Demon King of the Royal Class

Delphine took care of butchering the boar herself.

Thanks to her experience with hunting, she was quite skilled with the knife. Some watched on with fascination, while others couldn’t bear to look, likely nauseated by the sight.

Although I was one of those who felt squeamish, I forced myself to watch how it was done until the end. It was unlikely that any of the noble and precious Class A students would have the guts to do such a thing, so I figured I at least should learn how it was done.

“Wow... that looks pretty difficult,” I muttered.

“Hmm. To be honest, I don’t really know how to do it properly myself. I’m just copying what I’ve seen the adults do.”

After removing the arrows that had been embedded in the boar’s flesh, Delphine removed the boar’s innards, hung the boar upside down, and began the bloodletting process by making an incision in its neck.

The sight of the red blood dripping down the creature’s neck was nauseating. Naturally, Delphine’s hands were covered in blood, turning them a bright red.

‘Wait a minute... I get that this is good and all... but is this really safe to eat?’

Weren’t parasites a problem? I did set up this part of the novel so that such things wouldn’t be an issue, but it still felt slightly iffy experiencing the situation in real life.

‘It should be fine as long as it’s properly cooked, right...?’

“It’s going to take a while to drain the blood and skin it. Come back later, and I’ll cut off a portion of it for you.”

“Oh, is that so? Alright then.”

As I turned to leave, there was Ludwig, his shirt off and his eyes wide open, holding a spear with a fish impaled on its end.

“... Delphine! What is this? Eek! Look at all that blood! Huh? Reinhart? What brings you here?”

He seemed surprised to see me there.

“You came at the right time. Want to take a fish? Honestly, we’ve got quite a lot on our hands,” he said.

Of course, the hero of our hearts, Ludwig, casually threw me one of the wriggling, freshly-caught fishes, and nobody questioned why he would give it to me.

Before I even realized it, a fire was already crackling, and fish that had been skewered on sticks were placed over it to cook. B-2 Louis Ankton was watching the fish being roasted with an expression that said, “Ugh... why do I have to do this sort of work?”

Indeed, there seemed to be an abundance of fish.

I had designed this survival mission as a means to demonstrate the determination and discipline of the Class B students. Class A, whose students were very talented but highly averse to dirty work, would be contrasted with the relatively less-talented but more versatile students from Class B, who could handle various tasks.

Objectively, Class B students were much more practical. There wasn’t a single one of them who would say, “Oh dear! How could I, so noble and refined, be engaged in such labor?” That was why, in practice, Class B students were bound to achieve better results.

“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it,” I replied to Ludwig, who smiled and said to let him know if it wasn’t enough.

Charlotte, who was looking on, shook her head and sighed. “Has everyone forgotten that this is a competition?”

Despite what she said, her eyes were smiling.

“Come get some of the meat later!” Delphine shouted to me as I was leaving.

It seemed that any preconceived notions she had about me had vanished entirely after I had helped her carry the boar back.

***

“... They gave it to you?” Vertus was taken aback when he heard that I had unexpectedly received a fish from Class B.

“Yeah, they just gave it to me because they had too much.”

“How did you end up there in the first place?”

“Oh, I went inland and saw that Delphine had caught a boar; it looked heavy, so I helped her carry it back. She told me to go back later to get some of the meat.”

“There are boars here?”

Vertus seemed more surprised by the existence of the boar than the fact that I had helped out Class B. The other guys also seemed taken aback.

“Does that mean there could be dangerous animals around here as well? What if we’re attacked at night?” Kaier said, sounding concerned.

‘Hey buddy, what do you mean by “dangerous animals”? A boar is already a dangerous animal!’

“We might have to stand guard at night or something,” Vertus suggested. His sense of caution had been heightened upon learning about the boar.

“Okay, Reinhart, fine... Anyway, having something to eat is good news,” he continued, deciding to view my assistance to Class B and acquiring some food as positive developments, even though he seemed to have more on his mind.

“Anyway, it looks like the camp is coming together pretty well,” I said.

“Yeah, it seems to be working out somehow.”

The structure hadn’t quite taken on the appearance of a full-fledged house yet, but at least it was coming together.

“It’s more impressive than I expected,” I added.

Harriet dripping with sweat, continually used her magic to shape the logs.

She had thinned out several wooden beams and propped them against each other, similar to a camera tripod. The tips were tied together with vines to ensure stability, and the side walls were created by winding vines around the beams and slotting palm leaves in between to form a barrier.

“It looks like two people could sleep in one of these,” Adelia said, to which I nodded.

Although snug, two could fit. Since there were eleven of us, we would need to make six structures—or five, with three people sharing the last one.

Building the huts too large would increase the risk of collapse, so going small seemed to be the right choice. Adelia appeared to have many concerns.

“It might leak if it rains...” Adelia said.

“We’ll just have to accept that,” I replied.

It wasn’t possible to construct a completely waterproof shelter in these circumstances. Just having a place to lie down and sleep was a blessing in itself.

Adelia seemed deep in thought, trying to figure out how to create a better living environment.

“Still, if we could make the logs flat like planks, we would be able to construct something resembling a floor.”

Of course, the problem was that Harriet would have to do all of that by herself.

I walked past the construction site and headed towards the fire.

There was Heinrich von Schwartz, in charge of maintaining the fire that kept our makeshift distillation apparatus running. In the sweltering heat, he was gathering wood to keep the fire burning, stoking it whenever it died down.

His face, which was normally pale, had turned beet red from the heat. He stared vacantly into the fire, seemingly devoid of energy to argue or complain.

Within the large pot that was suspended over the fire was a smaller pot, which was already starting to collect water. It wasn’t enough to drink yet, but if we kept the process going, it could provide water for everyone. We just had to hold on until we found a source of freshwater.

“Why do you have a fish?”

“I got it.”

“You got it?”

“Yeah.”

I placed the fish on a broad leaf that I used as a cutting board and began to clean it. I didn’t exactly know how to do it, but I had a rough idea of the process.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Heinrich gasped when I brought the knife down swiftly and chopped off the fish’s head, putting an end to its last flailing motions. I sliced open the belly, removed the guts and roe, and scraped off the scales. I didn’t know what kind of fish it was, but it looked somewhat similar to a sea bream, and seemed edible.

Heinrich stared at me with a frightened gaze as I sat next to him and nonchalantly cleaned the fish. I skewered the fish onto a stick I had prepared earlier, and planted it next to the fire over which the pot of seawater was boiling to cook them.

“Let me know once this is fully cooked. It will take some time. And if you see salt starting to form in that pot, collect it. We should at least try to eat something salty in the absence of anything else.”

“Uh, o-okay.”

Heinrich immediately responded in the affirmative. You should never mess with a man with a knife in his hands.

***

Everyone worked as if in a trance, almost out of their minds due to the heat and exhaustion, and time passed quickly regardless of their level of motivation. The canteens that had been distributed to each person had been emptied long ago.

The production of distilled water continued, and since Connor Lint had been harvesting coconuts, we were well-stocked in the hydration department, at least for the moment.

Connor Lint and Erhi argued as they consumed their coconuts.

“... Tastes like nothing.”

“I think it’s tasty.”

“You’re just suffering from heat stroke—that’s what that is.”

Whether it tasted good or bad, we had to drink it until we found fresh water.

Fortunately, although Riana de Granz couldn’t stand to handle fish, she could use electricity to stun them, which allowed us to catch five fish in total.

So, by dusk on the first day, we had finished setting up our camp and began grilling the fish and lobster over a sizable central bonfire. We also started grilling a leg of a wild boar, which had been provided by Class B. Both the fish and the meat were seasoned with salt.

“... I see we don’t even get things like forks and knives...” Harriet muttered absentmindedly, with a vacant look on her face.

“What else were you expecting, in a place where we have to use leaves as plates?” I countered.

“...”

Harriet didn’t reply, which was unusual, since she typically had a retort ready all the time. Perhaps she was feeling too disheartened.

Despite being in such a dazed state, Harriet had done the most work that day. Without her magic, it might have been impossible for us to set up a camp.

Harriet cast a longing gaze toward the other side of the shore, pouting slightly.

“What are they so excited about? Do they think this is fun or something?” she asked.

Class B had finished constructing their camp and, with their food prepared, most of them were playing in the sea. They seemed unconcerned about the future, and intent on enjoying themselves.

Meanwhile, we were sitting in a circle around the fire, staring blankly. Food was being grilled over the fire, and even though we were certainly hungry, everyone seemed hesitant to begin eating.

At last, Vertus spoke up. “Look, I get that everyone’s finding this hard. It’s strange and uncomfortable to sleep and eat like this here. But this is still our first cooperative mission. We don’t know what other missions we’ll have to complete in the future, so we can’t fail right from the start, can we?”

He was smiling, but I suspected that underneath it, he was boiling with frustration just like the rest of us. Nonetheless, no one dared to whine in front of him.

Vertus grabbed a skewered fish, and without any hesitation, he tore off a chunk of its flesh and began to eat as though it wasn’t piping hot. We all watched absentmindedly as the imperial prince casually ripped apart the fish while on a deserted island, with no hint of his usual royal demeanor.

“It’s actually quite edible,” he said, smiling with a smudge of fish oil glistening at the corner of his mouth. “So, let’s eat, shall we?”

Vertus chose to lead by example and bent his pride to keep the nobles from Class A from being so uptight.

Regardless of how he truly was on the inside, if he could wear such a perfect “mask” all the time, maybe he wasn’t all that bad of a person. After all, Charlotte wore a similar mast as well.

‘Ugh, now I really don’t know what to think.’

***

Vertus was distributing the cooked food among the class members. He knew that they would probably eat if he was the one giving it out.

“...”

Harriet’s eyes widened as she took a bite out of the extraordinarily large lobster tail. She then glanced over at Adelia, who was sitting next to her and doing the same thing.

Both their eyes went wide, sharing the same surprise. Although they had certainly eaten lobster before, they had likely never had one of such monstrous size.

“It’s annoying how delicious it is,” Harriet muttered in a tone of despair, as though the very act of finding the lobster incredibly tasty had brought about a sense of defeat.

The amount of food, though substantial, wasn’t quite enough for eleven people. Harriet hadn’t been able to eat even half of the fish Vertus gave her, but the lobster seemed to have been satisfying enough for her.

“...”

Harriet smacked her lips, as if wanting more.

“Hey.”

“... What?”

“Here.”

I poked the portion of the lobster tail that I had received with a wooden skewer and handed it over to Harriet. Her eyes widened.

“W-Why would you give this to me?”

“Just take it. Don’t ask. I’m too tired to argue.”

I forced it toward her, and she accepted it with a dazed expression.

She’d worked the hardest that day, and out of all of us, she was the least accustomed to this kind of environment. Therefore, I decided to look out for her for the duration of this mission, since it was going to be tough going forward as well. She was probably sad and depressed, so the least I could do was keep her belly full.

“...”

Harriet quietly began to nibble on the lobster tail I had given her, still as tired and worn out as ever.

And then...

“Ellen? Where are you going all of a sudden?” Vertus asked.

Ellen Artorius had suddenly stood up and started walking away. Vertus called out to her in confusion, but she didn’t respond and eventually broke into a run, picking up a javelin along the way.

“Wh-What’s she... what’s she doing?”

Harriet watched blankly as Ellen sprinted into the twilit sea.

“Nice,” I said to myself. I had an inkling of why she was behaving that way.

About thirty minutes later, Ellen Artorius returned, having skewered three lobsters, similar in size to the one we had just eaten, on her javelin.

“What the... how did she...?”

Everyone stared at her in shock as they began to reassess the seemingly composed and indifferent girl, Ellen.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m