I Swear I'm Not a Demon Masquerading as a Human

Chapter 41: Lance's First Class at University

It was now September, so the sweltering heat of summer had begun to fade in the capital. A cool morning breeze wafted through Ikerite University, prompting Lance to stifle a yawn. It was the first day of the new term, so he couldn't afford to laze around.

He rolled out of bed and stepped out of the bedroom with a toothbrush in his mouth and eyes still heavy with sleep. The floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room overlooked a private, garden-like space, and he spotted a few chirping birds perched at the edge of the terrace.

When Lance drew back the curtains and slowly approached them, the birds continued to hop about, showing no intention of flying away. He lingered in the small courtyard for a while, and the flock of birds around him grew steadily larger. They felt a natural affinity for him and were eager to stay close by his side.

As he brushed his teeth, Lance indistinctly mumbled, "I'm not a druid, so why do you all like me so much?"

He had noticed this happening before. Back home, he could attract a crowd of adorable kittens simply by walking down the street. Now, ever since arriving at Ikerite University, the campus birds had treated him like a friend.

Small animals had absolutely no wariness toward him. Perhaps it was the naturally gentle look of his emerald-green eyes, or the poetic, serene aura he exuded. In any case, he didn't mind being surrounded by these tiny creatures.

After freshening up, Lance put on the uniform for the Sages' College, which had been delivered by the Student Services Center. Then, he stood before the mirror. The young man reflected in the glass possessed elegantly defined features. The hair near his left ear was neatly swept back, while his soft black locks appeared both composed and radiant in the sunlight. Beneath slender, graceful brows, his emerald eyes held an expression that was warm, approachable, and poised.

A long, deep-blue coat was draped over his tall, lithe frame. The design of the uniform evoked the midnight sky: mysterious and profound. Gold stitching traced the loose cuffs and hem of the coat, forming patterns in the Hutton style. These motifs also doubled as ancient characters from the Southern Continent.

The collar of the shirt beneath was folded into a vintage-style white neckpiece, accented at the center by a small gold emblem. Engraved with the crest of Ikerite University and the protective sigils of the Sages' College, the emblem sparkled like a brilliant star in the sunlight. His trousers and boots were dark in color, and his boots had been meticulously polished to a lustrous black sheen.

Lance stomped his feet. The uniform was both well-fitting and comfortable, perfectly suited to the needs of an adventurer.

Perfect. Time to go. My legendary life will begin today!

***

Ikerite University, Main Building of the Sages' College.

Compared to the other classical structures on campus, this building appeared strikingly modern and distinctive. Its roof featured an array of folding, light-sensitive magical devices designed to channel soft natural light while blocking harsh, piercing sunlight.

This year, the Sages' College had over a hundred qualified incoming freshmen who were randomly assigned to three separate sections. Elective courses lacked fixed classrooms. Instead, students had to travel to specific buildings based on their schedules, sometimes even venturing to multi-purpose classrooms or testing grounds of other departments.

However, core courses were mandatory for every student regardless of their elective choices. Consequently, all students in a given section would gather in the same designated classroom for these sessions.

First year students at the Sages' College rarely had the opportunity to challenge the real Shadow Realm during their first semester, so their schedules were packed with foundational core courses. For example, there were four core classes being taught today: Introduction to Mana Control, Practical Spellcasting, Principles of Incantationless Casting, and Mana Sensing and Concealment.

Time to head to class.

Following the campus map, Lance quickly located the classroom. By the time he arrived, quite a few students were already inside. He had intended to arrive earlier, but he had spent a few extra minutes feeding his animal friends on the terrace.

The tiered classroom featured wooden flooring and was incredibly spacious. It offered each student ample room to stretch out while also having a generous desk area. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows on the side lay a lush green lawn. Sunlight streamed in, bathing the room in a bright, welcoming glow. The lighting system combined both natural and artificial light, and it was adjustable to suit specific needs.

As Lance stepped into the room, the other students all looked as if they had just spotted a rare, exotic figure. That black-haired, green-eyed young nobleman was undoubtedly the "Dark Grand Justice," the top scorer in this year's entrance exam for the Sages' College.

It was a nickname some students had given Lance, categorizing him as a new and unique profession. Although his performance in the second round of the exams had become legendary, no one actually knew the true extent of his combat capabilities. A widely circulating rumor went like this: "That guy got incredibly lucky. During the third round, his examiner suffered from a sudden brain bleed, allowing him to breeze right through."

Consequently, quite a few students harbored a mix of envy, jealousy, and skepticism toward Lance.

As soon as he stepped into the classroom, Lance scanned the scattered seating arrangements and quickly spotted an outlier in the back row: Lady Hyperion. He involuntarily made a noise. "Huh."

She was the excellent teammate he had for the third round's practical test, the Canyon of Infinite Phantoms, and she had deliberately chosen a seat near the back. But that wasn't all. The entire area immediately surrounding her was empty, as if everyone was intentionally keeping their distance. From his perspective, it certainly looked as though Hyperion was being ostracized.

Lance felt this situation wasn't ideal. So, he walked the steps toward the back of the classroom until he reached the row where Hyperion was sitting, and took a seat nearby. He then greeted her with a smile, "Good morning, Hyperion."

"Mm." Hyperion glanced at him in surprise, then immediately turned her head away, ignoring him further. The conflicted look in her eyes made it clear she didn't intend to give him the cold shoulder. She was simply keeping her distance for his own good.

Seeing this, Lance didn't try to make small talk. To him, it made no difference where he sat for the lecture, and Hyperion was the only person he knew. He opened the book in his hands, Kingdom of Hutton Judicial Exam: Collection of Real-Life Cases, and began to study earnestly. Having this morning’s reading material to keep him company while waiting for class to start was truly perfect.

***

The first three sessions of the tedious, mandatory courses concluded exactly as expected. It was now four o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was about to begin its slow descent. Outside the classroom windows, the trees cast long shadows across the lawn, their leaves rustling in the breeze.

Hyperion remained in her seat at the back of the room, and Lance was still sitting nearby. However, their conditions were vastly different from earlier that morning. Hyperion found these courses effortless; she handled the material with ease. As for Lance, he was currently slumped over his desk, fast asleep.

The first three classes had overwhelmed him. The half-hour interval before the final session began served as a rare moment of respite.

The classroom was situated within one of the Sages' College historic, renovated buildings. The wooden frames of the doors and windows blended almost seamlessly with the red-brick exterior walls. The room featured a distinctive high ceiling crafted from plaster, retaining the classical style of the Hutton Kingdom. Soft light cascaded from self-adjusting magic lamps set into the vaulted ceiling, creating a soothing atmosphere for the students below.

Despite the lull between classes, the room was far livelier than it had been that morning. Aside from students who had arrived early to study their textbooks in solitude, upperclassmen and students from other departments frequently wandered into the corridors and classrooms to chat with acquaintances about various anecdotes.

In stark contrast, the back rows of the classroom remained conspicuously empty, as if an invisible barrier insulated that area from the rest of the room.

Hyperion sat quietly, her amber eyes gazing through the window toward the distant sky. Her face was impassive, yet her eyes betrayed a mind deep in thought. The upperclassmen who came to "drop by" were often friends or acquaintances the freshmen had known before enrolling. Others were "star freshmen," like Princess Vivian from another class, who were already being courted by various teams and surrounded by admirers.

However, none of this had anything to do with Hyperion. Even though she ranked second among this year's incoming students at the Sages' College, no team came to recruit her.

In the past, with her father there, no one dared to bully her over her demon heritage, and she seemed surrounded by nothing but kind people. Now, standing alone and unsupported, she finally realized just how much hostility and suspicion a demon faced in this country. It was a stroke of luck just to have made it through the day peacefully up to this point.

Unlike most people, she had absolutely no desire for anyone to come looking for her. After all, if any upperclassmen were to seek her out, they would inevitably be the sort of figures from the capital who brought nothing but trouble.

Perhaps the one stroke of luck was having a gentle soul by her side, someone who didn't shun her as a harbinger of disaster and had never harbored a shred of malice toward her since the day they met. Hyperion couldn't help but glance at the sleeping youth beside her. He was a boy of brilliant talent, yet he also harbored a strange, self-destructive streak.

Earlier, a few students from other classes had stopped by to scout out Lance, but upon seeing him seated next to her, their expressions shifted. Then, they quickly found excuses to leave. Furthermore, Hyperion had finally realized something. For all his apparent brilliance, Lance was actually hopeless when it came to casting spells.

Aside from using enchanted cards, he had never learned to cast a single spell himself. This was hardly the behavior someone would expect from a typical mage. Yet, he was stubbornly earnest. Despite the torment he endured, he refused to skip class or slack off in his studies.

Hyperion sighed helplessly. She hadn't expected that Lance, who seemed capable of anything, would have such a glaring weakness.

Amid the chatter of students in the classroom and the din from the hallway, Hyperion continued to read quietly, turning the pages with care in order to not wake the sleeping Lance. Kindness begot kindness. While she was known for holding grudges, she was equally mindful of the good deeds others had shown her.

Moreover, for some reason, Lance's very presence seemed to possess an innate quality that calmed the minds of those around him, even when he was simply slumped over, fast asleep. Before she knew it, she, too, had become completely engrossed in her book.

***

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky shifted quietly as the minutes ticked by. Thick clouds drifted past, briefly obscuring the brilliant, warm afternoon sun. The natural light in the classroom dimmed intermittently, casting a veil-like haze over the play of light and shadow on the floor.

None of this distracted Hyperion from her reading. Instead, she felt an inexplicable sense of peace, a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time.

"Hyperion, I never imagined you'd actually manage to enroll successfully." The voice was soft yet sudden, sending a shiver down Hyperion's spine. She quickly turned to look. Standing in the aisle beside her seat was a young man with a fair complexion. His hands were clasped behind his back. He wore an expression of composure that was at once both relaxed and haughty.

Though Hyperion's facial expression remained unchanged, her aura grew heavy and agitated. "Mordan... What do you want?"

Clearly, he was someone she loathed seeing. Mordan Gasigus was the second son of Marquess Gasigus and a third year student at the Sages' College. He was also a formidable challenger of the Shadow Realm, possessing exceptional talent.

She detested the Gasigus family, who had once been allies of her father, Duke Aransar, even more than the nobles belonging to the duke's rival factions. Since her father’s disappearance, Marquess Gasigus had shown no intention of helping her. Instead, he had eyed her covetously, seeking to force her into marriage with his family as a means of controlling her.

"Hyperion, if you intend to challenge the Shadow Realm during your first year, you might consider joining my team. Or rather, let me be frank. Joining my team is your only option because I am the only one willing to guide you through it." Mordan sounded polite, almost like an older brother speaking to a younger sister, yet the look in his eyes betrayed his true intentions. They glowed with an undisguised, predatory desire to possess and claim her.

"No need." Hyperion's reply was icy. She, like Lance, had been granted the registration of an Iron Licensed challenger without taking the exam, thanks to her outstanding performance in the entrance test. However, she knew that the rule prohibiting first year students from undertaking challenges solo meant she was destined to squander many opportunities to grow stronger during her freshman year.

After all, Mordan wasn't wrong. There wasn't a single team, or any student, at the school willing to accept a member of the demon race like her.

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