Chapter 31: Chapter 9: The Bet

“I must say, Alexius, you really have some nerve…”

The Little Demon King frowned upon hearing the familiar, grating voice of “Young Master” Claire. He turned to find Claire and a few of his lackeys standing there, a strange, mocking smile on his face.

“Heh, and how have I offended you this time, Young Master?”

The Little Demon King was genuinely exasperated. ‘Why does he always come looking for trouble with me?’

‘He really hasn’t had his face slapped enough, has he?’

“Hehe, don’t worry, we haven’t even spoken on the first day of school. How could you have offended me? But, as your dear classmate… I feel I must remind you not to shamelessly try and get close to Teacher Lulu. You are not worthy!”

Claire sneered, his tone turning sharp as he pointed a finger at the Little Demon King’s nose and spat the insult.

Ah…

“Not worthy? If I recall, my level is a bit higher than yours, isn’t it?”

Alexius almost laughed. He was tempted to ask Claire right then and there, ‘I live in Teacher Lulu’s house, and she calls me Xiu’er. Who are you?’

But in the end, the Little Demon King held his tongue. For one, he didn’t want to cause Lulu any extra trouble or stir up any incidents that might delay his own training. And besides… why bother arguing with a clown?

“Don’t think you can cozy up to Teacher Lulu just because you got lucky and became class president. So what if your level is a little higher? There are students in this class with better grades than you! You might seem a little stronger right now—I don’t know what tricks you pulled—but when it comes to potential, a commoner like you can’t compare to us nobles. You’ll probably graduate at the second or third tier, won’t you? I’ll be at least a whole tier above you, to say nothing of Teacher Lulu, who’s already a seventh-tier mage!”

“That line of reasoning… I believe I heard something similar from Kassius. Have you not heard what happened between me and him during the entrance exam? Or are you just bitter about the trouble you started before, and you’re itching for another slap in the face?”

The Little Demon King remained perfectly composed as he sparred with Claire. His words left Claire speechless for a moment, but he quickly found his voice again.

“This isn’t about you and me! I’m warning you, don’t get so full of yourself and think you can harass Teacher Lulu. Do you honestly believe a seventh-tier mage like her would even look at you? She was probably disgusted when a commoner like you was assigned to be her class president. Why else do you think she seemed so eager to get away from you just now? Heh…”

Claire’s words were odd. The Little Demon King paused, not quite understanding why he was so fixated on his attempt to speak with Lulu. After a moment’s thought, he tilted his head and a cold smile played on his lips.

“Oh… I see now. You have a crush on Teacher Lulu, don’t you?”

“Uh… n-no, I don’t!” Claire stammered, flustered. “I just deeply admire Teacher Lulu for becoming a seventh-tier mage at such a young age. I think a commoner like you is unworthy of even speaking to her!”

“Well, that’s strange. What business is it of yours if I speak with Teacher Lulu? She made me class president; am I not supposed to communicate with her at all? Heh… Say whatever you want. She’s still my homeroom teacher, so why shouldn’t I talk to her? Don’t be so sore about the last time I put you in your place.”

Not only that, but the Little Demon King desperately wanted to say, ‘So what if she’s a seventh-tier mage? In the future, Lulu will be settled by my own hand! Are you trying to stop her from nurturing a viper in her nest? My, you’re so considerate of her~ Teehee.’

‘Don’t be so hasty, little young master!’

“Tch… I am sore about it, so what? There are plenty of opportunities to compete at school. If you have the guts, let’s have a match during the first exam. We’ll see who the real trash is! If you lose, you’ll hand that class president position over to me! Our honors class doesn’t need a commoner for a leader!”

“Yeah, yeah! If word got out, I’d be ashamed to even be in this class.”

“How dare this brat have ideas about Teacher Lulu! He should just drop out now so I don’t have to see him again!”

“Get him, boss!”

Claire’s pack of followers, enjoying the show, began to hoot and holler. Alexius sighed and shook his head. He thought for a moment. ‘Well… exams are inevitable. When the results come out, they can compare them on their own. It won’t waste any of my time.’

And so, the Little Demon King nodded. “Fine. But I have a condition of my own. If your results are worse than mine, then to avoid the shame of losing to a commoner, I’d ask you to do the honorable thing, Young Master, and withdraw from the school yourself. How about it?”

“Tch… You…!”

Claire seemed to hesitate. The terms of their bet were completely unbalanced. All Alexius stood to lose was the title of class president. But him… if he had to withdraw, the lord would surely be disappointed in him.

However, the palpable tension had already riled up his lackeys, who roared from behind him.

“Damn right! Who’s afraid of who? Bring it on!”

“Take the challenge, big brother!”

“Teach this stinking commoner a lesson!”

“Yeah, that’s right!”

“Ugh…” Claire sighed. ‘Fine, he’s just a commoner. The only reason I lost before was because I hadn’t been working hard enough. The gap between us isn’t that large now, and my noble bloodline gives me a huge advantage over him!’

“Fine! Bring it on! Who’s afraid of you? But I’m adding a condition, too! If… if you lose, you’re not allowed to harass Teacher Lulu anymore. You can’t even say a single word to her… no, you have to drop out of school!”

“Whatever you say. It doesn’t matter, since you can’t win,” the Little Demon King said with a dismissive shrug. The comment made Claire tremble with rage.

“You! Fine… you’d better still be smiling then. For Teacher Lulu, I’m going to give it my all this time! You know the saying, ‘Still waters run deep’? Just you wait!”

Having delivered his threat, Claire turned and stormed back into the classroom. The Little Demon King sneered. ‘I wonder if he’s actually going to study, or if he’s just going to plot against me?’

Tsk, tsk…

‘Still waters run deep?’

The Little Demon King chuckled. ‘Compared to my past self, these noble children are worse than the lowest grunts in the Demon King’s army. But their ambitions are certainly lofty, aren’t they? To think a guy like Claire would actually revere Teacher Lulu~’

‘Hehe, you can all admire her as much as you want. Too bad she is my master~’

‘And one day, she will become my possession~’

For some reason, the sudden appearance of Claire, an admirer of Lulu, made the Little Demon King’s desire to settle the score with his teacher even more urgent and intense.

‘Why is that?’

The Little Demon King began to ponder this question as he made his way back into the classroom.

When he looked up, he found the eyes of every student in the class fixed on him, their gazes colder than before.

A commoner, daring to make a bet with a noble?

The vast majority of them now regarded this commoner who dared to resist with open hostility.

‘Oh, my~’

The Little Demon King smiled and shook his head. It seemed his days at this school were not going to be easy.

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