Seven Demon Sword Princesses And Zero Knights - Chapter 1

The Red-Haired Transfer Student

This large city was built on a huge rock, spanning over a hundred kilometers in diameter.

Buildings made of stacked bricks and stone stood side by side. On top of the rich soil were thriving fields. Tens of thousands of people lived their lives here.

And at the top of the city, a fortress-like building loomed atop a boulder, tracing the rocky surface.

This elaborate structure, constructed using countless bricks and stones, was, in fact, the Academy building.

On the vast grounds that surrounded the huge Academy building, there was an athletic field, an amphitheater, a line of dorms, varying in size, and even a forest.

Even more amazingly, the Academy had a huge airport with a number of large “Airships” lined up.

The morning sun shone glowing white on the Academy’s buildings.

The Academy’s name: The Kielmor Academy of Magic.

In a room in the Academy, a girl’s voice echoed.

“A transfer student, you say?”

The voice belonged to a young lady in her uniform. She was inside a large room with luxurious furnishings.

She was in her mid-teens.

Though a little uptight, she was generally well composed.

She had beautiful chestnut-colored hair that smoothed all the way down to her waist. Her body was slender and slim, though her chest noticeably stood out from the middle of her body.

And affixed on her waist, surprisingly, was a beautifully made sword.

A girl of about the same age, who was sitting in a lavish chair, answered her, folding her hands on the desk.

“Yes, Charlotte Adeliana Rune Ainsworth. He’s transferring in two months after you first-years. He’ll be placed into your class, and so, I’d like you to take care of him,” she said, brushing away her shoulder-length silver hair irritatedly.

She was dressed in the same uniform as Charlotte, but she was wearing a black coat over it and had black gloves covering her hands.

Even though her looks were on par with Charlotte’s, she exuded a cold aura.

Also, as a side note, her chest was far more modest than Charlotte’s.

At that time, the room they were in was the Academy’s principal’s office.

In addition to the mildly dubious atmosphere, there were many strange, unknown items on display.

The office was located right above the central entrance of the Academy, so, naturally, the windows offered a panoramic view of the huge main gate and the large athletic field.

“However, with all due respect, Acting Principal Jeremiah. I’ve never heard of this Academy accepting transfer students. All of our students have managed to get in here after passing the rigorous exams. This is…” Charlotte mentioned, concerned and suspicious.

“This is a special case,” interrupted Jeremiah Kielmour, the Acting Principal of the Academy.

She put her hand on her forehead and sighed, her face contorting slightly.

“If I could, I would have refused. But, that’s not how it works. Plus, this new student seems to be a handful,” Jeremiah continued, resting her cheek on the desk.

“I need someone to supervise him. And you’re the only person who can handle it. Please.”

“…Even if you say that, I already have a lot on my plate, so I’m very busy.”

“There’s payment.”

“I’ll do it!!”

Though Charlotte was just making a sullen face and thinking of how to refuse the request, the moment she heard the word “payment”, her personality did a complete 180.

Payment! How nice that sounds.

Charlotte’s eyes shone as she thought of the word and its implications. Jeremiah, who had been watching her with a somewhat dumbfounded expression, continued talking.

“Basically, I’m asking you to guide and monitor that student around the campus. However, if he becomes disruptive and ignores the Academy rules, please report to me. I’ll deal with him.”

“Deal with him? What do you mean by ‘Deal with him’?”

“Exactly as I said,” Jeremiah responded, then pursed her lips.

Looking at her suspiciously, Charlotte continued asking.

“Well, I understand. So, when is the transfer student arriving?”

“I don’t have a detailed date and time, but probably soon…” Jeremiah confessed. Suddenly, an angry voice came from outside the open window.

“…Hey, you! Who are you, suspicious fellow!?”

Charlotte peeked down from the window to inspect the ongoing situation. Since she was in the Principal’s office, which was above the main entrance of the Academy, she had a full view of the main gate, the roads leading to it, and the streams of students coming to the Academy.

In the middle of those students, a group of people wearing armbands with the words “Academy Public Morals Contractor” were gathering around what appeared to be a student in the Academy uniform.

A tall boy wearing a full set of body armor and his uniform was walking in the middle of the group. He bellowed unilaterally, his loud voice echoing throughout the area.

“You’re wearing our Academy uniform… but you’re not wearing our Academy badge! How can a student of our Academy forget to wear our badge? So, you’re a spy, right? You won’t get away! This Public Morals Committee officer right here, Waltham-sama, will seize you and throw you in an underground cell!”

And when the boy who called himself Waltham pointed toward the suspect, the suspect was surrounded… It was a boy in the Academy uniform of about fifteen or sixteen years of age. He  answered with an annoyed look.

“Shut up, you don’t have to be so loud so that everyone can hear you. The only reason I don’t have an Academy badge is because I’m starting here today. I guess I’ll be getting one soon, probably.”

The boy… had red hair, a well-trained body that was visible even through his uniform, and a straight-back posture with the gracefulness of a wild animal.

Although he looked small compared to Waltham, who was a giant over two meters tall, one would not consider him short.

He had dignified, hazel eyes and a neatly-shaped nose and face. His appearance suggested the maturity of a grown man, but his expression had the look of a mischievous little boy.

“A transfer student…? I’ve never heard of our Academy accepting transfer students, but there’s a first for everything. So, what’s your name? Which department are you in? Airship Engineer? Or Demon Gear Craftsman?”

While the students around him were watching to see what was going on, Waltham, wearing his helmet, looked suspicious, but continued to press for further details.

The red-haired boy then responded with a wry smile.

“My name is Nacht. Just Nacht. And I’m not in either of those things. I enrolled in the department Sky Explorer… the class that trains Valiants.”

“…”

Waltham and the others stood there for a moment looking surprised at his words, but then they exchanged glances, and the next moment.

“…Fu… Kukuku… Hahaha! Haahahahahahaha!”

He started hysterically laughing.

“An explorer! Explorer!? You? …Good one! Haahaha!”

“…I didn’t mean it to be a joke. What did I say that was funny?” Nacht asked in amazement.

“Aah, you said it! You really said it! I can’t help it, it’s too funny! Out of all people… you, a redhead, want to be an Explorer!?”

Waltham raised his voice in laughter.

“Now, if you don’t know about it, I’ll tell you! Being an Explorer is the most dangerous job in the world! The most demanding role of the human species is to board the dangerous Fractal! Therefore, only a handful of the most brilliant geniuses on this continent can become one! In other words, only a Magus, who has high magical power at birth, a trained body, and the ability to freely control the magical tools that amplify them can become one! And yet!” Waltham explained in a mocking tone of voice, pointing at Nacht.

“How can a redhead with no inherent magical powers be an Explorer? How foolish!”

“…”

At Waltham’s explanation, Nacht returned to a silent voice. Waltham assumed that Nacht had no retorts.

“If you didn’t know that, then you’re a trespasser! We’ll interrogate you thoroughly in the underground cell! Go ahead, arrest him!” Waltham ordered.

“Yes, Captain!”

Three or so of his subordinates surrounded Nacht as they pulled out the weapons they had on their waist and back: a boomerang, a chain sickle, and even a baton. Two of his subordinates were human and one was a lizard-headed beastman.

Nacht, with a dazed expression, muttered as he watched.

“You’re going to surround a guy, who’s obviously going to be attending this Academy, with all these people and a bunch of weapons? Is this how the Academy welcomes people? That’s pretty interesting.”

Meanwhile, Charlotte was watching this incident from the window above. 

“Acting Principal, isn’t that the transfer student you were talking about?” She shouted panickedly.

“Looks that way. He matches the description in the letter.”

“This is not the time to be so relaxed! My payment… I mean, the transfer student is in a pinch! The Public Morals Committee always goes too far! I’ve got to go help him…”

As she was saying this, Charlotte put her foot on the edge of the window and prepared to jump off.

However, Jeremiah managed to hold her back.

“Don’t. It’s against Academy rules to jump out a window.”

“This isn’t the time for that!”

“At all times, the Academy rules are absolute. Besides, just… watch the situation a bit longer.”

At Jeremiah’s words, Charlotte looked at her in disbelief.

“Wha… What are you talking about? He could be seriously injured!”

“Not from this,” Jeremiah interrupted Charlotte’s rebuke strongly while looking down at Nacht.

“…If he’s going to be injured by something like this, then he shouldn’t have been admitted. Let’s see how far a redhead with no magic power can go against a Magus,” Jeremiah continued. 

While Jeremiah and Charlotte were talking, the Public Morals Committee were about to attack Nacht.

One of the them closed the distance, buzzing and swinging a chain sickle. The moment Nacht was distracted, the lizard-head swung a boomerang from the opposite side.

“Shah!” the Committee member shouted.

“Whoa.”

Nacht had dodged quickly with a sidestep… was what it seemed like.

However,

(…That’s not it!)

Nacht noticed something and hurriedly moved his head to the side.

Abruptly, the boomerang, which was supposed to just pass by, defied the laws of physics and bent sharply in midair, cleaving the space where Nacht’s head had just been.

“Damn it, you dodged it! You’re the first person to dodge my boomerang at first sight!”

The boomerang-wielding Committee member laughed vulgarly as he caught the boomerang that had returned to his hand.

“That movement… that’s not just a normal boomerang… It’s a Demon Gear!”

“Kekeke, that’s right! My Gear, Wind Cutter Boomerang, can change its trajectory in midair at my will!”

Nacht readied himself, keeping a wary eye on the boomerang.

“Tsk, if you’re a student at this Academy of Magic, you should be using magic!” he muttered.

“You fool! Even though this Academy used to teach magic a long time ago, now, only those who can use Demon Gear are the strongest! That’s why you’re unwanted here!”

With a vulgar smile, another one of the Public Morals Committee threw a sickle, which was attached to a chain, with great force.

“Got you!”

“Woah…”

Nacht ducked, but the chain seemingly snaked through the air and easily entangled itself on Nacht’s arm.

“Fuhaha, fool, this is a Gear too! My Serpent Scale Chain Sickle can crawl through the air at my will!”

The sickle-wielding Committee member, feeling good about having caught Nacht, pulled the chain. However, Nacht didn’t seem to be panicking at all. Instead, he seemed rather apathetic.

“A boomerang that changes its trajectory in midair and a chained-sickle that does the same. You guys are all doing identical things, you know? Rather than a weapon that draws out the owner’s magical power to the maximum, this is more like a street performance gadget.”

“S-Shut up! It can’t be helped! When you enter the Academy, they check your aptitude for magic and give you a Demon Gear that matches it! I didn’t choose this myself!”

“That’s right, that’s right, don’t mock people based on the nature of their magic! Do you have any idea what it’s like to have someone say to you, ‘You’re good at manipulating the chains on a sickle’?!” 

The two of them retorted in unison with angry faces.

It seemed that Nacht had just stepped on a landmine. 

And while they were doing so, the other member, the one with the baton, jumped toward Nacht with a stylish pose.

“Heh, on the other hand, my Demon Gear is amazing! It shoots electric shocks to stun the opponent! How about that? Isn’t that better than theirs? Eat this and get caught!” he shouted.

The baton swung down on Nacht’s shoulder.

However, Nacht didn’t seem to be intimidated at all. 

“Not really, you don’t need a Demon Gear like that to knock someone out,” he replied with a blank expression.

And at that moment, there was a thud. The sound of a heavy blow echoed, followed by the sound of a person falling to the ground.

It was not the sound of Nacht being knocked down. Rather, it was the sound of the baton-wielding Committee member that Nacht had kicked with terrifying speed.

He took a blow to the jaw and fell to the ground, white eyed and fully unconscious.

“What!” Waltham, who was watching the fight with his arms crossed and a relaxed expression on his face, shouted in surprise.

(No way, what was that? I didn’t see how that hit connected…!)

If it wasn’t for his red hair, Waltham would have wondered if Nacht was using a Demon Gear.

“Damn you, always bragging about how cool your Gear is, you annoying baton wielder! Though, I honestly think it’s pretty nice, but it’s unforgivable!”

The chained-sickle-wielding Committee member, who was smirking despite his words, gave his chain another forceful tug.

Yet, no matter how hard he pulled, Nacht’s arm did not budge.

(How? I can’t move him…!? It feels as if I’m trying to pull a giant rock!)

Ignorant of his comrade’s struggles, the lizard-headed boomerang-wielding beastman proudly threw his boomerang again.

“You can’t dodge this now, so die!”

“What is the point of killing me if you were planning on arresting me?” Nacht asked, curious. He then thrusted out his free hand, making a peace sign.

The next moment, he precisely caught the flying boomerang between his two outstretched fingers.

“Wha—What!?”

“And you, stop twisting weird things around other people’s arms.”

While saying this, Nacht sharply pulled his arm out of the chain, sending the Committee member’s body high into the air.

“Whoooaaaaa!?”

He screamed and flew straight into the lizard-headed beastman. The two of them bumped heads violently and fell to the ground.

Nacht, who had removed the chain wrapped around his arm and thrown away the boomerang, dusted off his clothes.

“I wanted to see what the Academy was like. Is this what a Magus of the Academy looks like? I’m not interested in your Demon Gear toys.”

His ridiculous attitude made the entire Committee turn red from anger.

“Why… you! How dare you insult us! I will not tolerate any insult to our Academy’s Public Morals Committee!”

All at once, the rest took out their respective Demon Gear and tried to surround Nacht.

But their captain, Waltham, stopped them with his huge arms.

“Wait, you guys.”

“C-Captain!?”

“…This guy looks a little tough. So, I’ll deal with him. Prepare yourself, redhead! Waltham-sama, the officer of this Academy’s Public Morals Committee, will personally arrest you!” Waltham declared as he shook his huge body and stepped forward.

Behind his back, his subordinates cheered him on.

“Whoa! Captain’s on the move! Do your best, Captain Wall Sam!”

“Wall Sam! Wall Sam!”

“It’s not Wall Sam! It’s Waltham! Agh!” he exasperatingly corrected.

In a condescending manner, Waltham approached Nacht.

Due to his appearance, the scene indeed looked like a wall was closing on Nacht, perfectly embodying the meaning of his nickname, Wall Sam.

“Why, it’s a big one now? Sure, I’ll take on as many as you guys want,” Nacht declared as he quickly jumped away from Waltham’s outstretched hands.

When Nacht, who was ducking and sidestepping, dodged all of his attacks, Waltham stomped in frustration.

“Heyyy, don’t you dare run off like that! You better not think that you can run from me!”

Waltham’s fist swung down and hit the ground. The pavement was shattered with a crack, and debris scattered, creating a huge hole.

This was not a power that a normal person could produce. If an ordinary person took it head on, he or she would surely die.

“Hey, that was powerful! So, that’s the power of the Magi!”

“Not only do we Magi use Demon Gear, our physical abilities are also greatly enhanced by magic power! So, you have no chance of winning! You should give up before I beat you to a pulp! Ahmm!”

With those words, Waltham’s huge body flew through the air.

“Whoa, hey, hey…!”

Nacht jumped back in a panic, as Waltham spread his hands and began to fall, seemingly attempting a body press. As soon as Waltham’s body hit the ground, an explosive sound of a landing echoed throughout the area.

“Hmmm, you’re pretty quick. It seems that you really want to get pummeled!”

Waltham stood up sluggishly. The steel pole he landed on was buried underneath him, flattened out like an empty can.

“Hey, hey… if you do that to a normal guy, they’re going to get hurt.”

“Don’t worry, there’s a very skilled nurse. She’ll at least save your life!”

Again, Waltham swung widely.

However, Nacht’s body sank down to meet it.

“That’s enough… of this, you degenerate Wall!”

Nacht’s fist thrusted out as he leaped into the air.

“Guh!”

A thunderous sound that sounded like the collision between a club and armor roared out.

It was the sound of Nacht’s blow striking Waltham’s armor. Waltham grunted.

—But in the next moment, Waltham grinned, quickly regaining his posture.

“What was that? Did you do something just now?” he announced in a mocking tone.

“What…!?” Nacht exclaimed in surprise.

In fact, Waltham, who was hit, did not waver at all. Instead, Nacht, who initiated the hit, felt pain in his arm.

(What in the world is this… it didn’t feel like I was striking a thin piece of armor! It felt like I hit a huge, dense chunk of iron…!)

As Nacht jumped back in surprise, Waltham opened his arms in a relaxed manner.

“That’s quite a sharp blow. You seem to have learned martial arts. But as I said, someone who can’t even use a Demon Gear can’t be a Valiant. And here’s why. This armor is my Demon Gear! I call it the Entwined Iron! It absorbs my magic power and becomes infinitely stronger!”

Waltham proceeded to lift a large rock that was buried in the grass nearby and threw it straight up. The rock fell straight back on Waltham, and… the moment it hit his head, the rock shattered into pieces with a violent sound.

However, Waltham, who should have taken a direct hit from the big rock, didn’t give any particular reaction, keeping a cool face.

“As you can see. Even if I take a direct hit from a cannonball, my armor will not be damaged! A Demon Gear is a weapon that absorbs the owner’s magic power and converts it into power! And my Entwined Iron is a mid-tier Silver Class! It’s nothing like the Bronze Class Demon Gear of those you just defeated!”

Demon Gear were graded according to their ability in three Classes: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The higher the grade, the more powerful it was. Though, even someone with Bronze Class Gear was said to be as powerful as a hundred soldiers without any Gear.

“…I see. So the armor isn’t as simple as it looks.”

“Fu, that’s what I’m talking about. You may be able to defeat my inexperienced subordinates, but it is impossible for you to penetrate this armor and damage me! Instead, your fist is more damaged than I, the one you hit… hmm?”

That’s when Waltham noticed.

Nacht was not using his bare hands. He was wearing tekkou on both of his arms.

(TL: Tekkou is a covering for the back of the hand and wrist.)

“What, you’re armed, you scoundrel! …Wait, why does it seem so strange…?”

Indeed, the tekkou was strange.

The black metal ran along the back of Nacht’s hand to his elbow.

Furthermore, it looked as if it was sticking right on his skin.

“Ah, this? It’s just a small toy, don’t worry about it… But it’s impossible to do any damage, huh? That’s impressive,” Nacht muttered as he rolled up his arm sleeves to show off his tekkou.

Then, he licked his lips, continuing with his stance.

“—Now that you’ve mentioned that, I’m fired up. Let’s do this.”

“You moron! You don’t know what you’re doing! Just shut up and let me arrest you!”

Though Waltham had thrusted his hands out again to seize him, Nacht moved agilely and dodged it. And, when the opportunity arose, he easily slipped beside his opponent.

“—It’s tough on the outside, but it’s not so much on the inside.”

He took his time and relaxed.

“—Three Arts Of Demonic Fists—”

He released his fist.

“Penetrate Armor.”

It was an extremely fast strike.

When he drew the bow and released his fist, it was as if his entire body was working in unity to push out his fist and strike Waltham’s armor.

There was a faint ringing sound. Finally, his fist left Waltham’s armor without leaving a scratch on either.

“…? Fu, what was just now!? One weak blow like that does nothing to my Entwined Iron…”

Waltham, seemingly proud of his victory, suddenly froze.

“…It wasn’t so tough inside, after all.”

Then, as Nacht took a few steps away, and… the next moment, Waltham turned pale and fell to the ground with a loud noise, similar to a large tree falling.

“Captain Wall Sam!?”

His subordinates rushed over to him, but Waltham was already completely blank-eyed and unconscious.

“Captain, pull yourself together! …You! What did you do to the captain!?”

One of his subordinates glared at Nacht and asked, to which he replied with an indifferent face, putting his hands behind his head.

“Who knows? Maybe he got a stomach ache?”

“Why, you’ve got to be kidding me…! Yes, on behalf of the captain, we’ll arrest him!” Waltham’s subordinates claimed in unison as they held up their Demon Gear.

Nacht saw this and took up his stance again with a smirk.

“What, are we still doing this? All right, I’ll take as many as you want if you want. Let’s get started…”

“That’s enough!”

But then, a voice came out of nowhere to stop him, followed by the sound of someone landing softly on the spot.

It was a girl with silver hair and a stern face.

Jeremiah, who had jumped from the window of the principal’s office, had arrived on the spot.

“Stop it, Public Morals Committee. That person is a real transfer student. I’ll take over from here.”

“Gah, Principal…!?”

The members of the Public Morals Committee, who had been preparing their Demon Gear, backed down at the sight of her.

“I’m not the Principal. I’m the Acting Principal. You all stay back with him,” Jeremiah ordered while pointing at Waltham.

“Quite a showy first day of school, transfer student. Looks like you’re a real problem child,” she said, turning to Nacht.

“Look who’s talking. You were literally looking at me from above to see how I’d react,” Nacht replied to her barbed words with a flat expression.

He had noticed that Jeremiah had been watching him from the window above.

For a while, Jeremiah stared at Nacht’s face in silence, but then, she quickly held out her hand.

“I had to make sure you’re the real deal. Give me the referral.”

In response, Nacht reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a folded letter, and handed it to her.

“Here, a letter from the old man. I’m late because that dolt forgot the entrance date.”

Jeremiah, who was not amused, took it, unfolded it, and started checking the contents.

However, as she read on, her neat face started falling apart, her hands began to tremble, and at last, she looked up and stopped reading.

“…He’s still the same person, that person…! …Nacht, or something. Now I know; you are indeed the transfer student. All right, I’m going to admit you to the Academy, though it wasn’t of my own intention.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. I thought you would turn me away like those guys before just because I have red hair.”

“Our Academy’s philosophy is to gather talented people from all over the continent and educate them properly for the sake of the humankind… It doesn’t matter if you have magical power or not. If you’re capable, then you’re welcome here.”

Then Jeremiah put her right hand on her cheek and continued to look at Nacht, as if to estimate his value.

“But… you, what are you really doing here? To become a Valiant; are you really here just for that?”

“Ah, about that…”

At that moment, Charlotte came running out of the Academy’s stairs.

“Ah, that’s not fair, Acting Principal! You told me to take the stairs!”

After agreeing to not jump off, Charlotte was told to use the stairs to get to the transfer student.

However, Jeremiah herself had jumped out of the window. Charlotte was about to complain about this, but Nacht interrupted her quietly.

“—The Academy has the Seven Demon Swords, right? I’ve come to take them all.”

“…!”

Charlotte gasped at Nacht’s words.

Then, as Jeremiah, Charlotte, the onlookers, and the Public Morals Committee members looked on, Nacht slowly pointed to the heavens and declared with a smile.

“I’m going to obtain all the Demon Swords, and I will unite this Academy under me. To do that, I’ll go against anyone, so… if you want to, come at me anytime.”