After a rigorous and very violent lecture about how rude it is to call a woman fat, Viola finally stopped talking.
Not that I listened to a single word she said.
After that, it didn't take long before we arrived at the orientation hall.
The place was massive, dominated by a gigantic flag bearing an insignia of so bizarre winged beast with twelve eyes and seven wings.
Yeah, seven.
What the hell kind of cosmic error was that?
This beast wasn't explained anywhere in lore, world history, mythology, nothing. It just… existed and yet the thing that always bothered wasn't the eyes or the weird anatomy.
It was the wings.
Where the hell was the eighth wing?
The asymtry offended on a spiritual level, so I fixed that abomination instantly when I created the ga and gave it the eight wings because so standards must be maintained.
As I stared up at the beast… my mind suddenly blanked. For a split second, sothing about it felt familiar.
A chill ran down my spine but before I could focus on it, a sudden voice snapped back.
"Good morning, Boss."
A voice echoed through the space or more accurately… voices.
I shifted my gaze from the grand flag to the source of all that sudden shouting.
Seven students were standing there in perfect formation, bowing ninety degrees in unison.
I just stared at them for a mont, absolutely frozen before Viola's voice echoed beside .
"Who the hell are these idiots?"
Yeah.
These fucking bastards were idiots.
I an, who the hell greets soone like this, bowing ninety degrees like they are welcoming a mafia boss back from a successful massacre?
The seven guys were Arckon and his little bullying squad from yesterday.
I an, I could understand this kind of respect, especially after witnessing how I "guided" them peacefully yesterday.
But did they really have to put on a whole performance?
So passing human students shot weird looks before instantly averting their gazes the mont I glanced their way.
anwhile, a couple of dragons scoffed while sizing up like I was so particularly shiny piece of at.
I didn't see any demons around, probably because they were already inside the Orientation Hall.
They were annoyingly punctual like that.
"Are you creating a cult or sothing?" Viola asked, this ti directing the question straight at .
And honestly, I had to comnd her.
She ca dangerously close to deducing my real motives… even though they had absolutely nothing to do with the current situation.
I could even see Seraphina looking at with a flicker of nervousness behind her curious expressions.
Is she… worried she'll lose her position as my assistant?
Damn. Abandonnt issues hit hard.
"Nah, who has ti to create a cult?" I smiled, waving it off casually as I looked at the seven idiots. "I just saved these guys yesterday when they were lost and guided them onto the correct path."
Technically… I wasn't lying.
"Well, I'll trust you," Viola muttered, narrowing her eyes suspiciously but choosing not to say anything more.
"You go ahead with Seraphina," I added, gesturing toward the entrance. "I'll co in a minute."
I wanted a private mont with the Seven Fools.
For… educational purposes.
Viola headed inside without much trouble.
I guess calling her fat did reset her anger ter for a few days. Though I really wasn't sure if I ever wanted to gamble with that thod again.
As I watched her slip into the hall, I glanced down at the small pocket watch hanging from my trouser pocket.
Hmm. Looks like I've got about half an hour to spare.
"Follow ." I said without much thought and walked towards a small alley made between the orientation hall and another unknown building.
The seven fools walked behind like a pack of lost puppies as I turned to the green haired boy with green eyes and slightly pointed ears— Arckon.
"So… mind explaining what's happening here, Arckon?"
Arckon opened his mouth to speak but before a single syllable escaped, the leader of the bully group — Eric — jumped in front of him like a man desperate to secure extra credit.
"We're really sorry for what happened yesterday." he blurted out. "We didn't know who you were at the ti. Please forgive us, Boss!"
He even bowed again as if he was apologizing for committing war cris instead of… you know… just being an idiot yesterday.
I an, I appreciated free labor… but the first rule of managing labor is a proper chain of command.
So I narrowed my eyes on Eric.
"Did I ask you that question?"
I made sure my voice went ice-cold, and let my eyes glow a little brighter just like yesterday.
Eric's entire soul visibly left his body.
He started trembling instantly, yesterday's trauma hitting him again.
"I–I'm sorry…" he stamred, backing down imdiately.
Good.
At least he rembered his place in the ecosystem.
Still, that was a bit anticlimactic.
I expected at least his brother to co after , especially after all that talk yesterday but it seems I was expecting too much from so pathetic bullies.
"Good." I nodded, then turned my attention back to Arckon. "Now… what's happening here, Arckon?"
Arckon hesitated for a mont but obediently followed my lead.
"Eric and his friends stopped on my way here and asked for my identity. And once I told them… they just started acting like this."
His voice was nervous, eyes glued to like he was waiting for my reaction.
"And you?" I asked, amused. "Why were you greeting with them?"
"I want to follow you." He said, this ti without a shred of hesitation.
I grinned. "Oh? And why is that?"
"Because… I don't know."
He gave the sa shitty answer as yesterday.
Still, it was enough.
No answer is better than so useless, over-the-top praise.
And, it wasn't hard to guess what happened with Eric and his gang either.
The Eric gang probably wanted to pull sothing stupid with again, maybe round two of their half-brained bullying routine, but the mont they learned who I actually was, which definitely included the part about being the Demon King's successor…
Yeah.
They must have realized that was way above their pay grade.
Demons ca in all kinds, after all.
Not everyone wants to kill for being his successor.
So would rather fear .
Because deep in their minds, there is always that tiny thought: What if the Demon King actually cares about his successor?
And that "what if" is enough to keep them from doing anything stupid.
"Hmm I see." I nodded. "I shall allow you to follow ."
I an, I did need soone to carry my stuff.
And this guy seed perfect for the job.
Bearlo couldn't follow around inside the academy and Viola would literally murder if I asked Seraphina to do my errands.
So really… This was the best possible solution.
A win for him.
A win for .
And a win for my future convenience.
Arckon smiled brightly. "Thanks, Boss."
"What about us, Boss?" Eric asked, voice practically dripping with hope.
Honestly, although he was a scumbag and his followers were no better, rejecting free servants felt incredibly wasteful.
Besides, they were terrified of the Demon King.
Which ant they were even more terrified of by association.
And terrified people rarely try anything stupid.
So, in all my benevolence, I decided to forgive them.
…Partially.
"You can… follow," I said, smiling wider. "But on one simple condition."
All seven of them leaned in instinctively.
"You will refer to Arckon as the leader of your group… and report to him."
I wasn't about to waste my ti talking to a bunch of half-brained bullies so making Arckon their leader would make it easy.
And putting Arckon in charge wasn't just delegation.
It was a test.
If the cult was going to act for in the shadows, then this little faction would act in the light.
I an, the academy did have faction systems and every Demon King–successor candidate had one… so I was going to need one sooner or later anyway.
So, in a way, this was actually a good thing.
Eric froze for a mont before he nodded. "Yes, Boss."
As soon as he said, the other five of his bully gang followed.
"Good."
Step one of world domination completed successfully.
—
After discussing a few more important things, we walked into the orientation hall, which was in complete chaos.
Humans were seated with nervous, awkward expressions.
Dragons looked like they didn't give a single shit about anything happening around them.
And the demons? Yeah… they were the main cause of the chaos. Talking loudly, arguing, laughing and acting like they owned the entire place.
Probably making new "friends" and doing more of their usual useless demonic nonsense.
There were still a few minutes left before the orientation began but the mont I entered, the entire hall fell silent.
Dozens of eyes froze on .
Probably because of my imnse glory, of course.
I didn't care and simply walked forward, steps slow and steady, cloak fluttering behind like I was making a dramatic entrance on purpose.
The seven idiots followed in formation like loyal minions.
…Is this what they call aura farming?
I barely entertained the thought for a few seconds before the chaos exploded again, this ti in my direction, as several demons suddenly rushed toward .
My loyal minions, whom I barely knew for the last few minutes, instantly ford a protective circle around , like they had been trained for this mont.
I glanced around and realized an entire crowd of hundreds of Demon Students had gathered, staring at like I was so legendary creature they had only heard about in bedti horror stories.
So looked at with curiosity.
So with arrogance.
So with… I don't know… amusent, maybe?
And then there were a few others, especially so demon girls, who were making weird hand signals at .
Like… What was that supposed to be?
I an, sure, I am handso and yes, I radiate a natural, blinding glory that lesser beings struggle to comprehend.
But why the hell had such a huge demonic crowd gathered around ?
Like, what did I do now?
—
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