Chapter 42

I yawned as I locked my room, and then strode to the stairs to head down to the dining room. Lynn had kept me up a bit late practicing the language. She had been ecstatic when I told her I wanted her to teach me. At least it went well. The sentence structure generally followed English’s structure, so that part wasn’t too difficult. The hard part was memorizing the symbols that they use to represent letters and sounds and other things. It was a lot more complicated than a simple twenty-six letter alphabet. According to Lynn there was a hundred and twenty-six symbols that were used in this language. Some of the symbols were very similar, too. It reminded me of some of the Asian languages on Earth where a single small dot or line could be important.

Lynn had discovered the language was actually extremely similar to a language in our database, once she deciphered it enough to notice the connection. The language of the Sel’ae from Cladus V. Now that Lynn had seen that connection, she reviewed the spoken language and had found traces of the Sel’ae language there as well. Unlike the written language though, it was only a small part, which was why Lynn hadn’t immediately perceived it. Lynn had concluded that the language was most likely a mix of at least three or four other languages, if not more. It created a whole new question. Had there been Sel’ae on this world at some point in the distant past? The language would be a remarkable coincidence if not.

It felt like every time I learned something about this world, it just created more questions. I was really hoping I’d get at least some answers today at the library.

I arrived at the bottom of the stairs when I finally became aware of the absence of something. Where was the noise? This should be the first day of a month long celebration. There should be tons of sounds, but instead I don’t hear anything. I reached out with my psi and felt lots of tension and fear radiating from all around. What had happened? What had I missed while having a language lesson in my room?

Entering the dining room, I found myself the center of attention for a moment before everyone returned to their whispered conversations. They weren’t particularly interested in me, they were all just jumpy. I went to the bar to order breakfast. The inn owner was working there this morning. She had a worried look on her face.

“Good morning, I’d like to order breakfast.” I said.

“What will you be having, dearie?” She replied. Seemingly grateful for some task, even a short one, to take her mind off whatever was worrying her.

“I’d like to get a plate of pancakes again. Also some cold cuts for my pet here.” I patted Coa and she perked up at the mention of food.

“Got it.” She scratched it down on a handy scrap of paper and then sent it back to the kitchen along the line. “It will likely be a longer wait than yesterday. It’s been a bit hectic this morning, what with the news and all.”

“Yeah, I wanted to ask about that.” Grateful that she had brought it up. It saved me from having to broach the topic. “I retired pretty early last night, so I’m not aware of what happened to cause this weird atmosphere. Shouldn’t everyone be busy enjoying themselves with the anniversary festival?”

The inn owner looked astonished, but then nodded. She had known that I had gone to my room last night early. She sighed. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news then. There was an oracle last night during the midnight mass.”

“What kind of oracle?” I asked. Does she mean an actual oracle, as in a prophecy of some kind? That kind of thing can happen here? Wait, didn’t Huvreck mention oracles before?

“A very bad one, especially considering the timing that it arrived. Mid sermon, the Archbishop, went into a trance and began announcing the coming of a new Devil. The worst part was that oracle was vague and only mentioned that it was coming! The Emperor declared that he would be putting out a call for Heroes. If the situation becomes desperate enough, we might even have to summon Heroes…” She trailed off with a pained face.

Summoning heroes sounds dramatic, but I’m more curious about the first part. “Sorry, but what is a ‘Devil’?” I inquired.

The inn owner was astounded. “You don’t know?” I could only shake my head. “A Devil is the term for the leader of the fiends.” She stated. I felt my face go blank in response. “You don’t even know of fiends?” I grimaced. “Fiends are the feral demons on the far east continent. An oracle mentioning a Devil means a new leader will emerge and unite all the tribes together, and it always means a war. The last time a Devil appeared was at the founding of the Empire. The Devil was so powerful that the Founding Emperor only barely overcame it! An oracle of a Devil on the anniversary…” She trailed off again. Her thoughts had gone to darker places.

That definitely explained why everyone was so fearful! That kind of history would have a deep significance for all these people, considering how they all idolize that founder. There was one other detailed I needed clarified though. “You had a sad face when you mentioned summoning Heroes. Why was that?”

“Well, of course, it’s because we’d be taking them from their homes and bringing them here! Isn’t that a horrible thing to do? That’s why I said it’s only a last resort. The Founding Emperor was very upset when he learned about that being conducted. That was why he confronted the Devil himself. No one wants to dishonor his memory by doing it again if there are other options we can rely on.” She explained. A plate topped up with pancakes appeared out of the kitchen. There was a smaller plate with the meat on it to the side. She took them and handed them to me. “Your breakfast, Miss. I apologize for giving you the bad news, but do try to enjoy the festival.”

I took my breakfast with a nod of thanks. I scanned the room. There was no empty table to sit at, what with all the people loitering around gossiping. Coa was moving down my body to go for her plate of meat. “Coa, stop. You can wait until I sit down.” I scolded her quietly. She looked at me with a wide-eyed expression before slowly slithering back to my neck. With her taken care of momentarily, I steeled myself for the likely annoying conversation that would follow and went to a table that had a free seat. “Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?” I asked, trying to sound polite.

“Just take a seat, youngin. We ain’t got no problem with a new face joining us.” A demon man with a middle aged appearance replied. The other five at the table nodded.

“Thank you.” I answered. I placed the down the plates as I sat. I immediately picked up a small piece of meat and held it up to Coa. “Here, you greedy, little thing.” Coa snapped at it immediately. “No reason to rush. Your breakfast isn’t going anywhere.” I rubbed her head as she chewed and swallowed before crooning at me as she begged for the next piece. 

The other people at the table chuckled at this display. “That pet looks to be quite a handful.” An elven woman commented.

I fed her another piece with one hand while I poured syrup on my pancakes with the other. “She’s just a glutton. She’s well behaved outside of mealtimes. Mostly.” I gave Coa a pointed look, which she ignored as she whined for more. I continued giving her slices of meat while I started consuming my own breakfast.

I was just about to start on my second pancake when the demon man spoke up again. “So youngin, have you heard the news?”

“You mean about the Devil? The inn lady filled me in.” I realized that it was kind of bad that I didn’t know her name. She had introduced herself when that knight brought me here, but I hadn’t cared enough to remember it.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“That’s important, and of course related, but since you looked like an adventurer, I was referring to the call for heroes.” The demon man stated.

“What does that have to do with being an adventurer?” I asked, taking a moment to stick more pancake into my mouth. “I’m definitely not hero material.” I’m too much of a monster to be a hero. I’d be more suited to being a devil.

“The Emperor is asking all adventurers to challenge the dungeon and is offering rewards and positions to any that can show proof of getting past the fifteenth floor.” One of the other men said, speaking up for the first time.

Just what I needed, even more potential problems. “What kind of proof will they be seeking?”

“Likely to be one of the boss’ stones I reckon.” The demon man said.

“I can’t see anything else being used.” A human woman agreed.

I guess that means I can’t sell any of the stones I get. A bit of a shame to lose the extra income, but oh well. It’s better to stay as much off the radar as possible. That might be an exercise in futility with how I showed off with the bandits. “I don’t see myself getting that far in the dungeon. I’m just going to shoot for getting up to the tenth floor.” I lied.

“Best of luck, youngin.” The demon man replied.

The group at the table went back to conversing about the Devil situation. How soon will it arrive or how the military will be handled. Those kind of topics. I joined the conversation occasionally with brief comments, but I was more focused on my breakfast and satisfying Coa’s stomach. Not an easy task by any means. I had to order another plate of meat, and then she wanted some fruit too. You wouldn’t normally expect a dragon to be an omnivore.

Once breakfast was done, I excused myself from the table and thanked the group for the conversation. They invited me to join them again the next day and without any reason to decline, I accepted. Local gossip wouldn’t hurt any, and I had already scanned their thoughts to know they’re just being kind folks to the poor girl they saw eating alone the previous morning. No ulterior motive present whatsoever.

Well, almost no ulterior motives. The young male elf at the table thought I was just too beautiful. Ugh. As long as he doesn’t make any moves though, I’m content to just ignore him. If he’s smart enough to not try anything stupid anyway.

Now to get to that library. I know it’s on the second level of the city, but not precisely where. The knight a few days ago said it was near the gate to the third level. That shouldn’t be too difficult to find.

As I walked through the city toward the closest gate to the second level, I took in the sights of the city decked out for the festival. There was new banners hanging nearly everywhere and extra stalls set up. It looked like just because of the news, the merchants still weren’t missing out on any chances to sell their ware. It was a bit of a struggle to make my way through the streets with the sheer number of people hustling around. The absence of noise from when I had woken up had disappeared like it had never even been there. There was still an undercurrent of fear and confusion running through the crowds though.

I suddenly detected someone watching me. I was pretty sure it was the same person as yesterday. Did whoever it was know that I’d be going along this route today? I didn’t really keep it a secret that I was planning on visiting the library. The knight girl knew at least, and I was sure the knights had reported me to their superiors. I walked out of range, and again they didn’t make any attempt to follow me. That feels odd. What do they get out of observing me for these brief moments? I honestly can’t understand it. Maybe if there were more watchers, but so far I’ve only caught that person. I can’t rule out the possibility that someone could be outside of my range, but with the buildings in the way, I don’t know how they could do that all that successfully. Possibly magic? A magic that lets you monitor a target has to exist. If they had that though, why would they even have an actual person watching me? I really can’t understand it. It feels so random, but there must be some kind of explanation. There wouldn’t be any person watching me unless they had to.

Oh? Maybe the reason they had to have a person watch me was because their magic wasn’t working? Why would it not be working? Fuck my lack of knowledge. I don’t have the slightest clue! This was the kind of troublesome topic that the library should hopefully rectify.

After I entered the second level and started heading toward the third level to look for the gate. I passed the school and had the thought of visiting Rie, but decided not to. I gave the school a glance from the corner of my eye. Lynn was right that I should to investigate it, though. I would need to find the time to do that too. I might have to have Lynn send some of my more specialized equipment. I could take the opportunity to send samples back to the ship too. I’d just need an excuse to leave the city for a day or two. A job from the adventurer’s guild would assist there. Sounds like a decent idea. I’ll ask Lynn to give me a list of items that she’s interested in examining tonight.

The second level was just as busy as the first had been, but here there was more carriages in use. This was the noble or upper class level of the city, so I suppose it made sense. At least it made the streets less of a hassle to travel along. I stood out a bit in this district, which was engendering some odd glances to be thrown my way. Was it weird for adventurers to visit the library?

That was a stupid question. Of course it would be a strange sight. A scholarly attitude has never been all that common.

A few minutes later, as I passed through an intersection, I perceived a new individual watching me. The gaze was too focused to just be another person taking a momentary interest. I couldn’t pinpoint their exact location due to the range, but they were somewhere down the street to my right. As soon as I crossed through entirely, the perception that they had their eyes on me was gone. There was no movement from the source that they were attempting to follow either, just like the other one. Interesting. So at least that tells me that whoever that other person is, that they’re not operating alone. I doubt two unrelated people would be following the exact same tactic.

Eventually I saw a large gate in the towering rampart in the distance. It was very elaborate and very well guarded. I wasn’t much interested in the gate or what was beyond it. Next to it was a large, white marble structure. The entrance of the building was higher than the street and there were two wide staircases that led up. Between the two staircases there was a statue. It was of a lion beastman. He had a long, wild mane and seemed to have more beastlike features than other beastmen I had seen. He was wearing a long robe over a suit of armor. In his left hand, he was holding a scroll and looked like he was reading from it, while in his right was a halberd with its end in the ground. There was an inscription on the statue so I walked closer to read it.

‘An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.’ was what it read. That seemed like a quote I had read somewhere before, but I couldn’t place the origin. Under the quote was the name ‘Emperor Leto Tevalon I’. So this was the founder. I gave the statue another once over. I now noticed that he had not just the halberd, but also two short swords on his belt and some daggers stuck in his boot. His race explains the lion motif I’ve seen in places too. All the weapons and armor doesn’t seem like it was fit for a statue in front of a library. Possibly the reason why the scroll was there too.

I left my examination of the statue and stepped up the stairs. There were knights on guard here too, but other than asking to see identification, they didn’t prevent me from entering. Once I was inside I found myself in a large hallway with painted murals along the walls and ceiling. I took the time to admire them and I wasn’t the only one. There were a few other people in the hallway admiring them. If I had to hazard a guess, they told the tale of the founder. There was a beam of light and a lion beastman below it. Then it moved on to showing him fighting dragons and other monsters. Him talking to members of all the races and then leading them to a city, which I assume to be this one. At one end, taking up the most space was a fight with a dark shadow with large wings. The devil he fought, perhaps? He was facing it with multiple flaming swords.The rest of the murals were just more of the same. Battles and the like.

I passed through the open doors at the end and found myself in a large room surrounded by book shelves. The bookshelves were tall and had those sliding ladders along them. There must be thousands of books here! I honestly had not expected the library to be this expansive.

I scanned the room, but didn’t see any official looking people. I was on my own then. I strolled over to the nearest shelf to glance at the books and see if I could figure out how they were organized. A code on the side read ‘C9’. I had no idea what that meant. I carefully pulled one of the books out. I immediately felt the urge to facepalm upon seeing the book title, ‘Raising and Breeding of Sloth Lizards’. I slid it back into its space and then tried a few of the other nearby books. They all fell under the same type. Each were dedicated to a certain type of beast. These were not what I was looking for right now, though it would be nice to find even more information on Coa. I’d have to look at another area.

I wandered to the next shelf, when I felt a sudden wave of anger and hostility directed at me. I whirled around to face it and found an older human woman wearing a plain white robe bearing down on me with a scowl. Did I perhaps do something wrong by checking the books myself?