The Genius Necromancer of the Barbarian Race

Chapter 124 : Secret in the Archive

Secret in the Archive

Did he lose his memory?

At those words, everyone's attention turned to Edwin.

"It would've been nice if that were the case for me as well..."

I expected some kind of reaction, but Edwin only trailed off without displaying any especially suspicious response.

Well, maybe visiting the archive will help him remember. If someone suffers amnesia or something similar, I've heard that recalling not oneself but the environment or the circumstances can be helpful.

"... If we go to the archive, will we be able to find out why those madmen are chasing after Your Highness?"

Miriam muttered, stroking her chin.

"You seem pretty interested."

"Of course. The Seven Abyssal Brands — I don't even want to get involved with those guys."

"If you don't want to get involved, why are you so curious?"

"So I can avoid them, obviously."

Well, she had a point.

"S-so wouldn't it be fine if we just escorted Prince Edwin to the archive?"

At Serena's question, I couldn't easily nod.

There's a lot I want to know. Things I want to ask the prince, too.

Why did he come here alone?

And why are those Seven Abyssal Brands after him?

On top of that, maybe I could even learn something about obtaining the 'Rune of the Abyss'.

Still, it wasn't easy to open my mouth.

'We could be executed for this!'

Barkal is one of us. Since Barkal messed with the prince, the 'Dungeon God' might come after all of us by association under a guilt-by-association rule.

"Hm."

But, that's something one could just gamble on 'luck.'

It's also possible that Edwin doesn't remember Barkal harming him.

And if his memory is vague, I can just pass the blame off on those assassin guys.

Fine.

Let's head for the royal palace's ancient books so Edwin can recover his memory.

Judging by the way he talks, he probably remembers the way to some extent.

"But... there's going to be an issue."

The flow of conversation shifted back toward Edwin.

"What do you mean there's going to be an issue?"

"B-before I lost my memory, I think I was someone pretty important."

Hmm.

That's true.

But hearing you say it out loud is a little weird.

"But having no guard with me at all means... there must've been a reason I had to come out alone, or at least with the minimum number of people, right?"

Once again, I gazed at Edwin with half-closed eyes.

No matter how you look at it, he doesn't seem to have lost his memory.

"There's really no need to go."

Miriam spoke up.

"Once His Highness enters the palace, he'll figure everything out himself. As for his memory, it'll probably return gradually over time, don't you think?"

"Mm... I think Sister Miriam is right, too,"

Serena added.

Both nodded and continued the conversation.

"There's no need to enter the palace. If anything happens, it could get dangerous."

Miriam kept offering perfectly reasonable advice.

Yeah, you're right.

But there's something I want to confirm.

The mark belonging to the assassin, the 'Seven Abyssal Brands,' was shaped like seven star-like symbols forming a spiral.

And there are seven Runes of the Abyss.

What if that's not a coincidence?

"Edwin is a prince. If anything happens to him, the 'Dungeon God's' reputation will be damaged."

So I decided to somehow put a spin on the reason.

I didn't put much sincerity into those words, but Serena nodded as if she understood.

As for Miriam... well, she didn't look pleased, but what can you do?

"T-then who should go with him?"

"I'll go."

I stepped forward in response to Serena's question.

There might just be a hint about the 'Rune of the Abyss' inside the archive.

And—

"I know the way. I'll lead you."

I shot a look at Edwin.

It was just my intuition, but I felt like he wanted to say something to me.

* * *

4 a.m.

The night just before dawn felt darker than any other time in the world.

I looked out toward the eastern horizon, but there was not even a speck of light. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the darkness covering the world was absolute.

Beneath the eastern wall of the royal palace. There, I was feeling the chilly dawn air against my skin.

"It's cold."

Unconsciously, I muttered to myself. Edwin, who came along, could be seen shivering from the cold as well.

"If you're cold, I'll hold you close, sage!"

Whether he heard me talking to myself or not, Barkal laughed, arms wide.

Get lost, you jerk.

"The sun will rise soon."

Serena, who came along, added a word as well.

The problem was that before sunrise, we'd have to retrace the path that Edwin had used to leave.

During this darkness, it seemed there was little chance of being discovered.

Sometimes, I could hear dogs barking off in the distance, but not a sign of people.

"Here... it should be here."

Edwin murmured, running his hands along the bottom of the wall.

"Ah, here it is."

Then he set his hand on a brick. I couldn't tell what set it apart from the others, but Edwin seemed to have some special intuition.

"If you push this brick like this..."

Click.

As Edwin pushed in the brick he'd found, part of the wall curled inward.

A secret passage.

"Amazing that you knew this was here."

"Yes, I—well, from what I recall, I used to... I mean, from what I can remember, I think there was something like this."

I glanced at Edwin, who was stammering, then shifted my gaze to Miriam.

She'd come along, too. She probably felt obligated to follow, since the others had gone to meet us, but I was grateful anyway.

"Let's just pretend we didn't see anything here, miriam."

Still, since you're the 'Disguiser,' I should make this clear. If you go around blabbing about the secret passage, we could end up getting hurt.

"I'm not that clueless, you know."

Leaving her curt reply behind, I stepped into the secret passage with Edwin.

From behind came Serena's "Be careful!" and Barkal's booming "If there's danger, I'll rush right in!"

But how are you going to know if we're in danger if there's no way to let you know?

The passage was much narrower than I had imagined. Barely wide enough for a grown man to squeeze through.

The walls were cold and damp—brushing my hand against them, I could feel moss.

This wasn't just old—it was ancient.

I wondered if this passage was decades, perhaps even more than a hundred years old.

Awed by the legacy of the 'Kerval Dynasty,' I also found myself thinking—

"They left this passage alone for a hundred years?"

What a bunch of madmen.

"Be careful, there's a staircase ahead."

Edwin's voice came from the dark ahead.

Feeling my way forward, I did indeed find stairs—ascending ones.

One step at a time. With each step, a faint creaking sound came from below.

This must be another wooden staircase as old as the Kerval Dynasty. Pretty rickety.

"My private archive should be on the third floor of the palace."

Edwin explained as he led the way upward.

The narrow space was filled only by the sound of our breathing. The previously icy bricks were gradually warming—looked like we were entering the palace's interior.

Edwin began feeling along the wall again.

Press.

Not long after, another passage slowly opened.

"This way."

Edwin gestured, striding naturally ahead as if he'd been in and out of this place plenty of times.

That's when—

Footsteps sounded from the far end of the long corridor.

Judging by the clanking of heavy armor, it was obviously the security guards.

I silently watched Edwin, feeling like he'd know what to do.

A shadow finally lurked around the corner.

And from in front of us—

"Who goes there!"

Two guards in armor appeared.

They thrust their lanterns forward, casting the light on us.

"E-Edwin, Your Highness!?"

When the guards recognized Edwin, they instantly dropped to their knees.

"W-why are you out at this hour, Your Highness...?"

"Get up. I just came out to take care of some business."

Edwin's voice was perfectly calm—none of the earlier nervousness remained.

The guards rose at his words. Noticing me, they asked cautiously,

"Um, who is this person...?"

"A close acquaintance. I called them for advice."

"A-at this hour?"

"That's what makes them such a great acquaintance."

Edwin smiled.

"By the way, did the patrol schedule change?"

"Yes, since yesterday a dawn patrol was added."

"I see. Sorry I wasn't informed in advance."

"N-not at all!"

The guards quickly shook their heads.

"We should have told you in advance..."

"It's fine. I have business in my private archive."

"Yes, sir!"

Edwin smoothly walked past them down the hall.

I walked after him.

An uneasy silence settled over the hall. There was nothing either of us especially wanted to say.

No, actually, there was something I wanted to hear—but I figured it could wait until we reached the archive.

Soon, we reached the end of the corridor.

A massive wooden door drew our eyes.

The moment we stepped through, a strange scent pricked my nose.

Old paper.

Dust.

The accumulated aroma of an indescribable passage of time.

"Do you have any idea how hard I worked to collect all these books?"

I only half-listened to Edwin's suddenly friendly tone as I skimmed through the books.

As I ran my hands over a few and checked their contents, I realized that all the books here shared a certain theme.

Dungeons.

This archive was filled with books about 'dungeons'.

"If you're curious about these, you can ask. I can answer anything."

At Edwin's words I looked at him.

"When did you recover your memory?"

He shook his head.

"From the beginning. I never lost my memory in the first place—that was a lie."

Hmm.

Since the beginning, then.

At those words, a cold sweat began to run down my back.

Barkal.

Our Barkal.

This is how it turned out.

If only you'd been the only one to go, everything would have been solved.