C288: DAYS OF YORE

Mushroom planting-> Matan-GO encounter-> Mushroom-Bamboo Shoot war-> Chocolate making with King Kaka.
After this hectic series of events, things calmed down.

Now, we’re back to focusing on the students, the freshest of the gang at the moment.

In addition to the demon and human teens gathered for the study program, there are also mermaid students from the Mermaid Witch Academia Farm Branch School.
They must have gotten used to farm life while I was busy entertaining a mushroom, bamboo shoot, and cacao.

Let’s take a peek at their daily lives, hoping they’ll reveal their own quirks.

First, we’ll start with the demon teens.

“Hey! You guys! Take care of your clothes!!!”

How rare to see Batemy angry.
She’s shouting at the other demons.

What did they do to deserve this?

“Didn’t I tell you to put your dirty clothes in the basket?! Sort them by quality! If you wash them in the wrong way, you’ll ruin them!”

Batemy, our farm’s seamstress, has her own fixated views on laundry.

A single wash can damage the fabric, discolor, or ruin the garment’s quality right after it is sewn.
And this is an intolerable thing for her.
But for teenagers, such refined fastidiousness is beyond their understanding.

“Eugh… But it’s too much trouble to fold clothes every single time…”
“Why don’t you take care of them yourself? Isn’t that why you’re here?”

Her opponents are the troublemakers who still haven’t lost their cheekiness, assuming a mocking attitude toward Batemy.

“Besides, do you really think you have the right to talk us me like that?”
“We’re young and promising members of the Demon King’s Army, despite appearances. Elite candidates.”
“A random laundrywoman like you can’t be equals with us.”

…
They seem to think that Batemy is just a housekeeper.
I don’t blame them for misunderstanding things. She sews and washes the clothes for us, but still…

“We’re going to be promoted to higher positions. Maybe even become a Heavenly One’s aide.”
“That’s why we can’t waste even a single second. A housekeeper like you should take care of all the trivial stuff.”

Well, that’s just harsh.
But I thought this karma was needed, so I kept watching.
Batemy’s hatred for the naive words and actions of these young demons is steadily rising.

“Why don’t you just throw away dirty clothes? Washing them over and over is only something the poor would do.”

Snap!
I heard something snapping.

“Don’t test my patience, you cursed brats!!!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

In the blink of an eye, Batemy sends the cocky teens spinning in the air several times.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen her lose her temper, but I guess she’d get triggered whenever clothes are involved.

“Batemy’s strong after all…” I say to myself.

Before she came here and fulfilled her dream of becoming a seamstress, she used to be a Heavenly One’s aide.
It’s no surprise that she would belong to the strongest rank of their army.
Knocking over a couple of half-baked teens is an easy feat for her to achieve.

“Lord Saint! Lord Saint!!!”

She caught me peeking at the scene and was coming toward me, beat-up teens in tow.

“These brats need a more fundamental education! Please let me train them to become fine adults!”

Sorry about that.
Thus, the demon students were sent under Batemy’s guidance.
I do hope they learn good manners this time.

According to what I heard later, Batemy is considered a legend in the Demon King’s army.
When the demons heard her name, they all trembled.

“W-Why is Batemy the Demon Dog here?!”
“We really can’t underestimate anyone on this farm!!!”

Please treat everyone with respect, no matter who they may be.

Our next story is about Sensei the Lifeless King’s class.

“Now, now. You mustn’t bring out anything unrelated to the class,” he says, warning a human student who put something like a portrait on her desk.

“I-I’m sorry!!!”
“Whose portrait is that? He seems quite a fine young man.”
“Y-Yes! He is the person I admire the most! I thought that if I studied while looking at him, I would be able to work even harder…”

“Ah, is that St. Thomack More’s portrait?” asks the classmate beside her.
“Thomack More who?”

I couldn’t help but interrupt the class.

“He’s a legend in the Human Kingdom for hundreds of years now.”

Ah, so a historical figure.

According to legend, he was a high-ranking priest who questioned the selfish nature of the Order and was ultimately excommunicated for his incessant criticism.
His rebellious and virtuous way of life was passed down to future generations and captured public interest.

“Well, he was more-so unconventionally popular, though. The Order that morally ruled the nation didn’t acknowledge St. Thomack More’s defiance,” says the human student who seems knowledgeable on the matter. “Back when the Order was in power, if they said something didn’t exist, it will cease to. But among the dissatisfied people, St. Thomack More continued to exist in their hearts…”

And now that the Human Kingdom has been destroyed by the demons, St. Thomack More’s existence has been publicly acknowledged.
In fact, he is rapidly gaining popularity as an uncompromising warrior who rebelled against the corrupt power.

“…I see. He seems to have a lot of backbone.”
“Sensei! You’re undead, so you’ve been around for a long time, haven’t you? Maybe you’ve even met St. Thomack More!”

If so, that would be wonderful. It’d be like hearing live history.
The teenagers’ faces light up with anticipation.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve been holed up in my dungeon most of my time since I became immortal, so I’m not that familiar with the history of the Human Kingdom.”
“Aw… Too bad.”
“Do you have any other anecdotes of him, by any chance?”

Even then, the kind Sensei tries to remember anything he can to meet his students’ expectations.

“The Order took the initiative in erasing any mention of him before his death, so we really don’t know much about him…”
“I see…”
“But there is one thing that is clearly known — his last days wrapped in mystery!”
“His last days?”

Apparently, his end was not death by disease or accident, but something more bizarre.

Once, he was possessed by a cursed sword.
Consumed by its curse, Thomack More became mentally ill and disappeared somewhere with the sword, never to be seen again.

“This was the only episode the Order talked about, saying that being affected by the curse was proof that St. Thomack More wasn’t a real priest. On the other hand, there is a theory that the Order was so annoyed with him that they sent a cursed sword to get rid of him…”
“…”

Sensei and I look at each other.
It seems we both feel the intense familiarity of the story.

“…That’s me, isn’t it?”
“HUH?”

Yeah.
I thought so too.

Sensei’s soul was taken over by the Wicked-Holy Sword Dreischwartz, came to this desolate place, and became undead, right?

“Ah… Ah… I think a portion of my memories is coming back to me now. Yes, my name is Thomack More. It’s been thousands of years since I remembered.”

Sensei has been undead for so long that he has forgotten who he was when he was alive.
Now, he regained a little bit of that memory.

“What?!”
“You’re St. Thomack More, Sensei?!”
“I never thought I’d see the anti-Order founder in person!”

Sensei’s garnering even more respect from the students now, especially from the humans.

Incidentally, the St. Thomack More depicted in the portrait that started this topic looks nothing like Sensei himself.
This is partly due to his undead state, of course, but also because he looks like a completely different person during his mortal days.
I know this because I’ve seen his original self when we were in the bathhouse before.

Though I guess most portraits of historical figures are like that.