Chapter 153: All hail the Demon King.

“Oh, it’s this one!”

Another of the schoolgirls, with reddish hair and two horns protruding from her head, commented excitedly as she approached with her other classmate, having noticed that her friend had actually managed to strike up a conversation with the mythical ‘Demon King.’ At the same time, she showed a video on her phone that quickly began to play.

…

The first thing that appeared in the video was a television panel showing a muscular man wearing what seemed to be a grayish-blue Hakama, which somehow accentuated his deep blue eyes and his short, coal-black hair. This caused Kai to widen his eyes in surprise. After all, that man was his father, Saito Jiro, also known as Iron Palm.

[We’ve heard that your firstborn has just been born. What do you think the future holds for him? Will he be a hero like his father?]

At that moment, a male voice, most likely an interviewer, asked with evident interest, prompting a small smile to form on Iron Palm’s face. Though he couldn’t be described as conventionally handsome, he had a unique charm that had captivated thousands of female fans across the country.

As the interviewer’s question ended, a soft, epic music began to play at a low volume, serving as a backdrop for Iron Palm’s deep and magnetic voice as he began to speak in a calm tone.

[I truly don’t know what the future holds… Will he inherit my strength and my martial arts…?]

As Iron Palm’s voice faded, the music swelled in volume, accompanied by a quick transition to images of Kai dodging Midoriya’s blows and exchanging high-speed strikes with Momo during the cultural festival duels. At that moment, Iron Palm’s voice returned.

[…Or perhaps he’ll inherit his mother’s intelligence and help people through medicine…?]

The images quickly shifted to show a distant video of Kai treating the wounded hero in the case of the hero killer Stain, his expression calm as he acted decisively and swiftly, saving the hero’s life. The music intensified, and the image returned to Iron Palm, who looked directly at the camera with a fearless smile full of confidence on his face, before declaring with conviction.

[But one thing I can be sure of is that future generations will surpass the past, and as my proud son, in his own way, he will make the world a better place. And when that time comes, I will stand before everyone and say… Listen up, everyone, here is my proud son, Saito Kai!!]

With Iron Palm’s energetic declaration, the music became erratic and full of energy, almost as if it were urging those who listened to embark on an epic battle. At the same time, the image showed Kai walking confidently toward the camera on a red carpet. His expression was fearless and full of confidence, sending chills down the spines of those watching, as if they were witnessing a great predator. At that moment, the unmistakable voice of the Symbol of Peace resonated.

[Heroes have too much to protect, which is why they never lose!]

With All Might’s words, the music reached its peak intensity, as various images of Kai from the sports festival began to play. First, the images of him finishing first in the obstacle race alongside Momo, followed by the image of him standing calmly with Momo on his shoulders during the cavalry battle, with everyone else fighting around him but none daring to attack, forming a circle around him.

After that, the music became even more erratic and powerful, showing images of Kai delivering the final blow to Midoriya, then the final strike to Kirishima. This was followed by the rapid series of slashes that destroyed Momo’s armor mid-air, ending with distant footage of him slamming Stain into the ground. At that moment, the exuberant voice of Present Mic echoed as the image showed Kai standing on the first-place podium with a calm smile on his face.

[Give a big round of applause to the invincible Demon King of the Hero Course, Saito Kai!!!!]

The video quickly shifted to show the frenzied ovation from the stadium audience, before fading to black as the music faded away, leaving only silence and a black screen. Moments later, white characters appeared, filling the entire screen.

[The symbol of invincibility has been born. All hail the Demon King.]

…When the play symbol reappeared on the screen, Kai and the Pussycats, who had been watching the video almost hypnotized, seemed to snap out of it, then looked at each other with various expressions. Ryuko and Tomoko’s faces were filled with pure pride, while Shino and Chatora wore small, amused smiles.

Kai, for his part, was puzzled because he truly had no idea that video existed. After all, he didn’t even have social media and hardly ever searched for anything on it. He did know that footage from that day existed on the security cameras, and that some people had recorded from afar—since that helped serve as his alibi—but he never imagined anyone would bother making something like that with the images.

“Why would someone go through the trouble of making a video like this…?” Kai couldn’t help but glance at the trio of schoolgirls. At that moment, the third girl, with dark gray hair in a bob cut, responded with a cheerful smile.

“Actually, it was a project by our fan club, but because of the uproar over the Stain video, it went viral and has served as a kind of counter to what that video preaches.”

“What Stain video?” Shino asked curiously, looking at the trio of teenagers, which prompted the horned girl to quickly operate her phone to search for the video.

Soon, the horned girl showed them her phone screen again, where a video played summarizing Stain’s history, his past as a Vigilante, his ‘ideology’, and his alliance with the ‘League of Villains’. It ended with distant footage of the hero killer shouting that only All Might could kill him, while hiding behind the wounded hero, cutting off just as Stain was about to stab him in the neck.

However, an important and striking difference between the two videos was Endeavor. In Kai’s video, he was deliberately left out, with effort made to edit the footage so he wouldn’t appear. But in Stain’s video, he was almost highlighted, emphasizing his defeated figure on the ground as Stain delivered his speech behind the hostage hero, somehow ‘humiliating’ the number two hero to make the villain look better.

“That video is problematic…”

Upon seeing the video, Shino couldn’t help but comment in a serious tone, which prompted a unified nod from the Pussycats, who wore similar expressions. At that moment, Ryuko added in a grave tone.

“Yes… Many could be drawn to such an ideology, and with the whole ‘League of Villains’ situation, things could spiral out of control…”

“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. He’s just a psychopath who grabbed a random excuse to justify his homicidal tendencies, and a pretty weak one at that. The only ones who’d be drawn to something like that are idiots with no personality or other lunatics of the same kind.”

Kai commented in a calm and casual tone, though an unmistakable trace of mockery could be heard in his voice, which inevitably caught the attention of the schoolgirls, who began to look at him with shining eyes. At that moment, the first girl, with salmon-colored hair, asked shyly while pulling out her phone.

“Why do you say it’s a weak excuse, Demon King-sama?”

“Well, because while it’s true that the hero system is far from perfect, there’s a reason it’s used practically all over the world—or rather, two big reasons. One, people like it, and two, it works, and it works quite well. An example of that is Japan itself, currently one of the safest countries in the world.”

Kai responded calmly while looking at Salem, who had dragged the female cat to his side and was meowing at him, almost as if telling him to get to know her. At that moment, the horned girl asked excitedly, discreetly recording the Demon King, who had crouched down to pet the cat’s head.

“But Demon King-sama, some people complain that heroes today only do it for fame and money, not like true heroes. What do you think about that?”

As he picked up the cat, which was quite docile and affectionate, with Salem perched on his shoulder, Kai looked at the girl who had asked the question. Then at the other two girls, who were recording him with shining eyes, as if he were some kind of idol. This left him slightly puzzled, as it was possibly the first time he had been treated that way. Still, he had never been particularly shy or anything like that, so he decided to explain his thoughts, though it might also have been his teenage body wanting to enjoy the attention a little.

“That’s complete nonsense. Work is paid for; only a crazy slave-driver would demand someone work for free and out of pure satisfaction. Should doctors and police officers, who also save lives, work for free? Or do they think All Might doesn’t get paid? The Symbol of Peace is one of the richest men in this country and has been a hero his entire life.

“The wealth of heroes comes from merchandise sales, brand rights, and the like. The salary the government gives them is basically pocket change. No hero can live decently on that pittance; any office job pays more. So, if a hero wants money, they have to, at the very least, maintain a good public image. One misstep, and they’re done.

“So, if the people who make heroes rich are the public, who freely choose to buy their products and support their careers, who is this Stain, or any other idiot, to think they’re better than everyone who, by their own choice, supports their favorite hero? If a hero does something wrong, the public will take care of removing them from the market by withdrawing their support. The hero system self-regulates, and if they commit crimes, that’s what the judicial system is for. We don’t need a homicidal maniac for that.”

“Does that mean the Demon King-sama doesn’t care if there are heroes who only seek fame and money, those ‘fake heroes’?” The horned girl asked cheerfully, which made Kai smile as he continued petting the cat.

“If you were in a burning building and your only option was to trust one of those ‘fake heroes’ to save you, would you choose to stay inside waiting for a ‘true hero’ or a Vigilante to rescue you? Of course, you wouldn’t.” At Kai’s question, the girls vigorously shook their heads, so Kai continued explaining calmly.

“If they do the job, what does it matter if they’re ‘true’ or ‘fake’? Besides, if someone only saves people when they can get credit or something similar, nowadays, everyone has one of the most powerful weapons humanity has created in their pocket: the cell phone. Just record them and expose them on social media. Their career will fall apart, and they’ll have no choice but to pursue something else. Like I said, the hero system self-regulates, and that’s why it works.

“Also, though it’s not openly admitted, the hero system reduces the number of villains. There are many people with strong quirks who want to make a living from them, to rise in social status, and among them, there are plenty willing to do anything to achieve their goals. So, tell me, what would such a person do if they weren’t allowed to use their quirk? Would they obediently get a normal job and earn ‘a pittance’, or would they turn to robbery or murder to get rich?

“The hero system gives such people an outlet, allowing them to achieve their goals while leveraging their abilities to contribute value to society, all while indirectly regulating them to maintain a good public image. This greatly limits their ‘bad actions’ and prevents them from falling into the life of ‘villains’, as the risk-reward ratio of being a hero is infinitely greater than that of being a villain.”

“I’ve never seen things from that perspective… You’re really smart, ‘Demon King’.” Tama’s owner, who had been standing nearby listening silently, couldn’t help but comment in an impressed tone. Kai shook his head and replied casually, still holding the female cat.

“It’s nothing extraordinary. I just drew a parallel with the free market. Anyway, follow me to the agency so we can sign some documents to make Tama’s adoption official.”

“Of course.”

The man responded with a calm smile, while the Pussycats looked at Kai with pride, wearing huge smiles on their faces. At that moment, the schoolgirls grew a bit nervous, as they still wanted their photo, so the salmon-haired girl asked shyly.

“Um, Demon King-sama, is it possible to get a photo…?”

***

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