Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 594

The remains in the Saints’ Cemetery hadn’t been stolen; it was more likely that someone had resurrected them as undead and then vanished with them.

Thanks to Ludwig’s intuition, Ellen understood this crucial piece of information. She confronted the holy knight who was with them.

“Did the Order of the Holy Knights know about this?” she demanded.

His silence spoke volumes.

“You knew.”

Ellen couldn’t scold or reprimand the Order for keeping it a secret, nor could she question why they lied.

The fact that the bodies of those canonized after death might have been turned into undead was already a grave insult and a significant blemish on the Order of the Holy Knights and the Church of the Five Great Gods.

They would not want this truth to be known to anyone, not even to the Hero.

It was bad enough that the remains had been stolen, but the possibility that they had been turned into undead was even more alarming.

“Nothing is certain. It’s just speculation.”

“Right.”

Illeion Volten probably hadn’t wanted Ellen to figure this out, but Ludwig’s unexpected insight had led them to the truth.

The Order of the Holy Knights knew the remains might have been turned into undead and that a mage was involved. However, they kept it hidden, since it wasn’t something anyone else should know about.

Illeion Volten couldn’t stop Ellen from investigating, but this was probably why he’d concealed the truth earlier on.

Ultimately, some truths can only be confirmed when seeing them with one’s own eyes.

“Is there anything else you’re hiding?” Ellen asked, her voice steady but her eyes searching.

“No,” the holy knight replied, though Ellen couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more beneath the surface.

“Let’s go,” she said. There was nothing more they could uncover there.

Despite her authority, she knew the Order of the Holy Knights would never welcome Ellen, an outsider, probing into their secrets.

***

The four of them trudged through the snow-covered streets, having left the main temple of the Order of the Holy Knights.

“Let’s head back to the Temple and take our time to think this through. The Order of the Holy Knights has no intention of giving us any proper help,” Ellen said, an edge of frustration in her voice.

“I might actually be making things worse with my presence,” Louise von Schwartz admitted. “I’m sorry.”

Things might have been different if it were just Ellen poking around. But with Louise, the heir of Kernstadt, involved as well, the stakes were higher.

A serious incident had occurred within the Order of the Holy Knights, and now both the Hero and the heir of Kernstadt were aware of a dangerous truth. Given the tense situation, Illeion Volten had no choice but to remain less than cooperative.

“No, you’ve done more than enough. Whoever’s behind this won’t easily be able to get to Ludwig now, even if they don’t care about me.”

Despite Illeion Volten’s reluctance to help, Ludwig’s safety was assured, politically.

Even if Louise couldn’t offer direct assistance, her presence alone was a comfort.

Ellen took stock of the situation.

“The Order of the Holy Knights already knew they weren’t dealing with mere thieves; they knew there was a mage involved. Rowen must have been aware of that too. The Commander of the Holy Knights mentioned that even after his return, Rowen, who had been investigating the incident, did not share her findings with him, and so the commander was left in the dark about her actions. But whether that’s true or not, I can’t say for sure.”

Ellen paused, then continued, “It’s possible the commander was telling the truth. The Church of the Five Great Gods and the Order of the Holy Knights in the capital were under the command of the five popes. Rowen might not have needed to report to the commander if the popes were the ones who had given her the orders not to.

“Anyway, Rowen must have known about their transformation into undead and the link with mages. With the undead involved, it makes sense to suspect heretics, whether it’s the Demon God Cult or another group. It has long been confirmed that the Demon God Cult have the power to transform both living and dead into undead, and other heretics might be able to perform similar acts through unholy rituals. If that’s what Ludwig heard from Rowen, then it’s plausible.

“While investigating, Rowen likely provoked those involved, leading to her death. That’s about all we can deduce right now. We’re still not certain if they are truly Demon God Cultists.

There was another thing to consider as well.

“As for why she approached Ludwig... I don’t know. I think it might have been unrelated to this incident. It seems more likely she was targeting me, and that it was an issue that was separate from this case.”

There were still many truths to uncover. They were closer to understanding why Rowen was killed, although the identity of her killer remained elusive. Where could they be hiding?

The simpler the incident, the harder it was to uncover the truth. Conversely, the more complex the situation, the easier it seemed to find clarity. Yet, they only had a handful of intricate clues, and none of them could be sure of their significance.

Without the ability to differentiate between what mattered and what didn’t, they were forced to consider everything, which led them nowhere.

“If this is the work of the Demon God Cultists...” Ludwig began cautiously. “To resurrect the remains like that and kill the priest...”

He hesitated, glancing at Ellen as if he couldn’t hold back his thoughts any longer. “Could it be the work of the Demon King...?”

Ellen’s eyes widened at the suggestion, and so did Louise’s and Heinrich’s.

Earlier, Heinrich had told Louise that the Demon King might not be as evil as everyone believed, and that there could be hidden truths about the Gate Incident.

The Demon God Cult and the Demon King were intertwined.

Either the cultists were acting on the Demon King’s orders, or the Demon King himself had infiltrated the Tomb of the Saints, raised the remains as undead, and vanished.

Ellen felt a familiar headache creeping back.

‘Reinhart wouldn’t do such a thing,’ she thought.

She clenched her teeth, fighting against the pain. She was convinced he wouldn’t be capable of doing it.

It was Louise, not Ellen, who downplayed Ludwig’s suspicion.

“It’s not entirely impossible, but the chances are slim,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Is that so...?”

“None of us know where the Demon King is, right?”

“That’s true...”

“Let’s say the Demon King is behind this. Even if we knew that, could we find him and bring him to justice?”

Ludwig nodded along, lost in thought. “That’s... right...”

Even if the culprit was known, they could act with impunity as long as no one knew where they were. The Demon King was such a figure.

“But if the Demon King did this, why would he need to kill his pursuer? Even if they found out, no one knows where he is.”

“Ah...”

“If the Demon King had done it, then Rowen knowing it still means nothing to him. There’s no reason for him to risk attacking Rowen’s temple to kill everyone there.”

There were too many clues, and they painted a misleading picture.

If the Demon King had resurrected the bodies in the underground tomb, and if Rowen was killed while investigating the case, it might seem logical that the Demon King was responsible. But he still needed a reason to kill Rowen.

Even if the Order of the Holy Knights concluded the Demon King was the culprit, they would never be able to catch him without knowing his whereabouts. The Demon King would be aware of this, so why would he bother to eliminate Rowen, the inquisitor on his trail?

Even when considering his infamy, the situation would remain unchanged. Even if word spread that the Demon King had resurrected the dead saints in the tomb beneath the headquarters of the Order of the Holy Knights as undead, it wouldn’t tarnish his reputation any further. After all, he was already seen as the absolute evil behind the Gate Incident. How much worse could things get by adding a few resurrected corpses to the mix?

It would be pointless for the Demon King to kill Rowen, so he would not have done it.

Unbeknownst to them, this led to a false conclusion: since the Demon King has no reason to kill Rowen, he must not have done it. The real culprits had to be the grave robbers who’d desecrated the sacred tombs of the Order of the Holy Knights. If that were so, then the Demon King couldn’t have been involved in the grave-robbing incident—the final link in a flawed chain of reasoning.

“Right. Rein—No, the Demon King gains nothing from killing Rowen. If you only look at the crime scene, you might think otherwise... But there’s no reason for him to kill Rowen. It’s too risky to infiltrate the capital for such a thing,” Ellen said.

Ellen, still struggling with the pain stabbing through her head, was on the same page as Louise. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

It wasn’t about faith in Reinhart; even from a logical standpoint, there was no reason for him to kill Rowen.

The statement made at crime scene had been flashy, almost like a challenge: Catch me if you can.

If that were all, one might suspect the Demon King. But now that Rowen, who had been investigating the incident, was dead, the likelihood of the Demon King’s involvement plummeted.

The conclusion made by Louise and Ellen was the most rational one, given the circumstances, even when emotions were set aside.

Yet, the world was rarely rational, and the chance of a rational judgment being wrong was always high.

***

Ellen had said that there would be nothing to uncover if the incident were simple. Only if it were complex, strange, and layered with secrets might there be something to find. But the roots of this incident went very deep, and not all were visible.

The priestess leading the work of disease purification was actually the head of the inquisitors. This inquisitor had been interrogating and torturing heretics in order to track down the stolen remains of the Order of the Holy Knights. On top of that, those remains hadn’t been stolen; they had likely been resurrected as undead.

In the end, not everything could be resolved in a single day.

Though the Demon King’s name had come up, Louise and Ellen believed his involvement was highly unlikely, and Ludwig, who had raised the question, had to agree.

His expression remained tense on the way back to the Temple, as they headed to the Royal Class dormitory.

Regardless of who was involved or the truth behind the incident, Ludwig couldn’t shake the fact that Rowen had deceived him all along.

He had no idea who Rowen truly was beneath her mask of going about performing disease purification, nor had he ever suspected her intentions in approaching him.

He was terrified by the guards’ indiscriminate violence against civilians, so it had been a relief when Rowen appeared.

He believed her actions were necessary, and had followed her lead without hesitation.

When Rowen asked if she could continue to be her guard, Ludwig felt as though he’d been offered salvation. But Rowen had turned out to be a terrifying inquisitor, committing atrocities far worse than the guards’.

It was impossible to count how many had suffered under her hands. Even if she had eventually been killed, her actions could never be justified.

Ludwig had not known any of that. He could have deduced from her odd behavior that she was far from normal, yet he’d wanted to believe she was good because she seemed to be doing something necessary.

In truth, he had wanted to believe in her goodness, so he did.

Ludwig was naive.

Rowen had known Ludwig even before they’d met, and she had been killed before achieving whatever goal she had for getting close to him. If she hadn’t been killed, though, she would have used Ludwig to achieve whatever she wanted, whether it was to kill Ellen or dismantle the Hero Cult. Rowen’s death might have spared Ludwig from being used.

If Rowen had approached Ludwig with the intent to harm Ellen, then her death might ultimately be a blessing.

“Pride without humility is just self-deprecation.”

Was that just a lie of hers? Had it all been a ruse to gain his favor, to use him like a tool?

On the way back to the temple, Ludwig loathed his own weakness.

Disillusionment.

Self-hatred.

Anger.

These feelings, which he thought he’d been working through after meeting Rowen, now dragged him deeper into despair.

Although nothing had come from his involvement with her, Ellen and Louise had already sensed Rowen’s suspicious nature. Even in death, they could tell she hadn’t been an ordinary priest.

“...”

Ludwig, blinded by his own naivety, had seen Rowen as nothing more than an unfortunate victim. All he could do now was despise his past ignorance.

Ellen, who was walking ahead, spoke up.

“If we can confirm that the remains were resurrected as undead, then the Demon God Cultists are likely suspects. We should consider the possibility that they are in the refugee camp, and that a mage is among them. Whether that’s a reasonable assumption or not is another matter. There’s also a chance that dark mages are involved. That might even be more probable.”

The situation would shift dramatically depending on who the suspects were.

For the moment, the Demon King was off the list. It could be the Demon God Cultists in the refugee camp, or mages, including dark mages.

If the demon god cultists were responsible, that aligned with Rowen’s activities, if not exactly.

They needed to investigate the spread of the Demon God Cult in the refugee camp.

While they would not stoop to torturing or killing civilians, there were limits to what their investigation could achieve.

Torture, despite its cruelty, was an unmatched method for extracting information, often even leading to confessions of nonexistent details.

If dark mages were involved, they needed to gather evidence to support that theory.

“Will we even be able to resolve this before winter ends...?” Ellen wondered aloud, gazing up at the sky with a heavy sigh.

If the Demon God Cult had infiltrated the refugee camp, masquerading as the Hero Cult, it would be a significant problem.

“Even if the Demon God Cult isn’t directly involved in this incident, if they’ve disguised themselves as the Hero Cult and taken root in the refugee camp, we still need to eliminate them.”

“Right.”

Whether the Demon God Cult were involved or not, they were a threat that could not be allowed to remain in the capital.

Even if they were unrelated to Rowen’s murder, discovering them was essential. Rowen had told Ludwig that this was a secondary task to her, and that while focusing on purifying diseases, she would investigate suspicious activities in the refugee camp and act if necessary.

Rowen hadn't been pretending to purify diseases; she had genuinely done so even while uncovering heretics, interrogating, torturing, and killing them. A secondary task—helping people while preparing to eliminate Demon God Cultists.

Even her own words had subtly hinted at her role as an inquisitor, but Ludwig hadn’t realized it.

Now that Ellen had decided to get involved, she instinctively knew she had to uncover the truth about the demon god cultists, regardless of their connection to Rowen’s case.

“This is a separate issue, but there’s something we need to consider,” Ellen said, turning her attention to Louise, not Heinrich or Ludwig.

“What is it?”

“The Commander of the Holy Knights kept dropping hints. I don’t think it was just a misunderstanding.”

“Hints?”

“He was overly cautious with his words—probably because I was present, and because Commander Louise was there too. But still...”

Ellen’s voice hardened. “The Commander of the Holy Knights kept suggesting that he genuinely wouldn’t know anything if the popes of the Five Great Orders were hiding something from him.”

Louise remained silent, not because she had nothing to say, but because she was choosing her words carefully. Speaking recklessly could turn this into a politically-charged issue, even if no one in their group intended to take it that way.

Illeion Volten had been uncooperative with Ellen and deliberately withheld information, but in the end, he’d still allowed her to examine the crime scene for herself, even if it was partly because he couldn’t stop her.

“When people come together, they form an empire and appoint an emperor. The Order of the Holy Knights, formed by the Church of the Five Great Gods, is similar to an empire, but strictly speaking, the Holy Knight Commander isn’t an emperor... That was what he said.”

Not every emperor in history wielded more power than all the vassals or kings of the principalities. However, the emperor of the Gradias Empire truly ruled over all the lands of humanity as the highest authority on the continent, holding more power than any king.

However, the Order of the Holy Knights, despite being formed by the coming together of the Church of the Five Great Gods, was not led by a Holy Emperor. He was simply the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights. In essence, he was just a commander of a military force, not a king or anything more.

“Someone like Illeion Volten isn’t the type to crave power that surpasses that of the popes.”

Louise wasn’t particularly close to the present commander of the Order of the Holy Knights, Illeion Volten, but she knew enough about him.

The Empire supported him not because he was a puppet, but because he valued maintaining the status quo.

He never sought significant change, and it seemed unlikely that he would suddenly develop a desire for power and the ambition to surpass the popes of the Church. That wasn’t why he’d spoken to Ellen in that way.

“He kept dropping hints that the popes are deliberately hiding something from him, the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights—and that he doesn’t have the authority to uncover what it is they were hiding. That’s what I believe.”

Illeion Volten never said anything outright.

“If the popes are hiding something, I wouldn’t know.”

That statement alone was enough to make Ellen realize that the popes were indeed concealing something from him.

“Even so, this is an internal issue of the Order of the Holy Knights. I’m not sure how it connects to Rowen’s situation. I think approaching the popes requires careful consideration.”

Ellen could challenge human authority anywhere, but she was wary of meddling too much in the internal affairs of the Church or the Order of the Holy Knights. This was a political matter, and she knew better than to interfere recklessly.

Ultimately, she shared Ludwig’s perspective. When lives were at stake or monsters appeared, it was easy to step in. But for Ellen to suddenly appear at a meeting of the popes of the Five Great Orders and demand they be subservient to the Commander of the Order of the Holy Knights could have unpredictable consequences, regardless of whether such a thing was feasible in the first place. It might be the best course of action, or it could be the worst.

“If it’s merely a power struggle between the Commander of the Holy Knights and the popes of the Five Great Orders, then it’s not something we should get involved in.”

“Right.”

“But if the popes are somehow involved in this incident... I don’t know what to do.”

It seemed too dangerous to handle, but if this internal conflict was related to this case, it was something they couldn’t afford to ignore.

“This is troublesome...” Louise muttered, unable to hold back her frustration.

Ellen, too, felt a different kind of headache coming on.

The Commander of the Holy Knights might be unaware of things known to the popes of the Five Great Orders.

They already had their hands deep in the Order of the Holy Knights’ internal affairs. Any further interference could drag them into even more complex issues.