Chapter 266: The Shadow Emperor of Advanced Nurturing

“Society is a big family, and every one of us is a member of it. Unity, mutual aid, and friendship are not only the moral cornerstone of life, but also a mighty force driving the progress of human civilization. Peace is the most precious flower blooming on this soil. War is poison, making people lose their lives; war is a plague, severing bonds thicker than blood. We know well that only by bidding farewell to conflict and confrontation can different peoples and different cultures coexist harmoniously under the same blue sky.”

…

The third day of the mixed joint camp exam. Today’s teaching content was speechmaking, which was also one of the subjects to be tested.

On the final day, based on topics distributed by the school, they would deliver a speech in the forest school’s open area, facing all first-year students and teachers.

Each grade year had a different speech theme, but judgment was basically based on “volume,” “deportment,” “content,” and “delivery.”

It was just that…

Fuyuji Mikage slowly turned his head and looked at the red-haired figure on the podium reciting with a completely deadpan face. He clapped a hand over his mouth, gritting his teeth to hold his lips shut.

Ryuen, you bastard, saying all this, how are you keeping a straight face?

Not just Fuyuji. Every other member of Ryuen’s group had their heads lowered, desperately pinching the flesh of their thighs, shoulders shaking nonstop.

If not for the stern gaze of the patrolling teacher nearby, they probably would have burst out laughing on the spot.

Ten minutes later, on the classroom podium.

“That concludes my speech. Thank you all for listening.”

Retracting his speech manuscript, Ryuen Kakeru, his face ashen, bowed to the group of students below, who had long since assumed the posture of grand elders and were waiting impatiently.

“Good!” xN

Instantly, thunderous applause rose from below.

“Keep it up!”

“Remember to bow when you see your senpai from now on, okay.”

“I hope you’ll turn over a new leaf going forward and become a man who loves life. Stop obsessing over toilets.”

…

Mechanically walking down from the podium, Ryuen clenched his fists in grief and fury.

Bullshit!

Outside the window, a plane roared past over the forest, leaving two long contrails.

Not long after, all the large group’s members had finished their speeches. With the supervising teacher’s dismissal, today’s classes officially ended.

At dinner, after a whole day of the mental torment of speech assessments, the students visibly relaxed. The cafeteria buzzed with voices and the aroma of food. Every so often a student would pinch their throat and mimic “Peace is a flower” in a weird, affected tone, immediately triggering a burst of laughter around them.

Fuyuji, as always, ate with his four cute girls, exchanging information along the way.

On the girls’ side, none of the capable girls were the proactive type. Though the situation was chaotic, it hadn’t kicked up much of a wave. The only one who liked stirring things up, Sakayanagi Arisu, was a lone commander. Being able to take care of herself was already good enough.

After dinner, coming out of the big cafeteria, a night wind carrying the chill of the mountain forest hit his face. Night had quietly fallen, dyeing the entire sky a strange mix of half dark red and half indigo.

Students filed out one after another with their change of clothes, in twos and threes, heading toward the bathhouse deep in the dormitory area. With nothing to do, Fuyuji followed the flow of people and walked into the big bathhouse.

Since it had to meet the bathing needs of nearly five hundred people at once, three large bathhouses had been set up for the boys. The grades were separated from each other, and usage time was unrestricted. As long as it wasn’t class time, you could even have a whole bathhouse to yourself.

In the changing room, Fuyuji took off his clothes, changed into slippers, wrapped his towel around himself, and headed into the bath.

The moment he entered, he saw Class D’s redhead Sudo, Yamauchi the elder, Class C’s Kaneda and Ishizaki, plus Class B’s Shibata So, along with Hashimoto and Totsuka Yahiko, gathered together, gesturing wildly, visibly excited.

“What’s going on?”

“You’re here, Fuyuji-san. We’re discussing who the real king here is.” Hashimoto spread both hands and grandly introduced him. “The current provisional king is Class C’s Kaneda!”

“No, it’s me now!”

Mid-sentence, redhead Sudo Ken had already closed his eyes and confidently yanked the towel from his waist, letting it drop to the floor.

Several boys instinctively widened their eyes, their gazes converging.

“Ooh!”

“The verdict is clear at a glance!”

“I declare the king has changed hands. The new king is Sudo Ken!”

“Aaah!” The red-haired athlete spread both arms, puffed out his solid chest muscles, and let out an invigorating roar. “See that? You bastards better not underestimate me anymore, or I’ll beat you flat!”

“…”

Fuyuji’s mouth twitched. He quietly stepped back a few paces.

Though in his previous life he had indeed heard that people in the north went into bathhouses nude and scrubbed together, for him, a southerner, this kind of one-on-one showdown was way over the line.

At this moment, Kanzaki Ryuji, who had followed in behind him, also looked like his poker face was about to crack. He silently shifted aside. This kind of thing was far too embarrassing for a conglomerate heir like him.

Dodging the gazes of those fanatical boys, Fuyuji entered the bath. The rising steam completely fogged up the place.

Amid the swirling mist, a slightly weary voice sounded: “You’re here, Fuyuji-kun.”

There was Katsuragi Kohei, sitting on a low stool in the bathhouse, head down, smearing shampoo onto his smooth, bald head.

“You’re here and you didn’t stop them?” Fuyuji was a little curious whether shampoo on a bald head would produce bubbles.

“Sorry. They seem extremely fixated on this kind of thing.”

Katsuragi was rather helpless. As he rubbed, a layer of white foam rose on top of his head, making it look like he’d put on a wig. Combined with his tall frame, it looked a little comical.

“Then, since there’s no other opponent, from now on, I am the true king of the first years.”

Amid the chatter, Sudo Ken, still firmly holding first place, planted both hands on his hips, puffed out his chest, and prepared to declare his final victory.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re a lower-tier class. Don’t think you can beat Katsuragi-aniki. Katsuragi-aniki is the strongest!”

Totsuka Yahiko immediately jumped out and loudly retorted. At the same time, he turned to look at Katsuragi, silently washing his head nearby, and said impatiently: “Sa! Katsuragi-aniki, let them see what you’ve got!”

“Yahiko,” Katsuragi paused, picked up the showerhead, and rinsed the foam off his head with a whoosh, “I have no interest in this kind of boring contest.”

“Don’t be so rigid, Katsuragi.” Hashimoto leaned over with a grin, needling him. “As the leader of our Class A, you have to step up and fight as a member of Class A!”

“Yeah, for our Class A!”

Suddenly, an extremely arrogant voice came from the steam-filled bathhouse. “Heh heh, Katsuragi, why don’t you show the Class A guys what you’ve got? Then they’ll realize Class C is the strongest. In strength, and in everything else.”

Everyone turned toward the sound. There was Ryuen, a white towel on his head, both hands spread on the edge of the bath, soaking leisurely.

“Ryuen, so you were here too?” Katsuragi furrowed his browless forehead.

“I’ve been here from the start. It’s just that those guys were too useless, so I had no interest in participating. However,” Ryuen pulled the towel off his head, turned to look at Katsuragi, and his mouth split into a cruel smile, “you’re qualified to be my prey.”

Fuyuji: “…”

Ryuen, you bastard, how do you manage to make a childish size contest sound so chuunibyou?

“Ryuen, you bastard, what did you say?!” Sudo glared furiously.

Katsuragi crossed his arms and said in a deep voice, “You want to get in on this too?”

“What’s wrong?” Ryuen rose from the bath and walked in front of Katsuragi, looking him straight in the eye. “Don’t you dare?”

“Katsuragi, if you don’t step up, it’s going to be hard to face the class tomorrow, you know.” Hashimoto added fuel to the fire.

“…”

Katsuragi lowered his head and let out a long sigh. After a long silence, when he raised his head again, his expression was utterly serious. “In that case, bearing the honor of Class A, I absolutely cannot lose!”

“Watch me take you all down at once!” Sudo stepped forward, closing in on the two.

In the center of the bathhouse, the three formed a triangle, facing off against each other. Countless sparks burst from their eyes, colliding fiercely in midair.

In that moment, the entire bathhouse fell silent. A chilling, murderous aura filled the air.

In the blink of an eye, a drop of water fell from the faucet, landing right in the bath with a clear drip.

The three of them focused their gazes at the same time, reached for the towels at their waists, and shouted in unison:

“Duel!” x3

The moment their eyes met, it was a duel. Three pure white towels flew into the air.

Dun! Dun! Dun!

“It’s actually…” Yamauchi the elder said, his voice trembling, “a tie?!”

After the contest, Sudo showed admiration. “Not bad, Katsuragi. I acknowledge your status as Class A’s ace.”

“That settles it then.” Katsuragi let out a breath of relief. “I’ll head off first—”

“Wait!”

Ryuen, who had been silent all this while, let out a cold laugh and decisively stopped Katsuragi from leaving.

“Who said it’s over?”

“Hey, Ryuen, you bastard, have some sportsmanship, would you?” Sudo glared at him. “No matter how long you wait, it’s not going to get bigger.”

The moment the words left his mouth, a burst of laughter rose around them.

“Who said the one competing is me?”

Ryuen’s mouth curved into a victorious smile. He clapped his hands twice.

“Albert!”

“Boss!” A low, rumbling voice like distant thunder answered.

Even in the bathhouse, Albert, wearing his sunglasses, appeared behind Ryuen. The shadow cast by his iron-tower-like body completely covered Ryuen.

“Hey hey!” A drop of cold sweat slid down Shibata So’s forehead. He looked up at Yamada Albert’s body. “Th-this is cheating, isn’t it?”

“Th-this is way too underhanded, isn’t it?” Even the usually arrogant Sudo couldn’t help wavering.

“What nonsense. Isn’t Albert part of our Class C?” Ryuen, victory in hand, waved his hand grandly. “Go, Albert. Completely annihilate their hopes.”

“OK!”

A dozen or so seconds later, faced with the enormous racial disparity, Sudo dropped to his knees with a thud.

“I… lose…”

Faced with such overwhelming, absolute power, Yamauchi and the other onlooking students lost their will to fight as well, dropping to their knees one after another.

“How can this be? Are we really doomed to fall only at Albert’s hands?”

“Hmph haha! You all seem to be doing something delightfully childlike.”

Accompanied by that same exaggerated laughter, Kouenji Rokusuke’s flamboyant blond hair surfaced in the steam-filled bathhouse. Hands on his hips, head high, chest out, he stood up.

It seemed he had been waiting for quite a while, ready to jump out at the last moment and harvest the fruits of victory.

“What? Coming out now is already too late. Don’t tell me you’re confident you can fight Albert?” Sudo pounded the floor in frustration.

“Of course!” Kouenji flipped his hair, accepting the challenge with ease. “It’s fun to play with you all once in a while.”

“Heh!” Ryuen sneered. “Save your big talk, Kouenji Rokusuke.”

“Whether it’s big talk will be clear soon enough…” Kouenji said with full confidence.

At this moment, Fuyuji, having finished his bath and soaked until his skin was pink, let out a comfortable sigh and silently stood up.

“Leaving so soon?” Kanzaki, soaking nearby, asked.

“About time.” Fuyuji yawned and stood up lazily. Warm water slid down the lines of his firm muscles. “Actually, I’m not used to soaking for too long.”

He stretched his limbs, his bones giving a faint crack. He’d eaten his fill of the drama. This bath was like a monster spawner, one after another popping out. Who knew what other demons and gods might run out.

Stretching done, Fuyuji didn’t linger. He stepped through the warm water, and his figure quickly vanished into the vast white mist.

At the same time, accompanied by Yamada Albert’s shocked “Oh! My god!”, the entire bathhouse erupted into deafening cheers, celebrating the birth of a king.

“Kouenji! Kouenji! Kouenji!”

“King! King! King!”

“King! King! King!”

Amid the fanatical students’ tsunami-like cheers, Kouenji spread his arms, head held high, as if bathed in an invisible spotlight.

“Hmph haha, everyone, do you understand now? Kouenji Rokusuke is just that perfect a man.”

With that, like a triumphant monarch, he stepped out of the bath with a victor’s stride, crossed the floor, and headed toward the changing room. Every step seemed to land on an invisible red carpet.

Amid his laughter, the two of them unexpectedly met by the lockers in the changing room.

“Hmph haha.” Kouenji raised an eyebrow, water droplets from his hair falling onto his broad shoulders. He spoke in a pleased mood. “Isn’t this the interesting boy? I thought you’d be like those guys, having a magnificent world war.”

“I’m not interested in this kind of thing.” Fuyuji opened his locker and took out his clothes.

“True enough.” Kouenji nodded with full confidence and casually undid the clasp of the towel at his waist, preparing to change into his own clothes. “After all, with the most perfect man, me, around, all resistance is nothing but fut—”

His proud voice cut off abruptly. The towel dropped to the floor. Kouenji’s eyes instinctively widened, wider and wider, until his smug expression froze on his face and his mouth hung open.

In the blink of an eye, Fuyuji had already neatly pulled on his pants, straightened his clothes, and turned to head straight for the bathhouse exit. The door hinge gave a faint creak, then the cold wind from outside rushed in, and the door closed with a light bang, leaving Kouenji Rokusuke standing naked and alone on the cold tile floor, facing the row of silent lockers.

About a minute later, the clamor of the bathhouse gradually subsided. A group of boys filed out of the bath, chatting and laughing, only to catch sight of Kouenji sitting dumbly on the bench in the changing room. They couldn’t help but ask in surprise:

“King, why are you still here?”

On the bench, Kouenji hung his head low. His wet blond hair clung messily to his forehead. A towel was draped limply on either side of his neck, hanging without strength.

“A man as perfect as me actually… lost…”

The laughter and chatter in the crowd stopped instantly. The entire changing room fell into dead silence.

Then it exploded. Shocked expressions appeared on everyone’s faces. All eyes, like searchlights, turned in unison toward the bathhouse exit.

“What?!”

“Impossible!”

“In this whole grade, there’s actually an existence stronger than Kouenji?!”

Remembering Kouenji’s overwhelming power, one student in the crowd tremblingly reached a conclusion.

“This is an emperor! This is Advanced Nurturing’s Shadow Emperor!”

Outside the bathhouse, the night had deepened.

The biting cold wind howled past, scraping at their faces like little knives. Standing outside the door, Fuyuji shook his head helplessly.

“Childish bunch…”

With that, he strode into the cold wind with the bearing of a dragon and the stride of a tiger.