Chapter 72
Originally, Ludwig, carried away by the excitement of the festival, would have spent the entire duration roaming around with his closest friends from Class B, Delphine Izadra and Lanian Sesor—Numbers 9 and 10, respectively.
Then, in the midst of the bustling crowd, he would become separated from Delphine Izadra. He would later come to realize that what he assumed was simply being separated was wrong, and Delphine had actually been kidnapped by thugs. Ludwig would then report the incident to the security forces of the Temple, who tell him to wait at the Temple. Ignoring the advice from the guards to remain at the Temple, Ludwig, along with Lanian Sesor, would set out to find Delphine.
This was the incident that was supposed to happen in the early stages of the novel.
Ludwig eventually tracks down the thugs and faces off against them to rescue his friend.
Surprisingly, he ends up knocking them all out.
Ludwig lacked self-confidence since he was at the bottom of the Royal Class, and no one expected much from him. However, this incident allowed him to demonstrate the true strength he possessed from all his training at the Temple and was an event that portrayed how extraordinary he was, given his superb talent related to his physical abilities.
The kidnapping of a Temple student was indeed a serious matter, but this event was essentially a deliberate point in the initial plot that was put in to showcase Ludwig's considerable strength, even if it ended up sacrificing some of the story's plausibility by suddenly portraying Ludwig as a powerful character.
Anyway, as a consequence of my actions, the foolish plot twist I had put in had now vanished, which might have actually turned out for the better. It saved Delphine from suffering the terrible ordeal of a kidnapping, after all.
Of course, this prevented the situation in which Delphine, who was already quite fond of Ludwig, would grow even more affectionate towards him due to the incident. Regardless, though, they had always been close.
Anyway, this was quite an unusual experience.
Delphine would have no idea that she had been on the brink of being kidnapped, nor would she know that the whole incident had been wiped away because of some unexpected event.
She was simply terrified by the fact that the demons had perpetrated a large-scale terror attack in the heart of the empire.
Technically, I’d done something that eventually worked in her favor, but having to keep quiet and not be able to tell her this felt strange.
In any case, the whole Temple was in a somber mood because of this earth-shaking event that had occurred on the empire’s soil. The atmosphere outside the Temple was surely more somber than that of a house in mourning, and the imperial palace was likely in a state worse than that.
***
"The Demon Realm must not have been entirely destroyed after all."
"What if an even stronger Demon King is in hiding somewhere? We never saw anything like this happen even during the war."
It was the next morning, and the students were whispering among themselves, letting their imaginations run wild with speculation. If teenagers could have such thoughts, the adults would likely take it further. The mere possibility that the Demon Realm had not been completely annihilated—not just that, but that its agents had also orchestrated an event of such a magnitude—sowed great chaos within them.
The mission to rescue the demon prisoners had ultimately led humans to realize that it was not a time to celebrate their victory over demons. Rather, it was a time to stay vigilant against the remnants of demonkind.
Had this been the right thing to do, or had it inadvertently invited further misfortune upon the Demon Realm?
Regardless, Sarkegar, Eleris, Loyar, and I had all made a choice.
We rescued a hundred and seven demons, but this act significantly heightened the humans' vigilance and put them on guard.
At the moment, there were a total of six people remaining in the Class A dormitory:
Number 2, Ellen Artorius;
Number 3, Riana de Granz;
Number 7, Adelia;
Number 8, Connor Lint;
Number 10, Kaier Vioden;
And then there was me. Except for Number 3, all who remained were commoners who had no particular reason to go back home and therefore had not left the Temple. Number 3 had a large mansion in the imperial capital, and would always leave every Friday to visit. She had gone to stay in her mansion during the lengthy school closure but returned to the Temple the day before.
Given that a terror incident had occurred in the imperial city, it was likely that the Granz family had told her that it was safer to return to the protection of the Temple than to stay in their mansion. That probably explained her less-than-pleasant expression. She wanted to rest in her mansion, but she had been forcibly sent back to school.
Of course, the break was still in effect, so there wasn't really anything specific that needed to be done at the Temple.
Ellen, in spite of the terrorist incident in the imperial city, was training as usual, and I joined her. After swinging our swords for ages in the night on the training grounds, I lay exhausted and sprawled out as usual. Ellen looked at me quietly.
"Why do you think they did it?"
Her question came out of nowhere, and I tilted my head in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"The demons. Why would they do something like that?"
Ellen had not spoken aloud her doubts until now, but she seemed to be wrestling with the question of why the demons had attacked the imperial city. It was unusual for the typically-indifferent Ellen to be concerned with such matters, but she seemed genuinely curious.
"Well, how would I know that?" I responded.
Only a few days had passed since the incident, and not many people were aware that the demons had carried out this attack to rescue other demons that had been the object of black-market dealings. Although other ramifications were bound to arise once the full details became public, something struck me—it was also quite possible that the truth might never come out completely.
"I don't quite understand why they fought the Order of the Holy Knights," Ellen continued.
The Order of the Holy Knights countered demons. Not all demons, but the undead types were specifically highly susceptible to divine power. In fact, for Eleris, a vampire, it was the equivalent of facing her deadliest foe.
"If they wanted revenge, shouldn't they have targeted a different area, especially if they were able to infiltrate the imperial city?"
Ellen had many questions.
Since she was unaware of the demon prisoners, Ellen couldn't comprehend why the demons had attacked the Order of the Holy Knights. Her line of questioning was legitimate, but it was something that most people did not consider.
The answer was simple.
‘Demons are evil.’
With this single phrase, numerous people would abandon all attempts at further reasoning. Yet, Ellen, who viewed demons as sentient beings just like humans, raised her concerns from this different perspective.
Ellen was raising a valid question—if it was about revenge, why hadn’t the demons targeted the imperial city instead of the headquarters of the Order of the Holy Knights?
"It seems there’s something we don't know," Ellen suggested.
Rather than being outraged by the demons' actions, Ellen had come to the conclusion that they must have had a purpose for specifically attacking the Order’s headquarters. She seemed certain that there was something hidden beyond what was publicly known. In the end, since Ellen did not fear the demons, she was able to logically deduce that they must have had their reasons for their actions.
If I were truly a Demon Prince dreaming of reconstructing the Demon Realm, I would consider this the right moment to eliminate Ellen. The most dangerous enemies were not the ones who feared or belittled you, but those who sought to understand you.
"Whatever it is, it'll come to light soon enough," I mused.
Honestly, though, the only thought that crossed my mind was that she was quite sharp and clever, and nothing more than that.
When I thought about it, my actions made me seem quite ridiculous.
I had led demons in a terror attack on the imperial city, disqualifying myself as a human.
And yet, I was watching the strongest hero of humankind developing right before my eyes, potentially becoming a threat to the Demon Realm in the future, and even praising her. That disqualified myself as a demon too.
Disqualified from both sides. What kind of person was I?
***
Throughout the ongoing school closure and the lockdown, each day’s activities repeated like a routine. The days were filled with nothing but continuous training with Ellen.
After morning exercise came breakfast, then training after breakfast followed by lunch, more training after lunch, then dinner, which was subsequently followed by evening training, and even a late-night snack.
We didn't conduct separate training or lessons on harnessing supernatural powers. Using supernatural powers became more natural the more they were utilized, but I was currently training with Ellen, who could beat me even if I unleashed my supernatural powers to their full extent.
Hence, the very act of sparring with Ellen was essentially a continuous application of my supernatural power, eliminating the need for separate supernatural power training.
Strictly speaking, I was somewhat accustomed to a self-imposed perpetual routine. Most people have to follow the involuntary routine of going to work and coming home, which involves a certain degree of passivity and external compulsion.
However, as someone who wrote for a living, I led a life where I had to write voluntarily, without anyone forcing me. The results might have been a bit... meh, but still, the point is that I wrote voluntarily.
Therefore, I had developed the perseverance to do what I had to do each day, without anyone telling me to.
That routine of writing daily had now transformed into a routine of daily physical training.
But even though it was possible to craft a routine, it sometimes felt truly maddening. Even as chaos, destruction, and despair boiled over in the outside world due to the demonic terror attack, the Temple was eerily calm, as if in another world.
So much so that I, the very person responsible for the incident, almost forgot about it as well.
And so, on the Sunday morning before the day that the normal curriculum was scheduled to resume, I grumbled to Ellen, "Hey, don't you ever get bored?"
I considered myself to be strong when it came to perseverance, but she trained every day as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I thought I had patience, but shouldn’t a human being take a break once in a while?
“?”
Ellen, who was stretching in the lobby in preparation for her morning exercise, tilted her head in confusion. Of course, there were other members of the Royal Class who did their morning training regularly, but the overall number was significantly decreased during the school closure.
Ellen was one of the few who still continued her daily morning exercise routine.
"Why do you exercise every single day even when we have so many free days to relax? You'll wear out your bones if you keep doing that."
"Why would my bones wear out?"
Her bewildered comeback made me frown.
"Ugh, you always have to say something back, don’t you? Never mind."
"You can leave if you want."
With an air suggesting that she would leave me behind if I wasted more time on pointless talk, Ellen began to run, and I caught up to her.
"Hey!"
I usually did my morning exercises with Adriana, but the ‘church noona’ was currently in the monastery in the capital of the Saint-Ouen Duchy and wasn't expected back until this evening. So all I could do was follow after Ellen.
To be exact, this was a test to see if I could keep up with her incredible stamina on my own while channeling my supernatural power all the while by believing that I had monstrous physical abilities.
Indeed, in the past, I wouldn't have been able to keep up with her, but this time, I was able to run alongside her for quite a long time. Not only had my physical fitness improved fundamentally, but my supernatural power enhanced it even more.
It was an impressive level of growth.
"Hey guys! Keep up the good work today!"
Whoosh!
As we were running, Ludwig zoomed past Ellen and me like a flash of light. I knew he wasn't trying to show off, and was just full of spirit—a fact I knew better than anyone. Among all the students in both Class A and B, there was no one with a disposition quite like his, and I was very well aware of that.
"... Sometimes he can really get under your skin, you know?"
He was still annoying. Even though I knew his personality best, he was still annoying.
The author talking about his own main character behind their back—what kind of situation was this?
Crafting the typical hero protagonist who was kind, brave, and unable to stand injustice, and then finding him vexing when he was actually in front of you?
That's when I clearly heard Ellen murmur very quietly, "... A little."
‘Right? It's not just me who finds it annoying, right?’
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