Chapter 106 – The passionate watching crowd
Since the rumors were basically confirmed, Fedrus naturally rubbed his fists together and wanted to check out which little girl dared to target him. It was clear that the little price was a little narcissistic. To be honest, even if he took a fancy to the dancers, they might not like him.
Not every girl wanted to be laughed at or even have the bravery to be called a pedophile. Even though Fedrus’s status, future appearance, and his dignified manners were fitting for the standards for the girls’ thirst and fantasy of a Prince Charming, his age was enough to extinguish every daydream…… It was a little hard for any normal girl to act all besotted with a chibi’s face that still had baby fat on it.
If Fedrus did not take the initiative to show his face, it was likely that the noble families would forget the fact that the little prince was still underage……
Fedrus waved his hands excitedly to rouse everyone’s mood: “Since we basically confirmed that Miya girl is this year’s chosen dancer, we should confirm her abilities…… We can prepare early if she has any evil schemes in mind…… Sue! You will protect my chastity right?!”
“……” Sue looked at Fedrus in complete silence. She felt that any normal girl would not be interested in his virginity.
The Demon General gave enough face to persuade her: “Let the little kid have a look. You’re free right now. Surely you can’t be brewing potions and attending classes all the time instead of accompanying him right?”
“……” The little prince showed his middle fingers and looked down on the Demon General.
Sue taught him this action, and according to her, it was to show how subtly displeased one was, or if he could show a thumbs-down for a more direct confrontation, but the middle finger could represent mostly everything……
“…… Fine. So what background does that little Mi has?!” (TL: Not a TL error, Sue says Mi.)
Based on the information in the Demon General’s notebook, Miya was from the Grins family and her background was considerably big. Her grandfather was a Count, and even though his rank did not stand out very much, his family members were quite successful. They had influence in politics, the army, and the financial market. While they were not exactly the strongest family out there, they were involved in everything and their overall influence was somewhere in the upper-middle tier.
It was kind of like of an antiseptic cream, useful for many minor issues, though it would not work on more serious cases.
Also, it was not just the boys who were capable, the girls of the Grins family were also successful. Even if they married into an average family, they managed to link up to other nobles and there were no black sheep who quarreled with their family, or fell in love with a poor man and had to fork out money instead.
Currently, the nobles in the kingdom did not really have many children, while in comparison, the Grins family had lots of grandchildren and therefore became a source of remarkable capital.
Miya was the brightest gem out of all the girls in the Grins family. The reason was very simple— She was currently the prettiest girl in the entire Grins family…… And that was enough reason.
If it were a guy people were talking about, everyone would first think about how smart or hard-working he was, or at the very least, was successful at a certain field, or if he was any more impressive they would marvel at how good his position was in society, totally standing out in a group of normal people.
If the public were to judge a man by his appearance and height, then this person was more likely to be a philanderer. It was different from how they perceive a woman’s value.
The most important aspects of a woman before anything else was their appearance, personality, and handling of household affairs. Bonus points if she was a good talker.
Things shifted to a more boring turn if she got married; she had to put all her energy on her other half, watched how she appeared when she wore or ate something. The dignity of her husband was her own. Then after a few years when she had children, she would have to watch how she taught and groom them, while making sure that they had social ties…… After several decades of aging, she would no longer be attractive. When she looked back on her accomplishments, she would discover that all of them had to do with her husband or children.
Of course, it was not impossible for a woman to enrich herself. But this special group of women was called matriarchs. They were not really perceived as women in a normal family and typical men did not like them. Unless these women wanted a kept man, or found a generous man through sheer luck, they usually had a dull and lonely ending.
In any case, Miya was the prettiest and therefore she was the most successful in terms of a female…..
“I heard that Miya’s primary courses in the Academy of Light are dancing, etiquette, Water Magic, Analysis of World Races, Ancient Elven language, with a few other minor ones to make up a total of ten courses. All of them are publicly recognized as courses for ladies. Others call these students brides-in-training.” The Demon General shook his notebook which contained information that no one knew where it came from: “It’s clear that her biggest dream is to marry a noble with high status. The first choice is naturally the prince…… I also heard that Miya has already applied to the Tower of Arts. If she manages to lead the dance festival, she will formally become a resident there in the next year….. And when that happens everyone will become crazy for her.”
“It sounds like the difference with Fedrus’s age is a little wide?!” Sue tutted. She did not really think poorly of a woman having a younger boyfriend, but that would only be acceptable if that woman was not old enough to be his mother!
If she was older by Fedrus by more than ten years, then when Fedrus became a teenager, she would have become an adult, and when he became an adult, she would be a middle-aged woman….. One day if Fedrus really became the king, and went to hold some kind of festival— The citizens would look up and exclaim:
“Wow! Quick, take a look, the king is indeed a filial son, he’s personally escorting his mother to oversee the festival……”
“Now, now, as long as there’s love, age isn’t a problem.” The Demon General sighed in complete fascination. If his facial expression did not show that he was merely there to enjoy the show, Sue might have thought that it might be a moving love story.
“Sue……” Fedrus apparently knew what his future could be. Perhaps he even saw embarrassing moments of himself in the future. His eyes were full of sorrow: “Must I really marry such an old woman?”
“It’s not a problem. Perhaps she’s someone who’s blessed with her appearance, and even though she’s forty or fifty, she will still look like she’s sixteen or something.” Sue hurriedly comforted him: “To be honest, there are many people in my hometown who stay young. They inject a certain kind of liquid medicine into their faces which will remove wrinkles and make them look like they are teens……”
“Liquid medicine?!” Fedrus paled as great shook took over his mind: “Is it something like a preservative?!”
“…….” It was too hard to explain the complexity of plastic surgery…… Sue decided to remain silent and let him continue to agonize over this situation.
“Alright children, let’s go. It’s still too early to worry about all these things. I heard that Miya is currently attending dancing classes, let us see how good her dancing skills really are.” The Demon General snapped his fingers to get the two chibi to move.
“How do you intend to look? Peeping?!” Sue looked down on him.
“Why it’s all up to you, Count Lin?!” The Demon General retorted condescendingly. (TL: Just in case everyone forgot, her name is Sue Lin, last name Lin.)
“……”
After disguising back to an adult, the mysterious phantom Count Lin reappeared as the guest etiquette teacher in the school, bringing along the little prince and the Demon General, and they strolled openly to the dancing class.
They were guided by passionate teachers and students giving out directions, and very soon the three of them reached the elite classes area. They did not need to ask where the dancing classroom was as they could see a crowd gathering excitedly in a specific direction. They were probably trying to look at the most popular candidate.
“Queue up, queue up!” The three of them just entered the queue when they saw people from the student council maintaining order.
“The three of you…… I’m talking about you! Did the teachers give you the permission slips to come here and learn?! You three aren’t playing truant right?!” One of the student staff said.
“I’m the guest teacher for the etiquette classes.” Sue was the only one who could respond, and she pretended to tidy up her clothes and nodded: “I heard that the Tobias Kingdom has dancers for their festivals. As someone who has always resided in the Demon Kingdom, I have never seen them perform before and so I came to see exactly what kind of capabilities they have.”
“……” Lady, are you here kick a scene…… The Demon General and Fedrus remained silent with cold perspiration.
The student was also stunned by this direct honesty. He took a while before he regained their composure and asked suspiciously: “Teacher?! I don’t think I have seen you before?!”
“I have never seen you before as well.” Sue rolled her eyes, and attempted to make the first accusation: “Which is why I can see that you have extreme disrespect to the etiquette subject.”
“…… I deeply apologize. But if you’re a teacher, surely you have the teaching badge to prove your identity, right?!”
Teacher’s badge? Indeed. She had one. Sue looked like she had a revelation and flipped around her Dimension Bracelet.
She rarely used this identity to go around in school, so she chucked it in somewhere after getting it. Others might feel that the badge is an honor, but for Sue, its biggest use was a passport to allow her to go in and out freely out of the Academy of light.
And if she did not keep it in her Dimension Bracelet, but kept it on her and accidentally dropped it while was in child Sue mode, was she going to pretend she was Count Sue’s illegitimate daughter or admit that she stole a badge?!
A bunch of mixed potions. A group of unidentified weapons. A dozen brooms. A white tiger. Barrels of wine. Cooked dishes. A set of crucibles. A mountain of gemstones…… Sue was getting more and more annoyed the more she flipped through the Dimension Bracelet. How long did she not tidy up her stuff?! She clearly remembered that she used to pack things neatly. Why was it full of useless items when she did not open it up for a while?!
“Do you really have the badge?!” The student was highly suspicious, feeling that this woman was someone who was trying to cause trouble. Or perhaps she was someone sent out by other dancers to steal information on the most popular contestants?!
“Yes, definitely.” Sue tried to calm herself, looking up as she tidied her Dimension Bracelet: “Just wait a few minutes.”
“……”
It was not just the student who wanted to flip a table, even the Demon General and Fedrus stumbled. They did not think she was such an unreliable person before.
It was fortunate she found it in a bunch of herbs before the student lost his patience. She swung the badge a few times, wiped off the herbs and mud sticking onto it and sighed with relief, then handed over the badge:
“Excuse me. I had replenished some stuff earlier and accidentally buried it. It was a little hard to find it without taking time.”
The student took it over silently. He felt extremely gloomy when he smelled a bizarre smell from it. His lips finally convulsed once and he asked: “….. Were you trying to make pesticide?!”
“Not really. It’s just that I have free time. The herbs looked fresh so I bought them, and it would be convenient if I want to make poison or something else.” Sue was troubled as she replied: “You should know by now that there aren’t many people who attend etiquette classes, and I want to spend some time on my hobbies to pass the time……”
“……” The difficulty to reply to her words was simply too high. The student really had no idea how to judge this unique hobby. As one of the good students who respected teachers, he finally handed it back to Sue after he verified that it was a teacher’s badge: “I welcome you to the Academy of Light, Teacher Lin. If you need anything, the student council will be of service.”
“Really?! Thanks a lot, I’m a little thirsty from traveling for a while. Can you get us three drinks?! Cold, please.”
“……” He was actually just trying to be polite…..
The student walked away gloomily. The Demon General and Fedrus wiped off their sweat at the same time, looking at Sue as though they had witnessed a miracle.
“Sue’s the best.” The little prince was full of admiration.
“Inform me ahead of time the next time you want to do something embarrassing so that I can prepare to avoid such events for a while.” The Demon General was deeply worried about the Demon Race’s reputation.
After each person received their drink, Sue led the two with much pride and rejoined the crowd’s queue. The popularity of the dancers was indeed huge enough. Even though it was only the preliminary stages, the people who wanted to observe Miya and the other dancers were already enough to fill half the building and block the entrances.
It was like a zoo’s opening for everyone to see for the first time, and the people were crowding around to see their favorite animals.
Of course, that might be just Miya’s popularity alone. Anyone who had a connection was able to guess the final winner, especially when she had quite the looks and background. This type of high noble girl was someone that fans loved. Of course, the rich and pretty girls were also favorable, but at least Miya was well-mannered.
If one were to describe it more accurately, it would be how impactful she would be in the dance festival. No one else could come close to her skills and it was hard to just purely cheer on the pretty girls.
“Stop pushing, stop pushing! If you want to see the pretty girls, queue up in the back. Where are your manners……”
“I’m a teacher, let me pass!”
“Elven king’s socks, who prodded my butt with a stick?!”
“I’m a teacher, move away!”
“F#@$!. Who’s behind…… W-woah— my beautiful lady, are you willing to accept this Magic Mirror?! Don’t worry, I’m not harassing you, I’m just a true fan who fell in love with your beauty……”
“I’m a teacher, which class are you from?!” Sue held the Magic Mirror and asked.
The fan choked. After garbling a few words, he rushed off with a comical sound effect.
“That’s too much!” The little prince stomped his foot, looking angry. He looked like he wanted to beat up that fan.
“Don’t create trouble and follow me. I’m not going to be responsible and turn back to look for you if you get lost.” Sue grabbed the back of Fedrus’s shirt and easily pulled the angry chibi back.
“Sue…… Cough! Count Lin, I think you can try participating in the preliminary competition.” The Demon General smiled so broadly till his eyes were squinting. He checked Sue out from head to toe with interest, then nodded with satisfaction: “At the very least, your face looks like it’s going to deceive a lot of people. Perhaps they will support you because of your beauty?!”
“The Count from the Demon race participating in the human kingdom’s festival dancers?!” Sue looked down on him: “Are you treating me like my title is fake, or are you treating your Demon race’s pride as if it’s fake?! Even though I don’t know what your supervisors are thinking, I feel that they won’t accept your suggestion.”
The Demon General was silenced. He thought for a while before shrugging: “Very well, I was only saying it as a random thought. Please don’t mind me.”
“Of course I don’t mind…… But coming back to the main topic, don’t you feel that there are too many people here?! Logically speaking, a single girl shouldn’t attract so many people. It’s not as if it’s a concert.” She was from a noble family, not a real dancer…… The girl should be trying hard to keep a low profile in consideration for her status and modesty. Why would she create a situation where everyone was trying to be her fans ?!
“This is the Grins family’s doing.” Fedrus was looking scornfully at the classrooms. “Normal students have their own schedule. No matter how much they admire someone, they can’t be so passionate till they skip their classes…… But if there’s a particular group of people who suddenly showed enthusiasm to a particular person, then the others would be willing to join in as well. It’s not that they admired that person, but they want to follow the crowd…… I know the nobles’ tactics through and through. They are inciting people and getting them all excited to have the effect they want.”
“I understand, it’s like a store’s opening. In order to reach a certain kind of effect, they would push out all sorts of discounts, or simply get people to act as satisfied customers…… Once the store’s popularity takes root in the populace’s hearts, they would subconsciously elevate the store to be a cut above the others. They would even perceive it as excellence and tell their friends that the store is different from the others……” Sue thought and smiled: “It’s easy to gain reputation. There are many things that people thought are good, while the good products are rare. Most people have the reputation is due to the fact that they are willing to spend money……”
The Demon General also laughed: “And to put it more clearly, the Grins family is trying to ensure they have success during the festival. This is because they must succeed in this stage to talk about conditions and improve their family status…… It’s understandable they chose little tricks that aren’t overboard to get to their final goal.”
“Your good looks are trouble,” Sue rubbed Fedrus to her fill by taking advantage of her current height, “if we get down to the core reason, it’s all because of you.”
“I don’t want to marry such a bad old woman!” The little prince’s eyes were red. He was sad and worried about his future, and he had to change such a terrible fate no matter what.
“……” Erm, was it not because he could become the future king and not because he was Fedrus…… The Demon General corrected in his heart while he watched Sue toy with her little friend’s feelings.
After analyzing the truth on why there was a crowd, the three of them continued to push towards the front impatiently. After a moment of discussion, Sue promptly brought out two brooms, with her carrying the little prince on one broom, while the Demon General rode on his own……
Since the Alchemy teacher’s grandson had one, Eins had one, and even Ash had one…… The brooms were no longer Sue’s signature. Even if people expressed surprise, they would at most think that the etiquette teacher had some kind of connection with Sue.
Furthermore…… The little prince was the scapegoat for blocking suspicion by sitting in front.
“What—” As expected, the people in the crowd made surprised shouts that were louder than the first time when they saw Sue flying on her broom. Many people were jealous till the point that they could not continue discussing, and merely looked upwards silently with their hearts wallowing in envy and admiration.
“Let us fly towards the pretty little girl,” the Demon General struck a pose, shook his arm and pointed towards the front.
Sue got out one hand to show a middle finger, and so did the prince.
The route through the air was more accessible than land. The first 1/5 of the route took Sue and the others thirty minutes to wade through, while the remaining 4/5 of the distance merely took them three minutes. The dancers’ classroom was higher up in the building. There were not many students around, as the staff members patrolled and maintained order.
The staff members from the Student Council were surprised to see someone break through from the air, but the earlier student who stopped Sue had returned to them and explained with a complicated expression. The staff were silent and felt they were no match for her as well, so they went away as though they did not see Sue and the others.
“Congrats, your reputation has broken through a new stage.” The Demon General was very satisfied and reflective on seeing evil triumphing over good, and he congratulated Sue, just a little.
Sue was too lazy to bother, and she glanced around the classroom once: “Guess which classroom Miya is in?! The students are all standing in twos and threes, and it’s hard to determine which area is the most popular.”
Chapter 106 – The passionate watching crowd
Since the rumors were basically confirmed, Fedrus naturally rubbed his fists together and wanted to check out which little girl dared to target him. It was clear that the little price was a little narcissistic. To be honest, even if he took a fancy to the dancers, they might not like him.
Not every girl wanted to be laughed at or even have the bravery to be called a pedophile. Even though Fedrus’s status, future appearance, and his dignified manners were fitting for the standards for the girls’ thirst and fantasy of a Prince Charming, his age was enough to extinguish every daydream…… It was a little hard for any normal girl to act all besotted with a chibi’s face that still had baby fat on it.
If Fedrus did not take the initiative to show his face, it was likely that the noble families would forget the fact that the little prince was still underage……
Fedrus waved his hands excitedly to rouse everyone’s mood: “Since we basically confirmed that Miya girl is this year’s chosen dancer, we should confirm her abilities…… We can prepare early if she has any evil schemes in mind…… Sue! You will protect my chastity right?!”
“……” Sue looked at Fedrus in complete silence. She felt that any normal girl would not be interested in his virginity.
The Demon General gave enough face to persuade her: “Let the little kid have a look. You’re free right now. Surely you can’t be brewing potions and attending classes all the time instead of accompanying him right?”
“……” The little prince showed his middle fingers and looked down on the Demon General.
Sue taught him this action, and according to her, it was to show how subtly displeased one was, or if he could show a thumbs-down for a more direct confrontation, but the middle finger could represent mostly everything……
“…… Fine. So what background does that little Mi has?!” (TL: Not a TL error, Sue says Mi.)
Based on the information in the Demon General’s notebook, Miya was from the Grins family and her background was considerably big. Her grandfather was a Count, and even though his rank did not stand out very much, his family members were quite successful. They had influence in politics, the army, and the financial market. While they were not exactly the strongest family out there, they were involved in everything and their overall influence was somewhere in the upper-middle tier.
It was kind of like of an antiseptic cream, useful for many minor issues, though it would not work on more serious cases.
Also, it was not just the boys who were capable, the girls of the Grins family were also successful. Even if they married into an average family, they managed to link up to other nobles and there were no black sheep who quarreled with their family, or fell in love with a poor man and had to fork out money instead.
Currently, the nobles in the kingdom did not really have many children, while in comparison, the Grins family had lots of grandchildren and therefore became a source of remarkable capital.
Miya was the brightest gem out of all the girls in the Grins family. The reason was very simple— She was currently the prettiest girl in the entire Grins family…… And that was enough reason.
If it were a guy people were talking about, everyone would first think about how smart or hard-working he was, or at the very least, was successful at a certain field, or if he was any more impressive they would marvel at how good his position was in society, totally standing out in a group of normal people.
If the public were to judge a man by his appearance and height, then this person was more likely to be a philanderer. It was different from how they perceive a woman’s value.
The most important aspects of a woman before anything else was their appearance, personality, and handling of household affairs. Bonus points if she was a good talker.
Things shifted to a more boring turn if she got married; she had to put all her energy on her other half, watched how she appeared when she wore or ate something. The dignity of her husband was her own. Then after a few years when she had children, she would have to watch how she taught and groom them, while making sure that they had social ties…… After several decades of aging, she would no longer be attractive. When she looked back on her accomplishments, she would discover that all of them had to do with her husband or children.
Of course, it was not impossible for a woman to enrich herself. But this special group of women was called matriarchs. They were not really perceived as women in a normal family and typical men did not like them. Unless these women wanted a kept man, or found a generous man through sheer luck, they usually had a dull and lonely ending.
In any case, Miya was the prettiest and therefore she was the most successful in terms of a female…..
“I heard that Miya’s primary courses in the Academy of Light are dancing, etiquette, Water Magic, Analysis of World Races, Ancient Elven language, with a few other minor ones to make up a total of ten courses. All of them are publicly recognized as courses for ladies. Others call these students brides-in-training.” The Demon General shook his notebook which contained information that no one knew where it came from: “It’s clear that her biggest dream is to marry a noble with high status. The first choice is naturally the prince…… I also heard that Miya has already applied to the Tower of Arts. If she manages to lead the dance festival, she will formally become a resident there in the next year….. And when that happens everyone will become crazy for her.”
“It sounds like the difference with Fedrus’s age is a little wide?!” Sue tutted. She did not really think poorly of a woman having a younger boyfriend, but that would only be acceptable if that woman was not old enough to be his mother!
If she was older by Fedrus by more than ten years, then when Fedrus became a teenager, she would have become an adult, and when he became an adult, she would be a middle-aged woman….. One day if Fedrus really became the king, and went to hold some kind of festival— The citizens would look up and exclaim:
“Wow! Quick, take a look, the king is indeed a filial son, he’s personally escorting his mother to oversee the festival……”
“Now, now, as long as there’s love, age isn’t a problem.” The Demon General sighed in complete fascination. If his facial expression did not show that he was merely there to enjoy the show, Sue might have thought that it might be a moving love story.
“Sue……” Fedrus apparently knew what his future could be. Perhaps he even saw embarrassing moments of himself in the future. His eyes were full of sorrow: “Must I really marry such an old woman?”
“It’s not a problem. Perhaps she’s someone who’s blessed with her appearance, and even though she’s forty or fifty, she will still look like she’s sixteen or something.” Sue hurriedly comforted him: “To be honest, there are many people in my hometown who stay young. They inject a certain kind of liquid medicine into their faces which will remove wrinkles and make them look like they are teens……”
“Liquid medicine?!” Fedrus paled as great shook took over his mind: “Is it something like a preservative?!”
“…….” It was too hard to explain the complexity of plastic surgery…… Sue decided to remain silent and let him continue to agonize over this situation.
“Alright children, let’s go. It’s still too early to worry about all these things. I heard that Miya is currently attending dancing classes, let us see how good her dancing skills really are.” The Demon General snapped his fingers to get the two chibi to move.
“How do you intend to look? Peeping?!” Sue looked down on him.
“Why it’s all up to you, Count Lin?!” The Demon General retorted condescendingly. (TL: Just in case everyone forgot, her name is Sue Lin, last name Lin.)
“……”
After disguising back to an adult, the mysterious phantom Count Lin reappeared as the guest etiquette teacher in the school, bringing along the little prince and the Demon General, and they strolled openly to the dancing class.
They were guided by passionate teachers and students giving out directions, and very soon the three of them reached the elite classes area. They did not need to ask where the dancing classroom was as they could see a crowd gathering excitedly in a specific direction. They were probably trying to look at the most popular candidate.
“Queue up, queue up!” The three of them just entered the queue when they saw people from the student council maintaining order.
“The three of you…… I’m talking about you! Did the teachers give you the permission slips to come here and learn?! You three aren’t playing truant right?!” One of the student staff said.
“I’m the guest teacher for the etiquette classes.” Sue was the only one who could respond, and she pretended to tidy up her clothes and nodded: “I heard that the Tobias Kingdom has dancers for their festivals. As someone who has always resided in the Demon Kingdom, I have never seen them perform before and so I came to see exactly what kind of capabilities they have.”
“……” Lady, are you here kick a scene…… The Demon General and Fedrus remained silent with cold perspiration.
The student was also stunned by this direct honesty. He took a while before he regained their composure and asked suspiciously: “Teacher?! I don’t think I have seen you before?!”
“I have never seen you before as well.” Sue rolled her eyes, and attempted to make the first accusation: “Which is why I can see that you have extreme disrespect to the etiquette subject.”
“…… I deeply apologize. But if you’re a teacher, surely you have the teaching badge to prove your identity, right?!”
Teacher’s badge? Indeed. She had one. Sue looked like she had a revelation and flipped around her Dimension Bracelet.
She rarely used this identity to go around in school, so she chucked it in somewhere after getting it. Others might feel that the badge is an honor, but for Sue, its biggest use was a passport to allow her to go in and out freely out of the Academy of light.
And if she did not keep it in her Dimension Bracelet, but kept it on her and accidentally dropped it while was in child Sue mode, was she going to pretend she was Count Sue’s illegitimate daughter or admit that she stole a badge?!
A bunch of mixed potions. A group of unidentified weapons. A dozen brooms. A white tiger. Barrels of wine. Cooked dishes. A set of crucibles. A mountain of gemstones…… Sue was getting more and more annoyed the more she flipped through the Dimension Bracelet. How long did she not tidy up her stuff?! She clearly remembered that she used to pack things neatly. Why was it full of useless items when she did not open it up for a while?!
“Do you really have the badge?!” The student was highly suspicious, feeling that this woman was someone who was trying to cause trouble. Or perhaps she was someone sent out by other dancers to steal information on the most popular contestants?!
“Yes, definitely.” Sue tried to calm herself, looking up as she tidied her Dimension Bracelet: “Just wait a few minutes.”
“……”
It was not just the student who wanted to flip a table, even the Demon General and Fedrus stumbled. They did not think she was such an unreliable person before.
It was fortunate she found it in a bunch of herbs before the student lost his patience. She swung the badge a few times, wiped off the herbs and mud sticking onto it and sighed with relief, then handed over the badge:
“Excuse me. I had replenished some stuff earlier and accidentally buried it. It was a little hard to find it without taking time.”
The student took it over silently. He felt extremely gloomy when he smelled a bizarre smell from it. His lips finally convulsed once and he asked: “….. Were you trying to make pesticide?!”
“Not really. It’s just that I have free time. The herbs looked fresh so I bought them, and it would be convenient if I want to make poison or something else.” Sue was troubled as she replied: “You should know by now that there aren’t many people who attend etiquette classes, and I want to spend some time on my hobbies to pass the time……”
“……” The difficulty to reply to her words was simply too high. The student really had no idea how to judge this unique hobby. As one of the good students who respected teachers, he finally handed it back to Sue after he verified that it was a teacher’s badge: “I welcome you to the Academy of Light, Teacher Lin. If you need anything, the student council will be of service.”
“Really?! Thanks a lot, I’m a little thirsty from traveling for a while. Can you get us three drinks?! Cold, please.”
“……” He was actually just trying to be polite…..
The student walked away gloomily. The Demon General and Fedrus wiped off their sweat at the same time, looking at Sue as though they had witnessed a miracle.
“Sue’s the best.” The little prince was full of admiration.
“Inform me ahead of time the next time you want to do something embarrassing so that I can prepare to avoid such events for a while.” The Demon General was deeply worried about the Demon Race’s reputation.
After each person received their drink, Sue led the two with much pride and rejoined the crowd’s queue. The popularity of the dancers was indeed huge enough. Even though it was only the preliminary stages, the people who wanted to observe Miya and the other dancers were already enough to fill half the building and block the entrances.
It was like a zoo’s opening for everyone to see for the first time, and the people were crowding around to see their favorite animals.
Of course, that might be just Miya’s popularity alone. Anyone who had a connection was able to guess the final winner, especially when she had quite the looks and background. This type of high noble girl was someone that fans loved. Of course, the rich and pretty girls were also favorable, but at least Miya was well-mannered.
If one were to describe it more accurately, it would be how impactful she would be in the dance festival. No one else could come close to her skills and it was hard to just purely cheer on the pretty girls.
“Stop pushing, stop pushing! If you want to see the pretty girls, queue up in the back. Where are your manners……”
“I’m a teacher, let me pass!”
“Elven king’s socks, who prodded my butt with a stick?!”
“I’m a teacher, move away!”
“F#@$!. Who’s behind…… W-woah— my beautiful lady, are you willing to accept this Magic Mirror?! Don’t worry, I’m not harassing you, I’m just a true fan who fell in love with your beauty……”
“I’m a teacher, which class are you from?!” Sue held the Magic Mirror and asked.
The fan choked. After garbling a few words, he rushed off with a comical sound effect.
“That’s too much!” The little prince stomped his foot, looking angry. He looked like he wanted to beat up that fan.
“Don’t create trouble and follow me. I’m not going to be responsible and turn back to look for you if you get lost.” Sue grabbed the back of Fedrus’s shirt and easily pulled the angry chibi back.
“Sue…… Cough! Count Lin, I think you can try participating in the preliminary competition.” The Demon General smiled so broadly till his eyes were squinting. He checked Sue out from head to toe with interest, then nodded with satisfaction: “At the very least, your face looks like it’s going to deceive a lot of people. Perhaps they will support you because of your beauty?!”
“The Count from the Demon race participating in the human kingdom’s festival dancers?!” Sue looked down on him: “Are you treating me like my title is fake, or are you treating your Demon race’s pride as if it’s fake?! Even though I don’t know what your supervisors are thinking, I feel that they won’t accept your suggestion.”
The Demon General was silenced. He thought for a while before shrugging: “Very well, I was only saying it as a random thought. Please don’t mind me.”
“Of course I don’t mind…… But coming back to the main topic, don’t you feel that there are too many people here?! Logically speaking, a single girl shouldn’t attract so many people. It’s not as if it’s a concert.” She was from a noble family, not a real dancer…… The girl should be trying hard to keep a low profile in consideration for her status and modesty. Why would she create a situation where everyone was trying to be her fans ?!
“This is the Grins family’s doing.” Fedrus was looking scornfully at the classrooms. “Normal students have their own schedule. No matter how much they admire someone, they can’t be so passionate till they skip their classes…… But if there’s a particular group of people who suddenly showed enthusiasm to a particular person, then the others would be willing to join in as well. It’s not that they admired that person, but they want to follow the crowd…… I know the nobles’ tactics through and through. They are inciting people and getting them all excited to have the effect they want.”
“I understand, it’s like a store’s opening. In order to reach a certain kind of effect, they would push out all sorts of discounts, or simply get people to act as satisfied customers…… Once the store’s popularity takes root in the populace’s hearts, they would subconsciously elevate the store to be a cut above the others. They would even perceive it as excellence and tell their friends that the store is different from the others……” Sue thought and smiled: “It’s easy to gain reputation. There are many things that people thought are good, while the good products are rare. Most people have the reputation is due to the fact that they are willing to spend money……”
The Demon General also laughed: “And to put it more clearly, the Grins family is trying to ensure they have success during the festival. This is because they must succeed in this stage to talk about conditions and improve their family status…… It’s understandable they chose little tricks that aren’t overboard to get to their final goal.”
“Your good looks are trouble,” Sue rubbed Fedrus to her fill by taking advantage of her current height, “if we get down to the core reason, it’s all because of you.”
“I don’t want to marry such a bad old woman!” The little prince’s eyes were red. He was sad and worried about his future, and he had to change such a terrible fate no matter what.
“……” Erm, was it not because he could become the future king and not because he was Fedrus…… The Demon General corrected in his heart while he watched Sue toy with her little friend’s feelings.
After analyzing the truth on why there was a crowd, the three of them continued to push towards the front impatiently. After a moment of discussion, Sue promptly brought out two brooms, with her carrying the little prince on one broom, while the Demon General rode on his own……
Since the Alchemy teacher’s grandson had one, Eins had one, and even Ash had one…… The brooms were no longer Sue’s signature. Even if people expressed surprise, they would at most think that the etiquette teacher had some kind of connection with Sue.
Furthermore…… The little prince was the scapegoat for blocking suspicion by sitting in front.
“What—” As expected, the people in the crowd made surprised shouts that were louder than the first time when they saw Sue flying on her broom. Many people were jealous till the point that they could not continue discussing, and merely looked upwards silently with their hearts wallowing in envy and admiration.
“Let us fly towards the pretty little girl,” the Demon General struck a pose, shook his arm and pointed towards the front.
Sue got out one hand to show a middle finger, and so did the prince.
The route through the air was more accessible than land. The first 1/5 of the route took Sue and the others thirty minutes to wade through, while the remaining 4/5 of the distance merely took them three minutes. The dancers’ classroom was higher up in the building. There were not many students around, as the staff members patrolled and maintained order.
The staff members from the Student Council were surprised to see someone break through from the air, but the earlier student who stopped Sue had returned to them and explained with a complicated expression. The staff were silent and felt they were no match for her as well, so they went away as though they did not see Sue and the others.
“Congrats, your reputation has broken through a new stage.” The Demon General was very satisfied and reflective on seeing evil triumphing over good, and he congratulated Sue, just a little.
Sue was too lazy to bother, and she glanced around the classroom once: “Guess which classroom Miya is in?! The students are all standing in twos and threes, and it’s hard to determine which area is the most popular.”
