Right. The reason why I had to take the trouble of digging through my memory and make the map myself was because the maps were considered national secrets.
I was really careless in showing this map to Mazell and his party, especially considering that old man Uwe and Laura would become part of the hero party. They weren’t when I shared it.
Well then, how should I answer old man Uwe’s question? I was so tired that I couldn’t think straight. Should I just make up a random excuse?
“Have Mazell told you about it?” (Uwe)
“About what, exactly?”
“About the other demon generals.” (Uwe)
Did he mean Dreax and Beliulace? Though I knew Mazell had defeated them both, I hadn’t asked about the details.
Still, this gramps kept putting his guard up with me. He thought I was hiding some kind of secret, that was why he was suspicious of me.
“Unlike Gezarius, the other demon generals didn’t leave any corpses when they died. That’s why I had you leave the site at that time.”
Ah, right. Come to think of it, when the protagonist killed the other demon generals in the game, they also didn’t leave any corpses behind… Wait a minute…
Even considering the fact I didn’t know anything about Gezarius since he didn’t appear in the game, there was still one thing that I found strange. Gezarius, that guy, seemed to be able to freely change himself to his demon appearance and his human appearance. Perhaps, Gezarius was…
“… different from the rest of demon generals?”
“In the first place, the existence of the demon general in itself was strange. How much did Sir know about the previous demon king?”
The previous demon king… At first, I used to have no interest in him mainly because there was no mention of him in the game. However, later, I did become interested in him because of my conjecture that the demons were a replacement for natural disasters in this world.
Anyway, because of lack of time and resources to do in-depth research, my knowledge regarding the previous demon king was limited to what I had heard about him from story books of this world.
“In the era of the previous demon king, the Four Heavenly Kings existed, but the demon generals didn’t exist. At the very least I have never found any trace of their existence from the records of the ancient kingdom.”
“What?”
Really? Come to think of it, I also had my own doubts about the demon generals since they could revive, yet the Four Heavenly Kings couldn’t revive in the game. If my hypothesis that the demon king was referring to a position rather than a certain being then…
“The demon generals are the close aide of the current demon king?”
“Hmm….”
What with that reaction?
“It seems like Sir didn’t have the knowledge of the ancient kingdom.”
“What do you mean by that, sir?”
“The geography of the entire continent was known in the era of the ancient kingdom. I thought Sir had the knowledge of the ancient kingdom, that was why Sir could create the map of the continent.”
“How old do you think I (ore) am?”
I unintentionally switched to informal I (ore) since I didn’t have enough energy left to keep up the formal appearance, but it seemed like elder Uwe was letting that slide.
I couldn’t help but ask, “Are you knowledgeable about the ancient kingdom?”
“More or less. I was researching a magic device from the era of the ancient kingdom after all.”
Ah, right, that was his setting in the game. If that was the case, it should be I who should be asking questions. If he had any documents or records about the ancient kingdom, I would really like to take a look at them.
This old man was His Majesty’s teacher, so I wonder if he had access to the classified books in the royal family’s library (assuming it exists). But if I wanted to ask him about this, I probably need to divulge some of my own secrets.
The elder asked me when I was lost in my thoughts, “So, have you reached an answer on why Gezarius left a corpse when he died?”
Well, I did have a hypothesis, but I wasn’t sure if it was right.
“That corpse was a trap, perhaps?”
“Right. I think it would be best if we didn’t leave that black gem to you, Sir.”
I’d appreciate it if you take care of it in my stead. I mean, who knew what would happen if I held that black gem? In the first place, Gezarius’s aim was me. This trap must be one of his ways to get hold of my body.
“Huber told us to just watch from the sidelines unless something goes south. That’s why we only intervened when we saw Gezarius breach the gate.”
“I see?”
This gramps even call the Crown Prince just by his name. Well, considering his position, it made sense.
“I think it was only recently that the demon army started to target you.”
“Is that so?”
“If the demon army targeted you from our very first battle with the demons, the demon army will send Gezarius to entrap you much earlier. Most likely, Gezarius reported about your existence to the demon king. It was only after that the demon king and the demon army made a plan targeting you.”
So the reason the demon army and Gezarius didn’t immediately make a move after they arrived at Triot was to form some sort of strategy to target me?
But that would mean the demon king sent Gezarius here so as to lose. If that was the case, it was hard to call Gezarius the current demon king’s close confidant. Was there something I had missed?
“Well then, back to my original question. You, Sir, who knows the map of the continent and is now being targeted by the demon army, just who exactly are you?”
“Ah…um…”
I think the reason the demon army targeted me was that I was Mazell’s friend. As for who I was… how should I answer that…
“Lying to me will be useless as I have cast a lie detecting magic. I need to be cautious of you, Sir. Currently only the demon army that has the knowledge of ancient kingdoms could create a map of the continent. But you, Sir, have no knowledge about the ancient kingdom yet you can create the map of the continent. So, who are you?”
Urgh. Old man Uwe played me in his hands. He intentionally tested me to see if I had knowledge about ancient kingdoms so that he could rule out the possibility of me deeply researching ancient ruins and finding maps there.
Moreover, I didn’t know the exact reason why I was being targeted by the demon army. But if someone claimed I was actually part of the demon army because of my knowledge and that the demon army targeting me was only an act, I couldn’t refute them.
If I told him the truth, he might think I was crazy. Still, in these circumstances I had no choice but to at least tell him part of the truth.
As for the matter of lie detection magic, I didn’t think it was very accurate because if it was, the royal family and nobles’ houses would have been making extensive use of it. However, I also knew it was most likely that lie detection magic or something similar existed because of the game setting of Old man Uwe.
Old man Uwe had really planned it well. He had made sure that I was completely mentally and physically exhausted, so I couldn’t think straight.
“I don’t know if you will believe me, but I have memories of a story. It is fuzzy. Map happens to be one of few things which is relatively clear. I also supplemented it with information I gathered.”
As this world didn’t have the concept of [electronic games], saying it was a story made sense. Moreover, it’s been a long time since I played the game so yeah most of it was now fuzzy. I also left out the part of being from a different world. Lie detection magic wouldn’t raise a red flag as my answers were technically correct.
“So what exactly is this story about?”
Here it came. All of it would depend on this question.
“It is about this world like ancient kingdoms and vague bits of future events. However, so far, information regarding future events does not seem correct as Gezarius wasn’t mentioned at all in it.”
So far. My answers were accurate but I just left out some more important things or context like I was the one who caused the future events to change and Gezarius was the only main demon so far who wasn’t mentioned in the game.
“Can Sir tell what other memories are clear?”
“Some technological and academic information but I have already shared most of it with the kingdom.”
I intentionally didn’t specify whether or not they were connected to ancient kingdoms, but implied it.
“Hmm… What is the title of that story book?”
“Pardon?”
“The title of that story book. What is it?”
The title of the story book… the title of the story book…? Hmm?
What was the game’s title?
(T/L: The mystery about this game is only growing. What exactly is this game?)
