmos showed a serious expression without any trace of her usual smile. It was an expression that even Nikea, who had ‘known her for a long time’, had never seen before.

“Please trust the adults. We are cowardly beings who have to sign documents and be mindful of others’ opinions to protect students, but please trust us just this once.”

“…I understand. But if Murmur is really in danger, I’ll run to her.”

“Of course, you should. How can I stop a student who wants to save a friend in danger?”

Headmaster Cosmos, who had returned to her usual sly expression, clenched her fist.

“Prove it, Murmur. That you are not a descendant of the demon god. That there is absolutely no wickedness or insidiousness in you.”