Chapter 7 – The One Who Can Replace Me, Probably

【Arthur PoV】

The heavy mahogany desk was incredibly uncomfortable for a long afternoon nap.

Dust motes floated lazily through the bright beams of the massive crystal chandeliers right above me while my four new students screamed at each other in the noisy background.

“I am going to lose my actual mind in this room.”

The baker boy sounded miserable and utterly defeated.

“I will plunge his pathetic mind into an eternal and bottomless nightmare.”

The edgy demon kid was radiating a fake and pathetic dark energy.

“I will literally break your stupid jaw if you wake up my precious Dylan’s teacher.”

The crazy red-haired princess swung a heavy silver candlestick around with terrifying speed.

“The unseen magical dangers are always the most lethal ones.”

The glowing blond idiot was literally blinding me right through my tightly closed eyelids, so I kept my tired eyes squeezed shut and prayed intensely for the final loud bell.

My life was normal and genuinely chill before that stupid gray rock ruined everything. The royal forest was quiet on that fateful Tuesday afternoon as a gentle warm breeze blew softly through the tall green trees.

“This looks like a perfect spot for a quick nap.”

I laid down heavily on the hard stone and closed my tired eyes. I stretched my arms out wide and grabbed a random rusty handle sticking out of the ground.

“What is this rusty piece of garbage?”

I pulled it casually without any real physical effort at all, and a blinding golden light engulfed the dark forest instantly.

“My actual eyeballs are burning on fire.”

The Sacred Blade of Dawn was suddenly resting perfectly in my right hand. That single accidental pull ruined my peaceful and normal existence forever.

The grand royal palace was a den of greedy vipers. The massive throne room was dripping with expensive gold and fake smiles while dozens of fancy corrupt nobles stared directly at my dirty cheap sandals.

“Behold the true chosen king of our glorious realm.”

An old guy with a massive white beard announced me loudly to the snobby crowd.

“I literally just want to go back to my tiny apartment.”

I dropped the glowing holy sword onto the pristine red carpet.

“The divine prophecy has finally been fulfilled.”

A tall noble in a slick black suit stepped forward quickly, his dark eyes briefly flashing a terrifying and unnatural bright yellow color.

“You must take the heavy golden crown immediately.”

I saw thick dark shadows twisting actively under his expensive silk clothes.

“I am not taking any shiny crown from you.”

The wealthy kingdom was secretly infested with literal shadow demons. The grand royal court was just a shiny puppet show for actual evil monsters, and the dark corruption in the huge capital city ran incredibly deep. Dark alleys smelled strongly like rotting meat and cheap perfume, yet the fancy rich aristocrats were blind to the decaying streets directly below them.

“The filthy lower classes are merely acceptable magic fuel.”

I vividly remembered hearing a royal advisor whisper that messed up sentence.

“You guys are completely evil.”

I had confronted him directly in the empty and quiet palace hallway.

“We simply maintain the necessary balance of power.”

The advisor smiled a creepy and inhuman smile directly at me, showing pale teeth that were entirely too sharp for a normal human person.

“I am quitting this toxic and awful job.”

I turned around and sprinted out of the giant palace doors. A fake lazy king cannot save a kingdom that actually wants to be rotten. The holy sword was a clingy and utterly toxic magical ex-girlfriend, so I traveled across the huge continent just to throw it away despite the weather always being terribly hot or freezing cold.

“Burn forever in the fiery molten depths.”

I tossed the glowing blade directly into a massive bubbling volcano.

“Finally some glorious peace and quiet.”

I walked all the way back to my tiny rented apartment room, completely exhausted.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

The glowing sword was sitting perfectly inside my morning bowl of cereal. The sacred historical relic was indestructible and unavoidable. I tried everything to break the stupid holy magical curse, even carrying the heavy glowing weapon deep into a dark and terrifying swamp where the wet mud ruined my favorite pair of cheap comfortable sandals.

“Eat this shiny golden piece of garbage.”

I fed the holy weapon directly to a giant ancient swamp monster.

“That is gross and totally disgusting.”

The massive green beast threw it up directly onto my front lawn.

“Even monsters refuse to eat your stupid shiny garbage.”

Sakura had giggled inappropriately at my extreme misfortune earlier during class, and I completely agreed with the unhinged red-haired princess.

The fake human king finally cornered me inside a cheap, dirty tavern. The sticky wooden floor was covered heavily with spilled ale and deep regret while heavy royal guards blocked every single available exit in the building.

“You cannot escape your divine magical duty forever.”

The corrupt ruler glared intensely at my dirty gray trench coat.

“I already told you absolutely no.”

I took a very long sip of my cheap dark soda.

“You owe the royal crown a massive magical reconstruction debt.”

I had accidentally destroyed a tiny village while fighting the stupid sword earlier.

“I am completely broke right now.”

I quickly showed him my empty and dirty brown leather wallet.

“Then you will teach the God Tier class at the magic academy.”

He smiled an incredibly smug and punchable evil smile right at me.

“Why would I ever agree to do that?”

I crossed my tired arms tightly over my stained shirt.

“To find a worthy replacement to properly wield the holy blade.”

The sneaky deal actually made a tiny bit of logical sense. If I could find another idiot to take the sword, I would finally be free.

My new classroom was a massive magnet for pure disaster. The heavy mahogany desk vibrated heavily with the sheer intense volume of their screaming as the four new SSS Rank students were completely out of control.

“I will ascend the golden throne and bring lasting peace.”

Leo was loudly shouting his ridiculous heroic catchphrases again.

“He is way too stupid to rule an entire kingdom.”

I mumbled to myself directly into the hard polished wooden desk. The blond kid would hand the kingdom keys directly to the shadow demons, especially since he thought a regular street pigeon was a majestic magical beast. The glowing idiot was a total liability to the survival of humanity.

The other top magical students were not any better at all. Dantalion was covered in thick white medical bandages and had been rolling around on the expensive Persian rug in total pain earlier.

“I will rule this pathetic kingdom with an iron fist.”

He was entirely too weak and edgy. The fake demon descendant had gotten knocked out by a piece of basic silverware.

“If you look at him again, I will remove your stupid eyes.”

Princess Sakura was threatening the annoying boys with blunt heavy weapons.

“She is completely psychotic and deeply unhinged.”

Putting her on the shiny royal throne would cause an immediate bloody civil war. All the highly ranked magical candidates were absolutely terrible and highly unsafe options.

The completely average baker boy was different from the rest. Dylan sat heavily in his plush velvet throne looking miserable, wearing just cheap cotton pants and a plain uniform shirt.

“I just want to bake bread and live a quiet life.”

He had stated his simple and highly respectable normal goal earlier.

“This quiet kid is a hidden and terrifying monster.”

I had sensed it the exact moment I walked into the loud classroom.

“It was just a totally normal punch.”

He had completely shattered an incredibly thick stone wall with his bare fist. No average human possessed that kind of terrifying raw physical strength.

“His entire mana signature is completely and utterly silent.”

The strange average boy did not leak a single microscopic drop of magical aura.

“Only a true master masks his power so completely.”

For once, the shiny golden idiot was actually correct. Dylan was a massive magical black hole of pure, unlimited raw potential.

The jagged gray rock underneath my tired head suddenly vibrated warmly. The loud classroom was still freezing cold from the ancient blue crystal magic while my dirty cheek was pressed firmly against the extremely sharp stone surface.

“What in the actual magical world is happening right now?”

I cracked my tired right eye open a tiny, microscopic fraction.

“We are sharing our protective and warm magical body heat.”

The crazy red princess was clinging tightly to Dylan’s completely average arm.

“I am freezing cold.”

Dylan sighed and gave up trying to escape her unyielding grip.

“The holy sword is actually reacting to his weird body.”

I felt a warm pulse of pure holy energy deep inside the gray boulder.

“This has never happened before.”

The Sacred Blade of Dawn usually only shocked annoying people who tried to touch it.

“His weirdly average mana is slowly synchronizing with the holy core.”

The completely silent energy radiating off the baker boy was highly compatible. The divine magic artifact actually wanted him to be the next supreme king.

I finally saw a clear and bright open path to my permanent freedom. The heavy wooden wall clock ticked loudly right above the heavy solid iron door as the final five agonizing minutes of the awful class slowly ticked down.

“Five more short minutes.”

I mumbled softly directly into the hard polished mahogany wood.

“He speaks the hidden divine numbers of the ancient and royal countdown.”

The glowing blond knight dropped heavily to one knee on the smooth cold marble.

“I need to secretly convince this normal baker boy to grab the stupid metal handle.”

I formed a brilliant and flawless escape plan in my tired brain.

“If he pulls it out, my terrible royal curse is permanently broken.”

I could finally leave this awful magical academy permanently behind forever.

“I can take a permanent and undisturbed long deep nap.”

The beautiful thought brought a massive wave of pure joy directly to my tired soul. I just had to survive teaching these four insane kids long enough to trick him.

The massive and deafening magical bell finally rang directly across the empty academy courtyard, its piercing sound echoing loudly through the high crystal walls of our lavish classroom.

“The heavenly royal trumpet signals the end of the first divine trial.”

Leo stood up quickly and sheathed his glowing silver sword loudly.

“We actually survived the supreme nightmare of the first magical academic day.”

Dantalion wiped an invisible and fake bead of sweat from his pale forehead.

“We literally just sat here and absolutely nothing happened.”

Dylan stretched his stiff back muscles.

“Please stop following me right this exact second.”

Dylan pushed the heavy solid iron door open with a loud and long metallic creak.

“A loyal shadow never abandons the true and hidden golden king.”

The annoying blond hero tapped his shiny golden chest plate twice quickly.

“I am absolutely not a magical king.”

Dylan stepped out into the dark and blessedly cool stone academy hallway.

“I know how to walk by myself.”

The crazy royal princess pulled the poor normal boy firmly down the crowded and noisy magical school hallway.

The heavy solid iron door finally slammed shut with a loud bang. The luxurious SSS Rank classroom was completely empty and blessedly quiet once again as dust motes settled slowly onto the expensive Persian rugs.

“They are finally permanently gone.”

I remained still on top of the hard wooden mahogany desk.

“The normal baker boy is definitely going to be my savior.”

I hugged the massive, jagged gray magical rock tightly like a soft teddy bear.

“I will make him the next supreme king even if it kills him.”

The highest magical rank in the entire kingdom was an absolute joke.