[21st Round] Recruiting Freshmen
> Note: An attempt to transport a large amount of living matter to your coordinates is being made, Demon Lord Kang Han Soo. If you agree, I will send you the Spatial Transportation Magic Circle form it requires. Please be advised that the magic circle I’ll be sending can only transport people from the sender’s dimension to the recipient’s. It cannot be used the other way around.
‘Thank you for trampling on my stupid expectations in advance, Goddess of Fantasy!’
The system, which had been silent for a long time, reported abnormalities.
Fugitive Senior who spied on me through his position as an honorary teacher did send an army.
I thought it would take him several days to gather his troops, but he exceeded my expectations.
That aside…
“What’s wrong with you?”
Ssosia hadn’t taken her eyes off my beautiful face for quite a while now.
“We need to be prepared for invasions of extraterrestrial forces in the future, cowardly husband.”
“How do you suggest we do that?”
“First, let me ask you a question. How long do you think it’ll take you to destroy the planet of Fantasy?”
“Hmm… About 10 seconds?”
Although if I wielded the full power of the Demon Lord or if the planet had a spine, it would take less than 0.1 seconds.
“Then, to stop invaders as powerful as you, our planetary defense forces must be readied and deployed within 10 seconds after we caught wind of their presence in our borders. No, we need to act even faster. It’ll be quite disappointing if our countermeasures against them blow up along with the entire planet immediately after we finish our preparation for warfare.”
“Sure.”
I didn’t know if it was even possible to physically defend the planet from such an attack.
Even if our army was prepared for it, could they actually do anything to stop it in 10 seconds?
Just briefing them of the enemy would last more than 10 seconds.
In other words, it wouldn’t make sense.
“It’s necessary to protect our people.”
“…”
“Well… It’s useless against the might of a cosmic deity like my father. However, if the enemy specializes in individual combat power like you, such an army won’t be as worthless. They’d be able to buy us time.”
“They’d just be swept away.”
I did understand what she meant, though.
One of the many asteroids flying through space once fell on Earth, causing the dinosaurs’ extinction.
To God, it was probably like watching popcorn.
“But this is all theoretical. In reality, it’ll most likely take 30 seconds to deploy a planetary defense force. Doing that in 10 seconds is only possible during promotional training to calm the planet’s inhabitants.”
“30 seconds is already extremely fast…”
When my companions in the 1st round heard the news about a large army of monsters wreaking havoc in cities and villages, it still took them much longer than 30 seconds to recover from their hangovers.
“That’s not even on a planetary scale. What we’ll be experiencing is on a completely different level of threat. The Fugitive Hero has great military organization training. His troops took only 25.4 seconds to fully prepare for deployment.”
FSHUH!
Every time Ssosia waved her wand, magical patterns appeared on the ground.
Spatial Transportation Magic Circle.
However, its size was much larger than the magic circle Lanuvel created to abduct civilians and turn them into heroes.
“How can you make one without a catalyst?”
“Oh. Have you forgotten? Your first wife is the God Creator of Fantasy.”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The highest quality materials required to activate the magic circle appeared in powder form.
For Ssosia, the maker of this world, collecting rare materials wasn’t difficult at all.
She just made what she needed appear from thin air.
“Is there anything you can’t create?”
“Souls,” Ssosia answered without hesitation.
VZHZHZH!
The magic circle, imbued with the pulverized catalyst, was soon activated.
“Fugitive Senior’s army will be arriving anytime now…”
I was a little worried.
“Keep in mind that the Fugitive Hero is a king. Even if you only rule a part of a continent, you’ll already be considered an emperor here. However, the politics and hierarchy of the universe are far different. You must rule three or four galaxies to become emperor out there.”
“And then what am I…?”
Although not intentionally, I inherited the family business from my father-in-law and became a Demon Lord.
However, I didn’t lord over any planet, much less a solar system, and even lesser, a galaxy.
Should I introduce myself to them as an “ordinary demon”?
The Spatial Transportation Magic Circle Ssosia drew shone, releasing pure white light, and 200 dummies soon appeared on top of it.
Among them were humans and androids that we saw on Earth. To be honest, I was expecting something more majestic.
Leading them was a female commander.
▷ Race: Red Dragonian Overlord
▷ Level: 1
▷ Job: Lord of Flames (Fire → Immortality ↑)
▷ Skills: Interpretation A
▷ Status: Interest
She didn’t originate here in Fantasy, so she received the stats of a rookie hero. However, even by instincts alone, I could tell she wasn’t weak.
Her neck, waist, forearms, and thighs showed soft human-like skin, but everything else was covered in sturdy red scales that served as her armor. She also had intimidating claws at the tips of her fingers.
Her wings were folded behind her, and her tail was wrapped around her waists, however, making her appear less intimidating.
She was the first one to open the conversation.
“I’ll skip the official presentation since you won’t understand it even if I explain it to you. All you need to know is that I am General Chromatigus, the commander for this operation. I normally don’t participate in trivial missions like finding eight of the 586 queens, but when I heard my dear Boris is here, I volunteered anyway. That being said, I look forward to your cooperation.”
“Dear Boris?”
Did she mean the same old Prince Boris I knew?
“He’s handsome since he resembles His Majesty, but what I like about him is how he persistently resists the will of the powerful.”
“Is that so…”
I completely disagreed with her description, but I didn’t dispute her unique taste.
“We will discuss this later. His Majesty desires to ensure the exchange of captives first. Every time you bring us one of the individuals we’re looking for, we’ll provide you with material support.”
“I have no need for it.”
My cowardly wife could create anything.
Except for troops, I didn’t need anything.
“The Fantasy Institution is currently suffering from a shortage of new students. If this problem isn’t resolved, the school will be forced to close without prior inspections.”
Ssosia knew more about Fantasy’s situation, but new students are indeed only coming from Earth at the moment.
However, based on the results of my mollanphone-powered observation on my home planet’s situation, reports of young people’s disappearance had become practically nonexistent, most likely because the faculty had already kidnapped the last of its social outcasts.
In other words, the admission of new students had been halted.
Granted, hundreds of people who had reached the minimum required age for admission are registered each year, but that wasn’t enough, given the size of this school.
“What do you think?”
“On behalf of His Majesty, we are ready to supply you with students, the human resources that you lack so much, from our homeland.”
“Fugitive Senior is pretty cunning.”
I thought I, the MAX-Class Righteous Hero, was one-sidedly taking advantage of his generosity, but he thought this through just as much.
Graduates returned home.
Increasing the number of new students right now would be ideal, but they’d become part of his army once they had graduated.
On the surface, it would appear as if he was supporting me, but in reality, I would be the one helping him.
I didn’t like it.
“Not really. Things will be different if we don’t let them graduate~”
“Well, aren’t you a genius?”
“Hehe! I am the first wife of the MAX-Class Demon Lord. For me, this is nothing.”
I turned to the female commander.
“Hey, Red.”
“… You are exactly as I was told. However, I cannot allow you to call me that.”
“Haha! It’s easier to remember!”
I was stronger, so she couldn’t resist me.
We could fight about it, but we were allies moving towards the same goal right now, which I was glad about.
“Husband, I think you like this woman,” said Ssosia, flaming with jealousy and clutching my hand.
I stroked my wife’s back.
“First, dragons are gender-neutral. Second, even if I do, I’d only be interested in her as a combatant. If her strength were reflected in her stats, I’m certain it would be impressive.
“Impressive?”
“Don’t worry. She’s still weaker than you, my first wife.”
“Yes! I’m first!”
“…”
Ssosia’s jealousy disappeared like snow under the scorching sun of summer.
The time had come to get down to business.
I summoned my senior’s ex-wife, whom he still couldn’t forget to this day.
Pop!
She was packaged in a way that prevented her from moving.
“I accept this offer, Red.”
“I will report to His Majesty that both parties have agreed to the deal.”
Teacher Morals, who noticed how the situation was developing, began to lament again.
“They say that if you forgive the enemy, then you will become friends. Kang Han Soo, proud student of our school, I know you don’t like me, but don’t go to such extremes! If you do this, you will turn the entire faculty against you!”
“Everything will be fine.”
I would deal with all the teachers hiding here in Fantasy right now while looking for the director and interfering with my plans.
Professor Morals was just the beginning.
“How are you going to get her out of here?”
“We have a method.”
The android behind her came forward.
Unlike the other soldiers, it was completely unarmed.
Its stats awakened my curiosity.
▷ Race: Ancient Android
▷ Level: 1
▷ Job: Hero (Experience 200%)
▷ Skills: ■■ MAX
▷ Status: Socket, Submission
It had a MAX-rank black box that allowed the user to save skills and a double experience perk.
I realized immediately what they were trying to do.
“You’re going to turn her into experience points.”
“Oh no! That’s— Huh?!”
The Android Hero grabbed Teach Morals’ neck with both hands.
Her distorted face begged for mercy, but she soon disappeared from this world.
▷ Race: Ancient Android
▷ Level: 999+
▷ Job: Queen (Favor → Captivity ↑)
▷ Skills: ■■ MAX, Assassination E, Composure F
▷Status: Socket, Submission
Only about 1% of a monster’s total experience would normally be absorbed, with the rest being scattered into nature. However, like my past self, the android absorbed all the experience completely with the help of its Black Box and its profession.
They had extracted the soul of Teacher Morals!
She could later be removed and transferred to a vessel similar to a human body to revive her.
… Theoretically speaking.
“Take the queen’s body too.”
“As you command!”
The soldiers took care of Teacher Morals’s level 0 body as ordered.
Shook! Vzhzh!
The soldiers plugged a vacuum-cleaner-like machine in her ass to get rid of her excess fluids.
That would prevent decomposition.
It wasn’t much different from morgues.
“I shouldn’t feel sorry to see her in such a state, but for some reason, I am.”
“The list of planets from which you can kidnap new students has been updated, cowardly hubby.”
“Ha! Fugitive Senior kept his promise. I hope this sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
Finally, Teacher Morals gave me one last lesson.
If one were to forgive their enemy, they would become friends.
She was right.
When I forgave Professor Morals, I became close to the Fugitive Elder.
▶ Farewell: Senior, don’t worry and leave all the work to the younger ones.
Oh! Right!
‘Starting today, we are appointing Trainee Teacher as the new teacher of ethics and morality!’
▶ Embarrassment: I didn’t say goodbye with such selfish motives…
‘It’s okay, Trainee Teacher! There are still many goodbyes ahead!’
