"First, in third place, the Effort Award goes to the Magical Beast Division! Their magnificent and daring performances, and the opportunity they provided for demons to interact with magical beasts, were highly praised."
Ameri paused, then continued, "Next, in second place, the Amazing Award goes to the Magic Development Division! They built upon last year's continuous exploration of magic's possibilities with their 'Fusion Experiment of Simultaneously Used Magic' display. The novel concept of two demons jointly casting a single spell clearly piqued everyone's curiosity."
"Now, let's announce the rewards for the two excellent Divisions for now. The Magical Beast Division receives a'Special Luxurious Division Room'! The Magic Development Division receives 'Increased Funding and a Gift of Their Desired Item'."
Teacher Dali laughed as he presented the award to the head of the Magic Development Division, "It's second place again this year, isn't it?"
"Stop babbling and just give the award properly!"
"And now for this year's Special Award, the Division that received the most widespread acclaim during these two days of Division presentations is... the Art Division!"
Ameri continued, "The Art Division's display was, in fact, the displays of the other Divisions themselves! Their activity within the Divisions was outstanding, leading multiple Divisions to vote for them out of gratitude and respect. Congratulations to you all!" Ameri handed the microphone to the head of the Art Division.
The head of the Art Division took the microphone, looked at the students below, and took a deep breath.
"First, thank you all very much for voting for our Division. We are delighted by your recognition of our Division. However, our Art Division respectfully declines."
After the head finished speaking, the other members behind her cooperatively unfurled a banner. The two characters for 'declined' left the demons bewildered.
"Our Art Division exists to support other Divisions. To receive this honor by surpassing other Divisions would go against the original intention of our Division. Furthermore, and most importantly, I believe this award is mainly due to the excellent works created by Bim R. Judain and Bain Marni of this Division. Therefore, we are returning this award. We sincerely apologize for not recognizing their outstanding talents until now. Although we will not accept this award, please give their works Special Award-level praise and acclaim! The Art Division also asks for your continued guidance in the future!"
Upon hearing this, the demons below immediately held the head of the Magic Development Division in high esteem, followed by a wave of cheers. After a round of cheers, Kalego walked onto the stage.
"An incredibly peculiar phenomenon occurred in this vote. Everyone had the same idea, and then altered the result. Regret the award you yourselves created last year to your heart's content! The winner of the Cunning Award is... the Magic Tool Research Division!"
Seeing this, Shesi, Iruma, and a group of others walked onto the stage. In truth, everyone already knew the result because they had to prepare their speeches beforehand. However, Shesi and Iruma hadn't prepared, because simply looking up and accepting everyone's praise was the best approach.
Iruma looked at Kalego, who shook his head. Iruma then understood that it definitely wouldn't work, so he was about to say something to skip over the matter to avoid embarrassing the Teacher, but Kalego took the microphone.
"Normally, the prize for the Cunning Award is that the Division representative can advance one rank. However, Iruma, your rank cannot go up to [6]."
Upon hearing this, Azu below immediately showed his displeasure, "Lord Iruma's achievements are more than enough to advance to rank [6]! What's with all these trials? Really!"
Kalego offered no explanation and directly handed the microphone to Teacher Dali. After all, whoever came up with the idea of printing that tiny text should be the one to resolve it.
Teacher Dali looked at the demons below.
"Ah... it's like this, let me explain. Actually... setting up this prize to motivate students is a good idea, but... there's a limit to how much Babyls Teachers can bestow ranks upon students. Advancement to rank [6] and above requires passing a special test, 'Skala,' organized by the Demon World Central Authority, the Thirteen Crowns. Look closely, it's written in tiny letters here." Teacher Dali, fearing they wouldn't believe him, pulled out a magnifying glass to show everyone a line of tiny text in the bottom right corner of the announcement. Clearly, everyone wasn't buying it.
"That's a load of bull!"
"Do you think this kind of hindsight can fool us?"
"Give us our money back!"
Teacher Dali and Teacher Suki huddled together on stage.
"Please don't do this."
"Stop throwing juice!"
Seeing that the situation was dire, Teacher Dali immediately pulled out another piece of paper.
"Of course, the school isn't giving nothing at all. Because we are very satisfied with this outcome, the school will issue a recommendation letter for the special promotion test, 'Skala,' and will advise the Thirteen Crowns..."
The demons had thought Teacher Dali would come up with something good, but instead, he dropped a bombshell.
"Doesn't this still just mean saying a few words and then dumping everything on the people involved?"
"Evading responsibility!"
Teacher Dali and Teacher Suki were once again cornered by the students.
Of course, there were also those who were stirring up trouble.
"Since that's the case, why not reduce our homework!"
Upon hearing this, Teacher Dali even answered seriously, "Homework will not be reduced."
"Ahhh! Please don't throw marshmallows!"
All in all, the result was still quite good.
Sabnock Sylvia and Bain Marni, two demons, were promoted to rank [3].
Bim R. Judain was promoted to rank [4].
This result undoubtedly showed everyone's recognition of their achievements in the Division presentations. Sylvia also joined the Art Division at the same time. Teacher Bim, however, wasn't very interested in ranks. Teacher Bim's Galuna was decided to be collected by a famous art museum, and he is currently working on new creations with Teacher Zuo Yi. Perhaps... it won't be long until one can hear phrases like, "You mean that genius artist, Teacher Bim! He's super terrifying!" everywhere... In the hallway, Iruma held the recommendation letter, lost in thought.
"When would be a good time to go...? My brother aside, am I truly ready to challenge rank [6]?"
Suddenly, Iruma's shoulder was patted. Iruma turned his head and saw Eiko offering him a marshmallow.
"What's wrong, Iruma?" Eiko asked, smiling as she looked at Iruma.
"Eiko-chan!" Iruma laughed, took it, and then started chatting with her.
"Oh dear... what a shame. You could have been promoted to rank [6], but I didn't expect Teacher Dali to pull a stunt like that," Eiko said, expressing her indignation for Iruma.
Iruma smiled upon hearing this, then looked at Eiko, wanting to say something, but felt it wasn't easy to start... "Iruma-kun, you're advancing so quickly. In just one year, you've gone from rank [1] to rank [5], and you're even going to challenge rank [6], while I'm just stuck at rank [3]... Hey Iruma, will you... look down on me?" Eiko bravely looked at Iruma. Although she knew Iruma wasn't that kind of person, she was still worried. What right did she, a rank [3] demon, have to stay by the side of a rank [5] demon?
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