Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 491

The summer rain fell steadily.

The rain pouring down in the mountains couldn’t quite be considered a torrential downpour, but it was enough to discourage any outdoor activities.

Thud... Thud!

Luna Artorius, clad in a raincoat, made her way through the rain, listening to the rhythmic sound of something being struck at regular intervals.

Luna pushed through the rain, heading slowly toward the source of the sound.

Soon, she witnessed a large tree crack, and its massive form collapsed to the ground. A young man mechanically approached the fallen tree and resumed chopping with his axe.

Chopping down trees in the rain was extremely dangerous. The handle could slip from one’s grip, or the blade could slip and twist, causing serious injury. Yet, the young man seemed oblivious to such risks as he continued to swing the axe over and over again in a steady rhythm.

He had struggled quite a bit on the first day. By the second day, the handle of his old axe had broken, forcing him to borrow yet another axe from a neighbor to continue chopping. Once Ronan fitted a new handle onto the axe head and provided him with a new axe, his pace picked up.

The task did not end just with felling the trees; he had to chop the felled tree into manageable pieces, load it onto a sled, and transport it to Rijaiera all by himself. Even for someone as extraordinarily strong as Reinhart, the work progressed slowly.

It had been two weeks since Reinhart had begun clearing the forest. Luna could see that a section of the forest had been cleared away.

There were still many trees left to cut down, but progress was undeniably being made. Luna approached Reinhart and spoke quietly.

“Reinhart, it’s raining. You should rest today.”

Whack... Whack...

Luna’s voice was audible over the sound of the rain. However, Reinhart continued on as if he hadn’t heard anything, still swinging the axe at regular intervals.

Luna watched Reinhart’s back silently. It seemed as though he was thinking of nothing but chopping wood.

Whack... Whack...

Without a saw, all the work had to be done with the axe. He was focused solely on splitting the felled trees into even sections.

“Reinhart,” Luna called out again, but Reinhart remained oblivious to anything other than his task as he continued to chop the wood.

“...”

He wasn’t pretending not to hear; he genuinely had not heard her. Luna watched his back for a moment longer before turning away.

As she walked back to the village, she listened to the sound of the axe striking wood at regular intervals.

Thud... Thud...

***

Late at night, in a gray chamber, a meeting was held.

“Mistress, how long do you intend to keep that boy in Rijaiera?” An elderly man with white hair and a cane asked Luna.

Ronan sat beside Luna at the head of the table, and other residents of Rijaiera were seated around the stone table.

None of them seemed displeased with Reinhart’s presence in Rijaiera. Instead, there was a sense of curiosity. They were puzzled by the boy, who had been staying in Rijaiera for over two months, and the Mistress’s decision to allow it.

“Until he gets what he wants,” Luna said.

Luna’s calm words stirred the air in the meeting room.

An elderly woman nodded her head, but couldn’t hide her confusion. “Mistress... If it’s your decision, there must be a significant reason that is unknown to us... But this is unprecedented...”

“Unprecedented...” Luna lowered her gaze and remained silent for a moment. “For countless ages, there has been no precedent for this.”

Luna looked up at the faces of those seated in the meeting room again. There were elders, those approaching old age, and even some younger adults.

“However, Ragan had been allowed to leave for the outside world despite knowing of the existence of the family of Sunday and Monday, which was also unprecedented.”

The Mistress’s mention of her deceased son cast a shadow over everyone’s expressions.

“But, Mistress... Ragan... He had been allowed to leave for the world because he hadn’t learned the mysteries of the clan... Just like Ellen...”

“I spoke of precedents, not mysteries,” Luna said quietly. “We learned from Ragan’s case that creating a new precedent would not necessarily lead to anything unusual.”

Everyone fell silent at Luna’s words.

“So, there’s no rule that says such a new precedent shouldn’t exist.”

“But Mistress, if something goes wrong, you will—”

“I’m the one who must be prepared for that, not you.” Luna said, interrupting the elderly woman’s worried statement.

Luna’s calm words brought silence to the room.

“Moreover, even if I’m gone, will the clan disappear? You will continue to serve the Moon and the Sun in the way you’ve learned to, and live accordingly.”

“Mistress... You are the only Mistress of the clan.”

At the elderly woman’s tearful words, Luna smiled gently.

“Choosing a new Mistress from among you isn’t something forbidden either.”

After saying that, Luna tapped the stone table, signaling the end of the meeting. Everyone wanted to say something in response to Luna’s words, but no one could refuse her decision.

The others left the meeting room, leaving only Luna and Ronan Artorius behind.

“Mistress, do you intend to teach that boy the mysteries?” Ronan asked, and Luna shook her head.

“No, if I did, it would bind him to the clan’s yoke. How could I do that?” Luna quietly looked down at the table. “Whatever he seeks, he must discover it on his own.”

“So, you’re betting on time instead.”

Luna quietly looked at Ronan. “You knew.”

“I don’t know the details, but I had a feeling that was what you were doing.”

Luna quietly gazed down the corridor. “Yes. All I can give him is time.”

“...”

Luna smiled. “Interfering with Rijaiera’s time isn’t meddling with the world, is it? It’s just that an outsider happened to enter the space where time had been tampered with.”

Ronan offered a wry smile in return. “It sounds like sophistry.”

“Yes, it is sophistry.”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to tell Reinhart that time flows differently here?”

“Perhaps.”

Unaware of anything, Reinhart had been forced to spend his time in anxiety and unease.

“If he knew that time flowed differently here, he would gain leisure. He would find peace, and he would have time to rest his weary body and mind. However, peace gained easily can be easily broken. Only peace that is hard-earned can have lasting stability.”

Luna sighed. “If he gains leisure and peace easily and mistakes it for his own strength, he will crumble when true chaos and fear come later.”

Ronan nodded slowly. “So you deliberately didn’t tell him anything.”

“Achieving a goal and overcoming limits are two different things.”

Ronan remained silent.

Luna rested her chin on her arm and tapped the table at regular intervals.

Thud... Thud...

The sound of the axe striking at regular intervals echoed in Luna’s mind.

“Ronan.”

“Yes, Mistress?”

“If I were to disappear, would you be sad?”

Ronan nodded with a firm expression. “Of course I would be.”

“...”

Luna quietly tapped the table.

“You’ve always been a cheeky one.”

“...”

“But thanks to you, the life I’ve been forced to live isn’t so bad. No, it was good.”

Luna quietly gazed into the empty corridor.

“Having been forced to live a human life, I find myself wanting to experience the human end, death, more and more these days.”

“Mistress...”

“It was just a thought.”

Luna smiled faintly at Ronan’s serious expression.

***

Time passed.

Reinhart continued to cut down trees. Reinhart could have cleared the entire forest in a single day if he had used his maximum-output version of Mana Reinforcement and a holy relic.

However, he had to cut down each tree one by one with an axe while maintaining an extremely refined Mana Reinforcement. As a result of using less efficient tools, Reinhart’s work progressed slowly.

Maintaining a focused state all day was, of course, not easy. There were times when his concentration broke, and he often lost focus when the axe head slipped from the handle.

Nevertheless, there was no denying that progress was being made. The focused state that had been exhausting for him to maintain for just an hour could soon be extended to two hours, then three, and four.

Eventually, he was able to maintain his focus all day, even while eating and taking short breaks.

Two months had passed since he had first started his work. In that time, Reinhart had cleared all the trees in the forest.

“Well, you’ve done it somehow,” Arta remarked as he looked around. What had once been a forest had now been reduced to countless tree stumps.

“You did get faster towards the end, didn’t you?” Lena said.

Reinhart nodded quietly. He hung the axe, which had had its handle replaced several times, on the sled and loaded the last of the wood onto it, and clicked his tongue.

“If someone had told me outside of this village that this kind of work was good for mental training, I’d have punched them,” Reinhart grumbled as he hoisted the sled loaded with wood onto his back.

“The fact that it actually works is the most annoying part.”

The unfathomable depth of emotion that filled Reinhart’s eyes hadn’t disappeared. However, they were now infinitely calm.

***

“You’ve finished chopping down the trees.”

“Yes.”

“It took a long time.”

“Well, two months isn’t exactly fast... but it’s not bad, right? It’s not like I’ve ever done anything like this before.”

Two whole months.

Luna’s expression was indifferent, as if she was merely acknowledging the completion of the massive task of clearing the forest alone.

Ronan simply nodded quietly.

“Then, starting tomorrow, you’ll have to pull out the tree roots,” he said.

“...”

‘Couldn’t they at least say “good job”?’ Reinhart thought.

Seeing Luna’s nonchalant attitude toward him having to start a new task right after finishing the previous one made Reinhart feel a little overwhelmed.

No, that wasn’t it. Having been in Rijaiera for so long, he sometimes forgot who he used to be, even though he knew he shouldn’t. Feeling upset about not being praised for cutting down all those trees was a bit ridiculous.

Had he become too accustomed to life in Rijaiera?

There were many nights when he woke up suddenly, worried that he might end up staying indefinitely. Although he tried to put his thoughts of the outside world aside, he occasionally had nightmares.

Still, he found that the repetitive tasks throughout the day helped clear his mind. After a day of chopping wood, his arms felt like they were about to fall off. The ache even went into his bones, and that was all he could think about.

“Still, your expression has improved a lot,” Ronan commented.

“Has it...?”

“Yes, definitely.”

Reinhart was gradually getting used to maintaining his composure and sustaining optimum Mana Reinforcement for extended periods no matter what was happening, even as anxiety and impatience threatened to consume him.

“Thanks to you, it seems we’ve secured more than enough firewood for next year.”

It seemed Luna thought he had done a good deed for Rijaiera, and there was nothing wrong with that. He was essentially living off Rijaiera, after all.

The villagers often thanked him for stacking firewood in the center of the village, and many brought him snacks without him asking. It was better to contribute positively to the village than to remain a burden.

Before he knew it, he had become part of the rural community known as Rijaiera.

***

Thanks to Reinhart chopping down all the trees in the forest, Rijaiera wouldn’t have to worry about firewood that winter. Watching the massive piles of firewood drying in the sunlight gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.

If everything were to be resolved... If everything somehow worked out, and the burdens on his shoulders disappeared... Reinhart wondered if he might consider something like farming. The absurd thought of the Demon King turning to farming was enough to make him chuckle.

Anyway, after a long, long time, the woodcutting was finally over. Of course, that didn’t mean he was done with the axe forever. Two more tools had been added to the mix: a shovel and a pickaxe.

The trees in the forest came in all shapes and sizes. There were massive trees, medium-sized ones, and small ones that he could break with his bare hands.

The small ones were manageable.

“Honestly, I think this task is difficult too,” Arta said.

“Do you?”

“Of course. It’s no ordinary task.”

Reinhart felt a sense of awe as he looked at Arta, who seemed troubled by the massive tree stumps.

The giant trees had been a pain to cut down and trim, but looking at the sturdy stumps, with roots that seemed to extend endlessly, was enough to make his head spin.

How was he supposed to uproot those?

Wasn’t heavy machinery needed? Wasn’t this the kind of work excavators were meant for?

Even though Reinhart could be considered a human tank, he wasn’t an actual tank, and he wasn’t sure if his body alone could handle tasks that usually required heavy machinery.

To avoid the same headstrong approach he had taken when he first started chopping down the trees, he had brought Arta along, but even Arta was shaking his head.

Reinhart left the massive stumps aside for the moment and stood in front of a slightly smaller one.

He thought the task was rather similar to weeding a field.

The repetitive task of chopping wood had been meant to clear his mind and get him accustomed to using optimized Mana Reinforcement, and he had grown quite used to it.

This time, it was about increasing the output of that optimized Mana Reinforcement.

Uprooting a tree stump that was deeply rooted in the ground required strength, not skill. But there was no excavator to be found in this mountain village, or anywhere on the continent.

Therefore, he had to accomplish a task that required skill with sheer strength.

Once he became accustomed to maximizing the output during Mana Reinforcement, he aimed to convert all his mana into pure strength without any external release.

In other words, he would have to focus on completely burning his mana and converting it entirely into strength.

‘Looking at it this way, it seems like Luna’s task of clearing a field had some meaning to it doesn’t it...? No. No matter how much I think about it, it still is absolute nonsense,’ Reinhart thought.

It was simply a task that had been given to him, yet he found himself trying to assign meaning to it.

“I haven’t done this before, so I might need to call some adults,” said Arta.

“No,” Reinhart said.

This required strength, not skill.

“For the first time, I’ll try to brute-force it.”

“... What?”

Thwack!

Reinhart drove the shovel into the ground to create a groove so that he could grip the tree stump.

Thwack! Thwack!

After a few shovelfuls, he exposed part of the tree’s roots.

“... I see what you’re trying to do, but will it work?”

“If it doesn’t, I’ll think of another way.”

The stump was less than a full arm’s length across, and had the circumference of a typical log. However, even this could be considered quite large.

Reinhart bent over the tree stump. Then, he lowered his arms and gripped the exposed part of the tree stump as if it were a handle.

Arta did not look thrilled. “This doesn’t look good.”

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll find another way.”

He had no idea what would happen if he used Mana Reinforcement while exerting maximum output, but since this was all part of the training, Reinhart tried to adjust his output to the maximum amount that he could control without allowing any to leak out.

He could already feel that his mana efficiency had increased significantly.

Now, he needed to increase the output while keeping the mana under control.

He aimed to use his overwhelming strength and uproot the tree stump that was deeply embedded in the ground with his bare hands.

“I am a human excavator,” Reinhart said.

“Excavator...? What’s that?” Arta asked.

“It’s something that exists. Don’t worry about it.”

Reinhart used Self-Deception and Incantation.

Inhale!

He felt blood rushing into his head as he attempted to uproot the tree stump with his bare hands.

He channeled strength into his thighs, arms, and waist.

“Uuuuuuuugh...!”

“Y-you’re crazy!”

Thud.

Reinhart wasn’t sure, but something moved.

It was working. It seemed like it was going to work.

He wouldn’t have felt anything if it hadn’t budged at all, but feeling like it was working made him put in even more effort.

He needed more strength. He drew on more mana, suppressing the mana that threatened to burst out and keeping it under control.

It felt like his entire body was about to burst. He exerted his strength. He was not uprooting the tree, but pushing the earth away with his legs and lifting the world with all his might.

He forced the overflowing mana back inside.

“Ah. Agh. Aghhh. Aghhhhh!”

For the first time in his life, he let out a strange cry, exerting more strength than he ever had before.

Crack!

Something broke.

“Ugh...”

“Hey... are you okay?!”

Something had definitely broken...

It was his back.