Gerhard went to the library as soon as he woke up in the morning.
"Welcome, Master Gerhard. Your student ID has been verified."
"Where can I find books related to demons?"
"Follow the light, and it will guide you."
"Thank you."
"Not at all."
After the librarian cast a spell on him, a small stream of light began to guide him.
"Demons, demons, demons, demons..."
There was a specific reason why Gerhard came to the library early in the morning.
To find out more details about demons.
'There wasn't much information in the family library.'
After being struck by lightning and learning about the existence of demons, the first thing he did was thoroughly search his family's library.
But there was nothing of what Gerhard was looking for, so he had been planning to check the academy library as soon as he returned.
"The 72 demons summoned by King Colomo..."
The Imperial Armian Academy library contained a vast collection of books in accordance with the first emperor's wishes.
「The Biography of the Great First Emperor」 「The First Emperor and the Royal Knights」
「King Colomo and the 72 Demons」
「All 72 Demons Are Different」
「Demons Are Fra...」
「Dem...」
Gerhard selected a few books.
First, he opened 「The Biography of the Great First Emperor」.
He thought that the biography of a hero who had been at the forefront of confronting demons might contain at least some clues that would help in dealing with demons.
「"The demons have plunged the continent into misery, and I cannot endure it."
As the world became chaotic due to the demons' actions, the merciful Lord Chronos Armian rose up for humanity.」
「"Let us all join forces to drive out the demons."
When Lord Chronos Armian spoke, the five kingdoms and religious circles, moved to tears, swarmed like bees.」
「"King Colomo, let us duel!"
Lord Armian fought with King Colomo for thirty days and nights, with the fate of the world at stake.」
「Lord Chronos Armian pierced King Colomo's heart.
When the Lord commanded, "Your king is dead, so return," the legion of a million demons immediately vanished.」
"...What is this?"
It felt as if his glimmer of hope had been instantly crushed. It wasn't a biography but just an absurdly preposterous novel.
"Those greedy prince-electors cooperated just because of a few words?"
Imagining himself in that scenario, Gerhard shuddered as if breaking out in hives.
"Free cooperation? Trying to get something for nothing."
That wasn't all. The next page was equally absurd.
"They just vanish when told to return? Not even worth reading further. Not even religious scriptures are this ridiculous."
Snorting with disdain, Gerhard pushed the book aside and opened another without further consideration.
「The First Emperor and the Royal Knights」
It well-described how the first emperor met the Royal Knights and created the Royal Knight system.
There was also a story about Sir Gardner Alpenfassen, the first Royal Knight and the ego in the Ego Sword.
It stated that Gardner Alpenfassen broke his tooth when he acted impudently during his first meeting with the first emperor, though whether this was true remained unclear.
'It would be faster to ask directly about this.'
Something only Aint could do.
The next book was 「King Colomo and the 72 Demons」.
「King Colomo sacrificed all his kingdom's people to summon demons. The summoned demons of hell numbered 72 in total...」
「The 72nd demon, Andromalius
Appears as a man with a snake coiled around his hand.」
「The 71st demon, Dantalion
A demon that changes its appearance to imitate humans and cause confusion.」
「The 70th...」
Whether due to much being lost over a thousand years, or because information about demons was scarce to begin with, the records about demons were all very brief and simple.
'Disappointing. Well, there wasn't much substantial content in the family library either.'
Gerhard closed the last book. Despite its reputation as the Imperial Academy Library, the contents of all the books were uniformly inadequate.
'Even after a thousand years, how can the information be this sparse?'
The empire was serious about records, building and maintaining numerous libraries. Unless someone intentionally erased information, such a lack of content was incomprehensible.
Having completed his task, Gerhard returned the books to their proper places and headed back to the dormitory.
His servant, who had been waiting for him, welcomed him.
"Where did you go so early in the morning?"
"I stopped by the library briefly. What's the matter?"
"The items you requested have arrived."
The servant handed him a small box.
"So they have."
"Why do you suddenly need this? Don't you already have some?"
"I thought I might not have enough. Just want to be thorough."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Just something."
After securing the box, Gerhard put on his coat again.
"Where are you going now?"
"To the training ground. Give this to Luina Berchef."
"A letter? A love letter?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Tell her I'll be waiting, so come as quickly as possible."
"Understood."
Now that preparations were complete, it was time to prove himself as promised.
Gerhard headed to the training ground.
***
The academy's training ground prepared for students.
Luina stood there holding her sword. In front of her, Gerhard Goldenheim was looking at her while holding a staff.
"I still don't quite understand, but what does this mean?"
"We're facing each other at the training ground. Does that need further explanation?"
"...Are you really going to spar with me?"
"I told you. Despite being second and tenth, I'll prove I'm not lacking. The most intuitive and certain means is force."
Judging by his consistently confident attitude, Gerhard was clearly serious.
"Do you really think you can win?"
"If you beat me, I'll give you chocolate."
"What do you mean?"
"I know you like chocolate, don't you?"
"Did you investigate me?"
"I wouldn't go to the trouble of investigating just for someone like you."
Just.
"I looked into the personal information of all the students in the rankings."
"...How outrageous."
Gerhard shrugged. Luina's expression twisted. Her hand gripping the sword hilt tightened.
"If that's what you really want, fine. Go ahead and show me this 'proof' of yours."
Despite saying this, Luina didn't think there was any possibility Gerhard could defeat her.
It wasn't that Gerhard Goldenheim was weak.
Being ranked 10th in his department at the academy, where numerous talented individuals gathered, and qualifying for Lavidus Hall even as the lowest-ranked resident, was clearly evidence of his excellence.
But there was a definite difference between second and tenth place.
Even though there were few opportunities for the Knights Department and the Magic Department to clash in the first year, there were still some.
And those few opportunities were enough to confirm Gerhard's skill. Just at the level of 10th place. No more, no less.
'Or did something happen during the winter?'
Even so, his current behavior was impossible to understand.
"I'll give you the first move."
"Gladly."
Gerhard recited a spell. The magic stone embedded at the end of his staff absorbed the surrounding mana.
RUMBLE—
The ground trembled. Dozens of rocks formed in mid-air and rushed at Luina.
—!
She steadied her breathing and gathered aura in her legs before advancing.
Her body shot forward like an arrow. The ferocious speed itself became a weapon. The blade cut through the rocks and charged straight at the caster.
Slash—
She slashed. But failed to cut.
The crude illusion disappeared. Gerhard was already standing far behind. But Luina didn't panic.
She changed direction in mid-air, stepping on aura. Charging like a berserk war horse, she smashed into an emerging wall of rock.
—!
Fragments of the shattered wall flew in all directions. Beyond the broken wall awaited hundreds of stone spears, but she leaped straight in.
Her sword was heavy but not simple. Powerful but not foolish.
Sometimes weighty, sometimes gentle, sometimes elegant.
She broke spears, dodged them, and chipped them away.
And finally, she reached her destination. But what awaited her wasn't Gerhard but an even greater spell.
A shadow fell. It was a massive rock ripped from the training ground floor.
'...He ripped out the training ground floor?'
The training ground had all kinds of magical treatments to prevent it from breaking under ordinary impacts. This was an unexpected variable.
Her thoughts couldn't linger long. The rock fell. Due to momentary confusion, it was too late to dodge.
—!
Even though she blocked it, her body screamed in pain. It felt like a direct collision with a massive siege weapon. The floor shattered, and her feet dug into it.
'Was he hiding his true strength...!'
With the first effective hit, Luina completely abandoned her dismissive attitude toward Gerhard.
She bit her lips tightly and steadied her breathing. As her heart beat more violently, her aura hole responded.
Blue aura enveloped her entire body. A gigantic sword aura rose.
And just as she was about to swing that sword at her enemy.
Indiscriminate bombardment fell.
Massive rocks, just like before.
Simultaneously, the floor began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
'This is impossible...!'
Casting such high-level spells consecutively, simultaneously? Just how much magical power does he have?
Luina blocked, blocked, and blocked again. The spells pouring down like a storm were too dense to allow her a counterattack. The impacts continued to accumulate, and a streak of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.
'At this rate, I'll lose.'
She was just being unilaterally beaten like a training dummy. By someone she had considered beneath her.
Her pride wouldn't allow it. She advanced even while enduring the impacts. She cut through spells and took one step back but moved two steps forward.
And finally, when she caught her opponent.
"I surrender."
Gerhard raised both hands. Luina's sword stopped right in front of his nose.
He sat down, gasping for breath.
"...Are you mocking me right now?"
She gritted her teeth at his calm face.
"Mocking? My magical power is just depleted. A magician with depleted magic power couldn't possibly defeat a knight, could they?"
It wasn't an excuse or an act. Her sensitive knightly senses were screaming that.
"Or perhaps a proud knight who upholds chivalry wants to take out her frustration on an opponent who has surrendered? Because you were unilaterally beaten?"
"...I would never do such a thing."
Indeed, Gerhard's magical power was depleted, and in his current state, he couldn't defeat Luina.
Realizing he couldn't win by ordinary means, he had played his trump card. She blocked it, so the result was technically her victory.
But even considering that.
She, ranked second, had almost lost to someone ranked tenth, someone she thought she could definitely beat.
The enormous magical power that allowed him to continue those brutal attacks unilaterally was beyond her ability to fathom.
"So, what kind of chocolate would you like? Whiskey chocolate made by our family? The specialty of Pridien, Tree Bark chocolate from the World Tree? Or perhaps Kraken Ink chocolate, a specialty from the Kingdom of Fragia...?"
"...You."
That's why Luina realized.
"Why?"
She had many questions she wanted to ask. But after thinking and thinking again, the word that came out was a simple yet most intuitive three-letter word.
"It's natural."
And in Gerhard's answer.
"A merchant doesn't step forward."
Much was implied.
***
"...Did you fight an ogre?"
Somewhat torn clothes and messy hair. It was an unusual sight for Gerhard, who always dressed neatly.
The servant asked glumly.
"Where would there be an ogre inside the academy? Maybe if you went up to the mountainous region in the north."
"Then what is it?"
Instead of answering, Gerhard handed over items from his subspace. They were shattered spheres.
"How is it that the magic amplifiers and five magic storage units I gave you less than two hours ago are all shattered? Do you know how much these cost?"
"I've invested in the future."
"Whoever you fought with, it seems like you got hit in the head. I'll call a healing mage."
"Do I look like someone who goes around getting beaten up?"
"Is this another aftereffect of being struck by lightning?"
"I'm perfectly fine."
"Then it must be Luina Berchef."
Gerhard nodded slightly.
"It may be presumptuous, but if it's not impertinent, may I ask one thing?"
"What is it?"
"In all my time serving you, I've been able to understand most of your intentions. They all had clear grounds and reasons."
"But this time, you absolutely cannot understand?"
"Yes."
Of course. He had agreed to eliminate the interest on the Berchef family debt for three years and to sponsor Luina Berchef.
In return, all he got was to form a partnership with Luina Berchef.
Compared to the invested money and the arcane swordsmanship of the Berchef family, it was not a profitable deal at all. No one in the Goldenheim family would make such a foolish deal.
Without the prophecy book, even Gerhard wouldn't have done such a crazy thing.
"You're being impertinent."
Therefore, Gerhard had no basis or method to convince him.
In such cases, it's best to just dominate with authority. That's what power is for.
"You'll know when the time comes."
"If you say so, I understand. I'll contact the family to request more magical tools."
"As many as possible."
"By the way, have you written the letter to the head of the family?"
"Here it is."
"I'll send it well. Oh, and why haven't you been attending to your business lately?"
"I had some things to do. I'll get to it soon, so don't rush me."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
The servant left.
"Hmm."
Gerhard turned his gaze to the window and leisurely savored his coffee.
He had finally sent the letter. There was no turning back now.
"Damn it. I hope I won't be excommunicated because of this."
If my child did that, I would probably excommunicate them.
Slight waves were appearing on the previously calm surface of the coffee.
And a few days later, the reply from the Duke of Goldenheim was extremely brief and concise.
[You've been possessed by a demon.]
But that made it all the more intense.
"...I'm screwed."
Gerhard sensed that he was utterly screwed.