258-252 underpass

After Melfina's treatment was complete, His Highness Alberto covered Melfina with the robe I had given him.

I breathed a sigh of relief that no miasma was leaking from her body, and that her body and skin color had returned to human form.

I'm sure you're not the only one who's interested in it.

I'm sure Melfina, who was damaged so badly, won't wake up anytime soon.

"Your highness Albert, Melfina is currently losing so much blood that she won't be able to regain consciousness right away,

I told him so, but His Highness Alberto didn't stop talking to him.

Seeing his devotion, I summoned Esther and put His Highness to sleep.

Then I had them both placed in the coffin of the hermit.

Even if Melfina-san had a demon personality, I didn't think she would kill His Highness.

Even so, even though His Highness and Melfina-san had been put to sleep, I was surprised that the soldiers weren't upset at all.

Well, I don't know what happened, but even though so much intimidation is coming from Lionel, he is still expressionless like a Noh mask, so he probably doesn't have time to pay attention to us.

As I was doing this, the sun gradually came out.

''Lionel, the castle and the institute, which way do we head?''

What? We'll go downstairs if we can.

Underground..... because?

Because the enemy's main camp is underground...

Lionel speaks with a lot of emotion, and to be honest, it's scary.

He looks somewhat different from the Lionel we've seen since he entered the Empire.

'Are you going to take Mr. Bazak sleeping there?　Or will you leave it behind?

While Mr. Bazak isn't that important, he's a smart guy and I don't want to leave him too much to chance. However, being a novice in regards to the Empire, I decided to leave it up to Lionel to decide what to do with Mr. Bazak.

''Taking him with us will only cause us trouble.

Okay. Well, let's just leave it here and head downstairs.

''But I still want to gather some information, so let's take him with us.

Lionel cuts his eyes off from us and instructs his soldiers.

'From now on, we will go and defeat my imposters first so that we can bring this empire back to normal. Everyone split up into groups and capture the suspicious ones. If you encounter the demon race, protect the inhabitants of the imperial city at all costs!　Nice.

""What."

The imperial soldiers saluted together and then scattered to the city of the imperial capital.

''Lionel really was a general, wasn't he? ''There was a glint in the eyes of those soldiers.''

Maybe it's just a reflection of the tears....

'It's in the past. Let's hurry up than that.

Yes, but do you know the way to the basement? But do you know the way to the basement?

I'll do it. Nah, come with me.

Ketty said, and began to lead us away.

'This is the underpass?　There's something different about the image...

It was the sewers of a previous life that came to mind when I thought of underground passageways, but it was a house on the outskirts of the city that Keti brought me to.

'The basement of this house is the path that leads to the royal palace, Nya.

Ketty said and turned to walk into the mansion as normal.

'Wait a minute, isn't this someone's house?'

Keti stops and looks back at us and mentions the owner of this mansion.

''The owner of this place is now an Imperial special forces unit, Nya.

Does that mean we're gonna have to fight soon?

Speaking of the special forces, the unit to which the group of five men who became demons belonged.

The fact that they were brought here means that it is quite conceivable that they would suddenly meet up with Cloud.

It's just a name. It's usually not used at all, so don't worry.

Ketty laughs and walks into the mansion.

'Only a positive guy would feel safe with that much information.

I look at Keti like that and mutter to myself, and Lionel calls out to me.

''Luciel-sama, even if there are demons in the mansion, you should be fine if you move with that in mind. More importantly, it's not a good idea to spend a lot of time here.

Lionel said, and then he started walking ahead of me.

Am I crazy about this?　With that in mind, I followed everyone else into the interior of the mansion.

When I entered, what I saw was a spacious entrance.

''This way,''

When Ketty told me that, I moved up the stairs that were in front of me to the second floor. Then Ketty opened the door to the third room from the stairs.

It looked like a normal guest room, but Ketty tilted the paintings on display about thirty degrees to the right....

'Master Luciel, I'm going to open the door as you come in, my dear.

Ketty told him with a smile.

''I was hoping there might be a slightly different trick, but did I make a mistake?''

I opened the door I had come in as I had been told, though I was suspicious of Ketty's smile.

Then there was a staircase leading down, but I wasn't impressed by it and immediately shouted.

"Chi, sanctuary ward.

Surprisingly, there was a lot of miasma coming out of the bottom of the stairs.

When I finished setting up the wards, I turned my attention to Ketty, who hadn't expected to find a trap, or maybe she didn't know what to do with it.