Zero Damage Sword Saint: I Enrolled in a Magic School and Wound Up in a Contract with the Demon Queen: Volume 1 E-Book

Isle Osaki

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Zero Damage Sword Saint: I Enrolled in a Magic School and Wound Up in a Contract with the Demon Queen
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 283

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Eugene Santafield is a young man who dreams of becoming a magic swordsman. There’s only one problem: He can’t use any attack magic! Instead, he’s blessed with extremely powerful defensive and healing magic, an irony that earns him the ridicule of his peers. Determined to escape from those who know of his failings, Eugene flees to the Lykeion Magic Academy where he meets Erinyes, a fallen Demon Queen imprisoned beneath the school. Taken in by his potential, Erinyes appoints Eugene to be her caretaker. Not long after, the headmaster of the academy assigns Eugene to be the guardian of Sumire, a mysterious girl from another world who just so happens to be an Ifrit of legend. With these two women at his side, history’s biggest failure is sure to become a legendary swordsman...right?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Prologue: Meeting the Demon Queen (Part One)

Chapter One: Eugene Goes to School

Chapter Two: Eugene Has a Fateful Meeting

Chapter Three: Eugene Heads for Babel

Chapter Four: Eugene Fights the Boss

Interlude One: From the Student Council Building

Chapter Five: Eugene and Sumire Progress Farther

Chapter Six: Eugene Aims for the 20th Level

Chapter Seven: Eugene Challenges the Deus Discipline

Chapter Eight: Eugene and Sumire Become Partners

Interlude Two: From the Empire

Epilogue: Meeting the Demon Queen (Part Two)

Extra Chapter: Eugene Speaks with the Club President

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Images

Prologue: Meeting the Demon Queen (Part One)

Erinyes—that was the name of the Demon Queen who once ruled over the Southern Continent. Her beauty enthralled all who gazed upon her, and none could resist her siren-like voice. She was a High Archangel who’d fallen from Heaven, and so it came to pass that some called her the Fallen Queen. A thousand years ago, Abel the Savior defeated her in battle and sealed her away in a prison underneath the Last Dungeon.

Everyone on the Southern Continent knew that story. I—Eugene Santafield—had heard it many times as a kid. The Demon Queen Erinyes was a mythological figure from worlds away, a bogey who appeared in children’s picture books. That was how things were supposed to be.

***

“Um, Headmaster Uther, are you really going to let this young student accompany you to the forbidden Seventh Sealed Prison? It’s far too dangerous,” a young teacher said in a worried voice.

Because of an incident in my past, I’d left my hometown and enrolled in Lykeion Magic Academy, which was in the heart of the Southern Continent. On my very first day of school, this teacher had called me out of class.

“There’s no need to worry,” the headmaster said. “I’ll take responsibility should anything happen.”

“If you insist, I suppose there’s nothing more I can say.”

The headmaster and my teacher were holding a very ominous conversation right in front of me, so I asked, “Um, pardon me, where are you two taking me?”

“You’ll know when we get there,” the headmaster replied. “Just follow us, Eugene.”

“All right...”

The two led me to a massive black gate behind the school grounds. I could sense a dark and eerie mana emanating from within. Is this the corrupted mana they call miasma?

“I-I’m so sorry, headmaster, but I can’t go any farther!” Without my noticing, the teacher had stopped several paces behind the headmaster and me.

The headmaster sighed before giving me a curious look. “Eugene, it’s not affecting you?”

“Huh?” I tilted my head quizzically before looking around and then down at my own body. I had no idea what the headmaster was worried about; I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

He chuckled and said, “I knew it. After all, you’re the only student who has ever passed the joke exam I made years ago for mages specializing in white mana. I had an inkling that you would be the only student capable of entering the Seventh Sealed Prison.”

The headmaster continued to smile, but I had no idea what he was so pleased about. Regardless, I had more pressing concerns. Just what was behind this creepy black gate? I thought back to the tales that had been passed down through the generations in this dungeon city. It was here that the legendary hero and the Demon Queen had fought their final battle a thousand years ago, and here that the Demon Queen was sealed to this day.

“Headmaster, is—?” But before I could finish asking my question...

Rumble... Rumble... Rumble... The earth began to shake. This had been happening an awful lot since yesterday.

“Eek! It’s the Demon Queen! She’s doing it again!” The young teacher fell down, landing on his bottom. The headmaster shot him a weary look.

The Demon Queen? Curious about the teacher’s words, I looked up at the headmaster.

He was looking down at me. “Now then, Eugene. There’s something I must tell you.”

“Y-Yes?” I nodded, shrinking back a little from the mana and aura that had begun to emanate from the headmaster’s body.

“Beyond this gate lies the sealed Demon Queen.”

I sucked in a breath. Hearing those words made my whole body tense up. Those of us who’d spent our entire lives on the Southern Continent had no firsthand experience of the Demon Queens and Kings. Apparently, the faraway Northern Continent was still under demonic thrall, but the Southern Continent had not been governed by a Demon Queen in a thousand years, nor had any been sighted in that time.

“The Demon Queen has awoken from her seal. That’s the cause of the earthquakes that began yesterday.”

“She woke up?!” I shouted, my voice coming out louder than I’d intended.

“And that’s why we had to come here and investigate,” the headmaster continued. “To tell you the truth, though, the Demon Queen has always despised me. I can’t blame her, considering I’m the one who’s in charge of maintaining her seal. I can’t very well show my face in front of her, lest she kill me.”

I swallowed and hesitated before asking, “So, what do you want me to do?”

Lykeion Magic Academy was the finest magical institution on the Southern Continent, and Headmaster Uther, as the head of that school, was widely believed to be the greatest mage in all the land. If he considered the Demon Queen to be a threat, then what could I, a mere student, possibly do?

“Under normal circumstances, Demon Queen Erinyes is quite mild-mannered for her station. She won’t attack a young boy out of the blue. Uh, probably. I would like you to check on her in my stead. Of course, I’ve prepared some gifts to put her in a better mood. If the situation goes sideways, you can just toss them in front of her cage and run.”

“Why do I have to... I mean, why are you asking me? I’m new here,” I asked, posing an obvious question. There must have been better options.

At my words, the headmaster slowly opened his mouth and replied, “That teacher over there, who’s shaking like a leaf on the ground, is the best we have when it comes to Barrier Magic.”

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in. “Huh?” I widened my eyes and turned to look at the teacher.

“Don’t ask the impossible from me!” he wailed. “If you’d asked me a few years ago, I would’ve had no problems entering that prison! But you were the one who summoned mythical being after mythical being from all kinds of worlds! Now the Seventh Sealed Prison has descended into chaos, and no one can enter it!”

The headmaster frowned at the teacher’s complaint. “How can you blame me? They all just sounded so interesting,” he replied without a hint of apology in his voice.

I’d had the impression that the headmaster was a rather austere person. But it seemed he was a lot more blasé about things than I’d thought.

“So, Eugene, you now know what I want from you, and of course, I won’t ask you to do it for free. If you can hand the Demon Queen my gifts, I’ll cover your tuition for an entire year.”

“You’ll cover my tuition?!”

That was very tempting indeed. My original plan had been to work at my dad’s place of employment after I graduated from my local school. However, I couldn’t do that anymore thanks to a certain personal issue. My father had accepted my decision...or rather, he’d said, “If you’re gonna spend your free time lazing around the house, you might as well travel and broaden your horizons!” and kicked me out. He was the one paying for me to attend Lykeion, which pained me, since I should’ve become independent by now. If I could cover my own tuition, I could save face with him.

“I understand,” I said. “I’ll accept this mission.”

“Are you serious?!” the teacher yelped. “Eugene, I think you should reconsid—”

“Besides, how could I miss the chance to see a legendary Demon Queen with my own eyes?” I continued. I was putting up a front, but a part of me was completely serious. This would make for an exciting story to tell my father.

The headmaster grinned. “Good, lad! I expected nothing less from the descendant of the Sword Saint!”

“The descendant of the Sword Saint” was something my father had written on my application. The Sword Saint was a legendary figure of about five hundred years past who had, if only temporarily, brought peace to the Eastern Continent. Apparently, he was one of my ancestors. Although it didn’t count as a lie, we also couldn’t prove this admittedly suspicious ancestry.

“Now, let’s go,” the headmaster said before murmuring a strange spell that I couldn’t quite make out.

The black gate slowly opened. The headmaster strode in without hesitation, so I followed him. The door closed behind us with a resonating boom. I looked around the dark prison, illuminated only by magical lamps. The headmaster made his way deeper inside, and I followed him at a distance. The air was so stagnant that I was already struggling to breathe, so I doubled up on all the Barrier Magic in my repertoire.

Szzt...szzt... Thump...ring...thump...ring... Shing...shing...shing...shing... Ah ha ha! Hee hee...hee hee...hee hee...

The prison was dimly lit. From all around me, I could hear the sounds of things being dragged as well as eerie sobbing. Some noises, I suspected, came from things that weren’t even human.

“Hey, you there! Do you want to play with me?” a whisper sounded right next to my ear.

I whirled around but didn’t see anyone behind me.

“Eugene, that’s the voice of an evil spirit. You mustn’t listen to them,” the headmaster said.

“Y-Yes, Headmaster,” I said, terrified. I steeled my nerves, then ran after him.

We walked for some time before reaching the deepest part of the prison. The air felt heavy, and though it wasn’t hot, I couldn’t stop sweating. My instincts were screaming at me that I should back away. That it was far too dangerous to venture any farther...

“I can’t continue past this point or else the Demon Queen will notice my presence. Here, take this, Eugene,” the headmaster said, and a basket promptly popped into existence. It contained bottles of wine, loaves of bread, and a single red fruit.

“These are the gifts for the Demon Queen?” I asked. It’s a pretty simple basket. Will this really put her in a better mood?

“She’s just woken up after sleeping for over a hundred years. I figured food would be an appropriate present, as she’ll be hungry,” the headmaster explained. “For dessert, I prepared for her this Fruit of Life. It’s quite rare, and it wasn’t easy to get my hands on it, but I suppose quelling her anger is far more important.”

“Th-The Fruit of Life?!” I exclaimed. As in the legendary fruit said to grant whomever eats it eternal youth?! I was staring down at the basket in shock when the headmaster gave my shoulder a hearty pat, forceful enough to push me forward.

“I’m counting on you. Good luck, Eugene.”

“I... Thank you, Headmaster Uther.”

At the headmaster’s urging, I proceeded alone through the deepest depths of the underground prison. My footsteps sounded louder than usual. Eventually, I found myself standing in front of a cell far larger than any of the others lining the underground passage.

Now, what should I do? Should I just leave the basket here, or should I say something?

A lovely voice interrupted my indecision. “Who’s there?”

The sound was like someone splashing cold water over my head. I slowly turned toward the voice and saw a pair of crimson eyes, as red in hue as blood.

“I’ve never seen you before, boy.”

Her skin was as white as snow, and her long hair sparkled as if with stardust. A pair of obsidian-feathered wings protruded from her back. She looked exactly as the legends said, though her beauty transcended any story I’d ever heard.

“What’s your name?”

“It’s...Eugene Santafield.”

“Oh? What a nice, strong name. Come closer.”

My body was paralyzed from fear, and my legs were trembling. But under the influence of her irresistible charm, I obeyed her command and walked into the cell. At that point in time, I had no idea that this meeting would be a catalyst—for the chaos that would soon engulf the entire continent, and for my own ascendance to the position of the Sword Saint.

Chapter One: Eugene Goes to School

It all began about one year prior.

“White mana? That’s my only ability?” I murmured from the podium, stunned.

I was currently in the middle of the Glenflare Military Academy’s selection exam. Upon reaching fifteen—the age of majority in the empire—students could take the exam and join the army in an official capacity. After a grueling training regimen, these new adults received a Blessing from Ilia, the goddess of fate. This Blessing of Ability served as a lodestar for the course each student should chart in life.

I—Eugene Santafield—was the best student in the academy, achieving top marks across the board. Everyone expected great things from me, and I, too, saw success in my future. Whether the subject was swordsmanship, strategy, or military leadership, I was the number one student in my class. I worked hard every day to become stronger and better than all my peers.

So why? How could this happen?

Mind blank, I stared down at my selection card. These cards were transparent, but when held up before the statue of the goddess, they took on the colors of the owners’ abilities.

And my card had turned pure white. Black signified offensive ability, white was defense, and gray a mix of the two. The seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—each represented a unique ability. The more abilities students possessed, the more colors appeared on their cards. Average Joes ended up with solid gray cards. Meanwhile, the cards of those with defects in their abilities turned pure black or pure white...like the one in my hand.

The teacher who’d looked out for me throughout my time at the academy tried to encourage me. “Eugene, you have my sympathies. Stay strong.” However, I recognized the disappointment in his gaze.

“Hey, there’s a line behind you! Go back to your seat!” jeered Massio, the third-place student at the academy, as he shoved my back.

I couldn’t even work up the effort to dodge him, and as I stumbled back to my seat, I heard the cheers of my classmates all around me.

“All right! I’ve got three colors!”

“Dammit! Only two!”

“Yo, apparently, someone’s got five colors!”

“For real?!”

I stared into space, unable to form a thought. My childhood friend Airi was saying something to me, but I couldn’t make out the words. After a while, someone shoved his way between us.

“Sup, Airi? Apparently, your childhood friend is a big ol’ failure. A chosen one like yourself shouldn’t hang out with nobodies like him.” It was Massio, who’d finished his exam. He patted me on the shoulder, smirking all the while. Red, green, and gray adorned his card.

Three colors? He’s outstanding...unlike me.

“Man, it really is too bad! The top student in our grade pulling a white card and becoming an absolute failure. Who could’ve seen this coming?”

One of Massio’s friends butted in too. “Right? And an ability that’s only good for defense? Does the military even have the space for freeloaders?”

“Probably not! No department would want a single-colored loser!” another one added.

“You bastards...” I was trembling with rage, but they weren’t wrong. White mana only granted defensive magic. That my card was pure white meant that none of the mana in my body could deal damage.

During my time at the military academy, I’d learned all I needed to become a Magic Swordsman, which involved infusing mana into my blade. However, if I channeled my white mana into a sword and attacked an enemy with it, it would do no damage. I was a failure of a swordsman. Why had the goddess blessed me with white mana and nothing else? If only I had something—anything—else, I could’ve made up for any limitations in my abilities with hard work and training.

Massio and his friends weren’t done yet.

“You can’t be a Magic Swordsman with only white magic.”

“Why don’t you become a Healer instead? We’ll come visit you if we ever get injured on the job.”

“If you don’t wanna be a Healer, then I guess Barrier Master is your only other option. A life of wandering around, reinforcing the barriers around cities... Sounds like a pretty satisfying job. Just not one I would ever wanna do!”

The three of them burst out laughing at that.

“Dammit.” I couldn’t say a single word in response. I could only hang my head in silence.

***

When it rained, it poured. I stopped wanting to go to school and started skipping classes. That was when Airi, my childhood friend, paid me a visit. I thought she’d come to comfort me, but she was acting off. She refused to meet my eyes, and she hadn’t come alone; she’d brought a friend with her. I had a bad feeling about this.

“Eu... I think we should spend some time apart.” Airi and I went way back, which was why she referred to me as “Eu.” Her voice, once so familiar, was now as cold as ice.

“Huh? Wh-What are you talking about, Airi?”

I thought back to the card Airi had pulled during the selection exam the other day. It had shimmered like a rainbow, denoting her seven abilities. That card was proof that she was the very best. She was brimming with talent. In contrast, I was at the bottom of the food chain. We’d grown up together, and now we were worlds apart. The sheer shame of that had pushed me to avoid her as of late, but I had never imagined she would say something like this to me.

Voice quavering, I asked, “‘We should spend some time apart’? What do you mean?”

Airi didn’t look up at me, though her expression was one of deep sorrow. Her friend spoke in her stead. “Hey, use your brain, Eugene. This is a critical time for Princess Airi. If she hangs around with someone as inept as you, people will start spreading weird rumors about her. You don’t want that, do you?”

“What?!” Fury flared through my chest at the cruel way she’d phrased it. Who are you calling inept?! Airi and I aren’t betrothed yet, but our parents approve of our relationship. You’re our classmate—you know we promised our futures to each other!

“I hear that the second prince of one of the bigger countries in the Blue Sea Union is interested in marrying her,” the friend continued. “A rainbow ability and a prince, huh? I’m so jealous! Airi, you’re so lucky!”

“Hey! You promised you wouldn’t talk about that in front of him!” Airi hurriedly covered her friend’s mouth. This reaction was proof enough that the friend’s words were true.

“Airi...” I said. “You’re marrying someone else?”

“You’ve got the wrong idea!” she exclaimed. “My father didn’t ask me before he—”

“That’s right!” the friend interrupted. “This is the will of Airi’s dad, His Imperial Majesty. So, Eugene, you better not hold a grudge against her.”

I was speechless. Airi was indeed the princess, which did indeed mean that her father was the emperor, the most important man in this country. For an imperial citizen, the emperor’s words were absolute. Even a toddler knew that.

“Airi, I... I wanted to be the Imperial Sword for...” The words that almost spilled out of my mouth were so foolish that I immediately swallowed them back down.

The Imperial Sword was the emperor’s right-hand man, so called because he was always at the emperor’s side to protect him from any threat. That had been the goal I was working toward. Airi looked away with a sad expression. Meanwhile, her friend’s lips twisted in a small smirk.

“Pfft! You’re a reject swordsman who can only use white mana, and you aspired to be an Imperial Sword?”

“Hey! Stop making fun of Eu!”

Making fun of? Airi’s words stabbed into my chest.

“Sorry, sorry,” her friend said. “Let’s go, Airi.”

“Huh? But... A-All right.” Airi permitted herself to be dragged away. Not once did she turn back to look at me.

The next day, I dropped out of the military academy.

***

“And then, after your childhood friend dumped you, you holed up at home until your dad kicked you out and forced you to enroll in Lykeion Magic Academy, right? Jeez, how many times have you told me this story? Must be over a dozen by now.”

“Shut up, Claude. A hero like you will never go through what I did. The least you can do is listen.”

Currently, I was attending Lykeion Magic Academy as a student in its General Education program. The academy was the best school on the Southern Continent. Both its courses and its students were of the highest caliber. I had been moping around at home when my father literally knocked some sense into me and all but tossed me here. Few of the students knew about my past, so I’d once again learned to enjoy my school life. Though I thought my father could’ve used a gentler hand, I had nothing but gratitude toward him.

The person walking beside me was Claude Percival, a student in the academy’s Hero Course. He possessed an ability of five colors, and his job was a Hero-in-Training. He was the best of the best. In contrast, my jobs were Healing Mage and Barrier Mage. I only possessed white mana, so these were the only two jobs available to me. My lifetime earnings would be a hundredth of his. Things were really rough. It was almost enough to bring a tear to my eye.

“Your childhood friend is Princess Airi, right? I hear she’s joined the Heavenly Knights, the top warriors in the empire.”

I clicked my tongue. “Yeah, that’s right. And she’s dating one of her fellow knights too.”

Lykeion Magic Academy was in a far and foreign land, but given Airi’s fame, rumors of her still reached our ears. Apparently, that arranged marriage with some country’s second prince had fallen through. But I heard that she was now in a relationship with a young and elite imperial general—that my childhood friend had completely forgotten me and was having a grand old time with her new lover. Infuriating.

Perhaps my expression gave away the direction my thoughts were headed in; Claude hastened to express his sympathies. “Oh, but you’re the only one I can trust with my wyvern, Eugene. Thanks for always taking care of my partner.”

“Well, yeah, I’m a member of the Biology Club. I’m just doing my job.”

Many of the students in the academy were members of clubs, institutions similar to the unions we would be able to join when we entered society. Our classes taught us quintessential magic and battle techniques as well as general knowledge. Meanwhile, our clubs taught us about the hierarchy that existed between juniors and seniors. Many students joined to make connections with students from other years.

I belonged to the Biology Club. Under normal circumstances, students could choose which clubs they joined of their own volition. In my case, though, the headmaster was the one who had picked the Biology Club for me. But in return, he’d exempted me from paying tuition. That being said, I had to perform so many annoying tasks and odd jobs as part of the Biology Club that it didn’t feel like a fair trade.

Claude and I stopped in front of a large cage and undid the massive lock that kept the door closed. The lock, like the cage itself, was a custom-built magic item.

“Hey, partner!” Claude said as we stepped inside the cage and a wyvern covered in gorgeous ultramarine scales landed near us. It growled low in its throat to express its joy as Claude ran his hand over it. “How’ve you been?”

As Claude hung out with his wyvern, I filled up its feed before saying, “Claude, I’m finished up here.”

“Grrr...grrr...” The wyvern leaned toward me, so I rewarded it with a few pats. Apparently, this one had a rather ornery disposition. I’d earned its trust after using my magic to heal some injuries it had suffered.

“Partner, we’ve got an expedition tomorrow. Let’s take to the heavens together, you and I,” Claude said with a bright smile at the wyvern.

He was a pompous guy. Not to mention, he was popular with the girls. But that was hardly a surprise. He was a hero, after all.

I left the cage and headed across the grounds. For some reason, Claude followed me the entire time.

“Is there something else you want from me?” I asked.

“Eugene, you’re about to head to that cage, right? I’ll go with you,” he replied.

I paused for a moment before saying, “Weirdo. I don’t mind if you come with, but don’t push yourself, okay?”

The grounds that Lykeion Magic Academy gave to the Biology Club were expansive. This was because the headmaster loved oddities and kept many rare and unusual magical beings in captivity. Some of them were so dangerous that they were “designated calamities.” These were confined in the Sealed Area, which became more dangerous the deeper you went in.

When we entered the Sealed Area, the air was stagnant, and the more steps we took, the thicker the miasma became. A normal person would have had difficulty breathing here. As a Barrier Mage, I didn’t have any problems, but...

I glanced to my side out of concern for Claude and saw that he had turned pale. I knew it...

“Claude, I told you not to push yourself,” I said.

“I-I’m still okay,” he replied.

I slowed my pace to match his. Eventually, we reached a gargantuan gate crafted from black metal. This was the taboo Seventh Sealed Prison. Beyond it roamed mythological creatures, the most dangerous specimens in the academy’s menagerie. I’d heard that even meeting their eyes was enough to drive a normal person crazy. Taking care of them was part of the Biology Club’s duties, but this was also an undesirable task that only a Barrier Mage could handle. It made sense that no one was keen to volunteer.

“S-Sorry, Eugene. I can’t go any farther,” Claude said, stopping in his tracks. Cold sweat beaded his brow.

“You made it pretty far today,” I said.

“Yeah, I did. I’d sure love to meet the legendary Demon Queen one day, but I can’t tolerate this thick miasma yet.”

“Don’t get too reckless. See you later.” I pushed open the heavy sealed gate, and the miasma that had been building up inside poured out in a rush. Claude fell to his knees with a pained grunt. “Here—Mind Heal,” I said.

When I’d cast the spell on him, Claude staggered to his feet, his legs still wobbly. “Hey, Eugene, I’ve been wondering this for a while now, but how is this miasma not affecting you? I’m a Hero-in-Training and I can’t even stand it.”

“How many times are you gonna ask me that? It’s because I’m a Barrier Mage.”

“There’s a Sage on my team who can use Barrier Magic, but he passed out some distance away from the black gate of the Seventh Sealed Prison.”

“That’s because he’s been slacking on his training.”

“I really don’t think that’s it...”

“See you.” I waved at him before closing the gate from the inside.

But right before it slammed shut, I heard Claude mutter, “There’s something seriously wrong with you.”

What could possibly be wrong with me?

***

Every living being inside Lykeion Magic Academy’s Seven Sealed Prison was a mythological creature and designated calamity. If even one of them escaped, it could destroy an entire city. So I’d heard, anyway. In reality, there had never been an escape, so I had no way of confirming the veracity of that rumor.

As for why the academy housed such dangerous creatures, we had the headmaster to thank for that. He had always been an eccentric, so it made sense that he had bizarre hobbies. All the cages had multiple locks on them, and you had to dispel them in a specific order or else they would never open. Even without them, the quintessence that the seals couldn’t hold back flowed through the air as a thick shroud of miasma. Any ordinary person who entered this place would instantly fall into a coma. Claude was a hero, and he couldn’t even handle it. No one would be so foolhardy as to try sneaking inside.

I carefully went through the troublesome steps that granted me access to each cage. If I took too long, though, she would get mad at me. I should hurry. Panicking a little, I proceeded deeper inside. The sign on the cage in the deepest depths of the prison read: Fallen Queen Erinyes.

With slow, measured steps, I entered the cage. The miasma hanging in the air clung to my skin. It was so thick, it was akin to a cloud of poison. To prevent myself from losing consciousness, I’d cast several layers of barriers around my body. After all, it was because of my protective white mana that the headmaster had chosen me as the Demon Queen’s caretaker.

“It’s been a century since I last allowed a student in here! You should be proud of yourself, Eugene!” I remembered the headmaster telling me jovially. Yeah, and then, right after that, he forced me to join the Biology Club.

I sighed and dragged my feet as I walked deeper into the giant cage. It was full of glamorous furniture that made it resemble a noble’s bedroom. I made my way to the massive bed at the back of the cage. On top of it lay a woman, her foot secured to it by a thick chain.

“You’re finally here. What took you so long?”

“This is the usual time, isn’t it?” I replied airily as I looked down at her. No matter how many times I see her, I can’t get used to how breathtakingly gorgeous she is. If I’d asked a thousand different people their opinions on her looks, they would all have agreed that she boasted an inhuman beauty. Well, that makes sense. She really isn’t human, I joked to myself.

She had pale skin and bright red lips. Though her physique showed traces of youth, she exuded a mature and seductive elegance. A pair of wings—proof that she had once served the Goddess in Heaven as an Angel—protruded from her back. However, the feathers weren’t white. Instead, they were a corrupted black.

Her name was Erinyes, the Fallen Queen. In eons past, she had been a High Archangel in the service of the goddess in Heaven. However, after provoking the goddess’s wrath, she’d been cast down to Earth, making her a fallen Angel. It hadn’t taken her long to earn the title of Demon Queen, and she’d brought the entirety of the Southern Continent to heel. More recently, having been laid low by the legendary hero, she’d been spending her days sealed away in the academy.

“Now then, fulfill your duty,” she said.

I bit back a sigh before saying, “Yes, yes, I know.”

I approached the enormous bed and sat down on the mattress. It creaked under our combined weight. The beautiful demon queen stripped me of my clothes and climbed on top of me.

“It’s been a week since the last time,” she said.

“I brought you some food and a change of clothes,” I informed her.

“Give them to me later!” Eyes burning in her ethereal face, she leaned down over me and pressed her lips against mine, stealing my breath away.

It was my duty, as a sacrifice for the Demon Queen, to provide her with my essence every month. This was the most difficult but also the most important task I’d been assigned as a member of the Biology Club.

***

“Phew, I’m exhausted,” I said, stretching my arms above my head. Next to me was the Demon Queen, a thin blanket wrapped around her body. Is she asleep? But when I looked over at her, I saw her staring up at me.

“Hey, Eugene?”

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“Stop calling me that. I told you to call me Eri when we’re alone, didn’t I?”

“Yes, yes, understood. Would you like something to eat? All I’ve got is bread, ham, cheese, and wine, though.”

“Yes, I would. Bring the red wine.”

“Roger that.”

I took the food out of the basket and placed it on a plate before handing it over to the Demon Queen Erinyes. She worked her way through the various items, popping them into her mouth one by one, while I simply watched her exquisite profile. The sultry atmosphere from earlier had vanished, and now she was more akin to my pet cat, who was still in my childhood home.

“Are you thinking something rude?” she asked.

“O-Of course not,” I stammered. She’s got sharp instincts. Even sealed away, she’s still a Demon Queen.

Eri said nothing for a moment, then sighed. “You were so much cuter before!”

“By before, you mean a year ago?”

Eri had suddenly woken from her centuries-long slumber more or less the moment I enrolled in Lykeion Magic Academy. Perhaps she’d still been sleepy, but she had been in a foul mood and rampaged without ceasing. Worried that she’d break the seal, the headmaster had panicked and ordered that many offerings be delivered to the Demon Queen.

Thanks to my talent in Barrier Magic, I could enter her cage, which was why he’d chosen me as the delivery boy. She’d focused on me rather than the headmaster’s gifts and taken my essence by force. Sure, I’d been in a self-destructive mood after the shock of my breakup, but it had still taken me aback.

“I like you!” she’d said. And since she’d made a direct request that I continue visiting her, I couldn’t escape from this task.

Ever since then, I’d had to offer the Demon Queen Eri my services every week. The schedule left my body feeling heavy. Giving her my essence never stops being taxing.

“I should get going,” I said. “I still have to check out the other cages.”

“Stay until morning!” Eri whined in a cute voice.

“I have school tomorrow...” Unlike a certain Demon Queen who’s on vacation every day.