Chapter 5
A Time on the court for this prince!
Part 1
After the usual lessons, Arue-sensei announced that the class would go to the gym.
"We're having P.E. today! Everyone, get changed!"
I looked to Komekko-chan for an explanation.
"What's P.E.?"
"It stands for Physical Education. It's a class where they teach us to be active and use our bodies. Even mages need to be fit and in combat shape, after all! Especially for Battle Mages like me!"
"Oh, I see. So we're going to be running around and stuff?"
"Sometimes we spar, practice martial arts, or do wrestling…"
"...That sounds like a combat class rather than an exercising class?! Why do mages need to learn how to wrestle?!"
"Well, a mage who is unexpectedly strong is cool, right?"
I still didn't really understand how Crimson Demons define the word 'cool'.
While Arue-sensei left the room, the girls around me stood up and took out some clothes from their desks.
They looked at me awkwardly, as if they were wondering what to do with me around.
"Hm? What's going on?"
"...Erm, well normally we just change in the classroom, but Revi is here, so I guess they don't know what to do."
"Please don't mind me."
I wholeheartedly gave them my permission.
"Well, if he says it's fine…"
Before the first few brave girls could start stripping, Arue-sensei came back.
"Ah, sorry about that, Revi, I forgot about you. You'll come change in the teacher's lounge."
I was deprived of a free show.
I reluctantly followed Arue-sensei to the teacher's lounge.
"You don't need to look so disappointed."
"How can I not be? Anyway, what kind of clothes are they changing into?"
"Hmm… You'll see. I have a set of clothes you can change into in the lounge."
The teacher's lounge was empty when we came in. There were several desks with books and papers on them. Arue-sensei went to her desk and pulled out a folded up shirt and shorts from them. There was also a jersey and jogging pants.
"Since we're inside, you can choose what to wear. The weather isn't exactly hot, so if you're the type to get chilly easily, you'd probably want to wear warmer clothes."
"I'll just wear a shirt and pants."
"Got it."
She tossed the clothes to me.
While I was inspecting the clothes to see if they'd fit, I saw Arue-sensei pulling out another set of clothes.
"Well, let's go ahead and change."
"...You deprived me of the schoolgirl show, but you're more than happy to give me the sensei show, huh? What a sly sensei…"
"Are you complaining, though?"
I watched her unbutton her blouse.
"Not at all!"
"Heh. I like honest guys like you."
I watched her taking off her clothes, stripping down to her underwear.
"Are you just gonna watch your sensei strip, or will you change, too?"
"Oh, right."
I almost forgot that I also had to go and change.
We changed into exercise clothes. Arue-sensei opted to go with the same set, a shirt and jogging pants. However, the outfit looked lewd on her body, emphasizing her curves.
"There's also some shoes here that we'll use for today's lesson. I'm planning to hand them out at the gym, but you can wear them now."
"...What kinda shoes are these?"
She gave me a white shoe with red trimming. I noticed that there were crystals embedded along the soles of the shoes.
"They're special shoes that allow a magic user to store and amplify their magic in the shoes. They're used for certain sports that the school's sponsor introduced into our curriculum. This sponsor also helped design the female gym uniforms."
I wondered who this donor was while I put on the special shoes. I didn't know how useful they'd be since I didn't really know any magic.
"What kind of circuits do these shoes use?"
"They're known as composite circuits. They use spell storing circuits layered with magic power amplification circuits. You can use one effect or combine them."
"...Should we really be using this kind of high-tier equipment for an exercising class?"
"Well, it's cool, so it doesn't really matter."
They throw that word around to justify every outrageous thing they do.
After getting changed, we headed over to the gym.
The girls were already there. I saw their uniforms, shirts and incredibly short shorts that can't even be described as shorts, they were more like a second layer of underwear.
"...?!"
I immediately knew who this 'sponsor' was when I saw these outfits.
"How does the devil look in this uniform, Revi?"
Komekko-chan came hopping to me, then posed while in her revealing uniform, arm behind her head, other hand on her waist.
"It looks great! What a genius design…"
"Yeah, I used to think that Kazuma nii-chan was going too far with these, but I see that they're very effective in impressing the guy you like! The devil approves!"
That same nii-chan probably didn't think that his own creation would be used in this way, though. He probably just wanted to hog the eye candy for himself.
"Alright, everyone gather 'round."
Arue-sensei had everyone gather in a circle around her. She was carrying a ball that looked like it was made out of glass, but when she dropped it, the ball bounced up into her palm. She kept bouncing the ball with one hand, then bounced it to the other in a crossing motion.
"Today we're gonna play Crimson Ball!"
The class cheered. I looked at Komekko-chan.
"What's Crimson Ball?"
"Nii-chan introduced several games to us from his home country, like soccer, basketball and baseball, but we thought that they were pretty boring, so we asked for magical versions of them. Crimson Ball is the magical version of the basketball game he introduced!"
"...What's basketball, then?"
I felt like every question I asked led to a complicated answer that just led to another question.
"Basically you shoot the ball into the basket and prevent the other team from shooting into yours."
The rules were simple enough to understand. She told me some other rules, like how you had to 'dribble' the ball and how you couldn't pick up your dribble and keep dribbling again.
Once I got the basic rules, I asked about the magic part.
"The ball that we use for Crimson Ball is a magic item like these shoes. They store and amplify spells and magic power. It'll make sense once we play."
"...Alright. I don't really get it, so I'll rely on you, Komekko-sensei!"
"Yup, you can count on the devil!"
Arue split the class up in groups of three. I ended up in a team with Rueka, while Komekko-chan was in another team.
So much for counting on the devil.
"It's alright, I'll help you instead, Revi-kun."
Rueka said, giving me a thumbs up.
"So you play Crimson Ball with three people?"
"A normal game will have five people, but I guess we're playing with three people to keep it simple. We have to share courts anyway, normally you use the whole court with teams of five."
I looked at our third member. She was a short haired girl with a friendly smile.
"My name is Shubaru, the number one genki girl in the village! Nice to meet ya!"
"Y-Yeah, nice to meet you…"
I was overwhelmed by this enthusiastic girl.
Part 2
We played our first game against a group of girls I didn't know.
Arue-sensei announced that the first to reach five points wins.
However, they seemed to be very interested in me.
"Get Revi-kun!"
"We're free to touch him all we want during P.E., right?!"
"Grope him! I mean, guard him!"
Rather than playing the game, they were more interested in trying to feel me up.
Perhaps what Arue-sensei said about these Crimson Demon girls being strangely attracted to me had some truth in it, I thought.
While the girls were distracted with me, Shubaru won the jump ball.
"Go for it, Rueka-chan!"
I was amazed when I saw Shubaru fill the ball up with mana and throw it at Rueka.
With the ball empowered by the mana, it traveled faster in the air, making it almost impossible for the other team to catch it.
I was worried that Rueka might get hurt trying to catch it, but she filled her hands with mana like Komekko-chan did with her fists while she fought, and caught the ball.
I see… This sport was good for teaching students how to control their mana while multitasking.
Rueka was already under the basket and easily bounced the ball off the backboard, getting the first point for our team.
"By the way, the losers will do fifty push ups, so please take this seriously!"
The girls on the opposing team began to take the game seriously once they heard Arue-sensei's delayed announcement.
It was our turn to defend. I stood in front of my mark, who received the ball.
"I'm sorry, Revi-kun, but I need to win this! Please don't hate me!"
"...I don't really feel any certain way about you, anyway."
"So cruel! Why are boys always so cruel to us nice girls?! That's it, I'll thoroughly defeat you!"
I watched the crystals on her shoe light up, then, with a burst of mana, she sped past me, the explosive first step making it impossible for me to catch up.
"Gah! How am I supposed to stop that?!"
Rueka came up to try and stop her, but she passed it to the girl Rueka was originally marking. That girl took one dribble then used the same mana burst with her shoes to jump up.
She kept going up in the air until she was close enough to the rim to slam the ball in.
…Are little girls supposed to be able to jump that high?
It was due to the shoes, but it was still quite the surreal sight.
It was our turn with the ball next and the store was tied. I didn't want to screw up and be the reason why we lost, so I passed the ball to Rueka.
Rueka dribbled to the right, but dribbled back to her left, putting mana into the ball to speed up the motion. Then, with a burst of mana, she lurched through the left. The defender was able to follow with a quick mana burst, but Rueka somehow managed to dribble and spin to the right, going past the defender.
"T-That's so cool…?!"
I was impressed by her movements. The athletic display combined with mana control was a sight to behold.
After getting past the defender, the girl who was covering Shubaru came up to try and stop Rueka.
Rueka made a motion to pass the ball to Shubaru, making the defender hesitate. Rueka used that hesitation to fake the pass and stop instead, going straight up in the air for a jump.
She threw the ball from quite a fair distance and it went in, giving us the lead again.
"That was a good throw, Rueka!"
"It's called a jump shot, but thanks. Did you know that it's customary for Crimson Ball players to slap each other's butts after a good shot?"
I thought that she was just pulling a prank on me, but when I looked at the other games, I saw a girl giving Komekko-chan a friendly slap on the rump.
"Erm… Then, good job, then!"
I gave Rueka a gentle slap on the bottom.
"...I love this sport!"
She said, while pumping her fist.
"Grr… I guess I need to score some points, too."
Shubaru was getting fired up for some reason.
On the next possession, the fired up Shubaru managed to steal the ball from the other team.
"Pass the ball, Shubaru!"
"Get out of the way, Rueka-chan! You already had your turn?!"
For some reason, Rueka was trying to take the ball away from Shubaru.
"I'm gonna score no matter what!"
"Oh no, you don't!"
Shubaru jumped up with a burst of mana from a far distance. Rueka jumped as well, trying to block her.
…We're on the same team, right?
Shubaru leaned back while she was in the air, then she applied mana into the ball and shot it from that awkward position, from high up in the air.
The shot went in, the mana in the ball giving the shot enough force even though Shubaru shot from an awkward posture.
"Tch… I can't believe you still made that."
"I can't believe you actually tried to block me! Now, ahem… Revi-kun?"
"Ah, right… Good job!"
I gave her a friendly slap on the rump, too.
I felt like my only role on the team was to slap their butts.
They proceeded to take turns scoring points until we got enough to win.
"Good job, Team Revi! Now you will face the next team!"
We managed to beat the next team fairly easily, thanks to the efforts of the motivated Rueka and Shubaru.
The other teams we faced got sent to the losers bracket.
After beating enough teams, we were one of the last two teams standing.
"...It's now time for the finals. The winning team will get top marks, and will also be awarded with Skill-Up potions. It's Team Revi vs Team Komekko!"
I didn't know why Arue-sensei was calling us Team Revi when I hadn't even scored a single point yet.
"Revi… I saw what you've been doing…"
Komekko-chan glared at me when we met up to do the jump ball.
"...What do you mean?"
"You've been slapping Rueka and Shubaru's butts! I saw it!"
"They said it was a customary thing for this sport!"
"That's true, I guess, but not with the opposite gender!"
Why would it be alright for guys to slap each other's butts, then?
"That's it… I'm gonna destroy your team!"
She had the exact same reaction as all the other teams we faced.
Arue-sensei had us line up. Then, she tossed the ball in the air, in between Shubaru and Komekko-chan.
Komekko-chan got the ball for her team, tipping it to a teammate, only to receive the ball back immediately.
The other girls in her team just slunk off into the corner, giving Komekko-chan room. It seemed like they gave up on trying to contribute after seeing Komekko-chan play.
"Heh, are you jealous, Komekko? I've been getting hot and sweaty with Revi-kun this whole time."
Rueka said, smirking at Komekko-chan while saying things that could be easily misunderstood.
"I know that you're just talking about the game, but that still pisses me off! The devil will humiliate you!"
Komekko-chan tried to dribble past Rueka, but Rueka blocked her way.
"Heh, you might have beaten those weaklings to get here, but you won't have such an easy time with me!"
"...Are you guys forgetting that I can already use magic?"
"Eh…?"
Suddenly, there was a burst of wind from Komekko-chan's shoes, which propelled her past Rueka-chan, who fell down from the explosive wind.
"T-That's cheating?!"
She looked to her sister. Arue-sensei only shrugged and shook her head.
"It's not against the rules. You guys can use magic if you can use it."
"We don't have the skill points! This is rigged!"
"Well, I guess you're right about that. Oi, Komekko, put the fire away."
I looked at Komekko-chan, and the ball in her hands was starting to light ablaze as she prepared to dunk on poor Shubaru.
"Eh… Come on, the devil wants to show off!"
She dismissed the fire and Shubaru sighed in relief.
"How about you face me, then? One on one… I'll give you double the marks if you can beat me, and I'll give you normal full marks even if you lose."
"The devil sees no reason to refuse!"
Everyone was murmuring as they gathered around to watch Komekko-chan face off against Arue-sensei.
"...You sure you can keep up with me, old lady?"
"Alright, you're going down, brat!"
Arue-sensei didn't look all that excited to face a student until Komekko-chan aggravated her.
Komekko-chan got the ball first. She did a few test dribbles, before using the same trick to infuse wind magic into her shoes, propelling her past Arue-sensei.
However, Arue-sensei used the same trick to follow Komekko-chan.
Komekko-chan smiled, then dribbled the ball behind her back, but the dribble looked like an errant one, as it went out of her reach.
Arue-sensei turned to get the ball, but to her surprise, demonic energy appeared where the ball went and a Hoost arm formed to bounce the ball back to Komekko-chan, who was already running to the hoop.
Once Komekko-chan got the ball, she filled it with fire magic and jumped up, spinning in the air as the wind magic formed a miniature tornado underneath her feet.
While spinning, she slammed the ball hard on the hoop, making the fire and wind explode in a magical display.
"That's all me! All me!"
She started cheering and dancing when she landed.
She kept saying 'all me', even though Hoost came out to help her.
It was Arue-sensei's turn on offense. She dribbled a few times, but going to her left. Komekko-chan followed after her, only to see that Arue-sensei disappeared.
"Eh… Where…"
Arue-sensei reappeared again, going to the right. Komekko-chan turned to follow, only to see Arue-sensei disappearing again.
Arue-sensei tapped Komekko-chan on the back, making Komekko-chan turn to look, then Arue-sensei dribbled the ball between Komekko-chan's legs and ran past her.
Arue-sensei took the easy jumpshot, tying the game.
"Cheating! Using Invisibility is cheating! Besides, you're only allowed to use magic on the ball and the shoes!"
"...You used a summoned devil, you don't get the right to talk about cheating."
"Grr… Hoost is an extension of the devil, so it's not cheating!"
"I won't use invisibility if you promise not to use your summoned devil."
"The devil refuses those terms!"
"Have fun finding me then~!"
With Komekko-chan not agreeing to Arue-sensei's conditions, Arue sensei was able to match Komekko-chan's points using her invisibility.
However, with the score tied at 5-5, and with Komekko-chan's turn, she had a chance to win.
Arue-sensei turned invisible to try and steal the ball from Komekko-chan, but when she knocked the ball away from Komekko-chan's hand, a demonic arm made out of red energy appeared to take the ball back.
Komekko-chan used the extra arms made out of demonic energy to confuse Arue-sensei with a series of complicated dribbles.
"Alright, time to end this! [Devil Boost]!"
She wrapped herself in demonic energy, then used the power to jump, far away from the hoop.
The superpowered leap would let her dunk from a long distance.
However, as she was in midair, Arue-sensei used wind magic to shoot herself up, meeting Komekko-chan at her descent. She raised a hand in an attempt to block the dunk.
Komekko-chan grinned, then threw the ball at the hoop.
The ball bounced off the backboard, the power making it bounce off the rim and not letting it go down the hope for a score.
However, as Komekko-chan and Arue were falling, the demonic energy stayed in the air, then started to materialize into Hoost's form.
Hoost grabbed the ball that bounced out and finished off the dunk.
"Woo! I won! I won!"
Komekko-chan and the energy manifestation of Hoost high fived and started doing a victory dance.
The rest of the class cheered, while Arue-sensei smiled in defeat and shook her head.
"Alright, a deal's a deal. You get double marks."
I went up to Komekko-chan and smiled.
"Good work, Komekko-chan."
"Ahem…"
She turned and showed her butt to me.
I gave her the promised slap.
While she was smiling, I noticed another pair of cheeks pointing towards me.
"..."
Why does Hoost want one, too?
Part 3
"Alright, hit the showers, everyone!"
Arue-sensei announced, after her match with Komekko-chan ended.
"...Where am I going to shower, sensei?"
"Normally the guys will wait for their turn, but if you want, you can use the teacher's lounge. Somahiko-kun also just waits to change and shower."
"Well, I feel kind of bad if he has to wait and I don't."
"You're a special case, too, since you have something that attracts the girls, remember? Your special pheromones?"
"...I still don't really understand why you think I have special pheromones."
She talked about it the other day, but I didn't really believe that I had that kind of special effect.
Rather, it would be damaging for my ego if all the girls who were attracted to me were affected by some kind of weird effect.
Why is it so hard to believe that I'm a natural ladies man?!
I followed Arue-sensei to the teacher's lounge. On the way there, I asked her questions about Crimson Ball, since I didn't really do much to help my team.
"Since you've been learning about mana control, especially in magic items, I was surprised that you didn't take the initiative to score, Revi-kun."
"Well, I was also playing a sport I was playing for the first time, on top of having to worry about mana control, so I let my teammates handle the game."
There's the whole concept of addition by subtraction, after all. I was doing more good staying out of the way rather than trying to butt in and screwing up the plays.
"How selfless! Unfortunately, you didn't grade very high in the individual marks for that class, though."
"...I'm not really worried about the grades."
"There's a benefit for you in passing the courses and getting a magic license, you know? As an incentive for mages to earn their magic license, the kingdom offers tax reductions on the purchase of magic items if you have a license. You can also gain memberships in mage guilds and such, or even apply to become a magic tutor."
Since the regulations on mages, which were mostly targeted on Crimson Demons, could be interpreted as some form of discrimination, the kingdom made sure to offer all kinds of incentives for receiving the mandatory license.
"Then I guess I'll try to get good grades. I don't like failing, anyhow."
"That's the spirit!"
After our chat, we reached the teacher's lounge. Arue-sensei opened the door to a room and revealed a single shower stall inside.
"Here it is. We normally bring our own soaps and shampoos, but you can borrow mine."
"Thanks. You can go first, sensei."
"Hm? Why don't we just go together?"
"...Arue-sensei, there's a limit to how willful you can be."
Seducing a student during a study session was already pretty out there, but she even decided to seduce me at school, in the teacher's lounge of all places.
"It's fine. The other teachers have class right now, so no one will walk in. Besides, I can just use Teleport to go back to my house if a teacher does walk in. Then you can just say that you have special permission to use the teacher's shower."
"You're a sly one… You definitely thought this through, haven't you?"
"Of course. I imagined this scenario even before I met you."
How does this naughty teacher still have a job?!
"In fact, I wrote many stories about teacher/student relationships. They are some of my best works."
"...You actually published literature about inappropriate relationships between teacher and student, but you still haven't been fired?"
"Of course. Haru-sensei doesn't read those kinds of things, and even if she does, she'll expose herself if she confronts me about them. Likewise, the other teachers also can't admit that they've read my works."
"...That's somehow ingenious?!"
A teacher can't admit that they know about things like pornographic material, after all. You can probably reference all kinds of things pornography related, and they'll have no choice but to act oblivious to it.
"Indeed. I have a little hobby of dropping as many lewd terms as I can in front of Haru-sensei. It's quite amusing how she doesn't react to them. I don't know if she's really that innocent, or if she only pretends not to understand what I'm talking about."
"I really don't understand why you haven't been fired by now. Rather, shouldn't you be spending some time in a jail cell?"
That was verbal harassment, no matter how I looked at it.
"What's Haru-sensei going to do? As the village's only principal, she's going to go on record to the village chief and say things like bl*wjob and an*l?"
I imagined Haru-sensei walking up to the village chief and saying those kinds of words…
"That situation is unexpectedly really erotic?!"
"Indeed, it just occurred to me. I need to incorporate that into my new story…"
"We got side-tracked, but we still need to take a shower."
"That's true. Now, go ahead and strip."
"You really have no sense of public morals, do you?!"
This teacher was really at school, in the teacher's lounge, casually telling a student 'go strip'.
"Are you telling me that you want to miss this opportunity to share a lewd moment with your sensei at school? You might not be familiar enough with the school structure to have such fetishes yet, but you will someday find them alluring. Long, knee high socks will all of a sudden make you aroused, as will the sight of schoolgirl uniforms, things that you once thought of as mundane will awaken your erotic spirit! On that day, you will regret indulging in your sensei's request!"
"Just where did you learn all this from?"
"I chatted about it with the school's generous patron, Kazuma-san."
It all comes back to that bastard.
"In terms of erotic regrets, I've had plenty. For example, Arue-sensei, you might not know this, but I grew up being attended to by maids…"
"Are you a noble, or something? Or perhaps the son of a wealthy merchant?"
"S-Something like that. Anyway, what's important is that, at the time, I thought nothing about their frilly maid uniforms before. I even found their subservient attitudes to be dull and boring. However, I only recently started to see the appeal! The clothing that I saw everyday, that I got tired of seeing on a daily basis, became like a fetishized item to me! Also, their subservient attitudes only makes me, the master, want to use and break them! Of course, I never had these thoughts as a brat and I really regret that! I should have asked them to pamper me and offer all kinds of erotic services!"
Arue-sensei nodded after hearing my passionate speech.
If I were ever reborn as a baby one day, and if I was fortunate enough to grow up being attended to by cute maids in my next life, then I will make sure to take advantage of this knowledge.
"So… With that said…"
"With that said…"
I stripped out of my clothes and entered the shower with Arue-sensei.
Part 4
After the refreshing shower, I went back to join the rest of the class.
My head felt clearer than before, and I was able to perform well in the quiz Arue-sensei at the end of the class.
Meanwhile, Komekko-chan was scoring some points, but she still had the worst score in the class.
I received another Skill-Up potion, along with Rueka.
After classes were over, we headed over to Arue-sensei's house for the usual supplementary classes.
After reviewing our quiz scores, Arue-sensei gave Komekko-chan a blank stare.
"I don't get it. Your intelligence stat is insanely high, so how are you this dumb?"
"T-The teacher just called her student dumb! You can't say that?!"
Even Komekko-chan saw that Arue-sensei was pretty unfit to be a teacher.
"Then explain to me why your scores are only improving by one point everyday!"
Rueka raised her hand and said,
"Onee-chan, there's a theory that the Intelligence stat measures a different kind of intelligence for each person. One person with a high intelligence stat might be smart in unconventional ways, instead of simply being able to have a good memory or reasoning abilities."
"...Did you just say that the devil doesn't have good reasoning abilities?"
"Then what kind of intelligence does Komekko have?"
I thought about it while looking at Komekko-chan.
I looked down at her fit body, then remembered all the insanely athletic things she could do.
"...I guess she's a genius at using her body?"
"Are you saying that my only purpose in life is to use my body to satisfy others?! How cruel!"
"I never said that."
Komekko-chan was getting wildly defensive. Her academic setback caused a lot of insecurities in her. This was probably the first time in her life that she had any kind of developmental setback.
"I mean that when it comes to learning how to efficiently use your body, you're probably one of the best I've seen. I mean, you can use all kinds of martial styles, and you can even use a sword, even though you have the Wizard class. I'd say that your physical ability is on a genius level, isn't it?"
"...What's the point of having a mage who can use their body well, though? The whole point of the class is to blast enemies with magic from afar."
"Well, Komekko-chan managed to learn how to use Advanced magic, without even being able to understand how it works or why she can do it. I think it's because of her superior instincts. She can control and influence mana and magic power on an instinctual level. That's why she didn't need to go to school."
It could even be said that school would only hold her back.
"...Well, the whole point of this is to satisfy the kingdom's requirement. If she can't get a magic license, then she won't be able to use magic at all. She might get a sealing designation."
I tilted my head, wondering what a sealing designation was.
"It's pretty much a prison for powerful mages who continue to use magic, even if they don't have a magic license."
Komekko-chan was going to use magic, no matter what, even if she didn't have a license. I could imagine a future of her serving in prison in the future, if we didn't get that license."
"I think the problem lies with the magic license system instead of Komekko-chan herself. The requirements don't take into account gifted people…"
"To be fair, the whole village is gifted, so they did design the system with geniuses in mind."
"Well, she's especially gifted, and special people have special needs."
"The devil understands what Revi is trying to say! I'm special needs!"
She started jumping up and down excitedly.
"Therefore, mages like Komekko-chan who can use Advanced magic, but can't perform well in an academic setting, need a different kind of evaluation method."
"That sounds interesting, but it's the kingdom who issued this stupid law in the first place. Our school didn't care about who qualified for Advanced magic. We just let everyone unlock it, regardless of mental maturity or character."
"I think that's a problem in its own way! I definitely think that the kingdom is right, here!"
The only problem was that Komekko-chan broke the system in a lot of ways.
When you think of a wizard, you think of an intellectual type who studies spells and chants from some ancient tome. You don't think of a kinesthetic learner who has an instinctive feel for magic.
"...Then what should we do? I guess we can try to petition for the kingdom to make an exception in Komekko-chan's case?"
Arue-sensei suggested, while rubbing her chin in thought.
"Can we do that? Knowing Belzerg, they'll come up with some brutish, violent method to resolve the matter."
"...You have some kind of unfair bias against the kingdom, huh?"
I wasn't as biased against Belzerg as I was when I was younger, but it's hard to root out biases you've had since childhood.
"In the first place, how did the kingdom enforce this law on the village, anyway? You guys are technically part of the kingdom, but it's not like you have to pay taxes, right? You're kind of a sovereign state of sorts, in a way."
"Like I said, it wasn't an issue until Crimson Demon girls started moving into the kingdom's cities and settlements to look for mates. Also, they managed to convince the chief into agreeing with the law. They sent a rather pretty looking diplomat last time. She spent a night in the chief's house and the next morning, the chief had already signed the documents without telling anyone."
I could kind of guess what she was implying.
"...Geez, I bet Yunyun nee-chan wouldn't have crumbled so easily! I thought she won the trial, why isn't she running things, yet?"
"Well, she still wants to go adventuring and spend time in Axel, so she hasn't taken full control of the village chief position yet. Besides, her father is still healthy and up to the task. She's next in line, for sure, but the current chief is still running the show."
"...It's because of that old man that the devil is being treated like a dunce at school! The devil will have a word with that man who gets easily seduced by pretty diplomat girls!"
I couldn't really blame the guy for falling for the old honey trap trick. Rather, I was curious about this pretty girl that was supposedly sent to the village.
"So, what can we do to try and get the kingdom to change their minds about this law? It's not like we can petition them."
If I received a petition of some sort regarding a new law I just passed, I'd just give it the briefest of attention and ignore it. They were mostly pretty stupid, anyway.
"Well, the diplomat did say that we could stop by her office anytime in Axel, if we had any concerns. It's at the Dustiness manor."
"...Dustiness, you say?"
I vaguely remembered a tall, blonde Crusader who went around showing her family insignia, as if it mattered in a foreign country, back when Kazuma-san and his party visited Elroad. She had the name Dustiness.
"Oh, yeah. It's Darkness nee-chan's little cousin right? Sylphina, was it?"
Komekko-chan seemed to be recalling memories of this Sylphina.
"Indeed. She received a position as a diplomat. While Darkness still handles affairs within Axel, Sylphina travels around the country and even goes to neighboring countries."
"Alright, then I guess we can pay this Sylphina a visit and ask her if she can do something to make an exception for Komekko-chan's case."
Arue-sensei smiled and gave me a sideways glance.
"Since the weekend is near, Revi-kun and I can go to Axel and take care of this matter. Of course, Komekko-chan will stay here and study."
"The devil is getting left out?! And if you're trying to find a way so that I don't have to do these stupid tests anymore, then why do I have to keep studying?!"
"Because if we don't succeed in negotiations, then you'll fall behind if you don't keep up with your studies, stupid girl!"
"Ow! The teacher just hit her student?! I'll tell, I'll tell!"
Komekko-chan cried as Arue-sensei gave her a good bop on the head.
Part 5
On the weekend, Arue-sensei and I went to Axel together.
We made the trip using the Teleport spell.
"Is there anybody you want to visit here, Revi-kun?"
Regina-sama went back to Axel to pick up some research materials, but she headed back to the capital to take advantage of the castle's magical facilities. They were better equipped with all that royal funding, after all.
"Not particularly. How about you, Arue-sensei?"
"I'm planning to say hi to Megumin while I'm here. In fact, it's probably better if you talk to the diplomat by yourself."
"Why is that?"
"I was one of the dissenting voices that protested against the magic license law, so she probably doesn't like me for interfering with her work."
"...Why did Arue-sensei disagree with the law?"
"Crimson Demons are rebels at heart. We'll rebel against anything just for the sake of it."
How unnecessarily contrarian.
After I split ways with Arue-sensei, I followed her directions to the diplomat's estate.
The Dustiness estate was much smaller than the noble estates I was used to seeing in Elroad. It was probably the size of an average noble's villa or vacation house. It was even smaller than our party's base.
Since I already made an appointment, the servants were expecting my visit.
They asked me to wait in a reception room, serving me biscuits and tea.
While I waited, I made sure to rehearse the points I wanted to discuss in my head.
I wasn't a stranger to political dealings, but I wasn't used to dealing directly with Belzerg's diplomats. The stereotype is that Elroad's politicians are sneaky and use all kinds of nefarious ways to get what they want, while Belzerg is more honest and straightforward when making deals. They'll tell you what they want and what they want from you, without any of the circular nonsense.
…However, if they don't get what they want, they'll probably result to violence.
I looked around at the decor in the reception room. There was a shield with criss-crossing swords behind it, hanging above a fireplace. There were also random suits of ornamental armor on display.
They certainly struck me as the violent type.
After a few minutes of waiting, the maids came back in. Following them was a blonde girl who looked like she was Komekko-chan's age. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail and she had a bright smile and big, blue eyes.
I noticed that, like Komekko-chan, she had quite the developed figure for her age. In fact, she was probably curvier than Komekko-chan. If Komekko-chan was in the low 'C' cup range, then this girl was in the high range.
I did remember that the elder Dustiness I met before had quite a stacked figure. It must run in the family.
"Thank you for waiting. I'm Dustiness Ford Sylphina. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She was wearing a white dress that showed a fair bit of her chest. When she bowed her head, I got a peek of her cleavage.
Was she doing that on purpose?
"Thank you for agreeing to meet me on such short notice. My name is…"
I looked at the maids behind her. I would have revealed my name if they weren't there, but I chose to play it safe.
"...My name is Ravi. The pleasure is mine."
She sat across from me, getting comfortable in a chair. A maid came in to serve her tea. She crossed her legs, then sipped some tea.
"I've been told that you're here to discuss a flaw in the magic license law, is that true?"
She was starting the conversation off by putting the burden on me to explain myself, while also covertly accusing me of finding a fault in the kingdom's laws. She was a crafty one.
She wasn't the typical Belzerg diplomat, then.
Normally they'd be screaming and making threats from the start.
"I wouldn't call it a flaw, but I do have an idea on how to make it better. I don't disagree with the law at all, and I think that my idea might even make it easier for the Crimson Demons to accept the law."
"Then, by all means, let's hear your ideas."
I nodded, then set my tea cup down.
"You see, there's a certain Crimson Demon girl in the village who is considered a once in a generation genius."
"...I feel like they all describe themselves as such, yes? There was also a genius from that clan, who ended up wasting all her talents on Explosion magic."
It probably wasn't a good time to say that this girl I was referring to was the sister of that certain talent waster.
"This girl is truly a genius among geniuses. She understands advanced concepts without even needing to read from a book. She can grasp things through basic feel alone. However, there's a slight problem…"
"What could the problem be? She sounds like the ideal genius."
"She failed the test for the magic license."
She gave me a disbelieving look.
"How is that even possible?"
"She understands advanced concepts without having to study or work hard to learn them. Since she's skipping steps, she doesn't truly understand how magic itself works. It just kind of happens for her. I observed her chanting spells before. She just says a bunch of nonsense before casting the spell. I don't think she even needs to chant to cast spells, she just does it because it amuses her."
"...Then she's the exact type of person that the magic license exam is supposed to filter out, an incompetent magic user who doesn't even know what they're doing! I'd say that the system is working fine if we managed to weed her out."
"The thing is, she has superior control when it comes to her magic. She might not know exactly how it works, but she can control her magic just fine."
"...How does that even make sense? If she's really that great at magic, then why can't she understand or even explain how it works in an exam?"
"Would you be able to describe right away how a sunset works to a blind person? You're used to seeing things all your life that you just think it's natural, right? But if you had to explain simple concepts that you take for granted, then of course you'd struggle."
She paused, thinking about what I said.
"Since casting magic is as natural to Komekko-chan as it is for fish to breathe underwater, explaining the how's and why's of how she's able to do the things she can is hard for her."
"I guess that makes some sense… Wait, you're talking about Komekko?"
It seemed that Sylphina recognized Komekko-chan's name.
"Do you know Komekko-chan?"
"We're childhood friends, of sorts. I see… So this is about her, huh?"
I lucked out with this coincidence of Sylphina and Komekko-chan being childhood friends. Since They were related to Megumin-san and Darkness-san, I should have seen it coming.
"...So, what do you propose, Ravi-san?"
It was a while since anyone called me Ravi, so it took me a moment to respond.
"I propose an alternate test for mages like Komekko-chan who have special circumstances. Special people have special needs, after all."
"I see… Komekko-chan is special needs, huh? What kind of test will this be?"
"I suspect that Komekko-chan is a kinesthetic learner, that's why she has a natural mastery of mana control and her magic power. She's a genius at using her body, after all, as I'm sure you know."
"Yeah, she was always running around and doing push ups and stuff. She couldn't keep still."
I imagined a young Komekko-chan running around, as if she were permanently on a sugar rush.
"I think it's better to gauge her capabilities with a practical exam, rather than a written exam."
"There's one problem with that. If we make it a practical exam, then the other Crimson Demons will try to skip the written exam and demand a practical exam. It's hard to quantify what would qualify someone to have a practical exam, after all. It would look bad if we gave one person special exceptions."
There were already dissenters who didn't agree with the law, like Arue-sensei. If those people found out about the special exam that Komekko-chan was taking, then there would be quite a bit of friction between the village and the kingdom.
Normally, kingdoms will put their foot down if their new laws are challenged too much. Diplomats like Sylphina work to make sure that it doesn't come down to tyrannical measures, but if there was enough friction, then the king himself will have to send an ultimatum.
Considering the dramatic nature of the Crimson Demons, they would probably escalate tensions for no reason at all, other than to cause a stir.
"Then I guess you'll have to make the exam almost impossible for even a Crimson Demon to pass. This test separates the true geniuses from the others, after all, so it's only fair."
"And are you sure that Komekko can still pass the test, even if we make it really difficult?"
"She can't get more than five answers right on a quiz, but I'm sure she can even take on a dragon god if you give her the chance."
"...Hmm."
She stroked her chin, considering her options.
"You know, I normally don't have the power to actually revise laws. My only role is to negotiate the terms… Not even that. My job is to convince certain parties or individuals to accept a new law without making a fuss. I usually resort to things like bribery, flattery… appealing to base desires…"
She made a show of leaning down to show off her cleavage again, while giving a teasing smile.
She really was doing that on purpose.
"So you're not really a negotiator, more like someone who offers the carrot to people as an alternative to them getting the stick from the king, who will punish those who don't accept his mandates."
"Pretty much! So, even though you have a good idea, you'll have to take the matter directly to the king in order to really get what you want. And even then, wouldn't he find it a grave insult if you question a new law that he just made recently?"
Since I was in a position to rule myself, I imagined some smartass mouthing off to me about a new policy or law I just made. I'd probably ignore the guy, but when I was younger, I would have sent him to the dungeon.
"...Then what do we do?"
"Now, now, I do have connections, you see. The king owes me a fair bit since I helped a lot of his recent laws go smoothly without anyone trying to start a revolution to defy them. The magic license law, for instance, could have gone horribly wrong if we offended the Crimson Demons in any way. They have enough firepower to do some serious damage to our military force, after all. Or they would have tried to officially segregate away from the kingdom. The worst case scenario is a civil war."
I couldn't imagine the Crimson Demons getting offended enough to start a civil war, but since the magic license law was specifically targetted towards them, there was a possibility that they could have seen it as discriminatory.
"There was also the case of the manga cafe that Kazuma onii-san opened."
"...Eh? What about it?"
"When it first opened, it was actually an erotic manga cafe. However, there were lots of complaints from the Eris church, as well as concerned parents. We didn't really have any censorship laws before when it came to private businesses, but the king had to come up with some emergency laws that banned the public sale of such lewd works. People weren't used to seeing erotic images, after all. Erotic literature is somewhat common, but the addition of erotic images that accompany a story were seen as too radical."
I didn't know that the manga cafe I visited had such a problematic story attached to it!
Also, somehow, it always comes back to Kazuma-san, that bastard.
"Since Kazuma onii-san is becoming quite an influential businessman and investor in the kingdom, it would be catastrophic if he decided to withdraw his investments and ventures because of the law targeted towards him. So, I used my connection to Kazuma nii-san to convince him not to make a fuss over it."
If the kingdom didn't have a diplomat that was connected to Kazuma-san, the situation could have escalated.
A king's power is absolute, until an enterprise becomes big enough to overshadow his authority.
That's why royalty often hands out noble titles and such to wealthy merchants, to keep them in line while giving them a sense of loyalty to the kingdom.
"So it seems that the king owes Sylphina-sama some favors, huh?"
"Yup! You can just call me Sylphie, by the way."
She said, giving me a cute smile. She really was charming. She probably got Kazuma-san to agree to the law while smiling cutely like that.
"Then that means that you can ask the king to approve of my proposed solution to helping Komekko-chan graduate?"
"I can. But what's in it for me?"
I got a mood whiplash as her smile disappeared and she gave me a serious look.
"W-What do you mean?"
"The king owes me a couple favors, so why should I use it for Komekko's benefit? Don't get me wrong, I like her, but I don't like her enough to sacrifice a king's favor. I could ask him to make me a Duchess, if I want, once I become more influential in the future. I'm playing the long game here, so you'll have to make it worthwhile for me."
I could certainly understand where she was coming from. The new policies that benefited Komekko-chan would only benefit her. I made that very clear and even made it my main argument.
The test will be so hard that no one should pass it aside from Komekko-chan, that's basically what I said.
I didn't know if she intended to do this, but she got me trapped!
She was probably the shrewdest negotiator I encountered, even compared to the ones back in Elroad.
I thought about my options, but I could really only think of one.
"I'm sorry, but do you think we can have some privacy?"
She nodded, then sent her maids away.
Once we were alone, I said,
"I'm sorry for lying to you, but my name is actually Revi Elroad."
I took out my family symbol and showed it to her.
She was a bit skeptical at first, but she inspected the symbol and saw my red hair.
She immediately bowed her head.
"I'm sorry for my rudeness, your highness! I didn't recognize you at all!"
"No, it's my fault for hiding my identity. Also, rather than 'your highness', perhaps you should get used to calling me 'your majesty'..."
"Eh? But you're still a prince, no?"
"...Keep this between us, but my father is currently… unavailable. I will probably receive the crown when I return to Elroad."
"I-I see…"
I gave her a moment to register what I was saying.
"So, Sylphie… How would you like to exchange one of those king's favors for two king's favors?"
"...Math isn't my specialty, but it's obvious that two is greater than one. Besides, making a connection with the soon to be King Revi Elroad might also earn me another favor from the king…"
She was already concocting a bunch of plans in her head.
"Alright. If you offer that much, I can't refuse!"
"Then it looks like we have a deal."
We stood up and shook on it.
"...Your majesty, it seems like you're doing an awful lot just to make sure Komekko-chan passes the exam. She must mean a lot to you, huh?"
Nothing got past this girl. She had a twinkle in her eye as she said that.
"Y-Yeah, I guess."
"Somehow I'm not surprised that Komekko-chan managed to bag a king for herself…"
"...Actually, she confessed to me first, so…"
"Nah, knowing Komekko-chan, you probably already fell into her trap long before."
Was Komekko-chan really that cunning?!
"Now, why don't we negotiate the details of this deal somewhere more comfortable? I have some wine upstairs, if you'd like to join me…"
Suddenly, she gave me a seductive smile.
…I remembered what Arue-sensei said.
The Crimson Demon village chief, who had zero reason to agree to the magic license law, agreed to the deal after a night of hosting the female diplomat who came to negotiate with him.
Sylphie even outright said that she appeals to 'base desires' to ensure that she strikes a deal.
"Well, I guess it would be extremely rude of me to decline…!"
I'm sorry, Iris… Komekko-chan…
But there's no man that can resist in this scenario.
At the very least, I made sure not to go all the way.
My purity was kept intact.