Chapter 266 - Racing Minds

Eiro looked at Solomon with a serious expression, before he slowly let his eyes wander down toward the ground. With a bitter expression, he started to speak.

"First, I must ask you to please listen to me as closely as you can, and remember everything you hear. Because I might forget about it after saying it once, and I may need you to remind me of some of the things I said." The Demon explained, and Solomon slowly nodded his head, ready to hear what Eiro had to say.

And Eiro just let it flow out of his mouth without filter, "First, I need you to know that is currently inside of the Capital's Prison, and I have a key that should let me get down there. The one that's currently took over the former Warden's son's body. The Phylactery is currently locked away in a safe place in the manor you gifted me. It's in the Library, behind the third shelf from the back on the lower floor, pull on the book 'Encyclopedia of Mutated Plantlife III', keep your mana inside of it at all times, and then push it inbetween the books 'Stories of a mad mastermind' and 'The vile history of murder' in the first shelf from the front on the top floor. Then you need to push on the-"

"Listen, where is this going?" Solomon asked with a confused expression, but Eiro simply continued to speak because he didn't want to forget to give Solomon the right instructions.

"... push on the glass display in the center of the room. You will notice a hidden door open, and behind that is an extra safe storage area. Try not to touch anything in there beside the glass cylinder with the clockwork-heart floating in it, I don't remember what exactly all of the things in there did, but I know that most of them are pretty dangerous."

Eiro instructed. The moment he was done explaining all of this, he tried to recall the very same information that he just gave Solomon, but it was just too hazy and he felt somewhat uncomfortable trying to access it. All the information was lost, and soon, Eiro even forget that he ever knew about it.

"Now... what was I speaking about?" The Demon muttered, and slowly let his eyes wander around the room, before he saw the notification about his current state, the , and remembered what he wanted to tell the man in front of him.

"Ah, right... I used to have a skill called , which gave me impeccable memory, I could remember every detail about everything that ever happened in my life without a single mistake in there. Now, while I was fighting some strong enemy... Erm... he was an Undead, I think? He was very, very strong, and he nearly managed to kill me using Sacred Flames I tried to use against him, but then time stopped and I saw four weird guys. One of them gave me a black coin, and I grabbed it, and it was a 'Skill Token'. An extra ability I had after my latest evolution fused with it, and I received the Legendary Skill , which enhanced that... erm, that memory ability I think I just mentioned... I managed to kill that enemy, but he used some weird spell that didn't work on me, and then my memory ability became . I will permanently forget every memory I try to recall, so now I need you to remember all that I said just now for me... Because I'm already having trouble remembering again."

Solomon stared deep into Eiro's eyes, and Solomon slowly let himself drop down onto his chair. He looked down at his drink and furrowed his brows, "A Legendary Skill... But how..?" He muttered to himself, before the King raised his head again a few moments later, "I'm going to ask you some questions, and I need you to tell me the answer quickly. I just remembered a few instances that I somehow connect to those children, but I don't actually remember how they are linked to those children, or even how I ended up gifting them a whole manor. One... was killed, right? Do you know who it was?"

"It was me. He was accidentally unsealed, and I killed him while he was weak. Now I'm a royal candidate." Eiro said. By now, he had determined himself to tell Solomon everything in detail. He knew that he trusted this man, and he knew that he would know Eiro was telling the truth. The Demon was positive that Solomon would hear him out, and that he would help him. Like this, he would be able to practically... 'Save' the information in his mind somehow, so that it wouldn't be lost by him just accidentally thinking of it. Eiro rather wanted to lose this information under his own control rather than have it be lost forever without being able to do anything about it.

Solomon slowly nodded his head as he looked at the Demon in front of him, "During the Solstice, why did the Lady of Winter appear, and who got rid of the attacker?"

"I am blessed by the Lady of Winter as well as the former Naiad Queen. The Lady of Winter came to meet me. I also got rid of the attacker and used him for my own purposes. He's alive, for now at least." The Demon explained bluntly, and Solomon sat down his cup on the desk in front of him.

"...Alright, then the last thing I want to know for now. Who saved my son?" The King asked with a deep stare, with which him and Eiro were locking their eyes with each other without stop. It was actually kind of uncomfortable, but Eiro knew that this was necessary for Solomon to make sure that the Demon was really telling the truth. Or at the very least, it helped with it.

The Demon slowly looked down at the ground as he stared at his arm, "I made your son's prosthetics, if that was your question. I learned from... I learned from Jura..." The Demon mtutered with a deeply bitter expression. Now that it went right onto Jura, Eiro would start forgetting things about him as well. And that wasn't particularly something that Eiro wanted. He didn't want to forget anything, of course, but he couldn't help himself but feel especially bitter about a certain few topics.

Solomon rubbed the bridge of his nose as he looked right at Eiro and stood up. He walked up to him and held his hands behind his back, "So, what you are trying to say is that you are one of the most incredible beings that I've ever met? It's kind of risky revealing all this to me, you know? Why would you ever reveal this information to me in particular?"

"Because... Because I know about the Dragon of Truth and your subsequent abilities..." Eiro pointed out. Solomon slightly frowned as he looked down at him, "You did mention something about a 'truth domain' before... and the Knight of Pentacles? Did you want me to teach you about that card somehow? Sorry, but I've never hea-"

"I came to you because... because you're my friend, I think... I trust you... But you're one of the few that I know will believe what I say..." Eiro explained, and slowly tried to see inside of himself to find the card that he had forgotten about until now. He slowly pulled it out of his treasury and held it forward toward Solomon.

"I don't know what it does anymore... But I trust that you do... I don't know if this is enough to make you trust me, but I think you deserve it... I don't even know how to use it anymore." Eiro explained, and Solomon looked at Eiro confusedly. Was he really about to just hand over such a card without any sort of condition? And especially to Solomon, who possessed abilities to see the true form of things, words, and people, this would be something of great value for sure. But even then...

"I see... Then thank you, Eiro. I will accept it gratefully. To hand it to me, you need to pour your mana into the card first." The King explained, and Eiro slowly nodded his head. Luckily, it didn't seem like he could forget how to control his mana, at least not for now. He let it flow out of his hand and into the card. It lit up in a golden light and then simply disappeared as the light seeped into Eiro's skin.

[You have activated and connected with the Knight of Pentacles. You are now its owner]

[2/14 Cards of the Suit of Pentacles acquired]

[4/56 Cards of the Minor Arcana acquired]

[Aptitude with the Earth Element increased]

"Huh...? Wait, but... Didn't I just try to give it to you..?" Eiro asked, and Solomon immediately nodded his head, "Yes, you did. But such a thing is in better hands with you, I think... If you are truly as capable as you sound, then you should have it. Now that I... well, remember is the wrong word, but I at least know about you again. I can fill in the gaps somewhat as well. I knew that I had a candidate for the Tournament this summer, that's you, right? I knew that I had deep conversations with someone, but I couldn't remember with whom. I felt something change in the air a little while ago, and maybe because of my connection with the Dragon of Truth I was not affected as strongly and can still remember such details... But this feels right. It feels right that I am speaking to you like this, that I am trusting you like this. I hear you call me your friend, and I know that you are speaking the truth. I hope that this card may help you uncover what exactly is happening to you and around us." Solomon explained quickly, and Eiro just stared down at the ground.

His eyes wandered around and kept sticking to random things. He noticed details that he didn't notice before, or didn't acknowledge at least, and the Demon's mind was racing. It was actually giving him quite a headache. It was a weird sense of new stimulus. He technically didn't perceive new things, he just never thought about a lot of them. As far as Eiro remembered at least...

The Demon's mind immediately started to race as he tried to figure out what exactly was going on. He came to one conclusion... That this was a blessing with a curse connected to it. He might be able to figure out what exactly was going on, but he would forget about it immediately.

And so, Eiro looked straight at the man in front of him, "I'm sorry... I have forgotten your name, but listen to me closely... I need you to help me figure this out. Repeat information, remind me of why I'm here if I forget, and most importantly... remind me of the children should I forget them as well."