Why are demon-possessed individuals feared by others?

There are several reasons, but the most significant one is that they are dangerous.

Just an hour ago, the person who was laughing and chatting with you could suddenly have their body taken over by a demon, going on a wild rampage. The only thing people know is that the demon could seize control at any moment.

Who would want to stay close to someone like that?

It's only natural that few people want to keep a ticking time bomb, with no clear countdown, near them.

There's also the deadly power they possess, often spoken about in hushed tones—like the story of a trained knight being cut down by a demon-possessed child barely ten years old. The destructive power they wield is something that ordinary people simply cannot withstand.

A demon can possess anyone, regardless of who they are or whether they have a family.

By now, you can probably guess. The families of demon-possessed individuals rarely end up in a good situation.

In most cases, those who escaped unscathed were simply lucky enough not to be there at the time.

There are countless cases of people who, unwilling to abandon someone they were close to before the possession, ended up suffering terrible fates because they stayed too close.

...When one witnesses that endless malevolence, the outcome usually falls into one of two categories:

Either the demon-possessed person dies, or the witness does.

In most cases, it’s the latter.

But there’s more to the reason why demon-possessed individuals are avoided.

"Aagh! My bone! You crazy hunk of metal, you hit my bone! Damn, this thing is tough!"

"Orca! Get out of there! That’s enough!"

"Hey! Is that thing even breakable?"

"...It’s nearly impossible. The dummy is an artificial life form made with the professors’ magic. As long as magic remains within its body, it won’t stop. And in case of emergency, it’s designed to operate as long as even one connection remains."

"Then can’t we just disconnect all the connections?"

"We’ve already disconnected everything we could! There’s a traitor among the teachers! So just get out of there! Once its magic runs out, it’ll shut down on its own!"

Ugh, how useless. I actually liked the counseling teacher.

But why are none of the other teachers any good? ...Except for the counseling teacher, of course.

They made such a big deal about this, only to tell me to run away? I’d rather die than do that.

"...So, it's sustained by magic, huh? That makes it easy. Just break it."

"Are you crazy?! You’ve seen how tough it is! It was designed to be indestructible except by the Principal! And the Principal is out of town right now! No one can break it!"

"All those times you whispered about me like you knew everything, but now you’ve conveniently forgotten? I’m a demon-possessed, you idiot."

"What does that have to d—Oh."

"Idiot."

The second reason why demon-possessed individuals are feared:

They are resistant to magic.

Many have tried to use magic to suppress the seizures that occur in demon-possessed individuals.

From spells that bind their movements to sleep-inducing magic that causes drowsiness and other status effects.

...If those attempts had worked, demon-possessed people wouldn’t be as feared as they are. After all, you could just forcibly suppress them whenever they had a seizure.

But using magic against a demon is one of the stupidest things you can do.

Unless the demon willingly accepts it, mana-based attacks have no effect on them.

And this applies to demon-possessed individuals as well, who can harness the demon’s powers.

"Don’t charge me for any damages to the facilities, okay?"

"...Fine. I’ll take responsibility."

"That’s what I like to hear."

Orca always had to hold back whenever a fight broke out in the academy.

If her demon’s power damaged any important property, she’d have to pay for it.

The woman who forcibly brought Orca to the academy—Veronica, wasn’t it?

She offered to pay all of Orca’s tuition, but she never said anything about covering damages, so Orca had been careful until now.

...But right now? She had permission to go all out, so there was nothing stopping her from pummeling the hunk of metal in front of her.

"Come on, you tin can. Street fighting is my specialty. I’ll smash that dumb-looking face of yours in two minutes."

As she loosened up her hands and approached the tin can, Orca suddenly stopped.

"What’s the matter?"

"...What the hell? Why isn’t it coming out?"

"Huh?"

Orca stared at her hand in confusion.

...Why isn’t it coming out? It was working just fine before.

In this unfamiliar situation, her mind went completely blank.

"Damn it! Why isn’t it working?! It was fine just a minute ago! Hey, tin can! Hold on a second!"

But, of course, the rampaging dummy didn’t listen to Orca’s plea.

The dummy swung its arm powerfully at the bewildered Orca, bending her body backward like a bow.

"Ugh... You damn... What the hell is this all of a sudden...!"

"...You shouldn’t do bad things. That’s the deal."

"What? What the hell... Did I just say that?"

Orca was too shocked to even think that one of the teachers who had been watching might think she was crazy. She couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of her own mouth.

"You stupid girl. You don’t even know who’s talking."

"...Is this the demon? No way."

"Who else would it be?"

Wasn’t the demon supposed to be storing up power to take control of her body?

...Well, that could wait until later.

For now, Orca had more pressing concerns.

"So, what’s this nonsense about not doing bad things?"

"It’s exactly what it sounds like. Breaking other people’s stuff is bad. You shouldn’t do it."

"...I don’t understand at all."

A demon cares about that kind of thing? Ridiculous.

Orca vehemently rejected the absurdity of it all.

"Did you forget? You know what I did with your body!"

"I remember. It was fun. But not now. That’s the deal."

"What the hell are you talking about? Give me back my body, you parasite."

"I told you, you can’t do bad things."

"That damn tin can is trying to kill me! How is that a bad thing, you stupid parasite!"

"...Oh, well, in that case, it’s fine. You should have said so earlier."

With a tone of realization, the demon's arm, which had refused to appear earlier, suddenly shot out into the air.

It was a familiar sight, like a flaming arm.

"You woke me up suddenly, so I wasn’t sure what was going on. There, happy now?"

"You... damn..."

"Are you going to hit me? Go ahead. It’ll only hurt you, though. It’s your body, after all."

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"Oh, that voice full of rage is nice. That’s why I chose you as my host."

Orca, now enraged, charged at the dummy like a madwoman.

It felt like the only way to quell the indescribable anger inside her was to beat something to a pulp.

"Damn it, this is getting out of hand! They don’t seem to be stopping at all!"

"P-Princess! Are you alright?!"

"Who are you..."

Wasn’t his name Leo?

He was a student who occasionally showed up in the counseling room, so I remembered his face.

He seemed to be quite well-known among the other students as well, and from what I saw during the exam, he appeared to be able to produce something resembling a sword aura.

...He’s worth responding to.

"To be honest, I’m not doing well. There are too many dummies. And our attacks aren’t working."

There were far fewer dummies compared to the number of students, but their durability was extraordinary.

Even Stella wasn’t confident she could destroy them, given that they were designed to withstand the attacks of dozens of students.

"It seems the goal of this strange incident is me and the Overseer."

"R-Really?"

"You can tell just by looking around. There are far more dummies here than there are with the other students."

It was common to see one dummy attacking dozens of students, but what about the situation around the Overseer and Stella?

Just a quick glance revealed at least three dummies in their vicinity.

...They were clearly here to kill them.

"Hey, pawn."

"Huh? You mean me?"

"Who else?"

He looked like an average soldier, the very picture of a textbook warrior.

When I saw him wielding something akin to sword aura, it seemed he had potential, but... he didn’t quite meet Stella’s standards.

After all, it wasn’t true sword aura, but rather the effect of a relic attached to his body.

To be honest, he wasn’t impressive enough to warrant any further enhancement.

But he wasn’t completely lacking either, so for now, he’ll do.

"It seems that unpredictable knight managed to destroy a dummy. Since the bishop is also surrounded by dummies, our goal is clear: we need to hold out."

I didn’t know all the details, but seeing that the demon-possessed girl had managed to destroy one of those sturdy dummies, it was safe to assume they were held together by magic.

If we want to deal with them, we’ll need her power.

She’s the easiest way to destroy these unnecessarily tough dummies.

"Can you do it?"

"...I don’t like being called a pawn, but yes. I can do it."

"Good."

I’ll need to raise my assessment of this student in front of me a bit.

I liked his confidence.

"Why don’t you stop hiding and help us out, Eileen?"

"Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden...?"

"I can understand why a tank would hide... but with most of the pawns already out, isn’t it time you made a move?"

"...It’s been a while since I’ve heard such an incomprehensible metaphor."

"Oh, it’s you..."

"Hello. It’s been a while."

Leo bowed slightly to the girl who emerged from the wreckage, recognizing her from their friendly match.

Eileen. The girl who had been camping in the forest.

Could she be acquainted with the Princess?

"I don’t really want to."

"That’s an order from the Princess. You’ve been loafing around, so it’s time you put in some effort."

"..."

...It seems they don’t get along very well.

Leo, finding the situation increasingly awkward, busied himself with darting his eyes around.

He almost wished the rampaging dummies would attack him...