The Siege of Insect Assembly Castle (5)
"Yulise, no matter how I look at it, doesn't that seem off?"
"Pardon?"
Deep inside the dark Insect Assembly Castle, Lily whispered quietly while watching the hero walk ahead. They were descending the staircase the hero had discovered earlier. It was the passage he'd found just a short while ago.
How on earth had he located a hidden route that even Adel couldn't find...? No matter how much the party members thought about it, they couldn't understand. Of course, his claim of "I just happened to find it" had been thoroughly ignored.
It wasn't simply because of the curse he carried. There was already far too much evidence for them to take those words at face value. His bizarrely extensive knowledge about monsters, the way he cleverly guided them through paths, and now finding this strange passage. He kept revealing his presence through knowledge more than anything else.
"How does he know so many things we don't...? And this is one of the Four Heavenly Kings' castles. Valcan is the newest among them. Those kinds of details definitely wouldn't be recorded in any ancient texts. Just how does that guy know all this?"
"......"
The saintess nodded quietly to herself. It really was strange. What kind of life had he lived to possess such knowledge? The more you peeled back his layers, the more that emerged—like an onion. Although she had seen his past after he became the hero, she had never witnessed anything from before that time. So she still didn't truly know Luke.
What kind of life had he led? What beliefs did he hold, and in what environment had he grown up? All of it remained a complete mystery. Of course, she had a few guesses... but since she couldn't ask, the saintess could only suffer in silence.
That was when Lily voiced another ominous theory.
"He's seriously a spy for the Demon King's army, isn't he?"
It was a theory she'd brought up countless times before. She nodded to herself as if answering her own question.
"Yeah. It's definite. He's at least someone who's been involved with the Demon King's forces once. Otherwise, how could he know all these secrets?"
Lily glanced around at the surrounding staircase as she spoke. Her eyes, fixed on the hero, were filled with wariness.
'Here we go with this pattern again...'
The saintess smiled bitterly. How many times had this theory come up now? Just in the month she'd witnessed, it had happened dozens of times. Imagining how many times he'd been suspected over half a year was almost impossible.
The saintess decided to defend him a little.
"Didn't Luke say it was because God told him?"
God told him. It was one of the lies Luke usually told when he found it difficult to explain the source of his information. It was obviously false, but the saintess decided to lend it a bit of weight.
"Come on, Yulise. You actually believe that? It's obviously bullshit!"
"Well... he might have really heard it. After all, the hero is as close to God as a saintess... or perhaps even closer. So it wouldn't be strange for him to hear God's words."
The saintess continued.
"And anyway, all the information he's given us has been helpful, hasn't it?"
"W-well, that's true, but..."
Lily took a step back. She had no counterargument. Even if the source was suspicious, the information itself had indeed been useful. So although it felt a bit unsettling, the party members had no choice but to follow his lead.
"Yulise... you've really changed."
"Pardon?"
After walking in silence for a while, Lily spoke to her again. The rather sudden remark made Yulise tilt her head.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, it's obvious. In the past, you'd suspect him with me, curse at him, and even try to uncover his true identity. But lately you've been defending him nonstop."
"Ah, aha ha..."
The saintess laughed awkwardly. It was a story from before her regression. At the same time, it was a rather embarrassing part of her past. Even now, thinking about it filled her with guilt.
"It's just..."
Yulise looked at his figure walking ahead and opened her mouth.
"I've decided to trust him. He's the hero, after all."
"...Really? Well, I still don't like it. That guy's growth lately is abnormally fast. He's even copying the kids' techniques..."
Lily glared at Luke as she spoke.
"Just wait. I'll uncover his true identity someday. And then I'll find the real hero."
"......"
The saintess let out a small sigh.
'The real hero is right in front of you...'
No matter how much of it was due to the curse, the frustration was unavoidable. Especially since the atmosphere had been particularly bad lately. Perhaps the stress from the uncomfortable environment was combining with the hero's curse. These days, it felt like walking on thin ice.
Everyone's nerves were growing sharper by the day. It felt like if anyone crossed the line even slightly, the party members would definitely start fighting among themselves.
'Sigh...'
The saintess could only pray earnestly to God. That such a thing wouldn't happen. That they could defeat the Insect King before then.
You have entered Valcan's Archive!
"Whoa! What is this place?"
"There's an incredible amount of books..."
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, mountains of books greeted them. Perhaps to preserve the books perfectly, there wasn't a single insect in this place.
"Wow, how long has it been since we've been in a clean space?"
"I wouldn't call it clean... but it's definitely heavenly compared to upstairs."
Kamilla picked up one of the stacked books and frowned.
"Still... the books themselves are a total mess. Would it kill him to organize things a little?"
What could you expect? From that bastard Valcan. He was the kind of guy who lived cozily with bugs in this filthy place. Expecting organization from someone like that would be slower than waiting for the world to end.
Clap!
After cursing him for a moment, I clapped my hands to draw the party members' attention. This vast space, almost the size of a mansion, was filled entirely with books. Finding what we wanted here would take considerable time. I didn't have any to waste dealing with them.
"Alright everyone, let's split up and look for anything that might be useful. If we stick together, we won't even finish looking through everything in a week."
Fortunately, no one opposed me this time. They were all thinking the same thing—that splitting up would be better for now. Especially our team's mage, Lily. She even welcomed it with open arms.
"Finally, something I can agree with. Good! Wow, how many books are there? Some of these don't even exist in the Magic Tower, do they?"
That's mages for you. Every last one of them is obsessed with knowledge. It seemed Lily was no different. Seeing this, Kamilla spoke to the team members.
"Then let's split up and meet back here in twelve hours."
"It's been a while since I've done some proper research."
Twelve hours. That should be plenty of time to gather and read the books I wanted. I nodded and moved away from them.
The owner of this castle. A black magician who had reached the pinnacle of Insect Magic and the Demon King's confidant. The Insect King, Valcan, was a book maniac. He needed vast amounts of knowledge to develop new bugs or research rare monsters.
Starting from anatomy, entomology, and magical studies, to summoning laws, equivalent exchange, alchemy, and so on... Most of the knowledge and records he'd accumulated over hundreds of years were piled up here.
I picked up a random book from those scattered around and read the title.
Cockroach Anatomy Journal
The 5th Demon King vs Hero Great War
The Tale of the Sun and Moon
I Was a 'Lv1 Skeleton' Summoner, But It Turned Out I Was Actually the Strongest... Volumes 1-12
"...Hmm."
Of course, it wasn't just study books piled up here. Although I'd explained it that way above, to be honest, this place was closer to a junkyard. Because any books Valcan had already read or found boring ended up stacked here. As a result, most of the books here contained useless content or weren't particularly high level.
But so what? Even in a garbage dump, you'd find one or two treasures if you looked. To me, this place was practically a treasure vault.
Magic Structure Even Fools Can Understand - Basics
What Are the Four Major Elements?
How Not to Get Scammed in Summoning Arts
On the Principles of Holy Law Magic - Volume 1
Wind Thunder Spear Technique - Introduction
See, there were already several useful ones. As I said before, that guy was crazy about knowledge. And that 'knowledge' didn't have to be limited to his own field. If it even slightly caught his interest, he'd sweep up books like a madman. As a result, this place had become a repository of incredibly vast knowledge, even if it lacked depth.
It was the optimal place for an ignorant fool with nothing but good physical stats to learn. Today, I would lay the foundation for my class here.
'Let's see, what would be good?'
I wandered around the books with the mindset of someone browsing a supermarket. I needed to choose a class that would create the best synergy with my abilities. There were quite a few that came to mind. Holy Knight, Spear Master, Magic Swordsman, and so on. Any of them would let me pull more than my own weight.
But there were still some concerns. First was the difficulty. The game had become far too hard. They were certainly good and stable classes, but just with those, could I really keep all four alive and face the Demon King...? The thought made me shake my head. After all, it was the heroine-saving quest that I'd failed 999 times. If I went with the builds I'd always used, failure was 100% guaranteed.
Second was the quest reward. The Insect Magic I could obtain by defeating Valcan. This skill was almost perfectly complete on its own, which ironically meant it had poor synergy with most other skills. On top of that, it was black magic, which was nearly incompatible with most standard skills... It was certainly a skill with great potential, but it also came with many restrictions.
I walked while pondering for a long time. What could there be? Something that would synergize well with Regeneration and the Authority of Sacrifice while also working nicely with black magic...
"Huh?"
As I walked, a few books caught my eye.
Blood Magic.
Pain Magic.
For a moment, my eyes sparkled. Wait a second. Since things had come to this, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go all-in on the black magician route...?