Disclaimer: Just in case any of you didn't notice it before, I would like to inform you that I do not own Kyou Kara Maou or any of its characters!

A Lesson

"Yikes Gunter!" exclaimed Yuri, the recently crowned young king of Shin Makoku, "What is it, already?!" He had just jerked up from a drooping position in his chair, his head resting on the study-table in front of him, cradled between his folded arms. "Your Majesty!" moaned the lilac haired advisor who had just finished jabbing Yuri with the quill that had dropped out from between the sleeping monarch's slacking fingers. "How could you fall asleep in between such an important lesson?!" he asked incredulously. "I had just been telling you how Shinou Heika, the Great One, along with his most trusted advisor, the Daikenja, and the twelve other Lords, ultimately managed to seal off Soushu in the four Forbidden Boxes which finally brought peace and stability back to our Great Demon Kingdom!" he finished, pulling off a dramatic, long drawn sigh at the finale for 'special effects'.

"Oh!" groaned Yuri, rubbing his eyes after a fine little beauty nap amidst the older man's ramblings about Shin Makoku's history. "But all this is so boring!" the double black complained yawning. "Your Majesty!" Gunter sounded quite shocked and disoriented. "How could you even say such a thing?!" He inquired, eyes bulging in disbelief, as if he had just encountered a ghost. "It is due to the Great One alone that today we live in peace and harmony, without the necessity of constant warfare and bloodshed!" he exclaimed anxiously. "Peace? Harmony?" repeated Yuri, opening one eye to stare at the man fidgeting anxiously opposite him. "What's with the adjectives?" he asked in astonishment. "I always thought you guys were at constant loggerheads with all the human nations around. So why this sudden drastic change of opinions? Didn't you sleep well last night?" he wondered aloud.

"Your Majesty!" cried a much disturbed Gunter. "You mustn't joke about such things." He reprimanded. "This is no jesting matter! The Soushu was an enemy far more powerful and formidable than a bunch of petty humans!" he said, surprised at their king's naivety. "The Final Battle is a very important event indeed in Mazoku history. You need to know it in full details in order to be a good king of our sacred nation!" he completed his long speech with a final little huff. "How so?" inquired Yuri, confused as ever. "This was all in the past, right? So how does it have any bearing to either the present or the future? What happened was really sad and all those lives lost are to be regretted, but after all, we can hardly change what has happened." Yuri stated innocently. "Sad! Regretted!" Gunter practically screamed in his frustration. "Do you not realize, Your Majesty, that it was one of the happiest and most memorable times in the history of the Mazoku?" he asked, partly exhausted and partly incredulous. "The Great One had saved our world from utter destruction. What were a few lives in comparison to such calamity?!" he asked rhetorically. Yuri simply blinked.

"Perhaps, Lord von Kleist," a calm voice issuing from the doorway interrupted their chit-chat. "All this would be a little more interesting to our amateur friend should it come right from the horse's mouth. I flatter myself that, having been directly on the scene of action, I would also be able to produce a more factually flawless version of our final encounter with the Soushu's army and what followed afterwards." Remarked the Great Sage in the teenaged boy's body levelly. "Hey Murata!" exclaimed Yuri; "Your Highness!" cried Gunter, both with an equal level of jubilance. "What an honor this is!" continued the latter. "To think you would actually spare your precious time to train our young Majesty to lead his country's future into greatness and glory! I am truly humbled and grateful to the Shinou for having sent his Highness once again to spread his blessings unto our humble Lands!" he finally finished, looking up at the ceiling as if he could see the Original King there, instead of white concrete.

Murata smirked, that mysterious light flashing off his glasses. "Well, not exactly;" he commented. "Actually, I just heard Yuri trying to beat his skull open from the adjacent room, which unfortunately happens to be mine; and came to see for myself what the commotion was all about. After all, I do like to get first-hand information!" "No problem bro," interrupted Yuri, delighted by the new arrival. "I'm sure Gunter wouldn't mind you telling me the story instead." "Why, of course not, Your Majesty." put in the teacher in question. "It would be a pleasure and an honor indeed to listen to His Highness' account of what really occurred during the legendry Final Battle!" "I'm afraid you might experience some disappointment, Lord von Kleist. The actual campaign was by no means as enticing or happening as the modern historians seem to find it. Nonetheless, I would be happy to give you a first-hand account of it and of that which followed directly afterward. If, that is, Yuri would be interested in such a divergence from the printed word." He aimed at his friend with a smile. "The 'printed word' has never exactly been my favorite," replied Yuri morosely. "Go on pal." He encouraged. "As you wish, Your Majesty" shot back Murata!