Chapter 226 - 120. Aihrance's Underground Labyrinth -1 (Part Two)

**

We travelled to Irion, the capital of Aihrance, in a carriage.

Cool breezes entered through the open windows.

I shifted my gaze outside the carriage and spotted a large river connected to the ocean. Irion looked like an island from how all those waterways surrounded it. Tall buildings stood around in what looked like circles within the city limits.

Trade ships had filled up seemingly every inch of the harbour, while countless carriages were entering and leaving the city.

Hans, who was riding along in the carriage, was currently laid out flat on his back while massaging his forehead, probably due to motion sickness.

However, Alice was just fine. And she was currently asking me with a puzzled face, “There’s an underground labyrinth below the royal palace?”

I nodded at her question. “That’s right. That’s where it’s been sleeping all this time – the treasured ‘tool’ of the first Holy Emperor, Ordin Olfolse, as mentioned by my older brother Ruppel.”

The now-deceased head of the Church of Caiolium, Cardinal Mikael, discovered the traces of Holy Emperor Ordin during his research into the Aztal Rune. And it seemed that Ruppel lucked into acquiring that information.

Back then, Ruppel had placed his bets with the Church, thinking that the latter would emerge victorious.

He took that trace as the starting point of his ‘investigation’ and figured out the location where the treasure had been buried away. And that location turned out to be the underground labyrinth right underneath the capital of the Aihrance Queendom.

The ‘Titalos’.

Alice asked incredulously, “There was such a thing underneath the royal palace of this queendom of magic?”

“Aihrance’s royal court has kept it as a national secret, but yeah, the story goes that this labyrinth below the palace is made up of all sorts of mazes.”

Not only that, different types of lifeforms apparently existed down there as well; creatures that were born out of the side effects of frequent magic casting, or something like that.

The Aihrance royal court was keeping everything hush-hush and down low, so the amount of information I could find was quite limited in scope.

“Honestly, I chose the adventurer profession so that I could gain smooth access to that place. Well, I was also hoping to get noticed by the Aihrance royal court, too.”

“Being an adventurer is related to it?”

Alice tilted her head in confusion.

It seemed that she was having a bit of an issue understanding the connection here. She probably was thinking along the lines of why I needed the identity of an adventurer when my real identity was an Imperial Prince.

“Of course, I could’ve requested the Aihrance royal court with my identity as an Imperial Prince.”

However, the timing was a bit delicate right now.

“The neighbouring kingdom of Lome is in an uproar thanks to those Vampires. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Aihrance is on edge right now. So can you imagine how they will respond when an Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, a sworn enemy to the Vampires, wants to enter their territory?”

Rather obviously, they would be less than welcoming. More correctly, they would actually be quite scared by the prospect.

“As an Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, my presence here can be interpreted as a diplomatic visit. However, right now I’m an adventurer affiliated with Aihrance. You do understand where I’m going with this, don’t you?”

Alice pondered it for a while before answering me, “Does that mean the royal court doesn’t have to consider their diplomatic position?”

“That’s right. For them, this situation has become a bit ambiguous. An Imperial Prince faked his identity to enter their nation. That implies that they have a choice on whether to treat me as an ‘Imperial Prince’, or as an ‘adventurer’. But what happens now that I’ve willingly called myself an adventurer?”

“…They can now treat you as an adventurer?”

I nodded at her.

The identity of being an Imperial Prince made it cumbersome to move around freely. Everything I said and every little action I took would be linked to diplomacy between the two nations.

Aihrance and the empire might have been allies in the past, but now, the two of them were ‘somewhat’ at odds due to the conflict of pride arising from ‘faith’ and ‘magic’. As such, it was not all that easy to openly approach the Aihrance royal court.

If my side sent in a request that said, ‘Oh hey, I’d like to have access to your labyrinth’, then without a doubt, they would respond with, ‘Well, in that case, we have conditions of our own.’

“That’s not all. The Imperial Prince at the centre of the ‘incidents’ is now in their territory. That should’ve made Aihrance quite nervous. They’re probably starting to wonder if Vampires have already infiltrated their royal palace, too. And that’s why they are inviting us over.”

Alice nodded at my explanation as if to agree with me. “They don’t want to owe the Theocratic Empire, but they must be also shivering in fear at the possibility of Vampires hiding in their midst. If it was me, I’d have lodged a request to the adventurer guild…”

Bingo. She hit the nail in the head.

This was precisely why I chose to call myself with an easily-discoverable name, and also why I didn’t try to hide in my powers too much either. I was hoping that the royal court of Aihrance would cotton onto the truth first and invite me over to the royal palace on their own.

The one unexpected variable in that plan had been my fight against the Necromancers. But thanks to that, the Aihrance royal court now owed me a big one.

I had met all the conditions necessary to enter the labyrinth and then some.

While we were busy chatting away, our group finally arrived at Irion. The river continued to flow within the capital city and I spotted tourists riding on canal boats above the gentle-flowing water.

I too had a good time enjoying the sights offered by the city.

“We’ve arrived.” The royal court knight stood at full attention and cautiously opened the carriage door. “Allow me to guide the way, Lord Allen Rufus.”

I became certain of it from the way this knight was addressing me. The other side was planning to treat me as a high-ranked ‘adventurer’.

Alice, Hans, and I followed the knight and walked on the wide corridors of the royal palace. All sorts of exquisite statues could be found lining up this place. I noticed that the magicians walked with a lot more sparkle in their eyes compared to their knight counterparts.

“We’ve arrived, sirs and ma’am. Please go on and enter.”

The royal court knights opened the doors to the audience chamber from the sides.

We were greeted first by the sight of an opulent-looking carpet laid out on the floor and then, nobles and magicians were waiting on their feet on either side of said carpet.

It was hard not to notice how tense they looked right now.

While walking down the middle, I sneaked some glances at the gathered nobles.

Only a portion of those who met eyes with mine flinched slightly in shock and hurriedly bowed their heads to greet me. However, the rest were actually furrowing their brows.

‘Looks like only a handful knows about me.’

I shifted my gaze back to the front where the audience chamber’s throne was located. An old lady was sitting there.

She wore a dress with a skirt that spread out abundantly; her hand gripped a staff made out of some kind of crystal.

I stood upright on the spot, while Alice and Hans acted according to decorum by kneeling down and bowing their heads.

“…What is this?”

“What is he doing?”

“How dare that lowly…!”

The nobles began raising voices of discontent when a mere adventurer, me, didn’t bother to kneel down before their queen. However, the magicians next to them quickly began pacifying the noisy bunch.

I stared at the old lady on the throne.

[Rox Aihrance

Age: 82

Attributes: weak physique, transcendental Mana reserve, expansive knowledge base, genius-level talent in magic, neutral disposition.

+ Is dear Lord Kelt still healthy, I wonder?]

…Was the queen of Aihrance worrying about my grandpa?

Maybe the two of them had some kind of relationship in the past?

The master of Aihrance, Queen Rox, locked her gaze on me and spoke, “Welcome, Allen Rufus – the Orichalcon-ranked adventurer.”

She got up from the throne and strode unhesitantly towards me.

Now standing right before me, she lightly grasped the corners of her abundant dress, raised it ever so slightly, and along with a graceful movement, bowed her head and offered her greeting.

“This one is Rox Aihrance, the queen of this nation.”

I could only smile bitterly at her actions.

It’d be incredibly tough for anyone in the queen’s position to bow her head to someone. Especially more so when in front of high-ranking nobles and magicians of her queendom, too.

I took off my helm, placed a hand on my chest, and bowed deeply to answer her. “This one’s Allen Rufus. It is my honour to make your acquaintance, your majesty.”

Queen Rox smiled gently and reached out with her hand.

Although she stopped herself for a brief moment there, in the end, she still began stroking my cheek.

“You look just like him.”

“…”

She withdrew her hand that contained a trace of lingering yearning and addressed me more officially, “There was a reason why we had to summon you here. Even if it may sound like an unreasonable favour to ask, I still would like to lodge a request to you, dear adventurer. Will you accept it?”

The queen smiled rather relaxedly, so I asked her for more information, “May I ask about what kind of a request it could be first?”

She quietly closed her eyes and responded, “It is to filter out the Vampires.”

An unsettled clamouring rose up within the audience chamber.

The nobles began gasping and looking quite flustered by this development, and the royal court knights and magicians tried to pacify them once more.

I didn’t find it all that surprising to see them getting this agitated, though.

“If you accept, then we shall prepare a separate reward for you. One that will match your identity as an adventurer… or even your other identity, if you so choose.”

Queen Rox quietly opened her eyes again.

The light in her eyes was far sharper and more piercing than before.

“Will you say yes? Oh, hero of Elusha.”

< 120. Aihrance’s Underground Labyrinth -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.