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Chapter 228: 121. Aihrance’s Underground Labyrinth -2 (Part Two)

**

It became late at night before anyone had noticed the passage of time.

I went through all of the nobles present at the audience chamber and ferreted out the Vampires hidden among them. Some of them did resist, which was expected, but we still managed to capture them alive in the end with no problem.

Since the royal palace was teeming with magicians, they should serve as pretty good... lab rats, I’d imagine.

Queen Rox invited me over for a private dinner, and now, I found myself sitting in the balcony located in her room with a great view of the stars dotting the night sky above.

‘Aihrance kingdom was mentioned in the intel that White showed me before, but this...’

I had no idea that so many damn Vampires had already infiltrated the royal palace belonging to this queendom of magic. No, hang on a second, that shouldn’t be all that surprising. It didn’t matter whether it was a queendom or an empire, those damn pests would still find a way to infiltrate and covertly hide themselves among humans.

And that went to show how obsessive these Vampires were in searching for any ‘opportunities’. Opportunities to invade the Theocratic Empire, that was.

While sipping on the prepared tea, I recalled Queen Rox. Now that I thought about it, she kind of reminded me of Kelt.

They seemed to have some similarities in regards to their unstoppable vigour. And their demeanour also felt quite similar, too.

While I was thinking that, the door to the room opened, and along with a maidservant, Queen Rox strode inside.

She settled down on my opposite side while minding the hems of her impressive dress.

Meanwhile, the maidservant placed our dinner on the table between us.

“First of all, I’d like to express my gratitude in accepting my request for the sake of this nation, your highness the Imperial Prince.”

It was ‘adventurer’ before, but now it’s ‘Imperial Prince’?

I brought the teacup to my lips and kept my gaze on Queen Rox, who was happily smiling away.

Although wrinkled, her face was still attractive. And I spied a hint of reminiscence of the past in her expression.

I replied to her, “It wasn’t anything notable, your majesty. I only merely took action at the promise of a substantial reward, after all.”

It wasn’t as if I managed to ferret out every single Vampire. All I did was uncovering those hiding in and near the capital city. There was a good chance that many other Vampires still unaccounted for were hiding within other territories.

Just like how it was with getting rid of cockroaches, you just couldn’t kill every single one of them.

“In that case, shall we start with the discussion regarding your reward? Pray tell, what is it that you want from us, your highness?”

“Allow me to speak frankly in the diplomatic capacity of the Seventh Imperial Prince.”

Aihrance’s debt towards me was practically overflowing right now. I was in a position to basically demand anything from them. I better thank the Big Eyes and Vampires since I had no idea they would contribute so much to my cause.

“Of course. Please, go ahead, your highness.”

I stared at Queen Rox and smiled refreshingly. “How about forming an alliance with the empire, your majesty?”

Her eyes opened wider as if she was quite surprised by my suggestion.

‘Magic’ and ‘religion’ were two opposing concepts. The position of magicians was that one could use magic through knowledge and logic, while the members of clergy maintained that magic came from the grace of the gods.

Both factions had deciphered the origin of their powers in their own way, but the actual conflict between the two sides arose from the idea of, “Which of the two is the superior one?”

What a childish, yet an obvious end this was.

Honestly speaking, I didn’t come here for the sake of forming an alliance with Aihrance. However, the Vampires were scheming to invade the Theocratic Empire, so I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to rope in as many surrounding nations as possible.

...As a shield, and a blade, too.

“Very well, I accept.”

She said yes much easier than I anticipated.

I stopped sipping the tea and stared at her in a bit of a surprise. “You seem to be making this decision a little too hastily, your majesty.”

If that wasn’t it, maybe she had been thinking about it even before I showed up?

Queen Rox lightly shook her teacup. “Of course, the decision first needs to be passed through the conference of the nobles. However, it has already been determined from the Vampire incident earlier that we indeed need the aid of the Theocratic Empire. After all, the members of the empire are the only true experts out there when it comes to the matter of hunting down Vampires.”

I licked my lips ruefully before saying something else, “And also, the matter of magic stones...”

“We shall provide a steady supply of it to the empire. We will strive to meet your demands as much as possible at the fairest price for both sides. I believe that this trade will also greatly benefit our nation.”

Huh. Our talk was going along swimmingly well, wasn’t it?

This was a lot different from what I heard before coming here.

I was led to believe that the queendom of magic was in a bit of an antagonistic position with the Theocratic Empire. No, hang on a sec, other than Queen Rox herself, that might still be true.

We discussed other things besides the matter of the alliance, and she reacted positively to all of them. Of course, our talk proceeded in a manner where any ‘offer’ that might harm the wellbeing of her nation was brushed aside rather slyly by her.

While sipping on my tea, I glanced at Queen Rox one more time. The way she continued to grin broadly like that, it kinda reminded me of a grandma looking at her grandson or something.

I ended up touching my own face at that. “Is there something on my face, your majesty?”

“No, not at all. It’s just that I recalled Lord Kelt in his youth, that’s all.”

“By any chance, were you and my grandfather a cou...”

“Alright, then. What would you like to receive as your reward as an adventurer?”

It seemed that Queen Rox was trying rather hard to steer the topic elsewhere here. Maybe she didn’t want to discuss it?

I was getting even more curious, but I was in no position to force an answer from her. So I chose to match her pace, instead.

The main reason I came to Aihrance was something else entirely, after all. Honestly speaking, the handling of diplomatic ties was not a part of my skill set anyway, so I should just let the Holy Emperor and my siblings deal with it.

I directly told Queen Rox, “I’d like you to grant me the access to...”

Queen Rox’s sudden change in reaction was clearly visible. She was narrowing her eyes at me.

“...the dungeon Titalos, located beneath this capital city. Will you allow it, your majesty?”

“...Do you know what kind of a labyrinth that place is?”

“Yes, more or less. It’s a place where ancient monsters run free, and also the mining area of the magic stones.”

Lifeforms from the distant past thought to have gone extinct were still alive down there. And it was also the source of the magic stones that played the key part in supporting the fortunes of Aihrance, the queendom of magic.

“That’s where I’d like to enter, your majesty.”

Queen Rox interlocked her fingers and smiled bitterly. “Unfortunately, that is something I cannot agree to, your highness.”

“...?”

Now that’s surprising.

She was willing to accept the rest of the demand, but the underground labyrinth was off-limits? Was she trying to say that my request had stepped past the acceptable line of diplomacy or some such?

“Do you know why we haven’t made the knowledge of the underground labyrinth public, your highness?” She slowly shook her head while addressing me. “It’s because that place is too dangerous.”

“...”

“As you’ve said, ancient lifeforms exist down there. One wrong step and you will lose your life in an instant. I certainly cannot allow the grandson of a benefactor walk into a pit of danger.”

“But you must’ve heard a lot about me by now, your majesty.”

“Even those Vampires fear that location, your highness.”

...What the heck. Was it a nest of dragons or something?

“Isn’t there a way?”

When I asked that, Queen Rox quietly stared at me for a while.

She seemed to be agonising over her decision as she let out a long sigh. “May I ask for your reason why you wish to enter that place?”

As I expected, she finally asked me for my reason.

I replied with a grin, “It’s just to satisfy a hobby of mine, ma’am. After becoming an adventurer during my vacation, I began getting this desire to hunt down some ancient lifeforms, you see? Also, I’m somewhat intrigued by the idea of finding something mysterious in the underground labyrinth. Why is the origin of the title ‘queendom of magic’ currently applied to Aihrance? I’d love to...”

“I know the real reason.”

Queen Rox abruptly cut me off.

When I looked back at her in confusion, she didn’t beat around the bush and spoke directly, “I know why you wish to enter Titalos, your highness.”

“...I’m not sure I understand you.”

She took a sip of her tea.

“You came here to take possession of...” After putting the tea cup down, she finished her sentence with a knowing smile in her eyes, “...the ‘angel’ currently asleep in there, didn’t you?”

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