The second story today.
Demon race children begin attending school once they turn five.
I happened to be exactly five, so I met the requirement.
The schooling period runs from age five to fifteen.
After graduating from school, students choose their path—attending what Earth would call university, or becoming independent.
In this world, only a minority go to university; most enter some kind of work.
The school I'd be attending had a high ratio of nobles, and nearly all of them took on their duties as nobles upon graduation.
The ranks of nobility, from highest to lowest, consisted of five tiers: Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.
There was no such thing as a royal family.
That was because the Demon King—the apex of the demon race—was chosen regardless of lineage. Since it wasn't a hereditary system, there might be a king, but no royal family existed.
Children and relatives of past Demon Kings did exist, but they never claimed the title of royalty. Most settled into positions around the rank of Duke.
Because of this relationship, those holding the rank of Duke tended to be connected to past Demon Kings.
The Marquis and Earl ranks also had faint ties to previous Demon Kings here and there. It would probably be interesting to research the histories of those families.
Conversely, among Barons, many were commoners who had risen through the ranks, and connections to past Demon Kings were almost nonexistent.
It wasn't quite "might makes absolute," but as a demon, having power made it relatively easy to obtain the rank of Baron.
Just as easy to lose, though.
A rank gained through strength could be stripped away in an instant if that strength was lost.
Even if the current head was exceptional, if the next generation or those after proved incapable, the family could fall into decline without hesitation.
That was common sense among demon nobility.
Even a Duke's House could decline if it lacked power.
Power wasn't limited to combat ability.
Wealth, authority, political influence, military force—those were all forms of power.
The reason a Duke's House didn't turn over as frequently as a Baron's was that they had accumulated these forms of power and passed them down through generations.
But lose even those, and decline was inevitable.
I was treated as a mid-term transfer student and made to take an entrance exam.
This exam measured my current academic ability and combat power, among other things. I was told that even poor results wouldn't get me disqualified.
So I was able to take it without worry.
The written exam varied depending on the subject.
For arithmetic, there was no way I couldn't handle it—after all, I had studied up through high school level on Earth.
For linguistics, Ariel-san had thoroughly drilled me in reading and writing during our travels, so that was no problem either.
Both the human language and the demon language were a breeze.
However, I couldn't answer questions about history and the like since I didn't know any of it.
The practical exam was simple.
First, I was asked what types of magic I could use, so I answered honestly.
The magic I could wield included water and ice, shadow, darkness, wind, and lightning.
For water and ice, I could even use advanced-tier spells.
Darkness could be considered an advanced form of shadow, so that meant I could use three types of advanced magic.
This was the result of four years of continuing my Master's method of learning by observation throughout our travels.
The teacher in charge of the exam shot me a skeptical look, so I demonstrated my magic on the spot.
I controlled it carefully to avoid causing any collateral damage.
As a result, my magical skill was acknowledged.
Next came the close-combat practical, but for some reason, the moment I activated demonic combat arts and ki combat arts, I was declared to have passed.
I hadn't even done anything yet.
What kind of test assesses real ability without actually seeing anything?
In any case, I successfully enrolled.
Since this was a school for nobles, the number of students enrolled in a single grade wasn't very large.
Roughly a hundred students, divided into three classes.
For the first few years, class assignments were supposedly made completely at random, ignoring ability entirely.
Since I was a mid-term transfer, I was placed in the class with the smallest number of students.
"Starting today, you have a new classmate—
The teacher made the introduction.
Lots of gazes from small children.
Come to think of it, if they were the same age as me, they were all kids.
Everyone around me until now had been older than me.
Master was the same age, but looked older.
After the teacher left, I was swarmed with questions from the little ones.
Everyone was talking at me however they pleased, and I couldn't make out what any one of them was saying.
Even with enhanced senses, you can't keep up when that many people talk to you at once.
"You lot, have some composure befitting nobles."
The one who rescued me from the jostling crowd was a child who looked like the spitting image of a prince—golden hair, blue eyes.
"I am Ward K. Atmost of the Duke's House. If you ever need anything, feel free to rely on me."
Whew.
A mature kid, despite his age.
I was one to talk, though. Underneath all this, I was a former high school student.
After that, Ward lined up the children, and I fielded their questions.
My cover story was that I was a disciple of a certain someone who had traveled the world.
That person had spent years infiltrating human territory and had only recently returned to demon lands.
I had returned alongside that person—so went the narrative.
This certain someone was important, and I was told not to reveal their identity.
Which wasn't wrong, really—they were the Demon King, after all.
The kids pestered me relentlessly about who this person really was, but there was no way I could answer.
Next, they latched onto the fact that I was a commoner.
The moment I said I was a commoner, the atmosphere turned condescending.
But some children actually grew more cautious instead.
Apparently, commoners were almost nonexistent at this school.
And a commoner who managed to enroll in such a school was generally said to possess extraordinary talent.
I didn't have any such talent, though.
Why did you enroll me in a place like this, Ariel-san?
Just thinking about what lay ahead made my stomach hurt, but surrounded by all these little ones, I set off on my school life.