Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 564

I had let my guard down.

Ellen had returned to the camp and placed me on her lap, stroking my back for a long time, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

Honestly, I had often slept beside Ellen, and it was impossible not to doze off when she was petting me.

When I came to my senses, I found myself trapped in a cage.

Her actions had all been a scheme after all, and there had been an ulterior motive behind them.

I had been outwitted by Ellen. I couldn’t tell who she had spoken with, but it seemed Ellen had decided it was better that I was raised at the Temple rather than left on this dangerous battlefield.

If I were truly a cat, it would indeed be a miracle that I had survived for so long and followed the Allied Forces that far.

Frankly, it wasn’t the monsters that were the problem; a cat could easily have been crushed to death amidst the chaos of the camp.

I could see what she was thinking without even asking.

Ellen couldn’t stay at the Temple forever. Therefore, she wanted to send me to a safe place, even if it meant she would not be able to see me anymore.

Just like Ludwig, who was being sent back to the Temple because staying with the army was dangerous, I was also deemed at risk. I was to be raised in the Temple, and probably in the Royal Class dormitory.

Meow!

No matter how much I cried and scratched at the cage, Ellen gritted her teeth and endured it.

Although parting had to be difficult for her, she must have thought it was better if someone else raised me in a safe environment.

I could easily break the cage, but doing so would lead to uncontrollable consequences.

Even Scarlett and Lanian Sesor, nodded at Ellen’s words as if it was the obvious thing to do, and Ludwig, who was set to return to the capital, tilted his head but did not object.

Well... Ludwig wasn’t in a position to worry about a single cat right now.

—Non-teleportation targets, please step back!

The casting of mass teleportation was nearing completion.

Meowww!

Scratch!

“It’s frustrating, isn’t it? I’m sorry. I’ll let you out in a bit.” Ellen whispered quietly, thinking I was crying because I was trapped.

Flash!

The light of the mass teleportation enveloped us.

***

Although Ellen was often particularly busy, the Allied camp was rarely in danger during this period, which allowed her to take this extended break.

In truth, Ellen absolutely needed some rest.

She was using that precious and rare time, however long it was, to bring this stray cat to the Temple.

This was a problem. Quite a big problem.

If I were left at the Temple, I wouldn’t be able to continue with my cat spying operation anymore. I could disguise myself as another cat, but wouldn’t it be suspicious if another cat appeared right after one was taken away?

A stray cat in the Temple would certainly have a better life than a stray in the Allied camp, but I wasn’t actually a cat!

Ellen returned to the capital with her hood pulled up so no one would recognize her. She seemed to be heading to the Royal Class dormitory, and there was no reason for Ludwig not to accompany her.

Ludwig, who had lost an arm and was now ordered to wait in the rear, was returning with someone who was bringing a cat.

From this perspective, Ellen seemed foolish, but no one would criticize her for it since she had done so much thus far.

Ludwig and Ellen weren’t particularly close, but there was no animosity between them either.

“Are you on leave?” Ludwig asked.

“No, I’ll be heading back soon,” Ellen replied softly, her voice tinged with guilt.

She seemed to think Ludwig losing his arm was her responsibility. She felt responsible for everything that had happened during this Gate Incident, so she couldn’t help but feel responsible for Ludwig’s situation as well.

On top of that, she felt it was strange to be worrying about a cat when Ludwig had lost an arm, even if ensuring the cat’s safety was necessary.

Ludwig, of course, did not think any of this was Ellen’s fault.

“You’ll be staying at the Temple from now on, right?” Ellen asked after a short pause.

“Yes. But I won’t just sit around. I think there’s something I can do in the capital. Even though things turned out this way... There must be something,” Ludwig said cheerfully.

“There will be. I’m sure of it,” Ellen replied softly.

Ludwig’s strength was his cheerfulness. Although his disposition had become darker due to the war and many other hardships, he did not want his gloominess to spread to others.

“I’m thinking of getting into other things like new recruit training, or even guard duty, since I can still handle small monsters. They say the refugee areas are often in danger, right?”

“That’s right.”

Ludwig had no choice but to return to the capital, but he was still determined to find some way to contribute.

“Don’t overdo it,” Ellen added softly.

Given his personality, it seemed certain that once Ludwig got used to handling weapons with his left hand, he would throw himself into anything that would let him fight again.

The dangers he would face in the capital would be smaller than those on the battlefield, but there was no guarantee he wouldn’t get seriously injured while trying to kill monsters.

“I’ll do my best.”

Ludwig’s empty right sleeve fluttered in the wind.

I had been brought to the capital. That meant a black cat similar to the form I was in could not appear at the Royal Class garrison again.

‘Is the cat operation permanently on ice now? Should I try something like a dog next time? But wouldn’t I end up on a leash? And there’s no guarantee Ellen would find another animal as cute as she did me...

‘Wait, being cute isn’t the core issue! I don’t want to attract attention!’

While this development would cause significant issues for future information gathering, it was beneficial in the short term.

Ellen was personally taking me to the Temple, and more specifically, the Royal Class dormitory. Therefore, there was a high chance I could run into Anna de Gerna there and see with my own eyes what they were up to.

I wasn’t some suspicious wild animal, wandering in from somewhere; I was a cat being personally brought in by Ellen, with a clear identity.

Even the other Class B students who were back in the Temple had often encountered me. Therefore, if I considered the immediate need for information gathering, there was no better scenario.

In the long term, though, it would be frustrating not to be able to spy on the Allied camp. It wouldn’t be difficult to slip away to some other part of the Temple after staying at the Royal Class dormitory for a few days. However, if I did that, I would not be around if Ellen came back to see the cat.

What if someone tried to keep me at the Royal Class dormitory against my will? It was all starting to become a headache, but what could I do? A wild animal that got close to humans naturally ended up caged, and it was all my fault. I had no choice but to go with the flow.

The Temple was quite a distance away from the teleportation point, and the magic trains were not running.

Ludwig and Ellen walked slowly towards the distant Temple.

“Earlier, I saw the Order of the Holy Knights gathering at the teleportation point... even the Commander was with them. They all looked pretty serious.”

“Oh?”

“Do you know what’s going on?”

Ellen nodded. She didn’t attend many high-level meetings, but it was easy for her to overhear the conversations happening at the headquarters, and so she naturally had more information than Ludwig.

“I don’t know the details, but... It seems something happened at the headquarters of the Order of the Holy Knights.”

“Something?”

“Yeah, I heard the tomb beneath the headquarters of the Order had been basically robbed... It was like a grave robbery.”

This piece of news had to have made its way to the Allied camp, where it would naturally have reached Ellen’s ears.

However, there was no way anyone could have discovered the truth behind the incident yet.

Ludwig was left speechless at the sudden mention of grave robbing.

“Grave robbing...?” he finally managed to say. “Why would anyone do that? And who?”

“I don’t know. But that’s probably why the Order of the Holy Knights is returning to the capital to investigate the incident.”

Ludwig nodded quietly. “I see...”

This unexpected and heinous act had whipped up a frenzied investigation, which would be led by people like Illeion Volten.

What mattered was that our supply of Death Knights had already been replenished. The Order wouldn’t know that the missing remains were being used by us in some way, and even if they did, nothing would change. The Order of the Holy Knights would never be able to find us anyway.

“Why would anyone rob that tomb...? Was there treasure or something?”

“I’m not sure.”

I couldn’t tell whether Ellen truly didn’t know the situation or was pretending not to. I couldn’t tell if she was aware of what the Empire was in the process of doing either.

An awkward silence fell upon them again.

Ellen and Ludwig weren’t particularly talkative, and they weren’t close enough to be called friends.

As they neared the Temple’s main gate...

“I wish I were as strong as you,” Ludwig said.

Ellen remained silent.

He had lost because he was weak. He was injured because he was weak. Ludwig seemed to resent his own weakness and longed for Ellen’s strength.

“Do you...” Ludwig said, looking at Ellen, “do you plan to take revenge on Reinhart...?”

Ellen’s eyes widened at that cruel question.

Was he hoping Ellen would fulfill his wish since he couldn’t do it himself?

Ellen couldn’t say no. She couldn’t give Ludwig that answer.

Whatever he was thinking, I hoped Ellen would say what Ludwig needed to hear.

“I know that someday, I will have to fight him...” Ellen finally said with a determined expression.

Ludwig wouldn’t be satisfied with just that answer from Ellen.

“I’m sorry. Someone like me shouldn’t be asking you such a question...”

He seemed to resent himself for having no choice but to hope that someone else would take revenge for him—and because of that, he hated his own weakness even more.

***

I had been ensnared by Ellen’s scheme.

She had petted me so much that I couldn’t help but fall asleep, and when I finally woke up, I was trapped in a cage.

I was now in the capital, still trapped in the cage, not knowing if Ellen had thought of this on her own or if she had decided to do it after talking with others.

Whoever it was in the Royal Class camp came up with this idea, no one would have objected to it.

No matter how much they wanted to see and pet me, they all surely thought it was better for me to grow up in a safe environment.

There was a problem when it came to future information gathering in the Allied camp, but escaping was no issue. As long as no one locked me up, I could leave the dormitory and the Temple and return to Edina.

I had a teleportation scroll for emergencies, so I could definitely use that.

While on the way to the Royal Class dormitory, Ellen and Ludwig were stopped briefly at the Temple’s main gate by the guards.

“Is this the cat you’re raising, Hero?” a guard asked Ellen.

“Sorry? Ah... yes.”

The guard had asked a strange question.

Ellen took me to the Royal Class dormitory, while Ludwig returned to the Class B dormitory to put down his things. Ellen arrived at the Royal Class second-year, Class A dormitory, and went to the tea terrace.

“Is this the cat?”

“Yes,” said Ellen as she set down the cage. “Please take care of it.”

With that, she carefully opened the cage.

In front of me stood Emperor Vertus. Judging by Vertus’s expression, it seemed like this had already been discussed beforehand.

“Sure. That won’t be too difficult.”

‘No, this is too safe!

‘Is she planning to have me stay not at the Temple but in the imperial palace, and specifically at Tetra? That place is so secure that I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere! This wouldn’t do!’

Meow!

Ellen seemed startled as I leaped and clung to her chest. She hugged me.

Meow, meow, meow!

“Hey, it’s okay.” Ellen gently tried to detach me and place me on Vertus’s lap.

Meow, meow, meow!

“It seems like it doesn’t like me,” said Vertus.

Vertus chuckled as I threw a fit, while Ellen looked flustered.

‘No! From the moment I enter the imperial palace, I won’t be able to leave again. Everyone in Edina would panic if the Demon King goes missing!’

I wasn’t just going to be a regular cat at the Temple—Ellen was trying to make me the emperor’s cat.

***

I imagined what it would be like if I were actually a stray cat that had somehow blended in with the Allied Forces.

A stray kitten that had somehow blended in with the Allied Forces caught the hero’s eye, and ended up becoming the emperor’s cat. And this rise in status was not achieved by any person, but by an animal.

If there was such a thing as history in the animal world, it would be a major event worthy of headlines. It would be a topic for international news.

But I wasn’t a cat; I was the Demon King who had transformed into a cat for information gathering purposes.

Anyway, although I appreciated the thought, this arrangement was not going to work. I might b e able to manage if left at the Temple, but the imperial palace was out of the question.

It wasn’t the imperial palace that was the issue; it was becoming the emperor’s cat that was the problem.

The moment I become the emperor’s cat, I will be monitored constantly, and there will probably be some professional person sticking around 24/7.

I’d be completely tied down.

Ellen was trying to ensure that I could stay in the safest place in the world. Even Vertus seemed to have no intention of refusing Ellen’s request.

However, I could not compromise any further.

Whenever Ellen tried to forcefully hand me over to Vertus or place me on his lap, I twisted my body and threw a fit, crying and even hissing. I did everything I could to express my distress.

“I didn’t know I was so hated by animals,” said Vertus, sounding hurt.

‘No, that’s not it!’

“Why is it acting like this...?” Ellen muttered, looking distressed. She began to pet the crazy stray cat that was hissing at the person with the highest dignity in all of humanity, the emperor, as it sat on her lap.

They seemed to settle on the idea that this animal just did not know any better.

In the end, Ellen couldn’t find it in her to forcefully hand me over to Vertus since I disliked it so much.

If they really tried to force the issue, I would have no choice but to reveal my true identity as Reinhart and use force to escape. The thought of what would happen afterward, whether I would have to fight or something else, was terrifying.

Thanks to this, however, I somehow ended up witnessing Vertus and Ellen having a private conversation without drawing any suspicion.

“I could have gone to the imperial palace,” Ellen said.

An emperor summons others; he does not go out of his way to meet them. Even if Ellen was special, and even if she was on her way to drop off a cat, it would have been more convenient for Vertus to summon her to the imperial palace.

“Oh, I have something I need to look in on at the Temple. I’ve been here for a few days.”

Was this thing the experiment I was thinking of? Was it really true that someone was running a magical experiment at the Temple, and Vertus was here to look in on it?

Even this conversation provided a clue.

If Ellen knew about this topic, Vertus wouldn’t have needed to speak in such vague and uncertain terms.

“I see,” Ellen replied, as if she wasn’t particularly curious about what it was. That seemed to confirm that she didn’t know about the imperial family’s secret research or experiments.

Whether that was a good or bad thing, I couldn’t say. But it seemed clear that Vertus did not believe there was any benefit in Ellen knowing about such matters. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“Ellen, you don’t have to head back right away. You can spend the winter here. Although the area around Serandia can’t be considered completely safe, you’ve worked the hardest in clearing the nearby areas of monsters, yet you haven’t had a proper rest at all, have you? Besides, it seems this cat has no intention of being raised by me. Wouldn’t it be better for you to take care of it here?”

Meow!

‘Exactly!’

Ellen silently scratched the back of my head.

Vertus had acknowledged Ellen’s lack of proper rest despite working the hardest.

After the Battle of Serandia, Ellen had been busy clearing out the surrounding areas of monsters without taking a moment’s rest. Now that the clean-up operation was mostly wrapped up, there was no need for her to stay at the camp and remain on duty, waiting for another mission.

It seemed Ellen had originally intended to leave me with Vertus and return immediately to the Allied Forces’ camp.

“It’s been a while since you’ve been at the dormitory. Take the opportunity to rest.”

Vertus had come to meet Ellen at the dormitory instead of summoning her to the imperial palace. It was partly because Vertus had been at the Temple for a few days, but he also seemed to want to let Ellen rest at the dormitory since she was back.

“Would that be okay?” Ellen asked cautiously.

“Who else deserves it more than you?”

Ellen placed her hand on my waist as I sat on her lap, looking down at me.

“Do I even... deserve such things...” she said softly.

The guilt and remorse in her eyes were palpable.

Ellen’s relentless activity and refusal to allow herself rest were partly due to her guilt and self-reproach.

Vertus remained silent.

“All of this... Even what happened recently... It all feels like it’s my fault...”

I knew Ellen was blaming herself for Delphine’s death and Ludwig’s situation.

I quietly looked up at Ellen as her eyes grew moist.

Ellen.

Vertus.

And me.

The ones most central to this Gate Incident were all gathered on the terrace.

“If we start pointing fingers at who was really at fault and who was the problem, it would never end,” Vertus said. “Even if I blame myself for it, telling myself that all of this could be my fault, this Gate Incident will not end. In the same way, you being harsh on yourself won’t bring an end to all of this.”

Ellen remained silent.

“You’ve seen how fragile humans are,” Vertus continued.

Every day was a new reminder of how easily humans died. Humans were so easily broken, killed, and injured.

“You’re strong, but you’re still human.”

“...”

“You’re breaking down too.”

Ellen clutched the amulet around her neck tightly.

“Take this winter to rest. The Allied Forces will be able to get through this winter even without you around. If the Allied Forces were to collapse without you, then the whole concept of Allied Forces wouldn’t mean anything in the first place. And the Allied Forces need a fully prepared hero, not one on the edge of collapse. To become that, you need to rest when it’s time to rest.”

“...”

“No human is tireless. It’s time for you to rest.”

“Okay,” Ellen finally conceded.

If one kept throwing themselves into battle after battle, thinking only of the immediate future, they were sure to wear out. Ellen was no exception.

The Allied Forces did not need a hero tittering on the edge of collapse. They needed a hero who would return to them fully prepared after taking the winter to recuperate.

Ellen nodded, unable to refute Vertus’s words.

It had been a long time since I had heard Vertus speak firsthand. I knew he had changed, but seeing it firsthand felt strange.

The Vertus I knew, who had once been a villain, could not be called that anymore.

Even in the moments at the Temple, Vertus had rarely been a villain from my perspective. The closest he had come to it would have been right before the Gate Incident, but that wasn’t because Vertus actually had any malicious intent.

Ever since the Gate Incident broke, it felt like Vertus had begun living without the mask he had always worn.

From Vertus, I sensed self-reproach, guilt, and responsibility. However, what was even more terrifying was that Vertus, who was no longer a villain, still seemed to be doing even more terrible things.

“Rest. I need to have a talk with Ludwig.”

“Okay.”

With that, Vertus stood up.

Fortunately, I was not dragged off to the imperial palace, Emperatos.

Ellen was left alone on the terrace, looking down as I sat in her lap.

“You should have gone,” she said softly, her voice tinged with melancholy.

“I... I can’t stay with you forever.”

It was a statement with multiple meanings.

Even if she decided to rest for a while, she would eventually have to return to the Allied camp. That also meant the chain of unending battles would begin again, and Ellen wouldn’t have much time to care for a small animal. And eventually, perhaps her very existence would disappear.

Ellen had been looking for someone who could stay with me, and that person had been Vertus.

Meow.

“What should I do...”

Ellen sighed deeply and hugged me tightly.