My Disciples Think I’m Strong – Chapter 125

Duel Arena infirmary.

Urka, who had fainted from mana exhaustion, was taking regular breaths on the bed. As I quietly observed, our party members approached quietly.

“How is Urka?”

“He’ll be fine. Just before he lost consciousness, he took a mana potion.”

As soon as the duel was over, I flew to the Duel Arena with Ariel’s help. Thankfully, since I took action just before he fainted, the lingering effects of mana exhaustion that dulls one’s senses should be minimal.

“Good job, Tina, Phoenix.”

I spoke to the two who had supported Urka the most among our group.

“Ah, that was nothing difficult. But watching that duel, I was about to cuss, you know? I’ve never seen such an ugly duel in my life.”

Phoenix mumbled while munching on cookies he bought from the market.

“I almost burnt it all down myself. Human greed is something you have to acknowledge. Well… my contractor seems a bit better, though?”

With the hand that was eating cookies, he ruffled Tina’s hair. Cookie crumbs got stuck in her hair, rising like dandruff.

“Ah! Don’t mess up my hair with those hands!”

Tina dodged away from Phoenix, making a teary face.

“Teacher! Phoenix is bullying me!”

“I didn’t bully you. I was just being affectionate.”

Calmly rebutting Tina, Phoenix continued to stuff cookies into his mouth with a crunch. Tina, with cheeks puffed up, pointed an accusing finger at him.

“That’s bullying! I’ll get my cuteness only from the teacher!”

She quickly came to me, tugging at my sleeve.

“Teacher! Please comb my hair!”

“…You can do that yourself.”

“But I did what you told me to! You promised to give something to Phoenix, but why don’t I get anything?!”

She looked utterly wronged, as if she had endured all the world’s injustices. Anyone would think the world was ending tomorrow.

Reluctantly, I ran my fingers through her hair, shaking out the cookie crumbs. Finally, her face brightened, and she smiled.

“By the way, how was the All-Cutting Sword?”

“Hmm. As you said, it’s much safer and less damaging to designate a target rather than just a distance. If it’s based on distance, it could be indiscriminate.”

“Right. Get used to it, and make sure to think when you use it.”

Because the entities that needed to be killed in this world, including the Demon Tribe, were already determined.

“Yes!”

Tina answered enthusiastically. I glanced at Iris and Maria beside me. They exchanged knowing looks, alternating gazes between Tina and me.

“Tina, you worked hard—”

Suddenly!

“Praus!!”

A familiar voice called out as the door swung open violently.

“Duke Tori, please calm down first…”

Then I heard Seri’s voice following.

Whoosh!

As the curtain was drawn back, he discovered me in front of Urka, grabbing my collar.

“Hey! What the hell did you do this time?!”

“Duke Tori, shouldn’t you let go of that hand before speaking? If you speak calmly, the Teacher will listen well.”

“That’s right, just calm down and talk it out.”

Iris said, tapping on Tori’s thick arm. Maria, who was next to her, spoke in a soothing tone.

At their responses, Tori wore a baffled expression. The heroes had never spoken to him so kindly before. Confused, he slowly released his grip on my collar.

“Praus, why are your friends acting like this?”

“Seems like you’re popular.”

“I’m not fond of them.”

“Not fond of them, you say.”

Both replied simultaneously to my remark. I chuckled and shrugged.

These two were treating Duke Tori kindly because they regarded him as a good person.

Since Seri started living in Aus Territory, she frequently visited the Duke’s residence, and the two spent a lot of time talking with their own kind in Aus.

They had heard countless stories from those who had settled in Aus.

Although they had been brought as slaves, they were guaranteed their basic rights so that they would not be subjected to unreasonable labor or sexual exploitation. They could earn money and after a certain period, they would be able to liberate themselves.

They shared heartwarming stories about how the money earned from those jobs would be returned to them when they settled, as they would need it.

In reality, this was taking advantage of a loophole in the law set by Tori’s royal family. Since there was no clause against returning the money, they could do it.

Thanks to that, non-slave alien races could comfortably live in Aus territory, and Aus’s citizens welcomed them without prejudice.

In this way, alien races settled in Aus, adapting to civilization and finding forms of happiness.

Most of the non-human races jokingly remarked that they could never go back to living in the woods once they adjusted to human civilization.

And they were grateful to Duke Tori, as he allowed them to live without persecution.

Hearing such stories from their own kind made Iris and Maria inevitably warm up to him, as they realized he was one of the good people among humans.

“Anyway… what’s all this fuss about?”

I asked while straightening my clothes.

“His Majesty the Emperor canceled the audience. You know what that’s about, right? After you said you’d go first, he refused to meet. What did you do?”

Seeing him launch into rapid-fire questioning made me snicker softly. Where did that noble’s speech go? It sounded just like a friend quarreling.

“I just mixed in a few words to ensure we wouldn’t be robbed of our rights.”

“That’s right. We didn’t curse or resort to violence.”

Iris added to my words, prompting Tori to smack his forehead and shout.

“That’s only natural!”

“Well, then there’s no reason to be angry, right? No cursing, no violence. Ah— now that I think about it, the Teacher did drop a bombshell.”

“…What did he drop?”

“Something along the lines of…if you act up again, he’ll kill you? That kind of nuance?”

“Yep. That’s right.”

That was entirely different.

I said that if such a thing happened again, I’d personally step in. Even that wasn’t really my intention, but it was how things turned out.

Maria’s comments and Iris’s agreement made Tori’s facial muscles tense.

“Such a crazy—!”

“But it’s not our fault if you sulk like a child and shut yourself away! It’s the Emperor’s petty personality that’s the problem.”

“…Praus, do your students…seem to be taking after you?”

“Ah! Is that really so? Do I resemble the Teacher? Oh my, how embarrassing.”

Iris swayed her tail, fussing with her hair. Tori gave a bitter smile, looking at her blush.

“Not a compliment…”

“…Don’t worry too much. The Emperor won’t dare touch you.”

I said, picking up Flamme beside Urka. I drew the sword. Despite the rough handling, its blade showed not a single scratch, drawing a quiet admiration from me.

“What do you mean by that?”

After briefly examining it, I returned the Flamme to its sheath.

“Since Urka defeated Soro, the Emperor’s side will now see Urka as equal to or above Soro.”

“But there’s no guarantee the White Light Corps will move because of that, is there?”

“No. The Emperor has no choice but to become cautious. They must have been sure that Soro would win this duel. Urka was likely seen as the weakest among our forces.”

Urka’s strength had already been fully revealed to the Empire. After years of battling monsters, it was odd that the Empire wouldn’t have that information.

That’s why the odds of losing the duel were absurdly against them.

But they overlooked the fact that I was by Urka’s side.

No matter how powerful I was, they probably thought I couldn’t grow Urka beyond his limits when he had reached his own peak. So they let me teach Urka without interference.

“But Soro lost to Urka. Even with Ter’s help, that’s how it turned out, so the Emperor must be thinking, Soro can’t defeat Urka.”

“Still, can we really be sure they won’t move because of that?”

“Aren’t we here?”

“What?”

“What they truly fear are me and my students. Even if we haven’t been active externally, information leaks have undoubtedly been taking place. And because that information has leaked, they can’t move. They can’t gauge our forces accurately.”

Whether it would be safe—or not—to deploy the White Light Corps was a decision they hesitated to make, leading to their reluctance to send them out. The White Light Corps was the Emperor’s hidden card.

Moreover, even if the Emperor has tolerated my rudeness so far to exploit me, the fact that he said nothing after my warning in a personal space just now was a completely different matter.

The Emperor is the center of the Empire.

How could such a person say nothing to an ordinary commoner?

This essentially proved that he ‘fears’ my power. It may also be due to their arbitrary belief that’s considered me as a hero.

Anyway, taking all that information into account, the Emperor would conclude that he wouldn’t move the White Light Corps.

“But wouldn’t he try to kill us in reverse?”

“The White Light Corps isn’t some militia; they won’t just throw themselves away like that.”

“Is that so…”

At last, Tori accepted that.

“Of course, there’s no guarantee. There are always variables in every situation. So I plan to prepare. Just in case we need to crush the White Light Corps completely.”

While saying that, I also thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to engage in a battle with the White Light Corps.

In my prediction, once Lupin died, the next emperor will be Chris. That was inevitable.

This meant the White Light Corps, which served the Emperor, would fall into Chris’s hands.

If that damned fellow gains the command of the White Light Corps, needless to say, he would undoubtedly try to kill us. Thus, we would have no choice but to confront the White Light Corps.

So it wouldn’t be a bad idea to secure a guaranteed victory now.

Of course, the task of defeating the White Light Corps would not fall to me. Our heroes would handle it. As for me, I’ll just sit back and watch.

“As for my preparations?”

“I’m thinking of meeting the ‘Earth Spirit’ found at the southernmost border of the Empire.”

“Earth Spirit?”

“The Empire’s southernmost? No way, Praus you…”

Both Spirit Kings looked flustered. They were surprised because I had also guessed the location of the Earth Spirit, which no one knew.

“Right. I’ll be meeting the fragment of the World Tree: Orient, the Earth Spirit.”

Since Tina was the only one carrying the final weapon, I thought it better to hurry up the leveling process.

So, I asked the final weapons saved to protect me going forward. Our heroes!

*

At the highest and largest structure in the Demon World, the Demon King’s Castle.

In the vast space there, nine beings sat in front of a long table. The man with dark hair sitting in the central position scanned those gathered.

He had been repeating this for an hour already.

The other eight individuals, aside from the one in the central seat, were so wary that they even hesitated to exhale.

“Is everyone gathered?”

“Yes! My Lord Demon King!”

Those who answered had been waiting for the words of Blas Weill, the Demon King, whose name alone sent shivers throughout the realm.

As the echoes faded in the empty room, Blas continued speaking.

“It’s already been a few months, so you all probably know, so I will speak directly. The Black Dragon belonging to the 11th rank and the army of Peremus has fallen.”

As he spoke, those present quieted instantly.

The report of the Black Dragon’s death had been relayed immediately through Stella. Yet, for months, there had been no reaction from the Demon King until now.

Yet, he suddenly brought it up, leaving the commanders suspicious.

“The higher-ranked creatures of the Demon World have fallen. Why did you not respond at all? You just stood by and did nothing.”

“I’m sorry! My Lord Demon King!”

Several persons immediately prostrated themselves in apology. Blas frowned at their responses, as he did not desire that kind of answer. His gaze turned to the blue-skinned man seated to his right.

“Peremus.”

“Yes!”

Peremus bowed his head to Blas.

“It was under your army’s banner. Why did you take no action?”

“…I’m sorry.”

The reason Peremus had not acted was because the Demon King had not given any orders. If Blas had commanded, he would have invaded and stomped down those who killed the Black Dragon by himself.

However, his silence implied he was willing to abandon the Black Dragon, thus no action was taken.

But he could not tell that to Blas, the Demon King, thus he merely apologized.

“You’re all so lethargic. Commanders are supposed to be better than this!”

As his voice rose, the killing intent he emitted began making those present tremble uncontrollably. Two of the vice-commanders were nearly fainting.

“Peremus, should we just let it keep happening?”

“Ah, no!”

“Then what do you intend to do?”

“I will lead a raid into the Empire and destroy them all immediately!”

“That’s a foolish statement. While it’s true that humans are weaker than demons, they grow stronger when united. Moreover, now that a hero has emerged, if you go alone, you will simply be killed.”

Blas Weill knew well that the first Demon King had arrogantly fought alone and perished. How much more obvious was it that Peremus, being weaker, would only meet the same fate if he charged in?

“Then I will lead the army….”

“Will you take an incomplete army with you? Is your army merely for self-destruction?”

With his one-dimensional thinking, Blas shook his head. Peremus fell silent as if he were a mute.

Blas sighed and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a large map appeared in the air. Blas marked a black dot at the southernmost border of the Demon World.

“I found the traces of a Spirit King where the Demon World borders the Human World. It’s the Spirit King who stopped the Demon Tribe from invading after you last went to the Human World alone. Because of that creature, the southern passage has been completely sealed off. Do you remember?”

“Yes.”

“Until now, it has concealed itself and attacked demons, but it will have no choice but to reveal itself if it wants to stop you. Therefore, go and kill the Spirit King. To prevent heroes from making contracts with it.”

The Demon King’s only target of concern was the heroes. Blas Weill was also acutely aware that the only entities he needed to worry about were heroes.

And he intended to eliminate one of the means the heroes could become significantly stronger by making contracts with Spirit Kings.