Demon King of the Royal Class

As soon as the restrictions on leaving the campus were lifted, I went outside to get a progress report from Eleris and to share what I had been up to.

However, there was something more important than that...

“... What is this?”

“I thought you might be waiting for it, so I brought it as soon as possible.”

Since I had been frequenting Class B’s areas, the Class B students didn’t really care about me entering their dormitory anymore. Therefore, as soon as I returned to the Temple, I stopped by Class B and handed Charlotte a letter when no one was looking.

Charlotte, knowing exactly what this letter was, quickly tucked it away.

Her eyes were trembling violently.

“Thank you, Reinhart... thank you.”

She seemed touched that I had immediately gone out as soon as the exit restrictions had been lifted, knowing that she would be waiting for this. Each time Charlotte expressed her gratitude, it felt as if my heart was being pricked with a needle.

After all, it was all lies, and I was in a position where I had to keep lying.

The letter contained nothing special.

“Sorry for leaving without a word. I’m doing well under Eleris’s protection, and I hope you are safe.”

That was basically all the letter said, just with more elaboration to make it longer. It also contained certain information that only the real Baalier would know, so the veracity of the letter wouldn’t be doubted.

“Well, that’s pretty much it. I’m going to go now.”

“Oh, okay.”

I turned and started walking away, not wanting to stand in front of Charlotte for too long.

“Congratulations on coming in first, Reinhart.”

“Uh... Thanks.”

Leaving Charlotte—who had spoken quietly—behind me, I left the Class B dormitory.

The best case for me would be if this lie never came to light.

But the fear was growing in me, and I wondered how Charlotte would look at me if the entire lie was exposed.

***

Midterms had ended, and I ultimately did not clear the challenge.

Well, people do fail sometimes.

But it was a bit funny to think that I had aimed for 10th place in one area but ended up placing first in another, and that placing first in this other area ironically brought me no benefits.

Anyway, things went back to normal.

Clang!

“Ugh. Come on!”

Once again, I picked up the practice sword that had slipped from my grasp. Ellen, as always, was just standing there, silently watching me.

All I did was go through this routine over and over again, finally becoming so exhausted that I would drop my sword. Aside from the times when Ellen plainly offered herself as a dummy target, I hadn’t succeeded in landing even a single blow on her.

“It seems like I’ve gotten rusty after that short break.”

It had been only about a week’s break from training, but it felt as if my body had grown stiff. I could tell as I was getting beaten even more convincingly in training now, compared to before.

“No, not really.”

“... What do you mean, not really?”

What was she talking about? It was true that I was performing worse than before.

“I’ve just raised the intensity on my side a little.”

“Oh... really?”

The reason I was getting beaten even more hopelessly than before wasn’t because my body had grown stiff. Rather, it was because Ellen had been using the strength and skill of a level 1 character previously, but she was now channeling a character at what seemed to be level 1.5 to me. That was about how much I had leveled up.

“Well, that’s good news, and I feel good about that. But I’m curious all of a sudden. How much have you been holding back when sparring with me?”

“Um...”

Ellen seemed to ponder for a moment, then pointed to the ceiling with her practice sword.

“Me,” she said, then she pointed firmly to the floor. “You.”

“That’s the ceiling you pointed at, right? Not the sky?”

‘Could she be implying that the difference in skill between the two of us was equivalent to the distance between the sky and the ground?’

Ellen shook her head, reassuring me that the difference wasn’t to that extent.

“But if you use your supernatural powers, it’s about this much.”

This time, Ellen pointed to somewhere around her knee. Without using my supernatural powers, the gap in skill was as big as that between the ceiling and floor of the training grounds, which was about five meters. When I used my supernatural powers, however, I could reach up to her knees.

Although the difference was still huge, if what she was saying was true, it still meant that I had improved a lot.

“You just don’t realize how much your skills have improved because you’re always practicing with me.”

“... I know you’re not showing off and that you have every right to say something like that, but it is kind of annoying to hear you actually say that.”

“It’s the truth.”

I had nothing to say in response to her matter-of-fact reply. She was effectively saying, “Of course I’m stronger than you, what do you want me to do about it?” Indeed, Ellen’s skills were also continuously improving, and at a rate that was faster than the growth of my own skills.

Ellen felt like a target that I would never be able to catch up to.

“But I did feel it during the last Swordsmanship assessment.” I had felt something during the students’ tournament. “The others seemed too slow, and I could see every move.”

Because of how my Self-Deception ability allowed me to enhance my physical skills, it was well-tailored for swordsmanship, and I felt like my physical stats would be boosted by two to three times their base level when I used it.

My current physical ability stats were as follows:

[Strength 5.9(D-)]

[Agility 6.5(D)]

[Dexterity 7.4(D+)]

[Mana 11.1(C)]

[Stamina 10(C)]

Factoring the boost that my supernatural power gave me, each of these abilities’ ranks would change slightly.

Compared to when I started—with the exception of mana—my physical abilities had nearly doubled in level.

Although I was now entering a phase where my growth would not be as significant, the results of my efforts were clearly visible. With the additional boost from my supernatural powers, I could reach a considerable level of physical prowess when compared to peers of my own level.

Therefore, even though I still hadn’t fully mastered proper Swordsmanship, my reflexes and physical abilities alone were enough for me to defeat my schoolmates who specialized in combat. This included some first-year high school students who weren’t part of the Royal Class but still specialized in combat as well.

Since I was training with Ellen this whole time, I still felt that I was terribly weak, but in reality, when I sparred with the other students, it felt too easy.

In fact, in the students’ tournament, I hadn’t used my supernatural abilities before going up against Ellen, just to avoid any unwanted gossip. And yet, I had won every match.

However, that didn’t mean that those guys who had lost to me hadn’t improved their Swordsmanship skill to the level of my own Pseudo-Swordsmanship. That didn’t seem to be the case.

Not everything can be justified just by what can be seen with your own two eyes. Because I had constantly sparred against an opponent of such a high level so many times, I just naturally knew how to go up against the other students in our duels, even those with decent swordsmanship skills.

By continuously practicing with such an overwhelmingly strong partner, my skill at the sword seemed to have risen significantly without me noticing, and that level of experience could not be quantified.

Of course, the absence of some of the higher-skilled classmates from the swordsmanship class might have also played a role in my winning streak. Maybe things would be different when I took another swordsmanship class further down the line.

“Come at me.”

“As you wish.”

I tightened my grip on my sword and thrust it toward Ellen.

Swish!

Ellen swiftly moved her own weapon to counter my thrust, drawing it up and letting it drop down from above in a downward arc.

She could smack my sword away and grab me by the collar with her left hand to slam me into the ground, or dig in and whip her right elbow into my jaw, or she might just deflect my thrust, knock my sword into the ground and then thrust at me with her pommel.

My attacks had already been countered by her in a single move, in dozens of different ways.

I thrust my sword along the exact same path as I had done so far, but then dug in further and jabbed my left elbow into Ellen’s solar plexus, trying to copy one of her moves.

As soon as Ellen caught the movement of my elbow pushing in, she leaned to the left to deflect the strike while simultaneously spinning to the side.

‘Damn it!’

I had leaned too far forward, losing my center of gravity, and she had taken advantage of it.

In that brief moment in which I was too off-balance to react to her movement, Ellen’s practice sword was already pointing at the back of my neck.

“You’re dead.”

“...”

Just because I knew of one possible outcome did not mean I could see them all.

Obviously, Ellen knew all of the possible outcomes. Hence, as soon as I tried to make one move, she already knew what I was trying to do, and could react to it with one of her many counterattacks. This would keep going on; the more moves I learned, the more she would just adapt.

Learning truly never stops...

***

It was again time for morning training.

Adriana gaped at me for a moment when she learned that I had placed at the top of the class in the first-year midterm evaluations.

“I know that I don’t have the best reputation, but it is a bit sad to see everyone reacting like this,” I said, as though feeling a little let down.

Adriana’s expression flickered. “Ah... sorry, junior. I know you’ve been working hard lately.”

Adriana, looking somewhat embarrassed, scratched her cheek. “But to be honest, you don’t exactly have the image of someone who’s academically inclined... Am I wrong?”

“... Yes, I agree as well.”

The idea of a troublemaker with a brilliant mind definitely wasn’t common, and everyone had a preconceived notion that I was someone who only knew how to cause trouble wherever I went.

Well, it was not a preconceived notion, but the truth.

“The more I get to know you, junior, the more you surprise me.”

Initially, I was just the crazy guy who openly cussed at seniors, so anything I did that was remotely normal would seem surprising. The most surprising thing to her would probably be the fact that I had apologized to A-1, Rudina, from the second year.

My physical condition had now improved to the point where I could chat with Adriana as we ran together. The average stamina level of my peers was around 6 to 7, which corresponded to a D rank, but my stamina was at level 10, which was ranked C. It was definitely above average, and with the help of my supernatural powers, it could be boosted even higher. Of course, the average stats of students with combat talents were much higher than that.

I was not on the level of someone like Ludwig, who could sprint around the Temple at full speed without slowing down. That guy had a stamina of 30, which was ranked A+. In some aspects, he was even more of a beast than Ellen.

“Anyway, it’s your first group mission, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Then that means the first mission must be about survival, right?”

“Oh. Do the themes stay the same over time?”

“Um... yeah, as far as I know, they generally do.”

According to her, the first group mission was usually a survival mission. That was something I didn’t know.

“What’s the theme for your own group mission?” I asked.

“Seize.”

‘Seize...’

“Seize” was a type of group mission that had several variations. It sometimes could be a trench-capturing mission similar to Capture the Flag, or it could be the kind where a team wins by securing some item located at a specific place. Of course, these missions were organized on a massive scale, so they tend to be prolonged battles, and situations involving combat among students could arise as well.

The first-years did not engage in such activities since we couldn’t fully control our strength yet.

But survival missions also involved plenty of dangerous situations, in their own way.

“I think you’re going to do well in survival, junior.”

“... It sounds like you’re saying I’ll do well because I’m from the streets.”

“I won’t deny it.”

“I said I was from the streets, not raised in the wild.”

“Hmm... that’s not what I was trying to say.”

Adriana laughed while keeping a steady pace beside me.

“Noble-born students usually drop out in the middle of survival missions.”

The survival mission would basically require the wealthy, noble kids to sleep in the damp, humid wilderness crawling with bugs—everything those who had been raised delicately found hard to accept...

***

It was May, and May in this world was blooming with nature. Honestly, at this time of year, it was common to want to push all thoughts of studying aside and just roll around on the grassy fields around the Han River[1] and enjoy the beautiful weather. Indeed, there were probably countless people doing just that right then.

The festival had been cut short, but it seemed like people were getting back to their everyday lives. The investigation into the terrorist incident had been wrapped up without the culprits being apprehended, and despite the sense of unease about the demons still lingering, the people were slowly regaining their vigor.

The empire had looted a tremendous amount of riches in the course of its victory, and all the nations that had participated in the war had gained immense wealth.

Ultimately, it was the wealth obtained from the Demon Realm that brought about the golden age of the empire.

And this golden age was dawning in May, when the weather was perfect for being outdoors.

“Ugh... why is it so hot out here?”

“It’s not just the heat... it’s so humid.”

The entire cohort of first-year Royal Class students of the Temple passed through a large gate, and on the other side, someone who seemed to be a high-level Temple mage used a Mass Teleportation spell to send us to an uninhabited tropical island.

[You have a new event update - Group Mission]

[Description: The theme of this group mission is survival. Survive until the end of the mission.]

[Objective: Do not drop out until the mission’s end.]

[Reward: 1000 achievement points]

And, as expected, an event had been triggered.

1. A famous river in South Korea ☜

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