Chapter 158: Secrets of the Fortress (1)
“…Mmm, is it morning?”
The meal made with the ingredients the soldier brought should have been lavish… or so I thought. Strangely, I became incredibly drowsy right after eating and barely remembered anything. I recall finishing the bread and soup but beyond that…?
It felt like I had experienced something similar before. Just like when that soldier had me drink the alcohol he got from master. What on earth had happened to me?
“Are you awake? You were sound asleep for once, which is rare.”
“Is it Asumi?”
The person who addressed me as I lay on the ground was Asumi; she had been sleeping when I returned yesterday. Yes… that’s right. I remember waking up around the time the cooking was finished and eating together with her. Hmmm, what had really happened?
As I pondered this, Asumi, as if understanding my predicament, filled a wooden cup she had with water using her spiritual power and handed it to me. I expressed my gratitude and gulped it down in one go.
“Your memory is hazy, isn’t it? No wonder. Captain was completely drunk yesterday,” Asumi remarked.
“Drunk? Nonsense! There was no alcohol in yesterday’s meal…”
“No, it seems there was alcohol in one of the seasonings. Mika thought it would evaporate quickly when cooked, but apparently, it had a higher alcohol content than what Mika was familiar with.”
“So, the leftover alcohol got into my system, and I collapsed.”
“By the way, even Lappy was fine, you know. It seems there are things even the strongest demon can’t handle, huh?”
Despite not losing consciousness during my fierce battle with Zahhi, it appeared I was weaker than a child when it came to alcohol. I sighed in embarrassment as I stood up, stretching my body to relieve the stiffness.
Well, my consciousness reached all the way to my fingertips. It seemed I had sobered up from my drunken escapade. I could move my body just like usual. Even my tail… Wait?
“I have a tail… how!?”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing with my compound eyes. That’s because right in front of my face, my tail, which I should have lost in yesterday’s battle, had completely regenerated.
Thinking it might be a dream or an illusion, I reached out and touched my tail, confirming its solid presence. It moved as I willed it to; this must mean that this was indeed a newly grown tail.
I had heard from Sharl that it would eventually return to normal, but this regeneration was happening far too quickly. I had a reasonable understanding of my own body, so I couldn’t imagine growing a new tail on my own. My earlier assumption was that it would only return to its original state with the help of Sharl’s spiritual arts.
In other words, this had to be the result of some external factor. I could say that with confidence. If things had remained as usual, this wouldn’t have happened, which meant that something different from the norm was the cause. There were two potential candidates for that cause.
“It’s either that tasteless fruit or the food that soldier brought. It has to be one of them.”
The only two possibilities I could think of for something out of the ordinary were those. The tree that killed Zahhi from within, claiming to be a god and possessing power to match. It would be absurd to think that the fruit left behind by a self-proclaimed deity, which had no taste and showed no immediate effects upon consumption, was just an ordinary fruit.
It had no taste, and there was no immediate change after eating it. However, it might have been the kind of substance that took effect later. Personally, I leaned more toward this being the culprit.
The other possibility was the rations brought by that soldier. If it had been a personal gift from a mere foot soldier, it might have been one thing, but he claimed he brought it under the orders of master. He had seemed disappointed that I wasn’t allowed inside the fortress, and there was a possibility he had mixed something special in the rations, perhaps some kind of herb.
“Tail? What’s wrong with your tail?”
“Oh, didn’t you know? Actually, my tail was severed in yesterday’s battle.”
Upon hearing about yesterday’s battle, Asumi wore a complicated expression on her face. To her, my opponent in that battle was a former comrade, one who was of noble bloodline, even carrying the blood of a god. It might be difficult for her to rejoice in the fact that I had fought and killed someone like that.
“That must have been tough. But if you’re healed now, that’s great, isn’t it?”
“Thank you. It’s just a bit unsettling not knowing how I got healed.”
“Hehe, indeed. Well then, from here on, please listen to me as your new captain.”
However, Asumi shook her head as if to dispel something and then said so with a smile. It seemed like she was trying to be considerate. Sensing this, I refrained from mentioning anything about the descendant of the gods and simply thanked her for celebrating my speedy recovery.
After that, Asumi composed herself and gave me a report on our current situation. Despite the food consumption at yesterday’s feast, Tigar and the others apparently received supplies this morning.
During the distribution, there was no harassment or refusal, as we usually experienced. It seemed that the quick resolution of the situation and the overall victorious mood among the coalition army yesterday had resulted in surplus supplies and the soldiers being more generous than expected.
Regardless, the most critical matter of food supplies seemed to be in a good state. Since it was the most vital issue, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
“Did that man say anything?” I asked.
“No, not yet. He’s probably still drunk at the victory celebration,” Asumi replied.
“Like me, huh?”
“Exactly.”
The man who was supposed to be our commander hadn’t given any instructions regarding our return to the Empire or anything else, it seemed. As Asumi suggested, given his personality, he had likely thoroughly enjoyed the victory banquet, perhaps to the point of forgetting about us.
In that case, should we prepare for our return? It wouldn’t be surprising if we were harshly reprimanded if we couldn’t act immediately when told to return suddenly. Well, even if we prepared, we’d probably be told not to act on our own… the latter option might result in fewer reprimands, though.
“Let’s at least make preparations for withdrawal so we can depart at any time,” I suggested.
“That would be a good idea. Oh?”
Once we had decided on what needed to be done for now, the sound of two sets of hoofbeats approached from behind. As Asumi turned around, I had already identified who it was with my compound eyes.
“Hey there, Demon! How are you doing?”
“The captain’s calling! Come with us!”
“Yeah, got it. Asumi, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“I understand. Go ahead.”
They were knights from the “Dragonblood Knight” order; subordinates of Master. Unlike the other knights, they were friendly and didn’t expect us to use slave’ language. They were pleasant companions to be around.
Having been summoned by them, I entrusted Asumi with the preparations for withdrawal and followed the knights into the fortress’s interior. There were guards at the castle gate, but with the knights around, no one tried to stop me. It’s always handy to have someone with impressive titles around.
“Ah, there you are, my disciple.”
“Yeah, you did call for me, after all.”
Guided by the knights, we arrived to find Master and Lady Altissia fully armed. Judging by Lady Altissia’s demeanor, it seemed that Master had summoned me based solely on his judgment. I wonder what his purpose was.
“You called for me. What can I do for you?” I asked.
“Yes. While conducting a search within the fortress, we stumbled upon something rather troublesome. Thus, I thought to enlist your help.”
“Troublesome, you say?”
“Some things are better seen than explained. Follow me.”
“…I suppose an explanation would be too much to ask for.”
Master began walking briskly, and Lady Altissia, clearly exasperated, followed suit. Given the atmosphere, it seemed Lady Altissia wasn’t inclined to provide any explanations either, so I chose to follow in silence.
We continued deeper into the fortress, winding our way through its interior. As we neared the central area of the fortress, we came upon a building guarded by several soldiers with a forlorn atmosphere.
The building lacked seams or windows, with only a large metallic door. It exuded an eerie and peculiar atmosphere at the same time.
The soldiers around the building, as indicated by Master’s mention of the “troublesome thing”, clearly had their attention focused more on the inside than the outside. It was evident that they were more concerned about the interior of the building than potential intruders.
After Master called out to one of the soldiers, we entered the building. The interior felt oddly familiar in some way. The walls were covered with intricate spiritual circuits, emitting a faint bluish-white glow, pulsating as if they were still active. It seemed the spiritual circuits were still in operation.
The fact that the circuits were active implied that there had to be something supplying them with spiritual power. I concentrated my senses to try and pinpoint the source of this energy.
“It’s this way.”
Almost simultaneously, Master pointed in one direction, and I identified the origin of the spiritual power. It led to a staircase descending underground, and my senses indicated that the spiritual power was flowing from below. It appeared that this “troublesome thing” was connected to the source of this spiritual power.
There must be some creature supplying the spiritual power at this point….. and the only reason I could think of for my presence in this location was for combat. Given that Master and the others were armed, it seemed like a reasonable assumption.
At the bottom of the staircase, we encountered a massive metal door towering over me by at least twice my height. The door appeared to have multiple locks, but they were all currently open. With a slow, metallic scrape, Master pushed the door open with both hands.
Beyond the door was a spacious underground chamber, just like the corridor outside, adorned with spiritual circuits on the ceiling, floor, and walls. However, the complexity and density of these circuits far exceeded those outside. In the center of the room, there was a metal tube, and it seemed to be the source of the spiritual power. I wonder what it contained.
“Tch, you came after all?”
Inside this peculiar room, along with the metal tube, there were several spiritualists and Jude. He brandished a newly acquired spear, clad in light armor, and glared at me. He seemed to be the type to hold grudges and be on edge… I’m sure his friends are having a hard time with him as well.
I had no intention of provoking the guy, so I decided to remain silent. When Jude couldn’t find a reason to pick a fight with me, he clicked his tongue again and averted his gaze. Master and Lady Altissia both heaved deep sighs simultaneously upon seeing Jude’s behavior.
“Sir Alexander, is that the one?”
“Yes! He’s my disciple, the brave warrior who dealt the final blow to that golden guy! Whatever unforeseen events may arise, we should be prepared to handle them!”
“Yes, we’ll be counting on you.”
The spiritualist who spoke just now seemed to scrutinize me with his gaze, but it seemed he accepted it after Master vouched for me. After bowing to Master, he returned to the other spiritualists, and they all began to gather around the metal tube.
“Master, may I ask as to why you summoned me?”
“Yes! This fortress has various functions I’ve never seen before, all powered by highly efficient spiritual arts. This room here supplies the spiritual power for all of it.” Master said.
“Even though it’s highly efficient, it would still require an immense amount of spiritual energy to sustain all the spiritual circuits spread throughout this massive fortress. The source of this supply… I believe you can guess what it might be?” Lady Altissia added.
“…You don’t mean…”
After listening to Master and Lady Altissia’s talk, I naturally began to ponder one particular possibility. However, I had a gut feeling that this possibility was already a reality.
Pshh!
Right at that moment, a sound echoed through the room as air escaped from a metal tube placed at its center. It seemed that the spiritualists surrounding it were operating the metal tube. The tube’s surface had several seam-like lines.
These seams began to spread apart as if they were unraveling. In no time, the metal tube transformed into two chains, spiraling upward and reaching all the way to the ceiling.
I couldn’t help but watch the tube unfold, but my focus soon shifted to what lay inside. There, bound to a metal rod and pierced by countless stakes all over his body… with tree branches growing from his eyes, mouth, and wounds in his side, was a man.
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