By that evening, the rooftops of the entire Demon King Academy were covered in messenger bat droppings.
Thanks to that, the little demons did not swarm the buffet in the West Tower as usual. Everyone was busy writing letters home.
After three years at the academy, Royan finally got the chance to try the legendary charcoal-grilled Minotaur ribeye.
To be fair, the taste was incredible. There was no better word for it than perfect.
Then again… would Professor Enos really be okay with this? According to the books, the earliest Fear Demons were said to have evolved from Minotaurs.
Royan tried to imagine someone serving him a roasted monkey.
That single thought killed his appetite instantly.
Across the table, Iger carefully sat down with a plate of vegetable and nut stew. After finishing a quiet pre-meal prayer, he picked up his fork.
Among all the high-tier demons in the academy, he was probably the most polite to Royan.
Too bad he was male.
"Senior Royan, aren't you going to write home?"
They were in the same year, but Iger called everyone "senior," even underclassmen.
It felt strange at first, but Royan had gotten used to it.
"I'm an orphan," Royan said casually, taking a bite of steak.
Iger froze, then quickly lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
Royan waved his fork to stop him.
"No need to apologize. Didn't Enos say it? There's no such thing as 'sorry' in Hell. Next time you offend me, do it with confidence."
Other demons had done exactly that before.
Later, they stopped doing it openly. At least, they stopped casting spells.
Because the moment anyone crossed the line, Royan would immediately write a formal complaint to the Ministry of Truth, listing the exact date and offender, along with their family background, making full use of his protected status.
Not happy about it?
Go complain to your father. Or better yet, to the Demon God.
The fact that he was not abusing the system for free food and goods was already generous enough.
They should be grateful.
"Haha…" Iger forced a small laugh, but his concern lingered. "Actually… my family has some connections in the Internal Affairs Department. If you don't mind, I could…"
"No need." Royan cut him off with a wave. "Just write about your own situation. We're classmates, nothing more. It wouldn't be appropriate. Besides, I already know where I'm going."
Iger blinked. "Where?"
Royan grinned, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
"Where a Demon King belongs."
It took Iger a moment to process that. When he did, his eyes widened in shock.
"A Demon King? Are you serious? I don't mean to disrespect you, but your practical exam grade is F. Maybe you should reconsider…"
F?
That was only because F was the lowest possible grade.
If there were a G, Royan was confident he would have earned it.
"Hahaha!" Royan laughed loudly, masking the awkwardness and a trace of bitterness. He patted Iger's thin shoulder. "Magic is just one tool. Don't rely on it too much. I've got other strengths."
"Other strengths?" Iger swallowed nervously, his small frame trembling slightly.
"Trade secret."
Royan smiled mysteriously.
In truth, he had no idea what he was doing. He was just going to take it one step at a time.
He could hardly tell Iger that if things went bad on the surface, he planned to run away. After all, aside from being unusually handsome, he was no different from any human up there.
Strangely enough, Iger seemed to believe him.
He looked at Royan with admiration, as if staring at a true hero.
Royan got carried away.
"Life's too short to stay stuck under someone else's thumb," he said, getting into the rhythm. "If you're going to live, live like a man. Hiding in the rear and stuffing your face all day, what kind of achievement is that? Not that I'm saying you're lacking, of course."
"What I mean is… if I don't step forward, who will? If I don't go, who will? Not only will I go, I'll go all the way!"
Once I become a Demon King…
Royan trailed off, already picturing it.
A house in a human holy city.
Before Iger could respond, a booming voice came from the cafeteria entrance, followed by loud applause.
"Well said!"
Royan looked up instinctively.
The moment he saw the man standing there, he nearly slid off his chair.
Alvin Kruger.
A Demigod-tier lich.
The headmaster of the Demon King Academy.
Royan stiffened, silently reciting calming spells to steady his mind, afraid his thoughts might be exposed.
Fortunately, Headmaster Kruger had no interest in probing a student's mind.
In the capital, casting spells above fourth-tier was forbidden, especially on humans under the Demon God's protection.
That would be like firing a gun at a giant panda in a public park.
Kruger looked at Royan with warm approval, like a proud elder.
"Admirable courage. In the past five hundred years, Hell has grown weak. This academy has become nothing more than a finishing school for noble children. Yet the boldest one here is a human. Of course, I am not saying humans are inferior. All who serve the Demon God are equal."
Even a demigod had to mind his words.
Royan forced a modest expression.
"You're too kind, sir. As you said, all servants of the Demon God are equal. Though I am only Bronze-tier, I still wish to contribute."
His words sounded contradictory to what he had said earlier.
But in truth, they were not.
The Demon God encouraged ambition. There was even a saying: a Demon King who does not aspire to become a Demon God is not a good Demon King.
Repeating that line was harmless.
Living by it too literally was another matter.
Kruger nodded approvingly.
He had once been human himself. At Royan's age, he had only been an ordinary necromancer.
Perhaps stronger than Bronze, maybe Silver or Gold.
That was not the point.
What mattered was the ambition.
Compared to Royan, the succubus sitting nearby, who had Silver-tier strength, looked like a fragile girl on the verge of tears.
Even if that was part of her nature, it was unacceptable.
Succubi a thousand years ago were not like this.
They were powerful, fierce, and terrifying.
Now?
All that remained was surface charm.
Kruger saw no ambition in them.
All those demons writing letters today, even if they secured comfortable positions and avoided the front lines, he could not respect them.
Weak.
All of them.
He tapped his cane against the floor and looked at Royan seriously.
"I will remember you. Come to my office after dinner. I have something for you. Consider it a gift."
With that, the old lich turned and drifted away.
Iger stared at Royan with admiration.
Royan, however, felt a headache coming on.
He had overdone it.
All he wanted was to become a minor Demon King far from the capital, close to human lands, with an easy escape route if things went wrong.
If necessary, he would even surrender to a female hero.
After all, he was not truly undead. Just a poorly trained necromancer.
If the human church accepted him, he would not mind switching sides on the spot.
Hopefully, nothing troublesome would come of this.
Royan offered a silent prayer.
…
After dinner, Royan headed to the faculty tower, uneasy.
He politely declined Lady Lilith's offer for extra lessons and went straight to the headmaster's office at the top.
When he entered, Kruger stood by the window, a curved pipe between his lips. The smoke drifting upward looked like torn fragments of a soul.
For all Royan knew, it might actually be.
"Sir, I'm here," Royan said respectfully.
"Come here, child," Kruger replied without turning.
Royan walked over.
"Look outside," Kruger said, putting away his pipe. "Tell me what you see."
"…The academy?" Royan answered cautiously.
"And?"
"The West Tower cafeteria… I mean, the capital."
"Look farther."
Kruger's voice rose.
"The gray sky. The artificial moonlight. The endless eruptions of lava. This is Hell. The place we have endured for a thousand years."
Royan resisted the urge to point out the obvious.
Instead, he nodded.
"I see it. But I have lived comfortably here. I do not feel qualified to complain."
Kruger smiled faintly.
"We have been here too long. Our children now believe they were born here."
Weren't they?
Royan kept that thought to himself.
Kruger continued, lost in memory.
"Long ago, it was not like this. In the First Era, we lived on the surface, just like humans. We had kingdoms. Faith. Lands of our own."
Royan said nothing.
That did not sound so different.
"A thousand years ago," Kruger went on, "everything changed."
The fall of the God of Death. The rise of a unified human empire.
The old forces retreated underground.
The First Era ended. The Second began.
A new Demon God rose, united the underground, and built what now existed.
But over time, strength faded.
In the past, becoming a Demon King required connections.
Now, everyone avoided it.
The younger generation had forgotten what they once were.
Compared to the surface, the underground's resources were insignificant.
Yet here they were, content.
Kruger turned to Royan.
"At least, I have finally seen ambition again."
He decided to help.
"I have written a recommendation letter to the Demon God's council. I mentioned your name."
Royan froze.
Straight to the council?
Skipping Internal Affairs entirely?
"May I ask… what it says?" he asked carefully.
Kruger smiled.
"A Demon King's territory has recently fallen. Its former ruler, Regus Dragon, was a Diamond-tier Fear Demon and a duke."
Royan's heart skipped.
Diamond-tier.
Like Professor Enos.
"His territory was destroyed. His soul erased. Even his family refuses to take it back. But for someone like you, this is an opportunity."
Opportunity?
Royan nearly staggered.
What kind of human hero could destroy a Diamond-tier demon like that?
"Isn't that… too much for a beginner?" he asked.
Kruger waved it off.
"All servants are equal. And we lack manpower. With my recommendation, your appointment is assured."
That was not the problem!
Kruger patted his shoulder.
"You are cautious. Good. Your predecessor failed because of arrogance. Do not make the same mistake."
Royan forced a smile.
"Understood."
There was no backing out now.
"At least tell me where it is," he said. "I would like to prepare."
Kruger gestured to a stack of books.
"It lies on the frontier of the Lion Kingdom, within the domain of Duke Campbell. Nearby is a large free city. Do not worry about them. Your priority is development, not invasion."
That was… something.
At least he would not have to start wars.
Just then, Kruger added another surprise.
"I almost forgot. I have something else for you."
He disappeared briefly and returned with a necklace.
"This belonged to Isaac IV, the last king of the Isaac Dynasty."
Royan blinked.
The name did not inspire confidence.
"He lacked talent in his youth," Kruger said, "but later achieved power comparable to a god. This artifact carries traces of that power."
Royan stared at it, stunned.
"Why give this to me?"
Kruger smiled.
"Because I believe you might succeed where I could not. I studied his legacy for twenty years. Perhaps you will uncover something I missed."
He handed Royan two books.
"His journals. Study them when you can."
Royan took them, his mind racing.
Whatever came next, there was no turning back now.