Chapter 354

Chapter 354

The secret place hidden within the underground labyrinth beneath the Demon King’s Castle was a bunker.

“Your Highness... it seems that we did not actually enter the labyrinth.”

“It seems so. It seems like we managed to exit directly and reach a place beyond the labyrinth, though I’m not sure if ‘exit’ is the right word.”

Tana and Charlotte seemed to have realized that this was indeed our true destination. It was inevitable, as the place we were in couldn’t be considered a labyrinth no matter how one looked at it.

“As to how we arrived here... The labyrinth is likely designed so that only the Demon King is allowed to pass through and reach this location,” Charlotte said.

Tana looked at Charlotte with a sorrowful gaze, understanding the implication of Charlotte’s words. “Your Highness...”

“I suppose... in my current state, I’m not that much different from the Demon King right now,” Charlotte mused.

I couldn’t be sure if the magic of the labyrinth had reacted to me or to Charlotte. However, the true passage was only visible to an Archdemon, and we had reached our destination without being made to wander through the maze.

Charlotte placed her hand on the bunker wall and surveyed the surroundings.

“If you think about it, it can’t be said for sure that this place actually corresponds to the sixth underground floor of the Demon King’s Castle,” she pondered.

If the labyrinth truly was the sixth underground floor, then just descending from the fifth floor would have allowed us to reach our destination without needing to wander the labyrinth.

“The entrance to the secret passage seemed like any other passage, but if it functions as a dimensional gate, it’s entirely possible that we’re in a place entirely separate from the Demon King’s Castle,” Tana suggested.

As Tana mentioned, it was possible that this place was actually completely separate from the Demon King’s Castle.

Although it was impossible to use a teleport spell within the Demon King’s Castle, it was possible that a limited warp gate had been installed inside it.

Exactly how the gate operated was unknown. However, if a certain point within that secret passage functioned as a dimensional gate, it was entirely possible that the wrong individuals would be sent into the labyrinth, while the Archdemon would be sent to the desired location.

Ultimately, the mechanism wasn’t of immediate concern to us. We had arrived at a secret location within the Demon King’s Castle.

“Should we call it a refuge...? It feels like that,” Charlotte speculated.

“It seems so,” Tana agreed.

There was a large stockpile of preserved food inside the storage room, with equipment for both magical and physical training, along with reagents and plant cultivation areas for alchemy.

I explored the bunker with a different sense of unease than Charlotte and Tana. Someone could live alone inside this place for a very long time, and it was equipped with training equipment. At first glance, the books in the library were mostly books about magic.

Baalier had probably intended to come to this place, and he likely did in the original story. He would have been able to survive in this hideout, and that gave me a very ominous feeling.

Having witnessed the destruction of the Dark Land, the Demon King Baalier Junior would have burned with a desire for revenge.

‘Did the delinquent Baalier grit his teeth here, spurring himself on and suffering through grueling training in order to exact revenge against humans? If so, was Baalier, not Cantus Magna or Akasha, the true culprit behind the Gate Incident?

‘If I’m the cause of the Gate Incident, what meaning do all my actions hold? Would doing nothing be the right thing for the whole world?’

All this was pure speculation. I had information that Baalier was alive when the Gate Incident in the original story happened, but there was no evidence to suggest that Baalier had caused it.

If I did nothing, and it turned out that Cantus Magna and Akasha were the real problems, the Gate Incident would still occur.

‘But what if they’re not related to it at all? What if the Gate Incident happened because I inadvertently triggered something?’

In the original story, Baalier was probably an incompetent character. My previous physical data indicated as much. Could someone like that, harboring a mere grudge, become a powerful enough mage to trigger the Gate Incident after just two years of study? It seemed implausible.

I, with all my cheats, was growing at an incredible pace. Could Baalier have grown even faster than me? That seemed impossible.

My head felt like it was going to explode. Uncertainty towards the future had never caused me so much fear.

“If only the Demon King is allowed to enter this place, then the current Demon King should have been able to come here,” Tana said, her thoughts focused on the present, unlike me, who was troubled by a completely different issue.

“So why didn’t he just come here in the first place...? I don’t know.”

The bunker was well prepared, but I couldn’t have come here because I didn’t know about this place.

“Perhaps he judged that it was more important for the previous Demon King to survive than himself.”

This, too, seemed plausible. Rather than surviving and growing stronger himself, the Demon King’s successor sought to save the already-powerful Demon King instead, and so he saved Charlotte. Thus, the bunker inside the Demon King’s Castle remained empty, unable to welcome the one who should have come.

Charlotte explored the bunker, examining the various different rooms.

“What’s all this?”

Tana and Charlotte stared blankly at the books as I began stacking them on the table in the common hall.

“This seems to contain information on the magic that was probably used on you,” I explained.

“R-Really?”

Charlotte’s eyes widened as she looked at the growing pile of books, particularly the introductory volume.

“Soul... Manipulation?” she said.

“Yes. While there may not be artifacts here, it seems there are several secret magic books about demonic magic.”

To aid Baalier’s growth, powerful spells and demonic secrets were stored in the library. There might not have been physical treasures in the bunker, but the real treasures were the magic books.

This led to another thought. If Soul Manipulation was a magic system unknown to humans, and if the library contained secrets and forbidden spells used by the Demon King and other demons, it could be used as bait to lure out Cantus Magna. Whether that was the right course of action required careful consideration.

Though Tana and Charlotte weren’t mages, they began reading the introduction of the introductory volume, just as I had.

They were undoubtedly starting to feel the same emotions I had experienced.

“A magic system that deals with souls...” Charlotte’s fingertips trembled, and Sabioleen Tana seemed to be questioning her own eyes.

Some moments passed, and Charlotte had to have read the part about what could be done by mastering Soul Manipulation, because she covered her mouth with her hand.

“I’ve found it... this... this is it... this was it...”

It was a book of considerable length. However, if a royal mage or anyone else could master this Soul Manipulation, they would be able to fix Charlotte’s condition. If that happened, then even if my true identity was revealed later on, Charlotte would believe that my aim was not to revive the Demon King.

“Th-Thank you... thank you, Reinhart,” Charlotte said, trembling as she cautiously embraced me, and I hugged her back.

Charlotte could get better. However, I couldn’t feel at ease, because of the new problem of what Baalier would have done if he’d survived.

***

There were no treasures in the bunker, but books more valuable than treasures lay in the library.

Magic unique to the Dark Land, or perhaps only to the Demon King... There were certainly general books about magic, but there were also books containing forbidden spells, and even some with only the names of the spells listed, leaving their nature a mystery. Of course, my lack of knowledge about magic did not help.

Tana, Charlotte, and I were in the library, scanning the shelves of magic books.

“This is... a major discovery, and goes beyond just solving my problem,” Charlotte assessed, recognizing that the true value of the bunker lay in the library, and she was right.

“It might be good to bring a royal mage here later. Of course... it would be a hassle for Your Highness to come back personally,” Tana suggested.

Charlotte would probably have to come in person in order to access the bunker. However, it wasn’t just Charlotte. I could also enter this bunker. If I returned with an expert in magic, we could truly evaluate the value of the magic books in the library.

“For now, let’s only take the books on Soul Manipulation. We don’t know what might happen if other dangerous magic is released into the world,” Charlotte suggested.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Tana agreed.

Charlotte was cautious about bringing back the magic books indiscriminately, and was well aware of the dangers of revealing the Demon King’s magic to the world.

That decision suited me. If the magic books from this library were all transferred into the possession of the imperial family, they would be out of my reach.

While the magic contained within these magic books were important, for me, they were bait to set up a potential future encounter with Cantus Magna. Just as Antirianus had attracted Cantus Magna’s attention with numerous forbidden spells, I could use these magic books to make contact with Cantus Magna. Therefore, it was best to leave the magic books, except for those relating to Soul Manipulation, where they were.

I still could not be sure if Baalier was the cause of the Gate Incident. Was that fortunate or unfortunate?

None of the book titles seemed to hint at portals to other worlds, though, which slightly reduced the possibility of Baalier being the cause of the Gate Incident.

Charlotte’s eyes lit up as she scanned the bookshelves. “If I return to my original state, I won’t be able to come back to this place again, right?”

“We can’t be certain, but... I think that’s likely,” Tana replied.

If the Demon King’s soul within her was removed, the natural conclusion would be that Charlotte wouldn’t be able to pass through this labyrinth, since it only allowed the Demon King to pass through.

“Then we’ll need to retrieve these magic books before the Demon King’s soul is removed from my body,” Charlotte decided. She seemed hopeful that she could escape her soul being slowly taken over by the Demon King’s.

Charlotte, having found a clue to her predicament, wore such a joyful expression that, for a moment, it felt like all my worries had vanished.