Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 253

When it came to magic, Ellen’s knowledge didn’t go beyond the basics.

However, she was certain that the worm that had been controlling the man was a magical creation.

If it were an ordinary organism, there would be no reason why someone infected with it couldn’t enter the Temple.

The clue was magic. Thus, Ellen sought out Harriet.

It was the weekend, and Harriet was deeply engrossed in her research in a new club called the Magic Research Club.

Ellen found her at the club’s residence.

Harriet, surprised to see Ellen, followed her outside.

“What’s up?”

Harriet found it odd that Ellen would seek her out there, but her question was even more odd.

“A worm that uses a person as a host and controls them?”

“Yes. Is there such a thing?”

“... Does that really exist?” Harriet said as she tilted her head, puzzled. “Why are you asking about something like that?”

Ellen hesitated to explain it to Harriet.

Not enlisting the help of a magic major would be foolish. But she couldn’t tell her the truth.

If she did, it would mean admitting she was trying to handle something dangerous in Reinhart’s stead, and Harriet would surely try to stop her.

Even if she understood why it was necessary, the outcome would be the same. Harriet would join her in something dangerous. Ellen was willing to put her own life on the line, but she could not risk a friend’s life.

Ellen opted for honesty over a clumsy lie. “I can’t tell you the details, sorry. But it’s really important. Can you look into it for me?”

“...”

Harriet looked at Ellen quietly.

An important matter.

Harriet could guess it was something involving Reinhart. What else besides that could cause Ellen to have such an expression?

‘A matter involving Reinhart that I’m unaware of? He’s been looking troubled lately; could it be related to that?’

Harriet felt a pang of defeat as she looked at Ellen. Nevertheless, Harriet nodded.

“Okay, I’ll look into it.”

***

Ellen didn’t enter the Magic Research Club’s residence.

Although Harriet had invited her inside, Ellen preferred to wait outside.

Though Harriet knew little about magic that involved controlling parasites, she had a broad knowledge of other forms of magic. Such knowledge, however, didn’t include this dark kind of magic.

A parasite that could control and even kill a person would likely fall under the category of dark magic, and a proper mage was ideally supposed to steer clear of such things.

However, Anna de Gerna, the dark magic specialist, didn’t automatically fall into the category of an improper mage.

The purpose of magic always mattered most.

A spell from the Pain domain of curses, which inflicted intense suffering, was forbidden, but a Fireball falling into a crowded square could lead to even more horrific consequences.

Since Harriet knew nothing about this presumed dark magic, she headed back to the Magic Research Club to find Anna.

Harriet often felt uneasy around Anna.

It wasn’t the eeriness of her tone or the way she spoke. Every time Anna looked at Reinhart, she had an oddly peculiar expression. It felt sticky and uncomfortable.

Though Harriet couldn’t pinpoint why, it struck her as strange, and she often felt that Anna was a little dangerous.

This wasn’t about being a dark magic specialist; there was just something inherently unsettling about that person. Even Reinhart seemed uneasy when under Anna’s gaze.

Thus, Harriet felt a sense of apprehension towards Anna.

However, because Ellen was the one who had approached her with a request, Harriet sought out Anna.

Anna had no specific instructions from Reinhart, so she often helped her classmate Cristina with her research or learned how to improve Mana Expression and Mana Manipulation from Louis Ankton.

“A parasite that controls people?”

“Yes. Do such things exist? I think it might fall under the Parasite school of magic.”

“Hmm...”

Anna tilted her head, pondering with her glassy eyes.

Left, right. Left again, then right again.

After a considerable pause, Anna’s red lips, which contrasted strongly with her pale face, twitched.

“As with most dark magic... Parasites were once forbidden spells,” she said.

“They aren’t anymore?”

“Only for certain cases.”

“What sorts of cases?”

“Parasites can cause disease or spread infections through parasitic infection.”

“Oh... I see.”

Suddenly, Anna pointed at Harriet. Specifically, at her chest.

“Wh-What...? Why...?”

‘What is this? Why is she doing this? Is she bragging about her chest?’ Harriet thought.

Even as Harriet tried to suppress her sudden bout of misunderstanding, Anna continued with her explanation.

“A parasite that is used to spread disease could likewise be used to eliminate diseases... For example, if you had parasites inside you, they could be consumed and then excreted accordingly...”

“... Oh.”

‘So, that was what she meant,’ Harriet thought, though she found the explanation a bit unsettling.

“Is it possible to use them to control people?” Harriet asked.

“I don’t know... Magic is extremely varied... But, it’s hard to say... In mental magic, things like Mind Control are exceedingly advanced spells... For a worm to be capable of that is...”

“... Right, it doesn’t make sense.”

Control spells were inherently complex, ranging from simple illusions all the way to direct manipulation of the mind itself.

A high-level form of mental magic like Mind Control was comparable to Mass Teleport from the school of spatial magic or Fire Storm from the school of destructive magic. Since these belonged to different schools, being able to cast one did not mean a mage could automatically cast the others.

A single worm achieving such high-level functionality? That was absolutely absurd.

‘Why would Ellen come to me asking such an important question?’

Cristina, busy with various projects in the lab, approached with her goggles still on.

“What are you guys talking about?”

She was probably taking a break from synthesizing reagents and materials for Moonshine, which was enough to make her head burst.

“Harriet was asking if there’s any dark magic that allows the caster to use worms to control people...”

“Worms that control people?” Cristina, always curious and lively, seemed particularly intrigued. “Why is she asking about that?”

“Well, I heard about something like that. Just wondering what kind of magic it might be if it were magic at all. Turns out it’s not likely to be dark magic.”

Cristina shivered. “Eew... worms that control people. That sounds creepy.”

Then, as if something had just occurred to her, she suddenly raised her head.

“That’s it!”

“Do you know something?”

“Are they like gordian worms?”

“Gordian worms...? What’s that?”

Harriet had never heard the term before. Having been raised in luxury, there was no reason she would have encountered something like gordian worms, and while the Temple wasn’t devoid of insects, Harriet, who would scream when encountering mere grasshoppers, would never have gone looking for such horrors.

“What is it?”

Even Anna, from the renowned Gerna family of exceptional wizards, didn’t know about the gordian worms.

“Um, it’s a parasite that lives inside other insects. The larvae enter the host, grow inside it, and when they’re mature, they make the insect go into water, causing it to drown, and then they burst out of the host’s abdomen. They look like threads. Really long ones.”

Harriet and Anna both were shocked by the grotesque description and by Cristina, who was smiling while explaining it so vividly. They were horrified at the existence of such malevolent life forms.

“Is it hard to understand? Should I draw a picture?”

“No, no! I’m fine!”

“... I feel like throwing up...”

Immediate shock aside, they were both amazed that such a malevolent life form could even exist.

“So, could it be like a gordian worm that controls people?”

“Are there really such parasites?!”

“... Where would you even find something like that...? Does something like that even exist?”

Harriet was shocked, but Anna, who had just said she felt like vomiting, was now staring intently at Cristina with interest.

If such a thing existed, Anna would definitely use it for something.

Harriet became increasingly worried about Reinhart.

‘Whatever is happening now, it will surely grow into something serious later on.’

“Well, not to my knowledge, fortunately.”

“Whew. That’s a relief.”

“... That’s too bad.”

Harriet tried to ignore the barely-audible whisper.

Cristina looked at Harriet. “But we don’t know everything. There might be things we’re unaware of.”

“Do you think such a thing really exists?”

“If it doesn’t exist, it can be made.”

Cristina’s dangerous comment triggered a thought in Harriet’s mind.

‘If it doesn’t exist, then make it...’

Harriet didn’t have a specific major in magic, but Cristina majored in alchemy.

Alchemy students thought alchemically.

If it didn’t exist, then make it.

This concept was inherent in alchemy.

“Are you talking about chimeras or homunculi? You do know that both are forbidden forms of magic that warrant capital punishment, right?”

Cristina smiled brightly. “The percentage of mad alchemists is higher than that of dark mages.”

Harriet knew this. Dark mages were socially shunned, but that was the perspective of the uninformed.

In the world of mages, it was more often the mad alchemists who ended up being hunted or purged for their madness.

In fact, publicly known dark mages who are also alchemists did not exist because those who practiced both were all dead after having done something mad.

“A parasite enhanced with the function of a gordian worm to control humans could be a chimera, or it could be a homunculus, originally created from nothing, to possess those functionalities.”

Chimeras were synthesized from existing creatures, and homunculi were created from inanimate matter and not stitched together using different parts of other living creatures.

They were both different from golems.

Just as the magic trains weren’t lifeforms, golems were just machines.

Homunculus was a life form...

Taking either path could result in a worm capable of controlling humans.

“Is it possible to create something like that?”

“I don’t know if it’s possible. But we can speculate whether it’s possible.”

Alchemists were explorers of possibilities. They differed slightly from most other mages.

“And with alchemy, there are recipes to follow. If not for the mana cost, even a common person could create it.”

“That’s true, but... no way...!”

As she listened to Cristina, Harriet realized a potential scenario, and her eyes widened.

“Even if you’re not a grand wizard, you can easily churn out such homunculi or chimeras as long as you have the right recipe that was crafted by one. Of course, that assumes you are able to handle the details required for such crafting,” Cristina continued.

Though Cristina was all smiles, her words were chilling.

“Of course, I don’t know if those truly exist, but their existence cannot be definitively denied either. It’s impossible to say that anything in the world doesn’t exist with absolute certainty.”

Harriet found herself agreeing with Cristina.

If a non-magical, natural creature that controlled other living beings already existed in the insect kingdom, then a magical creature that possessed the same powers was not impossible.

Magic could make the impossible possible. In fact, it was easier to apply magic to enhance what was already possible.

“Hmm... Come to think of it, even me... with the recipe...? I might be able to make it,” Cristina suggested.

Harriet was certain now.

Anna was openly problematic, but Cristina, who didn’t seem that way, was just as dangerous.

“Should we... try making one?”

“Please, girls...”

Harriet genuinely began to worry about her Class B companions.

‘Reinhart... be careful.’

Although she didn’t know what had happened, Harriet kept reiterating to herself that she had to protect Reinhart from the madness of these Magic Research Club members.

***

After leaving the mansion, Harriet approached Ellen, who had been leaning against a tree in the garden, waiting.

“I’m not sure if something like that actually exists, but it seems more likely to be alchemy-related, rather than dark magic.”

After listening to Harriet’s detailed explanation, Ellen nodded quietly.

“Thank you, Harriet.”

“Won’t you tell me what’s going on?”

Ellen lowered her gaze at Harriet’s question.

“It’s about Reinhart, isn’t it?”

“...”

Ellen couldn’t answer her. But that silence was an answer in itself.

Harriet quietly observed Ellen, who couldn’t even look her in the eye, and said with great difficulty, “Y-You know, sometimes... I really, really... I really think you’re unfair...”

Ellen’s head hung down, and Harriet couldn’t see her expression, but she could just imagine her pitiful face. A look of helplessness.

‘Is this all I can say to my friend?’

“I’m sorry,” Ellen said in apology.

“No, I’m sorry. For saying something so unnecessary.” Harriet wiped her eyes. Even though no tears had fallen, she did it out of reflex.

“Tell me something else, then,” she said to Ellen. “Since you can’t tell me about this, tell me something else.”

“... What do you mean?”

“Who are you?” Harriet asked.

Ellen lifted her head at those words.

Harriet’s eyes were red as she voiced out the question she had been holding back out of consideration, but had always held in her heart.

“Who are you?” Harriet asked again.

“...”

Ellen could tell from Harriet’s expression just how long she had been wondering about this.

Ellen was no ordinary person. Harriet knew that Ellen couldn’t be ordinary. Yet she had refrained from asking it all this time, thinking that she wouldn’t get an answer.

“Ellen.”

“No, not tha—”

“Ellen Artorius.”

Harriet froze.

Ellen did not elaborate any further. The name Artorius spoke for itself.

Having the same family name was no coincidence.

A multitude of Harriet’s questions were instantly resolved.

Why she was so strong, why she carried a soul-bonded sword, and why she was always so composed...

Why she had no hesitation in performing dangerous tasks...

Harriet understood everything now.

“Does Reinhart... know?”

“... Yes.”

‘I see. The secret she just revealed to me, the secret that no one in the Temple knows, is a secret that they’ve shared for a long time.’

Harriet laughed quietly, filled with a sense of futility and self-deprecation.

“I thought that there might be at least one way in which I was better than you.”

Background... She didn’t want to cling to something as trivial as that.

In reality, though, she lagged behind even in that respect. And so Harriet mocked herself.

She didn’t hate Ellen; she despised herself.

“I’m sorry...” Ellen apologized to Harriet.

“Don’t apologize.”

Harriet watched Ellen bow her head again and felt her lips twist into a bitter smile.

She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come.

She couldn’t even cry.

“You have no idea... how much that makes me feel like a pathetic person...”

When the person who was always walking a few steps ahead apologized for being ahead, could they even imagine how painful it was for the one hearing it?

Only then did Ellen understand how Harriet felt when she heard Ellen’s apology.

“Sor—”

Ellen swallowed her apology.

Sorry.

In the end, was that sentiment rooted in a sense of superiority?

Ellen recognized her own flaws in that apology. She wanted to believe that it wasn’t the case, but had it really been absent?

Hadn’t there been moments she’d felt superior to Harriet de Saint-Ouen?

Even now, though she told herself she was acting to keep Harriet safe, was it also an excuse to monopolize Reinhart’s problems for herself, thereby hurting Harriet?

Was it right to decide Harriet’s choices for her?

She didn’t want to say anything, but ultimately, Harriet’s words made Ellen open up.

If her actions stemmed from a petty sense of superiority, she had to let go of it.

“Someone’s trying to kill Reinhart.”

“... What?”

Noting Harriet’s stunned expression, Ellen spoke calmly, looking her friend directly in the eyes. Having decided not to hide things anymore, Ellen didn’t bother to choose her words carefully.

“I’m going to kill that person. Do you want to come with me?”

Harriet was left momentarily speechless by Ellen’s abrupt proposition.

Yet Ellen’s words, while direct, were filled with undeniable truth.

She could feel the immense weight behind those words.

However, Harriet’s hesitation was brief.

There was a small moment of doubt, but the decision was anything but light.

“Yeah. I’ll go with you.”