The moment Kayn stepped into the registration hall, he was completely oblivious to the catastrophe he had just left in his wake. Lady Sofia still lay on the floor outside, too drained to move, while the knights cautiously monitored him like a volatile beast ready to explode.
Inside the grand hall, however, an entirely different kind of disaster was brewing.
Students whispered in hushed tones, their voices barely containing their fear, excitement, or, in some cases, sheer admiration.
"Did you hear? The demon lord's reincarnation just enrolled in the academy!"
"I heard he carried Lady Sofia over his shoulder and ran through the academy at insane speed!"
"That's not all! Someone told me she screamed for mercy the entire time!"
"No way… So barbaric… but also kinda…" A group of girls blushed and fanned themselves dramatically.
"I saw it with my own eyes! The knights tried to stop him, but he didn't even flinch!"
"That can't be true. No one is that fast!"
"Then explain how he zipped through the entire courtyard in seconds! No one could even react!"
"Oh gods… we're all doomed… What if he decides to take over the academy!?"
Across the hall, a trio of self-proclaimed hero candidates huddled together, their faces pale with dread.
"H-His aura... It was like staring into the abyss itself!"
"His eyes… those crimson eyes! I thought I was being marked for death!"
"His grin... It wasn't human! That was the face of a beast who had already claimed its prey!"
"We need to do something! What If he actually is reincarnation of the Demon Lord, we can't just let him roam freely in academy!"
"But what can we do? Did you see his muscles? His arm is bigger than my whole body!"
"I heard he drinks the blood of dragons for breakfast!"
"I heard he wrestled a minotaur using only his pinkie!"
Meanwhile, in the noble ladies' corner of the hall, another conversation was unfolding.
"A man who ignores all rules of nobility and brute-forces his way through life… How utterly dangerous…"
"And thrilling…" One girl murmured, pressing her fingers to her lips.
"A true beast… a monster… a brute…" another noble lady sighed dreamily. "I must have him."
"N-No, I must have him!"
"Ladies, please! There's enough villainous attraction to go around!"
As the absurd rumours spread like wildfire, Kayn finally reached the registration desk, blissfully unaware of his growing legend.
"Excuse me," he said, flashing his signature final-boss grin. "I'd like to register."
The poor clerk behind the desk promptly fainted.
Kayn blinked as the clerk crumpled to the ground, completely unconscious. He scratched his head, looking around for some kind of explanation.
"Huh. Capital folk sure are delicate," he muttered to himself. "Back in the village, old man Boris got struck by lightning twice and still made it to work the next morning."
He looked around for help, but the other clerks avoided eye contact, busying themselves with suddenly very important paperwork.
With a shrug, Kayn stepped over the fainted clerk and found another open desk where a terrified staff member shakily handed him a stack of registration forms.
"Please… just… fill these out…" the poor man stammered.
Kayn grinned, accepting the forms. "No problem!"
The moment he grabbed the pen, however—snap! It shattered between his fingers like brittle twigs.
"Oh." He grabbed another. Snap! Another casualty.
The room fell silent as one pen after another met the same fate. The onlookers began murmuring amongst themselves.
"What… what is he doing?"
"Is he… crushing the pens on purpose?"
"No, look at his face. He's grinning… He's planning something."
"Oh gods… those forms! He's probably drawing a strategic assault on the capital!"
Kayn, oblivious to the rising panic around him, tried his best to apply the gentlest amount of force possible. But—snap! snap! snap!
"Tch. These capital pens are flimsy." He frowned, cracking his knuckles. "Maybe I should try holding them like a baby bird."
Snap!
A group of students in the corner clutched each other in horror.
"That was his 'gentle' grip?!"
"He's training his fingers to crush skulls!"
Finally, after twenty pens, a staff member hesitantly offered him a reinforced quill, hands shaking. "P-Perhaps… try this, sir."
Kayn beamed. "Oh! Thanks!"
As he lowered his pen to the form, the room held its breath. Would he finally—
Crack!
The desk collapsed under the sheer weight of his hand.
Kayn's face turned pale. "Oh no…" He whispered, sweat forming on his forehead. "How much do desks cost in the capital?!"
His mind raced through the worst possibilities. Did nobles have special desks made from enchanted wood? Was this some ancient artifact table passed down for generations?
"I don't have that kind of money!" he groaned, gripping his hair. "Back home, we just replaced a table with another log! What if they demand a noble's ransom!?"
He shot up from his seat, fists clenched with determination. "I'll scrub the floors if I have to! I'll work day and night to pay off my debt! I won't let my first day be marked by unpaid destruction!"
Gasps erupted around him.
"Did you hear that!? He's demanding servitude from the academy!"
"He's declaring he'll rule over us all!"
"He'll make us clean the floors for him!"
"A tyrant on the very first day… we're doomed!"
Meanwhile, Kayn dramatically nodded to himself, already envisioning his future of tirelessly scrubbing floors at the academy. "That's right! I have to take responsibility!"
A noble student fainted on the spot. Another one threw themselves against a wall, screaming, "We're all finished! He's already setting his terms!"
Kayn, still lost in thought, sighed deeply. "Capital life is too complicated..."
At last, he turned his attention to the form itself. His eyes skimmed the first question.
'What is your noble lineage?'
Kayn blinked. "Uh… None? I guess? Do I put 'Local Farm Hero'?"
Next question.
'House crest or sigil?'
"House what? Back home, the closest thing we had to a crest was Old Man Boris's soup ladle…"
Then another.
'Elemental affinity?'
"Affinity? I'm very good at punching things. Is that an element? I'll just put 'fist.'"
He flipped the page. His eyes narrowed at the next question.
'List your family's generational magical contributions to the empire.'
Kayn's eye twitched. "Uh… we contributed some really good potatoes last year… does that count?"
Students watching from a distance whispered in hushed voices as they saw his expression twist into confusion, then frustration, then sheer determination.
"D-Did you see that? His face keeps changing—like he's debating whether to curse the empire or not!"
"I knew it! He's too powerful for normal paperwork!"
"What if he's writing his terms of conquest right now!?"
Meanwhile, Kayn stared at the final question on the page.
'On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to swear fealty to the royal family?'
"What kind of question is this?! What happens if I put the wrong answer?!"
The moment he slammed his hands onto the desk, half the students bolted out of the hall in pure terror. Another clerk fainted.
Kayn sighed, rubbing his temples. "Why is everything in the capital so complicated?!"
The next section of the form made him squint.
'If engaged in combat, how many men do you estimate you could defeat alone?'
Kayn scratched his head. "Uh… depends? Are we talking trained knights, or just guys who get winded running up a hill?"
A student peeked over his shoulder and immediately turned ghostly pale. "H-He's calculating his body count…!"
The next question wasn't much better.
'If you were to lead an army, what battle strategy would you employ?'
Kayn frowned. "I don't know, 'punch everything until it stops moving'? That worked on the boars back home."
Another student gasped. "Did you hear that?! He doesn't even need strategy! He just destroys!"
The final question made Kayn pause.
'If the academy were to be attacked, what role do you see yourself playing in its defense?'
He cracked his knuckles. "Huh. That's easy. I'd stand at the front and punch whatever comes our way."
The students eavesdropping collectively screamed.
"HE'S GOING TO LEAD THE ATTACK HIMSELF!"
Kayn slammed the form down, victorious. "Finally! Done!"
The clerk took one look at the paperwork, let out a choked noise, and fainted again.