episode_0082

The staff presented by the Crown Prince to commend me for what happened on the 5th floor last time.

Just like the equipment or items given to everyone else, I thought it was just a decent item.

It seemed he had done some research on my companions, as he sometimes gave items or equipment that were a perfect fit, so since I was a mage, I just thought he gave me a magic staff.

But to think there was something hidden inside.

I kept trying to listen to the story. But the voice didn’t come out anymore.

Asking for help out of the blue without any explanation or request.

Moreover, it had already been quite some time since I received this staff.

‘What should I do?’

First, I considered telling the other guild members, but I decided to hold off for now.

If there was something he wanted, he would approach me first.

However, one thing was bothering me. He was being monitored so closely that he had to send me a staff like this to secretly convey his business.

Then, even approaching me first would be difficult.

“……”

After much thought, I carefully called only Grace.

After I briefly explained.

“I heard the Crown Prince was staying in the Labyrinth City instead of returning to the Imperial Palace. Perhaps he knows that if he returns like this, it will be the end for him.”

“I definitely heard something like that before.”

“There were many strange parts. It’s politically risky for the Crown Prince to come to the Labyrinth City, which decided to maintain neutrality on a national level.”

“You’re quite quick-witted?”

“Hee, thank you.”

“Will it even be possible for us to approach him first?”

“Let me do some research. Maybe he created a gap so that we could naturally come into contact.”

“Understood for now.”

Grace quickly brought back an answer.

“They say he usually wanders around various places, but he is periodically found in just one spot.”

“Where?”

“The Black and White Auction House.”

“That large auction house in District 2, right. It’s not a strange place for a rich Crown Prince to go.”

“More than that, it’s also a place for explorers that isn’t influenced by any faction.”

“That must be the answer.”

Clap!

Grace clapped her hands once.

“It worked out well. I had some things I needed to sell from what we got this time anyway.”

“Then it won’t be strange for us to move as a guild either, right?”

“Right?”

“Good. So, when does he appear?”

“They say he’s seen three times a week, so if we stay there, we should be able to see him.”

“Might as well see if there’s anything useful for us while we’re at it.”

We quickly finished preparations and recruited guild members who had errands or were interested.

There were 3 people who decided to go together.

Liza, Mark, Adele. Chloe.

Liza, the wandering mage, due to curiosity.

Chloe and Mark said their consumables had run out this time.

Adele seemed to want to watch and see if a decent greatsword would come up for auction.

Besides them, several other guild members also wanted to join.

However, Luca disappeared saying he was briefly visiting the beastkin village.

All the vanguards except Adele had to undergo Kairek’s training program.

Of course, there were also many people with personal schedules.

We put all our luggage into the subspace bag and used the warp array to go to District 2.

A warp array is a magic circle that connects each district. Naturally, it is magic created by the Mage Tower.

However, because of that, it costs a lot of money.

It costs almost 20 times more than a carriage, and since only humans can be warped, people usually don’t use it unless they have a subspace bag or are in a hurry.

But now, we are no longer pressed for money.

When I first came here, I remember struggling because I didn’t have a single penny. Now, that’s all in the past.

The world shone white, and when it returned to normal, we had already arrived in District 2.

“Shall we see to our personal business first and then meet up? There are quite a few of us to travel together.”

The guild members who nodded at Grace’s suggestion split into groups of two and wandered around.

“Where shall we go?”

“Well, isn’t it already decided?”

“Right.”

Since we hadn’t returned the books after going to the dungeon yet, we headed to the bookstore.

Right after returning the book about the hidden dungeon on the 2nd floor.

“Are you going up to the 6th floor this time? Or the 5th?”

“Aren’t we going up too fast?”

“We’ve become stronger than when we were on the 5th floor. I also got something good this time, you know?”

Originally, I had planned to stay on the 5th floor and let the guild members auto-hunt on the 3rd floor.

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to borrow and study them first.”

It doesn’t cost much to borrow them.

At least the information up to the mid-floors is widely available, so not using it would be foolish.

Besides….

‘If I can just get to the high floors quickly, won’t I be able to get incredible cards?’

I took the red pill.

When I first went up to the mid-floors, I was happy to get cards with overwhelming performance incomparable to the low floors. But when I saw the cards that came out on the high floors, there were cards so powerful they couldn’t be compared to the mid-floors.

If I had the skill, I would want to just go to the high floors and farm infinitely.

It even made me think, wouldn’t it actually be better to join a high-level guild instead of diligently building a guild step by step?

“What are you thinking about?”

“…Nothing much.”

Well, that’s all in the past now.

*

After buying books at the bookstore and reading some free books, it was time, so we returned to the auction house.

Last time, Karin was guarding it, but this time it was a knight I hadn’t seen before.

Fortunately, we were able to enter through the formal route.

The inside of the auction house was already bustling.

Since there was no way but to meet by chance anyway, we found suitable seats and participated in the auction.

Well, there was nothing I particularly needed, but there was still a bit of fun in watching.

It would have been great if I could have gone down to the Black floor below. But I couldn’t.

When I asked Noah, who went to the Black floor last time, how he did it, he said he stole a token that black mages carried around. Of course, it’s unusable now.

“As expected, it seems to be a room only great people can go to. We shouldn’t sneak in like last time, right?”

“Of course not. Is there any need to stir up trouble? If Karin hadn’t covered for us last time, it would have been difficult.”

While participating in the auction for a while.

Suddenly, the announcer stopped.

It didn’t take long to deduce the reason why.

“H-His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince, has arrived!!!”

As the announcer bowed his head immediately, at the moment when the people inside the auction house were about to pay their respects simultaneously.

“Stop, this is not an official occasion, it’s fine. Carry on with your work.”

“Understood!”

The announcer skillfully returned to normal and continued the auction. The numerous guests who had stood up also sat back down.

The Crown Prince slowly began to walk down. But contrary to our expectations, the place he headed towards was where a certain noble was located far away.

The Crown Prince, seemingly familiar with the noble, talked with him. But then his gaze turned towards us just once.

Precisely at the staff I was holding.

The Crown Prince talked with the noble for a while and then turned back.

Just as he had completely disappeared, Grace whispered into my ear.

“She says the plan has changed and he’ll be staying in the special room on the Black floor.”

“But how are we supposed to find him?”

“I don’t know. I just thought he’d call us.”

“Let’s go anyway.”

After getting permission from the guild members, Grace and I left alone and headed for the stairs to the Black floor.

‘Should we sneak in?’

While I was thinking that. Suddenly, someone approached us.

“Iban Arcana, take this.”

Clink!!

A man in a robe quickly disappearing after placing a permit to go to the Black floor in our hands.

“…He’s incredibly skilled.”

“He must be someone from the Crown Prince, right?”

“Probably.”

Circumstantially, that seemed right.

We immediately went down to the Black floor officially.

“A special room…”

“Asking where it is itself might raise suspicion. Let’s just look around by eye.”

While looking around the interior with Grace, I spotted a familiar face again.

It was Laz of Light Speed, a deep-floor explorer.

“Oh oh, Witch Hunter. They say you did something great this time.”

“Ah… yes.”

After experiencing firsthand on the 5th floor how much power high-floor explorers possessed, I can’t even begin to guess how strong deep-floor explorers are.

Tap.

Suddenly, Laz of Light Speed grabbed my and Grace’s sleeves.

“Then…”

Instantly, the world passed by rapidly. When I came to my senses, I was already sitting side by side with Grace on a sofa in front of the Crown Prince.

“……?”

Laz of Light Speed was already gone to the point where I didn’t know where he went.

The Crown Prince was sipping and enjoying warm tea.

“Wh-what happened?”

“…Indeed.”

The Crown Prince, seemingly not bothered by my and Grace’s confusion, quietly placed his teacup down.

“Have a cup first.”

“Yes… Yes!!!”

Grace’s voice cracked as she hurriedly tried to drink the tea, but her expression hardened after smelling it.

“You said you got the curse of elf transformation. You don’t have to strain yourself.”

“Yes!!!”

Grace put the tea down. I lightly took a sip of the tea.

Then the Crown Prince signaled the attending knight next to him.

The attending knight moved mana to create something like a wall.

“This is to prevent sound from leaking outside.”

“You can use magic inside the auction house?”

“Ah, it’s possible in the special rooms.”

Tap tap.

Tapping the table twice with his index finger, the Crown Prince then opened his mouth.

“…How much do you know? You must be aware that you are an Apostle. And since you said you went to the Ark on the 2nd floor this time, you must know that the Empire is in danger.”

The Crown Prince had a thorough grasp of my actions.

His intelligence is certainly overwhelmingly incomparable.

In front of such a person, trying to deceive them would only be dangerous.

I honestly told him everything I knew.

“There were a few things I didn’t know myself.”

The fortunate point is that there was information even he didn’t know.

If the Crown Prince is like this, it must be even worse for others.

“The Seven Sinners you apprehended on the 5th floor this time, we haven’t sent them to the Empire yet. Do you know why?”

“Because they’d be released again if they went into the Empire?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, my father, His Imperial Majesty, is being controlled. Since before I was born. And I too will follow that order.”

The Crown Prince took off the clothes he was wearing.

Grace flinched for a moment, but upon seeing the anomaly on the Crown Prince’s bare chest, she couldn’t close her mouth.

“One day, the court mage called me saying I needed treatment, and then attached something like this.”

The left side of the Crown Prince’s chest, where his heart was located, was stained black.

“That was already a year ago. Many things have happened since then.”

He said he was betrayed by the knights and court mages he trusted, and although he went to the Ariel religion, which was against the evil god, he was dragged by the saintess there, sent back to the Imperial Palace, and it was a mess.

“…I didn’t know.”

“Of course not. Don’t you know that the evil god can erase records and meaning? They are unmatched experts in that area. Information is something where the will of the people who release it is important. I could, with a little effort right now, announce throughout the entire continent that you two got married 3 months ago and even have a child.”

When the Crown Prince said this playfully, Grace waved her hands and her face turned red.

“No! It’s absolutely not like that!”

“Well, anyway. Conversely, I can also hide whatever I do. If I set my mind to it, that is.”

Tap tap.

The Crown Prince tapped the table again and said with a smirk.

“But I will absolutely never die from such things. I’ve somehow desperately survived. I will live and die as myself until the very end. Why would I let some god steal the position of the continent’s king that I could finally obtain? There’s so much I want to do.”

Flames burned in the Crown Prince’s eyes.

I thought he was a cool and calm person, but this seems to be his true form.

“Ultimately, the conclusion is that we must excise the evil god in the Empire and completely overturn everything.”

“That’s… right.”

“You can’t help it even if you don’t like it. Because I will be the only one who can be of most help to you.”

Tap tap.

The Crown Prince said confidently.

“They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend. How about it? Can you help me?”

The Crown Prince extended his hand.

Whether to take this hand or not.

A crossroads of choice.

“……”

What is the right answer?