The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#108 Magic Sword Forte (10) - Melody Truth is a frightening and fearsome thing. Even more so for those who hide and conceal something. 'I must not be discovered.' The young man had a secret. A secret that would end his social life, and perhaps even his physical life, the moment it was revealed to the world. 'The fact that I'm a demon contractor...!' Fina Valestia. The moment the 'truth' was revealed—that the young man, a mere porter in the party of that black-haired girl, the descendant of the Hero, was actually a demon contractor—the world would never leave him alone. The fanatics of the Pantheon would thoroughly shake down not only the young man himself but also his family, trampling on every aspect of his life story one by one. It would be difficult to survive, and even if he did survive, he would have to live as a fugitive for the rest of his life, avoiding relentless pursuit. Even the empire, famous for being a nation of non-believers, wouldn't bother to clash with the Pantheon just to protect him. Fortunately, he had done well so far. If he could just complete his mission to the end while staying by that terrifying Hero descendant's side like this, he would be able to enjoy a comfortable retirement life. Casting off all the shackles and responsibilities of his family, he would surely be able to live a lovey-dovey life with his beloved Divana! (E/N: What the fuck) That's how it should have been, but. "Uh, um, I'm sorry. No, saying sorry is also kind of strange, hmm." Death was approaching the young man. Swaying her long, flowing black ponytail that had no damaged parts despite its length and overflowed with lustrous shine. The young man usually thought that sight resembled the pendulum of a grandfather clock, but now it was different. It rather resembled a gallows rope. As if the moment the young man's neck was caught there, his body would also dangle helplessly. "Well, since I'm supposed to be the Hero's descendant and all, I can't just leave a demon contractor alone...." The girl's appearance was exactly the same as usual. She couldn't properly make eye contact with people and rolled her eyes around, trailing off her words vaguely. An appearance that seemed harmless and weak, with no sense of confidence. However, the young man was not fooled. Because. That girl was a human who could stay cooped up in dungeons all day long slaughtering monsters with that exact same face and exact same way of speaking. She was a killing doll who could slice golems, slice mimics, slice poison gas, slice the notion that humans are social animals, and slice everything else anyway. If there's someone who remains sane alone in an insane scene, that person is indeed the most dangerous existence. The young man glimpsed indescribable madness in the girl's clear golden eyes. "D-don't come." "I'll, I'll make it hurt as little as possible! Think of it like getting a shot!" "My...! My...!" "I've been much indebted to you! Please go peacefully!" "Don't come near me─!!" "Oh, the Magic Sword says to convey his greetings too! Then, here goes!" Slice! *** "Aaaaaaah!!" The young man shot up from his bed with a scream. 《What, what is it? What happened?》 The demon Divana, who had been resting inside the accessory, spoke up in confusion. The young man looked around with a dazed expression, then fumbled at his neck and let out a sigh of relief. "Th-thank goodness." 《What on earth is wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare or something?》 "I dreamed of a dungeon breakthrough doll slicing off my neck and whimpering about blood splattering.... It's really fortunate it was just a dream." 《.......》 The demon Divana thought. 'Is this one broken? I don't think I've been using it for that long...' Although he received a suspicious look from Divana wondering if he was a defective product, fortunately the young man was able to continue maintaining his position as contractor without being returned. It wasn't because she was particularly merciful, but simply because finding a new contractor after canceling the contract within Sky Academy was similar in difficulty to a certain Miss C gaining contractual dominance over a certain servant C. This was why contracts shouldn't be made carelessly. The demon and contractor, who had become a community of fate (limited to the region), began Project: Eliminate the Magic Sword. 《How about stealing it during rest time in battle? I can make a fake one, so we'll sneakily switch it when she looks away for a moment.》 The young man who heard Divana's suggestion quietly shook his head. He did not reproach his beloved female demon's ignorance. Because he knew that due to the special environment of Sky Academy, she couldn't watch the outside 24 hours a day. "Lady Divana. That's impossible." 《Why?》 "Because she holds a sword with one hand and a spoon with the other when eating." 《Is she insane?》 First operation, abandoned because the target is insane. 《Then how about approaching her when she's maintaining her weapon? Use your connections to say there's a senior specialized in weapon management. Since she treasures her sword so much, wouldn't she be pleased if you said it could become stronger?》 "Ooh, Lady Divana! You are truly wise! I'll have to talk to her as soon as we go to the dungeon today!" And the next day. 《.......》 "......" 《Do you remember what she said? I've had a lot on my mind lately, so I seem to be having some confusion with my hearing and memory.》 "'The Magic Sword said it's fine because he told me to clear one more quest instead of wasting time on weapon enhancement!'" 《Damn it.》 Second operation, abandoned because hearing and memory were perfectly fine. 《Let's try a direct approach instead. Tell her you want to borrow the sword just once as a fellow swordsman.》 "What I use is a shortsword, specifically a single-edged type, while that's clearly a double-edged longsword or bastard sword type." 《Aren't all swords the same?》 "What kind of nonsense is that? That's like saying a guandao is the same as a greatsword." 《......?》 Third operation, abandoned due to different weapon compatibility. Since the young man and Divana didn't have a superior who would spout nonsense like "Make it feel both traditional and modern, don't you understand something so simple?" while giving confirmations, fortunately they were able to reach an agreement on the fourth operation. They had no choice but to sneak in at night and steal it. "Here at Sky Academy, all sorts of actions are made up of quests and rewards. Because of this, it's easy to perceive it as a place with no gaps, but actually the internal discipline itself is neither that thorough nor strict." Setting aside all the minor things, first of all, the number of faculty members is extremely small. In fact, it has to be that way, because even though Sky Academy has fewer students compared to the other two representative schools, it still exceeds three digits. In contrast, there are only three 'professors' managing the academy, and even including other faculty members, it doesn't exceed ten fingers. While all three professors are powerful individuals who demonstrate tremendous strength within Sky Academy's scope, it's impossible to carefully manage all students one by one with such numbers. The reason why the academy maintains such a small number of faculty is unknown, but this was a clear opportunity for the young man and Divana. Of course, the moment the act of 'entering a female student's room late at night to steal a sword' was revealed, the young man would truly lose many things, but he decided to willingly take that risk. Because originally, to accomplish great things, one must bear some degree of risk. It's absolutely not because he went slightly insane from living cooped up in dungeons without rest. A pitch-black night. After confirming that sword instructor Raizenol had finished his final patrol, the young man cautiously approached Fina's room. A demon contractor's abilities are related to the abilities possessed by the demon itself. And since the demons of the 『Deception』 faction handled illusion and mirage-type magic as if it were a basic skill, infiltration was not a very difficult task. The sounds of the young man's footsteps and breathing were all covered with deadly silence, and illusions overlaid his appearance like a shadow in the darkness. After forcibly disabling the lock and entering the room, quiet silence greeted the young man. Fina was sound asleep on the bed, and a sword was placed on the shelf beside it. However, one thing. '...Why is there a cushion placed under the sword?' If she stored the precious weapon respectfully, it wouldn't be that strange, but the young man felt some inexplicable sense of unease at the sight. Would it be a mistake to feel like she's serving the weapon itself as a master? 'Phew, right. At least she's not sleeping with it under her pillow or hugging it while sleeping.' Since the Fina in the young man's mind was already a weirdo who wouldn't be strange doing such things, he persuaded himself that this was a sufficiently good condition. Even though he knew no sound would be made thanks to various spells, the young man reached for the sword with somehow cautious movements. It was when he gripped the handle and was about to leave the room. "Sir Magic Sword...." Hic! The young man desperately suppressed the hiccup that almost escaped unconsciously. Trembling as he looked behind him, he saw Fina rolling around on the bed muttering something sleepily. 'W-was it sleep talking?' Grumbling inwardly that his heart almost dropped, the young man slipped out of the room as he was. The very moment he relaxed his tension. ～ ♬ ～ A sound was heard. ～♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫～ A melody that seemed to come from a music box. ～♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♬ ♪～ Something that resembled a lullaby at first glance, but was too eerie to call it that. "What, what is it!?" Even though he knew he shouldn't, the young man reflexively opened his mouth. "L-Lady Divana? What in the world is...." 《I don't know, what is this? What is it?》 Since Divana was equally flustered, she couldn't give her contractor an appropriate answer. They frantically looked around to confirm where this unpleasant melody was coming from, and soon realized two facts. The fact that the melody was echoing from the sword. And someone staring at him intensely through the gap in the open door. "......" "......" The young man and Divana didn't know that the melody now echoing was once the OST of a horror movie famous as a cell phone ringtone. They didn't know that long hair is quite difficult to manage and naturally covers the face when left alone, nor that Fina was still half-asleep and her eyes looked very dirty. Therefore, they interpreted their situation very subjectively. A dark corridor. An eerie melody. Through the gap in the open door, between disheveled black hair, the appearance of a ghost glaring at them with bloodshot eyes. "Aaaaaaah!" 《Uh, uh-uh-uh?》 The young man initiated his escape. The demon was dumbfounded. The black-haired disheveled monster chased after them. It was the beginning of a horror chase scene.