Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 585

Louise had just heard a shocking story from Heinrich.

She had already suspected there was some hidden truth behind the unusually smooth advance of the Allied Forces. However, since it had been a good thing, she did not think there was a need to dig deeper, at least not right away.

However, hearing that the Demon King was actually the one preparing the way was hard to believe. If it were true, it would explain why the Empire had remained silent despite knowing the truth. If this information were to spread, most people’s first reaction would be to question the Demon King’s intentions. Hearing about it already left Louise confused; letting the rest of the troops know would cause massive panic within the Allied Forces.

That was why the Empire couldn’t reveal that they were receiving help from the Demon King. They had to act as though it was all their own doing.

The Empire’s so-called secret weapon was, in fact, the power of the Demon King.

“I can’t say for sure whether the Empire directly negotiated this with the Demon King, but it’s certain that there is some form of cooperation, at least implicitly.”

It was hard to believe that her son had been swayed by the Demon King’s sweet talk. If that were the case, Heinrich would have had no reason to stay with the Allied Forces.

He had been in a life-threatening situation and had had every reason to leave, yet he hadn’t.

“The Empire... With the Demon King...”

She could have lost her son to the Demon King. But from a different point of view, the Demon King had tried to save him.

Whether he was sweet-talking him out of a desire to gain Heinrich’s power, the fact remained: the Demon King had tried to save his life.

“If there’s a truth about the Gate Incident that we don’t know, what do you think it is?”

“I’m not sure... If the Demon King didn’t want the Gate Incident to happen... then why did it happen in the first place? And why is the Empire hiding the truth...? I don’t know.”

The Demon King had never revealed the truth—likely because knowing it would put Heinrich in danger. Therefore, Heinrich was only left with guesses.

He quietly watched Louise, who was mired deep in confusion.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse you, sister. But... I felt you had to know...” he said.

Louise did not reply.

Even without thinking about it too deeply, Louise couldn’t help but see why this was happening. Most of the world believed the Demon King was the root of all evil, and those who knew the truth had let that belief stand. But if there was another truth behind the Gate Incident—if it was true that this was not what the Demon King wanted—then what would that mean for the rest of the world?

The human world was united by hatred for the Demon King. If that reason collapsed, humanity would be doomed.

Seeing Louise’s confusion, Heinrich eventually lowered his head.

“Perhaps I’m really under the Demon King’s spell... but I can’t help but think this way...”

“No, no. You did well to tell me about this. You did well...”

Louise couldn’t shake her confusion, but she still had to commend her son for having the courage to speak to her about his secret conversation with the Demon King.

Her mind was in turmoil because of what Heinrich had said. What kind of being was the Demon King, really? What was the truth behind the Gate Incident? What was the Empire thinking?

She knew nothing. But even if there was a truth that no one else knew—did it matter?

Regardless of the Demon King’s intentions, the Gate Incident had come about, and it had to be resolved. That was the one unchanging, absolute premise.

Snow continued to fall. It fell heavily, steadily piling up.

It covered everything—ground, buildings, trees, even the frozen river. It covered it all.

The Gate Incident was like that snow.

With snowfall that heavy, everything else gets buried.

In the midst of a snowstorm, everything else loses importance.

The snow had to be cleared. If it wasn’t, it would bury everything beneath it.

That snow had to be cleared away continuously.

Just like that, the truth, too, had been buried by the snowstorm called the Gate Incident. It was no longer visible and no longer important.

The Gate Incident had to be brought to an end. That single premise buried all other truths, all other forms of justice.

And so, the truth—buried beneath it all—was no longer important. That, too, was an undeniable truth.

Louise von Schwartz had no choice but to accept it.

But if the Demon King really was that kind of being—fighting at the front lines to end the Gate Incident, all while the world refused to acknowledge it—then how terrifying, how strong, and how sorrowful did the Demon King have to be?

“All these things... It’s sad.”

Louise sighed as she looked up at the sky.

***

Heinrich and Louise walked aimlessly through the Temple’s streets.

What the Demon King had said to Heinrich might have been a lie meant to lure him in, but it was hard to believe that he had lied. If he had intended to deceive, he would have said more.

All he’d said to Heinrich was that he was in danger, and suggested he leave with him.

He had promised to explain everything that was happening if Heinrich went with him, but when Heinrich refused him, the Demon King had quietly withdrawn. That was all.

Heinrich’s impression of the Demon King and his understanding of what was happening within the Allied Forces had been formed through his own reasoning.

The fact that the Demon King had been watching the Allied Forces’ camp all along was chilling, but in the end, the Demon King hadn’t even tried to deceive Heinrich.

In truth, once Heinrich’s illegitimacy was revealed, his life really had been in danger. And there had indeed been assassination attempts, but Louise had dealt with them. If she hadn’t intervened, Heinrich would have died.

The Demon King hadn’t wanted Heinrich to kill his siblings, or be killed by them. That was why he offered Heinrich the chance to join him. Perhaps it had also been a ploy to lure him to his side, but the warning about the assassination attempt had been undeniably true.

The Demon King hadn’t said anything deceptive when he’d approached Heinrich. He’d only done so to warn him of the danger he was in.

Heinrich hadn’t been swayed by any honeyed words. He had come to his conclusions on his own.

Having thought this far, Louise found the situation rather strange. Heinrich’s life had been in danger, despised by his siblings, and he hadn’t even known the truth about her.

“Little one...” 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“Yes, sister?”

“Wouldn’t it have been... right to leave?”

In that situation, it would have indeed been right for Heinrich to go with the Demon King and leave the Allied camp behind. Now that she knew about this secret conversation, Louise couldn’t understand why Heinrich had chosen to stay.

They walked in silence for a while.

“Yes,” Heinrich finally said. “That would have been the right choice—at that moment.”

“You were in danger,” Louise said. “You couldn’t have known what would happen. Even back then, I didn’t know how I would finally act.”

Heinrich’s decision to stay, despite the clear danger, could be seen as foolish.

“There were many reasons... but in the end, I could imagine what would happen if I left. The way the people look at Grand Duke Saint-Ouen and his troops... How our soldiers, our officers, even our royal family would be treated... I thought it might affect Kernstadt as well.”

“Ah...”

Louise was stunned. She hadn’t imagined that Heinrich would think that way.

“Even with my limited understanding... I could see how people would look at us. How they would scrutinize us.”

“...”

“So I decided not to leave.”

Regardless of the reason, leaving would have been seen as betrayal. Those left behind would have faced collective punishment.

The members of the Ouen Order and the Alse Order, as well as those from the Duchy of Saint-Ouen were already under suspicion—and if he left, then so would the people of Kernstadt. Knowing that, he had chosen not to leave, even though he knew the danger he was in.

Louise felt suffocated.

“And... if I had left, none of this... None of these moments would have happened. I would never have known anything.”

He would never have learned that not all his siblings hated him, and that one had simply been too hesitant to approach him.

“I’m glad I didn’t leave,” Heinrich said as he looked at Louise.

The war had changed many things and brought misfortune to countless people, but not everything had changed for the worse. Heinrich had become someone who could think beyond himself.

Overwhelmed by emotion and guilt, Louise couldn’t find the words to respond. Her son, even after learning the truth, didn’t hate her. Instead, he accepted everything with gratitude. That fact alone left Louise deeply thankful.

They walked on for a while, wrapped up in that warm silence.

“Hmm?”

As they walked, they came to a stop at the sound of voices in the distance. Across the street, a group of guards was blocking the path.

“Is this a restricted area?”

“It seems that way...”

The guards didn’t say anything to Heinrich and Louise, but the way they stood made it clear—it was a tightly controlled zone.

Louise inclined her head.

“Are there restricted areas within the Temple?” she asked.

“Huh? Ah... I don’t know every part of the Temple either... This is my first time in this area.”

Heinrich looked around, realizing that even with the snow cleared away, he had never been to this part of the Temple before.

“It seems to be the university grounds...” he said.

“Ah, I see. Then that makes sense.”

But why was it restricted? From where they were, Louise and Heinrich observed the university grounds and the buildings within it.

The guards didn’t seem to mind them observing from afar. Still, what was going on inside that required such strict security?

There were almost no passersby around, so there was little chance anyone would accidentally wander in.

“If there are this few people around, it must mean something confidential is going on inside.”

From what they could see, there were a substantial number of guards stationed there. That meant whatever was happening inside was likely even bigger in scale.

“It looks like the magic department of the university,” Heinrich said as he slowly nodded, having identified it from the signs and direction markers.

“The magic department... I see. They must be conducting some kind of research inside.”

Louise nodded. This was the kind of thing the Empire would certainly keep under wraps.

“Are they trying to create another Titan? If they develop another weapon like that, it would benefit everyone...”

“It won’t be another Titan. I’ve heard they don’t have the resources to make another one.”

“Hmm... Is that so? Then maybe they’re developing another large-scale magical weapon or something similar?”

“Anything that helps the war effort would be good.”

“Indeed...”

Titan... When Louise had seen the majesty of that war machine, she had felt both awe and fear. It was a blessing that it stood on their side.

Anyone opposing the Empire—be it the Demon King’s army or anyone else—would be reduced to dust beneath its feet.

The Empire was clearly working on something inside the magic department of the Temple’s university. It might not be a Titan, but they were researching or developing something on a similar scale.

“Come to think of it, I think some of my classmates from Class B are involved in that research. They’re stationed at the Temple, but I hardly ever see them return to the dormitory.”

Although Heinrich wasn’t entirely certain, he supposed Louie Ankton, Cristina, and Anna de Gerna were part of the research team.

“Wasn’t... Adelia... involved in the Titan project? Your friend...”

“Yeah, she was.”

Adelia’s Power Cartridge had been a groundbreaking invention, but Titan had become an even more overwhelming achievement.

It seemed that other classmates of his were involved in another major imperial project.

If they were developing something similar to Titan, what kind of weapon could it be?

“Your friends are all... exceptionally talented, aren’t they?”

The second-year students of the Temple... Louise couldn’t help but think that an unusually high number of terrifyingly talented individuals were all in that year. Geniuses—or perhaps catastrophes—had converged in a way that defied coincidence.

Louise and Heinrich continued walking through the snowy Temple streets, leaving the university behind.

***

Ludwig left the guard headquarters with a vacant expression.

The collapsing ruins of the temple obviously hadn’t killed him. After shielding Rowen’s body from the falling debris, Ludwig encountered guards who had arrived to handle the fire. He was then escorted to the guard headquarters, where he fully cooperated with the investigation.

Once his identity was confirmed, the guards did not treat him poorly. However, the answers he received left him speechless.

“Well... It’s difficult.”

“Difficult...?”

“Yes. Unless they were caught at the scene, tracking down suspects from among dozens of rioters who attacked the temple and then scattered... especially when it’s a spontaneous crime rather than an organized one... is extremely difficult.”

Ludwig was incredulous. “I saw them with my own eyes. I saw the people who looted the temple and ran away—I saw their faces clearly. I remember them.”

“Sir Ludwig, the capital’s population now exceeds 100 million. If those responsible came from the refugee camps, where not everyone has a verified identity... tracking them down is practically impossible.”

If the perpetrators had disappeared into the maze of alleys surrounding the refugee camps, finding them would be hopeless.

“And with the weather the way it is...”

Given the crisis with the ever-falling snow, the guards were already stretched thin. Even if they had the manpower, the chances of apprehending the culprits were slim.

Ludwig was left speechless. The guards had essentially declared their inability to investigate a large-scale crime that had unfolded right before their eyes. In the capital city of Gradium, justice was elusive, unless a criminal was caught in the act.

Spontaneous violence, spontaneous arson, and spontaneous looting... And because it had all happened so spontaneously, the guards were already predicting failure before even beginning the investigation.

The deep fatigue evident in the officer’s face made it clear to Ludwig that the man wasn’t speaking out of indifference.

“But... are we just going to let this go? Without even investigating? Without doing anything? Just like that?” Ludwig asked.

The guards held the authority to carry out summary executions—authority justified only by the claim that they were preserving social order.

But if they gave up on this case, if they allowed such a complete lack of order to go unchecked, then what had they been upholding all this time? If the guards refused to act, didn’t that mean they should also be stripped of the power to kill people at will?

Where was the legitimacy of such violent authority supposed to come from?

As Ludwig stood there silently, eyes hollow, the officer let out a long sigh.

“Sir Ludwig... this case isn’t even under our jurisdiction in the first place. Even if we wanted to investigate, we couldn’t.”

“What do you mean by that...?”

“This incident involves arson, looting, and murder at a temple belonging to the Church of the Five Great Gods.”

Ludwig began to understand why the officer was distancing himself from the case.

“Thus, the Order of the Holy Knights will be handling it. They have jurisdiction here.”

Even if the guards had wanted to take action, they were powerless to do so. They had merely responded to the fire, but the investigation would soon be handed over to the Order of the Holy Knights.

“I don’t know if the Order will be able to properly track down those responsible... But we’ll most likely just end up passing the case files to them.”

After hearing those words, Ludwig left the guard headquarters.

Rowen had died.

Most of the people who had been staying at the temple were dead, and finding the culprits was practically impossible.

Ludwig wandered the streets in a daze.

Archbishop Rowen... She was strange in many respects, but she had by no means been an evil person.

Whether the rioters’ goal had been the food inside the temple or if they held a grudge against the Ouen Order was unclear. But Rowen, who had tirelessly helped the people without getting any proper rest, had been brutally murdered.

When he saw Rowen’s body, slashed to ribbons below the head, he’d felt a wave of nausea at the cruelty behind the crime.

‘Why? Why go to such lengths? And they can’t even be caught? Are they hiding somewhere in the capital or the refugee camps, trading the life of someone who could have saved thousands—or even tens of thousands—for a mere piece of bread? That’s absurd. This shouldn’t be happening,’ Ludwig thought.

The guards already said they would not be able to find the scattered culprits, and that they lacked the resources to do so.

Ludwig didn’t overestimate himself. He didn’t think he could accomplish what the guards could not. This required brains, not brawn. And it required authority to be involved in the case.

Even if he wanted to get involved, he had neither the authority nor the intelligence to solve the case.

He needed help. Someone’s help. He desperately needed it.

‘Those who did this must be punished.’

He walked through the streets, keeping his eyes wide open.