Chapter 350

Sabioleen Tana gave a brief background on Larken Simonstite.

Larken Simonstite had been the commander of Shanapell when Sabioleen Tana, who had since advanced in years, was a newcomer. At the time, he also held the title of the strongest swordsman on the continent, just as Sabioleen Tana did in the current time period.

Larken Simonstite sought to groom Sabioleen Tana as the next commander of Shanapell, and taught her many things in the process. Even though she was an extraordinary genius, she had to completely overhaul everything she’d learned at the Temple. Through rigorous training, she eventually became the captain of the first unit of Shanapell.

Larken Simonstite was already past eighty when Sabioleen Tana first joined. Although, like Sabioleen Tana, his aging had slowed due to constant training and use of Mana Manipulation, he had long passed the age of retirement.

His focus had turned to nurturing the next generation, and once Sabioleen Tana’s skills had begun to develop along the right track, he handed over the command of Shanapell to someone else and retired. No one found it particularly strange, and they all believed he would head off to spend his remaining years in quiet retirement.

As the sense of crisis surrounding the Great War intensified, the empire looked to gather its strength and sought the help of the retired Grandmaster. However, quite unexpectedly, Larken Simonstite had become one of the Four Demon Lords of the Demon King’s army. Moreover, he had been given the weighty title of first among all the Four Demon Lords.

I did not know anything about the Four Demon Lords, especially not that one of them had been human, and that this individual had been Sabioleen Tana’s mentor. I hardly mentioned the dead Demon King in the original work, so there was no reason to mention the Four Demon Lords either.

Even during my time in this world, I had heard conversations about the Demon King, but there had never been a reason to talk about the Four Demon Lords. It was bizarre that everyone else seemed to have this knowledge except me.

“Why did he become one of the Four Demon Lords of the Dark Land...?”

“I don’t know.” Sabioleen Tana said as she shook her head. “I suppose we’ll never know.”

I had written Sabioleen Tana as a character that felt guilty for not participating in the Great War. Beneath all of that, though, was an underlying history that I had no knowledge about.

‘Why did Larken Simonstite betray humanity and side with the Dark Land? Would Sarkegar, Loyar, or Eleris know, perhaps?’

I hadn’t asked them any questions related to the Four Demon Lords because I just wasn’t that curious about it before, but hearing all this made me wonder about the personal histories of the Four Demon Lords, who were no longer in this world.

Larken Simonstite had been bestowed the title of the first of the Four Demon Lords, and he had tutored Airi in swordsmanship. It seemed he had been treated well, and had lived a comfortable life in the Dark Land.

Sabioleen Tana had many questions she wanted to ask Larken, who had betrayed the empire and humanity. Unfortunately, because of her duty to protect the imperial family, she had not been able to participate in the invasion of the Dark Land. She had to feel conflicted over coming to the Demon King’s Castle only after everything was over.

We walked on and finally reached our intended destination, which was the very center of the Demon King’s Castle. It was an expansive, open courtyard that had been turned into ruins.

“This is the place where humanity achieved its final victory.”

Despite the rain and snow that had to have fallen after the end of the battle, the scars of such an overwhelming fight were not so easily washed away.

The pillars and statues around the courtyard were all destroyed, and there were large gouges in the ground itself. Traces of the battle were littered throughout the vast courtyard. Large chunks of the walls adjacent to the courtyard were missing, and what little remained seemed on the verge of collapse.

Even Sabioleen Tana, who was the strongest in the current world, seemed overwhelmed.

“It’s unbelievable to think that this was all caused by a fight between two beings,” she said. “Despite all the evidence here, I can’t even begin to fathom how powerful the Demon King truly was... Or the strength that Artorius, who opposed him, must have possessed as well...”

We walked to the center of the courtyard.

“Ragan Artorius...” Sabioleen Tana muttered. “To think he was at this level...” She seemed utterly shocked. After all, no matter how great Ragan Artorius was, he had not yet been over thirty.

He had strong companions beside him, no doubt, but he still managed to kill the retired Grandmaster and defeat the Demon King. Sabioleen Tana seemed to be wondering if such a feat was truly possible.

“The battle was so intense that we couldn’t find the Demon King’s corpse, but Artorius was found here, with Alsbringer planted in the ground, as if he were merely asleep...”

I hadn’t seen this battle firsthand, nor had I described it in my original writing, but I knew the truth, even if I didn’t know anything about the Four Demon Lords. It wasn’t Ragan Artorius’s strength that defeated the Demon King. It was the power of Alsbringer. No one else knew about the true purpose of Alsbringer but me.

The god of war, Alse... Als(Bringer).

It was literally a sword that could summon the god of war. Ragan Artorius had become the incarnation of Alse and fought the Demon King. However, he paid for it with his life.

Artorius sacrificed his life to kill the Demon King, and Ludwig became the owner of Alsbringer. Therefore, in the original story, it was implied that Ludwig also eventually used the true power of Alsbringer.

So... As a lover of tragedy, I ended up going down the crazy route and killed off the protagonist in my novel, a novel that had begun as a simple slice-of-life story.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

***

Charlotte dismissed the commander, saying his guidance was no longer needed. From that point on, discussions would arise that he did not need to hear.

He told us we could wander around the upper levels but gave strict warnings not to go underground before he left.

There were a few soldiers patrolling the Demon King’s Castle, but their numbers weren’t substantial. The main focus of the soldiers would be on combing through the underground.

Despite all that the commander had told us, we weren’t there looking for a guided tour about a turning point in human history; we were there to find clues to improve Charlotte’s condition.

“Your Highness, do you feel anything?”

“... Not at all.”

We were at the place where the Demon King had died, but Charlotte didn’t seem to feel anything significant.

We had made this journey blindly. The Demon King’s corpse wasn’t even present, and hoping that the Demon King’s soul, if it existed, was lingering about was too vague a hope.

Above all, too much time had passed. A great battle had occurred in that courtyard, but there was nothing left except for the traces of that battle.

“I suppose we can only hope there’s something underground.”

“But... it seems to be considerably more dangerous than we anticipated.”

Sabioleen Tana let out a sigh. “Indeed.”

We weren’t just up against simple traps that activated when we took a wrong step; there were spell-based traps that attacked the mind as well.

“For now, let’s explore the other areas above ground. We might stumble across something there as well.”

There was nothing to gain from wandering around the location where the final battle had occurred. However, the Demon King’s Castle was vast, and there was plenty to explore before heading underground.

Charlotte took the lead.

***

My memories of the Demon King’s Castle weren’t very clear. The situation had been dire, and after I met Charlotte, time seemed to pass like a whirlwind.

There had been no room for relaxation, and every moment had felt like sprinting across thin ice, with the thought that any mistake could lead to death. The intense psychological state I had been in also heightened that sensation.

“I should have brought Dyrus,” Sabioleen Tana remarked quietly.

“Hmm... I didn’t think it was necessary. Sir Dyrus would not have any pleasant memories of this place either.”

“You’re right about that.”

Just as my memories of the Demon King’s Castle were vague, it was likely the same for Charlotte. After all, she had spent most of her time imprisoned in a POW camp.

For Charlotte, the Demon King’s Castle was a place filled with nothing but horrific memories, incomparable to mine or Dyrus’s. It was not only the harrowing experiences she’d endured, but also the fact that she had awakened a bizarre power and ended up killing everyone who had been with her in that camp.

The shock of witnessing cannibalism, and the despair, fear, and disgust that followed... In the end, Charlotte had killed not only her mother, but everyone else who had been imprisoned with them.

I couldn’t tell if that past trauma was on Charlotte’s mind. She was simply walking quietly through the corridors of the Demon King’s Castle.

Memories came to my mind as well. This time, though, I wasn’t being chased by anyone, nor was my life in danger. I could observe the Demon King’s Castle in a calmer and more reflective manner, even if I wasn’t feeling completely at ease.

The corridors had high ceilings, and the passageways were spacious overall. I had seen various palaces, from the Spring Palace to the Central Palace Tetra, the White Palace Arnaria, and even the ancient castle of Epiacs.

However, the Demon King’s Castle had ceilings and corridors that were much larger and more spacious.

“The scale of this place is impressive. I wonder if it needs to be this wide...” Sabioleen Tana muttered, seemingly sharing my thoughts.

“It’s not meant for humans,” Charlotte replied.

“Ah.”

“... That’s right.”

Charlotte saying out loud what I should have known made me feel like a real fool.

‘Then again, how am I supposed to know that?! I’m not actually the demon prince!’

There were surely demons that were excessively large, and therefore, not just the rooms but the corridors and passageways had to be constructed to fit all but the largest of these massive beings.

‘Given the size of this place, perhaps even ogres could roam around freely.’

Of course, not all the corridors were large enough for such massive beings to pass through. Throughout the corridors, there were also traces of destroyed statues. While most of the broken statues had been cleared away, judging by the size of the niches, it was clear that they had been rather large.

Charlotte stopped in front of one of the broken statues. “This is...”

“What’s the matter?”

“... It reminds me of something Dyrus told me,” Charlotte said as she examined the broken statue.

“Dyrus and... that... um, um...” Charlotte was about to say “that child” but stopped, glancing at me. Perhaps she felt guilty about bringing up Baalier again after saying she would forget about him.

I wondered why she felt the need to be so cautious about it.

“A-Ahem. Anyway, they came back to the Demon King’s Castle to find a Teleport scroll to rescue me with. But when they tried to leave, the knights of the Duke of Salerion attacked them and tried to silence them.”

“Did such a thing really happen...?” muttered Sabioleen Tana. It seemed like it was the first time Charlotte was telling her about what happened in the Demon King’s Castle.

“Dyrus told me that a gargoyle had suddenly come to life and attacked the knights. That’s how they managed to escape safely...”

Since I had been there, the memory of that time was rather vivid.

The knights of the Duke of Salerion had tried to kill us, and I had looked at one of the gargoyles and wondered,

‘Don’t those kinds of things usually move in these situations?’

The gargoyle had come to life as if reacting to my thoughts and killed the knights, allowing us to escape.

“Perhaps this is why they destroyed all the statues afterward,” Charlotte said.

Given this precedent, the soldiers must have destroyed all the other large statues, believing they might be gargoyles. Charlotte seemed to think that these broken fragments were their remnants.

“...”

Sabioleen Tana lowered her gaze in silence. She had promised to maintain political neutrality, but the fact that Charlotte, after enduring all sorts of hardships in the Demon King’s Castle, had almost been killed by Vertus’s minions after her rescue must have stirred some strong emotions within her.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time she was learning about it; she already had the information. However, hearing Charlotte narrating the story again while at the scene seemed to make it harder for her to suppress her emotions.

She was far from neutral. She had come looking for a way to ensure the survival of the First Princess. The simple act of trying to save Charlotte’s life was far from neutral.

Perhaps once Charlotte’s safety was assured, she could step away from Charlotte and her issues, but that time hadn’t come yet. She had already lost her neutral stance, and it seemed this reminder of the excessively horrific actions Vertus had attempted was destabilizing her even more.

Charlotte's experiences in the Demon King’s Castle, and her inability to free herself from the aftermath of it, which had led her to return to the dreadful memories of the castle... It seemed Sabioleen Tana was leaning towards Charlotte, feeling sorry for her.

It was evident that Tana was struggling, caught between her belief that she had to maintain neutrality and her growing sympathy for Charlotte.

“It’s alright, Dame Tana,” Charlotte said softly as she began to walk on ahead. “If our situations had been reversed, I would have done exactly what Vertus tried to do to me.”

“...”

“That’s how I knew what was going to happen to me in the first place,” Charlotte said calmly.

In the end, it was all the same. Vertus wasn’t particularly evil; it had just been the appropriate action to take in that situation.

“So, there’s no need to pity me like that,” Charlotte said as she walked slowly down the corridor.

“... I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

She wasn’t defending Vertus, nor was she belittling herself. She was simply trying to alleviate the psychological burden Sabioleen Tana was feeling.