Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 97

Harriet, who seemed afraid to enter the jungle alone, stood still before the expanse of greenery for a long time. She kept looking over at me nervously.

She wanted to ask me to go with her, but she realized that such companionship would only lead to an even more disastrous outcome later. Eventually, she entered the jungle alone.

“...”

“...”

Even Harriet, who suffered from habitual blushing syndrome, came staggering back after everything was over, her complexion ghastly pale.

Silently, she went off to the beach, scrubbed the pot clean, and with a look of utter resignation, set the pot down next to me.

‘Note to self: Absolutely never use this pot...’

“... If... If you mock me for this... I-If you do, I’m seriously going to kill myself!”

I hadn’t even said anything, but Harriet had already started to worry about me teasing her. She looked at me with tear-filled eyes, her face still pale. Surprisingly, she hadn’t threatened to kill me if I mocked her, but rather herself—an indication of a deep sense of self-loathing and embarrassment.

She was essentially saying that mocking her with what had just happened would be the same as killing her.

Her expression seemed to say, “You don’t really want to see me dead, do you? You don’t hate me that much, do you?”

Even though I had no intention of teasing her, I knew that if I were to do so, it would be the same as taking her life.

‘Okay, I might have a lot of issues, but I’m not that cruel.’

“Hmm? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did something just happen? If you’ve got nothing to do, stop wandering around and go back to sleep, kiddo.”

I pretended to be clueless, and Harriet finally shed a few tears.

“Thank you...”

She wiped the corners of her eyes with her hand.

‘Wait, didn’t you just wipe yourself with that ha—Forget it.’

I refrained from teasing her, even in my own mind.

***

When people are in an entirely unfamiliar environment and are subjected to extreme stress, there are generally two outcomes: either they get diarrhea or they start to suffer from constipation.

This often happened in military boot camps, and constipation that lasted over a week was quite common. However, those who are lactose intolerant might get diarrhea after consuming the milk provided in the mornings. Of course, some simply got diarrhea for no reason as well.

The current circumstances were very embarrassing for those suffering from diarrhea. It was natural that quite a number of them would be afflicted with this condition, as a sudden change in diet tended to cause more cases of diarrhea. In fact, those who ended up suffering from constipation had a reason to be glad, since they didn’t have diarrhea.

I was the type of person to get constipation in these types of situations, and surprisingly, that still held true despite the complete change in my physical body after entering this world. Obviously, I never described this sort of issue in the actual novel.

Now that this situation was my reality, though, I realized something very important. In a group survival situation, the most critical matter wasn’t survival, but dealing with bowel movements. This situation made one realize how wonderful toilet paper was, and how luxurious it was to have a change of underwear.

***

The next morning...

Those who had managed to relieve themselves still seemed mentally exhausted, although not for the same reason as the night before. They looked like they had been burned up internally, with nothing but ash remaining. This was especially true among the female students, who seemed to be experiencing an even greater sense of shame and embarrassment.

Of course, everyone—myself included—had the same desperate desire to wash themselves.

“What’s wrong with you all? Did something happen last night?” Vertus asked. He noticed the particularly rotten expressions that Riana and Harriet wore, and asked if they were sick.

“Huh? Oh. No... just... The sleeping conditions were a little uncomfortable...”

“Nothing happened.”

As they made their excuses, the two of them glanced not at Vertus, but at me.

Harriet had an expression that screamed “Please! Please don’t tell anyone!”

Riana’s expression was that of firm resolve, as if to say, “If this becomes gossip, one of us will have to depart this world.”

I’d be the first to admit that I’m a bit of a scoundrel, but I wasn’t a total asshole. Although acknowledging that I was a scoundrel made me seem like a lost cause...

“Should we just boil the meat left over from yesterday? It’s gotten so tough that I don’t think it can be eaten as is,” suggested Connor Lint, holding up the medium-sized pot.

“No way!”

“No way!”

“No way!”

Riana, and Harriet I cried out simultaneously.

***

Ellen and I—the girl who had managed to catch three lobsters by diving into the sea the night before, and I, who could swim—became responsible for sea hunting. Riana’s method of waiting for the fish to come to her took too much time.

Harriet noticed that Ellen and I were about to enter the sea and called out, “Are you going into the sea?”

“Yeah, we need to catch something for breakfast.”

“... Are you a good swimmer?”

“I don’t know if I’m good, but I do know how to swim.”

Harriet’s face was slightly red. It seemed as though her perception of me was changing in real-time during this group mission.

“Do you... need help with that?” Harriet said, looking back and forth between Ellen and me. “A spell to breathe underwater, or something like that.”

‘Oh? Please, say no more.’

***

Harriet cast an underwater breathing spell on Ellen and me. She said it would last about thirty to forty minutes.

Being able to breathe underwater was an incredibly odd sensation. It didn’t necessarily feel like having water in the lungs, but it was a bizarre and indescribable feeling.

‘What if the magic suddenly wears off at an awkward moment? Do I just end up gulping in a ton of water and dying? Better to surface with some time to spare.’

Opening my eyes underwater wasn’t too difficult either.

With the underwater breathing spell, and the fact that both Ellen and I were decent swimmers, we could afford to go deeper.

A spectacular underwater seascape, filled with colorful coral reefs, unfolded before my eyes. It was so beautiful that, for a moment, I simply wanted to enjoy the view.

Ellen swam through the water with grace, her arms, legs and waist in a fluid motion, and she began collecting the abalones that were attached to the underwater rocks.

Ellen looked almost like a mermaid as she moved through the water.

It wasn’t just because she was pretty, but she moved so freely and effortlessly underwater.

She really was good at everything.

Ellen’s swimming through the sea seemed to go beyond mere skill; it felt graceful.

—?

Ellen noticed that I wasn’t picking up any shells but just staring at her, and gave me a puzzled tilt of her head. I shook my head to let her know that it was nothing.

Sometimes, you just end up staring at her blankly like that.

I collected abalones and clams, putting them into the netting that Adelia had woven from vines the day before. I didn’t bother with those that were too small, since it was clear they wouldn’t be worth the effort.

I was hoping to catch some lobsters since they were the food that seemed the least objectionable to the kids, but none were in sight.

It required tremendous physical energy to scramble around in the jungle, and moving around underwater wasn’t any less demanding.

If it weren’t for the underwater breathing spell, I would have expended twice the energy. Harriet’s talent, being skilled in using magic from any field, once again proved to be impressive.

I kept collecting abalones and various other types of shells. I would have tried to catch a large fish if I had seen any in the area, but there didn’t seem to be any around.

Then, I saw Ellen feeling around the ledge of a rock when a camouflaged octopus suddenly revealed itself.

The octopus shot out a cloud of ink, attempting to escape, and in response, it was immediately skewered by Ellen’s javelin.

—?

Ellen, seemingly caught off-guard by her own catch, tilted her head again as she stared at the octopus, impaled on the end of her javelin.

Ellen pointed the end of her javelin toward me, showing me the octopus dangling from it.

—I caught a monster.

At least, that looked like what she was trying to mouth at me. It seemed like it was the first time she had ever seen an octopus while it was still alive.

***

It was only natural that everyone back at camp was horrified by the appearance of the gigantic cephalopod.

“Ee, eek!”

“I feel like I’m going to throw up...”

Harriet turned pale and couldn’t even look at it, while Riana, feeling nauseous, staggered into the jungle.

“... I know it’s edible, but seeing it like this kind of puts me off,” said Vertus, who had eaten octopus before. He seemed reluctant to eat one that was this fresh.

“If you don’t want to eat it, then don’t. I’ll eat it by myself if I have to.”

Besides the octopus, we had also caught plenty of abalones and clams, so we could grill those instead.

I decapitated the octopus, removed the innards, and scrubbed it roughly with salt. We had collected quite a bit of salt, so using it for this purpose was not an issue.

Ellen watched from the side as I washed the octopus vigorously in the seawater.

“Does this taste any good?”

“Hmm... I reckon you would eat it just fine.”

Ellen didn’t seem to care about how it looked, as long as it tasted good.

After finishing with the octopus, I returned to camp. As I had requested, Adelia and Harriet had used processing magic to cut a large stone into a flat, grill-like shape that could be used as a stone grill slab. Heinrich had collected firewood and lit a fire underneath the slab, which had been secured in an appropriate position.

When the grilling slab, thoroughly cleaned, started to dry from the heat, I placed the clams, abalones, and octopus on it.

Sizzle!

“Ew, disgusting!”

Everyone looked on in horror as the octopus twisted about on the hot stone grill.

In the end, only Ellen and I ended up eating the octopus.

***

Now that the camp had been established, and with the help of magic that let us breathe underwater, obtaining food wasn’t difficult.

However, we were still busy.

Once the most basic needs are met, people began to crave the net thing.

Crack!

“Whew... I’ve finally made one...”

Now that the camp had been completed, we were trying to upgrade it. After spending a night in camp, it became clear that the moisture seeping up from the ground was causing everyone a great deal of discomfort.

Therefore, the current objective was to create a raised floor by cutting logs in half lengthwise and attaching them together, then pitching the tents on top of this platform. Harriet and Adelia, who were magic majors, handled most of the wood-splitting, but the other guys were also busy, collecting vines and leaves like the day before, each one contributing to the effort.

I entered the jungle with Ellen.

“Do you think there will be any water here?”

Ellen seemed unsure if there would be drinkable water on a deserted island. After all, we had only ventured out to look for freshwater at Vertus’s request.

“Since there are wild animals about, there has to be a source of water somewhere. There’s bound to be a stream with drinkable water, or places where rainwater collects.”

“That makes sense.”

My argument seemed to convince Ellen that there was water somewhere. Although we were not as swift as Delphine Izadra had been the day before, Ellen and I still made a slow advance, cutting through the jungle foliage.

I was armed with a machete and three javelins, while Ellen had brought along a short bow and a machete. We also brought water bottles with us, so we could search for a considerable length of time.

However, there wasn’t necessarily a need to find water specifically for drinking purposes.

If my prediction was correct, it would rain the next day.

In the original story, Class B lost all their poorly-constructed tents to the wind, and ended up cold and soaking wet, their body temperatures plummeting to dangerous levels.

In other words, if we prepared enough rainwater collectors, we wouldn’t have to worry about drinking water.

However, the water I was searching for now was not just for drinking, but for washing. It was apparent that everyone was stressed out from not being able to change clothes. If we located a freshwater source, even if we didn’t move the camp there, it could be marked as a place to go if someone desperately wanted to wash themselves or launder clothes.

If we kept going on the way we were, it was likely that not being able to clean themselves or their clothes would drive some to forfeit voluntarily. Although I disliked how everyone was whining, at the moment, everyone was needed in some capacity or another, so it was better for me if they all held on.

This deserted island, though mainly covered in jungle, sloped upward toward the center, like a mountain.

The overgrown mass of trees made it difficult to judge visually, but in such terrain, we were likely to find water in the fold of the mountains, where valleys would form. I had already determined the probable position of a valley by climbing a tree earlier, so we knew which direction to go.

“It’s so damn exhausting.”

I wondered if this was what people meant when they described dreadful heat. My clothes, soaked with sweat, clung to my body unpleasantly, and I felt as though I might turn into liquid any second.

Ellen seemed just as exhausted. She was panting, and her breathing became irregular.

“Should we head back?” I asked her, since we risked exhaustion if we went on further, but Ellen, though seemingly struggling, shook her head.

“I think I hear the sound of running water.”

“... Are you sure it’s not just a hallucination?”

To be honest, her hearing was probably better than mine, but could this be similar to the illusions people experienced in the desert, when they believed that they saw an oasis? Perhaps she was experiencing something like a mirage.

“No... I think I really hear it,” Ellen said with a blank expression.

‘Wait. Now that I think about it, can’t I enhance my hearing as well?’

I put myself under Self-Deception.

‘I have bionic hearing.’

Indeed, once I focused on my hearing, I could detect sounds more acutely. It seemed that reinforcement of this sort was now within my ability.

The rustling of leaves in the wind, the cries of unidentified insects, the chirping of birds...

Amid these sounds, there was a gentle flowing or a soft rustling—the sound, which made me think of running water, was unmistakable.

“You’re right. It’s coming from that direction.”

“Let’s go.”

Now that we had both confirmed it, Ellen took the lead without hesitation.

***

As I predicted, we came across a ravine, and a stream flowing through it. It likely originated from the top of the mountain and flowed down to the lower areas.

It was considerably large.

The stream was wide, and as I peered into the piercing blue depths, it appeared quite deep in some areas.

The flowing water was clear, not turbid.

Normally, drinking such water in tropical regions would be a death wish, as parasites and pathogens would thrive in it. However, this wasn’t a real, authentic jungle. The water quality here would be meticulously managed, whether by purification magic or some other means, so it would be safe to drink.

No dangerous animals were in sight.

Ellen cautiously approached the stream and scooped up some water in her hands, eagerly drinking to quench her thirst.

She must have been extremely exhausted. This was the first time I’d seen her act so decisively. Drinking the cold water seemed to refresh her, and she shivered.

Of course, I felt the same way.

“I’m going in.”

Splash!

I didn’t think of anything else and just threw myself into the water.

***

Since the ravine was quite deep in certain places, there were areas where the water pooled to form something like a natural swimming pool. In a spacious section of the ravine, the water was almost three meters deep. I sat submerged in the shallower region, staring blankly into space.

Ellen was swimming, and even leaping in and out of the water like a seal.

Though her face did not show it, she seemed ecstatic, and was having a great time. The water was eerily blue and clear, so I could see everything as Ellen swam enthusiastically underwater.

It felt like watching a seal swimming in a zoo, although she was closer to a mermaid.

Technically, I would have had to check if the water was drinkable first, but since I knew that it was safe, I filled up my empty water bottles and drank heartily.

I let out a sigh of relief.

I wondered if the others would come here to the ravine even if they knew it existed.

If they came here to bathe or do laundry, they’d be drenched in sweat on the way back anyway. And if we considered relocating the camp entirely, I suspect there would be a serious uproar due to the grueling effort that would be required, like the day before.

‘Hmm. I’ll leave the decision to Vertus.’

After swimming for a while, Ellen crawled out of the water. She wrung out her hair, then looked at me and gestured towards the lower part of the ravine.

“Go over there.”

“... Why?”

“I’m going to take off all my clothes.”

‘... Ah. She’s that excited, I see.’

Of course, she wasn’t going to go skinny dipping—she likely just wanted to wash her clothes. I headed downstream and vigorously scrubbed my clothes in the flowing water before shaking them out and laying them on a sunlit rock ledge.

‘Given the strength of the sunlight, they should dry up soon enough. Or will the humidity stop them from drying out? Ah, whatever.’

Splash! Splash!

Although she wasn’t visible from where I was, I could still hear the sounds of Ellen swimming upstream. Of course, even after washing our clothes like this, they’d probably become soaked with sweat again on the way back. Still, it wasn’t bad to wash them at least once like this.

In the original story, Delphine was the one who discovered this ravine. Perhaps not that very day, though. Of course, with the addition of Charlotte as a variable, it was hard to know how things would turn out.

“Reinhart!”

Suddenly, Ellen called my name out loud.

***

“Let’s go back.”

Ellen was wearing her clothes, despite them not being fully dry, and she had a stern look on her face. I could feel the tension within her.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“Something’s off. We shouldn’t stay any longer.”

Ellen began to point out certain parts of the ravine, both upstream and downstream.

“There are animal bones scattered around here.”

“... You’re right.”

If Charlotte’s presence altered the original storyline, then me bringing Ellen here also altered things. Ellen wasn’t just enjoying herself in the water; she’d noticed something odd, and had spotted some clues.

Ellen pointed to the opposite side. “Over there as well.”

There were animal bones, and marks that seemed different from anything I had seen previously.

“Someone lit a fire there. It can’t be the teachers. This seems to be related to the ‘special conditions’ they mentioned...”

After a while, Ellen carefully reached a conclusion. “This doesn’t seem to be an uninhabited island.”

Someone else was living here, besides us.

Ellen was one step closer to unraveling the secrets of this island.