Arnest Flaming

"fem"

- It'd be fine if I let go now, it will be so much easier if I give in.. Who cares about family name and honor, or pride? It's not like I have any friends.... No! There is one.. I just made.. Blade. He lacks common sense,he's perverted, and he acts foolishly... He's the worst kind of guy, but... He's the only one who wasn't afraid of me, even when everybody else avoided me. He called me... A friend. I see... I was running too. I was afraid of making a mistake and hurting someone again... It's okay if I make a mistake. I have someone who will catch me if I fall.. I can hear his voice.. I've got him.. I must return, to where the person who believes in me is.. I'll fight.. This is my decision. Because this is my fight. I'm not alone. There's nothing binding me. I am... me. MY NAME IS ARNEST FLAMING.

is one of the main heroines of the Eiyū Kyōshitsu series (known by the fans as the Red Heroine), the eldest daughter and the next head of the House of Flaming. She is also the top student of Rosewood Academy and the current wielder of the demon sword Asmodeus.

Appearance
Arnest is an attractive, young female with red eyes and long, vermilion hair that extends up to the middle of her back. Before her liberation from the demon sword's curse, Arnest usually tied her hair from the back, pointing upwards with only two bangs left hanging from the side of her face. However, after liberating from the sword's curse, she abandoned the former hairstyle and began leaving her hair down. Before acquiring Asmodeus, Arnest had black hair which the sword's curse caused it's color to change.

She's usually seen wearing her school uniform, which consists of a white shirt covered by a light pink coat with buffed shoulders, a short skirt with black stockings and furry, white, winter boots with a black tongue. She also wears a belt around her waist to hold her cursed sword, Asmodeus.

Personality
Arnest is a strict and ferocious individual who holds great love and respect for her Academy, usually snapping immediately when anyone disrespects it in front of her. She also holds great dislike to her reputation and house and is always seen getting infuriated when others rank her above them, especially when they describe themselves as Commoners.

Even though she could be described as scary sometimes, she does possess a gentle side, as shown with the owl delivering her house's message, and could be described as a person of moral, accepting to be killed by Blade if the sword's murderous nature surfaces and possesses her again.

Arnest also gets embarrassed easily, showing a rather unusual face when Blade calls her his "friend" and she didn't seem as confident as she usually is while her entire face was flushed. Since that moment and onward, she is almost always seen flustered around Blade. Another example is when Leonard asked her if she changed her hairdo for Blade, causing her to flush in embarrassment, then asking Blade if he thinks it fits her.

House of Flaming
Despite being a member of the house, and its destined head, Arnest seems to dislike the house and doesn't take any pride in relating to it. She seems to have a good relationship with her mother however, being shown exchanging letters with her. In her youth and while she was controlled by the demon's curse, Arnest killed several members of the house, which might have raised some fear in the rest. The house on the other hand has great expectations of Arnest, as a member of the house and the top student of the academy, praising her for her continuous success.

Arnest's father, the General of Flaming also showed great care for his daughter when he sealed the sword away so that she does not have to be burdened with it, albeit failing to do so eventually.

Blade
Arnest first met Blade in front of the ladies restroom, where she quickly picked up a bad first impression of him. She grew a rather repulsive attitude towards him after learning of his transfer to the academy, with the King involved. She even went as far as trying to expose his "true colors", but ended failing as well. As time went, she gradually opened up to Blade and eventually they became very good friends, even accepting to be killed by him had she gone berserk, which also hints that she trusts him as well. After her liberation, she was shown calling Blade "Blade-kun", despite that being sort of a threat to the latter. However, she did show some signs of affection towards Blade, which the latter blatantly ignores much to her dismay.

King
Arnest knows King very well, for she immediately recognized him as opposed to the other students who did not recognize him. She respects him greatly and even accepted to show Blade around, despite not knowing who Blade is nor his intentions.

Claire
Arnest was first seen scolding Claire for calling herself a commoner, and seeing Arnest as someone much higher than her, which Arnest despises. Claire also fears Arnest greatly like the rest of the students.

Leonard
Arnest and Leonard are both Top Grade students at Rosewood Academy. Unlike the rest of the students, Leonard doesn't seem to fear Arnest and speaks to her casually. Arnest on the other hand doesn't seem to mind that, but does get annoyed by it sometimes.

Demon Sword Asmodeus
Asmodeus was Arnest's greatest source of fear and agony, she hated the sword and its spirit greatly. Arnest at first seemed well composed around Asmodeus when he manifests himself, but acted with great bravery when she confronted him in his inner world. She struggled greatly to release herself from its curse. After she liberated from the curse, she became rather bossy at the miniature Asmodeus who no longer posed any sort of threat to her, and beats him up whenever she gets the chance to do so.

History
At the age of 6, a young Arnest, curious as she was, stole her father's keys in order to check the room where the cursed sword Asmodeus was sealed away. Merely holding the sword, Arnest was instantly consumed by its curse, which changed her hair color from black to red (vermilion more precisely) which rarely happens, the very first head of the house being the only other one with the same occurrence. Consumed by the sword's murderous nature, Arnest went berserk and killed some of the residents of the House of Flaming before she passed out, waking up a while later in bed.

Transfer Student Arc
An owl enters Arnest's room, awaking her from her sleep. The owl turns out to be carrying a message from the House of Flaming which she throws away almost instantly before taking a shower and dressing up to head out to school. She is greeted to school by the students' casual chattering when a lower grade student, Claire stops her and tells her about a change in schedule.

Arnest is then utterly infuriated when Claire speaks highly of her and calls herself a commoner and scolds her for that, saying that just because she is a member of the House of Flaming does not mean she is higher than anyone else. She visits the restroom and washes her face, murmuring her thoughts when Asmodeus manifests behind her. However, he is quickly sealed away again and as she was exiting the restroom, she was greeted by Blade at the door, startling her.

Blade insists to stand in her way to the point where she couldn't hold in any longer and attempts to punch him with all her power. To her surprise, Blade easily evades the attack, making her question this mysterious guy when they are interrupted by the King who Arnest recognizes and immediately kneels before amidst the students' exclamations, introducing herself as the eldest daughter of the House of Flaming. The King then reveals that he's the new president of the academy, explains Blade's situation and asks Arnest to help him in his daily school life. Blade offers a handshake but is turned down by Arnest who scolds him instead, only to be cut off by his odd goal which only angers her even further.

She then appears in class angered while keeping an eye over Blade who tells Leonard that she's his 5th friend, and after glaring at the two males she approaches them, towering over Blade and telling him that it's time for the next class, training class. Arnest escorts him to the training grounds where she cancels the class, saying that she will test Blade's abilities instead.

She gives him a sword and tells him to cut down a magical armor made of Mithril and Obsidian Alloy. If he fails to cut it he will have to withdraw the school and leave, thinking by doing this she'll be able to expose his true colors. Blade asks how many times is this magical armor tougher than a normal iron armor, to which Arnest responds by falsely saying it's twice as tough before correcting it to 3 times. Blade then destroys the armor along with the school's magical barrier, much to her disbelief.

Later that day, she storms to her dorm, furious about earlier and decides to take a shower to cool herself down, thinking back to what happened, only to be interrupted by Blade who appears from the bathroom's window. Arnest quickly covers herself, calling him a pervert and a peeping criminal before attacking him with her cursed sword, which Blade easily stops with his bare hands and asks her about it, telling her that this sword is cursed. She questions how he knew and he responds by saying that he's encountered many items like it before, making it easy for him to recognize a cursed item like that just by looking. She denies it and asks him to leave before she kicks him out of the shower when Asmodeus appears again and tells her that Blade is interesting but also dangerous, saying that they should just slay him. Arnest responds that she won't allow the demon to do as it pleases.



Asmodeus Arc
The following day, Arnest remembers her past while training, telling herself to concentrate when she notices Blade correcting a student's swordplay which annoys her greatly. She is next seen in the school's cafeteria in her own table to which everyone refuses to sit at. Blade carrying too many dishes places them on the table and nonchalantly takes a seat to Arnest's table. She sarcastically comments that he's enjoying his school life and, as they continue chatting, tells him that she's avoided by the other students. Blade however isn't paying attention to her, inviting Claire and Jessica over who refuse which further annoys Arnest. Blade asks her with a sympathetic expression if she's being bullied but she quickly denies it, telling him that he's awfully casual, talking to her after what he did, peeping on her in the bath, dragging thus the other students' attention to them before eventually calming down.

Arnest proceeds to admit Blade's skill and power, struggling to say that he's easily the top of the Top-Grade and apologise for accusing him of cheating his way into the academy. Blade ignorantly inquires if she really said that, which she confirms. Blade tells her that whatever she's apologizing for is something he's already forgotten, meaning he doesn't really care about it that much so she needn't worry about it since they're friends. Arnest is surprised by his response, causing her to stutter and Blade proceeds to confirm her question, saying if they weren't, they wouldn't be eating together and that he's very grateful for her. He then continues by saying that he was worried about not making friends in the academy but when Arnest became his very first friend, he was able to open himself up to the rest of the class, and ultimately thanking her for helping him. Arnest stands up and walks away while Blade asks where she's going and if she doesn't want the rest of her food. Deducing that she doesn't, Blade prepares to eat from her plate when Arnest stops his hand, saying that she changed her mind before going back to her room.

Now inside her room, she tackles the owl, holding it tightly, and asks what to do, fancying over Blade calling her his "friend", saying that he's her first friend and wondering how she should interact with the latter the next day. Suddenly, a student walks in on her flustered, taking the documents and quickly storming out of Arnest's room yelling, something that made the female blush even more.

The following day, King has arranged a tournament for the students to compete against each other, with the final prize being the chance to face the Hero himself. Arnest is seen fighting Sophitia Femto almost evenly, however, as Leonard predicted, Arnest is able to defeat the girl with the cursed sword's power. She then calls out for her next challenger which is Blade and tells him to not hold back, but Blade tells her that she should quit since she's highly fatigued while he's still unscratched. Arnest tells him to not humiliate her and while she's speaking, she is consumed by Asmodeus who, inside his world asks her if she needs his power again which Arnest refuses, telling him that he will not have his way. Asmodeus threatens her before she wakes up at the academy's clinic. She hears some voices and steps off the bed to check them only to find Blade being seduced by The Doctor. Enraged, she hits the boy before he can finish asking her how she's doing. Later in the hallways, Blade explains himself and then asks her what happened, Arnest tells him to simply not tell anyone of what happened and then leaves the scene.

While in class the next day, Blade storms in and tells Arnest that he needs to speak with her. Arnest tells him to follow her and she takes him to her room. There, she treats him to coffee and thanks him for not telling anyone what happened the other day, and that she's willing to do anything to pay him back. However, Blade tells her to tell him the truth about Asmodeus without hindrance this time. Arnest agrees and stands up, showing him her vermilion hair and telling him that it was once black, but changed after she wielded the sword. She proceeds to fill him in on her past and about the massacre she caused 12 years ago. Blade tells her that he found a way to free her from the sword and tells her that if such thing repeats again, he will kill her, asking her if she has a problem with that plan however, Arnest replies that she doesn't.

Blade takes her to the Royal Library of Banned Literature, underneath the Royal Palace where he draws a magic circle on the ground and tells her to summon the demon. Arnest does as he says and is soon engulfed by the demon's aura, while Blade tells her that he believes in her, which Arnest returns. Now inside the demon's realm, he tells her that it's finally time for them to settle this as Arnest prepares for the worst.

Finally confronting the demon, Arnest is surprised by his true form and tells him that she is here to take control of him. Asmodeus tells her that he only exists solely for bringing forth destruction and havoc, and her body only exists for him to execute his desires with. Arnest protests and tells him that neither she nor her family will allow him to do that and the demon curses her and her family. Knowing her chances, Arnest offers him a deal, that she will allow him to cause destruction and havoc if he only does that under her command. However, Asmodeus refuses and repeats his purpose of existence. Arnest then provokes the demon by telling him that he's a male, and that it's natural he would speak with bravado and Asmodeus responds by causing her body to disintegrate. Surprised, Arnest calls him a coward and the demon tells her that the way she is now, she cannot overpower him.

Outside, a controlled Arnest attacks Blade; while inside, she is slowly giving in to the demon's will. Remembering that she has always held back her power despite being able to destroy anyone and everyone with ease, and deciding that it's time for her to let go. However, she remembers that she also has a friend waiting for outside for her, a friend she recently made and that friend is Blade, aggregating her courage, Arnest stands up and yells her name, grabbing the demon sword at long last. When she opens her eyes, she finds herself in Blade's embrace who tells her that it's over. Arnest asks him why she's in such position and why he didn't kill her, but Blade responds that this way works fine as well. She tells him that she could hear his voice when Asmodeus consumed her, and asks him who he really is, which Blade answers that he's just a commoner. He then welcomes her back.

The next morning, Arnest is getting ready for school when a miniature Asmodeus tells her that she will be late. She tells him that speaking highly doesn't suit his appearance. On her way, she tells the mini demon that she will not respond to him in public for people will think she's weird, since she is the only person who can see him. Asmodeus asks her why she didn't tie her hair up like always and Arnest responds that she just feels it's better this way for today. She is met by Blade at the entrance of the academy.

Arnest is seen joyfully speaking to another student, asking her about the day's class. She overhears Leonard and Blade's conversation and throws a knife at Blade, asking what the conversation is about, and Leonard asks her if she changed her hairstyle for Blade, which causes her to flush greatly and quickly denies, scolding the commenting Asmodeus whom only she can see. She then asks Blade if he thinks her new hairstyle fits her, but Blade bluntly says that he has no clue, proceedings to say that women's hair is weird. An annoyed Arnest says to Leonard that she will take his suggestion and begins to furiously throw knives at Blade, yelling at the elated boy before kicking the mini Asmodeus away for mocking her.

Overview
As the top student of the academy, Arnest is said to be powerful enough to outmatch a professor. This is proven in the tournament when she defeated several students along with Sophitia Femto, sustaining only very minor injuries. However, it was later proven by Blade that she was actually heavily fatigued.

Also as a member of the House of Flaming, Arnest has an iron will which she developed to resist the demon sword's curse and keep it in check. This was further proven when her strong resolve helped free her from the swords' curse and put it under her control.

Swordsmanship
Arnest is also a highly skilled swords master, having wielded Asmodeus as her primary weapon since childhood. She showed her abilities with the sword during her fight against Sophitia, and is capable of fending her off with ease.

Equipment and Weapons
Arnest's main weapon is the cursed sword Asmodeus, which has been passed down through generations of the House of Flaming.

Asmodeus originally belonged to the first head of the House of Flaming. It was since then passed down through generations of the house until it was Arnest's turn to possess it. Its curse is so powerful, the former heads of the House had to develop a strong, unbreakable resolve to make sure it does not consume them.

With Asmodeus, Arnest is seemingly unbeatable for her own league. It can generate massive black energy balls that are capable of severely damaging the person used upon.

Trivia

 * Araki has shown his original designs for Arnest, Blade, Sophitia and Kufurin early before he started the light novel. The sketches showed Arnest and the rest of the main characters along with their structure including age, body types and heights.
 * In a recent popularity poll made by Araki, Arnest was voted by the fans as the second most popular heroine in the series with 15 points.
 * When angry, Arnest gains a dark aura around her that greatly resembles that of Asmodeus's, but that could be for comical purposes.

Quotes

 * (To Claire): "Would you please stop addressing me as"-sama"? You and I are students in the same school are we not? We maybe of different grades, but as we are both students, my standing should not be any higher than yours!"
 * (To Blade): "This school is not a place that admits halfhearted, irresponsible and unmotivated people!"
 * (To Asmodeus): "You're a male aren't you? Of course you're going to puff out your chest with bravado, as men do."