Reincarnated as a Dragon and Raised by a Demon

Demons inherently possess mana.

The heart technique is a tool for efficiently utilizing this mana.

However, I don’t know the heart technique.

Focusing my mind and taking a deep breath, I feel something entering my body.

The problem lies in being able to use this freely.

When I slightly open my eyes, a sliver of moonlight seeps through the window.

All is quiet, with only the sound of my heartbeat and the small breaths of Jema.

Closing my eyes again and concentrating, my steady breathing and heartbeat gradually overlapped into one.

If I lose focus for just a moment, the anxious rhythm feels like it might break at any second.

“Huh.”

I exhaled deeply and lay down on the floor.

It was difficult not only to handle mana but even to sense it.

How do other demons feel their mana and easily use magic?

Although I wasn’t particularly inclined, I decided to ask Solche for advice during class tomorrow as I fell asleep.

“Wake up, Ririan.”

“Huh? Is it already morning?”

Jema was already dressed.

As her eyes opened, Jema seemed to become more animated.

I got up haphazardly and checked for any wrinkles in my clothes.

I didn’t feel the need to change.

I left the room in the same outfit I wore yesterday.

I grabbed a light breakfast in the dining hall and headed to the Academy.

“Were they always there?”

“Who?”

I turned my head in the direction Jema pointed with her finger.

In front of the classroom, specifically in the hallway, someone had brought a desk and was sitting there.

“You guys come to school early.”

“Yeah, well….”

Clearly one of the Academy’s teachers; I didn’t know their name.

Sitting at a desk that didn’t match their slightly chubby figure looked funny.

Jema sat in a chair reading a book, while I lay comfortably on two desks pushed together.

Creak.

“Hey, sit up straight like a student.”

The chubby teacher in the hallway opened the classroom door and scolded.

“The student is sitting properly here. I’m not a student.”

“If you’re wearing a uniform, you’re a student. I’m a teacher, so you should quietly listen to what I say.”

I felt a bit annoyed, but since it was Jema, I decided to behave.

A little later, voices came from the hallway, and I peeked out.

As expected, Solche and the chubby teacher were having a conversation.

“So, you’re saying I’m disturbing your class?”

“It doesn’t matter because it’s the Headmaster’s orders.”

“I didn’t hear such a thing.”

“You’re talking right now. Just think of me as a non-existent person.”

After finishing their conversation, Solche entered the classroom and locked the door from inside.

At that sight, the teacher from the hallway lifted his buttocks and stood up again.

“Hey! Why are you locking the door?”

“What’s the problem with locking my classroom door?”

He seemed angry, as his face flushed with color.

Returning to his place, he resumed his work.

“We’ll start class today.”

“Should we just leave that person alone?”

“It’s annoying, but it can’t be helped.”

Solche taught us the history of Roran, not Tolris.

“So, back then, Demon King… um, since they have discerning eyes, let’s call them a king.”

The teacher outside didn’t seem to care what we were doing.

“Anyone have questions?”

Since Jema didn’t raise her hand, I did.

“That’s a good posture, Ririan.”

“Just call me that. It’s awkward.”

“Alright, Ririan. What are you curious about?”

I beckoned Solche to come closer with my finger.

From the outside, it looked quite rude.

“What do you want to ask?”

Solche lowered his voice to ask.

“It’s about how to handle mana.”

“I’ll explain that during the lesson.”

This is a Royal Academy.

There are classes related to magic.

Neither Jema nor I had ever attended a proper class.

Solche was an information agent for Roran, but he had more than enough knowledge to teach students.

“Mana is scattered in the air.”

Drawing on the blackboard, Solche continued to explain passionately.

Some of the questions I had were resolved.

The heart technique was merely an aid for using magic.

In reality, there are hundreds or thousands of individual heart techniques existing in Roran, Solche slightly revealed.

“So, it can be created independently?”

“I’d prefer if you learned a well-known good heart technique, if possible.”

The Trith heart technique, which Alium had tried to show Jema the day before, came to mind.

“How good is ‘that’ heart technique?”

Solche intuitively understood what word I had omitted.

“The heart technique has upper, middle, and lower grades, and it’s middle-high among them.”

“Are there no better ones?”

“High-level heart techniques don’t leak out easily. Typically, they are passed down by one person in a family.”

The higher the grade, the more difficult it is to learn, and it comes with demanding requirements.

Solche’s explanation was very fitting.

“Heart techniques passed down only to one’s lineage can only be learned by that lineage.”

“What if an unrelated person tries to learn?”

“If there’s a little blood mix, it can survive, but if there’s none, it will die.”

This was a method created by the inheritant of the heart technique solely for the direct descendants.

However, that blood would eventually thin out and disappear, which Solche added was a futile endeavor.

“So, just because it’s high-level doesn’t mean it’s all good.”

“I’ll have to create it myself.”

“You can take your time since you’re still young.”

“I’m not young.”

At my words, Solche quickly rolled his eyes, comparing me to Jema.

“Right now, I’m smaller, but I will definitely grow taller.”

“Sure.”

Solche’s statement wasn’t wrong.

I had only awakened from an egg a year or two ago.

The human appearance is similarly applied as young.

Anyone who doesn’t know would see me as Jema’s younger sibling.

There wouldn’t be much age difference visible.

“Today’s class is over.”

Clunk.

As Solche unlocked the door, the teacher waiting outside stood up.

“I have something to convey, so let’s go to the Headmaster’s office.”

“Yes. Let’s.”

When class ended, it was slightly early afternoon.

The teacher waiting in the hallway seemed to be continuously waiting, wondering if there were no more classes.

“I’ve never seen that person before either.”

After thinking deeply, Jema came to that conclusion.

“What kind of person are they?”

“Probably a watchman. They want to check if we’re escaping.”

Solche probably had a vague awareness of that fact as well.

It hadn’t crossed my mind that Solche would think this way.

Solche seemed to be a relatively trustworthy person, or rather, like a demon.

We always left school earlier than other students.

That’s because there was no designated teacher, so we attended school and had self-study time before leaving.

With only the knowledge of Jema and me, we couldn’t hold classes for more than two hours.

It was the first time Solche provided more than two hours of a proper lesson.

*

After finishing class, Solche headed to the Headmaster’s office with the teacher waiting in the hallway.

“You work really hard, don’t you? Is it because you’re from a commoner background? Oh, I’m Tonbe.”

“Isn’t it the duty of a teacher to teach students?”

“Not for us.”

Tonbe, chuckling while jiggling his belly.

Solche found Tonbe’s attitude quite uncomfortable.

There was something irritating about his frivolous demeanor and condescending attitude.

He appeared like the aristocrats ensconced in pretense.

“Shouldn’t you be in charge of better students than us?”

“All the students here are good, right?”

“Not ‘them’.”

At Tonbe’s remark, Solche barely managed to restrain his facial expression from twisting.

He had to pretend to be as human as possible to blend in among humans.

“Since the Headmaster will speak anyway, I don’t need to, but they’re going to use those kids as exam slaves.”

“Exam slaves?”

“Of course. Why do you think they brought demons into the Academy?”

Solche felt a bit of his earlier perplexity getting resolved.

Demons are born with excellent physical abilities.

Even an ordinary demon is quite strong compared to humans.

Experiences of combat with demons are invaluable to students of the Academy.

Usually, it is very helpful just to observe from a distance due to the danger.

Using demons for training directly would be ideal from the perspective of Academy students.

Solche thought they would never let Jema and Ririan go.

‘Will they train them to a point where no student can beat them?’

While having this conversation with Tonbe, they soon arrived at the Headmaster’s office.

Knock. Knock.

“Come in.”

Entering the Headmaster’s office, Solche and Tonbe bowed their heads in greeting.

“Solche, please take a seat here, and Tonbe, you can step out.”

“Yes! Thank you for your hard work! Headmaster!”

The Headmaster was a man in his early thirties.

Tonbe treated the much younger-looking Headmaster with great respect.

Tonbe slid out of the office quickly.

He was the obedient dog of the Headmaster.

“Solche?”

“Yes.”

The Headmaster stood up from his desk, which was filled with paperwork, and sank into a sofa.

He leaned back arrogantly with his legs crossed, staring at Solche with sharp eyes.

“I heard you’re doing very well in your classes.”

“That’s the duty of a teacher.”

“Right.”

Solche couldn’t shake off the feeling that the Headmaster had just said almost the same thing.

The Headmaster leisurely sipped a cup of tea, then spoke with a smile.

“Teach moderately. Ordinary demons are too weak. Just enough to be training partners for our students.”

“I’ll do my best to teach as much as I can.”

“No, no. Not too hard. Just moderately.”

Hearing the Headmaster’s words, Solche thought Jema and Ririan seemed quite pitiful.

It appeared they had no intention of releasing the two from the Academy until they died.

“I have high expectations for you, Solche.”

“Headmaster.”

“Yes.”

“I would appreciate it if you could refrain from watching us in the hallway.”

The Headmaster’s expression, which had been smiling until a moment ago, turned icy.

“Watching?”

“It disrupts the class.”

“Disruption?”

“Yes.”

The Headmaster closed his eyes, perhaps deep in thought, stroking his chin.

That way, an hour passed.

“Wow, you’re not leaving, are you?”

“We are in conversation.”

“Oh, were we in conversation?”

“No?”

“No. I’m currently giving orders to Solche.”

A faint mana scattered around the Headmaster’s body.

Solche, not flustered, also released a bit of mana.

“Haha. You’re an interesting person.”

“Could you please stop the surveillance?”

It’s still manageable, but once we start training the two seriously, Tonbe’s watch could become a significant burden.

“Surveillance… Sounds bad. Let’s call it monitoring.”

“Any reason to monitor?”

“None.”

“Then you won’t do it, right?”

“Hey. If I say I will, do I need a reason?”

The polite manner he showed just a moment ago completely vanished.

“It seems you have no intention of doing so.”

“Well then, step out.”

As there was no room for further conversation, Solche left the Headmaster’s office.

That evening, Solche met Alium to discuss Tonbe.

“We need to get rid of him, right?”

“Let’s hire a suitable guy tomorrow.”

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