6 Preparations & Machinations (V)

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「◈ 73rd Throne Guide, The Outcast Faro Moriar.」

「◈ Solomon's Calendar; Year 2001, Month 5, Day 2. 」

「◈ Arzalon's Dungeon, Lowest Floor (36th)」

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His highness' head seems to be in the clouds again. Perhaps he regretted making this purchase. I could tell him that I am capable of refunding it for half the price, but that information is not for this time yet. I decided to withhold the information.

Hm? Contrary to my expectations, the highness seems to be satisfied. I've broken my vow, and there's no stopping the questions that bloom within my mind, but why was the highness so interested in such a useless skill book?

Blank pages and no information on how to learn nor activate them. The abilities 「Insight」, and 「Clarity」are two excellent beginning skills and I applaud his highness for buying these skills this early. Those two abilities were evolving type skill books that would merge in the future and become 「Appraisal」

While the other two abilities are understandable, I cannot comprehend why the highness took a liking to 「Faith's Seal」. The rumours about him being a fool seem to be a fact, but my years of experience as a merchant before being a guide tells me otherwise. His highness' eyes didn't contain mere curiosity, and instead, they looked like they were staring at something so valuable.

The other Demon Lords would ridicule him for making such a decision. His highness was already labelled a fool and an outcast. News of this would only lower his reputation even further. It is a guide's duty to show the demon lords the correct path. Still, at the end of the day, the demon lords are beings that do not adhere to any standard rule, and they choose to create their own path no matter how treacherous. The irony of being a guide to a demon lord.

A gentle gleam emanated from his highness' eyes as he opened the two skill books. Information on how to learn the skill books came with the information about the shop. I couldn't understand how his highness knew this amount of information.

His highness let out a breath of air, seemingly refreshed by learning the skill. The books which he carried with both of his hands began to crumble into dust, disappearing into thin air.

After learning the two skills, his highness opened the third, and unlike the other two, it wasn't learned immediately.

My point stands clearly correct. The book is deemed useless. This was the only skill book in the shop that couldn't be learned just by opening it. It was as if it was misplaced in the system's shop by mistake.

The edges of his highness' eyes began to glow a faint yellow light. It seems like his highness activated his newly learnt skills. His highness began to read through the pages within the book.

Each page was as barren as the fields found in the demon world. As I peered into the pages, what greeted my vision were nothing but seas of dried papyrus with no ink nor stain found within them. Perhaps my eyes were incapable of peering into the thin veil which covers this book, but his highness' eyes can. Further questioning of things would only prove detrimental to me.

I stood just beside his highness intently. His highness was reading through the blank pages as if there were words written on them. I've come up with two possible reasons why his highness seems so focused on reading through the blank pages. The first one, the rumours about him being crazy, were true, and the second one is that his highness can see things I cannot.

I leaned towards the latter. Yes, that is the only correct deduction. Doubting his highness would only break my unbiased image towards him. I shall only do what my duty tells me to do. Nothing more, nothing less. No emotions, nothing else.

After a few minutes, I noticed his highness' eyes widen a little before opening his mouth and uttering words that were vaguely familiar to my ears.

"I-lem Vibra Lores Tum Kwalitra"

I knew well that my eyes never betrayed me, but what I saw just now was the book crumbling into dust. His highness learnt the skill just by uttering those words. I blinked a few times to make sure, and nothing did remain in his highness' hand.

If my memory serves me correctly, his highness just spoke Angel tongue just now. The enemies of the demonkind. Fairly I didn't give an ounce of care about the war between the angels and us. I simply thought the war was pointless.

After uttering those words, his highness' features suddenly changed. I spoke out to inform him of what I had noticed.

"Your highness,"

"Speak,"

"Your highness, this one noticed that your horns have grown a few centimetres and have begun to take on a subtle golden sheen to it."

A demon lord's horns were their status of symbol and pride. The longer and more menacing they looked, the higher the position of the demon. I couldn't help but be reminded of the 1st ranked Demon Lord, Baal's horns. His horns also had the unique golden sheen to them, unlike the menacing red glow that demons usually had.

"Is that so?"

"It is so, your highness."

His highness nodded in agreement.

"Faro, lead us back."

"As you wish, your highness."

As if brimming in anticipation, his highness' steps were light. It seems like his highness was ready to properly organize the dungeon himself.

After walking for a few seconds, his highness' expression suddenly changed. The gentle smile he always had become a subtle frown mixed with utter hatred and sorrow. Something was going on inside his highness' mind, but this one was too low to understand what it was.

As we turned a corner, his highness' expression once again turned different. The hatred and heavy atmosphere around him disappeared like a lie, and all of it was replaced by a feeling of longing and regret.

His highness gently pressed his hand against the surface of the golden door and released a sigh. I flew quickly towards the door and opened it. His highness is quite unpredictable.

As I opened the door, we were greeted by the floating sphere called the dungeon core at the center of the room. A steady hum came upon it as it rotated ever so slowly.

His highness observed the dungeon core for a few moments before losing interest. It seems like what I guessed just a while ago was incorrect. The highness appears to be anticipating something else within this room.

His highness began to pace around the floating core before bending down and looked at something unknown to me.

Just as his highness straightened his back. The dungeon suddenly began to shake for a few seconds before stopping completely. Another question broke out within me. What did his highness just do?

As if in a trance, his highness began to wander out of the dungeon core. The 36th floor was built like a labyrinth, and those who walked without a guide is doomed to get lost. His highness was acting randomly, and I couldn't understand why. He was a demon lord, and he already knew his dungeon's layout, so why was he wandering alone? Another question came out. I gritted my teeth in frustration.

I quickly trailed behind his highness and spoke.

"Your highness, I advise against walking through these corridors by yourself. The 33rd floor was made out to be a shifting labyrinth, and those who walked alone end up being lost forever. Please follow me back to the room."

"Your worries are appreciated, but I, Arzalon, the 73rd Ranking Demon Lord, am capable of finding my way through this Labyrinth. All you need to do is follow me and observe,"

"As you wish, your highness,"

I couldn't help but infer that his highness was being full of himself. The Labyrinth of the 36th floor was ever-changing, and only a guide could navigate through it. It was my duty to guide his highness, but I could not refute any of his decisions. Once again, the irony of being a guide.

As we turned another corner, we were greeted by a dead end. A strange feeling came upon me, which I haven't felt in eternity. I couldn't help but think that air would exit my mouth. If I remembered correctly, this was the beginning of the action of sighing.

Before the air exited my lips, his highness placed his palm upon the wall we were greeted with, and it began to turn translucent as if revealing something behind it. I immediately held my breath as the wall became more and more transparent.

An empty room with a podium at the centre revealed itself, and in the middle was a single item that I could not comprehend with my sight. I squinted my eyes, but my thoughts would go into shambles when I focused on the item. Another question welled up within me. What is that?

Expecting his highness to be as confused as me, his highness' face showed the complete opposite. With a small smile, his highness' face was filled with satisfaction.

"Faro, I shall remind you that I will win this war."