Chapter 212 : The king’s hospitality
The royal palace of Gairadite.
With Zamira as their guide, Lay and Misa were taken to the throne room.
Sitting on a luxurious throne, the person who greeted them was a thin old man dressed in king’s garments.
His face was wrinkled and old, but his eyes were sparkling with youthfulness.
“I have brought the Hero Kanon and his fiancée, Misa-sama.” (Zamira)
Zamira spoke politely and knelt awkwardly due to his thick body.
Lay and Misa intended to follow suit and kneel before the king, but the latter stopped them with a hand gesture.
“You may remain standing. I cannot allow the Hero Kanon, the great hero of Azesion to kneel.” (King)
The king rose from his throne and walked over to Lay and Misa.
“It is an honor to meet you. I am Lycius Engelo Gairadite, the 106th King of Gairadite.” (King/Lycius)
Two thousand years ago, the royal capital of Gairadite was the fortress of humanity. The king who ruled the royal capital was also the one who unified and ruled all of Azesion.
To be precise, Azesion wasn’t a single nation, but a federation of human nations. And the King of Gairadite ruled over them all.
This part of history had remained unchanged for the past two thousand years, and that was still the case today.
The fact that Zamira and the king both had ‘Engelo’ in their names suggested that the former was also part of the royal family.
However, since he was dispatched to the Hero Academy, he must’ve been pretty low in the line of succession to the throne.
“We are delighted to welcome you to our palace. We have long awaited this day.” (Lycius)
Lycius held out his hand to Lay.
“I go by Lay Grandsley now.” Lay declared while accepting the handshake.
“Even as a demon, you remain the Hero Kanon that I admire so much.” (Lycius)
Lycius also extended his hand to Misa.
“I am Misa Reglia.” (Misa)
“What a wonderful young lady.” (Lycius)
The two shook hands.
“There is still time before the banquet. We have prepared a room where you two can relax in the meantime. Please make yourselves at home.” (Lycius)
“Thank you very much. May I also greet the rest of the royal family?” (Lay)
When Lay asked that, Lycius closed his mouth and exhaled through his nose.
“Hero Kanon.” (Lycius)
Lycius addressed him with a serious expression.
“Please forgive us for this disrespect in spite of our due hospitality, but we have a request for you.” (Lycius)
For a moment, Lay and Misa glanced at each other.
“What is it?” (Lay)
“The royal family has 26 members in the line of succession to the throne.
Still kneeling, Zamira’s dark gaze briefly dropped to the floor.
“However, they are all sick at the moment.” (Lycius)
“…All of them?” (Lay)
“We understand your confusion. We ourselves considered the possibility that someone was planning to overthrow the kingdom and exterminate the entire royal family. However, no matter how many sages we have consulted, none of them could determine the cause of their sickness. We thought it might be a curse, but it appears to not be the case.” Lycius explained with a somber expression.
“If this continues, the whole kingdom will fall. Our only hope is your Sword of Three Races, which is said to be capable of severing fate.” (Lycius)
“…Couldn’t you have asked the Demon King of Dilhade for help…?” (Lycius)
At Lay’s words, Lycius shook his head.
“When all is said and done, we cannot trust demons. Only a handful of trustworthy people in the royal palace are aware of the royal heirs’ worsening condition. Moreover, we cannot let the rule of another nation know about this.” (Lycius)
So the reason they didn’t put much effort into the subjugation of dragons was because this was their true priority?
“We will offer you any reward you wish. Please, will you save us?” (Lycius)
Seeing Lycius bowing his head, Lay smiled awkwardly.
“I don’t know how much I can help with, but if it’s some sort of curse, I should be able to do something about it. May I see any of the royals?” (Lay)
“Yes, thank you so much. We are in your debt.” (Lycius)
After saying that, Lycius walked toward the throne.
“This way.” (Lycius)
“My king!” Zamira shouted to stop them as Lay and Misa followed Lycius.
“What is it, Zamira?” (Lycius)
“I brought the Hero Kanon-sama to the royal palace as you wished!” (Zamira)
Zamira looked at Lycius with a pleading look.
“Indeed, and I thank you for that, Zamira. You shall be rewarded properly. Do continue to work hard for our country at the Hero Academy.” (Lycius)
Zamira gritted his teeth.
“At the Hero Academy… you say…?” (Zamira)
“If you have any objections, tell them now.” (Lycius)
“…No… I have none at all, Your Majesty…” (Zamira)
Although he was lowering his head, Zamira was glaring at the floor with a look of humiliation and anger.
However, the next moment, whatever he was thinking made him switch to a gloomy smile.
The fact that he was kept outside the royal palace even though he was the only heir to the throne not to be affected by that disease meant that Lycius didn’t want Zamira to inherit the throne.
Without paying attention to him, Lycius walked to the throne.
Holding his hand over it, he drew a magic circle, and with a rumbling sound, the throne moved.
Revealing a staircase hidden beneath it.
Lycius walked them down to lead the way.
Lay and Misa followed him.
Magic lamps were hung on the walls, dimly lighting the stairs.
However, it was still so dark that they couldn’t see anything ahead.
The three of them proceeded for a while.
No matter how long they walked, all they could see were the stairs.
Considering that the throne room was on the ground floor, they must have gone deep underground.
The sound of water echoed.
It eventually grew loud enough for them to hear it.
Before long, a vast limestone cave came into view.
There was an underground lake far below, emitting a mysterious light.
It was probably holy water.
Lycius used <Flight Fress> to descend to the underground lake.
He walked straight down there.
“Are all the royals recuperating in a place like this?” Misa asked while looking around curiously.
“This is the most highly concentrated holy water spring in all of Gairadite. It is also known only to a limited number of people in the royal palace. There is no risk of anyone else learning about it.” Lycius answered.
At the center of the underground lake was a circular rock formation that resembled a stage, and he walked up to it.
26 coffins were placed there.
“Are they lying in them?” (Lay)
Lycius nodded.
Lay crouched down in front of a coffin and put his hand on the lid.
He slowly lifted the lid and opened the coffin.
However, there was nothing inside.
The moment Lay turned to look at Lycius, a high and unpleasant sound rang out.
The underground lake began to emit a pale white light.
‘Lay-san…?!” Misa screamed.
At that same moment, a huge dragon, probably over 100m long, loudly emerged from the lake.
Its scales and skin were white.
“GROOOOAAAAAAR…!!!” (White dragon)
