Chapter 585

Louise heard a shocking story from Heinrich. She had also noticed that there was a secret behind the overly smooth advance of the Allied Forces, but she didn't think it was necessary to dig it up right away. However, it was hard to believe that the Demon King was in charge of the vanguard. But if that was the truth, it was understandable that the Empire had to rely on her help while pretending to be in control. "It seems certain that the Empire has a relationship with the Demon King beyond implicit cooperation." It was hard to believe that her son had fallen for the Demon King's candy. If that were true, Heinrich had no reason to stay with the Allied Forces. He was in a life-threatening situation and had to leave. "If there is a truth that we don't know, what do you think it is?" "I don't know. If the Demon King didn't want the Gate incident to happen... Then why did it happen... Why is the Empire hiding the truth... I don't know." The confusion in Louise's mind was understandable. If there was a truth that was different from what everyone knew about the Gate incident, and if it was true that the Demon King really didn't want it to happen, then what would happen to the world? If the strong bond formed by hatred towards the Demon King collapsed, humanity would be finished. Translation:

Gate incident is like snow. When a huge snowstorm hits, everything is buried. Other things lose their importance compared to the snow. You have to keep clearing the snow to prevent everything from collapsing. Just like how you have to clear the snow before it engulfs the world, nothing else is important except for the snow. The truth is also buried under the snowstorm called the Gate incident, and it is no longer visible or important. The Gate incident must be ended. That absolute proposition has buried all truth and justice. Therefore, another absolute proposition is that buried truth is not important. Louise von Schwarzkopf could only realize this. But if the Demon King is really such a being, fighting at the forefront to end the Gate incident but no one in the world recognizes it... "If what you say is true... if that's really the situation." Is the Demon King a fearful, strong, and sad existence? "It's sad. All of this." Louise sighed as she looked up at the sky. * * * Heinrich and Louise walked down the temple street absentmindedly. What the Demon King said to Heinrich could be a lie, but it's hard to believe that the Demon King would lie. If he wanted to deceive, he would have said something. He said to come with him because it would be dangerous. He said he would tell him everything that had happened so far if he followed. He didn't say anything else, and even when Heinrich refused, he quietly left. Heinrich's opinion was the result of his own thoughts and judgments about the Demon King and what was happening in the Allied Forces. It was a very eerie story for Louise that the Demon King had been watching the Allied Forces' base camp all along, but in the end, the Demon King didn't even try to deceive Heinrich. In fact, Heinrich's life was really in danger. There was an assassination attempt, but Louise didn't handle it. If Louise hadn't intervened, Heinrich would have died. The Demon King didn't want Heinrich to kill his brothers or be killed. That's why he wanted Heinrich to join him. When the Demon King came to find Heinrich, he didn't say anything except that there would be an assassination attempt. So there was only Heinrich's judgment. Thinking that way, Louise felt strange. In a situation where he was hated by his brothers and his life was in danger, and he didn't even know the truth about Louise. "Youngest." "Yes, milady." "Leaving... wasn't it wrong?" "That was probably right. At that moment." "Yes, you were in danger and didn't know what would happen in the future. I didn't even know I would do such a thing." Heinrich's decision to leave in an uncertain situation was inevitably considered a foolish act. "Although there were various reasons... I could imagine what would happen if I left. It seemed like it would affect not only our soldiers and officers, but also the royal family and even Kernstadt."

"Ah..."

Louise was stunned because she never imagined Heinrich would have such thoughts.

"Even with my limited intelligence, I could see that people would receive such looks and glares."

"..."

"That's why I decided not to leave."

Regardless of the reason, it would have been a betrayal.

The people from the Tuon and Alz factions, as well as those from the Sanftheit Kingdom, would receive the same treatment as those from Kernstadt.

He knew it was dangerous, but he didn't leave.

Louise felt suffocated by his words.

"And... if I had left, none of this would have happened, and I would have never known."

Not all of his siblings hated him. There were people who were just hesitant to deal with him.

"I'm glad you didn't leave."

Heinrich looked at Louise.

The war changed a lot, and it made too many people unhappy.

But not everything changes for the worse. Heinrich had become someone who could think about many things.

Louise couldn't find the right words to express her gratitude and apology.

She was grateful to her son who didn't hate her for knowing the truth, but accepted the situation with joy.

How long did they walk in such a pleasant silence?

"Hmm?"

The two stopped walking at the sound of a voice in the distance.

On the other side of the road they were walking on, guards were blocking the way.

"Is this a restricted area?"

"It seems like it... "

The guards didn't say anything to Heinrich and Louise, but the way they were blocking the road clearly showed that it was a controlled area.

They had entered a place where they wouldn't normally go.

"It seems like... it's the university campus."

"I see. Then we might not know."

But it was a restricted area. Heinrich and Louise looked at the buildings beyond the area where the guards were blocking the road. The guards far away didn't seem to have any special interest in them, as if staring wasn't a problem.

But was there a reason to control access?

There were so few passersby that there wouldn't be anyone who would casually step into that area.

"If it's a controlled area with no one around..."

Something confidential must be going on inside.

And the size of the guards in the distance was significant. Although it was unclear what they were doing, with that level of security, something bigger must be happening inside.

"It looks like a magic university."

Heinrich nodded slowly as he looked at the sign, indicating that he knew what university was inside the restricted area.

"It's a magic university... I see, they must be conducting some research." Louise nodded in agreement, thinking that the Empire would treat it as confidential. "Are they trying to create another Titan? It would be good for everyone if such a weapon were developed, but..."

"It won't be a Titan. I heard they don't have the resources to create another aircraft."

"Really? Then are they making another large magical weapon or something else?"

"Anything that helps in the war would be good."

"I suppose so..."

Titan. When she saw its magnificence, Louise felt both thrilled and terrified. She thought to herself how fortunate it was that those footsteps were on their side. Even if they were opposing the Empire, even if it was the army of the Demon King, they would have been crushed to dust under those footsteps. The Empire was doing something at the Temple Magic University. It wasn't a Titan, but they were researching something. "It seems like the B-class students are involved in the research. They're at the Temple, and I hardly ever see them coming back from the Magic University to the dormitory."

Heinrich couldn't be sure, but he guessed that Louise de La Vallière, Cristina, and Anna de Génesis were involved in the research being conducted there. "Wasn't Adelie, your friend, involved in the Titan project?"

"Yes, she was."

The power cartridge Adelie had created was a great invention, but the Titan was an achievement that far surpassed it. But this time, other classmates were involved. What kind of weapon could it be? "Your friends are all... exceptionally talented children."

The children from the Temple's second year. Louise couldn't help but think that the people with monster-like talents were strangely gathered in that grade. Geniuses and disasters were gathered in an abnormal way. It wasn't just a coincidence. Louise and Heinrich walked slowly down the snowy streets of the Temple, leaving the Magic University behind. * * * Ludwig left the guard headquarters with a hopeless expression. The collapsing ruins of the temple couldn't kill Ludwig. After saving Rowen's body from the pile of collapsing temple stones, Ludwig faced the guards who came to deal with the fire. And he was led to cooperate fully with the investigation. But the answer Ludwig heard made him feel helpless. "It's difficult." "Difficult...?" "Yes. If it was something found at the scene, it would be different. But if dozens of criminals attacked and scattered the temple... and it wasn't an organized crime, but a random one... it's very difficult to find the suspects." "I saw it with my own eyes. People looting the temple and running away... I didn't see all of them, but I saw them clearly. I remember." "Ludwig. The population of the Empire is now over 100 million. And if it was something done by people in refugee villages whose identities are not properly verified... it's almost impossible to catch the criminals." If attackers are hiding in the maze-like alleyways of the refugee camp, it would be impossible to find them. "And with weather like this..." Even dealing with the heavy snowfall is urgent, and there are no usable personnel, and even if there were, it would be almost impossible to find the culprits. Ludwig didn't know what to say. Unless it was happening right in front of them, catching the culprit was almost impossible in the reality of Huangdo Gradium. Accidental crimes, accidental arson, accidental looting. Because of this accidental nature, the guards had already guessed that catching the culprit was practically impossible before starting the investigation. The deep sense of exhaustion in the responsible person's expression made him feel that he was not saying this because he was an insincere person. "But... are we just going to let it go like this? Without any investigation, without anything. Just like that?" Doesn't the guard have the power of summary execution, at least because they have the pretext of maintaining social order? But if they give up on this incident where social order has completely collapsed, what has the guard been doing until now? If the guard doesn't do their job, isn't it wrong for them to have the right to kill people however they want? The guard's responsible person let out a deep sigh at Ludwig's despairing expression. "Mr. Ludwig, and in the first place, this incident... is not under our jurisdiction. Even if we want to investigate, we can't." "What kind of... nonsense is that?" "It's a case of arson, looting, and murder at the Odae Jusin Church." Ludwig had a hunch as to why the guard responsible person was telling him not to know. "This incident will be under the jurisdiction of the Holy Knights." Even if there was a will to investigate, it would be an impossible task. They had managed the scene, but the Holy Knights would investigate the incident themselves. "Even if it's the Holy Knights, I don't know if they can properly track down those who committed this act... but we'll probably have to hand over the case materials to the Holy Knights." After hearing that, Ludwig left the guard headquarters in that area. Rowen was dead. Most of the people who stayed in that temple were dead. And it was practically impossible to find the culprits. Ludwig walked the streets absentmindedly. Archbishop Rowen. There were many strange things about him, but he was not an evil person. Whether the purpose of the thugs was the food in the temple or their anger towards the Tu'an sect, it was unknown. But Rowen, who had not rested properly while traveling the streets to help people, was brutally murdered. Why? Why to that extent? And they still haven't been caught? Exchanging the life of a person who can save thousands of people for a single piece of bread? That's an unreasonable thing. This shouldn't happen. Even the guards say they can't find those people, and they don't have the resources to begin with. Ludwig doesn't overestimate himself. He doesn't think he can do what the guards can't. This is a job that requires brains, not strength. And it's a job that requires the power to be involved in the incident. Ludwig has reached the point where he realizes that he wants to be involved in the case, but he has no power or intelligence to solve it. He needs help from someone, desperately. He thinks that those who committed such crimes must be punished. With these thoughts, Ludwig walked down the street with his eyes wide open.