Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 184

Before using my supernatural powers, I had been defeated only after a long bout of sword fighting. However, once I used them, the duel ended in just a single move. Adler didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down, so we had three more practice matches, and I used my abilities every time.

With the physical enhancements that my supernatural powers gave me, my skills were overwhelmingly superior to Adler Belkin’s. I only decided to destroy his training sword once.

Thanks to my supernatural powers, I was stronger, faster, and more precise than him in terms of technique.

My ever-improving supernatural powers went beyond simple physical enhancement. They even leveled up my swordsmanship skills.

Eventually, A-8 Adler Belkin from Orbis Class returned to his seat, his face a mask of defeat. Nilsonia from Class B had lost to Ludwig, and Adler Belkin from Class A had lost to me, someone who’d claimed to be the weakest in the Royal Class.

These two practice duels between the Royal Class and Orbis Class ended in Orbis Class’s complete defeat.

“Are you satisfied now?” I said as I returned to my seat.

Flick!

“... Why did you hit me?”

Ellen covered her forehead with her palm and glared at me.

“If I lose, I get scolded. If I win, you get scolded, remember?”

“... I never agreed to that.”

“I never agreed to get scolded either.”

“...”

Ellen found herself at a loss for words, and she pouted in frustration.

Sometimes, when I saw her pouting like this, I couldn’t help but find it incredibly cute. She was on par with—if not cuter than—Harriet. Unlike Harriet, though, dealing with her came with its own set of unique challenges.

‘... But why am I even thinking about this so seriously?’

“Reinhart, you’re amazing! Your skills have seriously improved,” Ludwig remarked, seemingly impressed by how I had ended each practice duel in one move with my supernatural powers.

“Is that so?” I responded nonchalantly.

Ludwig seemed astonished by my one-blow victories. He was probably how I had become so much stronger lately.

Scarlett wasn’t speaking to me directly, but I could tell from the slight flush on her face that she was impressed as well.

“But seriously, how can you call yourself the weakest? That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t think I could ever beat you,” Ludwig said, genuinely puzzled by my claim of being the weakest among the four of us.

“I meant without using my supernatural powers,” I clarified.

“Oh... Even so, I think I’m still far from your level,” he replied.

‘Don’t talk nonsense, protagonist. If we assume I’d use my supernatural powers, that’s one thing, but without them, you’d beat me every time. You may only have physical prowess, but you’re still “the protagonist”, after all. There must be some system or trait supporting you that I didn’t even plan for.’

Just like Ellen’s Hero’s Lineage trait, there were probably other traits I was unaware of, and Ludwig probably has a ton of those special traits too. Why? Because he was the protagonist. He might even have the Hero’s Lineage trait, considering how he eventually reaches a similar level of strength as Ellen.

As for me, even with my supernatural powers, I would never be able to beat Ellen even when she wasn’t using her Mana Reinforcement, nor would I be able to surpass Scarlett. Scarlett’s skills were on par with someone as talented as Cliffman.

Still, thanks to the various experiences I’d had and my Self-Deception power, my physical abilities had seen explosive growth. If I could somehow manage to learn Mana Reinforcement as well, there would be nothing more I could wish for. The double buffs of Mana Reinforcement and Self-Deception would make me unstoppable.

But would I even be able to do that? It seemed like it was finally time to lock in my third talent. I had held off on it for quite a while.

Anyway, the Orbis Class did not achieve any meaningful results from their baseless grudge against the Royal Class, and the lesson proceeded without any further disruption.

***

After all the classes ended, I searched for Ludwig’s physical data stats and realized the reason behind his sudden surge in strength.

B-11 Ludwig:

[Strength: 14.2 (B-)]

[Agility: 10.4 (C)]

[Dexterity: 9.7 (C-)]

[Mana: 9.2 (C)]

[Stamina: 32.2 (S)]

Talent

[Stamina]

Ludwig’s physical abilities were skyrocketing at a rate that outpaced his growth in the original storyline. His stamina had reached S-rank, a level that transcended human limits. Even Ellen’s physical stats had yet to reach S-rank.

There was only one reason for this: Ludwig hadn’t gotten entangled in the internal incidents and troubles of the Royal Class because of my presence.

This allowed him to focus solely on his training, which explained the dramatic boost in his physical abilities beyond what had been outlined in the original story.

As his importance to the narrative decreased, he grew even stronger than originally intended. There was nothing around him to disrupt his progress. It felt like I would be trounced by him even if I used my supernatural powers.

What kind of situation was this?

***

To say that we fought with the Orbis Class would not be correct. We only had practice duels against them while attending the same class. The losing side might have felt pretty upset, but the class ended without any major issues, and no further confrontations arose afterward.

However, when I returned to the dormitory, the atmosphere felt a bit off.

—Just tell the teacher.

—No, it’d be too embarrassing.

The Three Idiots were gathered in the lobby, engrossed in a serious conversation. What could have happened that prompted the suggestion to involve a teacher?

It appeared that Erhi was at the center of this issue. Upon closer inspection, I noticed his face was slightly swollen.

“What happened to you? Where did you get beaten up?”

“Oh...!”

“Re-Reinhart...”

Kaier, Connor Lint, and Erhi all looked startled at my sudden approach.

From Erhi de Raffaeli’s state, it was clear he’d been beaten up. This brat Erhi, who had probably believed that he could challenge me after bulking up a bit over the break, had backed off once he realized I’d done something serious in the Dark Land.

They did not seem to have expected me to show any interest, and all three were visibly flustered.

“What happened? I’m asking you, damn it.”

Why were these guys so slow to answer? Did they want another beating from me?

***

I sat at an angle on the armrest of the chair Connor Lint was sitting in, listening to Erhi stammer out his story.

“... You had a run-in with the Orbis Class?”

“... Yeah.”

It looked like Erhi had a similar day to ours. He was in a different Swordsmanship class, and an Orbis Class student had been in that same class.

But the story was absurd.

“You idiot, that’s not a run-in, that’s you picking a fight! Damn it.”

“But it wasn’t like that! I only said a few words!”

I raised my hand, and Erhi flinched so violently that his body was jerked around. Was he already cowering just from seeing my hand go up, even though I wasn’t going to hit him? It was fascinating how quickly their fear of me returned after disappearing for a while.

Anyway, Erhi found himself in a situation similar to the one I’d faced.

“So, you lost a practice duel, got pissed off, and then picked a fight after class, resulting in you getting beaten up. Is that something you should be proud of? And you, Kaier.”

“H-Huh... Me...?”

“Why the hell are you sitting here debating whether to tell the teacher about it?!”

“Well, we did get beaten, after all...”

“Hm?”

As I intensely frowned, Kaier quickly shut his mouth.

While what led up to the situation seemed similar to mine, the circumstances that followed were the complete opposite. Erhi had attended a Swordsmanship class and, like today, had a practice duel against an Orbis Class student. After suffering a humiliating defeat, his pride was clearly hurt.

“It’s already a sensitive topic for those kids, and then you go and tell them that they lack talent and that you’ll be able to crush them by next year? You’re lucky you didn’t get stabbed. You met someone with principles. They just gave you a decent beating and let you go.”

Erhi had probably said something like, “You don’t have any talent or anything, so by next year, I’ll be able to crush you. Enjoy this while you can, you fool!”

He was lucky not to get stabbed.

Anyway, he provoked the other party by needling them in their most sensitive point, and was severely beaten up on the spot.

Erhi shriveled up in his seat, unable to refute what I was saying.

Erhi’s character development had diverged slightly from the original storyline. A guy who originally did not know the meaning of effort, he was supposed to start understanding it, but only much later. However, judging by his physical data, it seemed like he had worked out a bit during the break, although it was probably just some weightlifting.

His odd behavior towards me at the beginning of the term gave me a strong hint about why he had done it.

“You worked out over the break just to try and take me on, didn’t you?” I asked.

Erhi flinched at my question.

“Thought so.”

Erhi’s face turned pale.

I had guessed correctly. This brat must have felt oppressed living under my thumb, so he had put his all into physical training over the break and wanted to start the new term by taking me down.

The Three Idiots definitely saw me as a nuisance since Erhi, like Kaier, had also been beaten up by me before.

It seemed Erhi had quickly abandoned his hope of challenging me, though, since not only did he correctly assume that I had grown stronger as well, but he also likely realized the futility of challenging me.

However, having gained a bit of confidence, he needed to act out somewhere, and the Orbis Class gave him the perfect opportunity to do so. Erhi and the other two guys were practically withering under my scrutiny.

“You’re pathetic. If you can’t win the fight, don’t even start it. That goes for both me and the guy who beat you up today.”

I had the confidence to win, that’s why I fought—and in the end, won.

‘Why would you even try if you weren’t sure you’d win?’

Erhi couldn’t lift his head at my rebuke.

“Are you being a bully? Hitting kids again?”

“...?”

I turned around at the sudden voice and saw Harriet standing there with her arms crossed, sighing at me.

“... What do you mean by ‘hit’? I didn’t hit him.”

“Then why does his face look like that?”

Harriet had noticed Erhi’s red and swollen face and clearly thought that I was the culprit.

“No, really, it wasn’t me. Hey, did I hit you?” I asked.

“Huh? Uh... Ah, n-no, it wasn’t him... it really wasn’t,” Erhi admitted, albeit reluctantly, under my menacing glare.

To anyone else, this probably looked like I’d beaten him up and was now threatening him to make him keep quiet about it.

‘I seriously didn’t do it!’

Harriet stared at me as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“... Wow, you really seem like a bully right now... and now you’re even threatening people,” she said, her voice dripping with genuine disappointment.

This wasn’t looking good. She seemed truly let down by me.

‘No! I really didn’t hit him!’

I felt like crying. It was as if I had become the boy who cried wolf.

Harriet sighed deeply and then yelled at the downcast Erhi, “And you! Aren’t you embarrassed to get beaten up by someone like this? If you can’t handle it, you should tell a teacher or do something about it instead of letting this happen!”

“H-He really didn’t beat me up...”

“Then why does your face look like that? If you were hit, you should say so!”

“T-That... it’s just... just that...”

‘Wow.’

I stood there, feeling utterly helpless.

It was like my school days all over again. I almost felt like I was developing PTSD. This conversation was more painful than actually getting hit.

Harriet seemed completely unaware that she was shattering Erhi’s dignity to pieces.

What was this? I was just trying to figure out why he was mumbling behind my back and if he was concocting some sort of scheme against me. I didn’t want it to escalate into an intense public shaming. Besides, I didn’t even actually hit him!

“This guy is really nothing to be scared of. He’s just got a nasty temper and can’t do anything when someone stands up to him. He keeps picking on you because you stay quiet and let him,” Harriet said, pointing at me.

“Uhh, well... that’s...”

Harriet continued to lash Erhi with her words without realizing what she was doing.

“Harriet? What’s going on?”

The commotion had attracted more attention, and this time, it was Riana de Granz who showed interest. As she approached, Harriet sighed and pointed at me accusingly.

“That bully over there can’t drop his bad habits and is harassing people again.”

‘No, that’s not right. I was just asking them what happened! I didn’t actually hit him! I admit it, my words might have been a bit harsh, but seriously, I didn’t hit him! Besides, you’re the one doing the harassing right now, did you know that? Just look at Erhi’s face!’

Now that Riana had joined in, Erhi’s expression became one of absolute despair. The other two didn’t look much better either.

“... Great job. Two days into the new term as well,” Riana remarked sarcastically, looking at me with undisguised disdain as if questioning whether a dog could hold back from doing its business.

She glanced at Erhi and, with a puzzled tilt of her head, asked bluntly, “But why are you always getting beaten up?”

After delivering that fatal blow, Riana nonchalantly walked away, leaving behind an even more despondent Erhi.