Overlord of a High School (4)

Miki paused for a moment before giving herself a huge mental slap. 'Miki, you're a stuffed-up, brainless fool! He just lost his mother just days ago – and you decided to just go ahead and suggest that he call you 'mother'?! Just because he took care of you and Issei reminded you of Gorou's behavior?! You have no brains at all in your head, Miki! You're an idiot!'

"Umu," Satoru then looked at Miki as if he was thinking for a second, most likely from shock, as if to assess her, but before Miki could apologize for her outburst, he only nodded slightly,

"Okay, Mom…"

Miki blinked, as if trying to settle the words she heard in her head before nodding briefly, feeling uncomfortable with both her own actions and Satoru's reaction for agreeing to her proposal so easily. Though, along with that came some joy at Satoru agreeing and calling her 'mother', and the realization that it was not okay to easily call someone mother after your own mother died just recently. Perhaps it was simply his way of dealing with the shock? Or was he actually not that close with his mother?

Miki lowered her gaze, unable to meet Satoru's gaze, then moved forward, making her way to the main building of Kuoh Academy.

'Although, I don't know how his mother died and how he feels about it…' The thought of Mai Suzuki, Gorou's mistress, sparked deep anger in Miki's soul that clashed simultaneously with her empathy for Satoru, causing her mind to freeze in indecision. She hated Mai Suzuki as her husband's mistress… Ex-husband if she can help it.

At the same time, she sympathized with Satoru for losing his mother. Satoru seemed to her a really kind, wonderful, caring young man, and Miki deeply felt sorry for his loss – but she could not let go of her hatred either. The dueling sentiments froze her in indecision, as if someone had stretched her mind into a single thin line and was now pulling at it from both sides, making Miki unsure of how to feel.

'Ha, but if he did call me mother… Was Mai abusive?' Miki thought for a moment, and she could see the chain of logic forming.

'And well if you think about it, emancipation is very rare – so, the 'why' he decided to take such an opportunity… No one seeks to become an adult early for nothing – and such recognition requires a court order that requires Satoru to be able to prove that he is capable of behaving as an independent member of society. And along with that driver's license… it didn't paint a pretty picture.'

Miki then paled slightly, remembering exactly how Satoru drove the car.

No, judging by the fact that he managed to get to Kuoh Academy in record time and without a single accident at that speed, he was indeed a first-class driver – but at the same time… He was, simply put, a death hazard on the road as he demonstrated driving skills that an ordinary person could not even dream of, at the same time disregarding all possible traffic rules… Probably, Miki couldn't really tell.

She was squeezed into the seat moments after Satoru got behind the wheel, and so she wasn't sure if he had broken any other traffic rules other than the speed limit. All the while, she was trying to figure out if she was dead already – the flashing lights she could only see rushing toward her – really, looked like light at the end of the tunnel.

At the very least, she did feel as if her soul were leaving her body, so the comparison seemed very apt to her.

Still, the very fact that he could drive, albeit in obvious violation of speeding rules, meant that was how he learned how to do it. And, as Miki was still alive, even after such a drive, then he had been practicing that way for a very long time.

Which meant that he had gotten his driver's license a long time ago – again, it doesn't paint a pretty picture.

It takes people years to learn even to drive at ordinary speeds in the not very busy Kuoh traffic. Even if Satoru was a genius chef and a genius driver at the same time, the kind that are born once in a generation and become legends, it would still take him years to learn to drive like that.

And that, in turn, meant that Satoru had long ago became emancipated – maybe even as early as fourteen, since that was the youngest age a court would recognize a child as ready to become an adult. But the question remained, not 'how' exactly he was recognized as an adult, but 'why' he decided to do such a thing…

Only a mature and well-balanced person could be emancipated – and the court would only grant such decision only on a dire need. In cases where the minor was in a dreadful living conditions, or perhaps seeking to escape from their family…

Miki stumbled as her thoughts reached the very possible but deeply troubling conclusion – as she stopped to look behind her for Satoru, she found no one. Luckily, before she could panic, she immediately found Satoru already in front of her as they had reached the headmaster office's floor – with him waiting for her to catch up. As Miki looked at Satoru's worried face, she could feel her conjecture looking more and more probable.

'If that's so… that would explain why he doesn't seem to care at all about his mother's death – no, probably somewhere inside him, he feels something about it. But, judging by his actions, he cared more about what happened to me and Gorou yesterday than something as close and tragic as the death of his mother. He never once mentioned his past, and easily agreed to my proposal. What if, in fact, he was not so much looking for his father as trying to escape from his mother? What if he really decided to find Gorou not because he had no one else, but because he wanted no one else? If you think about it… It's possible.'

Miki felt like pulling on her clothes, a slight nervous tic showing always when she was heavily immersed in her thoughts. 'Gorou never once visited Kyoto again, after the first time – so Satoru's mother wasn't dating Gorou anymore, and Satoru became… a by-product of their indiscretion. It is even possible that Gorou decided to return home just because his mistress got pregnant, severing all ties with her, while his mistress decided to keep the child. And being the son of a single mother failed to give Satoru a proper childhood, while Mai failed to become a good mother. Perhaps after being abandoned by Gorou, she neglected herself, after which Satoru simply had to grow up early and apply for emancipation. But, by getting his rights he also got the responsibilities of an adult, and he couldn't leave his mother so easily. Even though she gave him nothing maternal but birth itself, and, after her death, he tried to leave for another city, trying to find someone near and dear to him – the father he had never seen…' Miki's heart was filled with pain toward a fellow woman being abandoned – even if it's for her ex-husband's mistress, she did also just get abandoned, by the same person even!

The feeling of empathy, however, could not overpower her overflowing anger toward her too – but it was especially filled with pain toward the young man who had to grow up so quickly in such hellish conditions. A young man who, despite this, had managed not to squander his human feelings and qualities, and still remained a kind young man. A kind man who just wanted to find some warmth in this cruel world – he was looking for his father, but was ready to accept warmth from Miki as well, easily agreeing even to call her his mother.

Miki's heart ached even more as the whole picture came together in her mind, causing her to stifle a rudimentary sob as she realized the situation before deciding to accept Satoru fully as her new son in her heart. 'Issei, I hope you get along with your big brother…'

The thought of Issei, on the other hand, suddenly resonated not only with a familiar love for her child, but also with a slight note of bitterness. 'Issei, you look so much like your father…'

In his youthful days, Gorou was an even more open and perverted person than Issei – and in that respect, Issei clearly is Gorou's son. Miki wasn't a shy girl herself – that was one of the reasons she and Gorou had hit it off in the first place, but after all that had happened? It was hard and painful to see in Issei the habits of Gorou as he had once been, and who, because of those habits, had ended up committing the greatest betrayal.

Satoru clearly understood this, as he constantly threw her a reassuring, sad, empathetic and understanding smile a little earlier, as he watched Issei's actions – but there was nothing more Satoru himself could do. He clearly couldn't remake Issei's proclivities in one day, but Miki inwardly vowed to erase Gorou's habits from Issei and prevent him from growing up to be like his father.

Making his way up the fourth floor to the headmaster's office, Satoru paused slightly in front of the doors, as he began looking around them carefully, clearly in a fit of nervousness. It took a while before, facing Miki's reassuring smile and gaze, he stepped forward to open the doors and find himself in front of the headmaster.

Miki had only met the man a couple of times before – first, when she'd tried to get Issei into the school and a couple of times when he'd called them to school after another of Issei's deeds. The headmaster was essentially a stranger to her.

The headmaster was a fairly ordinary middle-aged man, with the fact that he's a foreigner the only notable thing about him – he's maybe a little older than Gorou… Or, well, Miki herself. His hair already starting to turn gray, gathered into a neat lacquered hairstyle on his head, he wore strict black-rimmed glasses and an expensive suit.

The European looked more like a businessman than a school principal.

Another notable thing about the headmaster is the unmistakable aura of power and strength he exudes causally. A rather unsuitable aura to have for the rather high, but not too high, position he has in society. It was as if he had the ability to easily destroy the life of anyone who would only cross his path.

Under the influence of this aura of power and strength, Miki unconsciously straightened her posture, while Satoru, who had seemingly easily overcome this aura, just took a step forward. Not paying attention to the strange look the headmaster was giving from under his glasses towards Satoru, he just began glancing at the various objects in the room. First, Satoru would look at the pen on the desk, then to the pile of papers on the desk, to the small mirror hanging on the wall behind the principal's desk, then to the principal himself.

It was as if, only at that moment, did he notice the headmaster's presence. Still, surprise or not, Satoru stared at the headmaster straight in the eye, facing the man for a moment in a silent duel.

Miki instantly felt an uncomfortable pressure building up in the room, as if she had found herself at a very 'heated' negotiation between two power-brokers quite by accident.

Whatever it was that was happening, it seems that the headmaster conceded the battle, as he looked away first from Satoru and spoke first. "Good morning, Miss Hyoudou, and you, Mr…?"

"Suzuki," Satoru replied calmly before bowing slightly, not low enough to show deference, but not so shallow as to show disregard and rudeness, demonstrating the perfect proficiency of his movements. It was as if he had done nothing but meet all sorts of bureaucrats and officials for decades. "Satoru Suzuki. Good morning, Headmaster."

"Ah, good morning, Headmaster." Miki followed soon after, the shock of Satoru's first meeting with the headmaster almost making her forget decorum. After a short exchange of words, Miki was able to raise her voice, thereby drawing the headmaster's attention back to herself, which suddenly became much less threatening than it had been just a moment ago.

"I… ahem, some important things happened yesterday and I… I would like to help Satoru transfer to this school."

"Is that so, Miss Hyoudou?" The headmaster in a snap returned his attention to Satoru, his eyes searching for something that he couldn't find. "This is… A rather unusual and unexpected request. Although I have nothing against transferring students – the school year has already begun, even if only a few days ago, and a transfer to this school requires passing exams…"

"I understand," Miki shook her head. "But what happened… It's very unusual, for me, too."

"I am emancipated," Satoru finally spoke up, causing the headmaster to look in his direction again, this time with an upraised eyebrow. "And I would like to study at this school, but because of my unexpected move to this town I was unable to prepare a complete list of all the necessary documents, and previous events prevented me from applying earlier… I am willing to complete any conditions for studying at this, umu, Kuoh Academy. I would like to find out if it is possible."

After Satoru's calm but impassioned words, the headmaster was deep in thought for a moment, before nodding. Miki could feel her shoulder relaxing somewhat, a proper education is necessary for a proper life after all. Hopefully, living in a less stringent environment would be a healing period for Satoru.

"Of course – but first, I would need your high school diploma and, um, your documents, along with an approved application for emancipation. Forgive me if I cannot take your word so easily."

"Of course," Satoru nodded easily, before Miki realized that Satoru had not brought any document bag or anything like that – before Satoru reached into the pouch of his jacket. It was a very prim and proper jacket, suitable as a school uniform, but honestly looking more like an office worker's uniform.

For a moment, it seemed to Miki as if reality itself blinked suddenly. Perhaps for a split second, like a strange trick of the eye, it was as if Satoru had shifted a little, by millimeters, from his seat. And then with a magician's gesture and flourish he pulled several sheets of documents from his pocket, all bearing the necessary stamps and signatures, so that their veracity was not to be doubted.

The headmaster took those, ran a glance over the documents, and then smiled. "I see no reason to stop you from studying at our academy."

"Hmm?" Satoru was as surprised as Miki by the headmaster's easy acceptance, but the headmaster only shook his head.

"You know, exams would just be a formality, looking at your certificates." The headmaster turned his gaze to the grades from Satoru's emancipation certification, and Miki blinked in surprise. It seemed as if every subject a person could imagine was written in Satoru's certificate – 'Japanese', 'Math', 'Biology', alongside elective courses like 'Photography' and 'Programming' — and each of them had a grade beside it, exactly one hundred points.

Miki gasped in surprise a little – where did Satoru come from?! A hundred in all subjects, and with the sheer number of subjects… It was just an inhuman level of academics. And what school could one find so many subjects to study?! Did he go to an academy at Kyoto University?! Only an institution like that would have had the means and resources to provide those subjects. Furthermore, to graduate early with a hundred all those courses at one of the most prestigious schools at one of the most prestigious universities in Japan.

Where does Satoru's abilities end? He was a super-chef, a stunt driver, and now it turns out he was also a super genius… and all this while he was emancipated and single! That's the kind of person they should make movies about!

"I think our academy will be glad to have you in our ranks." The headmaster smiled at Satoru, then turned his gaze and began addressing the still shocked Miki. "The first class starts in fifteen minutes… I think you'll find a place in class 3-A, you can get the uniform fitted later."

***

'Just like that?' Momonga inwardly sighed with relief as he looked into the director's eyes, and the magic of the headmaster seems to be casting. 'Though apparently it's not my grades after all, it's the fact that this guy couldn't get through my surveillance protection ring. I'm glad that I'm always prepared, it would be quite laughable for my disguise to fail just as soon as I started using it.'

Momonga had a lot of racial and class passive skills – most of them he had turned off a little earlier so as not to provoke mass deaths of random observers from his [Aura of Despair V] or something similar. But some of them he never thought to turn off, like his passive skill [Arcane Sight].

This ability allowed Momonga to see through any form of magical concealment and invisibility, but did not work for some abilities not directly related to magic. For example, he was able to ignore even the ultimate spell of stealth, [Perfect Unknowable], which even one-hundred-level rangers could barely get through unless they were specialized in stealth neutralization and information gathering. On the other hand, he was incapable of ignoring stealth granted by the natural skills and special abilities of those same rangers if those skills were not considered spells, even if they happen to be available from level 1.

Additionally, this passive ability allowed him to see through illusions, detect magical enchantments, magical creatures and intangible objects such as ethereal creatures. As well as that, he could see the effects of magic and the traces left by its application if the magic applied was strong enough and was applied recently. There were some ways to bypass or to block Momonga's [Arcane Sight], but in this case the opponent had to have special classes and abilities of specialized builds or creature types.

The only problem was that, for all its good points, [Arcane Sight] did not allow Momonga to determine the very type of enchantment or magic applied, or the level and direction of a magical creature's abilities. All the skill would tell him was only that the object was enchanted, or the creature had some magical abilities.

So when Momonga suddenly discovered that the doors leading to the principal's office were enchanted, he had immediately stopped moving for a moment and prepared some counter-measures.

The fact that magic existed in this world had already been known – so discovering a magical artifact, albeit in the form of doors, was not so strange to Momonga. The problem begins when he doesn't know the function of the magical doors – could be either a trap or a harmless artifact enchanted with something like [Silence] so that they would not slam or creak as they opened and closed.

In YGGDRASIL, permanent magical objects were created in a very different way, with [Data Crystals], while the magic cast on objects was most often temporary – with some exceptions of course. But this world had already proven that there were unknown artifacts that did not fit within the normal logic of YGGDRASIL.

And so, as expected, as Momonga stood in front of the doors, he cast the spell [All Appraisal Magic Item]. The spell fully reveals the item's properties and abilities, as well as how it was created, enchanted, its creator, and similar additional information.

In retrospect, Momonga probably should have checked if the spell worked the same way earlier on the [Longinus], the remnants of which he received after killing the red dragon. But by the time of this realization, Momonga had already given those to the Pandora Actor, and so he simply had to check it another time.

However, luckily, the information from the artifact doors came to Momonga without any problems. As it turned out, these doors were a kind of emergency portal installed here and were made of something called [Hellwood]. Its original construction was disguised by a layer of plain wood.

When activated, anyone passing through would be deposited out in the location designated beforehand, in effect it was a door that was enchanted by a spell that is similar to [Gate] – with some limitation. The doors can only be used by a few specific users, and only led to a predefined place – some place called 'Lilith'?

The artifact itself was enchanted, slash, created by Serafall Sitri-Leviathan and Sirzechs Gremory-Lucifer, and was very, very strong. It had a built-in semblance of regeneration in case it was damaged, and automatically used weak information gathering magic on anyone passing through.

In other words, if Momonga walked through those doors without the ring protecting him completely from information-gathering magic – his automatic barrier to suppress surveillance would most likely activate, and the artifact would explode from his return spell.

Another thing to add was that whoever was sitting in the principal's chair at the moment – they were clearly gathering information about everyone entering their office… Momonga had to rely on the effect of his ring and prepare for battle as soon as he crossed the threshold.

Though he felt sorry for Miki, he was ready to sacrifice her at any moment and give Pandora's Actor the order to retreat immediately if anything goes wrong.

A moment later, however, Momonga realized that Miki was looking at him with a strange look, most likely having no idea why Momonga was frozen in front of the doors. So, he cast aside his doubts, quickly made a fight plan in his head if a fight did happen, and as he opened the doors, he took a resolute step inside.

And, of course, instantly found himself face to face with a man that almost made Momonga cringe – he was almost a splitting image of his old bosses from the past world, except without the visible signs of cybernetic modifications.

Sure enough, Momonga picked up instantly that the man's office contained several other artifacts.

The pen on the desk was a transformed object, a staff originally, as his spell later explained to him, enchanted to take the form of a pen and transform back at the wearer's will. The pen/staff, had been enchanted by someone called 'Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa', and was comparatively not half bad of an artifact. It's not too high rank, but it still gives appreciable bonuses when used, enough to make Momonga to consider it to be a usable item if extremely niche in usage case.

The stack of paper had a low rank distraction illusion applied to it, preventing a casual observer from detecting the contents of the sheets themselves. The mirror had the ability to dispel the low-rank illusions of anyone who happened to be reflected in it. Momonga could only nod approvingly internally at the fact that the owner of this office had successfully hung a mirror that instantly reflected everyone who entered the office. He was also very glad that his [Create Body] was not an illusion. In addition, the mirror itself could use a strong enough attack spell, but only once.

And lastly, the Headmaster's glasses, also enchanted by a certain 'Agrippa', possesses basic information gathering abilities like [Mana Essence] and [Life Essence], as well as identifying low-ranking illusions that fell into the man's gaze.

Momonga could only be pleased that he wore his ring – currently transformed as his underwear, that concealed every information about his presence. And because attempting to remove his underwear was last on any list of priority actions for an enemy should a battle with Momonga begin – Momonga considered that one tidbit quite genius, in his own option.

Luckily also for Momonga, the artifact glasses did not have the ability to see the doppelgängers' true form, but internally Momonga noted the need to inform the Pandora's Actor soon to stay as far away from the Director as possible. Just in case.

Lastly, but most importantly, Momonga had determined that the man sitting across from him had magical abilities, but he could not determine his level or his highest tier of magic. He could not even determine who exactly this man was! Was he this same Agrippa who made the enchanted items?

Anyway, needless to say, Momonga's haunches were raised, and he had to struggle with himself not to silently start to cast some spells. So much so that he might act a bit wooden.

However, luckily, their dialogue about Momonga joining the Academy went well without an outbreak of battle, even when Momonga himself had determined that the headmaster had already moved into the category of 'potential adversaries' in his perception. Everything seemed to be able to resolve peacefully – until the moment when the headmaster demanded from Momonga his credentials.

And, of course, Momonga didn't have one – emotion suppression activated several times in quick succession.

He did, however, have an idea, an attempt which he was going to use that might work. And so, without making any sudden movements, Momonga raised his hand and put it inside his jacket's non-existent inside pocket, where there was nothing. And with a silent cast, Momonga cast [Time Stop]. An almost suicidal move that could mark the beginning of battle if the headmaster had any artifact that counters [Time Stop] – but Momonga's earlier observation made him confident enough to use the spell.

Judging by the level of the artifacts – his opponent was not too strong, and therefore should not have protection against temporal spells, but Momonga was ready for his opponent's reaction, in case he reacted with hostility to his action. But, despite Momonga's paranoid self and his racing heart, the headmaster froze with the rest of the world.

Quickly, Momonga leaped to action in the frozen time. First, he spent some precious seconds memorizing his original posture and position before the Time Stop. Next, he walked behind the headmaster's desk, and began perusing the documents on his desk to find something that he can fake as his credentials. Unluckily, Momonga didn't find anything useful, instead finding that these documents did not appear to be about the school at all, if the document title saying 'Gremory Territory' and 'Lilith' meant anything. Hmm, wasn't the door linked to this 'Lilith'?

Momonga wanted to read more to sate his curiosity, but simply had no time, luckily his next search was more fruitful finding exactly what he was looking for – other people's certificates. Momonga quickly glanced through the documents and made his own appropriate copies.

Unfortunately, he didn't know very well which subjects he was required to put on the list and which weren't, and which scores were the most realistic, so he did the only thing he could do. He copied all the information he could and then gave himself the maximum number of scores everywhere, a hundred, figuring this way he could attract attention, but no more than by his emancipation. It should reduce the risks of being rejected into the Academy and requiring additional exams, which Momonga himself wasn't sure of passing.

Fortunately, the certificates he found were written in Japanese – a language that he could write and understand. Momonga had already determined that he understood the local language by ear, but was a bit unsure whether the script would also be the same – something that he was happy to find to be true.

Though, as it turned out, he understood more than just Japanese. It turned out that he understood at least some other languages – something he found out when he had visited another country at night, though he wasn't sure what country or what language the people were speaking. But, other than finding that he could understand foreign languages now, he still couldn't parse the foreign writing, so finding the Japanese entries in the certificates made Momonga happy.

Of course, [Time Stop] did not allow him to interact with other stopped creatures, but he was still able to interact with himself. Either changing his equipment or placing buffs on himself, as well as with inanimate objects that were not associated with Players, were possible.

For example, he could easily open the unlocked safe next to the director, take out the certificates, create his own copy, and return them back. In YGGDRASIL, players didn't specifically use [Time Stop] to read and forge documents, but if the opponent had no countermeasures against temporal abilities – it opened up a huge range of actions for other Players. The examples were myriad – putting or refreshing buffs mid-fight, laying traps right in front of enemies, watching the next step of the opponent, or even changing their equipment completely.

Or, as in this case, steal an item from under the guard's nose while fleeing away. That is why temporal defenses are the basic requirement for any Player above Level 70 – without it, you'll just die instantly.

Of course, the ability still has limitations, and it's impossible to stun-lock an enemy by abusing [Time Stop]. First, being that the spell itself required a lot of mana, and any spell to be used needs to use the metamagic [Delay], increasing their mana usage. And lastly, and the thing that makes it almost impossible to pull off, was that one had to be incredibly precise in using each successive [Time Stop].

Momonga was one of the rare players who could implement this tactic without burning his mana for nothing, having studied and trained his abilities over the years of YGGDRASIL, not that he ever had the chance to use the strategy. Until now, he had never had the chance to do so…

Until this moment, when he decided to vociferously burn his mana again, after it had finally almost fully recovered from the waste of killing the Great Red Dragon, using a spell of the tenth rank to forge documents. Momonga had to use [Time Stop] several times to fully copy the necessary documents before he returned to his seat, assuming the pose he had held before, to wait until the end of the spell.

Of course, he quickly ran into another problem. His credentials were too amazing – luckily, the problem was solved without him having to do anything, and he's now a student of Kuoh Academy.

The mana he had spent on the documents were very well spent. Documents that had ended up being his pass to the world of education – so, at the moment, he was in an extremely happy mood. He was ready to start his studies at the academy, even if he now had to be wary of the principal of the place along with some others… If his senses weren't fooled, he had seen a couple more holders of magic in this school.

However, that's a concern for later, after all what's the chance that the people he sensed earlier would be anyway near him? The school is a very large place with many students and classes. And so, with nothing more to worry about, rejoicing inwardly, Momonga let Miki out of the principal's office first before following behind her.

As Momonga was about to exit, his good mood died a quick death, tensing inwardly, almost flinching when he heard a quiet voice from behind him. "And where are your real documents, Satoru Suzuki?"

Momonga almost froze when he heard those words, but with such outstanding credentials and having blocked all attempts to gather information, it would be foolish to expect himself to be above suspicion.

But right now, almost any move he could make was a bad one – Miki was already behind the doors in front of him -- and Momonga should have ended the conversation as quickly as possible... But by not giving away any information - even if he decided to play "cool" and say something like "how did you know?" - he would only confirm his opponent's possible assumption, since he might be bluffing, testing Momonga's honesty.

"What do you mean, Director?" So Momonga decided to play it as simply as possible, testing his opponent's hand.

"Nothing at all," And just as Momonga predicted, his opponent was bluffing, "I'm sorry, I haven't been sleeping much lately, and I'm starting to talk to myself…"

"It's no problem, Headmaster," Momonga smiled, "Have a good day, I think I should get to class…"

***

Johan Braun was an excellent wizard – and excellent wizards quickly rose through the ranks. That was why he's in the position he's in, the headmaster of Kuoh Academy, a place where two Heiresses study, a place regularly visited by two Satans alongside the head of two Pillar Houses. Johan was very high up in the hierarchy of his organization indeed.

Coming from a rather old and venerable family of mages, he was trained for generations under the wing of the Grauzauberer, the Grey Wizards. Johan had shown himself to be a great man – he was talented, energetic, and even had some political weight in his circles. Even at his young age, he had already reached the rank of 'Master' which mages usually reached only in their later years, when their hairs were gray. Perhaps, befitting the name of their magic association, if they received it at all, of course.

His growth potential however was not infinite, of course, and the next step up from his position, 'Magister', seemed a long and difficult road even for him, not to mention 'Archmage' – the highest rank a mage could achieve. Well, theoretically there was the rank of 'Archmagister' above that, the position as head of his magic association. Sadly, this position has been held by Mephisto Pheles for centuries, the current and perhaps for a long time more, leader of Grey Wizards. There was no chance of anyone else gaining that position, as he was what one would call a 'cheat' existence.

While all decent wizards learned magic as humans – Mephisto Pheles had learned magic as a demon, a race already possessing powers too high for wizards to compete with. Add human magic to his natural magic to that? And you get a cheater holding the mantle of 'Archimagister' for hundreds of years since the death of the founder and past head, Faust.

Still, it's not like the Grey Wizards would complain much. It was Mephisto's action that started the integration of Grey Wizards with the demons, an act that had greatly benefitted the association. And while such actions forced many mages to leave the association, founding their own instead, the good still balanced out the bad. After all, centuries of stories about 'dishonest tricksters who steal souls' could not be undone by the fact that Mephisto himself was not a bad guy, who was genuinely into magic.

Especially considering that demons could indeed steal souls and some even practiced it periodically even when the act was made illegal…

Still, on the whole, the Association's integration with the demons brought more positive things to the Grey Wizards, and to Johan in particular. The demons were very interested in the services of mages, and the mages were very interested in what they can pay with. Not always necessarily monetary compensation, the demons could provide magic materials that were difficult to find on Earth, patronage, or even their own knowledge.

At the same time, the demons could closely monitor the progress of individual mages, selecting the most promising mages for the most important demons. While the mages themselves were given information about their potential employers – usually the information was even close enough to the truth!

In other words, it was a fruitful cooperation in which the pros far outweighed the cons – at least from Johan's perspective – many of the mages who left the organization refused to 'become the demons' lapdogs'. Johan didn't see much of a problem with that, though – many of the magic universities kept their own associate academies and schools with them, for roughly the same purposes that the demons kept their relations with the Grey Wizards.

Was there anything wrong with that?

In any case, Johan had quickly risen through the ranks, attracting the attention of the top Gray Wizards and, through them, the attention of powerful demons, so the invitation to serve one such demon was no surprise to him. The only thing that came as a slight surprise to him was who offered him the service.

Zeoticus Gremory, one of the most powerful demons, father of the Crimson Lucifer himself, the current ruler of the Underworld. One of the rulers that is – considered also the strongest demon ever born in the world, it was rumored that he was stronger even than the original Lucifer. In other words, he was going to get a contract from a very powerful demon with enormous power and connections with no string attached.

So, of course, Johan jumped at the chance given to him.

The catch turned out to be that Johan should have questioned exactly why Zeoticus needed a mage. Usually, demons used mages to show the prestige of their family, to use them as their agents in places where demons themselves were lacking, sometimes as teachers or instructors, as far as magic was concerned. If the demons for some reason wanted to learn, of course, or as teachers of everything 'human'. Some lucky magicians were even reincarnated!

For demons, recruiting magicians into their peerages was the easier option.

First, magicians were close to the human world, but already knew about its magical side and would probably already be vetted for potential thoroughly beforehand. And second, they would not start praying the second they see a demon.

Zeoticus Gremory, however, needed a mage for only one thing…

To dump all his administerial work on him!

Technically, Zeoticus was the 'Administrator' of Kuoh Academy, overseeing both the school and its associated college, but he very rarely showed up to his workplace, preferring to go about his demonic business and dance around in his bloody camel costume!

That man was willing to do anything but the school bureaucracy he was supposed to control!

And so, of course, all Zeoticus' labors fell on the shoulders of Johan, who was put in as headmaster, as his officially contracted mage. He works alongside Elizabeth Rosenkreuz, who was officially contracted mage of the Sitri family as headmaster of the college. If it weren't for the help of Sona Sitri and her wonderful student council helping to sort out the school's affairs, Johan would have died of stress long ago, buried under a large pile of paperwork.

Technically, Rias Gremory and her 'Occult Research Club' were also supposed to help with the running of Kuoh Academy. But, because of some quirk of their own, the demons had divided what they thought was 'fair' in their duties. Sona helped with the running of the Academy during the day, and Rias helped at night. There's only one problem with that arrangement, though.

Kuoh Academy did not operate at night!

Rias did occasionally help with the little things, like securing the academy grounds at night with her team, but she did absolutely no paperwork. And Johan's concern was not any possible attacks on the school, but the endless attempts to get funding for new teachers, the old school building renovation, when it was abandoned when the academy moved into the new building. And finally build a normal dormitory for college students! Not everyone attending this school was connected to the demonic aristocracy, damn you, having virtually endless supplies of money! The ordinary students needed a dormitory, too!

Besides, who would be crazy enough to attack a school where two Satan's sisters study?

The constant numbers and reports seemed to be swirling in front of Johan's face…

So when he sensed something unusual – he even rejoiced to be able to think no more about student lists and the annual budget revision.

His joy, however, was short-lived.

The doors that led to his study were enchanted by the [Bishop] of Zeoticus Gremory himself – a very powerful wizard, Agrippa, in case of emergency. The door was to be used if it became necessary to drag Rias and Sona away from any danger, or if any other means of escape were blocked. At the same time, the door also served as an excellent defensive tool, since they identified the true nature of the creature entering through them. The door, perfectly relieving anxiety about agents and unknowns seeking to get close to the younger sisters of two of the four ruling Satans in the academy… At least as far as Johan himself knew.

However, when someone else entered following Miki Hyoudou, an ordinary human, as confirmed by the artifact's reaction – Johan instantly sounded the alarm.

Agrippa was a powerful mage, but he wasn't too strong – on the world scale, I mean – there were many more extremely powerful creatures in this world. Some of them even preferred not to wave their power like a flag, but keeping it secret instead, balancing the strategic advantage of showing their power with the tactical advantage of hiding it.

Even Johan himself, if he tried very hard and prepared himself, could probably fool the artifact. However, Johan was helped immensely by the fact that he knew about the artifact in the first place. A fact that random people should not know.

Agrippa had hidden the enchanted [Hellwood] inside the door, behind a layer of ordinary wood, and had made it so that it was not easy to sense the magic of the door. It was possible to do it, but at a glance? This wasn't just the level of 'high-class' demons, but quite possibly an 'ultimate-class' demons – and Johan preferred not even to look at such creatures for fear of their capabilities.

Of course, he was technically under the patronage of Zeoticus, who, for his many downsides, would not leave his subordinates unprotected, but it would have done Johan no good if he were turned to ash. Even the [Evil Pieces] had their limitations, they could not resurrect a person from a pile of ashes, requiring a relatively whole body – and that's if Zeoticus even decided to rebirth Johan into a demon… If Zeoticus could do it at all in the first place. It's possible that Agrippa might well have costed two of the Lord's [Bishops], so Johan would really hate to die for nothing.

The reason for him panicking so much?

There was nothing, no information… The doors didn't work whatsoever, and Johan saw nothing in his glasses. Glasses that were supposed to determine the level of magical energy in the target. The mirror also couldn't dispel any illusion… If it was an illusion and not something else.

And this person, who Johan had met for the first time, wanted to enroll, even after the school year had already begun. He was also the perfect student – judging by his age and grades, a hundred points for every school subject imaginable. He also did not exude any supernatural presence whatsoever, the perfect shoo-in for Kuoh Academy. That is if not for the fact that it's the same school where two younger sisters of two ruling Satans were studying, completely by chance.

Of course, there was a slim chance that it was all just a coincidence. Some magic that was placed on the young man without his knowledge – or perhaps he might even possess some [Sacred Gear] with surveillance blocking capabilities. Given how many such students there were at this school, Johan would not even be surprised that he stumbled upon another one by pure chance, as if something was pulling people with [Sacred Gears] to this academy.

However, the boy, who introduced himself as Satoru, had unmistakably glanced at all the magical objects in the study – including a folder of reports from Lord Gremory. Something which had a good distraction spell on them. And then, he had provided Johan with his education certificate…

Signed by Johan himself.

His certificate was signed by Johan as the principal, with the same signature even! And Johan was pretty sure that he was not the principal of Kyoto Academy!

It could have been a completely random mistake on Satoru's part when he had forged the documents – or, it could have been a conscious move, a hint, even, 'I'll get into this school, whether you like it or not. Your signature is already on my paperwork – so why shouldn't it be on my application?'

And Johan didn't know at all what he was to do or think about this. He had to think quickly on the fly, and the only thing that came to his mind was to send him to school lessons, to get more time for him to look at him more closely. And, of course, to inform Zeoticus Gremory about what had happened immediately. His daughter was studying here, and if something unpleasant happened afterwards, Zeoticus would simply and without any hesitation remove Johan's head off his shoulders, and would, in fact, be absolutely in the right about it.

The least said about what the Lucifer would do to him, the better.

So after trying to provoke Satoru for a moment at the end of their meeting and not getting any meaningful response from him, it showed that Satoru knows of the other side of the world – the supernatural side. Johan could only sigh as he set aside the newly obtained certificate, taking out his phone and getting ready to dial his boss' number on it.

Johan hated doing paperwork, but in this situation, he would really prefer to do just that.