Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 396

I hadn’t realized Olivia wasn’t at the Temple. There had to have been a reason why she hadn’t told me.

Olivia had previously taken a leave of absence in order to provide rearguard support during the Great War.

According to Sabioleen Tana, Olivia had been dispatched to assist with the investigation in Raziern, the capital of Levaina. Was she trying to track down traces of the Demon King there? Even if there was anything to find, whatever traces there would likely only reveal that it was an imperial fabrication, and not actual traces of the Demon King.

Why had Olivia gone there?

I had once lied about leaving the Temple on a special mission, but this time, I genuinely needed to leave the Temple for something akin to a special mission.

Sabioleen Tana had likely sent me there because she judged it not to be a particularly dangerous area. I debated whether to tell Ellen and Harriet that I had to leave the Temple temporarily for a special mission, but in the end, I didn’t. It didn’t seem like explaining myself to them would be of help to any of us.

So, I set off immediately, without delay.

***

Just as I had gotten to the Kamsencha Archipelago, thousands of kilometers away, by passing through several warp gates from the Temple, I had just arrived at Levaina, a small southern nation of the empire, by passing through several warp gates again. This was where Duke Granz had died.

A special investigation headquarters had been set up here. It was likely under the jurisdiction of the empire rather than the Levainan royal family.

The empire was investigating its own fabricated incident, which was a laughable situation. Just thinking that the leadership of this special investigation headquarters probably knew it was an imperial fabrication almost made me chuckle.

However, Olivia probably wasn’t aware of this fact.

Why was Olivia there?

The capital of Levaina, Raziern, had the feel of a more laid-back city. It was the capital of a small state, and thus it was unrealistic to expect it to rival the imperial capital.

I asked the guards to point me in the direction of the headquarters of the special investigation team. They seemed to have requisitioned an entire government building outside the royal palace. The security was very tight, likely since they had been dispatched directly from the empire.

Of course, there were no doors that wouldn’t open when presented with the imperial emblem. When I stopped someone and mentioned I was looking for Olivia Lanche, who was from the Temple, I was told to wait in the VIP room for her.

The special investigation team must have been in a tricky situation. They were trying to conduct an investigation, and now, not only had a graduating student from the Temple appeared, but someone carrying the imperial emblem had also arrived.

Since I had presented the imperial emblem upon entry, someone must have reported it to the higher-ups.

“Are you Reinhart?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Scotla Kelton, the head of the special investigation team overseeing this case. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Scotla Kelton was a man approaching middle age. Naturally, it was my first time meeting him. He bowed politely and extended his hand for a handshake.

As soon as I shook his hand, I felt it. He did not grip my hand overly firmly, but I felt a strong impression from that handshake. He had initiated the handshake with me, someone who carried the imperial emblem, and showed me respect without groveling.

The statement that it was an honor to meet me... He must have known that I was the new master of Alsbringer.

I asked him, “Are you by any chance affiliated with Shanapell...?”

“Sharp observation, sir. I’m here on temporary duty, but my regular posting is as the captain of Shanapell’s 3rd unit,” he nodded as he spoke.

This confirmed one thing. Scotla Kelton, the head of the investigation team, knew that this case was fabricated. He didn’t have much time to talk, so after greeting me, he promptly left.

I had suspected that the special investigation team wasn’t truly there to carry out any sort of investigation, and the fact that the head of the team was the captain of Shanapell’s 3rd unit confirmed it.

After he left, I waited for quite a while.

Click.

“... Hmm?”

Olivia entered the VIP room in casual attire, and our eyes met. Judging by her appearance, it seemed she hadn’t been through anything rough, as her clothes were very neat.

“Reinhart? Why are you here?” Olivia’s eyes widened in surprise as she quickly approached me. “How did you know to come here?”

“Uh... let’s sit down and talk first.”

Swoosh!

Olivia suddenly pulled me into a rough hug.

“You came because you missed your noona!”

I needed to explain to Olivia as well.

***

To explain my presence at the special investigation headquarters, I had to talk about the engagement. I mentioned that I needed to garner achievements and explained the reasons why I had to do so.

After I spent some time explaining everything, I finally told her that Sabioleen Tana had instructed me to assist Olivia with her work there. Olivia sat there with her mouth agape.

“So, you didn’t come because you missed me?” Olivia frowned and glared at me.

‘Well... I mean... Didn’t I just go on about something more important? I definitely mentioned the engagement. Why is she upset about something so strange?’

As I sat there dumbfounded, Olivia smiled and sat next to me, linking her arm with mine.

“Ah, why are you doing this...?”

“What? What’s wrong with this? Who cares if someone has supposedly marked their territory?”

Her bold and mischievous attitude left me speechless.

“An engagement isn’t a marriage, and thoughts can change, situations can change, and it’s not over until it’s over, right?” she said.

Olivia narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

“So, how about it? The VIP room... huh? It’s just you and me here, right?”

‘Noona... I’m glad that you’re not seriously angry, but this is scary! And if it really came to that, you’d probably knock me out and run away!’

“Forget the engagement, what if I just claim it right now? Huh? Who cares?”

It wasn’t that she was not shocked; it was that she was so shocked that she was reacting like this.

“Or what if you just take out the prince, become the emperor, and push her aside as the second, then make me the first?”

“Let’s not talk about things that could get us arrested.”

“Is that so?”

Olivia laughed and let go of me. Whether she was genuinely fazed or not, I couldn’t tell. At least she wasn’t showing it outwardly, which was a relief to me.

Olivia’s laissez-faire attitude towards things that were not yet certain seemed oddly convincing.

‘No. She can’t seriously be thinking about me killing Vertus, staging a coup, becoming the emperor, pushing Charlotte aside and making her a concubine while she made herself the empress, right?

‘It must be a joke, right?’

The fact that I was a hero and there was a Demon King meant that, theoretically, if I were to kill the Demon King, such a scenario wasn’t entirely impossible, which was chilling.

***

I had waited quite a while for Olivia, and it was already nighttime. We sat and sipped tea in the VIP room of the special investigation headquarters, located near the royal palace in Raziern, the capital of Levaina, while dinner was brought to us.

Olivia wasn’t an investigator, but she was a student from the prestigious Royal Class of the Temple. Technically, she was just a volunteer from the university, but since she was a talent the empire had invested heavily in, no one dared to treat her lightly. And as for me, I was essentially seen as a visiting royal.

Therefore, everyone was on edge, and treated us with utmost respect.

It seemed like we were just two people causing disruptions to the investigation. I knew the truth, so I was aware that this investigation would hardly be conducted properly. The fact that a Shanapell-affiliated knight was the head of the special investigation already said it all.

Sabioleen Tana’s only instructions to me were to assist Olivia with her assigned tasks in a place where things would never be resolved properly.

“By the way, why did you come here?” I asked.

I could never feel comfortable in this location. It was where an atrocity had been committed for which I had been framed, and also the trigger for Riana’s drastic change.

Olivia smiled slightly at my question. “I wanted to find traces of the Demon King.”

“... And what would you do if you found them?”

Olivia had already told me that it was the Demon King who saved her and Adriana. She had confided in me that she thought the Demon King and demons might not be as evil as they seemed.

“I just want to be sure.”

Olivia might have found the previous two attacks somewhat justified. However, the recent attack on Raziern had unsettled her, since she knew the truth behind the previous incidents.

Could it be that Olivia suspected this incident might not be the work of the Demon King?

The way she had phrased her reply certainty suggested that.

Olivia probably had conflicting views regarding the Demon King. On one hand, he was someone she had to oppose, and yet he was the one who had saved her life. Not only that, but she had promised that she would always be on my side. She had come to this place because of all that. She wanted to gain certainty that the Demon King deserved to die and to strengthen her resolve to fight for me.

The fact that they had willingly allowed Olivia to come, and had dispatched me as well, suggested they were confident we wouldn’t uncover the truth behind this fabricated incident.

“So, did you find out anything?” I asked.

Olivia clicked her tongue. “Instead of finding anything out, I just confirmed what was already known.”

She walked over to the table, and spread out a large piece of paper. It was a map of Raziern and its surroundings.

“The report stated that a mass teleportation spell was used to transport a horde of demons close to Raziern, and they began their advance from there. There were many orcs and goblins, and even some ogres and trolls. The damage to Raziern itself wasn’t significant, but the most casualties were suffered in the outskirts. There weren’t many guards stationed there, so many people were either killed or injured.”

The real goal had been to cut the head off the Revolutionary Forces, but it had been disguised as a large-scale demon attack. As a result, there had been numerous civilian casualties. The empire had killed its own citizens. There was nothing particularly unusual about it. It was just another conspiracy, something that happened all the time. The people who died had just been unfortunate.

“Especially here,” Olivia said, pointing to a few buildings located on the outskirts of Raziern. “Most of the casualties occurred here, at the Merchants’ Guild branch. Apparently, there was some sort of Merchants’ Guild investors’ meeting going on, and therefore quite a number of influential individuals lost their lives. And... among your friends...”

Olivia trailed off, and I nodded, understanding what she meant.

Olivia seemed cautious about discussing an incident involving the death of a junior’s parents.

“Well, anyway, I saw it firsthand,” she continued. “The demon attack on the Order of the Holy Knights.”

Olivia was one of the few witnesses to the second attack and had actually seen the demons appear.

“There was something similar between the first and second demon attacks,” she said.

“What was similar?” I asked.

“Large-scale destructive magic was used.”

During the demon prisoner rescue mission, Eleris had used her Flame of Fire to cause a firestorm, and in the second attack, had cast both a firestorm followed by a lightning storm.

“However, in this third attack, instead of using large-scale destructive magic, they transported a horde of demons using mass teleportation. Of course, in terms of scale, this attack is bigger...”

Olivia furrowed her brow. “If the goal was to cause casualties, using a firestorm instead of summoning demons could have turned about a fifth of Raziern to ashes. Why didn’t they do that? If anything, this was a waste of troops.”

They had attacked with foot soldiers when magic could have sufficed. Olivia could not reconcile that fact.

Olivia was at least certain that there was a very powerful mage among the remnants of the demon forces, and that was true. Anyone who paid attention to the demon attacks would naturally know this fact, not just Olivia.

The reason why most people, unlike Olivia, did not stop to question the true intentions of the demons was simple: people never try to understand those who are objects of their hatred.

When a group is deemed worthy of hatred, people do not consider their actions to be on the same level as their own. They make the blanket conclusion that the group is evil or inferior, and don’t think any further about it. Hatred and animosity made thinking reductive, because it was convenient.

Therefore, the public felt fear or disgust in response to this attack, but did not wonder what the demons were truly trying to achieve, nor did they look into the oddities that were present.

The purpose of the disguise had been to make people fear demons, and most would see it at face level and accept it.

However, Olivia had seen too much of the ugly side of humans and, having been directly rescued by demons, had freed herself somewhat from such thinking.

Olivia pointed to a spot on the map again, the Merchants’ Guild branch she had pointed out earlier. “If you think about it, this seems to be the answer. The demons intended to attack this place from the start.”

“... The Merchants’ Guild meeting?”

“Exactly.”

Olivia hadn’t reached the full truth, but she was halfway there.

“Think about it. The demons attacked, and while Raziern itself, which was not very fortified, suffered little damage, the Merchants’ Guild branch on the outskirts—the place where these influential people had gathered—had unexpectedly been attacked? That’s nonsense.”

Olivia crossed her arms and tilted her head.

“The victims included Duke Granz, the renowned literary figure Orgensia, and the Vice President of the Magic Association, Santriden. Not only did they have strong guards, but they themselves were already powerful individuals.”

The fact that these people, who wouldn’t normally be gathered together in one place, had all died at the same meeting was evidence in itself.

“Would such influential figures come to a small southern nation like Levaina without any escort?” Olivia asked, then shook her head. “At the moment of the attack, the Merchants’ Guild branch had likely been more well-guarded than the royal palace in Raziern. It’s unlikely that they had been caught off-guard because they had been in an outlying area; the escorts present could have turned Raziern into a sea of fire if they’d wanted.”

“In other words,” Olivia concluded, “the demons that had attacked Raziern were too low-level, and could never have breached the Merchants’ Guild branch. The elite forces must have attacked it and then quickly retreated.”