[V11C22] His Highness Would Have Been Bad

“Let’s go to the Deepest Forbidden Section.”

Following Cyril’s declaration, the bookshelves of the First Forbidden Section emitted a pale bluish glow.

Specks of light split off from the shelves like bubbles floating through the air.

Each of the lights was only the size of a fingernail, but with them coming from each bookshelf, they were enough to illuminate the room.

Cyril blinked in surprise at the fantastical scene.

“What is this…?”

“Looks like the same thing that happened at Mount Kalug. Remember? The snowlights!”

Snowlights were a phenomenon that occurred when lesser spirits congregated on mana-infused snow, causing it to glow slightly.

In which case, did that mean there were spirits living in the Forbidden Archives?

Cyril looked down at Sophocles, who explained in a solemn tone.

“Indeed, the principle is the same as snowlights. Lesser spirits are flocking to the mana emitted by the monsters of the Forbidden Archives… They are purposely releasing a type of mana favored by spirits. You understand what that means, yes?”

In other words, the monsters were helping Cyril by illuminating the room for him.

Cyril nodded at the ring.

“The monsters in the Forbidden Archives must be kinder than I thought.”

“…”

Cyril turned toward the bookshelves and said, “Thank you, that helps.” The monsters, seemingly thrilled to be spoken to, started making noise again.

While observing this exchange, Raul picked the weasels off the ground and put them on his own shoulders, then prompted Cyril to continue.

“Come on, Cyril. We should get going now.”

“Right.”

Cyril looked over the First Forbidden Section one last time.

There were four doors: the one they had entered from, and ones to left, right and front. The right door led to the Second Forbidden Section, the left door to the Third Forbidden Section, and the front door to the deeper layers.

Cyril opened the front door and stepped into the corridor. The glowing lesser spirits floated past him.

Their lanterns did not provide enough light to illuminate the entire corridor, so it was thanks to the glowing spirits that Cyril and Raul could make out their path.

The passage was barely wide enough for an adult man to pass through. Cyril took the lead, followed by Raul with the weasels on his shoulders.

The only audible sound was their footsteps and the whispers of the Lorelei.

――”Come, come…”

Cyril could make out his footsteps echoing through the corridor, but the monster’s voice felt eerily different, as if it had been whispered directly into his ears.

“Ugh… My ears feel tingly.”

Raul complained while rubbing his ears, so he seemed to be feeling something similar.

As they progressed, a spiral staircase leading underground eventually came into view.

“We’re going down. Watch your step,” Cyril said.

The two carefully descended the staircase. Though the slope was gentle, there was no end in sight.

(It’s like we’re being sucked into the depths of the earth.)

There were doors at various points along the way, leading to the Fourth and subsequent Forbidden Sections. However, Cyril and Raul passed by these doors and continued further underground.

Suddenly, Cyril recalled a story about the gate of the underworld that he had read in his childhood.

According to the tale, people who died and fell into the underworld would descend a spiral staircase in complete darkness, discovering the gate of the underworld once they reached the bottom.

The length of the spiral staircase grows in proportion to the years you have lived, so older individuals are given a longer descent. And once you reach the bottom of the long, long staircase, you will find the gate of the underworld, which separates the worlds of the living and the dead. After passing through that gate, there is no turning back…

The story was about a man who suffered a near-death experience, finding himself in front of the gate of the underworld and a spiral staircase. The gatekeeper chased after him, but he managed to escape by running up the stairs and returning to life.

The detailed illustrations of the pursuing gatekeeper and the dark staircase had frightened the young Cyril.

“We’re here.”

Raul’s words snapped Cyril back to reality.

When had the staircase ended? Cyril was so focused on moving his feet that he did not realize they were already at the bottom.

Rather than the gate of the underworld, they found a single iron door.

Cyril raised his right hand and drew a magical formula with the Key of Knowledge. The glowing white light formed a magical circle that was promptly absorbed into the door.

“Let’s go,” Cyril muttered.

By using his own words to propel himself forward, Cyril pushed open the door.

His first impression was the smell of the stagnant air, as the room had not been opened in ages. But the moment he stepped inside, he was overcome with a brief dizziness and a tingling at the back of his head, like the sensation of sniffing a strong liquor.

This was likely due to absorbing the large amount of mana that had accumulated in the room.

Cyril clenched the brooch at his collar.

His condition of mana hyperabsorption caused him to absorb more mana than an average person. However, this brooch transferred the absorbed mana to Thule.

As a dragon, Thule boasted far higher magical resistance than Cyril. Even so, perhaps receiving such a large supply would cause a slight surprise.

“Thule, is everything okay?” Cyril asked, turning around.

But for some reason, Raul and the others were nowhere to be seen. Even the staircase they had descended was completely gone.

Before Cyril realized it, the underground room was shrouded in a dark mist. All he could see was the glowing lesser spirits that had followed them from the First Forbidden Section.

The light of Raul’s lantern was nowhere to be found.

“Raul! Thule! Pikeh!”

Cyril shouted their names, but received no response. His voice was sucked into the darkness without even returning an echo. The room was eerily quiet.

“Sophocles!”

Next, he called out to the ring on his hand, but again, there was no response.

The Key of Knowledge had lost its rainbow-like glow, riding Cyril’s finger as a simple black ring.

(When…? When did the song stop!?)

The song of the Lorelei had continued throughout their descent of the staircase, but now, he could no longer hear it.

It was then that Cyril noticed a figure standing at the edge of his vision. There was someone hidden beyond the mist.

Cyril initially assumed that the figure was Raul, but he quickly realized that it was too small to be him.

The petite, child-like silhouette approached him with clumsy footsteps.

She wore a robe adorned with gold embroidery, nervously twiddling her fingers poking out from sleeves. Her round eyes, a mix of brown and green depending on the play of light, stared up at him…

“Cyril-sama,” said the girl.

Cyril was completely dumbfounded.

“W-Why are you…?”

“Cyril-sama.”

The girl, Monica, interrupted Cyril’s question, begging him with tears in her eyes.

“Please. You need to take this book out of the room and run.”

＊　＊　＊

“Cyril! Hey Cyril, what are you doing!?”

Raul shouted in front of the entrance to the Deepest Forbidden Section.

The door was open, but for some reason, Raul could not enter. Whenever he tried, his feet would suddenly stop and refuse to move any further.

(It’s probably because of this song.)

Raul tried to cover his ears, but he found it difficult to even lift his arms. The strength was draining from his entire body.

Meanwhile, Cyril had taken a few steps into the room, then paused and started calling out their names. Despite being next in front of them, he could not see Raul and the others.

Pikeh and Thule were glaring at the room with their tails straight up. They seemed unable to enter, just like Raul.

To everyone’s surprise, the Lorelei was singing two songs at the same time.

One to trap Cyril in an illusion, and the other to stop Raul and the others from interfering. These two different songs blended seamlessly into a single piece of music.

…Even scarier, the song was incredibly pleasant.

Raul felt like he could listen forever.

(So this is the power of monsters from the old era…!)

Raul heard countless tales about the greatness of monsters and mages from the old era, but to be honest, he had always thought his grandmothers were exaggerating.

But he could do so no longer. The monster’s song had immobilized one of the Seven Sages, the greater ice spirit Ashelpikeh, and even a legendary white dragon.

Compared to them, Cyril was just your average man, completely powerless to resist.

“Curse you, Lorelei… This was your scheme all along!”

Sophocles shouted with indignation atop Cyril’s finger.

“The Lorelei’s song has trapped Cyril in an illusion! She has the power to create illusions of the opposite sex to charm men into doing her bidding!”

Raul squinted, examining the depths of the room.

The Deepest Forbidden Section appeared to be a small circular room with a reading desk at its center. Six glass cases were installed around it, each containing one of the Six Tomes of Taboo.

――”Come, come, child of man.”

A voice echoed from one of the glass cases, even as the singing continued. In other words, the Lorelei was able to speak even as she sang two songs simultaneously.

――”Now, take me out of here.”

Apparently, those words were being sent to Cyril’s ears in the voice of a bewitching woman.

“Cyril! No, don’t do it!”

“She may appear to have luscious curves, but it’s all an illusion! Do not allow yourself to be deceived!”

“Cyril!”

“Cyril, Cyril, get a grip!”

Raul, Sophocles, Pikeh, and Thule were all calling out to him. However, Cyril was already ensnared in the Lorelei’s trap, gazing at the woman visible only to him.

With all eyes on him, his response was…

“Do you have permission to be here?”

Everyone was left dumbfounded, including the Lorelei, Raul, Sophocles, and the weasels. Meanwhile, Cyril continued speaking to the illusion.

“I believe Mage Count Roseberg was the only one to apply for entry to the Deepest Forbidden Section, and only for himself. Even if you are a member of the Seven Sages, entering the Forbidden Archives without permission is a serious crime. If there are some sort of special circumstances, I am willing to hear you out.”

——”Please, take me out of…”

“The tomes within the Deepest Forbidden Section are only allowed to be unsealed during the repair and maintenance procedures. We would also require approval from His Majesty the King, the Noble Council, and the Seven Sages. In addition, two members of the Library Society, four advanced mages, and one of the Seven Sages must stand witness.”

——”Take… me…”

“If you believe one of the tomes is damaged, we should have an expert examine the extent of the damage first. I’ll arrange for one later, so give me some time.”

For once, Cyril’s stubbornness worked to their advantage. He would never budge, no matter how alluring the woman trying to seduce him.

Raul let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“That’s my Cyril, alright.”

“Indeed. She picked the wrong target.”

Then, the Lorelei stopped singing one of her two songs, presumably the one for showing Cyril illusions.

Now freed from the illusion, Cyril looked around in confusion.

Meanwhile, the Lorelei let out her annoyance.

——”A curse upon you. Since it has come to this, my next song will be…”

“That’s enough.”

A figure leaped into the Deepest Forbidden Section.

He was a young man with silver hair and golden eyes——Thule, in human form. Apparently, he had descended from Raul’s shoulder before anyone noticed.

The Lorelei attempted to sing a series of songs, presumably in an attempt to stop Thule.

However, Thule walked forward regardless, placing a hand on the glass case containing ‘The Lorelei of Heilbach.’

“Your magic released a bunch of mana for me to absorb. I thank you for that.”

Thule, the White Dragon of Mount Kalug, had once suffered severe injuries at the hands of humans. Those injuries resulted in a condition that prevented his mana from recovering.

Thus, he entered into a contract with Cyril, whose condition of mana hyperabsorption gave him excess mana to supply Thule.

The Lorelei’s song had released a great deal of mana into the Deepest Forbidden Section, and that mana flowed through Cyril to reach Thule.

What’s more, the mana of monsters from the old era seemed very compatible with Thule’s body. His golden eyes were sparkling like honey liquor.

“I promised Cyril not to eat humans, but…”

Thule bent down and licked the glass case.

“…I didn’t say I wouldn’t eat monsters.”

Thule performed a gentle smile, but his teeth were elongated and sharpened. The pupils of his golden eyes had turned into vertical slits.

The Lorelei gasped, and the song echoing through the room came to an abrupt stop.

Silence filled the Deepest Forbidden Section, until Cyril shouted.

“Thule, stop licking the case! That’s unsanitary!”

“Is that so? Sorry.”

“Wait, what on earth is going on? She was right here just a moment ago…”

Cyril looked around as if searching for someone, probably the illusion displayed by the Lorelei.

His doubts were answered by the ring on his hands.

“That was just an illusion created by the Lorelei’s song.”

“…What?”

“More importantly, we know you have no more tricks up your sleeve, Lorelei! Give it up!”

The Lorelei began muttering to herself. It seemed like a completely different voice than the overlapping songs from earlier.

——”How can this be…? That was all the meager grains of mana I had from centuries of confinement… My meticulously crafted escape plan, ruined because the one I tempted had to be this simpleton… This is just too awful… What a nightmare…”


While listening to the Lorelei’s sobbing, Cyril Ashley (referred to as a simpleton) was thinking to himself.

(I see, the Lorelei was trying to escape by showing me an illusion of an acquaintance…)

Cyril secretly breathed a sigh of relief that the Lorelei had chosen Monica.

If it had been an illusion of his beloved prince instead, he might have been persuaded.

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