The Demon Saint is Missing, so I Ran to Another World

Sympathy for the Devil (Part 1)

**Greg**

The duel. It was a staple of the Japanese 'school isekai' or 'school fantasy' novels I read before. Basically, it went like this: the MC would accidentally stumble upon a girl, usually in the middle of changing clothes, or taking a bath. Then, he would be seen, and—just as the angry girl was about to kill him—he would escape to his classroom. As it turned out, that girl was his classmate, and once she recognized her peeping tom, would challenge the MC to a duel where the latter would always prevail using overwhelming powers...

"..."

It's so predictable that I would always skip the first few chapters of the novel, and still follow the story. Back to reality, honestly, I didn't expect it would happen to me. I thought those were just a product of one fantasy writer, copied by the next author, then copied once again by the next, and the next...and the list goes on, until the cliché went stale and another idea supplanted it, ready to be copied again.

Well, in my case, there was no naked scene, nor do I wish to see one...at least, not from a student. And I didn't even had an idea of what made that yellow-green demon girl mad at me; I don't know her! She just spewed malicious accusations about my identity and challenged me to a duel.

"..."

Now, of course, I was a grown-up, 25-year-old adult. I shouldn't let myself be provoked by some random demon brat. Nevertheless, if I just let her hurl insults at me, other students would get the idea that I was an 'easy' or 'weak' teacher, thus, I was susceptible to bullying.

Heh, if you thought that bullying happens only to students, then you're awfully wrong. It's just not that widespread, unlike the other.

So, once I got the permission from my fellow teacher about obliging her student's invite for a duel, I asked the cheeky brat where she would like to fight me.

"Let's go to the Conclave's courtyard, where everyone will see your fraud!" she declared.

Okay then, so we head to the courtyard, as the demon girl demanded. By the time we reached the designated place, the news of the 'mysterious, new' teacher dueling a student had already spread like wildfire, and the scholars had gathered around to watch.

"What's the meaning of this? What's the cause of the disruption?" the Discipline Prefect, Lord Scholar Gracchio, was also at the scene. Along with some members of the Discipline Committee of the Conclave, they were trying to have the students return to their classrooms.

However, the students were too many to control, and while there were those who returned to their rooms, there were also those who would return once the prefects had passed. My co-teacher finally intervened on my behalf...

"Lord Scholar Gracchio, I apologize for this ruckus," she told him, bowing as she explained our side. "It's just that...you know, the goblin girl..."

The angry expression on the Discipline Prefect immediately dissipated, and he just nodded, "Lady Srexe's at it, again?"

My co-teacher confirmed, "She even dared the Special Scholar Greg to duel her, calling him a fraud."

I could see the sarcastic smirk form on the otherwise prim and proper Discipline Prefect. "I understand. Just remind the Special Scholar not to injure her badly, so as not to offend her parents."

"Yes, Lord Scholar."

Wow...judging from their conversation, it seemed like this...err, goblin girl wasn't well-liked, in this place.

I was about to ask the teacher about it when I heard a familiar voice call out to me, "Lord Greg!"

Princess Noir and Shevaun appeared from the stunned crowd, and went beside me. The demon princess asked, "What's going on? Why are you here?"