I Became the Dark Wizard Who Rules Over the Heroines

20 – Joint Class – 9

“Are you…a friend?”

I was mindful of the possibility of being resented.

Still, the knight thought there was nothing shameful about his actions. It was a rational judgment, and he thought the Empress would also understand that.

“Yes, my friend. I’ve heard Claire has become a dark priest. I…I don’t know how to accept this news.”

Considering they hadn’t known each other long, it was a bit odd for the princess to call them friends.

Yet the knight did not doubt the princess’ sincerity. That was just the kind of person he was.

The type to quickly make friends with strangers, and willing to risk his life for those he cared for.

Some may call it reckless for one destined to rule an empire, but for his followers, he was the height of honor.

But the princess’s kindness was not directed at the knight today.

“I won’t accuse you of deceiving the imperial family. I did not receive your report as a member of the royal house, only believed your words as a student of the academy.”

“…”

“But I’m sorry. Now I…I don’t think I can trust you anymore.”

Reproach filled the princess’s eyes.

It was unusual. She knew the full extent of the imperial family’s power, and judged the royal house more strictly than even the most hostile nobles.

When a record drought left the land dry and people dying from lack of rain, it was the empire’s fault for not ordering water storage in advance. Her own fault.

When a hydra killed people, it was the empire’s failure to have protective forces ready. The royal family’s failure. Her own failure.

Yet now her eyes blamed someone else. The knight’s heart tore at her cold fury.

“…It was all for Your Highness’s sake.”

A wretched excuse. No matter the reason, he had lied, that was the truth.

“I’ll believe that much. Olivia…you would never conspire with evil forces, I…I believe that about you.”

Pain filled the princess’s voice.

“But a girl has become a ‘dark priest’. Though they say she dabbled in black magic…she was a good child.”

Elysia believed anyone who became a ‘dark priest’ may as well be dead.

“But if I come to trust you again in the future…those around me will suffer the same fate as Claire.”

They didn’t even know for certain which demon she had made a pact with.

“This is the end. Olivia. I appreciate what you’ve done for the empire…and for me. But…I don’t want to speak with you anymore.”

With those words, the princess left Olivia. Her mind was filled with worry for Claire.

The demon must have taken control of the girl.

/////

“Take this! Arrow of Darkness!”

Claire shouted confidently, a sly smile on her face.

‘No need to announce my moves in advance…’

Of course, one look would reveal it. She didn’t actually have that many black magic spells in her arsenal, so it’d be obvious without looking too.

Granted, powerful incantations required mana crystals, and even basic black magic like “Arrow of Darkness” would be recognizable on sight.

But it wasn’t that major a weakness for her.

“sh*t, what is that?!”

The training hall sky darkened. Seeing the volley of darkness arrows, Claire’s opponent was horrified.

“Dark priests are this strong?!”

She was a familiar face. Not quite top-tier, but a decent warrior for filling out a party when they were short on DPS.

She had talent, but couldn’t match Claire right now.

“What’s with that barrier?!”

Trying to close in, but Claire remained firmly in place, surrounding herself in a magical ward.

“Raaargh!”

The dark arrows hanging in the air rained down on the Dual-Handed Warrior. The battle was over.

“We, we won! Wade, how’d I do?”

At the decision of victory, Claire came running to embrace me.

“…You did well.”

Strictly speaking, she didn’t fight well.

She could win with such clumsy skills only because her opponent was on the level of an academy student.

Originally, when a swordsman and a dark priest face off, they should not allow distance. Repelling the enemy with shields or other defenses is a tactic inevitably accompanied by risk.

She needs to create dark arrows faster and set up strategies to hinder the opponent’s path.

Unless she is practicing high-level magic that she cannot use at her level, it would be a major mistake to just stand there.

She needs to keep moving and securing distance.

She must create constant variables so the swordsman can’t strike in the desired posture at the desired timing.

Despite all these problems, Claire eventually won.

“Wow, who is this demon you contracted…no, pledged to…”

“Is that power at least from a great demon? Even if it’s a loan, not a contract, to have such tremendous power…”

Unlike the sacred power used by clergy and the mana used by wizards, both the dark magician and the dark priest used magic.

If the one the dark priest serves permits, any dark magic can be freely used.

“Wow, life is unfair. I’ve heard that dark magicians can easily become strong, but to be this strong in an instant…”

“Hey, don’t even dream about it. Even if she’s smiling on the outside, she’s likely facing her own struggles.”

Claire, who was far from ordinary, quickly became one of the most popular freshmen.

Between Princess Euryssia and Catarin, it was quite an achievement.

Good…

There was a limit to the power I could use. More precisely, there was a limit to the power I could use without restrictions.

But Claire, now a dark priest, didn’t need to control magic. Whatever happened, she could just blame it on the demon lending her the power.

‘But…’

It was merely a beginning. Kazot would be moving somewhere, and Catarin’s actions would have created variations in their movements.

Just because I’ve become stronger doesn’t mean I can let my guard down.

/////

“What a joke, what a joke. It’s hilariously ridiculous.”

Catarin’s expression was not good.

The plan had to succeed. Wade and Claire should have died, or at least become mad cripples to survive.

Why are they alive…

If the kindness of the princess went beyond her calculations, their survival was not strange.

But the fact that Claire became a dark priest was a major accident beyond her expectations.

“Originally, that woman being a dark priest… and the dark priest walking around so normally. None of these make sense to me.”

To ordinary people, even the dark magicians are scary and abnormal humans.

However, for that very reason, there were not a few people who lowered their standards.

“Isn’t a dark priest or a dark magician just another weirdo?” many people thought.

But Catarin had a deep wisdom of black magic and had actually met several dark priests.

“Those bastards… aren’t they just beasts that can’t socialize?”

They are a few steps ahead of those who made a contract with the devil out of greed.

They are the ones who have gone further.

“They have no conscience. They have no awareness that their actions might be immoral, that they shouldn’t be done.

One might think they’re no different from dark wizards, but they lacked several essential aspects of being human.

They are humans devoid of the basic consciousness of survival, that being caught causes pain, that torture hurts.

Infanticide, human sacrifice, murder, and torture, and a plethora of barbaric, unabashed acts.

They are proper monsters, able to commit all these atrocities without fear.

There’s no way they can be intact…

There’s no way they could be actual dark priests. Even if they were real dark priests, there’s no way Claire alone could perform their rituals.

Questions are repeated. An instinctual unease, a tingling sensation that fills Katarin’s head.

Katarin turned her head and looked at kneeling Kellin.

When exactly is this child planning not to select his master?

The Wade case wasn’t something those two could solve.

An organization is involved. An organization, that even Katarin can’t identify, that is dangerously dormant.

I thought I could help…

I can feel her uneasy gaze. It’s very likely that Kellin, in some way, leaked Katarin’s plans to the Wade organization.

However, even Katarin herself couldn’t find any trace of the two making contact.

‘Kellin?’

‘…Yes, mistress.’

The maid serving Katarin was struggling in agony, oblivious to the reason.

From the moment the lady called her, and ever since.

Silently, Katarin glanced at her, oddly smiling.

Kellin’s panted in pain, slightly alleviating her anger.