Demon King of the Royal Class

Chapter 409

“What? You’ve already completed this?”

At Rother Dwin’s words, Harriet calmly nodded.

“Oh... yes.”

“Grand Duchess, you shouldn’t speak of this so lightly. You’ve just changed the history of warp gates, and through that, the history of the continent!”

“Ah... is that so?”

Rother Dwin was making a fuss, but Harriet didn’t quite see why.

“You’ve solved a problem that countless warp gate theorists had given up on. You should be much, much more pleased!”

Rother Dwin’s voice echoed around the quiet reading room. His intense reaction felt slightly out of place compared to his usual calm demeanor, but Harriet wasn’t quite feeling it.

It hadn’t been an easy problem, and she had only managed to research it in her spare time, but she’d solved it. That was all.

“Grand Duchess, you do know what you’ve accomplished, right?”

“Sorry? Ah, well... if the map of the imaginary dimension is re-established, then the current method of reaching the destination by passing through multiple warp gates would not be necessary. Rather, it would be possible to move from a small gate at the northern end of the continent to a small gate at the southern end in one go... isn’t that right?”

“If you understand it so well, then why aren’t you surprised?”

“...”

Harriet was about to say something but then closed her mouth.

She almost said that it wasn’t that she was amazing, but rather that warp gates had been operated too stupidly thus far.

That would have been an insult to all the mages in history who had built this system, and so Harriet wasn’t about to say that.

For the same reason, she couldn’t ask why this method hadn’t been considered until now.

As with most technological advancements, Harriet had been inspired by inconvenience.

While the warp gate system guaranteed immense convenience, it still had its inconveniences.

It was easier to understand if one considered a small warp gate as having a range of 1, a medium warp gate as having a range of 2, a large warp gate as having a range of 3, and a mega gate as having a range of 4.

Warp gates were connected to all other warp gates within their range, so a mega warp gate would naturally be connected to a very large number of warp gates.

Fundamentally the entire continent was connected by mega warp gates—more specifically, by building another mega warp gate at the end of the range of each previous mega warp gate.

However, this led to a systemic problem: to travel long distances, one had to pass through multiple gates. Since not all locations on the continent had a mega warp gate, it was sometimes necessary to transit through several medium and small gates consecutively.

For example, to travel from the imperial capital of Gradium to a frontier village at the southern end of Kernstadt, one would have to move sequentially from the mega warp gate in the capital to the mega warp gate in Kernstadt, then to a regional large warp gate, then to a medium warp gate at a hub, and finally to the small warp gate at the destination.

While this was an extreme case, such scenarios were not unheard of.

As a result, bottlenecks were inevitable at larger warp gates, which were always crowded, and lengthy queues were common at the largest gates that served as transit hubs.

The imperial emblem held by Reinhart and Ellen, which acted as a warp gate free pass, provided significant time savings due to the transit structure of the warp gate system.

However, Harriet faced a fundamental question: why did one have to disembark and re-enter the network at the intermediate warp gates if all warp gates were connected, like a spider’s web?

Couldn’t one travel from one dimensional gate to the other directly, without having to transit?

Harriet questioned why warp gates weren’t operated that way, and Rother Dwin’s answer was simple: because that was how it had always been done.

Of course, there were numerous complications within that statement which were difficult to express in words.

Warp gates hadn’t suddenly fallen from the sky to improve connectivity around the entire continent; they had been gradually introduced after many trials, and eventually reached the current state.

In other words, the basic system had not been created with the initial intention of connecting different areas of the entire continent, but somehow, places around the entire continent had become connected.

The map of the imaginary dimension that was used to map out the connections between warp gates had also been slowly expanded in this manner, built by countless mages over hundreds of years, resulting in the complex structure that was in use at present.

It was an inevitable problem arising from a system that involved the contributions of countless people.

If one thought about it in terms of building a road network, some had built straight roads, others curved roads, some elliptical ones, and some even a spiral. Each builder had created theirs in their own way.

Each mage had added their own to the map in their own way, and as it continued to be used and expanded, it became impossible to fix it, since tampering with it could destroy the entire warp gate system.

Each addition brought with it a patchwork of magical theories and formulas, turning the map of the imaginary dimension and the warp gate system it was based on into a massive mess. Maintaining the system was possible, but improving it was not, and thus the system was forced to use the map in its current state.

Many warp gate technicians had failed not because they hadn’t thought of Harriet’s idea; they simply couldn’t do it. It was an immense task that required an understanding of all the structures of the imaginary dimension accumulated over a hundred years, redrawing the map of the imaginary dimension that connected the entire continent’s warp gates from scratch, and overhauling the basic operation of warp gates.

But Harriet had done it, even while dealing with the shock of the news of Reinhart’s engagement, sobbing alone, struggling to focus, and tinkering away.

Simply put, Harriet turned a tiny warp gate, akin to a piece of junk in a rural village, into something that functioned like the mega warp gates in front of the Temple, the headquarters of the Order of the Holy Knights, or the imperial palace.

No, it was even more than that.

While mega warp gates had a limited range, if Harriet’s conceptual map of the imaginary dimension were applied, one could move from any warp gate on the warp gate system to another one in a single move.

In other words, while they might not reach the Edina Archipelago, which had its own independent, small-scale warp gate system, one could theoretically travel anywhere on the continent in one go.

“You should be more pleased, Grand Duchess!”

“E-even if you say so...”

It’s said that sorrow can be a catalyst for growth.

This magical genius had changed history while sobbing in her room, scribbling in her notebook because things hadn’t worked out with the one she liked.

In conclusion, if Harriet’s new warp gate system and map of the imaginary dimension were properly adopted and its operation put in place, the existing warp gate operation issues would be resolved instantly. Of course, it couldn’t be applied immediately; it would need to go through verification, trial operations, and expert handling to ensure stability. However, at that moment, Harriet had achieved something that no other great mage had ever achieved.

Harriet knew it was a significant research achievement, but since it hadn’t been particularly difficult for her, she couldn’t understand Rother Dwin’s excitement.

Thus, she came to a natural conclusion.

‘I really am a genius after all...’ she realized anew.

“If I had known you sooner, things would have been interesting,” Rother Dwin remarked.

“Huh?”

Again, Harriet felt a strange sense of unease at Rother Dwin’s words.

He seemed different again that day, unlike his usual self.

Harriet sensed the odd unease, but didn’t yet know its nature.

Seeing Harriet’s apparent confusion, Rother Dwin changed the subject.

“Seeing the brilliance you possess makes me feel insignificant. Here are the next set of research materials.”

“Oh, yes... thank you.”

“No, it’s a pleasure just to watch a genius at work.”

‘Genius...’

A word she had heard countless times and that she had acknowledged herself... Harriet wondered what it truly meant.

Being called the greatest genius in the history of magic seemed like mere flattery. Harriet still felt she had many shortcomings and knew peers and seniors who were far ahead, even if they were in different fields.

She couldn’t be the hope of humanity. She couldn’t stand alongside them.

Even though she’d developed an innovative method for using warp gates, it had nothing to do with power.

The inferiority complex of a genius...

What could she possibly achieve with this research?

She had only delved into it to focus her mind. She had not wanted to gain anything from it.

Ultimately, she’d proposed a plan to improve the warp gate system, but that hadn’t been her true goal.

Even if she discovered a way to create a dimensional gate to another world, it wouldn’t make Reinhart notice her.

What would change if she succeeded?

Like the previous time, they might be forced to hide it by people who claimed the magic they’d developed was too dangerous.

The officer favored Harriet with a satisfied gaze.

Though Harriet had been called a genius, the person in front of her couldn’t be anything but a genius as well. Someone managing the research library of the Imperial Magic Department at such a young age had to be a genius.

In the public’s perception, mages were geniuses, and among mages, this young mage who was managing the department had to be a genius among geniuses.

Being called a genius by such a person was quite an achievement. It was just that this achievement did not offer Harriet anything.

“By the way, I’ve refrained from asking this question as it might be impolite, but may I ask you something?” Rother Dwin asked.

“Oh? Ah... yes,” Harriet replied.

“You’re not going to become a warp gate technician, so why are you studying the warp gate system?”

It was a reasonable question.

While it was true that mages who worked on the warp gate system were high-ranking mages, ultimately, it was practical magic that seemed too hands-on for the Grand Duchess of the Duchy of Saint-Ouen to be going into.

Harriet tried to recall why she had started this research.

A dimensional gate to another world... Dimensional magic, and then warp gates... It had been a case of cause and effect, and not out of her own curiosity.

‘What would he think if I said I wanted to know how to go to an isekai?’

She thought it might be something to be laughed at, but in the end, there was nothing else she could say, so Harriet let out a weak laugh.

“I was curious if there might be a way to go to another world.”

“... Excuse me?”

Naturally, his response was one of bewilderment, as if he hadn’t expected such an answer.

Even after saying it, it sounded ridiculous, so Harriet scratched her cheek.

“I guess that’s a bit of a ridiculous thought, right?” Harriet said.

Indulging in Reinhart’s idle curiosity had led her this far. Since she was thinking of distancing herself from Reinhart, perhaps it was time to stop indulging in this task he had asked of her, she found herself thinking.

“Well... since we can’t know if another world exists, it’s more appropriate to call it an unknown realm rather than saying it doesn’t exist...” the mage in front of her mumbled, tilting his head with a bewildered expression.

“Perhaps we have similar desires,” Dwin added.

Another incomprehensible statement... Did this person also want to open a dimensional gate to another world?

However, Harriet couldn’t glean anything certain from his enigmatic smile, which was so different from his usual gentle smile.

“You’ve been saying some strange things since earlier,” Harriet asked pointedly.

Rother Dwin scratched his head nonchalantly. “Haha, maybe I’m just a little excited. I keep saying strange things.”

What did he mean by being excited?

“But Grand Duchess, what do you think of this idea?”

“What idea?”

“Instead of creating a dimensional gate to another world, wouldn’t it be easier to create the world itself?”

What was this incomprehensible statement? Creating a whole new world instead of a dimensional gate to another world?

“Of course, for clumsy mages like me, it would be impossible. But for a mage like yourself with near-divine brilliance, Grand Duchess, wouldn’t it be entirely possible? Surely, you could become the god of a new world—”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Harriet interrupted Rother Dwin.

She had a strong feeling that this person was babbling about something only he knew, something that existed only in his mind.

Harriet felt an increasing, inexplicable discomfort settling in the pit of her stomach.

She hadn’t known this person was like this, she was getting a very, very unsettling sensation.

There was none of his usual gentle demeanor. Rather, she felt something sly about him. He eyes were hard to read, and bizarre nonsense was pouring out of his mouth.

Harriet instinctively felt she needed to leave. This person seemed dangerous.

Harriet no longer wanted to continue the conversation.

“... I’ll be going now. It’s getting late...”

As Harriet, slightly wary, stood up from her seat, Rother Dwin smiled.

“That’s unfortunate, Grand Duchess. I wanted to sepa with you a little longer today. Perhaps just a bit more—”

“We can talk later. It’s too late today.”

“Ah... is that so?”

Though he said that, he did not look convinced at all.

That was the final straw.

Was he going to force her to converse with him even if she didn’t want to? Harriet felt her blood run cold at Rother Dwin’s sudden change.

As she stood up, trembling slightly, a faint, sly smile appeared on Rother Dwin’s lips.

He simply bowed deeply towards Harriet.

“Goodbye, then.”

Harriet hurriedly left the reading room, as if fleeing.

An inexplicable sense of danger enveloped her entire body.