Dawn at St. Sophia School.
The principal tapped his feet as he welcomed the cargo entering the school warehouse.
And when he lifted the cloth covering the cargo, demons appeared within, growling and scattering black energy.
Startled, the principal quickly covered the cloth again and stepped back.
His expression twisted in shock.
“Haha. Did I surprise you, Principal?”
“What is the meaning of this? This is not what we agreed upon! I was told there were items to be temporarily stored in the school warehouse, not demons!”
“Aren’t demons just items? You’re being too picky.”
“Demons cannot be kept in the school warehouse. Students will be coming to school today!”
The principal waved his hands in refusal, clearly distressed.
He had agreed to rent the warehouse urgently upon the request of a certain baron in the transportation business…
He said it would be fine as long as it wasn’t illegal or dangerous, but he never expected a massive cage filled with demons to be brought in.
“Don’t worry. This barrier boasts top-tier security used even by the military. No one can disable it at will, and it won’t be destroyed even if a strategic weapon goes off nearby.”
“That’s not the issue. I can’t allow demons to be kept within the school.”
“Then simply don’t tell anyone. Let it be a secret between you and me.”
“Still, that’s not good enough. Please, just leave. This deal is off.”
“Principal, are you really going to do this? If I cut off my investment right now, can you handle it? Will you be able to hold the events planned for next month?”
“Are you threatening me…?”
As the principal took off his glasses and glared, the baron flinched and trembled.
St. Sophia School also operates a foundation and has to attract investments.
However, the principal had one thing he would never compromise on in any situation, and that was the safety of the students.
No amount of money could convince him to sacrifice the students’ safety; the baron’s investment recovery over a little transportation business seemed laughable to him.
The board of directors, impressed by the principal’s convictions, had kept him in office for more than 20 years.
“It seems that if this continues, we’ll have to break off our dealings completely.”
“Oh no! That’s not what I meant, Principal! Of course, we can’t store demons at the school. I’ll withdraw my earlier statement. I sincerely apologize. But would it be alright to use a coal box instead of the cage for the demons?”
“Yes. Well, for today, that’s fine. Only coal will be permitted. And you must remove it by 6 AM tomorrow.”
“I understand, Principal! Thank you so much!”
In an instant, the baron’s attitude changed, and he kept bowing his head repeatedly.
It was a rare sight of a noble treating a commoner with such respect.
However, even as the principal left the warehouse, the baron continued to bite his lip and frowned.
“Ah, what should we do now, Baron? I truly have nowhere else to store it…”
“Nowhere, you say? Just hide it here.”
“Huh? I thought the principal said only coal would be allowed…”
“That’s exactly why you’re failing. Hurry, transfer the cage into the coal box and push it deep inside. It’s just for one day. There’s no way anything will go wrong—Principal is just overreacting. Such a petty guy.”
The baron hurriedly instructed his servants and stepped out of the warehouse to gauge the principal’s reaction.
What could possibly go wrong with the cage protected by the highest-grade barrier?
Nothing would happen.
He could just quietly stash it in a corner of the warehouse and take it out tomorrow morning.
The baron chuckled to himself as he thought that.
*
Today, Tia confidently entered the school, with the large spirit Lara perched on her right arm and the phoenix Zizi on her left.
Today, there was no crazed psycho priestess causing a ruckus at the entrance, so she passed through the main gate without issue.
However, once inside the school and looking around, Tia sensed something was amiss.
“Huh? The school is so chaotic!”
The school was exceedingly noisy, as if some commotion was going on.
Tia couldn’t figure out the reason and kept tilting her head in confusion.
“Is it a fight? Is the brawl that Leo sister talked about happening today?!”
“That’s not it… It’s just a small commotion that happened over the weekend,” Lara replied.
“Huh?”
Frustrated that Tia was missing the point, Lara decided to speak up.
“One of the demon students attempted to set fire to the human dormitory, but it failed. That’s why everyone is on edge.”
“How do you know this sparkly thing?”
“I heard it from the spirits living in the school.”
“Tia can’t hear it! I want to hear what the spirits say too! How do I do that?”
“If you let me take you out of here, I’ll teach you.”
“Huh, no way. I don’t really want to know anymore.”
Tia lost interest in the spirits’ communication method and turned her head.
As she walked toward the classroom, she heard a loud noise from somewhere, piquing her curiosity.
Following the sound, Tia found Turi surrounded by human students behind the school building at the incinerator.
“The demons are all here to kill us. Yesterday, dozens of students almost burned to death while sleeping! You’re planning to kill us all too, right? Isn’t that so?”
“…”
“What’s that? You going to hit me? You look scary with those eyes.”
“…”
Despite the clear intent to pick a fight, Turi merely glared silently.
The human students facing her flinched and stepped back at the sight of her red irises.
Looking into those eyes stirred an indescribable primal fear within them.
Even as the group of human students gathered and persistently provoked her, Turi stood her ground, seemingly unafraid…
‘Oh no, what do I do? They must have found out I’m the Demon King’s daughter! How did they know I came here to kill all humans? I’m so scared!’
She was thoroughly terrified.
The human students knew that not all demons wanted to kill humans, but when it came to Turi, it wasn’t entirely ridiculous.
After all, Turi was set to become the next Demon King and lead the second invasion of the human realm.
Thinking everything was exposed, Turi panicked and fell silent.
Yet as she stood there, her sharp gaze unwavering, the surrounding human students began to get scared.
It’s known that a demon’s strength surpasses a human’s by several times.
If Turi were to get angry and swing her fists, even the younger students would be swept away like falling leaves.
“Hey, demon. We’re scared to come to school because of you guys. So apologize. Bow your head and say you’re sorry, and then maybe we’ll let you off the hook.”
“…”
At that moment, a tall human boy emerged from the group.
From the badge on his chest, he was in the sixth grade.
He looked down at Turi, towering over her, and demanded an apology.
Watching this unfold, Tia felt a surge of anger.
Why should Turi have to apologize when she did nothing wrong?
‘If she apologizes here, this will all end quietly…’
Though Turi might have a low mental age, her intelligence was far from low; she fully understood the current situation.
She had no obligation to apologize, but she knew that doing so would help her get through this.
That was all she needed to know.
Whether she apologized or not could significantly affect how other demon students would be treated at school.
Turi decided to bow her head, even if it was a bit humiliating, as a representative of her kind, the descendant of the Demon King.
For the sake of her kin, she could endure that much shame.
“No! Turi did nothing wrong!”
“…?”
However, at that moment, a bold voice interrupted Turi.
Startled, Turi looked up to find Tia rushing towards her and standing protectively in front of her.
The sight sent shivers through all the observing students.
‘My servant can only be bullied by me, right?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Exactly.’
The rumor about Tia being a bully was still alive and well.
The boy, who had maintained a confident expression, was taken aback by Tia’s sudden intervention.
However, he couldn’t withdraw against a mere first grader due to his pride.
Though he was the third son of a duke, he had no reason to be intimidated by Tia, who was supported by a duke.
Unable to find a way out, he ultimately lost his composure.
“Ha! How dare you block my way? I, Isaac, the third son of House Karleyelev, challenge you to a duel, Tiamat!”
Isaac threw down his gloves in front of Tia.
As Tia stood there, confused about what was happening, students were already getting excited, surrounding Tia and Isaac, creating a makeshift arena.
‘It’s tough to believe I can win a physical fight against someone of dragon blood. A quick victory is the answer. The best course would be to intimidate her with a powerful spell and make her surrender.’
Even though he had lost his composure, Isaac began to assess Tia’s strength relatively objectively.
He didn’t know much about Tia’s physical abilities, but underestimating a small first grader could end badly.
Isaac decided to finish the duel quickly with his specialty of rapid-fire magic before Tia could unleash any anti-magic attacks.
“You’re in big trouble now! Do you know how amazing brother Isaac is? He’s incredible! He’s probably even combining magic formulas right now behind your back!”
“Hey, hey. Be quiet…”
The plan was to catch her off guard.
It became urgent.
Isaac’s pupils started to frantically shake.
“Brother Isaac doesn’t just use magic! He punches really well too! You’re nothing but a snack for him!”
“Please shut up…”
He had no desire to provoke her.
Isaac had to work hard to calm the crowd.
Of course, trying to soothe them without revealing that he planned to finish off a younger girl with a cheap surprise attack took quite a while.
Still, while pretending to calm the audience, he managed to secretly finish the spell for his flash magic.
In the meantime, Tia appeared to be yawning and waiting, completely oblivious.
Even if she knew, first graders had never learned how to counter flash magic.
Isaac cleared his throat and stood before Tia, snapping his fingers.
Now it was Tia’s turn to cover her eyes and fall down, declaring her surrender.
“Let there be light!”
“Huh?”
“…”
But silence fell over the arena, and nothing happened.
No matter how many times he snapped his fingers, the result was the same.
The carefully prepared magic formula Isaac had spent time perfecting had been obliterated by the anti-magic beam Tia had fired off a while ago.
Isaac had no idea and paled in shock.
“It’s about to begin!”
“Show us, brother Isaac! Show us an amazing spell!”
“Show us! Show us! Show us!”
‘Now I have no magic, you fools!’
As cheers erupted from all around, Isaac fell into a panic.
Whatever plans he had for a short victory were now all falling apart.
It was all because the little brat had said he would be preparing magic.
No, if he hadn’t acted recklessly in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened.
Overwhelmed by various thoughts, Isaac fought back tears.
Now, how could he possibly navigate out of this embarrassing situation…
At that moment, everything went dark.
“What, what’s that?”
“Demon?!”
A huge crash and screams erupted from across the building.
The students rushed outside to the gym, freezing in place.
Black smoke billowed from the warehouse as demons burst forth.
Tia’s expression stiffened as she watched.
“Huh…”
She realized that the direction she had fired the anti-magic beam was precisely over there.
Understanding why the demons had been released, sweat poured down her forehead.
