CH 160

The next day, I went to the palace early in the morning with Lily. Before entering the exclusive library, we were told that we would be receiving permits, so we came to the palace early.

At the palace, we both received written permits and strange medallions. As we received them straight from the King, Lily looked nervous. Although Mazell was able to meet the King calmly, it seemed like Lily was nervous just like a normal person. Her manners were perfect though. His Highness the Crown Prince was also in the room and he looked as if he was having fun… I wonder why?

After our meeting with the King, we were both guided by a person, who was apparently the Prime Minister’s subordinate, deep into the palace. Somehow, I felt that this guy looked a little similar to Sir Behnke. Since we were told today was only a preview of sorts, we didn’t really prepare anything special. We did receive a magic lamp on the way though. We then went to the basement and walked on the dark path.

The dark stone road… this felt like something straight out of a horror movie. Maybe…a ghost of an assassinated royal family member would come out… Ah, let’s not think about something like that.

After we walked for a while, we finally arrived in front of a heavy looking door. The door looked normal at the first glance but for some reason I got a strange feeling from it.

“This door is not locked, but please move the latch in the correct order before you enter. Please be careful to not make any mistakes.”

The man said so while showing us the order. It was bottom, middle, and top. Ah, the so-called puzzle door. Interesting.

The man then opened the door and the inside of the door was a spiral staircase leading further down to the basement. It was dark, so let’s remember to always bring a magic lamp before coming here in the future.

“Give me your hand, Lily.” (Welner)

“Y…Yes!” (Lily)

This kind of spiral staircase made of stones was common in the west. The stairs were narrow and the turns were surprisingly sharp, so you needed to be extra careful when using the staircase. People with a weak semicircular canal might get dizzy and even fall. The key was to not rush.

We descended the staircase together, slowly, while I was helping Lily who was likely not used to using this kind of staircase.

“This staircase really goes down deep.” (Lily)

“Yeah, it does. But surprisingly the surroundings aren’t damp.” (Welner)

After descending the staircase for a while, we arrived in front of another heavy-looking door. This place really looked like a dungeon in an RPG game.

The man who was leading us knocked on that door, and another person opened the door from the inside. Hmm… I see. You probably could only open this door from inside.

“I have brought Viscount Welner and his assistant.”

“Good work.”

After that conversation, we entered the room. The inside of the room was pretty large. There was also another door at the back of the room. To have to pass through a room to get to another room… this room reminded me of the president’s secretary’s office. There were 4 Royal Guards inside of the room. They had a sword strapped on their waist. They didn’t wear full armor, but judging by the way they carried themselves, they seemed to be pretty skilled.

They only took a quick glance at me, but they seemed to be pretty interested in Lily. Well, I guess there had been only female members of the royal family coming here, so they were curious about Lily. They didn’t gaze at Lily too closely, so I let them be.

“Please wash your hands here first.”

“I understand.”

I was surprised that there was a sink-like thing in this kind of place. I guess since we would be interacting with precious old books washing your hands was to be expected. The sink let out water when I stepped on the pedal, so it felt strangely modern.

“Please follow me.”

After confirming that Lily and I had washed our hands, one of the knights opened the door for us. As I entered the room, I got the feeling that it was strange. When I looked at the ceiling, I realized where that feeling came from. There were shining stones at the ceiling, like the lamps in the modern world.

“Are they magic lamps?” (Welner)

“I also didn’t know the details, but I heard apparently they are magic lamps.”

Our guide was a civil official, but it seemed like he wasn’t a mage, so it made sense that he didn’t know about things like magic lamps.

After we entered the room and walked for a while, we arrived at a crossroad. If we continued forward, we would arrive in front of a double door decorated with a strange pattern. At the end of the right path, there was a luxurious looking door while at the end of the left path there was a sturdy looking door.

With a door of the Knights’ room in the back and this double door decorated with a strange pattern at the front, I felt like we were inside a dungeon or something. Come to think of it, the door in front of us looked a bit similar to the door that could only be opened when there was a game event back when this world was still a game.

“Like the previous door, the door here also can only be opened from inside, so when you come here on your own, please remember to knock and ask for the people inside to open the door for you two.”

“I understand.”

“Is everything behind that door an exclusive library?”

“No, the exclusive library is behind the door on the left. Behind the door on the right is the royal treasury while behind the door in the front…”

The guide stopped for a moment…

“…The room behind the door in the front is called the Magic Control Room. From what I heard, it’s the room where things that maintained the barrier of the royal capital are being kept.”

…then he immediately dropped a bomb.

So this place led to the room where the barrier was being maintained… I was able to barely keep a straight expression after hearing that news. It seemed like this place was the center of the royal palace.

“I see. That place is an important place…” (Welner)

“Only the members of the royal family, the Prime Minister, and the Mage Captain can come here.” (Guide)

Was it really okay for me and Lily to be allowed here? I really didn’t understand how His Highness’ mind worked. If I asked the guide about this, I might get suspicion though.

“Lily?” (Welner)

“Ah, my apologies!” (Lily)

I called Lily who was staring curiously at the door to the treasury. Well, it was normal for her to act like that.

The three of us walked toward the exclusive library’s door. When we arrived right in front of the door, I found that the door didn’t have any keyhole or latches.

As we were looking at the door curiously, the guide pointed at a different colored stone panel that was located at the side of the door.

“Please touch the medallion to this section of the wall. Please do so twice, one for each of you.”

“Like this?”

After the medallion touched the panel, the panel glowed and the door opened. So this medallion was like the fantasy world version of an access key card? Since the guide told us to let the medallion touch the panel twice, there must also be some kind of additional security here.

“I do not have the medallion so this is the furthest I can go. Would you both like to take a look inside?” (Guide)

“Hmm…Yes, we will take a look inside.” (Welner)

“Then, I will be waiting at the security room.” (Guide)

After saying that, the guide left. Lily and I exchanged looks then entered the room. Light was shining down from the ceiling. After we looked at the inside of the room, we both froze.

Before coming here, we both planned to search for the information we needed by dividing the books in the exclusive library half-half. If there were 100 books, that meant I had to read 50 and Lily 50. We both thought that at most there were only 1000 books, so we each had to read around 500. That amount was a lot, but well, bearable somehow, but…

“Welner-sama… how many books are there in this room…?”

“Um… Well… I also wonder about that, Lily…”

There were clearly more than 10,000 books here.