Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 562

Mages were fundamentally intelligent individuals. No—it would be more accurate to say that only geniuses became mages. And yet, it was amusing how they exhibited such similar behavioral patterns.

They exhibited an obsessive compulsion for encryption and security, fearing that their research might be copied or stolen by someone else. This was likely because such incidents were all too common.

Even if Sarkegar could somehow secure the research documents held by individual mages, it would be impossible to determine whether they pertained to a joint project or were merely personal research notes.

This habit of encryption likely extended beyond just research documents. In the most unlucky of situations, the documents might turn out to be a personal diary unrelated to research at all.

Naturally, the places where the mages conducted actual experiments or research were thoroughly secured, and there were many such locations, so breaking into each one would take time.

I wondered if it was better to call on Connor Lint’s assistance, but I eventually returned to the Royal Class encampment. Wandering around and hoping to overhear something useful seemed like the best I could do.

Just like the day before, I inevitably ran into various people from the Royal Class.

"Huh? Oh, you're back. Where have you been all this time?"

Adelia, carrying a load of things in her arms, shifted her feet restlessly. She seemed eager to pat me but was too burdened to do so.

Despite being a key developer of Titan, which was sure to play a significant role in this war, she still appeared somewhat of an airhead.

Adelia would likely be extremely busy throughout the winter, maintaining and upgrading Titan. Some people, like Adelia, would probably be busier during these supposed rest days.

Adelia had a talent for summoning magic, but was essentially a non-combatant.

In the current reality, her magic crafting would be more beneficial for actual combat. Adelia seemed to have somewhere to go. With her arms full of items, she gave me a lingering look and left the Royal Class encampment.

Since her work throughout the winter would be related to Titan, following her was meaningless.

I wandered around the tents, focusing on any sounds coming from within them.

“Ludwig, even if you return to the capital, there are still things you can do.”

The voice coming from one of the tents belonged to someone whom I hadn’t heard from in a long time. It was Ms. Mustang.

Was it a counseling session?

I sat near the tent, concentrating on the voices.

“You've faced monsters many times, so you could work as an instructor at the training camp. You can also help with Mana Reinforcement training for Moonshine users, as you're quite skilled at it. These are meaningful, no, very important tasks. You know that.”

"Yes...”

Cliffman had harshly told Ludwig the day before to return to the rear, that the way he was acting, like someone who was desperately chasing death, was ruining the atmosphere in the camp. Ultimately, he didn't want Ludwig to die.

He knew that Ludwig was stubborn, and had told Ludwig that if he truly cared for others, it would be better for him to leave. However, Ms. Mustang took a different approach.

"You don't have to participate in battles and kill monsters to do something meaningful in this war. The logistics officers, training instructors, recruiters, and the support of those in the capital are what allow the Allied Forces to operate like this. Everyone knows how important their work is."

"Yes, it's important, of course... I don't disregard them or think they're unnecessary...”

Ms. Mustang seemed to be taking a gentle approach, trying to convince Ludwig that there were many things he could do behind the front lines and that their work was by no means less significant than what was done on the battlefield.

There were indeed things Ludwig could do.

As Ms. Mustang said, Ludwig had extensive experience dealing with monsters. Not just during this campaign, but ever since the start of the Gate Incident. Ludwig had survived nearly three years of fighting monsters. In that sense, he was a true veteran.

Monsters were unpredictable, but Ludwig had seen that unpredictability constantly, so he could teach new recruits or those unfamiliar with fighting monsters about it.

He could be an instructor, teach Mana Reinforcement, or even work with the capital's security forces.

In the vast refugee areas, even a single small monster could cause mass casualties.

While Ludwig's role in the Allied Forces, which had to face hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of powerful monsters, might be limited, in the capital, Ludwig could crush such insignificant monsters with his bare hands.

"Return to the capital. There are many things you can do there."

Ludwig remained silent.

I couldn't see the expressions of Ms. Mustang or Ludwig, but I sensed despair in Ludwig's silence.

The fact that he could no longer fight, and the sadness and guilt from feeling that his presence lowered the morale on the battlefield, was hard to think about.

In the end, Ludwig had lost an arm, and Delphine had died, but it was undeniable that he had saved Scarlett. Everyone knew that, but because they didn't want Ludwig to die, they were trying to send him back home, even if it meant forcing him to stop fighting.

I didn’t know if it was right to let him continue fighting and risk death because that was his wish, or whether it was right to treat him like a burden and forcibly send him to the rear.

"Ludwig, there's no need to decide in a hurry. The Allied Forces will stay in Serandia for a while. It might be a good idea to return to the capital, clear your head, and give this matter some thought."

"Yes... I'll think about it."

Ludwig wanted to stay on the battlefield, but no one else wanted that.

***

Ludwig had faced Cliffman's harsh words and Ms. Mustang's persuasion.

I watched from a distance as Ludwig, with a fallen expression, emerged from Ms. Mustang's tent.

What would happen to Ludwig now?

Perhaps it would be better if he completely withdrew from this war. He was reckless, and if left alone, he might die in the next battle.

I agreed with Ms. Mustang that remaining behind and training recruits and new soldiers was certainly meaningful.

Was the original protagonist going to exit the stage like this?

Leaving Ludwig's lonely figure behind, I continued to wander around the Royal Class encampment. Ellen wasn't there, and Anna hadn't returned.

I thought about calling Connor Lint again if things didn't work out, but he wasn't in the encampment either.

As I wandered around, listening to conversations here and there, I eventually found myself sitting on Adriana's lap, surrendering to her gentle touch as she scratched my chin.

"Want some?"

Meow.

As I accepted the jerky Adriana had torn into thin strips, I couldn’t help but wonder—had I really become some kind of animal?

Somehow, this was starting to feel... comfortable. And it made no sense that my mere presence was enough to earn such affection.

I hadn't saved anyone or achieved any feats in this form. Just wandering around and following the Allied Forces without dying seemed to earn me admiration.

How easy life must be for an animal—well, assuming it was cute.

Like everyone else here, Adriana was petting me while I sat on her lap, but she seemed to have a lot on her mind. Her expression was far from lighthearted.

She was sitting on a wooden box near the training grounds of the Royal Class encampment. Next to the box were the large hammer and shield she had been wielding. Adriana, who used to wield a sword, was now using a shield and hammer on this battlefield.

Superhumans possessed abnormal strength, so the weight of the weapon itself wasn't a significant issue. Many had switched their primary weapons from swords to hammers, poleaxes, or large two-handed swords and greatswords when fighting monsters, and Adriana was one of them.

The hammer that Adriana had chosen required two hands, even for someone considered strong, but Adriana could still wield it with one hand, blocking with the shield and smashing with the hammer.

Ludwig could probably handle such a large weapon with one hand as well. However, whether Ludwig was familiar with fighting with it was not the issue. It was the way he seemed resigned to death.

Everyone was trying to stop him from pointlessly losing his life.

In any case, Adriana had been taking a break from practicing combat techniques in the training grounds when she found me.

"It's quiet...” Adriana murmured to herself as she looked around the half-empty training grounds.

There were people in the training grounds, but it wasn't teeming with people. The Royal Class cohort was small to begin with.

"Adriana...”

"Oh, hey, Rudina."

I turned my head to the sound of the voice and saw Rudina.

With a gloomy expression, Rudina sat next to Adriana and silently hugged her around the waist. Adriana opened her arms and wrapped them around Rudina's shoulders as though accustomed to it.

Rudina burrowed into Adriana's embrace, and the two of them sat there silently for a moment.

Ard de Gritis had died. Just as the second-year students were shocked by the death of a classmate, so were the third-year students.

The two of them held each other silently, knowing that speaking would only make things harder.

Rudina cried quietly in Adriana's arms, and Adriana patted Rudina's shoulder, her own eyes turning red.

This world was one in which bursting into tears at any moment was common, and it would only grow worse.

“Adriana... I don't know what to do...”

“Are you talking about Kaier...?”

“Yeah.”

I had seen Kaier and Rudina having a sort of argument the day before, and it seemed the situation between them had changed slightly since I had first seen them.

Adriana seemed to know what was going on.

"If I had known... If I had known things were like that...”

"Did you apologize?"

“I did, but... I don't know. He doesn't seem to want to listen to me at all... He just keeps saying that what he's doing isn't for my sake...”

"Is his life really in danger?"

.

.

As I listened to their conversation, I started to understand what was going on.

When charging the Arc Crystal, Kaier sometimes pushed himself beyond his own limits, which burned away his life force and shortened his lifespan.

While it didn’t happen during normal operational periods, urgent situations would come up in the heat of battle. During those times, Kaier would sometimes push himself in order to charge the crystal, using up his mana until he was completely drained.

Rudina often pressured him to keep going until he collapsed, unaware that it was eating away at his lifespan, and Kaier never revealed that fact to her.

He knew that if he did, she’d start worrying about things during the battle that she should not have to bother with.

To Kaier, sacrificing a bit of his lifespan was a small price to pay if it meant providing magic support when it was desperately needed.

Rudina was no longer pressuring or scolding Kaier, but he wasn't doing it for Rudina's sake in the first place. Therefore whatever Rudina said to him was meaningless.

Even if they reconciled, Kaier would still push himself if the situation demanded it. He wouldn't die immediately, so he believed it was okay. But no one knew how long that would last.

War took lives, and it continued to gnaw at those who survived.

***

Rudina, looking dejected, talked with Adriana for a while before leaving, then Adriana put me down and focused on her training alone.

I left the training grounds and wandered around the Royal Class encampment again.

Whether it was because of winter or the atmosphere, the encampment felt lonely and empty.

Since it was rather cold, there was no need to be outside unless on duty, and staying in the warm tents was preferable.

Anna hadn't returned, and Ellen was absent. Instead of waiting around endlessly for Anna, who might return at any time, it seemed better to wait for Connor Lint to return.

I didn’t know what would happen, but I had a feeling I might need to borrow Connor Lint’s powers again, so I waited in the place he’d be most likely to show up if he returned to the encampment—the dining tent. It was the one place people were bound to gather during lunchtime.

Both Adriana, who was training, and Ludwig, who was around the camp, gathered in the dining tent for lunch. Since this dining tent was a go-to spot, I waited among the students for Connor Lint to appear.

However, something felt off.

I silently surveyed the scene.

The bowl of milk that was in front of me was understandable, and the absence of Anna and Ellen was also understandable. Even Connor Lint not showing up at the dining tent could be explained, as he might’ve been assigned to some other duty.

I was watching the Class B students gathered at the long table, eating their meals.

B-3, Scarlett.

B-10, Lanian Sesor.

B-11, Ludwig.

Only three second-year Class B members showed up for lunch.

Class B had suffered two casualties—B-4, Ashir, and B-9, Delphine Izadra.

I knew Dettomorian was in the capital, and Charlotte, of course, couldn't be there.

The telepath, B-9 Evia, was practically living at the headquarters.

Only then did I realize the simple fact I had been missing. While I had been focused on finding Anna, I hadn't noticed who else was absent.

Excluding those who couldn't be here, there were two others besides Anna whom I hadn't encountered at all in the past couple of days.

B-5, Cristina, and B-2, Louis Ankton. Like Anna, neither of them had crossed my path even once.

I had been so focused on Anna de Gerna that I hadn't noticed the absence of the others.

Anna was one thing, but what about the other two? Why weren't they there?

—Ludwig, what are you going to do?

Silence.

As Lanian Sesor's cautious question filled the air, I found the last piece I had been missing.

If Ludwig were to leave the front lines, he would go back to the capital, and if he were to return to the capital, there was one obvious place he would go.

—Returning to the Temple would be a good idea, wouldn't it?

—I'll think about it for now.

The Temple. Students of the Temple might be permitted to return there during this period of rest.

I had seen soldiers on leave in the capital, but I hadn't considered something else this simple.

If the imperial family wanted to conduct secret research, there was no reason to do it in the Allied Forces' encampment, where there were many eyes.

The Temple was practically empty, but it was still a cradle of learning and research, with the appropriate facilities. In fact, conducting such research here in the Allied Forces' encampment posed a huge risk, so there was no reason to do it there at all.

I had assumed that, since Titan had been developed on-site, experiments related to the undead would also be conducted with the army.

However, such secretive research would surely be conducted at the Temple and not with the main army.

If Anna were involved in that sort of research, she would be at the Temple, not somewhere in the Allied encampment.

Of course, with the absence of certain people and this new revelation, my thoughts inevitably went down a different direction.

‘If they returned to the Temple not just to rest for the winter, but because of research... Anna, I can understand. But what about Louis Ankton and Cristina?’

Louis Ankton had not been part of a large project like Titan, despite having the ability and knowledge to assist with such research. He had not been included in Adelia and the Grand Duke's project at all.

What had he been doing all this time?