"Why Are All the First-Years Monsters?"
After taking the unconscious Cliffman to the on-duty priest's office, Olivia muttered incredulously.
Olivia couldn't believe that the other unconscious first-year, Ludwig, had done the exact same thing against Saviolin Turner the day before. At her words, Ellen stared intently at her.
"You're not one to talk."
"No... I wasn't like this either, you know? What's with all of you?"
It was a shocking event for Olivia, something that had never happened in the history of the Temple.
Two people had awakened their Magic Body Strengthening with just a day's difference.
Ellen, Reinhardt, Ludwig, and now Cliffman.
Four first-years had managed to use Magic Body Strengthening on their own.
It should have been an unprecedented event when Ellen had done it, but four first-years had accomplished it.
Saviolin Turner, who had been monitoring Ludwig in the recovery room, was equally baffled by the situation, but first checked on Cliffman's condition.
"It doesn't seem to be a major issue..."
Saviolin Turner was just as startled by Ludwig's case and was even more bewildered when Cliffman had awakened his Magic Body Strengthening a day later.
"What on earth is going on with you first-years...?"
The year was already quite impressive with two extraordinary individuals, but now two more had been added.
Ellen quietly watched Reinhardt.
Cliffman had achieved what he wanted, and Reinhardt had done his best to help draw out Cliffman's talent.
That was true.
However, Ellen noticed that Reinhardt's expression didn't seem very pleasant.
It wasn't the look of someone whose pride had been wounded by being outdone by Cliffman.
He seemed to be regretting something, as if questioning whether it was the right thing to do.
Ellen couldn't understand his complex expression.
Cliffman and Ludwig had awakened their Magic Body Strengthening.
Naturally, he received 2,000 achievement points for completing the event. To awaken the next talent, Supernatural Resistance, he needed an additional 5,000 points. He wanted to save some points, so he planned to secure more achievement points before awakening the next talent.
The effect of increased Magic Body Strengthening efficiency would also come into play.
Word of Cliffman naturally spread throughout not only the first-year students but also the entire Royal Class.
Upon hearing the news, Liana rushed to the recovery room to check on Cliffman's condition.
I didn't know if Cliffman would have been able to Magic Body Strengthening if I hadn't been his opponent. If the Gate Incident were to occur, it would be natural for the kids to grow stronger for my sake. Now that history has changed too much, the first-year students might be swept away by the Gate Incident and die in unexpected situations.
However, both Cliffman and Liana had become stronger.
If their goal is to kill me and the Gate incident disappears, I'd find myself in a very strange situation, as I'd be helping the person trying to kill me.
However.
Even if I hadn't intervened, Cliff would have realized his Magic Body Strengthening eventually.
"It seems the potion to increase sensitivity to Magic Body Strengthening is almost fully developed. That'll be very helpful for close-combat specialists like Cliffman and Ludwig."
Listening to Harriet's explanation, I nodded my head.
Moonshine's development was nearing completion. With Moonshine's help, combat-oriented students would quickly awaken their Magic Body Strengthening and become accustomed to it.
"I never thought it would really be made."
"What about the other one?"
"That's almost complete too."
The power cartridge was not as far along as Moonshine, but it too was nearing completion.
In my opinion, the first-year students of the Royal class are just unbelievable.
Four first-year students awakened their Magic Body Strengthening on their own.
Magic-oriented students are huddled together, on the verge of creating not one but two groundbreaking items that could change the course of human history.
Both combat and magic-oriented students in the Royal class are engaging in crazy endeavors.
If the power accumulated by humanity does not explode in the form of the Gate incident, it will be directed at me.
Not only that, but there's another problem. Exceptionally talented individuals might attract the attention of those with ill intentions.
Harriet took a deep breath as she sipped her tea.
"You don't think all of this is because of your foresight, do you?"
I had ordered them to create something impossible, and they actually did it. As such, I should take credit for it. Harriet glared at me as if to say I shouldn't think that way.
She must think that since I've already accomplished this, I'll order them to create even stranger things in the future.
"Would I?"
"…What? I thought you'd definitely take the credit."
Harriet seemed a bit flustered since she didn't get the reaction she expected.
She must have thought I would order something even more bizarre this time.
As Harriet sipped her tea, she quietly looked out at the terrace.
"Ah, Liana…"
Out there, Liana could be seen running through the winter temple.
After seeing Cliffman's condition, she seemed to have gone straight back to her personal training. After all, hopping around wasn't something one needed a companion for.
Harriet silently watched Liana as she ran away along the path.
Her expression was sad.
Liana had changed, and so had Cliffman. Everyone was getting stronger.
"It can't be helped… but it feels like everyone is changing…"
The existence of the Demon King is causing everyone to change. Training and practicing their major were no longer vague tasks.
Some people now had specific goals. These goals made them more passionate, leading them to actions they wouldn't have taken under normal circumstances.
To Harriet, these changes seemed sad and frightening.
—---
Recently, there had been a significant event within the empire. It was the invasion of the demon in Levaina. Regrettably, a considerable number of high-ranking nobles and influential figures within the empire were among the casualties of that unprovoked attack.
It was the third guerrilla war waged by the demon tribe, further fueling the fear and hostility towards the Demon King.
However, few knew the truth behind that third assault.
Naturally, Charlotte de Gardias was among them. Bertus had identified the outline of the revolutionary forces and, disguised as the demon tribe, obliterated the leadership in one fell swoop.
Although a few knew the truth, they were not numerous, and all of them were people who would take the secret to their graves.
The spring palace.
Charlotte took a sip of her milk tea.
"Why did you come here?"
At Charlotte's words, Bertus, who was sitting opposite her, took a sip of his black tea and displayed a subtle smile.
Visiting each other's palaces was hardly the norm.
However, Bertus was now visiting Charlotte's palace. Since such a thing was quite unusual, Charlotte calmly let Bertus into the spring palace.
"Well, what do you think I came for?"
At Bertus's words, Charlotte narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Did you come to see what a loser looks like? Well, that's the only thing that comes to mind."
Loser.
At those words, Bertus twisted his lips as if he found it unexpected.
He hadn't expected Charlotte to accept the term so readily.
The revolutionary forces, one of the empire's biggest enemies, had been crushed without causing any losses to the empire, and even absorbed.
Although it couldn't be made public, Bertus had made a significant achievement.
A ruler must naturally be efficient. The emperor would appoint the more capable as the next emperor, separate from his personal affection for his children.
Bertus had proven his abilities.
And Charlotte had not proven anything.
After being released from the Demon King's castle, she had spent too much time recovering from the aftermath, and she still hadn't fully recovered.
Charlotte accepted her defeat without resistance.
"I thought you'd think it was unfair. Surprising."
"It's true that it's unfair. But it's also true that, even if you put aside my various issues, I didn't try to achieve something like you did, or I didn't do it."
If she hadn't been abducted to the Demon King's castle, if the soul of the Demon King hadn't settled within her, if she hadn't been too attached to finding the child.
Although she could make assumptions, it was pointless. Charlotte had made a choice, and in that moment, she had already decided to bear the consequences. As a result, she ended up gaining nothing, and Bertus, who had been working for the empire during that time, had achieved results.
So now, though it's not yet confirmed, Charlotte accepts her defeat as the outcome is almost certain.
'Was it all meaningless?'
Liberated from the Demon King's soul, a grim future approaches where one must die, having been eliminated from the competition for the throne.
On this path, and on that path, there is always nothing but death.
Born with countless privileges, it is the fate of Charlotte and Bertus to live a life where they must die if they cannot win.
Bertus narrows his eyes and gazes at Charlotte.
"Isn't it unfair? If it had been me who was kidnapped instead of you, the outcome might have been different, right?"
"It is unfair. I also think it's unjust. But that's not something either of us can change by complaining, is it?"
Thus, Charlotte did not get angry or agitated when Bertus scratched the surface of their situation in which victory was confirmed.
The result was there, and she accepted it.
If anything, this level of hardship was weak.
Begging on their knees, pleading for their life might allow them to be exiled instead. In a way, it's strange that such words are not spoken.
Rather, in this situation where victory and defeat have been determined, as Charlotte calmly accepts the outcome, Bertus stares at her quietly.
The smile disappears from Bertus's face.
"Boring."
Even though he got what he wanted and defeated his only rival, he could not feel any sense of victory. Bertus seemed disappointed.
"Yeah, it's me being boring. Right now, this is all I can do. To prevent you from indulging in the joy of victory. How about that? Is it a bit more interesting?"
All I can do now is not try to beat you, but accept my defeat so that you can't be intoxicated with the joy of victory.
That's all there is to it. At those words, Bertus once again offers a subtle smile.
"If you do this, Reinhardt's efforts will be in vain."
"…!"
She knew that he would eventually find out. But she couldn't help but widen her eyes at the mention of that name at such a cruel timing.
Reinhardt saved Charlotte. He knew about what had happened in the Spring Palace and thus must have known about the Champion of Tu’an.
"What are you trying to say?"
Charlotte's gaze, which had been calm no matter what Bertus had said, now harbored hostility.
"Ah, just mentioning Reinhardt's name makes your expression look like you want to strangle me. It's quite effective."
Bertus chuckles, thinking that mentioning Reinhardt in the future would be a way to provoke her.
However, Charlotte was not in the mood for such jokes.
"If you harm Reinhardt, I'll kill you. No matter what happens. Somehow. Definitely."
"It sounds like a threat, but it's actually a plea."
"…"
Her words were sharp, but wasn't she just begging him not to hurt Reinhardt? Bertus smiles as he looks at Charlotte.
She had accepted everything regarding her own safety.
But in the end, what remains after her defeat, her desperation for Reinhardt, is immense.
"Please consider it."
"What?"
"Don't lay a hand on Reinhardt, whether I kneel or do anything else."
Bertus looked at Charlotte with a sinister smile.
"Try asking for a favor."
"..."
Charlotte stared into Bertus's eyes. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then slowly rose from her chair.
She took a few steps toward Bertus and silently knelt on the floor.
In her own palace.
Charlotte knelt before Bertus.
With her head bowed, she spoke quietly.
"He was only trying to help me. He thought I might die, so he wanted to save me. That's all. He has... no intention of becoming your enemy, or even opposing you. He just couldn't leave me alone... That's why he did it..."
Reinhardt was not your enemy, he had no such intention. He was only trying to save a friend.
"Leave Reinhardt alone. I beg you... I'm asking you..."
Charlotte pleaded with Bertus, her voice trembling as she knelt.
Bertus looked down at her quietly.
Charlotte de Gardias had always been arrogant and confident. It seemed as if not even a single drop of blood could be drawn from her. She had been cruel and ruthless to her enemies, and her strategies were always threatening.
Bertus had thought Charlotte's return would be a significant obstacle.
But after the incident in the Demon King's castle.
Too many things had changed.
Gone was the Charlotte de Gardias who was proud, arrogant, and an unyielding rival. She now knelt before him, not begging for her own life, but asking him not to touch a male classmate.
Ever since she returned from the Demon King's castle.
Charlotte seemed like a fragile glass that would shatter if touched incorrectly.
Once a captive princess, Charlotte de Gardias had become an ordinary girl ever since her return from the Demon King's castle.
It was as if something essential had been broken inside her. As if she had lost the attitudes and goals she had been forced to acquire and adopt while living as a noble being.
Having lost even the reason to find the mysterious child who had saved her, Charlotte now relied solely on Reinhardt.
In the first place, Charlotte could never have been Bertus's enemy for a very long time.
It wasn't a victory.
She had never intended to be his enemy and never tried to live as one. The girl, who had merely occupied a place in the struggle for the throne, had now knelt before a competitor who had grown too powerful to handle.
The reason for kneeling was simply to plead for the one person she relied on to be left alone, even if she didn't know why.
As Bertus looked down at the trembling Charlotte.
He suddenly thought.
If she was never an enemy to begin with.
There would be no need to kill her.
Was it necessary to lose everything by being dragged to the Demon King's castle, to fail in all her struggles, and even lose her life in the end?
Victory.
Was it ever so unpleasant?
Charlotte had no reason to kneel before him.
She should have told him to try and touch Reinhardt. To ask if he thought he would be safe from meddling with the champion of Tu’an. Rather, his political position would crumble.
That's what she should have said.
Charlotte wasn't ignorant of that fact.
However, just in case.
In case he didn't know.
Because there was a tiny possibility that he might actually touch Reinhardt.
That's why Charlotte knelt before Bertus. To erase even that small possibility.
She knelt not for herself, but for someone else. As he looked down at Charlotte kneeling with her head bowed, her slender shoulders trembling.
"Really..."
As he set down his teacup.
"How boring."
Bertus savored his hollow victory.
