Demi-human Girls Completion Manual
Chapter 97 - 22. Fall Semester

Chapter 97: 22. Fall Semester

Several more days had passed, and after the hottest time in Saint Nali was over, a continuous rain began to fall. The rain came down, but the annoying humidity lingered, like a nightmare entwined around the head of every Nali person, and it also made those enterprises selling cooling magic fabulously wealthy.

Fortunately, the weather on the opening day of the autumn semester was quite nice. Early in the morning, Fisher had changed into his suit and packed his speech into his pocket, ready to depart for the Royal College to deliver the opening address. From tomorrow on, all schools in Saint Nali would begin their lessons.

Sitting on the tram heading to the Royal College, Fisher’s thoughts drifted back to the Witch Research Association case a few days ago. He was particularly concerned about the information divulged by the informant.

Since Renie was not the "Undead Witch" he was looking for, could it be possible that the witch who had escaped from the Witch Research Association was the one prophesied to inscribe humanity’s epitaph? Fisher could not be certain, but now that he had a clue about the Doomsday Prophecy, he decided to pay more attention.

With Fisher’s assistance, they had basically confirmed that the murder case was the doing of the Witch Research Association. Fisher surmised that the Undead Witch must have fled to Nali, and the Witch Research Association’s people were sent to bring back the escaped witch, likely still not having found her.

Fisher wanted to find this witch before the Witch Research Association did, which might require a little help from an "old friend."

His thoughts paused there because the tram station nearest the Royal College had arrived. Fisher greeted the passengers next to him and squeezed out of the crowded station, with many students alighting with him.

The Royal College now had regained its liveliness and was no longer the quiet place it used to be, except for a few researchers who looked dazed and had nothing else. Many young students, just like those from Saint Nali University, gathered at the school’s entrance, huddling in groups, horsing around and chatting with one another, because today was the opening ceremony of the autumn term, so they were all dressed in uniform black formal attire.

Elegantly dressed in his Nali suit and holding his Handcane, Fisher hurriedly approached the opening ceremony site of the Royal College, bypassing many professors and researchers who were sizing him up, and walked directly to the front of the venue. There, Helson and Damian, also dressed in black ceremonial robes, were sitting in the frontmost positions.

There were also several other college deans present. Of the six deans in attendance, aside from Helson who was spared from Fisher’s graduation insults, the rest had received their fair share of criticism. They treated this bright new star of the academic world with courteous smiles that hardly reached their eyes, a perfect example of surface-level etiquette.

"Mr. Fisher."

"Fisher..."

Fisher nodded at them, and then sat to the right of Damian. To Damian’s left was the smiling Helson, who was holding a box of pastries. He opened the box and offered to Fisher,

"Hey, Fisher, try the snow pastry my granddaughter made, it’s delicious."

"Thank you, teacher."

"Try it, try it, is it good?"

Fisher smiled, took a white, snowflake-shaped pastry, and after taking a bite, nearly gagged from the cloyingly sweet taste. He chewed stiffly, then faced an expectant Helson beside him. After struggling to swallow, Fisher replied,

"...Delicious."

"You see, Damian, I told you he and my granddaughter are a perfect match!"

"Enough, can’t you see his waxy expression? Only you and your granddaughter would like such a thing. Why don’t you just chew on raw sugar cane directly?"

"Oh, my, you’ve hurt me, Damian. I’ve decided I won’t say another word to you until the ceremony is over!"

Damian crossed his arms and remained silent, giving the impression of "I don’t want to talk to you either."

Fisher chuckled quietly and glanced at his watch. The ceremony would start in just a few minutes, and the scholars behind him were beginning to enter the venue and take their seats. They were seated in the middle to the back of the area, the professors and deans in front, and the researchers of the institute in the very back.

"Everyone! Silence!"

As the time was almost right, the solidly built Damian took the stage first, grabbing the microphone stand from the floor. Perhaps he hadn’t looked closely at the specific design of the venue, for when he yanked it forcefully, the nail that held it to the ground flew out, causing him to look at the floor in bewilderment.

Beside him, Helson stifled a laugh while stuffing another cookie into his mouth.

Whether it was his authoritative voice or his terrifying strength that frightened them, the scholars and institute researchers behind him all went silent.

"Starting today, the autumn semester of the 54th year of Gedelin IX is about to begin, and you all are about to embark on a busy and interesting term... But before we announce the start of a new term for our researchers and scholars, we have invited Mr. Fisher Benavides to give the opening speech for this new term..."

"Oh my! It’s that rebel!"

"Good heavens, who’s he going to berate this time?"

"I thought Damian had learned his lesson from the graduation ceremony, this old fool, he doesn’t care about his face at all!"

"Everyone, does anyone have earplugs?"

Compared to the researchers’ whispering, the bachelors below were quite indignant; they had all heard, more or less, about Fisher’s legend. For those still in their academic careers, young and aspiring, nothing was more alluring than the story of a rebel and intelligent senior!

Especially when that young and handsome Nali Gentleman in a suit went up to the stage, the bachelors behind him stirred up applause, heating the entire atmosphere of the venue.

Thus, in the seething crowd, no one noticed a woman wearing a light golden dress and a white western hat, who quietly took a seat at the back row. At the door, a number of Royal Soldiers with guns watched every person entering and leaving.

Under the western hat, a pair of light gold eyes with a warm smile were fixed on the young and promising Nali scholar, Fisher.

"Fisher!"

"The legendary Mr. of the Royal College!"

Facing the excited bachelors below, Fisher raised his hand to quiet them down,

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to be invited again by Principal Damien to stand on this podium that is all too familiar to me. Frankly, after that day six years ago, I thought I would have to say goodbye to this place."

His expression was nonchalant, but his words made the bachelors below burst into laughter.

"Back to the point, as the commencement speaker for the autumn term, tradition dictates that the speaker offers you some advice for the future, whether academic or personal. Today is no different; my topic is: ’Capital.’"

"Let’s start with a story. At Saint Nali, I had many close friends, among them a rather unusual friend who always kept 100,000 Narliou in one of his accounts."

"After many years of working, he never touched those Narliou. When I asked him out of curiosity, he said it was the ’capital’ that would allow him to boldly say ’get lost’ should his superiors ever bully or exploit him."

Fisher occasionally glanced at the speech below, but his gaze stayed mostly on the audience. Seeing them crack a smile at his words, he struck while the iron was hot and said,

"For a person, ’capital’ is the value of their very being, proof that they can stand tall, be themselves, and reject criticism without feeling wronged. Just like many years ago, I loudly declared here that all the deans were ’bones of the old era.’ Even though they were furious, they couldn’t deny my excellent academic achievements."

Principal Damien’s face darkened as he folded his arms. The veins bulged with anger under his gown, and Helson patted his shoulder before whispering to him,

"Calm down, this was your choice."

"..."

Damian took a deep breath and continued to watch Fisher on the stage, his face dark as ever.

"Just as now, I would have thought that those bones buried in the ground could nourish the grand trees of posterity, but it turns out they’re only feeding a bunch of flies drawn by the stench at the Academy..."

The faces of everyone at the Academy turned as dark as Principal Damien’s. They looked at Damian, who was silent in the front, and clenched their teeth without a word. But the scrutinizing stares of their juniors made them feel like they had thorns in their backs, and many of them, already weak from medication and the summer heat, even broke out in a cold sweat, shaking.

"They are bitter and angry, wanting to refute my criticism, wanting to shout that what I say isn’t true. But on closer thought, aside from the numbers on their bills after their weekly indulgences, they can find no scholarly achievements to counter my claims... As I said, they lack the ’capital.’"

"Of course, I am not advocating that you all act recklessly or arrogantly, but rather, I hope that you will enrich yourselves as much as possible in the limited time you have; decide who you want to become and what path you want to tread, lest you find yourself at a fork in the road without a ticket to board the train."

"The fact that I have criticized the Royal College for so long is true, but am I criticising the environment here, every brick, every tree? What makes the Royal College condemned are those worms that dampen spirits daily and those decaying bones that refuse to seek advancement. But that doesn’t mean that you, the new generation, should be the same."

"It’s time for you, I mean, the young you, to decide what she will be like in the future. Whether she drowns in pleasure every day in hell or becomes the exalted academic hall of all Saint Nali, it is not something that any political power or machinations can decide. It is always you, the members of the Royal College!"

Fisher gently crumpled the now finished speech in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the Academy members below who looked as if their kin had died, the contemplative members of the Griffin Party, those bright-eyed young bachelors... and the blonde lady at the end of the seats who was already starting to applaud softly for him.

He paused briefly, crumpling the paper in his hand carelessly, putting on his gentleman hat, and concluded,

"Classmates, happy beginnings of the term!"

What followed was thunderous applause that sent him off the stage.