Not What I Had In Mind

Ugh. I might be a smart person but I have to admit, I'm not fond of cramming lessons in my head.

I can only grimace at the sight in front of me though.

Ferigo, who's my self-appointed tutor and trainer for the Succession Trials, put it upon himself to make me go through hell at seven o'clock in the freaking morning!

"So? What the hell is this?" I ask and motion to the stacks of books laid in front of me.

I cringe at the books which I'm pretty sure were written in another language but since I have a skill that can auto-translate any languages I can read their titles. From what I can read, I'm already dreading about my head.

"This is what you have to learn to catch up to the other competitors. Since you didn't grow up in Hell you have to learn everything from scratch."

"What?!"

"There will be a written portion for the exam and it will tackle about general knowledge which means Hell's history, society, economy, etc. These are all the books I could find to help you. Don't worry, I'll teach you at your own pace after all you're still thirteen."

That's not the problem here!

Is he out of his mind?! I probably should've threatened him to pull me out of being a candidate of Hell's next High King. But then again, if I didn't accept it I wouldn't be able to investigate what really happened in Kawayan Village and I won't be able to pay Levton back for what he did to me.

It's one big choice and I'm probably getting ahead of myself but I guess I'll worry about that later. Somehow becoming a candidate, and possibly becoming the High King, will give me the answers I seek. And everything that happened to me has some connection with Hell or at least the people in it.

But still… Cramming all of those for the rest of summer will not be good for my sanity, especially when Sakura-nee just told me last night that I will start school in fall.

I groan.

My sanity. My sanity is slowly slipping away from me!

"By the way, I am also your combat instructor and our first combat lesson will be this afternoon after lunch."

Ferigo is a demon. I swear he's-

Crap, he literally is a demon.

"Now then young master, please listen to me very carefully. If you have any questions, just ask away."

Do I even have a choice?

*SIGH*

In the afternoon, once the clock struck one, I found myself getting dragged by Ferigo to the backyard to start our combat training. Seriously this guy, he's taking his job too seriously.

Right now, I'm having a sparring session with one of his demon subordinates. He said he wanted to build my physical abilities and then we'll head to controlling my powers.

Maybe I should tell him training won't work on me? After all, only by slaying enemies will I ever get the chance of getting stronger. It's one of the downsides of having the [Slayer System]. I can't become strong through normal means. That means no trainings, no mock battles and no use of any potion or medicine for powering up.

Sucks right? But I've already come into terms with that. It's just that the people around me aren't aware of that yet. And I'm not really planning on telling anyone either after all, I got the feeling I should keep Slayer's existence in the dark.

Maybe I should only tell Ferigo? So he'll make me fight monsters instead of wasting his' and his subordinate's efforts on fighting me. Although sparring does have its own merit; not even gaining EXPs can make me feel ready and get used to the feel of hand-to-hand combat.

Decisions, decisions. Always a headache.

On another note, everyone else seems to be not around, even Nicco who's supposed to keep an eye on me and Ferigo. I guess he has stuff to do? I know Sylvia and Klint are studying Japanese so they can start studying in White Lotus Academy in the next school year, Nik is going through his training for the summer, Shizu is doing a cleansing ritual back in Okinawa, Himeko-nee-san is in America doing who knows what but definitely psychic-related stuff (her words), Hiiro-san is busy with his job and Sakura-nee is stuck in her office doing paperwork.

In the middle of August, while doing my usual academic activities…

Something's off about my workbook.

"Simplify the polynomial expression; 5m5-4m2+2m5 + 6m2?[1]" I read out loud.

Is this supposed to be part of the ones I'm learning about Hell?

"Ferigo?"

"Yes young master? Do you have questions regarding the worksheets?"

"In fact I do. Why is there algebra randomly inserted in the questionnaire? Does Hell have advance level of mathematics as well?"

He probably thought I wouldn't notice since I've been breezing through my worksheets the last few weeks. I guess that is to say I've been learning a lot about Hell; its history, economy, society and even the rules of the demon peerage. Well there's actually a lot more but it's a hassle to mention. But despite all that, I've never come across anything to do with the [Heart of the Primordial] or the [Shards of the Primordial].

"Well?" I question Ferigo who's suddenly fidgeting on where he's standing.

Does he need to go to the bathroom perhaps?

Of course not! There's definitely something going on!

"Uhm…the Maiden of the Stars asked me to slip a few mundane questions to check your knowledge about the human realm." he answers in a very nervous tone.

"And how long have you been doing it?"

"Uhm… two weeks?"

It sounds like a question but I guess I can't push him further on that regard.

"And… how did I do?"

"Well… For your demon studies I think you're doing really great. In fact you're learning things in a very scary manner. I might think you're not even thirteen and is a born genius. As for this realm's academic studies, I think you're also doing well even though I've never discussed it to you before." he pauses, thinking. "And I remember Lady Sakura told me you never went to school because of complications. She never said what complications though, and I'm not really one who'd force her."

Pfft! Ferigo is obviously afraid of Sakura-nee. Despite her petite stature and lean body, she can throw a menacing glare like nobody's business.

Now then, back at the matter at hand. They've been slipping me questions about the human realm for the past two weeks? I never really noticed, at least not until the polynomial expression from a while ago.

Hmm…

I think I remember a question about World War II though. Luckily, this world shares the same mundane history as my old one so I have no qualms with that. Besides other than the supernatural side, that I am now a part of, everything else is actually the same.

Wait… Sakura-nee told him I never went to school because of complications but never specified said complications? Maybe I should tell Ferigo about my… situation?

Well he has been a very loyal… friend during the time he spent with me. I don't want to call him a subordinate or a slave. He's more like an annoying older friend who nags at me so it's very hard to see him as one. Plus he allowed Noir to break his contract to him so he can make a contract with me even though Noir is one of his strongest familiars.

In conclusion, he's a good guy!

"Hey Ferigo."

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to know a secret?" he tilted his head in confusion and then nodded. He looked really cute doing that too since his human form has a cute face. "I may look like a kid, but I'm actually already over twenty years old."

He looked at me, narrowing his eyes, probably debating if I was joking or I lost my mind. But then he just nodded, accepting it readily.

Oya? It wasn't the response I had in mind. I was expecting the yelling and the 'not-being-able-to-believe-it' speech.

I guess that's what makes Ferigo cool. But-

"You're not shocked?" I asked, curious about his expression.

"You're not lying. I can feel it in our bond." he answers with a smile.

I cringe.

Dude no! That sounded so wrong!