187th Episode
“Are you going to live out here eating grass alone forever, huh!!!”
The last part came out as a shriek, the pitch rising significantly.
Giland was struck by Leonie’s unexpected outburst and couldn’t close his mouth in shock.
Approaching the stunned Giland, Leonie pointed her finger and shouted.
“You leave this to me!! Stop being stubborn!! Just let me handle it this one time!! Do you understand?!”
Leonie turned her head sharply after releasing all the pent-up emotions she had been holding back until now.
“Over there, Mage!! Come talk to me!! Knight Lukov, follow me and give me a hand!!”
Knight Lukov, who was glancing at Giland for cues, quietly moved closer to Leonie.
Still unable to recover from the shock, Giland stammered as he called out to Leonie.
“Le, Leonie…! What is this…!”
“Just this once! Leave it to me. Haven’t I helped you enough up till now?! Just close your eyes this one time!! Just once!!”
With her index finger raised to the sky, Leonie screamed loudly before entering the inn where Ray was staying.
Ray looked at Giland, then followed Leonie into the inn.
Giland stood there for a while, still unable to come to terms with what had just happened, gripping his sword.
*
Leonie knew Giland’s personality well.
Although Giland was inflexible by nature, his stance towards Devil Worshippers was even more rigid.
This was the main reason why Giland struggled to advance in his career.
The high-ranking officials of the kingdom frequently engaged in trade with the Dark Wizards of the Forbidden Forest for greater profits, and to them, Giland was a thorn in their side.
Thanks to Leonie leveraging her family’s influence, Giland avoided several demotions to remote areas due to his strong stance against Devil Worshippers.
However…
Upon personally witnessing a Demon transformed by the power of the Devil…
If there were no concrete evidence, perhaps Giland could have ignored it, but having seen the transformed Demon with his own eyes, it was clear that he would risk his life to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest.
Of course, unless betrayed by his subordinates, the Knights under his command would have no choice but to follow him.
‘Really, we’re all going to die.’
Due to pressure from those involved in the interests surrounding the Magic Tower and the Forbidden Forest, they failed to secure a proper Mage.
Entering the Forbidden Forest in such an imbalanced state would be disastrous.
Leonie stepped forward amidst her frustration outside the inn because she had foreseen this outcome.
“Hmm, nice to meet you.”
Inside the inn room, Leonie greeted Ray with a smile and extended her hand for a handshake.
“Your aura earlier was terrifying—aren’t you a High Mage?”
?
At the excessive flattery, Ray made a wry face, prompting Leonie to cough awkwardly.
Even the accompanying Knight Lukov frowned, feeling embarrassed for no reason.
After a brief silence, Leonie smiled again and asked Ray.
“You’re from the Blue Magic Tower, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, impressive.”
Leonie mentally understood Ray’s arrogance. A High Mage from the Blue Magic Tower wouldn’t bow down easily, not even to most Nobles.
Leonie glanced sideways at Luna standing beside Ray and asked,
“Is she also a Mage?”
“…”
Deciding to reveal some of his cards, Ray gestured to Luna.
Summoning mid-level Spirits and upper-mid-level Spirits, Luna stood by Ray.
Upon seeing the multiple Spirits, Leonie clapped her hands happily.
“Ohh…!! A Spirit Summoner!!”
Indeed, this group had the strength to stand up even against the Knight Order. Honestly, if they were to clash head-on, it would be quite troublesome.
Satisfied, Leonie smiled and asked,
“So, you’re here to retrieve the stolen Artefact?”
“Yeah.”
“To be honest, tell me. Are you here for the Artefact or the person? If it’s about the person, what’s the purpose? Revenge? Rescue?”
Leonie delved into the core of the matter.
Narrowing his eyes, Ray countered,
“Do you really need to know that?”
“Well… yeah!”
With a sigh, Ray waved his hand dismissively.
“Stop playing word games and get to the point. What does your side want from me?”
“Hmm… To be honest, our situation is a bit tricky too. That captain of ours…!! No, our Captain insists on searching the Forbidden Forest!”
“And so?”
“We’re suggesting we work together. We both need to search the Forbidden Forest, right?”
“Why should I?”
Ray decided to play hard to get.
Annoyed by his insolent attitude, Leonie twisted her body but maintained a smile.
“It’ll be much safer if we go together. We’re the Royal Knights, after all. And if you help us… we’ll overlook any trouble you’ve caused here.”
“But doesn’t your captain seem unwilling?”
“Our- Captain!! I’ll persuade him. Trust me!! He won’t be able to resist me!!”
Watching Leonie badmouth their captain in front of others, Lukov finally pinched the bridge of his nose.
Yet, Lukov didn’t stop Leonie because entering the Forbidden Forest like this would indeed result in everyone’s death.
Calmly regaining composure, Leonie added,
“Our Captain may lack flexibility, but he knows the priorities. And he absolutely despises Devil Worshippers. Of course, it’s understandable to hate them… Anyway, I’ll do my best to persuade him.”
After thinking for a moment, Ray shook his head.
“I decline.”
“Decline? Decline?! Hey!!! Do you really want to get arrested? Whether you’re from the Blue Tower or not, do you want to rot underground for the rest of your life?!!”
Facing Leonie’s ridiculous intimidation, Ray responded calmly.
“I don’t know how long we’ll have to explore the Demonic Realm, and during that time, can we maintain stable cooperation? Once conflict arises in a place like the Demonic Realm, collapse happens instantly.”
“Ugh, you’re so frustrating!!”
Infuriated, Leonie pulled a chair over and sat down, leaning close to Ray who was sitting across from her.
“You said you’re looking for someone, right? Based on the circumstances, it seems they might be held captive at the Devil Worshippers’ base, but you don’t know where it is, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Wait a moment!”
As Leonie started rummaging through her belongings, Lukov gasped in alarm.
“Knight Leonie!! That’s top-secret information!!”
“Would you just shut up!! How can they harm me by showing it?! You didn’t even assign a proper Mage to us! Right?!”
Listening to their conversation, Ray thought Leonie must have some solid backing despite her childish behavior.
‘But if even someone like her couldn’t hire a proper Mage, it shows how intense the pressure from above must be…’
It became evident that various factions were entangled in matters related to the Forbidden Forest.
At that moment, Leonie managed to pull out several large sheets of paper despite Lukov’s interference.
“Ta-da!”
“…What is it?”
“Curious?”
After pondering for a moment, Ray gave in.
“I’m very curious.”
“Then especially for you, I’ll show it.”
Leonie spread the stack of papers on the table.
“Quite a lot of documents were excavated from the ruins at the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Most are severely damaged, but recently, we successfully restored some parts. This is a copy of the restored documents.”
“…”
Ray activated his Mana abilities as he examined the enormous stack of papers covering the entire table.
The drawings on the papers appeared to be blueprints.
They weren’t small architectural designs either.
These were…
“Blueprints for city planning?”
“Wow…!! High Mages really are different! How did you figure that out so quickly?”
Truly impressed, Leonie composed herself and continued.
“These blueprints are over a thousand years old.”
“What about them?”
“We can’t tell if the cities depicted in these blueprints were actually constructed. There are no traces left behind…”
Clearing away a few of the blueprints covering the table, Leonie revealed another one depicting a somewhat smaller city plan.
“Look at this one.”
“What is it?”
“You know what lived over a thousand years ago, right?”
“I’m not interested in word games.”
“Jeez, Dragons, Dragons!”
Back when humans were weak.
When technology was undeveloped and stable nations hadn’t yet formed, facing evil forces.
During that period, Dragons thrived.
Though not many records remain, this fact is undeniable.
So what?
While Ray furrowed his brows, Leonie took out another blueprint.
“Alright, this one. It’s supposedly a side view of this city, or something like that…”
The blueprint Leonie showed had a ceiling.
A ceiling.
Covered.
“…”
Why would there be a ceiling over a city?
Just as Ray felt puzzled,
Leonie pointed to a tall pillar drawn on the blueprint.
“This, see this?”
“…Why?”
“In the Forbidden Forest, there’s a structure similar to this one.”
Ray’s body stiffened momentarily.
Apparently pleased with Ray’s reaction, Leonie grinned mischievously and whispered,
“Dragons love digging, right?”
Underground city.
Realizing this, Ray clenched his fists.
An ancient underground city built during the Dragon’s golden age.
If such a city lay buried beneath the Forbidden Forest and served as the headquarters for Devil Worshippers, if that were true…
“Damn, this is absurd.”
Unable to contain himself, Ray muttered a curse.
Startled, Leonie questioned,
“Why are you swearing…?”
“According to this blueprint, what’s the scale of the city?”
As Ray asked, he activated his powers to examine the blueprint closely.
Its size was far from small. It was almost unbelievable that it was built underground.
Could this even be possible?
Valerius, a Dragon, spent hundreds of years digging alone, creating a labyrinth so vast that Saria and Ulte wandered for ten years without finding an exit.
During the golden age when dozens of Dragons roamed, constructing such an underground city wouldn’t have been particularly difficult.
‘During that time, this place probably wasn’t demonized yet.’
However, nearly two thousand years have passed.
During that time, the Demonic Realm expanded its territory, Dragons went extinct, and records of the underground city were lost.
‘Maybe Ulte hid here but couldn’t escape… Or maybe Devil Worshippers or Demons occupied this place…?’
Bang!
Ray slammed the table.
Breathing heavily, Ray forced himself to calm down and chuckled dryly.
Having been trapped in a labyrinth created by a Dragon for ten years, and now crawling into a Dragon-built underground city again.
Ulte seemed to have an endless grudge with structures created by Dragons.
“Are the royal family and nobles of Alimo sane? They let Devil Worshippers operate here without knowing what they’re plotting?”
“Uh… These documents were only recently restored. And nothing is certain yet. All we know is that some structures resembling parts of the buildings depicted in these blueprints have been sighted within the Forbidden Forest… Beyond that, there’s nothing concrete. So everyone just whispers ‘probably not,’ and pretends it’s fine. But our esteemed Captain couldn’t hold back his sense of justice and decided to investigate it himself.”
“Do you know the location where similar structures to what’s depicted here were found?”
Leonie subtly diverted her gaze and played dumb.
Chuckling dryly, Ray extended his hand.
“Alright, let’s cooperate.”
“Great! You’ve made the right decision. Now let’s recalibrate what each of us wants. Before diving into that cursed Forbidden Forest, let’s build some trust, at least a little.”
Dive (1)
