After a rigorous and very violent lecture about how rude it is to call a woman fat, Viola finally stopped talking.

Not that I listened to a single word she said.

After that, it didn't take long before we arrived at the orientation hall.

The place was massive, dominated by a gigantic flag bearing an insignia of some bizarre winged beast with twelve eyes and seven wings.

Yeah, seven.

What the hell kind of cosmic error was that?

This beast wasn't explained anywhere in lore, world history, mythology, nothing. It just… existed and yet the thing that always bothered me wasn't the eyes or the weird anatomy.

It was the wings.

Where the hell was the eighth wing?

The asymmetry offended me on a spiritual level, so I fixed that abomination instantly when I created the game and gave it the eight wings because some standards must be maintained.

As I stared up at the beast… my mind suddenly blanked. For a split second, something about it felt familiar.

A chill ran down my spine but before I could focus on it, a sudden voice snapped me back.

"Good morning, Boss."

A voice echoed through the space or more accurately… voices.

I shifted my gaze from the grand flag to the source of all that sudden shouting.

Seven students were standing there in perfect formation, bowing ninety degrees in unison.

I just stared at them for a moment, absolutely frozen before Viola's voice echoed beside me.

"Who the hell are these idiots?"

Yeah.

These fucking bastards were idiots.

I mean, who the hell greets someone like this, bowing ninety degrees like they are welcoming a mafia boss back from a successful massacre?

The seven guys were Arckon and his little bullying squad from yesterday.

I mean, I could understand this kind of respect, especially after witnessing how I "guided" them peacefully yesterday.

But did they really have to put on a whole performance?

Some passing human students shot me weird looks before instantly averting their gazes the moment I glanced their way.

Meanwhile, a couple of dragons scoffed while sizing me up like I was some particularly shiny piece of meat.

I didn't see any demons around, probably because they were already inside the Orientation Hall.

They were annoyingly punctual like that.

"Are you creating a cult or something?" Viola asked, this time directing the question straight at me.

And honestly, I had to commend her.

She came dangerously close to deducing my real motives… even though they had absolutely nothing to do with the current situation.

I could even see Seraphina looking at me with a flicker of nervousness behind her curious expressions.

Is she… worried she'll lose her position as my assistant?

Damn. Abandonment issues hit hard.

"Nah, who has time to create a cult?" I smiled, waving it off casually as I looked at the seven idiots. "I just saved these guys yesterday when they were lost and guided them onto the correct path."

Technically… I wasn't lying.

"Well, I'll trust you," Viola muttered, narrowing her eyes suspiciously but choosing not to say anything more.

"You go ahead with Seraphina," I added, gesturing toward the entrance. "I'll come in a minute."

I wanted a private moment with the Seven Fools.

For… educational purposes.

Viola headed inside without much trouble.

I guess calling her fat did reset her anger meter for a few days. Though I really wasn't sure if I ever wanted to gamble with that method again.

As I watched her slip into the hall, I glanced down at the small pocket watch hanging from my trouser pocket.

Hmm. Looks like I've got about half an hour to spare.

"Follow me." I said without much thought and walked towards a small alley made between the orientation hall and another unknown building.

The seven fools walked behind me like a pack of lost puppies as I turned to the green haired boy with green eyes and slightly pointed ears— Arckon.

"So… mind explaining what's happening here, Arckon?"

Arckon opened his mouth to speak but before a single syllable escaped, the leader of the bully group — Eric — jumped in front of him like a man desperate to secure extra credit.

"We're really sorry for what happened yesterday." he blurted out. "We didn't know who you were at the time. Please forgive us, Boss!"

He even bowed again as if he was apologizing for committing war crimes instead of… you know… just being an idiot yesterday.

I mean, I appreciated free labor… but the first rule of managing labor is a proper chain of command.

So I narrowed my eyes on Eric.

"Did I ask you that question?"

I made sure my voice went ice-cold, and let my eyes glow a little brighter just like yesterday.

Eric's entire soul visibly left his body.

He started trembling instantly, yesterday's trauma hitting him again.

"I–I'm sorry…" he stammered, backing down immediately.

Good.

At least he remembered his place in the ecosystem.

Still, that was a bit anticlimactic.

I expected at least his brother to come after me, especially after all that talk yesterday but it seems I was expecting too much from some pathetic bullies.

"Good." I nodded, then turned my attention back to Arckon. "Now… what's happening here, Arckon?"

Arckon hesitated for a moment but obediently followed my lead.

"Eric and his friends stopped me on my way here and asked for my identity. And once I told them… they just started acting like this."

His voice was nervous, eyes glued to me like he was waiting for my reaction.

"And you?" I asked, amused. "Why were you greeting me with them?"

"I want to follow you." He said, this time without a shred of hesitation.

I grinned. "Oh? And why is that?"

"Because… I don't know."

He gave the same shitty answer as yesterday.

Still, it was enough.

No answer is better than some useless, over-the-top praise.

And, it wasn't hard to guess what happened with Eric and his gang either.

The Eric gang probably wanted to pull something stupid with me again, maybe round two of their half-brained bullying routine, but the moment they learned who I actually was, which definitely included the part about me being the Demon King's successor…

Yeah.

They must have realized that was way above their pay grade.

Demons came in all kinds, after all.

Not everyone wants to kill me for being his successor.

Some would rather fear me.

Because deep in their minds, there is always that tiny thought: What if the Demon King actually cares about his successor?

And that "what if" is enough to keep them from doing anything stupid.

"Hmm I see." I nodded. "I shall allow you to follow me."

I mean, I did need someone to carry my stuff.

And this guy seemed perfect for the job.

Bearlo couldn't follow me around inside the academy and Viola would literally murder me if I asked Seraphina to do my errands.

So really… This was the best possible solution.

A win for him.

A win for me.

And a win for my future convenience.

Arckon smiled brightly. "Thanks, Boss."

"What about us, Boss?" Eric asked, voice practically dripping with hope.

Honestly, although he was a scumbag and his followers were no better, rejecting free servants felt incredibly wasteful.

Besides, they were terrified of the Demon King.

Which meant they were even more terrified of me by association.

And terrified people rarely try anything stupid.

So, in all my benevolence, I decided to forgive them.

…Partially.

"You can… follow," I said, smiling wider. "But on one simple condition."

All seven of them leaned in instinctively.

"You will refer to Arckon as the leader of your group… and report to him."

I wasn't about to waste my time talking to a bunch of half-brained bullies so making Arckon their leader would make it easy.

And putting Arckon in charge wasn't just delegation.

It was a test.

If the cult was going to act for me in the shadows, then this little faction would act in the light.

I mean, the academy did have faction systems and every Demon King–successor candidate had one… so I was going to need one sooner or later anyway.

So, in a way, this was actually a good thing.

Eric froze for a moment before he nodded. "Yes, Boss."

As soon as he said, the other five of his bully gang followed.

"Good."

Step one of world domination completed successfully.

—

After discussing a few more important things, we walked into the orientation hall, which was in complete chaos.

Humans were seated with nervous, awkward expressions.

Dragons looked like they didn't give a single shit about anything happening around them.

And the demons? Yeah… they were the main cause of the chaos. Talking loudly, arguing, laughing and acting like they owned the entire place.

Probably making new "friends" and doing more of their usual useless demonic nonsense.

There were still a few minutes left before the orientation began but the moment I entered, the entire hall fell silent.

Dozens of eyes froze on me.

Probably because of my immense glory, of course.

I didn't care and simply walked forward, steps slow and steady, cloak fluttering behind me like I was making a dramatic entrance on purpose.

The seven idiots followed in formation like loyal minions.

…Is this what they call aura farming?

I barely entertained the thought for a few seconds before the chaos exploded again, this time in my direction, as several demons suddenly rushed toward me.

My loyal minions, whom I barely knew for the last few minutes, instantly formed a protective circle around me, like they had been trained for this moment.

I glanced around and realized an entire crowd of hundreds of Demon Students had gathered, staring at me like I was some legendary creature they had only heard about in bedtime horror stories.

Some looked at me with curiosity.

Some with arrogance.

Some with… I don't know… amusement, maybe?

And then there were a few others, especially some demon girls, who were making weird hand signals at me.

Like… What was that supposed to be?

I mean, sure, I am handsome and yes, I radiate a natural, blinding glory that lesser beings struggle to comprehend.

But why the hell had such a huge demonic crowd gathered around me?

Like, what did I do now?

—

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