The Narrow-Eyed Villain of the Demon Academy

“What’s with the fight?”

Unable to adapt to the sudden turn of events, I could only tilt my head in confusion.

Meanwhile, a child who appeared as a wall opened, spoke.

“I won’t let you take it away today!”

“Hmph, the same goes for us.”

Fron and a child who seemed to be the leader of the adjacent space began to argue.

I, finding myself in this incomprehensible situation, turned to Rem, who had burst into tears upon seeing me, and asked,

“What’s going on?”

“No, I really don’t know what’s happening because I came from the other side.”

“You’re not lying…?”

“It’s true. If I were on their side, I would have already shown it.”

My words were true.

Indeed, the children from the adjacent section were confronting Fron without even glancing in our direction.

Between the space we were in, the wall that opened, and the children who emerged, lay another space.

As the children on my side and Fron walked forward, the children from the opposite side also began to walk toward the middle space.

They paid no attention to me.

“It was true…”

“Why would I lie?”

“Then, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that…”

Oh.

To apologize so readily?

I immediately realized that the situation was turning in my favor.

At once, I asked Rem,

“I’ll accept your apology, but could you explain what’s going on here, what kind of situation this is?”

“Sure, but where did you come from that you don’t know what’s going on in this room?”

“…That’s…”

I felt a sense of embarrassment.

How could I possibly explain that this place was nothing more than a replay of a scene from the past?

To dismiss it as a hallucination was impossible; the current scene was too vivid, making me wonder if it wasn’t reality itself.

For now, I had no choice but to come up with a convenient excuse.

“I came from outside.”

“Outside?”

“Yes, by my mother’s order, I came here from outside this prison. To live with all of you.”

“Really? For real? Wow!”

At the word “outside”, Rem’s eyes widened as she looked at me.

Is it that surprising to hear that I came from outside?

But wouldn’t these children have also come here from outside?

I felt a sense of doubt as I stared at Rem.

It was as if there was something else here that I didn’t know.

Rem, with a bright smile, opened her mouth.

“If I explain it, Adel has to tell us stories about the outside!”

“…If you want to hear it, I will.”

Rem acted as if she had never been outside.

What could I say?

Rem, without a care, began to speak.

“We’re the left room, and they’re the right room. We can’t usually meet, but the wall opens at this time.”

“Is there a reason why the wall opens?”

“Yeah, food comes down from the sky in that central space.”

“Food, you say?”

No, why would food, which isn’t even a bird, come down from outside?

What kind of messed up place is this?

The more I listened to Rem’s explanation, the more confused I became.

Why would food come down from the sky?

But it seemed like something that was actually happening, so I couldn’t deny it.

There was no way for the children to get food from inside these walls, so it made sense that food would come from somewhere.

As Fron and the children fought, a huge basket was descending from the sky on a rope.

“…That’s…”

The basket seemed to be filled with bread.

So the reason the children were fighting was…

“But there’s not enough food for all of us, and we have to share it with the kids from the other side. And those kids want to keep all the bread for themselves!”

“I see.”

However, we couldn’t just blindly blame the children from the other side.

There were no adults here to educate the children, and it was only natural for them to want to monopolize the food in the face of their survival instincts.

Rem, who had been speaking passionately, suddenly lowered her voice and said,

“Actually, I hate fighting like this too. I wish everyone could eat their fill. But…”

“If you share the bread with the kids from the other side, the children here will starve, right?”

“Yes, that’s why we, and those kids, are fighting. To avoid starving to death.”

I was at a loss for words.

What in the world was this place?

Suddenly, it reminded me of the space `Place of Solitude` that appears in martial arts novels.

In order to create a deadly weapon, children are locked up in a space and forced to kill each other until only one survives…

‘Don’t tell me…’

This couldn’t be that kind of place, could it?

I forced an awkward laugh and shook my head, trying to deny the thought.

But the more I tried to deny it, the more the situation seemed to point towards my assumption being correct.

If this really was that kind of place…

What would happen to these children?

As I frowned at the thought,

Thump, thump-.

As the food descended from the sky, the children’s fight intensified.

I frowned at the sight and spoke to Rem,

“Shouldn’t we help? It looks like Fron is going to lose.”

“...”

Rem lowered her head at my words.

The current state of the fight was heavily skewed against Fron and the children.

Fron fought well and stood out in the battle, but the children from the other room were too strong, and they were being pushed back.

“Everyone, do your best! We must eat our fill today!”

At Fron’s words, I took a look at the children’s appearances.

I hadn’t noticed it at first, but now that I looked closely, the children were emaciated.

If this continued, they wouldn’t be able to avoid malnutrition.

If they were robbed of all the food again today, that would surely be the case.

Rem, who had lowered her head at my question, spoke up.

“...I want to help too, but I’m not strong. Fron has always protected me.”

Hmm.

Certainly, Rem seemed to be the weakest even among the thin children.

It was a wonder how she had managed to survive until now with such a frail body.

More importantly,

If they lost all the food, would I starve too?

“Of course, we’ve already been starving for two days. Two days ago, Fron managed to get some food by begging the kids from the other room, but the amount of food falling from the sky seems to be decreasing.”

“So that’s why the children from the other room won’t share their food.”

“...Yes.”

Even though the children from the other room were uneducated, they were still just innocent children.

Did they really want to monopolize the food by hitting other children?

Of course, there might be some bad seeds, but surely not all of them were like that.

It was this cruel reality that had turned these children into monsters.

They were just children.

Sigh-.

I clicked my tongue and got up.

My body was tied tightly with ropes, but this much…

Snap-.

It was nothing.

As I channeled a bit of mana and exerted my strength, the ropes snapped instantly.

“What, how did you do that?!”

Rem stared at me with an expression of disbelief, as if she had just witnessed a magic trick.

I smiled awkwardly and said to Rem,

“Well, it’s your fault for not tying the ropes tightly enough.”

“No, I really tied them very tightly.”

“That’s just your imagination. An expert like me can easily untie something like this.”

“Expert…!”

Rem’s eyes widened at the word “expert.”

I chuckled and walked towards where Fron and the children were fighting.

And then,

Thump-.

I activated my Killing Intent Trait.

At that moment, the children stopped fighting.

“...Wh-who are you?”

A child who seemed to be the leader of the other room stammered.

However, they didn't even think about defying me and just stared at me with frightened eyes.

Oh my.

Even though I had controlled my Killing Intent to the best of my ability, it seemed like it was too much for the children to handle.

Some of them even had wet pants.

Let's pretend we didn't see that, shall we?

“You…!”

Fron had been watching my every move with trembling hands since I started walking.

As expected of Fron.

She certainly stood out among the rest.

Even so, there was no way Fron could defeat me at her young age.

Swoosh-.

In an instant, I arrived at the center of the space and sat down.

As I suddenly took my seat, the children stared at me in confusion.

I arched my eyebrows and spoke,

“There seems to be a problem here. Can anyone tell me what it is?”

I spoke, but none of the children answered.

What’s with the silence?

I pulled out the Red Dagger from my pocket… ah, right, I didn't have it.

Woong-.

For now, I used my Darkness Trait to manifest a black blade in the air.

As the dagger, emitting a black aura, instantly appeared above my hand, the children held their breaths.

They were terrified at the sight of the dreadful energy emanating from the black blade.

Every single child in this room was wary and afraid of me.

“It’s problem-solving time. I’ll give a special reward to the smart child who answers correctly.”

The children still couldn't speak a word to me.

I smiled and said,

"I'm very angry. Not only did you attack me as soon as I arrived, but you're all fighting amongst yourselves when the blood hasn't even dried on your heads."

"...That's..."

Because you're an assassin.

Fron, who had been muttering to herself, trembled.

It seemed that she had finally grasped the situation.

She must have realized that I was never on their side to begin with.

Anyway,

I addressed the children,

"If you've done something wrong, you have to be punished accordingly. Now, choose."

"...What do you mean, choose?"

Oh dear.

This was going to be interesting.

Despite her fear, Fron stepped forward, shielding the other children behind her.

Among them were even the children from the other room who had been fighting him just moments ago.

Perhaps she had the makings of a leader.

This, too, was similar to the Fron of reality.

But still.

What was she supposed to choose?

"Please, make your choice."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?"

I put on the most sinister smile I could muster and said,

"Each of you, decide how many times you want to be hit."

Woong-.

The black blade floating above my hand transformed into the shape of a bamboo back scratcher.

Since ancient times, the back scratcher has been a form of medicine.

The children, though they had never seen one before, seemed to sense the terrifying implication of the object and trembled in fear.

One child cautiously spoke up,

"O-one time..."

One of the children who had attacked me earlier!

I let out a sly grin.

"One time, you say? So, your transgression only warrants a single strike."

Gulp-.

The children gulped nervously.

The first step to taming these little ones.

It was to make them decide for themselves how many times they would be hit.

"You…!"

Enraged by my wickedness, Fron clenched her fists.

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