The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 261: One Of The Good Ones

Chapter 261: One Of The Good Ones

"Professor Nasumi... Why are you wearing an illusion?"

It was a question Kir had not been ready for, nor had he thought to be discovered only a couple of months after starting his job as a teacher.

"Well... that lasted about as long as I expected," Kiryu said in Kir’s head.

"Oh shut up."

Kir sighed. "Keiya... I’m not exactly hiding, but I’m not someone who can travel around freely, or teach freely, as I really am."

"Is it because you’re, um, involved with Princess Kordia?"

"Way to miss the mark completely..." Kiryu chuckled. "Now it’s getting good."

"Would you just stay out of this?" She’d called Kordia a Princess, which meant that by now the whole school probably knew she was engaged to wed into Gra’Rhuel’s ruling family.

"I am staying out. It’s your drama, not mine. Not like I get to control the body anyway or I’d cut through all this bullshit and build a real God damned lab instead of all that magic shit you’re collecting... With real God damned cigarettes!"

Was it just Kir or did Kiryu’s "cravings" get worse after his first time smoking? The worst part of that deal was that Kir felt some of that urge, which shouldn’t have been possible after only one time. In a human body, at any rate.

"Y-yes!" Kordia suddenly said. "The Professor and I are, um, having an affair! Please don’t tell anyone."

What?

Keiya’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh my... but why hide his appearance? He’s not a criminal, is he?"

"No! Not at all!" Kordia continued the lie, looking nervously at Kir. "He’s just... it would be terribly scandalous if Matr- if Queen- If my future mother-in-law found out... Please, you have to understand..."

Keiya started tearing up. "I think I understand... It must have been so hard for you after losing Rainier."

Kordia chewed her lower lip, looking at Kir as if she wanted nothing more than to get away from the situation. As far as the school knew, Rainier had been called away to finish his learning in Heaven as a divine reward for his piety or some other such nonsense.

Kir had learned Rainier had been the only angelkin student, just as he had been the only demonkin one. When he thought about it that way, it was sort of funny that the school would lose them both in the same semester.

By the time they were nearing the Academy pier, Keiya was firmly on Kordia’s side... if not "Professor Nasumi’s."

"I know the allure of forbidden love... My girlfriend and I managed to save a book from the old writing circle when the Duke of Heresy stole the old tower. It’s about a pair of boys who fall in love at first sight... but one is an angelkin and the other is demonkin."

Upon hearing this, Kir choked on his own breath.

While he was sputtering out a cough and patting his chest, Kordia replied, "Oh. That one..." she blushed. "Heaven Lusts For Hell by Stella?"

"You know about it?"

"I took a peek because Rain was the main character... I know the author..."

"You do?! The cliffhanger at the end was such a tease after the big reveal. I thought she might be a graduate because we couldn’t find anything as far as a sequel... Are you close? Can you arrange a meeting for my girlfriend and me?"

"M-maybe? I’m sorry we haven’t hung out as much outside of alchemy classes... Who’s your girlfriend?" Stella asked.

"Oh, you’d love her. She’s a healer too, but more alchemical like myself. Her name is Ann. She’s from Darlbridge.. Are you alright, Professor?"

Once more, Kir’s breath caught. He didn’t sputter, but he did spend a moment just trying to regain it.

"It’s fine. It’s fine. Just a bug or something."

They arrived at the dock, and Terry departed almost as soon as the boat was finished being tied.

"Kordia... would you be willing to escort Keiya back to the dorms? I expect both of you will want to change clothes and be ready in case the Chancellor summons you." The earliest signs of a lightening sky were present on the horizon, and yet neither woman looked tired in the least.

It had been an exciting night after all...

In short order, Kir found himself inside Chancellor Lumin’s office once more. The chancellor was dressed in a nightgown, but she looked no less grumpy than usual outside her persona.

"I understand from Terry you retrieved the girl. Good work. Now report."

"I’m not a soldier," Kir said.

"You are rather technically my employee, and I’m a tired old woman who needs her sleep. So let’s make this quick, yes?"

Kir gave her a complete report of what transpired after his leaving the docks, leaving nothing out up to the point that Keiya’s bond was blessed by the greater spirit.

"So you killed an aquatic abomination and saved the spirit of the lake all in the span of hours? I don’t know whether to call that fate or the biggest example of luck I’ve seen in my life. I expect you to test Keiya on her capabilities when you resume classes. Oh, and you will vouch for the tameness of her spirit companion once I have the necessary paperwork for a familiar drawn up."

"There’s paperwork for having a familiar? Why didn’t you make me sign something for Stella?"

"Because you were smart enough to keep her hidden from anyone who would blab about her. I even let her wander around my Academy for a while, just to see how tight of a leash you had on the little succubus. The worst that would have happened is someone getting pregnant, but anyone who wants to be a proper mage should know when and how to keep it in their pants."

"Ouch. Granny’s hitting hard tonight." Kiryu said.

"Now, is there anything else?"

Kir opened and closed his mouth. Should he tell her about what Keiya discovered about him?

A subtle shifting sound accompanied the arrival of Terry, who brought the Chancellor tea.

Oh yeah... Terry was there to witness... Why was it so easy to forget the butler?

"Don’t answer that question or you’ll never be a mystery writer."

"I don’t have time to write books." Though if he was being fair to himself, he’d done plenty of writing as part of forging books to hide the source of his un-childlike knowledge in the past.

"You’re, what? Nineteen Earth-years in a few months? By your age, I had my first study of temporal gravity theory published internationally."

"Good for you. I remember the theory but not anything about studying it."

"You’re welcome."

Kir returned his attention to the room.

"There is one more thing..."

Half an hour later, Lumin was holding her forehead in her palm as he leaned onto her desk.

"So you’re telling me that Kordia spun a lie about having an affair with you... dodged the question about your true appearance... and managed to rope Keiya into a conspiracy to keep your true identity hidden?"

"That’s about the sum of things," Kir said.

Lumin looked over at Terry and held up two fingers. The silent communication was all the butler needed to leave.

"What’s-"

"Stay quiet and have a seat. I need to think."

Having finally been invited to, Kir took one of the plush chairs in front of her desk, careful of his tail as he sat.

A handful of minutes later, Terry returned with Kordia and Keiya.

Kir sat through an hour-long retelling from their points of view, learning that Keiya had spent most of her journey to the island walking on the floor of the lake once she became too tired to swim. By the end of it, the first hint of orange was entering the window behind Lumin.

"I hope I don’t need to repeat myself when I say that adhering to strict confidentiality about tonight is necessary... both to keep the lake spirit and Professor Nasumi safe. Do you understand?" Lumin stared mostly at Keiya.

"Yes... but there’s one thing I’d like to know..."

Kir tensed.

"Why does he have to hide his appearance?"

"Because he’s part demonkin. Not completely so, but enough in appearance that parents and staff might question, protest, and disrupt the Academy over it, given the present war." Lumin said flatly. "And I will not have my Academy disrupted by the fixations of fools."

"Oh. So... like a quarter-demonkin or something? But if he’s one of the good ones, surely people would understand if you vouched for him, Chancellor."

One of the good ones... Kir was really coming to hate that phrase. If didn’t know Keiya by now, he would have been hard-pressed not to drive her out of his class.

Kiryu was amused. "Still though, you’ve got to admire how the old bag is great at bending the truth. You know what they say, ’Old age and treachery beats youth and enthusiasm.’"

"They also say ’practice what you preach.’" Kir snarked back at his other half.

"Are you implying I’m a hypocrite? Because you’re absolutely right. Which makes both of us hypocrites."

"How am I a hypocrite?"

"You let those guards live. And that slaver’s son."

"To deliver a warning! Give everything up or else..."

"You and I both know no one ever follows that kind of command." Kiryu sent forth a sardonic, patronizing wave of emotion. "So in this case, I think your hypocrisy has exactly the purpose you really imagined for it, deep in that heroic mind of yours: Getting the fuckers to shore up their bases so they’re easier to identify and take out. You just want a bigger target, only you haven’t admitted it to yourself yet."

"Fucking bastard..."

"Yep. That’s me."

"Why do you think you know anything about what my intent is?"

"Aside from reading your fucking mind all the time? Because I am you. Older, smarter, and with a tighter pussy back when I was alive, but still the same fucking asshole with a savior complex. And you’re doing exactly what I did."

"Which was?" Was Kiryu finally going to reveal something about his past?

"Lining up the biggest fucking pigs for the slaughter."

For the rest of the meeting, both Kiryu and Kir remained silent, glaring at each other through ungracious waves of emotion, until at last they were dismissed with a mandatory day off.

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