Chapter 216

PHA – Chapter 216 – Andusia’s Expression Sharpens

Andusia’s impression of the humans of this era had indeed changed to a certain extent.

One of the reasons that had caused this change was Magical Girl Hikari’s content. As a national-level animation, it evidently did not rely on a little girl fighting to attract such widespread popularity. The animation’s director had also conveyed a certain degree of their ideas throughout the show. One of the anime’s episodes had clearly expressed resistance and aversion to the oppression of others.

Seeing as the animation achieved such widespread popularity despite conveying such values, it meant that the humans of this era also agreed with these values. It also meant that the humans of this era were no longer the same as the humans of Andusia’s era. At the very least, modern humans no longer practiced the act of enslaving others.

Another reason was the sights Andusia had seen around Alice’s academy campus. If it were during her era, it would be a common sight to see humans walking around with their slaves. One could also often see slave owners educating their slaves in public.

However, based on her observation thus far, Andusia found that almost everyone in the March Royal School of Magic was equal. She had even seen beastkin students interacting with human students merrily. Although she had also seen several noble students walking around with servants, judging by those servants’ bright and beautiful clothing, normal body shapes, and expressions, it did not seem like they were being subjected to any torture or abuse. Instead, it seemed like they were merely doing a normal job.

This situation made Andusia wonder whether she needed to keep holding onto her hatred. The reason she hated humans, to begin with, was because of the humans’ slavery system. The reason she became a Demon King was also entirely because of one of her slave friends.

However, the part she hated the most about humans had almost ceased to exist in the current era. Humans, beastkins, elves, and various other races were coexisting peacefully, and there was hardly any sign of hostility between them.

In that case, even if she managed to resurrect herself, would there be any meaning in taking revenge against humans? If slavery had truly ceased to exist in this era, wouldn’t she merely be attacking humans for the sake of venting the unhappiness within her? In that case, how would she be any different from the slave owners she detested the most?

Back when she was still the Demon King, she would feel proud of herself even when she waged war against humans. This was because she felt that she was punishing humans full of sin. However, now that the sins she perceived had disappeared already, it didn’t seem like she had any more reason to continue oppressing humans.

“Wow! How is this figurine made? How is it so detailed?”

Andusia was currently sitting on Alice’s desk with an expressionless face, her figurine body put on display for the surrounding students. One of the female students who shared rather close ties with Alice had even walked up to Andusia and poked at the former Demon King.

“Wow! It’s a movable figurine! It’s so realistic! How did they even make the joints? It’s moving exactly like a living person!”

Indeed, the news of a movable Hikari figurine had quickly attracted many students from both Alice’s class and other classes to come and observe Andusia.

Even though many of these students weren’t otakus, Magical Girl Hikari had left a deep impression on them during their childhood years. Magical Girl Hikari was similar to Earth’s “Pokemon” and “Sailor Moon.” Even if they were no longer watching the anime now, they would definitely remember it still.

Meanwhile, one of Living Wood’s special properties was that its wooden texture would change to resemble that of a living creature when a soul inhabited it. Hence, Andusia’s body felt no different than a human to the touch. This astonished many people, and everyone couldn’t help but admire the benefits of being royalty. Everyone was of the opinion that Alice must have used her connections as the princess to acquire this rare and remarkable figurine.

Fortunately, everyone was only surprised and amazed by Andusia’s existence. Nobody had humored the possibility that this figurine was a real person or that this person was the Ninth Demon King. Hence, once Alice was done attending her morning classes, nobody continued torturing Andusia with their curiosity.

“Is it finally over?” Andusia was put back into Alice’s school bag once Alice was done with her morning elective classes. Meanwhile, after noticing that no more people were coming to pester her, she complained in a tired voice, “This has been such a tiring morning. I don’t think I’ve felt so tired even after sleeping inside the Living Wood for a couple of thousand years.”

“Doesn’t this prove that the humans of this era are very affectionate?” Alice said, smiling. She was very happy to see Andusia suffering. “So, how are your considerations coming along?”

Andusia fell silent again at the mention of this topic. Honestly, she was a little confused right now due to a lack of goals. Even if she told Alice the information she wanted to know, what should she do next? Return to the demon realm to continue being the Demon King?

That obviously wasn’t possible.

Andusia was fully aware of what was going on in the demons’ heads—invading the human realm and occupying the human realm’s beautiful living environment, territory, and resources. It sounded terrible, but she knew they were doing it for a good reason. After all, the demon realm’s living environment was truly a mess. When Andusia first moved to the demon realm, it had taken her several years before she managed to adapt to the environment there. In reality, one of the reasons she invaded the human realm later on was to improve her living conditions.

But now, she didn’t seem to have a reason to lead the demons into attacking the humans. This was because she was currently in the human realm already. Moreover, humans had also entered an era of peace with the various races. If she waged war with the human realm once more, it would undoubtedly destroy this peaceful life.

The slave friend who became the trigger for Andusia’s transformation was a beastkin. The last thing she wanted was to see the beastkins losing their homes because of war.

Alice had also noticed Andusia’s confusion. This was undoubtedly a good sign. So, she chose not to continue her questioning and left Andusia to her thoughts. Instead, she went ahead to take care of other matters.

Yesterday morning, Ciel had said that her chieftain would give her an answer today. So, Alice and Ciel had agreed to meet in the storage room of the high school section’s gym today. The storage room was typically locked at noon, and only Alice could unlock it easily with magic. So, holding their conversation here would ensure that they wouldn’t be disturbed.

Search h0sted n0vel for the original.

When Alice arrived outside the storage room, she saw that Ciel was already waiting for her by the door. The catkin wore an annoyed look on her face, seemingly upset to meet with Alice. This was also the usual attitude Ciel took with Alice. If an outsider were to look at this situation, they would likely think that Ciel and Alice shared a very poor relationship.

“What took you so long?” Ciel asked as she looked at Alice in dissatisfaction. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she let out a light huff and continued, “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting here? You really know how to waste my time.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I apologize. I got held up because something interesting caused my classmates to surround me,” Alice said, smiling. Then, she used Psychokinesis Transcendence and Lockpick to unlock the complex magic lock put on the storage room’s doors and entered the room with Ciel.

The storage room was very dark and cluttered with training equipment. There were also some magic tools lying around, all of which were prepared for those training to become magic swordsmen.

Alice casually sat on a vaulting box and set her school bag aside. Then, she lifted her foot and stretched it out toward Ciel.

When Ciel saw this, a sullen look briefly flashed across her face. However, her resistance quickly crumbled as she reluctantly walked to Alice’s side. Then, she knelt on the ground and began rubbing her face against Alice’s foot that were clad in white silken stockings.

Meanwhile, when Andusia poked her body out of the bag and saw this scene, her expression sharpened immediately.