Why is the Demon King like this?

Today, neither Keisuke Ao nor Asuka Arisugawa suggested going to school together.

After finishing his morning exercise, Aokiji changed into his school uniform and walked alone to the station with his schoolbag.

Spirituality index increased from 13 to 14!

The training has yielded remarkable results!

Because he was wearing a mask, he didn't attract much attention and entered the second-year classroom of Konghai Private High School without any problems.

Good morning, Qinggui-kun~

The girls in the corridor blushed as they greeted him.

"Good morning."

Within five seconds, the girl who landed behind him would let out a giggle, and then they would chase and play around in the corridor.

Although I don't really care, these kinds of scenes always make me feel happy.

Keisuke Ao walks into Class 5 of the second year of high school and finds the captain of Class 6, Sang, arguing with Yu Nakagawa.

"You bastard, how could Qinggui possibly... Ah, he's here!"

"What happened?" Keisuke Ao walked to his seat and put down his backpack.

"This guy wants..."

"Seikyu-kun!" Captain Sang's voice unusually boomed over Nakagawa Yuto's: "Please join our basketball club! With you, the national championship isn't an impossible dream, is it?"

"Please forgive me for refusing." Aoki Keisuke coldly refused.

"Eh—?" Captain Sang was stunned for a moment, not expecting Ao Keisuke to refuse so decisively.

"Why? You clearly possess such talent! Join us, Qinggui-kun! Let's conquer all of Japan!"

"Please leave."

Aoki Keisuke remained completely unmoved, shutting out the passion of his lord, San.

"Damn it, I'll definitely make you change your mind!"

The commander stormed off, his footsteps making a loud thud.

A new day begins for Keisuke Ao, and with it, a new wave of regret.

"Wow, that's impressive, Qinggui!" Nakagawa Yuto leaned in, grinning. "Everyone's saying you're a basketball pro, and you even turned down the basketball club's offer. Are you planning to play soccer with me instead?"

Keisuke Ao sighed: "Nakagawa, I am Kawaibe."

"What?!"

And so the morning drama session came to an end.

When homeroom teacher Chizuru Tsukishima walked in, Keisuke Ao and Asuka Arisugawa unexpectedly exchanged a glance; the girl's usually bright eyes looked somewhat tired.

Did you not sleep well?

Keisuke Aokiji pondered – if you don't get enough quality sleep, you really shouldn't use your phone before bed!

The first lesson was Chizuru Tsukishima's Chinese class. During this period, the Chinese classes had been teaching ancient Chinese poetry from Shenzhou. As a result, the course content was very difficult. Although it was only at the level of junior high school students in Shenzhou, they even had to relearn the clothes and titles of ancient people. Even Kukai's top students found it very difficult to learn.

The popular internet slang from China that's been circulating online is really interesting...

Even their emojis seem to be several dimensions ahead of Japan, making people want to save them and carefully study their meaning.

Aoki Keisuke treated it as starting from scratch. As long as you can appreciate the essence of language, you can quickly immerse yourself in it.

Unlike mathematics.

It's not because Qing Keijie is dull-witted; if you ask him about super-level magic, he can explain every subtle detail to you in great detail.

Is it really that much harder than building a nuclear bomb?

It's simply because of a lack of basic knowledge that there's a gap in understanding.

So, during the second period, math class, the Demon King continued to drift off to sleep.

The chewing sound, like teeth grinding, rang out again, and the slender, white fingers were swallowed bit by bit, but under the thick fog, no ferocious monster could be seen in the darkness.

Keisuke Ao came to his senses and looked down at his hands.

He laughed indifferently—so he was one of the prey after all?

He stepped into the darkness, following the gnawing sound.

Spirituality Index: 14 → 15!

—By coming into contact with spirituality, he was growing spiritually, and he vaguely understood why the Arisugawa family generally had a higher level of spirituality.

But in any case, probably no one can absorb nutrients more efficiently than Qing Keijie.

Within this dream constructed from the remnants of spirituality, these micro-spiritual entities rapidly expanded a thousandfold, radiating boundless light in Qing Guijie's hands.

The false spirituality was completely dominated by Keisuke Ao.

"boom--"

Tiny cracks tore apart the entire dream, allowing Aokiji to glimpse a sliver of reality in that instant.

That was a person.

She was perched at the base of a tree, her body and face wrapped in layers of several meters of black hair. Her lower body seemed to have merged with the tree, with only her sharp teeth showing as she devoured one finger after another.

When Aokiji woke up, he rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

Why is it this kind of weird thing again? And the art style is shockingly bizarre!

Is something wrong with this world?

How adorable those undead creatures are in his Demon King's Castle!

Unfortunately, we couldn't see what the tree looked like, nor could we find where the monster was hiding.

Instead, it seemed to have alarmed the monster, causing the remaining spirituality to completely collapse, making it impossible for him to use dreams to explore further.

When Keisuke Ao woke up, he opened his eyes and met the gaze of his math teacher, Masato Ezumi.

He stood next to his seat, holding the book.

"Ao Keisuke, don't you like math?" the middle-aged man questioned.

"..."

Keisuke Ao lifted his head from his arms and replied, "That's not it. It's just that I haven't listened to math lessons in a long time, so I can't understand them for the time being."

"Is that your excuse for sleeping in my class?"

"Because I don't want to do things in vain." The Demon King had no intention of lying about such a trivial matter.

"hiss--"

The temperature in Class 5 was raised by one degree even in this sweltering summer heat.

Masato Esumi swore he had never encountered such an answer in his entire life of teaching, yet Keisuke Ao was still giving it a serious answer.

"...Get to the back!"

"Yes."

"Pfft!" Yuki couldn't help herself again in the morning.

Then the whole class was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Bathed in Yuto Nakagawa's admiring gaze, Keisuke Ao stood up with a calm expression and went to stand in the back row empty-handed.

Asuka Arisugawa sighed, deeply regretting that she had let go of her worries too soon.

During lunch break, as expected, Keisuke Ao was called to the office.

"Qinggui..."

The young female teacher was sitting on the sofa in the break room, preparing to eat lunch. Upon seeing Aokiji, she paused in her prepared reprimand and instead asked, "Have you eaten?"

"not yet."

Sitting next to Chizuru Tsukishima was another woman she had never seen before. She was wearing a white coat and was probably the school doctor at Kukai Private High School.

"Qinggui? Then sit down and eat with us. We made too much today." These were the words spoken by the school doctor.

Even though she was sitting next to a beauty like Tsukishima Chizuru, she attracted Ao Keisuke's attention even more. Her voice was gentle and melodious, like a bird playing and hopping in the forest, making people think of thrushes and larks.

Keisuke Ao remembered the school doctor he had overheard the boys mention; she seemed to be a legendary figure from the Kūkai saga.

The name seems to be... Shiraishi Chizuru?

Is it the same name as Tsukishima?

She was petite, a size shorter than Tsukishima, but her bust was also quite eye-catching. However, compared to that, her bust was the least noteworthy advantage.

The slightly wavy and fluffy bob haircut, in a color between brown and gray, makes you want to reach out and touch it.

The small, fair ear peeking out from under her hair resembled a crescent moon peeking out from a cliff just past dusk—that's the level of cuteness.

Her delicate features, without any makeup, evoked genuine joy and excitement simply from those eyes.

The hormones of youth, beyond the control of the Demon King, began to be secreted.

Keisuke Aoki suppressed his unusual emotions and sat down opposite the two mature women.

"Then I shall accept it without hesitation."

"You little brat, were you always this bold?" Tsukishima Chizuru frowned, but didn't say much, since that was exactly what she meant.

"Are you being bold, Mr. Tsukishima?" Keisuke Ao said. "Young high school students' personalities can change very quickly."

"Let's skip this kind of pretentious self-evaluation."

Chizuru Tsukishima waved her hand and took the lunchbox that Shiraishi handed her: "I think you know why I called you over this time."

Keisuke Ao nodded: "It's about sleeping in math class."

"You shouldn't be so self-righteous after making a mistake," Tsukishima scolded in a sarcastic tone. "It's precisely this attitude that makes Esumi-sensei so angry!"

Chizuru Shiraishi smiled and handed Keisuke Ao a disposable cardboard box filled with side dishes.

"Here you go, Qinggui. This is a meal I made myself. I hope you like it."

"Thank you, Shiraishi Yuki."

Whether this "sir" refers to a teacher or a doctor is a matter of opinion.

"You two!" Tsukishima roared.

"Ah, so Tsukishima-sensei was just lecturing a student?" Shiraishi Chizuru laughed. "I thought it was just casual conversation at lunch."

"Alright, alright." Ms. Tsukishima sighed. "Seikyo, I just want to tell you that now that you're back in school, you should try your best to get rid of bad habits."

"Understood, I'll be careful." Aokiji readily agreed, since the dream had already shattered and he couldn't glean any other clues from it anyway.

"I hope so!"

The three began to eat. Shiraishi Chizuru curiously observed the student who had caused such a stir as soon as she returned to school. Yesterday afternoon, several students who came to the school hospital for check-ups had been talking about the basketball game related to Ao Keisuke.

Although it is filled with professional terms that only boys would understand, the name Ao Keisuke undoubtedly appears the most often.

Now that I see him, he truly lives up to the legendary title of "Prince".

Moreover, that confident and composed demeanor is even more striking. Although I am reluctant to boast, very few adults can do that when facing themselves and Tsukishima, let alone high school students.

"Ahem!" Chizuru Shiraishi coughed twice, completely lacking in acting skills, signaling that she was about to speak: "Are Aokae-kun and Arisugawa-kun dating?"

"Huh?!" Tsukishima exclaimed in shock.

Aokiji paused for a moment, then swallowed the delicious food. "Of course not, it's all just rumors."

"Speaking of which..." Tsukishima said thoughtfully, "You and Arisugawa are neighbors, aren't you?"

The two mature women's eyes immediately became more suspicious.

Keisuke Ao had no interest in defending his words further, but instead reminded him, "You two probably have far more rumors about you than I do, could they be true?"

"You can't do that, Qinggui-kun." Shiraishi Chizuru gave him a reproachful look: "How can you ask a girl such a question?"

Her gentle voice and playful tone were pleasant and soothing to listen to.

It immediately makes it clear that the person speaking is simply joking.

Tsukishima sighed and said, "Whether you're in a relationship or not is your own business. Shiraishi is just curious. You don't need to answer her questions like that."

"Eh~" Shiraishi Chizuru laughed: "Sorry, Aokei-kun, I hope you don't mind."

"I wouldn't care about such a joke if I could eat Dr. Shiraishi's food again."

"What do you mean?"

Tsukishima-sensei looked like a cat whose territory had been invaded, her eyes suddenly turning dangerous.

After considering his words for a moment, Keisuke Ao replied, "I was just praising Dr. Shiraishi's cooking."

"That would be best, hurry up and finish eating so you can get back to class!"

"Yes."

After a pleasant lunch with the beautiful female teachers, Aoki Keisuke left the teachers' break room.

"Oh, I forgot to check on that kid's part-time job."

Chizuru Tsukishima suddenly slapped her forehead. The working hours were neither too short nor too long. It was one thing for Keisuke Ao not to come to class before, but if he did come, he would have to make up for the missing materials.

Chizuru Shiraishi seemed thoughtful upon hearing this: "You forget about the important matter when you're chatting with a handsome guy, Tsukishima. You can't do that."

Tsukishima, the homeroom teacher, Chizuru, rolled her eyes. These days, the charm of a handsome man is not as great as ten Fukuzawa Yukichi in her eyes.

However, she could only barely acknowledge that someone of Keisuke Ao's caliber possessed the strength of Fukuzawa Yukichi.

"I remember you said before that Qinggui's family is quite well-off, so why not just let him join a club?"

Recalling the students' conversation yesterday evening, Shiraishi Chizuru couldn't help but feel a little curious—if it came to joining clubs, Ao Keisuke would definitely join the basketball club!

"That's a good idea."

By joining a club, I won't have to deal with those troublesome materials and proofs for Qinggui.

"I'll talk to that kid later! He's always acting like a deep, mature adult. These days, high school students... are either overly energetic or look like they're carrying a heavy burden."

Chizuru Shiraishi playfully covered her mouth: "Hey~ How dare you talk about others like that? Back in junior high school... what did you secretly write in your notebook?"

It's like, "Society is so bizarre, everyone wears a mask, I just want to spit at them."

"Shut up!" Ms. Tsukishima blushed.

"Kawaii~"