“I have to go here. This is the enemy headquarters, and it might be the lair of the demihumans’ leader. While the only reason for that conclusion is because this building is very large — there might be a powerful being on par with Buser ahead of us. I want to neatly tie off all the loose ends in this city.”
“Ah!”
After learning the answer to the question from just now, Neia suddenly pressed her head in realization. At the same time, gratitude flowed forth in her heart for the Sorcerer King’s compassion.
He didn’t let the paladins get close because there might be powerful foes within! Unlike what he said just now, could it be that he wasn’t willing to tell me about this because he felt embarrassed about fighting as someone else’s shield?”
While Neia knew that thinking this way about the Sorcerer King was very rude, for some reason she felt the Sorcerer King was a little cute.
“...Well? Do you understand?”
The Sorcerer King looked at Neia’s face as he asked that question. Neia nodded, and the Sorcerer King seemed happy as he replied, “Ah, that’s good.”
He’s actually happy that I can understand him… what a gentle and kind person he is.
“Your servant understands why Your Majesty does not wish to draw attention from others!”
“...Hm? Ah… exactly. Then… you understand, right? I don’t wish to stand out too much.”
“Understood!”
The Sorcerer King looked like he was pondering something. For some reason that also looked very adorable.
“...Ah— let’s go then.”
“Yes!”
As a squire, she felt it was wrong to let the Sorcerer King walk out in front, but the Sorcerer King would not allow Neia to walk ahead of him. Neia looked with admiration at the back of the generous and magnanimous person before her. As his subordinate, watching a king lead from the front was truly a heart-warming sight.
After passing through the wide entrance, Neia asked a question.
“Where shall we begin our search? There doesn’t seem to be any sign of others around…”
“Mm… your eyesight and hearing are both quite keen, Ms. Baraja, but how about your sense of smell?”
“Frankly speaking, I’m not too confident in my sense of smell. However, I think I’m better than most in that field. As for taste, I think mine is just average. However, I’ve never tasted poison before, so I can’t be a poison-taster or anything…”
“Really now? Then, can you detect the smell of death and hatred?”
As he said “death and hatred,” his kingly aura of dominion coiled up around him.
“Death and hatred?”
“—This way.”
The Sorcerer King set off. There was no trace of hesitation in his footsteps. He walked as though he was familiar with this place and what lay ahead of him.
Death and hatred… these things shouldn’t have a smell… or could it be that His Majesty, who is undead, can make out such smells? That means whoever’s making that smell is waiting here!
Neia clutched the bow she had borrowed from the Sorcerer King. Depending on the circumstances, she would have to serve as the Sorcerer King’s shield and step forward to fire her bow. Yet she had not been able to do anything during the battle with Buser. If she did not make herself more useful, there would be no reason for her to be here.
They did not encounter any demihumans along the way, and before long, they came to a door that was about the same size as the one they had passed through earlier. It was made of steel, and iron, and thus looked very sturdy.
This was what looked like a prison door, in the middle of a regular noble’s residence. The juxtaposition filled Neia with a powerful sense of foreboding. It felt like she had been thrown into an unfamiliar and spine-chilling place.
“This is…”
“It’s inside here… you can stay outside if you want, you know?”
It was impossible for Neia to make that choice. After seeing Neia shake her head, the Sorcerer King shrugged and opened the door.
The Sorcerer King’s strength opened the iron door with ease. However, it was surprisingly thick, so it must have been specially made.
The Sorcerer King entered the room.
Oh no! I can’t believe I actually let His Majesty walk into this unknown place first! I’m an idiot!
Neia hurriedly entered the room as well.
While the heavy door had given her some inkling of what to expect, the interior of the room felt strange. It gave her the impression of being a torture chamber — although she had only heard descriptions of those.
For starters, there were no windows.
There were sticks set into the wall which glowed with a faint red light. This was not a natural light, but created by magic
There was a table made of wood and two wooden chairs. Further inside was another door, also made of iron.
The Sorcerer King stood in the center of the room, carefully surveying every corner of it. This was when Neia noticed something on the table.
“...Your Majesty. This looks like a piece of paper, but what’s that written on it?”
The piece of paper Neia picked up was covered in illegible characters. They were certainly not written in Holy Kingdom script.
“Hm… they seem to be written in words from the demonic language.”
The Sorcerer King took out a monocle from a pocket. Perhaps he had noticed the surprised look on Neia’s face, because he then proceeded to explain it.
“This is a magic item that can decipher written languages. That said, it drains a vast amount of mana. —Ms. Baraja, do you know of any humans who can decipher these characters?”
“WIth the ability to comprehend languages?”
“Indeed. Or at least, someone who knows what these letters are. Also… any humans who have a talent which lets them decipher languages.”
“My deepest apologies, I don’t know about…”
Neia was simply a squire for the Paladin Order. She had not had the chance to come into contact with news about people like those.
Granted, she had heard some rumors from her squire friends. For instance, “My friend has a talent that lets him know many degrees hot water is. Of course, nobody knows the exact temperature,” or “My relative’s a boat pilot who can walk five steps on water, but more than that and he’ll sink,” and so on. Most of them were abilities which would make people sigh and fall silent. There was no information about people who possessed abilities which the Sorcerer King wanted to know about.
“Really now? What a shame. Do you think Captain Custodio would know?”
Surely the Captain of the Paladin Order would have come into contact with all sorts of intelligence. However, Neia did not know what to think of Remedios. Would the Captain really allocate her headspace to information?
“...I am not sure about that either. However, I feel it would be better to ask the Vice-Captain.”
‘Well, that’s true. If I ask him…”
The Sorcerer King was probably stumbling over his words for the same reason Neia had.
“However, what do you intend to do if such a person does not exist?’
“Hm? Ah, I did not intend anything. But if there was someone who could decipher the intelligence Jaldabaoth left behind, our future plans would change, no?”
This was an obvious question which she could have answered on her own if she had just thought a little, yet she needed the Sorcerer King to explain it to her. Neia was ashamed about asking such a foolish question without giving it any thought.
“If there’s nobody who can translate this, then I’ll just have to expend mana to decipher it. However, doing so would lead to a disadvantageous state where I would have to be more wary of Jaldabaoth. If I encountered Jaldabaoth after expending a great deal of mana, my only option would be to flee… although, this makes me quite curious. If it’s just one piece of paper, then I shall read it.”