“You’re here again, Fortisbel,” said a knight clad in full armor standing in front of a large wooden door. “If it was me, I would definitely ask for something else.”

“Haha... Yeah… Are you not bored though, keeping guard here?”

There was nothing else in this underground passageway. No windows, not even other guards. Only torches accompanied this knight on his job. I couldn’t imagine doing nothing everyday here.

“Eh… I can be doing worse jobs.” He shrugged. “Plus no one can deny that the pay is good.” The knight then stepped to the side, opening the door for me. “Come on in.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

I stepped into the large room. Rows and rows of bookshelves filled the underground space, a space called the secret library. It’s a library built underneath the castle of Syla, home of the royal family. After helping the royal family with finding Emori, a problem I myself caused, they granted my wish and gave me access to this secret library. I followed the stairs going down, arriving in front of the castle’s librarian.

“Fortisbel Baskator,” the old man said, writing my name into the guestbook. “I must say you’re coming here too often.”

“I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Oh, not at all. This old man can use some company. That said, isn’t it better to spend your youth elsewhere?”

I shook my head.

“Well, whatever knowledge you seek, I hope you find it.”

“Thank you.”

I went past the librarian and went deeper. I did have something, or rather, two things I wanted to find in this library. The librarian, like most of the people in my time, had forgotten the existence of the demon king. They believed that the heroes' party killed the demon king a century ago. In truth, the party only sealed the demon king. Asytelar, a member of the original party, gave me the task of killing him.

I looked for any knowledge related to the demon king, while at the same time looking for anything that might help us in the fight. Some examples would be sacred things. Emori’s White Void being an example of a sacred sample, while Prilus’ sword is a sacred sword. These things had much more power compared to the average spell or weapon, thus their importance.

I then noticed a Connect spell coming in. Unlike phone calls on Earth, Connect spells connect your mind directly to the target.

“Fortis, we’ve cleared the dungeon.”

“Good job.”

“There’s still time, so we’ll look for some other place to grind. How are things going on your end?”

I picked up several books and brought them to the table while concentrating on Emori. Emori, as the side that started the spell, bore the most weight, but that didn’t mean I was free from any burden.

“... Not good.”

“Nothing new?”

“No. Well, I did just arrive.” I set the books down on the table and began sorting them. The smaller ones were the most appealing, as they could be finished within a several minutes depending on how complex and how fast I could read through them.

“Alright. Good luck.”

“Thanks, you too.”

The Connect ended. I let out a sigh.

I began reading through the first book. I looked for any mention of a sacred thing. Most of Syla’s sacred things were made by Amoriaz, the founder of Syla. Some were made with his guidance, other things made directly by him. White Void was a spell that he made by himself.

White Void could only be used by the firstborn of Syla that had a pure heart. If she used it, it would cancel the abdication of her right to rule. I didn’t know why she decided to step down from her future throne, but trying to find out wouldn’t end well.

To hide that, she had managed to modify White Void. The resulting spell visually looked like a light spell, but with intense power. We called it White Spring, a pretty funny name to be honest, especially since it had nothing to do with a spring.

Based on what I found so far, the only downside was the uncertainty of it. It required a pure heart, something that I still couldn’t define. That and the high mana usage, limiting our utilization of the spell in fear of overworking Emori.

I tried looking for more concrete information, but I found nothing. White Void was rarely mentioned in the first place. Being the firstborn of a royal family was already an impossible requirement for most people, but pure heart?

Looking for things without the internet sucks.

I had been spending quite a lot of time in the secret library after we returned from our spring vacation, but I still had yet to find anything helpful.

Well, to be fair, not like this info will be widely available on the internet anyway, unless someone leaked them through a game's forums.

It reminded me of a game notorious for having secret military tech leaked on its forums. That said, military tech was something made by humans, so that often had exact information on it. The same couldn’t be said for magic.

Even the game, despite how detailed Asytelar made it, had very limited information about the White Void.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I continued looking through the notes. I didn’t have much time. The demon king could return at any moment, and we weren’t ready.

After reading through some more books, I realized that I couldn’t dwell on Emori’s spell any longer. She wasn’t the only party member in my team, and the demon king may not even be affected by White Void. Relying just on her was too risky.

I imagined Emori’s face and then painted the symbol for Connect in my vision.

“Fortis? You find anything?”

“Unfortunately, no. I think I’ll continue looking for other things, instead.”

“Alright, it’s fine.”

“I think the main drawback is the pure heart thing. You have a high mana pool, so you shouldn’t worry too much on that front. But, about the heart thing… I’m not even sure if this is possible, but keep your heart pure.”

“Umm… that’s a bit… abstract.”

I smiled wryly. “Haha, yeah.”

“I’ll try my best regardless.”

“Thank you.”

I cut off the spell, returning to the books. After finishing one stack, I returned them to their previous locations then looked for different books. I searched for anything even remotely related to the demon king.

What’s this?

I noticed a book with a leather cover. Unlike the other books, this one had messier handwriting. It didn’t even have a title. I opened it up, expecting an important quest item, maybe a diary or something, only to find great disappointment.

“... Please don’t say this is Prilus’ math homework.”

Nothing but math problems filled the book. Had this been a game, I would feel suspicious of his math homework coming back to bite me in the future or something, but this is real life. No matter how you looked at it, it was regular old math.

If the story would make this book somehow relevant, I would definitely give it a one star. Half disappointed, half amused, I returned the book to the bookshelf and continued searching.

“What are you looking for?” A girl’s voice came from behind me. I looked back. She had short pink hair and bright green eyes, a bright smile on her face. She looked a bit older than me, an air of maturity around her. A dark brown dress hid underneath her red coat. On her foot were black, most likely leather, boots that clacked with her steps.

I had never seen her before.

Is she a guest?

Not just anyone could enter the secret library. I better be careful.

She tilted her head, approaching me curiously. “Is something the matter?”

“Ah, nothing.”

She let out a giggle at my reaction. “I probably should have introduced myself earlier. Please excuse me. My name is Nayala Karaza Kachen Nanawak.” She tugged the sides of her skirt and did a little bow.

Nanawak… Nanawak… where did I hear that name before? Oh wait…

“Are- Are you the princess of the Nanawak Empire?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

“Pardon my rudeness!”

“It’s alright.” She waved her hand. “I’m the rude one. I walked up to you and began talking.”

“It- It’s alright, Your Imperial Highness.”

Unlike Prilus, Princess Nayala came from a different country. It would be good to show her basic courtesy. But Nanawak isn’t close to Syla. I wonder what she was doing here.

“If you don’t mind me asking, are you here on official business?”

The princess put a finger on her cheek. “Well, you can call it that…”

“I see…”

Half of me wanted to know more about it, but the other half knew that asking wouldn’t be a good idea.

“Aren’t you the slightest bit curious about it?”

Well…

I smell trouble. People don’t usually nudge their business my way if I wouldn't be involved. Well, she did come to the library, and instead of picking up a book, came to talk to me. The secret library, no less.

“... Maybe?” I was unsure of how to react. If this was anyone else, I could just shrug my shoulders and continue looking at the books, but this is the princess of a foreign country. I assume I couldn’t just fight her like I fought Prilus.

“Eh… you’re quite interesting, Fortisbel.”

“So you know who I am?”

“Yep.” She nodded her head. “You’re the level one hundred Fortisbel, the highest level child in the history of this world.”

“I wonder if that’s true…” I never heard the mention of someone my age being my level. There were some impressive people that were level one hundred before age forty, but most people have zero reason to go out and grind for hours and hours on end. Certainly not when they were five.

“How did you know about me?”

“Call it a princess’ intuition.” She giggled. “Just joking. I've heard a lot about you from Prilus and Emori.”

Is she here to recruit me, I wonder…

I couldn’t abandon the others, though. Syla was the kingdom closest to the demon king’s seal. I couldn’t even imagine the aftermath if I left and nobody took my place. If we had a bit more time, maybe a year and two, then maybe Emori could take over. But definitely not now… or at least that was what I thought.

She proved herself before. It’s a bad idea to underestimate her again.

“So, is there something I can help with, Your Highness?”

“There is something…” Her expression darkened. “We’re under attack from the demon king’s forces.”

My breath got caught in my throat. “It’s happening… isn’t it?”

Princess Nayala folded her arms and rested her back on a bookshelf. “At first, it looked like a normal monster outbreak, not something we never dealt with before. But more and more dangerous monsters appeared, some of them had a demon symbol on their magic stones. We sent our soldiers from the capital to fight them, but even to the elites, these monsters were difficult.”

“So you came to Syla to ask for help?”

“I’m here for other… matters… But since both Prilus and Emori talked about how powerful you are, I thought why not try and contact you.”

So the two recommended me. I wonder if they're close.

“... You’re not the one betrothed to Prilus, are you?” It was a piece of information I learned by accident during my spring vacation.

The princess’ eyes widened. “So it’s already leaked.”

“... Oops.”

I’m sorry Emori.

“Who told you?” The princess inched closer.

It was during the spring vacation. Me, Emori, and Maya had a trip to Solicea’s home. During a night there, Emori accidentally let it slip that her brother had someone he’s betrothed to.

“So- Sorry… I can’t say?”

She snickered. “Don’t worry, I won’t get mad. It’s not like it’ll be long before the entire thing is revealed. But, let’s discuss the more important thing instead, shall we?”

“You mean the monsters?”

“Yes. Prilus believed that investigating these monsters may give us some clues about the demon king’s return, that and it’ll be a great opportunity to train. What do you think?”

While it would certainly be a good thing, I wonder why he didn’t tell me about it directly. Did he hate me that much?

“We have school, though.”

“I’ll find a way to deal with that.”

So we’ll be getting days off? Not like I have anything to learn there anyway.

“I’ll talk with the rest.”

“Okay. Just come to me with your reply.” She waved and left the library. I watched her walk off then went back to the books.