episode_0161

It’s been quite a while since I left Kubel and headed to the Demon King’s Castle.

In the meantime, Sylphy and I avoided both demons and monsters and moved relatively safely.

There were a few battles with mole-like monsters that rose up from the ground that I couldn’t escape from, but there were no problems.

The reason I wanted to avoid battles and attract attention as much as possible was to avoid harming the demons.

The reason I am going to meet Demon Lord Versella is to ultimately stop the long-standing fight between humans and demons.

I’m heading to the Demon King’s Castle for that purpose, but if I don’t avoid battle and slaughter every demon I encounter, I’ll look like an invader in the name of peace.

Anyway, after continuing the trip, the Demon Castle finally came into view.

“It is the Devil’s Castle… … .”

“Is that the Devil’s Castle…? It’s so girly… … .”

Sylphy briefly spoke about her feelings upon seeing the Demon Castle for the first time.

As she said, the Demon King’s Castle was truly a dark and gloomy castle, befitting its name.

There were sharp, black rocks rising all around, and the surrounding land was stained dark red.

It felt as if the entire castle was advertising, ‘There’s a bad guy living here.’

But the demon lord over there is that little girl demon, Vercella.

When I look at that gloomy Demon Castle while thinking back to the Versella I saw, it doesn’t match at all in my mind.

“ Surprisingly, security is not that strict.”

Sylphy said, looking around the Demon Castle with her excellent magical vision.

It was not long after the Demon King’s army returned from invading the kingdom.

If you think about it like that, it’s more like a wartime situation! I thought the guard would be on high alert.

Surprisingly, the area around the Demon King’s Castle was extremely quiet.

Why does it feel like the security posture of Ainblad, a city of pure-blooded demons, is more stringent?

Even now, when I think of Ludmilla, the queen of Ainblad, I almost believe she is the Demon Lord.

In line with that, I remembered that the city she ruled also had quite strict security around it.

“Sylphy, as I said last time, I will enter the Demon King’s Castle alone. Because I don’t know what kind of guys are inside.”

“Wow… Be careful, senior.”

“Because I have a ring that can completely hide my body from demons. If you can find the room where the Demon Lord is, it won’t be difficult to sneak in. You must hide in a suitable place without being detected until I finish my business and come out.”

“Alone in the Demon World… … It’s a little scary.”

“You have already seen with your own eyes what the Demon World is like. It’s not as big of a deal as I thought.”

“Woo… Do you have to come quickly?”

“Yes, I will come as soon as possible. Because I need to set up a magic circle.”

I patted Sylphy’s anxious head.

Now that we were almost at the Demon King’s Castle, the top priority was finding Versella and how to resolve the conversation.

In this way, we got closer and closer to the Demon King.

Sylphy used her magic vision to find a suitable place to hide and wait.

“I like it there.”

Sylphy pointed to a gap at the top of a towering sharp rock near the Demon Castle.

Indeed, it seems that if you hide in that gap, it will be difficult to find.

Moreover, because it was so high, it was possible to see the surroundings while hiding in a crevice at the top of the rock.

“Okay, I’ll come back here when I’m done with my business.”

“You have to come really quickly, senior… … .”

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Then… … .”

Sylphy quickly jumped up the sharp rock with skill.

Without even taking a few steps, he quickly climbed up to a crevice in a high rock and hid himself.

After confirming with the naked eye that Sylphy was hiding from below, I headed inside the Demon Castle.

* * *

Inside the Demon King’s Castle, there were numerous large and small rooms, like a huge dungeon.

I used the ring magic tool that hides the body from demons from outside the Demon King’s Castle and entered.

When using it in enemy territory during wartime, it was difficult to find a place to hide when the invisibility was removed, so I had to time it well, but when entering the Demon King’s Castle, there were many places to hide before the invisibility was removed, so there was no time to use the magic tool again. There was plenty of time to earn.

The Demon King’s Castle was incredibly spacious, but there was almost no proper furniture to be seen, giving it an empty feel.

I saw some pretty strong-looking demon soldiers walking around the hallway, but I couldn’t see them anyway.

The soldiers guarding the Demon King’s Castle had no monsters and were made up of various demons.

To protect an important place called the Demon King’s Castle, the demons, who are relatively stronger troops in the demon world, would be used.

But it actually worked to my advantage.

If the Demon King’s Castle was full of monsters, they would have escaped outside as soon as they entered.

The invisibility I can use only applies to demons.

Thanks to the ring, I was able to freely roam around the inside of the Demon King’s Castle and visit various rooms.

There were rooms filled with horrible facilities like torture chambers, and there were also many prison rooms that seemed to hold real prisoners.

It was all gloomy and black, with stone walls and floors that gave an unpleasant feeling.

Since the Demon King’s Castle is a kind of royal palace, I expected a more grandiose, splendid, and nice environment.

Was Bersella living as a demon lord in such a harsh place? … .

While searching all over the Demon King’s Castle to find a room where Versella might be.

I found a familiar face.

It was Xavier, a deceptive monarch who once lived as a bishop hidden in the kingdom in human form.

Xavier was standing in front of several demons who appeared to be his subordinates and giving orders.

I suddenly became curious about what he was doing, so I sneaked behind Xaviel and overheard his conversation.

“The Demon King wants to create a garden and flower garden near the castle… … .”

“Now, Xavier… … A flower garden in the Devil’s Castle… … ?”

“I don’t know either. I don’t know Versella’s will. Anyway, we have no choice but to follow.”

“Aren’t there a lot of flowers blooming near the Demon Castle?”

“What Versella wants is not that kind of flower. The only flowers blooming around here are purple wildflowers that grew by feeding on the magic power of the demon world. It is said that the scenery Versella wants is a flower field with more colors and vitality.”

Xaviel suddenly placed one hand on his forehead as if he had a headache.

The subordinate demons who heard Xaviel’s words also looked dumbfounded.

“Ha… but… I’ve never made anything like it… … What should I do… … .”

“I heard that the scenery that Versella wanted was drawn in a travel picture book that was popular in Einblad. Don’t we have no choice but to refer to that?”

“Travel… picture book… … What do you mean?”

“Ha… okay. When Versella said she was bored and asked me to find something to read in Ainblad… … It means that all the books that are popular in Ainblad were brought to the Demon King Castle… Now that I think about it, I feel like I did something for nothing… … .”

As I quietly listened to the conversation between Xaviel and his subordinate, I felt a strange feeling.

garden? flower garden? Plus, a popular travel picture book I got from Einblad… … ?

I’m sure it’s not one of the books Shari’s mom wrote… … No, after hearing the story, there was a good chance that was the case.

What on earth is going on in this Demon King’s Castle?

It was really strange to see Xaviel, a direct subordinate of the Demon King, contemplating with his subordinates about creating a flower garden in the Demon King’s castle.

Does Versella like flowers?

As Xaviel left with his subordinate, sighing with every step, I started moving again to find the Demon King’s room.

Unlike the first floor, which was so gloomy that it could be considered a dungeon, the atmosphere inside the Demon King’s Castle changed as we climbed up the floors little by little.

Little by little, previously invisible furniture became visible, and there were places where something that looked like a red carpet was spread on the stone floor.

If the person doing the interior design had seen the inside of this devil’s castle, he might have been angry and foaming at the mouth.

As I was passing through a carpeted hallway, I heard a rattling sound coming from the room across from me.

I went into the room to see what the noise was.

Then what I saw was… … .

‘What, what? This scenery… … .’

There was a room that felt completely different from other horrible rooms I had seen so far.

From what I could see, it was a kitchen where food was being prepared.

And several demons dressed like chefs were busily cooking.

It was a kitchen so well-decorated that you could believe it was the kitchen of a luxury mansion in the kingdom.

This is definitely not a space suitable for the Demon King Castle that I have seen so far.

On the kitchen table behind the demon, who was diligently stirring a boiling pot, there was even a sweet-looking cake with unknown ingredients.

‘do… What the hell is going on… … .’

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment because the various places in the Demon City were so disjointed and disharmonious.

But at the same time, I felt a strange sense of relief that it was Versella, the current Demon Lord, who wanted these incongruous things.

Considering what we’ve seen so far, Versella really doesn’t seem to have any interest in invading the kingdom anymore.

After leaving the Demon Castle’s strange kitchen, I found a place with an unusually large door, unlike the other rooms.

Just by looking at it, you can smell something important.

I have a strong feeling that there is the devil’s room beyond.

Just in case, I hid in a nearby empty room and waited until I could use the invisibility ring again from the beginning, then infused magic into the ring and headed toward the large door at the end of the hallway.

* * *