I Became a Demon Who Can Never Be Headpatted in the Academy?!

“Hmph! I’ll say it in advance, I absolutely have no intention of acknowledging you as a demon!”

Esme snorted and then smiled brightly, reaching out her hand to Nikea.

“So, Princess… would you please hold my hand first?”

“I can’t. We need to hold hands together, all three of us, to get points for the cooperative task, right?”

“Ah, uh, ugh…”

Esme really is a bit of a fool. She said it herself, but there’s no way Nikea would offer both of her hands.

“Esme, promise me. You’ll hold Murmur’s hand properly too.”

Here comes our Princess’s political savvy again. Esme has to hold my hand anyway. Meaning, there’s no need to make such a promise.

But by saying it like that, she’s subtly saving Esme’s face!

“Hmph! Of course! For the Princess’s score, I, Esme Bloodberry, am doing my best!”

Esme quickly gobbled up the opportunity and extended her right hand to Nikea. Nikea gently took Esme’s hand with her left.

“Ah… the Princess’s hand… hehehe.”

“I’m jealous, Esme…”

“Y-yes! It seems like the opportunity goes to the one who acts first?”

“Ugh! I should have said I’d do it with Esme when she said it!”

Professor Aiaie’s magic class had somehow turned into a time to hold the Princess’s soft, cute, pretty hands.

Hey, Professor, shouldn’t you be doing something other than just standing in front of the chalkboard and staring at us?

“Princess’s hands are so soft. They’re as smooth as a baby’s.”

“Is that so? But Esme’s hands feel very soft to me too? And your nails are so neatly trimmed.”

“Ah, aah… Princess…”

“See? I’m ashamed to say I haven’t trimmed my nails yet.”

Nikea wiggled her fingers and Esme was overjoyed, as if she was about to die of happiness.

“Haa… they say happiness is fleeting…”

Esme muttered, reaching out her hand to me.

“I want to say, to indirectly feel the honor of holding hands with a young lady of the Bloodberry family, I’d like you to wear gloves, but…”

“Esme?”

“Don’t worry! I’ll hold Murmur’s hand properly!”

Esme finally extended her left hand to me.

We ended up holding each other’s hands.

“Then, let’s connect our mana now. Nikea, is that okay?”

“Don’t worry. What we’ve done once, we can do twice.”

Nikea squeezed her hand tightly.

Esme was surprised but didn’t just squeal, she concentrated properly.

A purple light started to emanate from my hand, and a pure white light emanated from Nikea’s and Esme’s hands.

“Wow… Princess Nikea’s mana is truly vast. It feels like looking at a huge mountain.”

“Thank you for the compliment. Esme’s mana is also very impressive. It’s like a beautiful garden.”

“Hehe~! I, Esme Bloodberry, am always working to become the best magician!”

Esme snorted and squealed, then glanced at me. It was a subtle look, and she opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She must have stopped herself from saying something because she thought Nikea would scold her. Esme hates demons after all.

“Murmur can feel Esme’s mana well too.”

“You didn’t have to say that.”

“Just like Nikea said, it’s like a very well-kept garden. But it’s not small enough to be called a garden. It’s very vast… and it’s beautifully organized everywhere.”

It was an honest impression without a lie.

Esme’s mana was truly abundant, but it wasn’t just that it was large in quantity, it was also well-organized and ready to be used at any time. This is the result of Esme’s efforts.

“Hmph… they say demons are good at lying, but you’re just flattering me! Bleah~”

Esme stuck out her tongue and teased me, but she was snorting happily. If she was just honest about being happy, she wouldn’t hear things like “A power level meter appeared lol” in the community.

“Then, let’s try casting an illusion magic now.”

“Hey, why are you playing leader all of a sudden? The Princess should be the one speaking!”

“My magic skills are terrible. If Murmur is okay with it, please let Esme be the leader.”

I didn’t particularly want to be the leader of the group project, so I shook my head.

It’s more comfortable to ride the bus than drive it, after all.

“R-really? Haa… thank you. Hmm! Murmur, you have some sense?”

Is that a compliment, Esme?

“Then… phew! To unify our thoughts, let’s match them one by one.”

“What should we match?”

“It’s best to match the image of our thoughts as much as possible. Let’s start with the background. I think a pure white snowfield would be good.”

Esme said seriously.

“You mean a snowfield where it’s snowing heavily?”

“Yes, if you imagine a pure white field, there won’t be room for any other thoughts.”

“Okay. I’ve thought of it.”

The images of the snowfield that the three of us were imagining seeped in through our tightly held hands.

“Okay. Everyone did well. Next, let’s decide what kind of illusion we’re going to create.”

“I like the white rabbit that Murmur and I thought of earlier.”

“P-Princess? A white rabbit in a white snowfield is hard to imagine.”

Nikea’s fluffy, cute imagination flowed in.

A pure white rabbit hopping around in the snow was really cute, but…

“Ah, it’s a white paradise.”

“How about a black rabbit?”

“If Murmur thinks of the same rabbit, the images might overlap and the illusion could be distorted.”

“…It’s annoying, but you’re right. I’d hate it more if the two of your images matched and mine was different.”

Esme snorted once.

“How about something like your favorite food?”

“How about pasta?”

“Nikea… there are so many kinds of pasta.”

“What kind of pasta do you like?! Princess?”

“I like tomato pasta.”

“Me too! Me too! Esme also likes tomato pasta!”

Guys, if you just keep saying whatever you like, we’ll never succeed with the illusion magic, you know?

“Esme… Nikea? It’s hard because the shape of the food isn’t the same.”

“Tomato pasta is all the same, isn’t it?”

Esme snorted and vaguely showed a tomato pasta with lots of seafood on top.

“Huh?”

Nikea, on the other hand, vaguely imagined a tomato pasta with meatballs on top.

“P-Princess, do you like meatballs?”

“Ah… well, a little bit of meat is more filling…”

“Heh… I’ll remember that! I’ll definitely remember it!”

“No food. Okay?”

Esme snorted and raised the corners of her mouth.

“Then, a dress.”

“…Esme, are you trying to find out what kind of clothes Nikea likes?”

─ Squeeze!

“N-No, I’m not!”

“Hehehe, I’ll definitely tell you later. But right now, we need to finish the cooperative task quickly, right?”

“Ahem… it’s really not that. It really is.”

Esme swallowed hard and looked at me and Nikea.

You’ve realized the difficulty of group projects, haven’t you, Esme? It’s not easy, is it?

“Esme, how about we make it easy instead of difficult?”

“Hmph… I was going to do something super easy without you saying that.”

Esme wiggled her fingers. Nikea’s hands were starting to get sweaty, so it would be good to finish quickly.

“How about a bright red apple? It’s also the basics of illusion magic, isn’t it? There’s a picture of it in the textbook too.”

“If it’s an apple, we can imagine the same image well enough.”

“Murmur likes it too.”

I held Nikea’s and Esme’s hands tightly and imagined an apple.

─ Crackle!

A bright red apple floated in the air in front of everyone, forming a triangle.

“Wow! It looks real!”

“The color is so pretty too? Can three people really imagine the same thing?”

“Is it because Esme is the leader? Or is it because the Princess is amazing?!”

The illusion magic was so successful that it could be called perfect.

Professor Aiaie approached us, grabbed the apple floating in the air, and took a big bite.

“Perfect. It seems you even imagined the taste the same way? I can’t believe three people’s thoughts could be so aligned. I’ll give you 10 points.”

“10 points is…”

“It’s full marks! Princess!”

Esme shouted with a bright smile and got up from her seat. Nikea also immediately jumped up from her seat and raised her hand high.

“I…! I! Got full marks in magic class! Ah, Father will be so happy too!”

“Congratulations! Congratulations, Pr…”

Nikea immediately ran to Esme and hugged her tightly. Esme flinched like a broken doll.

“Congr…”

Before I could even open my mouth, Nikea, who had let go of Esme, half-hugged me and lifted me up, then started spinning me around.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! Murmur!! If it wasn’t for you, I would never have thought of participating in magic class!”

“N-Nikea…! You shouldn’t say things like that in front of Professor Aiaie…”

“But I’m happy!”

//slw『Nikea Hollimpia’s favorability has increased by 1 level!』

Spin, spin~!

Nikea hugged me and spun me around for a while before putting me down. I understand that she’s happy enough to raise her favorability, but am I a teddy bear?!

“Good work, Murmur.”

And surprisingly, Esme spoke to me normally.

“Well, you’re a terrifying demon, so I thought you might imagine a rotten apple even if you thought of an apple.”

“Murmur knows what an apple is. Because it’s delicious.”

“Hmph, that’s what I meant. …And thanks to you, I was able to have a fun time with the Princess. Thank you.”

Esme reached out her hand to me. Didn’t you say you didn’t want to hold hands earlier? I held her soft, squishy hand and shook it lightly.

//slw『Esme Bloodberry’s favorability has increased by 1 level!』

Huh? Is it complete now? Esme’s favorability has a reward too?

“And Murmur, there’s been something I haven’t liked since last time.”

What, you said your favorability is at level 1!

“It’s a bit much to only carry around the required textbooks, isn’t it? Here, I’ll give you this, so carry it around.”

Esme said, taking out a ‘Grimoire’ from her bag and handing it to me.

[ 『Skills』]

[ 【Summon Magic Lv. 1】]

[ 【Elemental Magic Lv. 1 NEW!!!】]

“Esme? Are you really giving this to Murmur?”

What, you’re being all grumpy, but you’re giving me a proper favorability reward?

You’re really not honest!

“…And.”

Esme smiled brightly and glanced at Nikea, who was looking at us, then brought her hand to my ear and covered it.

“…Since I’ve given you this gift, please bring the Princess to magic class more often. Okay? Only Murmur can do it!”

It’s a cute request, but isn’t this a bribe?!

─ Throb, throb!

Was it because I heard Esme’s ridiculous request? My horns started to heat up dangerously, and I had to grab them with both hands to cool them down.

“Ugh…”

“Esme…? Did you bully Murmur again?”

“Ah, no? No! It’s not!!! I just…! I just asked her to see Nikea more, that’s all!!!”

Esme looked at me, who was squatting down, as if she hated me, but it wasn’t my fault!

“I hate demons after all!!!”

* * *

Esme Bloodberry’s heart was pounding.

“Auntie is coming?”

“Yes, she is, Lady Esme.”

“Today is a really happy day. Hehe, I held the Princess’s hand, and I even got a hug, and also…”

Esme looked at her small hand and smiled faintly.

‘Murmur was different.’

Esme, who was able to crawl out a little from the fear that was deeply rooted in her heart, was really happy.

She’s a child, after all. Shewants to do more of what she likes. She wants to get rid of the scary things quickly.

She prefers sweet candy to bell peppers.

Today was a very meaningful day, as she learned that the bell peppers that were so scary were actually a little tasty.

“It seems like you had a really fun class today, Esme?”

“Huh? A-Auntie! You’re already here?”

Esme ran towards her aunt, Colette Bloodberry, whom she met in the dormitory hallway, making a “thud thud” sound and hugged her.

“Auntie Colette!”

“Our niece, were you missing your auntie that much?”

“Yes! Talking with Auntie is really fun!”

Esme bounced her feet and rubbed her cheek against Colette’s embrace, showing how much she truly loved her.

“Auntie also loves talking with Esme. Esme is a really talented and smart child. I heard you took magic class with the Princess today?”

“Ah, ehehe… You heard already? That’s right! I, Esme Bloodberry, am good at magic, and I’m also good at so, so-socializing? with the Princess!”

Colette gently stroked Esme’s head, her eyes sparkling, then slowly lowered her hand and grabbed her small, frail shoulders.

“But… Esme?”

“Yes! Auntie Colette!”

“I heard you were friendly with a demon in magic class today? What happened?”

Unlike soft children, adults were rigid.