Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 560

Ludwig did not get angry or upset at Cliffman’s insult. He was not the type to react that way. Instead, he focused on sparring.

Thud!

.

.

Bang!

.

.

Smack!

.

.

Whack!

.

.

It was painful to watch. Cliffman faced Ludwig without using Mana Reinforcement.

Although Ludwig was enveloped in blue mana, he could not even touch Cliffman.

Missing an arm, Ludwig’s superhuman agility and strength became a hindrance. He could not even close the distance properly as his balance was off, making his movements awkward.

Cliffman, without any weapons, used Ludwig’s strength against him, flipping him over, throwing him, and tripping him. He relentlessly attacked Ludwig’s open right side, targeting his weakness.

Cliffman toyed with Ludwig without even using Mana Reinforcement.

Ludwig’s sword, held in his left hand, could not touch any part of Cliffman. Instead, it seemed like the sword itself was a penalty for Ludwig, as Cliffman used the trajectory of Ludwig’s sword against him, grabbing it or kicking it away and subduing Ludwig.

Using a weapon had become a disadvantage.

“You were strong before... but it seems you’ve gotten even stronger, Cliffman,” Ludwig said, smiling awkwardly as he used his left arm to push himself off the ground.

Cliffman neither smiled nor got angry.

“You know that’s not true.”

“...”

“You’ve just gotten weaker. Pathetically so.”

Ludwig had nothing to say to Cliffman’s harsh criticism.

If Ludwig was still whole, Cliffman would not have been able to overwhelm him like this without using Mana Reinforcement.

“There are people who have mastered using only their left hand or right hand. It’s not unheard of. There have been one-armed swordsmen, even among Swordmasters,” Cliffman said. “But you only have two, maybe three months at most. Reaching that level in such a short time is impossible. It’s an unrealistic goal.”

Ludwig needed to adapt his fighting style to his changed body. He might be able to become a master of left-handed swordsmanship, capable of slaughtering monsters while wielding a sword in only one hand, but it would take him ten or twenty years.

Unfortunately, time was not on his side. Gaining the skill to fight effectively in just two months was not arrogance or overconfidence; it was merely the delusion of an overly optimistic fool.

“I have to do something. I can’t just give up. Even if I die, if I can save at least one person...”

“Didn’t I hear someone say that if you hadn’t been there, Delphine wouldn’t have died?”

Ludwig glared silently at Cliffman.

Cliffman, who had once been terrible at dealing with people, had grown into someone who was comfortable speaking so harshly.

Too many deaths had changed everyone, and Cliffman was no exception.

“If I say that you overexerted yourself trying to save Scarlett, and then Delphine died trying to save you, would that be offensive?”

Ludwig nodded calmly. “It’s not offensive. It’s the truth.”

Ludwig himself had thought about what Cliffman said more than anyone else. That was probably the source of his self-criticism. Therefore, he was not angered by Cliffman’s words.

“Yes. I killed Delphine. It’s all my fault. My weakness—”

“If you know it’s your fault, then you shouldn’t make more mistakes.”

“Right. So I’m trying to find something I can do, even in this state...”

“That itself is another mistake.”

Cliffman shook his head. “If you try to do something in this state and end up dying, are you going to comfort yourself by saying you tried your best?”

“Have you thought about how the people left behind will feel? You know what it’s like to be left behind, so if you die fighting while in this state, how do you think others will feel?”

Cliffman paused, then said, “Ludwig, you seem to plan on hitting this training dummy until winter ends, but don’t. The best thing you can do is return to the capital. Stop acting like someone who’s about to die and go back to a place without battles.”

Cliffman’s words were understandable.

Doing nothing was helping. If Ludwig died like this, it would only make things harder for others.

Cliffman, who knew Ludwig’s nature, approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking him straight in the eye.

“You’re considerate, aren’t you? Kind, unable to say harsh words to anyone. Isn’t that right?”

Consideration.

Kindness.

“Right now, you need to consider us.”

Ludwig remained silent.

“You’re having a very negative impact on the entire atmosphere of the Royal Class garrison.”

An obsession with fighting that bordered on madness...

Struggling and getting up with gritted teeth despite being one-armed, trying desperately to do something...

People did not see the greatness of humanity in that image. They only saw a one-armed man floundering about in despair.

People despaired when they saw Ludwig now.

“Killing one more monster like this isn’t being considerate to us, nor will it help anyone. Going back to the capital will be. Keeping yourself alive will at least give us hope. So we can know that you’re safe, that you’re in a safe place.

“Go back.”

The thought that he was being a burden to others likely never crossed Ludwig’s mind. He did not realize how much his behavior, how acting like someone about to die, was making things difficult for others.

Ludwig did not know how to give up. But fundamentally, he was kind and tried to be considerate of others.

‘It’s better if you’re not here.’

That was the way for him to be considerate, so he had to give up.

Ludwig could not refute Cliffman’s words.

***

After unloading on Ludwig, Cliffman left.

Only Ludwig remained on the dimly lit training grounds. As Cliffman had said, Ludwig’s actions only cast a looming shadow of death.

Death was all there was to be found in Ludwig’s desperation. Therefore, those around him could not help but think that Ludwig would die soon, and feel sorry for him. That was harmful to everyone.

If his actions only affected himself, Ludwig would continue to be stubborn. But Cliffman’s words made Ludwig realize that his stubbornness was also harming others.

After standing silently in the training grounds for a while, Ludwig hung his sword in the armory and left.

I did not know if Ludwig would give up his stubbornness and quietly return to the capital or continue to fight. However, it was clear that he was thinking about how his actions—running toward an obvious death—would affect others, and how they would feel if he really died.

***

After observing Ludwig, I continued to wander around the Royal Class garrison.

“Oh, you’re here,” said Adriana when she saw me.

She crouched down and gently patted my head. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

Adriana’s slight smile was tinged with deep sadness.

The death of Ard de Gritius... Ard and Adriana’s relationship was a strange one, one that was not characterized as “just friends,” but regardless of whether they were friends or not, they were comrades who had fought battles side by side.

It was natural for Adriana to mourn his death.

Ard and I had clashed initially, but after apologies were exchanged, there was no lingering resentment. I even thought he was a good guy in the end.

Adriana patted me a few more times before heading off.

Naturally, just because someone died and disappeared did not mean those who left behind cried every day. It’s impossible to spend every moment weeping and mourning. They can still smile, have pleasant conversations, and even sing songs. But even if they don’t cry every day, the shadow accumulates.

I saw that shadow of indelible sorrow gradually clouding over everyone’s complexion, and it had especially darkened Adriana’s face.

***

Ellen was not in the garrison, or at least not in her tent when I entered.

‘No wonder I couldn’t find her anywhere.’

I was curious about how Ellen was faring, but I had gone to the Allied camp to assess the overall situation of the Royal Class garrison and to gather information. Thus, after confirming that Ellen’s tent was empty, I continued to look around.

The most important thing at this point was the situation regarding the Empire’s possible reanimation of the dead.

What had happened to the bodies in the Imperial Mausoleum? And what about the bodies that had been swapped out at the national cemetery? What was happening to the bodies of those who died in battle?

If work or experiments of this nature were indeed taking place, where in this allied garrison were they concealing such secret activities?

I had various assumptions, but had not seen anything with my own eyes to confirm my suspicions.

In the case of the Titan that Adelia and the Grand Duke had developed, I had already obtained information in advance.

While I didn’t know the detailed technology behind it or how it had been created, the fact that a giant weapon was being made had not been a closely-guarded secret. In fact, since the creation of such a weapon would greatly boost morale once completed, there was no need for it to be a secret.

Many soldiers who had seen Titan’s majesty and how it had crushed the enemies in its path would have felt a sense of hope.

But resurrecting corpses... Whether they were turned into Death Knights or something else, such a thing had to be top secret. That was why neither Sarkegar nor I had been able to glean any information about it.

The frightening fact was this: what if the deceased members of the Royal Class were also resurrected as Death Knights?

Ard and Delphine’s bodies had not been found, but first-year student Cadina Ein’s body had been recovered.

I didn’t know how the funerals had been conducted, but it was possible that their bodies might have been swapped somehow and then turned into Death Knights.

How would people react if they found out that their deceased friends had become Death Knights?

A more terrifying speculation emerged as well: in the absence of the power of Kier, creating undead and controlling them likely involved dark magic.

B-6 Anna de Gerna was a girl with talent in dark magic, who used her powers to raise dead monsters to fight on the battlefield.

I saw that her tent was empty.

Even though it was late, she had not returned.

***

I couldn’t be sure if Anna was involved in the project or not, but would they include a twenty-year-old mage in such an important and secretive project, regardless of her talent?

Perhaps it didn’t matter. Anna had already proven her abilities by assisting Cristina in making Moonshine. And besides, calling twenty-year-olds rookies was meaningless when Adelia had been roped in to play a decisive role in the creation of Titan, despite the empire having the knowledge of the Grand Duke and the Saint-Ouen Principality.

These second-year students from the Temple were special, even within the Royal Class.

The magic club comprising second-year students—with one third-year student—had already created two artifacts that would go down in history during their student days, and contributed to the creation of Titan.

These second-year students of the Royal Class were very special oddities in the long history of the Temple, so the possibility that Anna de Gerna, with her talent in dark magic, was involved in the Empire’s secret project was very high.

I had had no choice but to get Connor Lint’s cooperation during our operation to create Death Knights, and there was no law saying the Empire wouldn’t make the same proposal to Anna.

They could ask her to resurrect the bodies of the fallen soldiers, telling her that there was no other choice.

Moreover, the Temple had its own dark mages that ran a dark magic curriculum, so Anna wasn’t the only available dark mage.

I looked inside Anna’s empty tent.

Where did she go? Would she return?

I searched inside her tent, which was open, but of course, there was nothing lying around that showed me any proper information.

Sneeze...

And then, I accidentally inhaled some catnip in the tent and was stunned for about thirty minutes.

***

‘Damn it.’

Anna’s tent was a minefield for me in a very different way.

I had a poison resistance trait, so why didn’t it work on catnip?

I barely escaped Anna’s tent after getting away from the catnip leaves.

‘If Anna isn’t returning even though it’s late, could she be staying in some laboratory or something all winter?’

As I staggered out of Anna’s tent, I heard the clanking of armor from afar.

—Thank you for your hard work, Hero.

A small pause.

—Yes.

Ellen, fully armored, was returning to the Royal Class garrison. Judging by her appearance, she had just completed a mission and was finally returning at this late hour.

Meow.

“Ah...”

Hearing the distant cry, Ellen quickened her pace slightly.

Ellen saw me in front of Anna’s tent. A look of realization crossed her face, as if she’d remembered something she had forgotten.

Given how busy she was, it was clear she had no time to spare for idle thoughts or worry.

Ellen approached me in her armor, but hesitated as she tried to touch me. She looked at her gloves. They were covered in dried bloodstains.

Had she been hunting monsters?

Swipe.

She carefully removed her metal gloves and gently tickled my nose.

Honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered if she hadn’t removed them, but she seemed worried about causing me any harm.

Her hands were still pale and slender under her gloves. She used those hands to touch my nose a few times.

“Have you been well...?”

She started to speak, but then closed her mouth. Perhaps she thought that such a question did not suit the reality around her.

“You’ve grown a lot.”

Meow.

Ellen petted me a few times and then looked towards her tent.

“It must be cold. Let’s go inside.”

Meow.

Ellen’s breath was misting in the cold air. It was undeniably cold.

Ellen led the way, and I followed.

‘I wasn’t going to get any information about Anna tonight anyway.’

Like everyone else, an indelible shadow covered Ellen’s face.

How were the spirits affecting her? The more mental strain Ellen was under, the harder it would be for her to endure their presence. Still, there would be no major battles during this winter, so there would be relatively fewer deaths.

Entering the tent, Ellen removed her armor and inner layers of clothing as she headed for the bathroom.

Just as she was about to enter, she turned to look at me.

“Do you want to take a bat—”

Meow!

“I guess you still don’t like that idea.”

Ellen didn’t insist, and headed into the bathroom alone.

‘According to my human-cat logic, I’m currently not Reinhart but a cat, so it wouldn’t matter if I went in with her. But no, that’s not right!’

Under the bright lights of the tent, I could see that Ellen’s gloves weren’t the only things stained dark with blood. Her armor was also covered in it. She hadn’t gotten all that blood by fighting a single monster. It must have been a pack of them.

Even while the rest of the army was gathering its strength, people like Ellen and Sabioleen Tana would have no time to rest.

I sat on the cot, waiting for Ellen to finish her bath.

Every time I found myself in this situation, I couldn’t help but think.

‘If everything gets resolved in the best possible way later on, whatever that means, whether we manage to reconcile or something else... If everything gets resolved, and Ellen finds out this cat was me... Wouldn’t that just be a death sentence?’

Honestly, I wouldn’t have much to say in my defense.

This was a bizarrely perverted act, wasn’t it?

Even if everything gets resolved, if word got out that I was doing this, wouldn’t I have to face a moment of punishment?

Thinking about it, I found it amusing. Worrying about getting caught for something like this when I didn’t even know how things would turn out...

If everything could be resolved well, I wouldn’t care if this kind of thing got exposed a thousand times.

Lost in such complicated thoughts, I yawned like a cat, and soon, Ellen returned.

Ellen, now dressed in comfortable clothes and slippers, sat on the cot for a moment and placed me on her lap. Then she began to stroke her hand along my back.

It felt nice.

‘Maybe it’s because I’m a cat...?’

It was a bit strange, but anyway, it was nice, and, well, it also felt a little weird.

‘If I get caught, I’d definitely be executed, right...?’

Even in casual clothes, the unknown talisman remained hanging around Ellen’s neck.

Was that talisman protecting Ellen somehow? Or was it just that Ellen was strong and special enough to endure? I didn’t know. But Ellen was still here.

Ellen looked down at me as I lay in her lap.

“I forgot.”

Meow.

Maybe she had completely forgotten about letting a cat into her tent and petting it.

It wasn’t that she’d forgotten, just that she had no time to think about it.

There was too much to worry about, and even after the decisive battle, Ellen still had many responsibilities.

That explained the sudden look of realization Ellen had when she saw me in cat form, as if she had remembered something long forgotten.

Ellen lifted me up to look into my eyes.

Ellen tilted her head.

“Should I apologize to you?”

I stared back at her silently.

“It feels strange.”

Meow.

“When I think I’m glad you’re safe... it feels like I shouldn’t.”

Too many had died in the previous battle, and even the Royal Class had suffered casualties.

Ellen seemed to feel guilty about being glad for the safety of a mere cat.

Something had survived this battle, and feeling glad about that survival seemed to bring Ellen guilt.

How much pressure and responsibility was Ellen feeling to think that being glad something survived was a sin? There was no way that something surviving was a sin, and Ellen knew that.

Ellen held me close. “There are people in this world who shouldn’t have been born. People who would have been better off not being born.”

Was her mind already consumed with such thoughts?

Because we all felt responsible for each other, we ended up wishing we hadn’t existed. We wished for a world where we never existed in the first place. Both Ellen and I ended up thinking the same thing.

“If only I were small like you, so small... It would have been better.”

She had made such a significant impact on the world, and it had been so terribly negative. Yet, she was in a position where she had to clean up the mess.

Ellen seemed to long for insignificance. If she were insignificant, she would have only had an insignificant impact on the world, and none of this would have happened.

“It would have been better if I were a nobody... It would have been much better...”

Ellen’s words were both arrogant and also unbearably sad.