Demon King of the Royal Class

After finishing the letter, I lingered in Eleris's shop for a while.

"Do you know about the Demon God Cult, Eleris?"

I had written scenes which had only involved the remnants of the Demon God Cult, but had never specifically set up anything about the Demon God Cult itself. I had simply written about a few remnants who happened to clash with Ludwig while he was traveling during his break, which led to their eradication. That was all I’d written, and they hadn't appeared since then.

Therefore, since I hadn't written any specific details about them, there was much that I did not know about them.

Eleris tilted her head at my question, looking at me curiously.

"Why have you suddenly become curious about the Demon God Cult?"

She did not seem worried that I might be intending to use the Demon God Cult to build power; it was more as if she was wondering why I would be interested in such a thing at all.

"Well, it's just that, after what we pulled off last time, it seems like the Demon God Cult has been stirring things up or something."

"Ah, I see." Eleris rested her chin on her arms, a subtle smile playing across her lips. "Your Highness, there is no such thing as a demon god."

‘What? There's no demon god?’

"... You mean it doesn't exist at all?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Just because I hadn’t written anything about the demon god, it didn’t exist at all? Did that mean that the Demon God Cult believed in a demon god that did not even exist?

However, in what I wrote about the incident involving the remnants of the Demon God Cult, I had described them using Divine Power. How could they use Divine Power in service to a god that did not exist?

I was on the verge of cognitive dissonance.

Eleris, with a subtle smile still on her lips, began to explain.

"Religion existed in the Demon Realm as well, and although there were few followers, there were priests as well. In other words, the religion followed by the demons of the Demon Realm is referred to by humans as the Demon God Cult."

‘What is this now?’

So the demons had a religion. But if the demon god did not exist, did that mean the demons believed in something nonexistent?

"... But you just said there is no demon god. So, the demons believed in a god that doesn't even exist?"

Eleris shook her head. "No, that's not it.

"Among humans, there are two gods known to be part of the Demon God Cult. The god of slaughter, Suiran, and the god of darkness, Nox. Besides them, there is also the god of corruption, Kier; the god of terror, Talad; and the god of hatred, Egrisian, although these three are not as well-known."

We learned about the Five Great Gods in theology class, but they never taught us about the existence of these demon gods. These names that came from Eleris were all new to me.

"So, you're saying these demon gods don't exist?"

"It's been misrepresented."

“Misrepresented.”

What did that mean?

"There are five gods in the Divine Cult of the Almighty: the god of war, Alse; the god of the sun, Shalam; the god of the moon, Mensis; the goddess of purity, Ouen; and the god of courage, Riter."

"... Yes, that's right."

"Slaughter and war, moon and darkness. The sun and terror, hatred and courage. When you think about it, don't they have similar meanings? Of course, corruption and purity are the complete opposite concepts, though."

The god of slaughter, and the god of war.

The god of darkness, and the god of the moon.

The god of terror, and the god of the sun.

The god of hatred, and the god of courage.

The goddess of purity, and the god of corruption.

They were either opposites or carried a similar essence.

Eleris was implying a connection between them.

She looked at me with a smile.

"Humans did not want to acknowledge that demons worshiped the same Five Great Gods as themselves. So, they changed the names of the gods we worshiped. Although we worshiped the same god Alse, they renamed ours as the god of slaughter, Suiran. The god of the moon, Mensis, that the humans believed was renamed the god of darkness, Nox, so on and so forth. In the case of Ouen, they went as far as to completely invert what the god represented."

Some humans, upon learning about the demons’ faith, refused to acknowledge that demons worshiped the same deities as themselves.

Therefore, humans had arbitrarily changed the names of the gods that the demons worshiped.

"Due to the lack of communication between the two realms, humans started calling the demons' system of faith by whatever names they desired, and those became the 'facts' in the human world. Consequently, humans who started believing in this distorted faith began to emerge. That's what the Demon God Cult is."

The Demon God Cult turned out to be a religion with absolutely no relation to demons at all. Among the demons, those who had faith also believed in the Five Great Gods, and did not know of or acknowledge any alternate demon god.

Humans, unwilling to acknowledge that demons worshiped the same deities as them, wanted to believe that the gods the demons worshiped were different from theirs. Thus, the demon gods were created as an imaginary entity.

It was as if they wanted to convince themselves that demons worshiped false gods while humans worshiped the true gods, and, based on this manufactured truth, a bizarre group of religious practitioners emerged that came to be known as the Demon God Cult.

"... So, ironically, the Demon God Cult is actually a religion exclusive to humans, then."

"Indeed, Your Highness. In reality, they are simply believing in the same deities."

The demon gods do not exist.

Whether one believed in the god of war, Alse, or the god of slaughter, Suiran, they were ultimately worshiping the same entity. The same went for Nox and Mensis.

"So, the followers of the Demon God Cult can also use Divine Power, right?"

Even though the demon gods didn’t exist, since Nox was technically Mensis and Suiran was Alse, through their faith in these “demon” gods, they could use Divine Power.

"Yes, that would be the case. However, the way the power is controlled changes depending on how the wielder uses it."

Ultimately, even if the source of the Divine Power was the same, if the power was used wickedly, it manifested as an evil force. Divine Power manifested in entirely different ways based on intent. It did not matter if the essence was the same.

The Divine Power of the Demon God Cult and its priests manifested in such a way.

"In that case, there's essentially no reason to suppress the Demon God Cult or do anything about them, right?"

Eleris tilted her head, her expression becoming ambiguous. "Essentially, since they worship the same deities, that is correct. However, humans will not admit that the demon gods they have created are, in fact, the same gods of the Divine Cult of the Almighty they are worshiping."

Renouncing and denying the existence of the demon gods was, in turn, an insult to their own gods. Humans, especially priests and holy knights, would never admit that.

"Furthermore, followers of the Demon God Cult, who have malicious intent in their hearts, believe in and gain power from a deity disguised as a demon god. There’s no guarantee that they aren't dangerous."

No one joined the Demon God Cult with good intentions. Once the members actually obtained power, they would use it for malignant purposes; thus, they were indeed dangerous entities.

"Therefore, though the demon gods do not exist in truth, they do in essence, Your Highness."

The demon gods did not exist, but then again, they actually did...

The demon gods were a concept created by humans, but this concept had real influence on the real world. The demon gods were created to disguise their connection to the major deities, and because of this, it essentially made their existence real.

"Even if the doctrine is good, faith is not necessarily benevolent," Eleris said with a smile.

The law may be good, but faith in the law was not necessarily so.

Her words resonated deeply with me.

In the end, the illusion of demon gods gave rise to the reality of the Demon God Cult.

"Wow, it's complicated."

"Yes, it is indeed a complicated issue."

Ultimately, the humans’ desire to differentiate themselves from demons created the nonexistent concept of demon gods. And because of that, the Demon God Cult, which served the major deities with impure intentions, emerged.

It was as if humans had put on a show by themselves, only to trip and land face-first, breaking their noses. They could carry out pro-demon behavior and talk about the Demon God Cult in front of demons, only for the demons to wonder in a bewildered manner, "What are you even talking about? What are Nox and Suiran?"

If the gods were concerned with how their Divine Power was used, followers of the Demon God Cult shouldn't have been able to use it in the first place. However, the gods did not concern themselves with how their Divine Power was utilized. It was just as Olivia Lanche had despaired.

The Five Great Gods, as stewards of power, lent it without care for how it is used. That was why corrupt clergy could exist, and why the Demon God Cult could exist.

"Aren't these gods, who lend their power just because you believe in them, incredibly irresponsible?" I asked.

"What can we do? They were created to be that way."

Indeed, all this was the result of the world trying to fill in the gaps around the existence of corrupt clergy being proficient in wielding Divine Power, and my negligence in not setting up a proper demon god while letting the Demon God Cult emerge.

‘How can corrupt clergy use Divine Power? Because the gods don't really care about humans.’

‘What even is the Demon God Cult? Why isn't there an explanation about what the Demon God Cult is? Actually, they’re all the same gods, lol.’

In the end, it was my irresponsible storytelling that had led to such a messed-up situation.

I was one who had created the Five Great Gods, and after all was said and done, it was me who took the hit.

It was my fault.

My great fault.

***

I had merely asked about the Demon God Cult lightly, but had ended up learning a shocking truth. The humans, in their defamation of the demon religion, had created the fictitious concept of demon gods. In fact, among the small number of demons who had faith in the divine, they had all believed in the Five Great Gods.

The misunderstanding had deepened so much that, among humans, only a very few knew this truth, if any did at all.

Anyone who tried to spread this claim would not only face opposition from the Order of the Holy Knights, but from the entire human society that would seek to kill them. It would be equivalent to denying their entire religious history.

Humans would never admit that demons shared the same system of faith as them.

In conclusion, even though the demon gods didn’t exist, I agreed with Eleris's statement that they might as well exist. The Demon God Cult, by its nature, was a dangerous force.

If the Demon God Cult involved believers with a twisted faith in the Five Great Gods who wished for the world to crumble, then, regardless of whether the demon gods existed or not, this group needed to be smashed.

Late Sunday evening, when Charlotte returned, I handed her the letter from Baalier.

"... You didn't actually see him, did you?"

It seemed Charlotte was curious if I had seen Baalier in person.

"No. I only received a letter from his side."

"I see... Thank you, Reinhart."

Charlotte, treating the letter like the most precious treasure in the world, tucked it away and returned to her dorm.

If there was a thorn in my heart, it seemed it hadn’t completely worn away yet.

It kept pricking me, ever so slightly.

***

Charlotte had proposed that we root out the Demon God Cult and revolutionary forces together, but I wasn’t sure when she would start. Since I expected her to make the first move, I decided to just bide my time quietly.

June rolled around...

Summer was in full swing, and a story development fit for an utter geeky fantasy began to unfold.

On Monday, during common class time...

"Due to the warmer weather, from today onward, all physical education classes will be replaced by swimming."

Due to my very personal belief that summer in school settings was incomplete without some form of swimming, Mr. Effenhauser announced that the hellish physical education classes would be entirely replaced by swimming lessons from that day onward.

"Ooooo!"

The most excited was Connor Lint. It was so obvious that his excitement stemmed from a particular reason, and he received disapproving looks from the female students, which made him scratch the back of his head sheepishly.

It seemed impossible for that guy not to be disliked.

—Swimming should be somewhat easier, right?

—Shouldn't it?

—... I can't swim, though.

Of course, aside from Ellen, the female students of Class A, whose talents did not lean towards combat, seemed quite pleased that the hellish physical training would be replaced with swimming.

‘Well, that may not be true. Don’t you guys realize swimming is more strenuous than most other forms of exercise? This isn't going to the pool for fun; it's training, you know?’

***

After lunch, it was time for physical education.

After changing into swimsuits, we all gathered at the outdoor swimming pool. The physical education class was originally conducted jointly for the A and B classes, so now all twenty-two first-year students were gathered at the outdoor swimming pool.

I’d heard that the swimming pool water was from collected rainwater, and wondered if they’d been saving it up just to release it all that day. Since the Temple used purification magic, there wasn’t likely to be any issue with the water quality.

With the start of the swimming classes, the area around the swimming pool seemed to have been thoroughly cleaned and refurbished. There weren’t any sunbeds, but there were umbrellas laid out.

The teachers and teaching assistants conducting the physical education class were also wearing swimsuits. Moving forward, they’d probably act as lifeguards.

The boys’ swimming trunks resembled boxers, and the girls wore standard one-piece swimsuits that were navy blue in color. They were simple swimsuits without any particular notable design.

Among the boys, quite a few couldn’t help but let their eyes wander.

However,one person stood out from the rest.

“Miss Granz, I believe you were informed that wearing personal swimsuits is prohibited.”

The physical education teacher singled out Riana de Granz, who was conspicuously different from the others.

She was wearing a white tube-top bikini, and she was also the last one to arrive.

It suited her well, but wearing that alone made her stand out markedly.

"... The one I was issued became too small to wear, so I had to retrieve a personal one from the dormitory."

‘Ah, so that's why she was late.’

When she mentioned that it had “become too small”, both male and female students turned to stare at Granz. She seemed slightly embarrassed, her lips trembling slightly.

Indeed, it could have shrunk. It was entirely possible. But was it possible that she had already outgrown it since the start of the semester...?

‘Are you still growing?’

The physical education teacher coughed awkwardly at her stated reason.

"... Well, hmm. We will arrange for a new swimsuit to be delivered to you in the correct size. We will make an exception for you today."

"Thank you."

Thus the swimming lesson commenced, with Riana, the only one in a bikini, joining in.

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