Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 641

Scarlett made her way back to the capital swiftly, though she wasn't going to be stationed there permanently like others had been last winter.

A large-scale teleportation point was always operational for the transport of supplies, which allowed her to head back to the capital as soon as she received the go-ahead.

Despite the vast distance, a single cast of mass teleportation by several archmages could transport people and supplies between the army and the capital at any time.

Others had returned to the capital during the winter, but this was Scarlett's first time back at the Temple since the Allied Forces had been deployed. In truth, most of the combat-ready personnel from the Temple had been scattered across the battlefield, so very few had returned to the Temple.

"Whew...”

Thud.

After taking a shower upon her return, Scarlett collapsed onto her bed, feeling as if she were falling apart. She could feel in her very bones that the end of the Gate Incident was drawing near. And with it, the sense of impending crisis also grew heavier by the day.

Scarlett always worried over whether she could make it through to the end. She was incredibly strong, far beyond an ordinary human, but that strength had thrust her into countless life-threatening situations. So, she never had the certainty that she would survive until the end.

And then, her fight had abruptly been brought to an end. She wasn't injured, nor had the Gate Incident been concluded. Instead, it was revealed that her own abilities posed a threat to her allies. Remaining on the battlefield might have caused more harm than good.

Scarlett lay face down on the bed, as if all life had drained from her. She understood that her absence wouldn't significantly impact the Allied Forces. There was Titan, towering above a mysterious, unidentified army.

Was the fight truly going to end like this?

So many issues remained unresolved, yet the battle against the mysterious monsters seemed to be drawing to a close.

Scarlett understood that everything would culminate in either death or survival. But it had all happened so suddenly. She hadn't anticipated her battle to conclude so decisively, and honestly, she was in shock.

It didn't feel real. It had been so abrupt, without any warning. She had just suddenly been told that she could rest.

Moreover, Anna’s words lingered in her mind, the ones she had said to her before she left.

Why had Anna insisted that she keep quiet around Cristina? What was behind that request?

The desperation in Anna's eyes had been so intense that Scarlett had agreed to stay silent, but unease gnawed at her. Trusting Anna meant she couldn't trust Cristina.

Scarlett resolved to ask about it once everything settled down. Maybe it would turn out to be nothing important.

She lay on the bed, suddenly aware of how unfamiliar the scent of the fresh sheets was. She had been away for so long that even the dormitory bed, the sheets, and the view from the window felt foreign.

Her days as a street beggar now seemed like a distant memory. The war had devoured everything, leaving the past shrouded in obscurity. What once felt familiar now seemed foreign and distant.

In the past, Scarlett had clung to the Temple, unable to imagine surviving beyond its walls. But now, she could.

Even with the war's end, the continent still needed to be cleansed of lingering monsters. Scarlett's skills would be indispensable wherever a sword was required, and it was needed everywhere.

She could now live outside the Temple.

Sitting up in bed, she quietly took in the view that was both familiar and strange. She was on the second floor of the Temple's Royal Class dormitory, surrounded by the lush, green summer landscape.

Could the Temple be restarted?

So many lives had been lost, and countless students had been injured. So much time had already slipped away, and it was unclear if the Empire, let alone the Temple, could endure.

By this time, Scarlett should have been in her fifth year. But everything had come to a halt in her second year.

The dormitory, the lessons, the familiar surroundings... Everything had been frozen in time, refusing to move forward.

She stared outside in silence. Could humanity ever return to its former peace?

Suddenly, a profound sadness washed over Scarlett.

The reopening of the Temple felt like an impossible dream. But even if it did open its doors again, the friends who had vanished would never return.

Ashir.

Delphine.

Those two were gone forever.

Even if classes miraculously resumed, their seats would remain empty, silent reminders of their absence.

Even if peace graced the world once more, the countless empty seats of the lost would never be filled.

Scarlett bit her lip and began to cry softly. Delphine's face, the friend who had died in her place, filled her mind.

Scarlett buried her face between her knees and wept for a long time.

Was it right for her to still be alive?

Scarlett could somewhat relate to Ludwig, who had been forced away from the battlefield. It didn't feel like it was truly over. There was a lingering sense that she still had something left to contribute.

She understood why Ludwig, despite having undergone some procedure and not being in the best of health, insisted on returning to battle. He claimed that providing support from the rear was enough, even with his arm wrapped in bandages. Scarlett could empathize with that feeling.

She felt uneasy being back home while others continued to risk their lives, even though there was a valid reason for her to return. After all, Scarlett's situation was quite different from Ludwig's. Ludwig had not been in a condition to be of much help, but Scarlett's presence on the battlefield was even more problematic. She had more reason to withdraw than Ludwig did. Deep down, she knew better than anyone that it was necessary.

Like Ludwig, Scarlett couldn't just sit back and relax, claiming she had no more battles to fight.

A sense of unease gnawed at her. She stared intently at her hands, contemplating her supernatural power.

‘How can something so seemingly useless exist?’ she thought.

To be fair, it wasn't entirely useless. Ever since the monsters had begun wielding strange powers, Scarlett's ability had found some use. But among the myriad types of monsters, only a few used magic-like abilities, and even then, most of those creatures possessed such overwhelming physical strength that her power often made little difference. In the end, her supernatural ability was more of a supplementary tool than something she could fully rely on.

Her ability had grown so strong that it could even disrupt magical equipment within its range. That advancement had become a real problem. The only silver lining was that she could control it consciously.

Thankfully, she had not reached the point where magic was entirely ineffective on her. Teleportation spells and divine healing still worked, sparing her from having to trek back to the capital on foot.

At that moment, all the others who had supernatural powers were deployed on the battlefield. Evia was using her telepathy to enhance the command and communication systems of the Allied Forces. Heinrich was, of course, involved. Connor Lint was employing his teleportation skills for reconnaissance and rescue missions. But Scarlett’s own power was useless against most enemies, and had the unintentional effect of disabling allied golems or magical devices.

Scarlett knew that, in a battle between humans, her ability would be incredibly valuable, as enemy mages wouldn’t be able to touch her. If her enemies commanded a golem army, Scarlett's presence would be an undeniable boon. With just a flicker of her power, dozens, even hundreds, of golems would fall lifeless.

But against monsters, her ability was futile.

Not that Scarlett ever wished for such battles.

Her power might have been useless in some situations, but it was better than having none at all. The ability to neutralize magic and other supernatural powers... Scarlett smiled wryly at the irony.

As a child, she had been shunned as a witch. Yet, wasn't she the least witch-like of them all? She couldn't wield magic, nor could magic affect her. If anything, she should have been more like a witch hunter.

Her fiery red hair and piercing red eyes had made her a target for teasing and bullying, memories that now felt both amusing and isolating.

In the end, Scarlett had walked away from the battlefield.

It was heartbreaking that her ability posed a threat to her allies, but upon reflection, she realized it was inevitable.

‘Yeah...’ Scarlett mused quietly to herself. ‘For someone like me, it's better to be useless...’

Her power was formidable, but it was better left unused. So she had returned to the Temple, waiting for the war to end, dreaming of a world where people could live in peace, even if things could never be quite the same again.

That was what she longed for.

With that thought, she considered getting a good night's sleep for the first time in ages.

Meow.

"Huh...?"

Scarlett tilted her head at the sound coming from beyond the window. It was unmistakably a cat's meow.

‘What could it be?’ she wondered.

A cat was perched on the windowsill outside Scarlett's dormitory window, meowing softly.

It was a familiar cat.

The cat gazed at her through the glass, its meows persistent.

"Oh," Scarlett murmured, suddenly recalling the creature she had forgotten.

Ellen had mentioned leaving a cat back at the dormitory during her brief stay in the capital. Since her return to the Allied Forces, Ellen had mostly stayed in her tent, leaving little opportunity for conversation. It seemed she had indeed left the cat behind.

So, this black cat had been residing in the dormitory all along.

Meow.

Tap, tap.

The cat gently tapped the window with its tiny paw. Ellen's cat sat outside, as if asking to be let in.

Scarlett had watched Ellen take the cat back with her the previous winter. She remembered seeing it in a cage, looking bewildered. It wasn't unusual for the cat to still be around.

Meow.

Tap, tap.

However, the way the dormitory was organized caused her to feel something odd.

“Isn’t this the second floor?”

First-year students stayed on the first floor, second-year students on the second, third-year students on the third and so on. Since the Temple had ceased operations during her second year, she was indeed on the second floor of the dormitory. The dormitory had higher ceilings than most buildings, making its second floor much higher than usual.

How on earth did a cat end up there?

Scarlett, baffled, watched the cat as it tapped on the window at such an unusual time and place. She couldn't figure out how it had got up there, but if it jumped down and got hurt, it would be a big problem.

Did this happen often?

The cat had managed to climb up but seemed clueless about how to get down, leaving it in quite a predicament.

But that cat... She had seen it since it had been a kitten, yet it hadn't grown at all over the year.

Was it a breed that matured slowly?

Scarlett pondered this as she cautiously opened the window, slightly anxious about whether it might be dangerous.

With a soft click, the window opened.

Hop.

The cat leaped into Scarlett's room.

But then...

Thud!

As it landed, the cat transformed into a human.

“Uh...?”

Humans are funny. When they're caught off guard, they make weird, bewildered noises, mouths hanging open, unable to form a coherent sentence.

“Ah... Uh...? Oh...”

She was too stunned.

Too frightened.

Too amazed.

Scarlett found herself speechless.

"I need to ask you something quickly. It's urgent," said the cat, which had transformed into a human.

"Before you arrived here, from yesterday until now," Reinhart, the cat in human form, continued. “Cristina, Louis Ankton, Anna de Gerna, and Ludwig...”

The once-adorable cat had vanished, leaving behind Reinhart, wearing a serious expression. The foul-tempered, ill-mannered Reinhart.

"Did you meet any of those four?" he demanded abruptly, skipping any normal greeting or explanation.

Scarlett was caught off guard, unable to think, let alone respond.

Thud.

"Uh... Ah... Uhh...”

Words failed her as she crumpled back onto her bed.

"S-save me... Please, save me...”

Reinhart frowned at Scarlett, who lay collapsed in front of him. Only he seemed to feel the urgency of the situation.

"Hey, you might not realize it, but this is really urgent. Hurry!" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Despite his anxious tone, did not elaborate further.

The Demon King, who was looking down at Scarlett, suddenly flushed red—not with anger or fury, but something else entirely.

"If you can't answer quickly... At least put on some clothes first!"

Scarlett had just finished showering and was still in her underwear when she’d fallen onto the bed.

***

If a serial killer broke into your house, would your first instinct be to grab a knife to defend yourself, or would you worry about being caught in your underwear?

For Scarlett, it was neither; she had almost fainted.

Instead, the notorious intruder, who had barged into Scarlett's room, had blushed and shouted at her to put on some clothes if she couldn't find her words, leaving Scarlett trembling as she awkwardly dressed herself.

To storm into someone else's room uninvited and then start barking orders...

The Demon King was truly a piece of work.

Scarlett was too overwhelmed by the bizarre situation to feel any embarrassment. She just huddled in the corner, shaking.

What was with the cat? What was with the Demon King? What was with all those questions?

What had been happening all along?

If that cat was actually the Demon King, then what had been going on all this time?

Scarlett felt as if someone had tangled up a ball of yarn and shoved it into her brain.

She was cornered, trembling like a leaf, unable to speak.

Unfortunately, the issue didn’t just lie with Scarlett.

"Look, I didn't mean to see you like this... but... It was urgent. I'm sorry. I was in a hurry, and I know it was rude. I really am sorry.”

The Demon King, driven by his urgency, suddenly realized his mistake and awkwardly apologized.

Why did it matter if he saw her in her underwear? Given the state of the world, this was insignificant. Why apologize for something so trivial?

Scarlett was utterly startled by the Demon King's sudden appearance in her room.

She had witnessed countless horrors since the war began. Yet, meeting the Demon King, someone she never expected to encounter, at such an unexpected moment made her mind go blank.

She was afraid of him. But his awkwardness and embarrassment aside, he didn't seem to have any murderous intent.

"Y-you're not going to kill me...?"

"Why would I kill you?" he shouted back, sounding almost unhinged.

He took a breath. "I know you're confused and scared, wondering why I've done all this. You don't trust me, and I get it. I understand. It's all very confusing, but try to calm down," he continued.

Causing a situation so shocking that someone might faint, only to then tell them not to be confused, was too much. Scarlett thought Reinhart seemed even more deranged than before. But he still seemed just like the same troublemaker Reinhart from the Temple.

Scarlett's trembling slowly eased.

He hadn't come to kill her. But if that wasn't his intention, then why was he here?

"T-then... W-what’s all this about...?" she stammered.

"Hey, can’t you be more specific? There are too many answers to that question, and I can't figure out what you're curious about," he replied.

Was she referring to the Gate Incident? Was she wondering what he'd been up to all this time? Or was she questioning the immediate situation they were in?

He had been involved in so many things that such a vague question was not enough for him to understand what she was asking about.

Scarlett glanced out the window, her mind racing.

Reinhart's face twisted with displeasure. “Are you curious about the cat?” he asked.

"Yes..." she replied, her voice trailing off.

There were certainly more pressing issues at hand, but Scarlett couldn't shake her bewilderment at what had just happened. In truth, no matter how significant the other matters were, from a human perspective, the fact that the Demon King was masquerading as a cat was the most baffling of all.

"Um... well... That actually happens to be the most complicated thing to explain," he said.

While the other issues he faced were indeed complex and challenging to articulate, for Reinhart, the cat charade was the most awkward of all to justify.

Explaining the planning and execution of it would have taken at least thirty minutes.

Seeing Reinhart at a loss for words, Scarlett quietly asked the most important question.

"Does Ellen... know about this...?"

"No, she doesn't."

“...”

Despite her fear and the intimidating presence of the person before her, Scarlett couldn't hold back.

"You crazy, perverted bastard," she said sternly.

"H-hey! Okay, you’re not wrong... But if anyone's going to scold me, it should be Ellen, not you! If you're going to call me a pervert, do it for what happened earlier!"

"You're a shameless... piece of trash...”

No matter how he looked at it, pretending to be a cat and deceiving people was undeniably perverted behavior. He had no defense.

“Yeah, I'm a scoundrel,” the Demon King admitted, resigned to the truth.