I Became a Demon Who Can Never Be Headpatted in the Academy?!

“You defeated a Nightmare?”

Nikea, having finished her meeting with the adults, properly attended her magic class. It seems she has no intention of skipping, so I’m happy.

“Hehe, hehe! I defeated it with Murmur! Princess!”

“To be precise, we didn’t win by fighting. We stopped it from being summoned by using the Nightmare’s nature.”

“That’s basically the same thing!”

Unlike Esme, who clenched her fist and smiled, Nikea was gaping slightly in admiration.

“Rather… isn’t that more amazing? Nightmares are also a type of spirit, right? Because of their nature, they’re hard to research, and there isn’t much data on them, is there?”

“Murmur just knew.”

How can I explain it all one by one?

That I’m a veteran player who has played the game multiple times and knew the setting of the Nightmare.

“Do you know? Princess? Murmur was very cute.”

Ah, here it starts.

This is why I really hated using that method.

“C-cute? Ms. Esme. You said it so suddenly that I don’t really understand.”

“Nightmares are spirits rooted in nightmares, right? So Murmur told a really~ cute story.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did!! Princess, Princess. Murmur has pink pajamas!”

She’s in the fifth grade of elementary school, so wouldn’t she wear them?

“Pink? Oh my…”

“And she said she likes sheep. Did you know she’s not good with forks?”

“Forks? Ah, ah! Certainly, I think Murmur’s fork skills are quite cute.”

Hey, Nikea? Esme? Why are you two talking with such big smiles?

Are you making fun of a small Demon race? This is bullying. This is bullying.

“Ah! Come to think of it, Princess, you have breakfast with Murmur, don’t you?”

“Hehe… Murmur holds her fork upside down? It’s quite cute. She says the fork is too big, but she doesn’t want to use the children’s fork.”

“Of course. Murmur isn’t a child.”

From the start, that children’s fork. It has a cute animal drawn on the end, so I absolutely don’t want to use it.

It’s too babyish. Who would use that?

“Really… that’s a shame. If Ms. Esme’s words were true, the Nightmare would have turned into Murmur’s very, very cute form, right?”

“Ah! Right…”

Esme’s voice was too loud, and Professor Aiaie, who was writing on the blackboard, sent her a sharp look.

From the start, we’re in the middle of class, aren’t you two being too excited and loud?

“Hmm… that’s right. She was very cute. Because Murmur was wearing pink sheep pajamas.”

“Oh my… oh my… oh, that must be so cute. Just imagining it is cute.”

“Because of the horns on her head, she looked even more like a cute sheep!”

Nikea sighed deeply.

“Ah… really, it’s really a shame.”

“If Nikea had been there, Murmur wouldn’t have used that method.”

“It’s not like I can win against everything.”

That’s a lie.

There’s no way Nikea, who is of the Royal race, can’t defeat a Nightmare.

From the start, the Nightmares you encounter in the high school chapter are difficult because Nikea, who was a party member in the 4-person party game, forcibly leaves the battle, making it difficult.

“But Your Highness, may I ask a question?”

Nikea blinked, then chuckled and gently poked Esme’s waist.

“Hic?!”

“Ms. Esme! Lady Nikea! Please concentrate on the lesson!”

At Professor Aiaie’s words, the children burst into small laughter.

I mean, we’re in the middle of class right now?

“Ahem… I’m sorry. I thought we were already friends, but I got sulky when you used the word ‘may I’.”

“Ah, ah… the Princess and I are friends… Waaah…”

Sparkling, with the momentum to emit light from her eyes, Esme put her hands together and shook them gently.

“Hmm! Anyway, I was wondering why you skipped class today. Are you feeling unwell?”

Nikea’s eyes initially shone sharply but quickly softened. What is it?

“Esme’s aunt wanted to talk to me. Sometimes there are people who ask me for cooperation in official matters like this.”

“Your aunt?”

Come to think of it. I didn’t know why Aunt Collette came to Cosmos Academy.

Frankly speaking, I don’t know this part at all?

In the original story, there was a clear reason. She was dispatched to deal with the incident caused by the ‘Demon race’ in the elementary and middle school chapters.

The incidents in the two chapters were quite shocking and destructive, to the point that the ‘Magic Minister’ of the Magica Kingdom was dispatched. Collette, who was also a member of the ‘Moonlight Dawn Society’, had the justification to get involved and the necessity to defeat them.

“What did you talk about? If my aunt was rude, I… will apologize on her behalf.”

“Hehe, no. Esme! It was a really normal conversation. She just asked me one question.”

“What question was it?”

Nikea looked at me for a moment.

“She asked if I knew about the Curse of Knowledge Club.”

“Curse of Knowledge? Is there such a club at Cosmos Academy?”

“Hmm… right? It was really the first time I heard about it, so I told her I didn’t know.”

That can’t be.

There’s no way Nikea wouldn’t know about the Curse of Knowledge Club.

From the start, no matter which route you take, it’s Nikea who occupies the Curse of Knowledge Club and creates a new club?

“Aunt is strange, asking such things.”

“That’s right. Ms. Esme, you asked that question, so you probably didn’t know why your aunt came?”

“Ah… well, my aunt doesn’t tell me about work. She’s busy, so I don’t see her often.”

“Oh my… then it must have been really nice to see her this time?”

Unlike Nikea’s bright smile, Esme’s eyes shook greatly.

There’s no way it was nice. Collette is a crazy aunt.

“Y-yes! I really, really like Aunt Collette!! She was so nice to me when I was little!”

Covering her mouth with her right hand, Esme acted like she was happy.

She’s so dishonest.

“Esme.”

“Yes? Murmur. What’s wrong?”

I took out a necklace made of flowers that I had kept in my pocket. It was a pretty necklace with beautiful violet decorations.

From the start, the reason I went to art class was because of this. Time was really tight, but I was able to make a gift that could increase favorability with the various materials in the classroom.

If I’m going to have a proper showdown with Aunt Collette, I need Esme’s help, so I need to take care of her from time to time.

“Gift.”

“…Are you giving it to me? Murmur?”

“Yeah, Esme did well today.”

Esme looked at me without blinking. What, is it possible that she likes a different gift? That can’t be.

“What did I do well?”

“Making the Nightmare… cute and soft is Esme’s effort.”

“That’s what Murmur did.”

“No. No matter how much Murmur says that, if Esme hadn’t changed her own mind, the Nightmare would have been summoned.”

“I… did it?”

“Yeah, I’m a little angry that you think Murmur is too cute.”

Esme smiled faintly and touched the necklace I gave her with both hands.

“Hehe, hehe… You’re saying something obvious! Murmur, too! Is there anything that Esme Bloodberry can’t do? Hehehe!”

* * *

“So the status window wasn’t broken.”

This time after school, I was planning to meet the Demon God, Armonia, learn new magic, and relieve stress, but I couldn’t.

That’s because there were a lot of people from the Magica Kingdom around the Curse of Knowledge Club.

Even if no one explains it in detail, I can tell what’s going on. Aunt Collette is probably searching that club hard.

“Why…”

What could be the reason? The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, the Demon God, Armonia.

She’s probably trying to find the Demon God sealed in the basement of the club. But there are only two people in this game who know that the Demon God is there.

Is it possible that those two told her? No. Absolutely not. Then that means they’re just pointlessly suspecting and digging around…

“Hmm… Is it the Crown Princess? I don’t like it…”

The only third party who could know the information that the Demon God has awakened is the ‘Crown Princess’. If it’s her, who is also Nikea’s older sister, she could sufficiently know that the Demon God has awakened.

But that’s it. She doesn’t know where Armonia is. There’s no way to know. I’m not stupid, why else would I have learned magic directly from Armonia?

Even when the Crown Princess and Nikea clashed in the high school chapter, they didn’t know that fact at all, so it became a hidden card for counterattack or a shocking plot twist.

That’s why when the fact that there was a way to meet Armonia first wasn’t known, people would say things like, ‘Isn’t this a little out of the blue?’, ‘It was touching, but where’s the consistency?’

“Let’s be careful for now.”

No matter how small and soft Murmur is, to the eyes of adults, she’s just another Demon race.

What would I hear if I went to a place full of people endlessly digging around, thinking that a Demon God might be there? It’s obvious.

* * *

“Hehehe… heh heh…♪”

Esme Bloodberry, humming a tune, was in a really good mood.

“Haa… to think that Murmur thought I would be happy with a gift like this, she’s such a child.”

Making a nasal sound and being happy, Esme touched the necklace decorated with violets that were emitting an elegant purple light with both hands.

Esme wasn’t poor, and she was participating in parties normally, so she was used to receiving ‘gifts’.

But she, who had grown up a little, knew well. That these gifts she received were small burdens that she had to return to them someday. That there was no real sincerity in the words of the adults who said congratulations.

‘But Murmur was different… she really told me that I worked hard today, that I did well, and gave me this necklace!’

If you asked if it was expensive and luxurious, it wasn’t.

Although it was so well-made that it couldn’t be seen as the work of a fifth-grader in elementary school, it wasn’t to the point of being comparable to the accessories that Esme had received from artisans.

However, it contained heart.

‘I was so mean to her.’

Esme was a little annoyed at herself for being so dishonest.

Today, I should have just said thank you, and hugged her tightly like Princess Nikea.

“…Let’s do better from tomorrow.”

She is a precious friend that I made sincerely. She’s different from the fake friends who scattered like cockroaches because they were afraid of not getting good scores.

She cheered me on when I was good at drawing, and she saved me when I was about to be killed by a Nightmare.

Murmur is a good friend.

‘That doesn’t matter…’

Humming a tune, Esme wiped the water off her hands and walked out of the bathroom.

“Pearl! Tomorrow… huh?”

“You seem to be in such a good mood that you’re humming, my niece.”

Esme, who had been smiling brightly, turned her face pale and looked up at Collette, who was waiting for her in the room.

“Aunt…”

The setting sun began to pour darkness from the small window, and Collette, standing in the shade, took a step towards Esme.

“Was it that good?”

“Y-yes… yes. I became closer with the Princess.”

“You’ve become accustomed to lying, haven’t you?”

Esme was startled and took a step back, but Collette stepped out of the shade and grabbed her niece’s shoulder.

“Did you think your aunt didn’t know anything? You’re looking down on adults.”

“W-what… are… you talking about…”

“You did something stupid today… summoning a Nightmare during art class, not magic class, didn’t you?”

“Th-that…”

“Esme… Esme… my precious niece. Why are you making such stupid and idiotic mistakes? You know that our Bloodberry family is walking the path of elemental magic that many wizards in the Magica Kingdom envy, right?”

Esme’s eyes trembled pitifully.

“Yes… summoning is nothing. You can make mistakes because you’re young. But do you know why your aunt is so angry?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Actually, she knows.

Esme didn’t want to say the answer. She wanted to reject this moment when the nightmare in front of her was trying to strangle her.

“Hahaha… yes, you don’t know, so it must be like that. Esme. You didn’t know? Okay, okay, then your aunt will tell you.”

“Ugh…!”

Collette roughly tore off Esme’s necklace, Murmur’s gift.

“I’m angry because you’re stupidly playing with a Demon race!”

“A-aunt!”

“Esme! Why are you so stupid! Didn’t I tell you that Demon races will do anything to deceive us?!”

“It’s different! Murmu, kyaak!”

Collette slapped her niece’s cheek.

“Different? Different? Yes! It must be different! It is different! It’s a very cunning piece of trash, isn’t it? Can’t you see? You’re even wagging your tail at the Princess, aren’t you? You’ll be used and thrown away. Just like my sister was…!”

“I… I don’t want to. H-help… me. Mom, Dad… Murmur… please, help me!”

“So, come to your senses! Esme! Remember your mother! Remember that child who was deceived and killed! Remember the tragedy of a brilliant Bloodberry jewel turning to ashes in an instant!”

Collette shouted and forcibly pulled her niece to her feet. Then, she took out a staff from her waist and chanted a spell.

“Co, Collette… A-aunt?”

“Esme, don’t worry. This aunt will teach you everything from start to finish.”

“A… Aunt, please, don’t do this. Esme… Esme…”

“It might sting your calves a little every time you make a mistake, but don’t worry? Your aunt will teach you how to kill a Demon race that you can’t learn anywhere else.”

Esme, who was beginning to be swallowed by the darkness, dared to wish.

That Murmur would save her again this time.