Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 566

It was the middle of the night, in the Class B dormitory.

“Ludwig...”

“Welcome back.”

There sat Cristina, Louis Ankton, Anna de Gerna, Dettomorian, and Ludwig.

“Don’t worry about me. I feel like there’s still something I can do,” Ludwig said.

Ludwig had started working with the guards, leaving the Temple early in the morning and returning late in the day.

Ludwig had found something new to do, thanks to Vertus’s influence or otherwise, and much of the despair had faded from his expression.

To overcome despair, one has to do something.

Perhaps Ludwig could regain some of his former brightness.

“Huh? Who’s this...?”

Meow.

As I approached, Cristina’s eyes widened in surprise. It was only natural for all three of them to be startled to see a cat that should have been at the Allied camp in the dormitory instead.

“Ellen brought it with her. She’s also here, resting in the Class A dormitory for now. I think she’ll be raising it here.”

All three nodded at Ludwig’s explanation.

“Oh, I see...”

Anna looked at me intently before lifting me onto her lap.

I was getting too accustomed to sitting on someone’s lap. I had been in this form for too long; would I even be able to adjust when I returned to my human form?

Seeing these three return on the same day was confirmation they were working on the same project.

They sat together, discussing Ludwig’s injury and Delphine’s death for a long time, while I quietly listened in from Anna’s lap.

Ludwig didn’t cry while talking about it, but just because he wasn’t crying did not mean he wasn’t sad. It felt more like he didn’t know how to express his grief, rather than being used to losing those close to him.

Ludwig believed Delphine died because he was weak. Of course, no one blamed Ludwig for Delphine’s death.

Cliffman had implied it was Ludwig’s fault to make him give up, but even Cliffman probably didn’t truly believe that.

It wasn’t Ludwig’s fault. However, if Ludwig hadn’t tried to save Scarlett, Scarlett would have died, and Delphine and Ludwig would have lived.

If Scarlett had died, though, Ludwig would have blamed himself for not saving her, although he wouldn’t have lost his arm.

Assigning blame did not help anyone. Delphine wouldn’t have died if I hadn’t existed. And if Baalier Junior hadn’t existed, the Gate Incident wouldn’t have happened, and none of this would have occurred.

Because of my imperfect knowledge of the future, I was now facing the future I had tried to avoid.

When would these painful stories of self-blame end?

Not everyone could be happy, but could the remaining people at least find happiness in the end?

I lay there, watching them share their grief and eventually calm each other’s emotions.

“So, you joined the guards?” Louis asked.

Ludwig gave a vague nod. “To be precise, I’m not a full guard yet... I’m helping with guard duties, like patrolling and things like that. I’m still an apprentice, so it’s not official.”

Ludwig had been helping with guard duties for the past few days, and given his nature, he would have wanted to go to the most dangerous places. He had to have seen the reality of the refugee areas with his own eyes.

“Is the monster problem in the refugee areas really that serious?”

“I can’t say it’s not serious, but I’ve heard it’s not as bad as before. The real problem isn’t the monsters.”

“If it’s not the monsters, then what?” asked Cristina.

Ludwig’s expression darkened. “Hunger is one thing... but the people... they’re the problem.”

Everyone understood what he meant, and their expressions turned grim.

Crime and hunger... The problem in the refugee areas weren’t the monsters, but the people in them.

The Royal Class dormitory was stocked with ample food supplies. They were treated differently, since they were special. Outside, though, many were starving to death.

Eating wasn’t wrong, but the guilt was unavoidable.

Ludwig seemed reluctant to share more about what he had seen, knowing that the harsh, desperate, and miserable reality of life was everywhere, and that discussing it here would not solve anything.

“By the way, is your research keeping you busy? You seem to come back to the dormitory less often.”

Ludwig’s attempt to change the subject was exactly what I had been waiting for.

Cristina gave a quiet nod. “Well... yes,” she said.

Anna and Louis didn’t look pleased.

That alone was a clue. It would have been nice if they could say more, but even if they didn’t speak, their reactions were enough of a clue.

“What kind of research are you doing back at the Temple? Are you making another giant weapon like Titan?” Ludwig probed further, his eyes lighting up with hope.

If more war machines were created, the war would progress more smoothly, even if Ludwig couldn’t participate in battle anymore.

‘Hey, come on, kid... How could an alchemist and a dark mage build something like that? Don’t you know the difference between magic crafting and alchemy?

‘Or... could it actually be possible? Since it’s magic... then maybe it is?’

Cristina shook her head, refuting this latest line of thought. “No, that’s not our field... It’s nothing different from the usual. We’re just improving Moonshine and doing various other things.”

“Oh... I see.”

Her response was clearly a lie.

The three of them were clearly part of the same research project. Cristina had lied on behalf of the group, and Ludwig hadn’t caught it. Of course, very few people knew about the mass disappearance of corpses, so nothing would have clued Ludwig in on the lie. Also he was the type who wouldn’t even think to suspect his friends, so he just nodded along.

But the one who had been silent until now...

“Really?”

Dettomorian tilted his head slightly and looked at Cristina. His gaze seemed rather uncomfortable.

“Huh? Detto? What do you mean by ‘really’...?”

“It shouldn’t be...” Dettomorian muttered quietly.

Cristina, Louis, and Anna’s faces turned pale, and I felt my fur stand on end, literally.

‘Dettomorian. This guy... Did he just guess it with his intuition without knowing anything?’

Under Dettomorian’s piercing gaze, Cristina’s face turned white.

“Well... I’m sure you have... your reasons...” Dettomorian added.

He staggered to his feet and headed back to his room after giving a strong hint that he knew something but implying that he wouldn’t pry further. Ludwig looked bewildered, his gaze bouncing between his three pale friends and Dettomorian.

“What is Detto talking about...?”

Cristina’s expression changed suddenly, and she acted as if nothing had happened. “Who knows? Detto does that sometimes, doesn’t he?”

“That’s true, but...”

Indeed, Dettomorian often made cryptic remarks, so Ludwig didn’t grow suspicious. A simple “he’s just like that” was enough to brush away any suspicions.

I knew Dettomorian was not a bad guy, but he was definitely unsettling, whether it was because he was a shaman or if it was just his nature. He often let his words hang without providing any clarity.

Ludwig didn’t fully grasp the situation, and Dettomorian seemed to have adopted a laissez-faire attitude about whatever the three were researching.

Ludwig said he needed to sleep early for work tomorrow and then returned to his room, leaving the three others behind.

I watched as Cristina, Louis, and Anna exchanged glances in silence.

Would they finally discuss the research now?

However, they only exchanged troubled looks without saying a word.

“Let’s go get some rest.”

“Yeah.”

“Sounds good...”

With that, they dispersed.

Perhaps they had decided that they would not make any mention of the research outside.

***

Late at night, while everyone was asleep, I left the Royal Class dormitory, still in my cat form.

I had found the three people I was looking for and confirmed that their research was confidential. However, all that did was convert a near-certain intuition into a confirmed fact. I still didn’t know what they were actually doing. Even if those three were the core researchers, like how Adelia was for the Titan project, it was clear that many other mages were involved in the project.

In truth, I didn’t need to follow those three to know where to go.

There was no reason for such a confidential research project to be conducted outside the Temple.

Why would they conduct it outside when the Temple was the most secure location?

The Titan project had been developed on-site at the Allied base, which moved constantly. It had to have been a harsh environment to work in, so the fact that Titan had been successfully launched on its first attempt was almost a miracle.

However, there’s no reason to artificially make the research environment harsh. Titan was an excessively large superweapon, and so it had to be developed on-site. If it were some other project, it would have been developed in a more controlled and stable environment, like the Temple or the imperial palace.

Now that I knew that a research project was underway at the Temple, I didn’t need to follow the three Class B students to figure out where it was happening.

It had to be at the university wing of the Temple —where else in the Temple would offer the best research environment?

More specifically, the research would be conducted within the research building of the Magic Department within Temple University.

Even knowing this, though, I hadn’t gone there thus far for a simple reason.

“...”

After running through the Temple at night, I found myself at the Temple University Magic Department research facility. The whole area was locked down.

Despite the late hour, Temple guards were stationed near the facility, and each research building entrance was being monitored.

There were a significant number of guards, so many that even someone who knew nothing would think, “Oh, they’re definitely doing something in there.”

It was so heavily guarded that it was obvious.

Of course, the research facilities weren’t physically fenced off, so it was still possible for me to enter the area. Moreover, there was no chance the guards would chase away a stray cat.

Unfortunately, though, while I could freely roam the grounds of the research area in this form, entering the buildings would be impossible. If a random animal tried to enter a building, it would be chased out. That’s only natural, not because I was suspicious, but because they wouldn’t want an animal messing with important equipment.

I knew that wandering around this place wasn’t going to get me any useful information.

That was why, even though I knew that this was the place where the project was being conducted, I hadn’t bothered to come, choosing to wait for the three students to come out and leak any information themselves.

Unfortunately, either out of discretion or a reluctance to bring it up, the three had not spoke about their research, even when they were alone.

Somewhere in Temple University’s Magic Department research facility in front of me, a large-scale magic research project comparable to the Titan project was underway.

How could I find out what they were doing?

I would not drag Connor Lint into it. I had told him not to investigate, and this was undoubtedly dangerous. Involving him would only put him at risk.

Transforming into a bug was impossible. Well, I could do it, but controlling that form would be impossible. It had taken ages to adapt to being a cat, and I had no idea how to handle being a bug.

Was it advisable to summon Sarkegar to this place? It might work, but the area was heavily guarded. The specific place where the research was being conducted would undoubtedly be strictly controlled, not just in terms of personnel, but also in terms of the environment. They might have created an environment so controlled that even a crawling bug wouldn’t be allowed in.

Could Sarkegar find a way in, even in such a situation?

Using force was, of course, out of the question.

Of course, if I were being reckless, I could enter immediately. By transforming into either Cristina, Anna, or Louis, I could gain entry right away, but that would be the worst option.

It was so frustrating that I almost just wanted to go up to Vertus, grab him by the collar, and demand to know what he was up to. Of course, if I were going to do that, I would have contacted him long ago, so it was too late for that.

Besides, it would be ridiculous for me to ask what he was doing after raising a bunch of Death Knights myself.

And even if I did grab him by the collar and argued with him about the morality of it, the Empire would have no reason to abandon this project.

What was I to do? I could just ignore it, and let the Empire do what it wanted.

After all, this research was likely a project aimed at improving their prospects in the current war.

But just like everyone in Edina feared that Titan might one day turn against us—even if it seemed unlikely—I couldn’t be sure whether this research might become a threat to us later.

If it were simply about resurrecting corpses as Death Knights, like we did, it might not be something worth investigating. But that didn’t seem to be all of it, since both dark magic and alchemy were involved. The pieces didn’t quite fit.

It felt like something far more complex was going on than I had initially thought, but I still couldn’t figure out what it was.

There was nothing more I could uncover by myself.

I decided to return to Edina for a while and return at a later time.