Chapter 4: The Irate Demon Instructor

~ ??? ~

It hurts! Please! Make it stop already!

A kick to my ribs makes me flinch; another to my shoulder makes me tense up even more. I’ve stopped counting how many times they’ve hit me already. I’m on the ground. My pretty dress is all dirty and torn. My hair is a mess. Another kick to my stomach tosses me around. Now they’re working on my back. More kicks coming in, more pain, more bruises. But I do not give them the satisfaction of seeing me shed a tear. Daddy taught me I must be strong, so I will be strong and endure it. I have to!

I will run away and cry later, though. After camp is over, that is.

Another kick, this time targeting my face. I can block it off with my arm, but now my stomach is open for attack. There is nothing I can do. All I can do is wait until they get bored. They hurt me, but they know they mustn’t injure me. They batter and bruise me, but they won’t break me. Not yet, anyway. Someone lifts me so they can hit me better. Then… laughter. Dangling upside down, they can see under my dress. I can’t hide it, and they keep laughing and looking. A few more kicks and punches make me feel like a piñata. Silently, I cry for help, and help comes.

“That’s enough, back inside with you lot.”

I wish it hadn’t been him, though. He ordered the attack in the first place. He’s my Daddy, and he’s teaching and supervising camp today. He came to see if I’d become stronger. I’m not stronger yet. I couldn’t defend myself. I couldn’t use the authority he wanted me to use.

When will this nightmare finally end?

“Go wash yourself, you dirty, dirty girl,” he grunts between his teeth. I’m too terrified to object. Since I am dirty, I want to wash myself anyway. I feel filthy. I can’t do anything about the torn dress or the traces of mud sticking to it now. I can wash my face and my hands, at least. My hair got messy, too. It’s too higgledy-piggledy to fix it quickly. They will laugh at me when I go back. I know they will.

When I go back, they do. I try not to listen to the things they yell at me. The insults sting, but I’m ignoring them. I return to my seat. Daddy is waiting at the front. He has a lot to say. I’m scared…

*

~ Dave ~

“Children, I told you to treat her like a human. What did you do!?”

I’m not sure why we’re observing an enemy instructor lecturing a class of enemy children, but I’ve known Ken for a long time, and I can trust him blindly. However, it doesn’t always keep me from asking questions, regardless. But even I must admit that this is mildly interesting; thus, I keep any questions sealed as I observe and listen.

If this is their concept of school, it teaches a lot about the evil those demons commit…

The instructor’s question raises concern among the class, and he soon explains the point of his cruel lesson.

“You did not kill her, even though I have ordered you to treat her like a dirty human. You toyed with her, trampled her dignity with your feet, and caused her great pain, yes…” The instructor pauses, his wicked glance resting above the target of the attack. “But you did not treat her correctly; you did not treat her like a human. Humans do not deserve to live. Ever. When you see a human, you must do only one thing. You KILL them!”

His voice booms suddenly, holding a sense of authority that gives me the willies even though I’m far away from his rage, hooked to a fly glued to the wall in the back of the room. We’re right behind the child the mob had pounded before. Kenneth insisted on the familiar being stationed there for some reason. I’m sure it must be more than a hunch.

“B-but she’s your daughter, sir…” one of the boys speaks up timidly. “We couldn’t have…”

“I would have intervened before it came to that,” the demon instructor hissed fiercely, shutting the kid down instantly. “You lumps didn’t even ATTEMPT to injure her! I told you to treat her like a human, and humans need to be ERADICATED!” he yells so loudly that the windows rattle from the vibrations carried through the dense air in the room. “It seems you haven’t learned anything at all! NONE of you have!”

His deranged gaze once again lingers above the bruised girl, whose doll-like, somewhat curly blonde hair is an utter mess.

For someone who couldn’t be older than ten years, she’s more resilient than I thought. Ordinary kids cry when they’re in pain, but the little one endured the bullying. But then again, if I’m following here, this girl is his daughter. And here I thought I had it bad when my father spanked me for all the wrongdoings I committed as a kid… damn.

“Now out with you incompetent lumps! Grab a weapon and swing it until your arms fall off! If I catch anyone dallying before sunset, I’ll make everyone treat them like a human!”

*

“This guy’s nuts,” Lance comments as the class attempts to scurry out of the room as fast as their legs can carry them.

“You’re nuts too, you know?” Lucy mocks him, deadpanning as usual regarding her brother spouting nonsense.

“I have nuts, I’ll have you know!” Lance corrects his sister with a sense of pride before it thoroughly shatters into pieces.

“And they’re even smaller than your brain!” Beatrix shouts angrily. “And now shut up, or they’ll notice us!”

While Berserker prevents an angry Lance from retaliating against the two women, Kenneth and I focus back on the familiar who remains in the classroom, now only filled with the fuming instructor and the girl they beat up.

This is wild indeed; they would throw any teacher into jail if they did that in our schools… Using a system of fear and punishment is not how to educate children…

While I’m rambling about their teaching methods, Kenneth seems in a trance. His focus is so sharp that he hasn’t taken notice of Lance's interruption at all. I still don’t understand what he’s trying to do here. We’re watching an ordinary demon school teach their children barbaric behavior and literal genocide. Where’s the catch?

Beatrix is not moving the familiar from its position, though. Are we observing that instructor and his poor little daughter for a reason?

Kenneth must have smelled the question, for he answers it before I could utter as much as a single word.

“There are two reasons why we came here, and this is one of them,” he tells me quietly while the poor demon children scatter outside as fast as their legs can carry them. “What goes through your mind after seeing this, Dave?”

A lot! But most importantly…

“The demons teach them to hate us from a young age,” I reply, and he agrees.

“Precisely, but did you also notice something else?”

Something else? Quickly, I recapitulate the scene.

“The source of all evil lies in their education,” I explain as I recall the brutal order the instructor gave his students. “They’re being trained to kill without compassion. They’re taught to hate and be ruthless.”

“Compassion is a good word here,” Kenneth interjects, prompting me with another thought. “These kids didn’t follow the order to kill that girl, though, and they’re paying for it now. Why do you think they might have resorted to bullying rather than grabbing one of those weapons outside?”

Damn it, Ken! If you already know the answer, just spill it!

“Because they were scared of the instructor killing them if they did? I mean…” I elaborate. “She’s his daughter or something, right? Would suck if she actually died.”

“You’re correct but also wrong,” Kenneth whispers mysteriously. It hasn’t been lost on either of us that the instructor’s daughter hasn’t left the room, trembling in her seat.

“There are two possible explanations here,” he says as the instructor begins personally scolding his daughter, but I’m hardly following. “My intelligence suggests this is a camp for ‘failed students’. The kids here do not meet the standards, so they punish and brainwash them until they do. One of the kids even showed concern. Thus, I conclude not all of their kids are born evil, but rather, they turn into village-raiding killers under the constant influence of their elders telling them it’s what demons should do. Makes sense?”

Kenneth barely breathed during his monologue, and I could barely follow along. Trying to keep track of two conversations simultaneously is tough work.

“Yeah, I mean, humans can be evil too, so it’s only natural that some of them might not be as bad as the average village-raiding demon,” I conclude after recapitulating his words again. “But that’s not exactly a revolutionary discovery. Could you finally explain to me why we’re watching a demon instructor being a dick toward his kid?”

Kenneth smiles excitedly as we’re finally getting to the point.

“I spoke of another option. What if these kids were scared to hurt her because she’s someone important? Someone so important that murder is out of the question, even if it’s their order to kill her?”

“Well, are these two important?” I deadpan. I’m tired of his secrecy.

“I came here with two missions, Dave,” he finally explains as the instructor begins yelling and physically abusing the kid. “One: To learn more about how they run these camps and for what purpose.”

Yeah, I think we’ve learned plenty…

“Two: Locate a certain someone.”

“Come again?”

“We already completed both quests. Just listen to them talk, and it should become obvious who they are.”

In the end, he’s being secretive again.

Damn that smartass. Guess I’ll listen then…