Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 220

Turning points in the history of this world...

So far, there have been three.

The first was the survival of Charlotte de Gradias.

That not only drastically altered the main story, but the survival of such a significant figure inevitably changed how things would play out.

The second was the survival of Olivia Lanche.

Olivia Lanche possessed powerful Divine Power and could even use something that could almost be described as the Divine Power of darkness. She was destined to achieve something extraordinary no matter what she did in the future.

In the end, this special achievement, “Turning Point in History”, seems to focus more on significant changes in the world’s history rather than just altering the main story.

Of course, the story of this world would shift continuously, in big or small ways, as long as I existed. Even the demon attack on the imperial capital had been a major event, but it did not qualify for the “Turning Point in History” achievement.

In any case, given the whimsical nature of this world, whether I got the achievement or not seemed completely arbitrary.

There were times when I received the achievement and times when I didn’t, but given that I got one this time, this incident was sure to significantly change history.

This was the third turning point in history...

The Orbis Class incident.

An emergency was declared and the Orbis Class was suspended.

The Orbis Class would undoubtedly go through a significant change, and one other direct change was likely to occur because of this sudden suspension.

“It seems they might not hold the competition during the festival,” Harriet said.

“They probably won’t. Even if things in the Orbis Class get resolved, they won’t be allowed to participate in any official events for a while.”

“You think so?”

“I’m pretty sure,” I replied.

Over time, news of the internal issues within the Orbis Class spread through the Temple like wildfire.

This incident aside, there was no way the Orbis Class students would be in any position to leisurely enjoy the festival.

The main event of the second semester...

It was going to vanish entirely because of one fight I had.

This was indeed a turning point in history, as significant events that were a major part of the main story would completely evaporate. The tournament and everything around it was going to go up in smoke.

In trying to prevent Ender Wilton’s descent into darkness, I had ended up wiping out the main event of the semester.

Did I do the right thing?

Anyway, this wasn’t the most important thing right this moment.

Harriet and I were standing in front of a building.

I was still on crutches and since I couldn’t proceed with personal training, I decided to push ahead with other tasks while recuperating. Once fully recovered, I’d focus on my personal projects.

Even as a patient, here I was, hobbling around with crutches, getting things done.

‘Just how diligent am I? I can’t help but be amazed at myself.’

“Is this our club room?”

“Yeah. Though I’m not sure if you’d call this a room.”

It wasn’t just Harriet and I. Everyone else was here too, including Louis Ankton, Adelia, Cristina, Anna, and even the little senior, Rudina.

Rudina had accepted my offer, so they were all members of the Magic Research Club.

[Royal Class Magic Research Club]

That was the sign on display, but what lay before us was not just a room; it was a rather large building.

Calling it a club room felt like an understatement. It was more like a club estate or a research lab.

The Magic Research Club required numerous pieces of equipment, so it had taken some time for the Temple to approve and prepare everything after granting permission to establish the club.

Royal Class magic majors did not usually join clubs, choosing instead to focus on individual research. We were the first to form such a club.

The Royal Class administration had pondered about what to prepare for us and had ultimately come up with an extraordinary solution.

“... They just vacated an entire research lab for us.”

Rather than preparing a brand new space, they just gave us an existing one. It used to be a research lab for a mage who was a professor at the Temple. When the Royal Class administration had inquired if they could take it over, the mage had happily moved out, saying that they needed a larger lab anyway.

Although it wasn’t a large-scale facility, it was so luxurious for a student club that it seemed almost excessive.

Everyone was wandering around the club estate, admiring it. Since I didn’t know what any of the equipment was, I just sat in the central hall, dazed.

—Wow, what’s this?

—I’ve never seen this before...

—This is a mana stone fusion reactor...

—Hey junior, what’s this?

—Ah, this is...

It seemed like there were a lot of pieces of equipment that even the magic majors were seeing for the first time, but Harriet and Louis Ankton knew about everything.

Harriet’s knowledge probably came from her status as an heir in the magic-famous Grand Duchy of Saint-Ouen, and Louis’s from his studies.

It took quite a while to make a full circuit around the place, and eventually, everyone gathered in the main hall.

“What’s with that face? We got such an amazing place,” Harriet grumbled, annoyed by my indifferent expression.

“What exactly am I supposed to be excited about...?”

I didn’t understand what any of this stuff was, so my reaction could only be, “Wow, this looks impressive.”

I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I was the club president.

“This place has specialized equipment for researching all fields of magic. Even in our grand duchy, facilities like this are rare.”

It seemed on another level compared to the dormitory’s magic lab. The others all seemed in awe of the place.

“Well, if you say it’s good, it must be good.”

“Be genuinely excited!”

“W-Wow, this is such a good facility. Yes, it’s truly impressive!”

“Now you’re just being sarcastic!”

Harriet seemed really happy, but grew deflated at my lack of enthusiasm. Seriously, what was the point of forcing excitement out of me in this situation?

It was like watching a terrible movie filled with jump scares that wasn’t my sort of show at all, with someone beside me constantly saying, “Isn’t this fun? Isn’t it exciting?”

Everyone gathered around the round table in the hall after exploring the building.

No matter how you looked at it, it was bizarre to think that I was the president of the club.

I was the least qualified to be president, yet everyone was staring at me. It was like being surrounded by social demons in an abyss completely devoid of sociability.

The other students were going to handle the research, but I would have to manage the human relationships between them, despite being awful at it.

They occasionally spoke to each other, but since the different factions weren’t that close, they all just looked at me since I was the only one who had connections with everyone.

The little senior, Rudina, looked at me with an especially eager expression.

She often asked me questions and called me “junior”, but ultimately, she found it most comfortable to interact with me.

“Forget the pointless opening ceremony or any formalities; I don’t know how to do that and don’t want to.”

That day marked the beginning of the Magic Research Club, and our first meeting.

“Anyway, we have a club estate, not just a room, and once we get the dorm supervisor’s permission, we can even stay here on weekdays, not just weekends.”

Although I had only stayed in the dormitory so far, Mr. Effenhauser had briefed me on the details of this club estate.

There were individual laboratories and equipment for researching almost all fields of magic, and the estate even had bedrooms.

The existence of bedrooms made me shiver with cold terror.

This used to be a professor’s research lab, so it was probably graduate students who stayed here, not professors...

“Really?”

“Does that mean we don’t have to stick to the dorm curfew?”

“... No dorm supervisor will be coming here, so probably yes.”

Everyone’s faces brightened even more at the idea of being able to research all night.

They were thrilled at the notion of pulling all-nighters. Harriet and Adelia seemed particularly happy.

I was going to say something like, “If you pretend to sleep here and sneak off to party somewhere else, you’ll be in big trouble,” but that didn’t seem necessary.

These were just kids who loved magic to the point of it being nauseating.

“Our supervising teacher will be Ms. Mustang. If you don’t know how to handle the magical research facilities or are conducting dangerous experiments, you’ll need the teacher’s supervision or approval.”

Since the Magic Research Club wasn’t an ordinary club, the supervising teacher had to be a mage themselves, and Ms. Mustang was a mage. Hence, she had volunteered to become the supervising teacher of the Magic Research Club, despite it not existing in the original story.

It was quite commendable that the magic majors of both Class A and B were coming together to conduct magic research, and Ms. Mustang enthusiastically supported it.

Honestly, though, I didn’t particularly like Ms. Mustang.

I know. I’m a twisted person.

Even though I described Ms. Mustang and Ludwig positively in my novel, when I saw them in real life, I found myself feeling uneasy around them.

I didn’t like overly enthusiastic people and preferred someone like Mr. Effenhauser.

“Sure, do what you want, it’s your life. You deal with the consequences.”

I liked people with that type of mindset.

Ms. Mustang was full of affection and cared too much about her students, and likely meddled in various matters.

Usually, the club’s supervising teacher did not need to show up much.

Given Mustang’s personality, though, it was very likely that she’d be dropping by frequently.

Unfortunately, Mr. Effenhauser wasn’t a mage, so he couldn’t be the supervising teacher. Thus, with some reluctance, I had to accept Ms. Mustang as our supervising teacher.

Still, since she was a genuinely good person, she at least wouldn’t be a hindrance.

We weren’t having an official meeting, but it was more of a tour of the club estate. Ms. Mustang would likely join us once in a while when our formal meetings began.

“The official meetings are once a week, but since the facilities here are so good, feel free to come anytime. There’s a magical lock, so only registered members can enter. There’s no need to worry about theft. However, don’t bring valuable items here unnecessarily.”

‘Hmm... I feel like I’m speaking more like a teacher than a president.’

Everyone was nodding, looking at me as if I was indeed a teacher.

‘Ah. These kids are all so adorable that I want to just mess with them... Why am I even doing this?’

“Anyway, that’s roughly all the teacher asked me to convey....”

Of course, since I was playing the role of president, I had my own ideas.

I didn’t know much about magic, so the research and lectures would be up to the others.

“Louis, how’s the lecture preparation going?”

“I don’t know if it will turn out well, but I’m working on it.”

As president, my role was to coordinate.

Louis Ankton had been studying tirelessly to find ways to improve the other’s skills even before our club was officially established. He was putting tremendous effort into becoming a magic scholar to teach mages about things aside from the usual stuff tested in exams.

“Great. Start whenever you’re ready.”

“Got it.”

Now that I held the title of president, they treated me a little differently. In the past, they obeyed out of fear, but now they listened because I was the president.

‘This is quite nice.’

Louis was preparing his lectures. He might have been ready to begin that day, but it seemed a little early for it.

“I can’t help with your research, but there’s something I want you all to work on. Can I say it?”

Though my sudden statement puzzled them, they all nodded.

‘Hmm. Playing the role of president isn’t bad at all.’

Though I couldn’t partake in the research, I could suggest research topics or activity goals. Our club had six first-year members including me, but with senior Rudina, it became seven.

The Gate Incident...

The best scenario was to prevent the incident from ever occurring.

The root of the Gate Incident was the warp gates connecting to another world. If we couldn’t stop this, then we would have to fight, and everyone had to become stronger.

In the end, what I wanted was for everyone to improve their skills. Specifically, their skills in combat.

With that in mind, I planned to give each of them an individual research topic for enhancing practical combat abilities.

“First, Rudina.”

The first target was Rudina.

“Me?”

Rudina tilted her head in confusion as I called on her.

“Rudina, you have a tiny amount of mana, right?”

“That’s a harsh way to put it!”

“But it’s true, right?”

“Ugh! I really hate you! You’re the worst!”

Rudina huffed and puffed at my words and looked like she might cry because it was indeed true.

She had the talent for No Casting.

It was an insanely overpowered ability, but it came with a significant problem: very low mana capacity. According to the physical data, her mana capacity was extremely low.

Mana Capacity: 4.2

It was only at F+ rank. Compared to others of her level, it was extremely, extremely low. It was less than half of my mana capacity, which was 13 (C+ rank).

The talent necessary for mana growth was Mana Attunement, and her talent in Mana Attunement seemed to be very low. Still, it was better than Kaier, who had no way of attaining Mana Manipulation.

If one had to give up either Mana Attunement or Mana Manipulation, it was better to give up Mana Attunement. Although Kaier had massive mana reserves, his inability to manipulate mana made it useless.

Anyway, Rudina’s issue was similar yet somewhat different from Kaier’s.

Natura. mana growth beyond this point would yield little results for her.

I had plans in place to enhance everyone’s mana capacity, but for Rudina, that alone might not solve the issue.

Thus, another alternative was needed.

“Rudina, let’s consider not using your own mana from now on.”

“... What?”

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion at my remark.

“There isn’t a law stating that magic must be activated using your own mana, right? If you extract mana stored in something like a mana stone to activate magic, that’s still magic, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Hm?”

Everyone seemed baffled by my radical idea. Was such a novel thought possible because I was ignorantly blissful about magic? From the look on their faces, that seemed to be the case.

However, one person caught on.

“Are you talking about Stonemagic?”

It was Harriet de Saint-Ouen.

‘I always believed in you, Thick-Skull. You’re the best!’