A Regressor's Guide to Hunting in the Academy

Chapter 26

The next day.

Demonology classroom.

"The demons that appear in the Grimoire's Book are often subordinates of the Demon King. Most of them lack intelligence and either move by instinct or follow predetermined rules."

As always, Henrik was conducting his lecture with three students.

"Now, here's a question. Grimory. Try answering this one. Creatures without intelligence are magic beasts. However, even magic beasts without intelligence are classified as demons if they possess great power. Can you explain why?"

"Haha..."

Grimory stood up with an awkward smile.

"It's because they're distinguished by the pure power contained in their magic stones. The terms 'magic beast' and 'demon' are used to differentiate rulers from the ruled based on the scale of their power."

"Good, you've been studying ahead. To add to that... there are creatures like Leviathan whose classification is ambiguous... but explaining that would be complicated, so just keep it in mind."

As Henrik nodded, Grimory sat back down.

She stole a glance at the student sitting next to her.

Carmen MacClane.

For some reason today, he had come all the way to the front row and was listening to the lecture with sparkling eyes.

However, his notebook was blank.

He wasn't taking notes, but he was, unusually, listening to the class with interest.

"Professor!"

This time, Amecitia, sitting directly to Grimory's right, raised her hand.

"Then how strong are the Demon Kings from legends?!"

"Basically, they're beings capable of destroying a city, or in extreme cases, an entire nation. Remember, Amecitia, Demon Kings also cannot be killed unless their magic stones are destroyed."

"Ugh... Yes..."

-Dong, dong, dong.

The bell rang out.

It was the sound of the massive bell installed in the Academy Main Building to announce the time.

As the bell rang three times, signaling 3 PM, Henrik snapped his book shut.

"That's all for today's class."

Then Carmine stood up abruptly as if he'd been waiting.

"Professor."

"What is it, Carmine?"

"Could I have a consultation with you?"

"A consultation?"

Henrik silently observed Carmine before nodding.

"Alright. Come to my office."

"Yes."

As Henrik nodded and left the classroom, Carmine immediately followed him to the office.

* * *

"A consultation..."

Henrik muttered as he poured tea into a cup.

He had anticipated Carmine would approach him, but the response came so quickly it was somewhat bewildering.

There was no way Carmine wanted career counseling or romance advice-Henrik guessed he would demand something based on the information obtained from infiltrating the office yesterday.

"It's jasmine tea. Feel free to drink."

"Thank you."

As Henrik set down the teacup, Carmine bowed politely.

"So, about this consultation...?"

Carmine drank the tea Henrik had offered.

Savoring the fragrant aroma, he tasted it several times before opening his mouth.

"I heard you've been purchasing a lot of herbs from our Trading Company recently."

"It wasn't intentional, but the quality is good. I've been using them well."

Unusually, Carmine spoke fluently.

At his words, Henrik glanced at the herbs piled on the workbench.

The products from the Trading Company run by the MacClane Clan were of considerably high quality, so he had been using them frequently.

If he kept buying items from there, not only Carmine but also the MacClane Clan Head would surely approach him.

That's why Henrik had purchased herbs to a slightly excessive degree. Of course, he wasn't wasting them-he was diligently using them to make new potions or develop others.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Need anything?"

Clink-Carmine set down his teacup and looked at Henrik with a grin.

"You buy up rare herbs as soon as they come in, so I'm asking. If you want, Professor, I can prepare them for you directly."

"I see..."

It was an attractive offer.

Certainly, even before his regression, he had procured various medicinal herbs through Carmine, who had become a fellow Hunter, so getting his help quickly now would definitely make things much easier.

Not only would it eliminate the hassle of obtaining herbs himself, but he might also be able to get them supplied much cheaper than what the Trading Company sold them for.

This was one of Henrik's intended goals.

The potions he would use in the future required many rare ingredients, which meant he needed luck.

Since he couldn't know when or where certain herbs would come in, the only method Henrik had was to check the market every single day.

"Not bad. So what do you want?"

"..."

Naturally, Carmine had no intention of doing all this for Henrik for free.

He was a student and a merchant before he was an assassin.

If something is given, something must naturally be received in return.

"I heard you make potions."

"That's right. You saw it yourself, so you know well."

At Henrik's meaningful words, Carmine flinched.

"You knew?"

"Of course."

"..."

"So, how was the potion?"

Carmine nodded and recalled the experience he had last night.

"The side effects were severe, but the effects were excellent."

"I imagine so. That potion was at the stage of mitigating side effects. Once it's complete, it'll become even more useful."

At Henrik's words, Carmine wanted the potion even more.

If the side effects decreased and the effects increased, it was obvious what would happen.

"Professor, I'd like to purchase that potion."

At Carmine's words, Henrik let out a quiet laugh.

Just as expected, Carmine was after the potion.

"Why do you need this potion?"

"......"

At Henrik's question, Carmine hesitated for a moment before answering.

"To produce results."

"It'll be difficult to show results as a first-year."

"Yes, but I need to produce results. I have to graduate from this academy as soon as possible."

"Why?"

"......"

Carmine didn't answer. But Henrik knew his situation well.

To become the clan's successor, he'd need an academy diploma.

The condition Carmine's father had set when pushing him into the academy-to become the family heir, he needed a diploma and excellent grades.

He pulled out a large pouch of gold coins and thunk! set it on the desk.

The pouch was filled to the brim with gleaming gold coins.

"30 gold coins. If that's not enough, I'll give you more."

"Haha......"

What Carmine offered was enough gold for a family of four to live comfortably for a month.

But for him, this was just a small portion of his usual allowance.

An insane sense of money.

It was a very Carmine-like judgment.

Even before the regression, Carmine had been famous for having no concept of money's value.

As the eldest son of the MacClane Trading Company despite being a Hunter, the wealth he possessed was enormous.

In the future, the MacClane Trading Company would grow to become the largest trading company on the continent, so even ten years later, his sense of money would never be corrected.

"Fine. But I'm setting a condition too."

"A condition?"

Thunk!

At Henrik's words, Carmine placed another pouch of gold coins on top.

"Is the money insufficient?"

"That's not what I mean."

At Carmine's money-solves-everything attitude, Henrik let out a quiet laugh.

"To graduate from the academy, you'll need to complete demonology first."

"Pardon?"

"Get a perfect score on the upcoming written exam. That's the condition for the deal."

"A perfect score?!"

Carmine jumped to his feet in shock.

"This was a potion I was planning to give to students with excellent grades anyway. So if you get excellent grades, that's all there is to it, isn't it? A perfect score-I won't accept anything less."

"......"

Carmine gulped.

Getting a perfect score on the written exam wasn't difficult.

But the problem lay elsewhere.

He had never seriously attended class.

Therefore, his memory of what Henrik had taught in class was hazy at best.

"Is there no other way?"

"There isn't."

When Henrik spoke firmly, Carmine gulped and nodded.

"Understood. A perfect score on the written exam. I'll get it."

* * *

[A perfect score on the written exam. I won't accept 99 points.]

Carmine mulled over the words Henrik had said before he left the office.

Having not properly attended class, Carmine had one plan.

He knew of one student who diligently took detailed notes in her notebook every single lecture.

Carmine planned to become friends with her.

If they became friends, it would naturally be possible to borrow the notes she'd taken.

But for Carmine, who as the eldest son of an assassin family had never interacted with peers his own age, this was a daunting task.

'Will she become my friend if I give her money?'

He glanced at his remaining gold coins.

Even normally, he received a "not insignificant amount" of allowance, but since there was rarely anything to spend it on, gold coins were always piling up.

Most people would happily accept it and do whatever he asked, so he'd thought that was just how things worked.

But Henrik hadn't done that.

Of course, he'd accepted it, but only as payment for the potion itself.

'How should I start a conversation?'

Conversation was also a problem.

Normally, William would be by his side, picking up on his intentions and always speaking for him, but William wasn't at the academy.

But he didn't want to chatter about things that didn't interest him.

Walking down the corridor and exiting the faculty building, he saw exactly what he'd expected-Amecitia running alone on the training yard.

Watching her run with weights attached, sweating, pausing to rest, then running again, Henrik's words came back to mind.

[A perfect score on the written exam.]

He didn't like it, but there was no choice.

Just for now, he'd endure it for the sake of the potion and approach Amecitia.

'I'll get the potion, produce results, graduate early, and that'll be that. Once I graduate, there won't be any reason to see her again anyway.'

When Amecitia wiped her sweat with her sleeve, he caught a glimpse of her abs through the gap. With her stamina increasing noticeably recently, it seemed she'd built some muscle too.

"Huh? What? Carmine!"

Noticing Carmine approaching, Amecitia smiled brightly and spoke.

"Carmine! Is your stomach okay? You looked totally dead yesterday."

"Yeah."

"Good! I'm glad you're okay. Do you need something from me?"

"......"

Carmine fumbled open his pouch of gold coins, pulled out a coin, and pressed it into Amecitia's hand.

"Huh? A gold coin? What's this all of a sudden?"

"Let's be friends."

"......?"

At Carmine's words, Amecitia tilted her head and stared at him.

Such a random statement and action.

While Amecitia herself had some quirky tendencies, she wasn't on Carmine's level of incomprehensibility.

"You and me. Let's be friends. I need your lecture notes."

When Amecitia continued tilting her head in confusion, Carmine added an explanation and repeated himself.

"Ahem!"

Amecitia cleared her throat and quietly slipped the gold coin into her pocket. She'd been especially hungry lately with her increased appetite.

On days when Henrik supervised her training, he'd occasionally toss her some bread or milk, but on days like today when she trained alone, her wallet situation was bad enough that she'd go hungry.

"Right, Carmine. You need lecture notes?"

"Yeah."

"What a great idea! I, Amecitia Flammeur, will be your best friend from now on! Ten notebooks, a hundred notebooks! Just say the word! I'll hand over as many as you want!"

"Good."

Smack! Amecitia and Carmine exchanged a passionate handshake of friendship.

It was a moment where both their interests aligned perfectly.