Sword of the Philosopher

By the time I had reached the Kingdom of Barcus by utilizing wind magic, the capital had already been attacked with flames going up in the castle.

“Did this advance almost simultaneously with Fili’s event?”

According to the guidebook, there was no indication of both happening roughly at the same time… I seem to have miscalculated the approximate number of days regarding this.

My objective was about the rescue of the King and Princess… I’m confident about them being alive since it was already established for them to die by starvation.

If so, the question now was how I would rescue them… with the pattern in mind, I can think of two ways. For instance was using the secret route for emergencies that Eina and the other knights had used to escape. Since I had a rough idea of where it leading out, I can do the opposite and gain access to the castle instead. The other way was breaking through the from the front… although to be perfectly honest, even if I did say that I’ll storm through the front and fight, it’s apparent that the opening scenario for this wouldn’t proceed accordingly.

Anyways, slaying a couple of monsters and mazoku wouldn’t provide much of a change but if I were to accidentally kill one of the leaders, I’m pretty sure drastic changes would happen. I would like to avoid that if possible so in order to not get discovered, taking action with the first option was better. With that, I activated a spell.

The first spell was used to make me invisible and the other one was to trick opponents by a.s.similating one’s presence into the surroundings. Both of them were magic from the game where the former was a spell that invalidates any physical attacks and consequently become weak to magical ones. The latter on the other hand would make one vulnerable to physical attacks but would merit in drastically increasing the critical and evasion percentages. Although both had their pros and cons, there was a necessity to use them properly against enemies.

Now these are the ones that I had decided to use at the castle… but I still have my doubts in being able to sneak in with this. The effective scope of magic and the like were things that would not rise above the standard regardless of how high my level had reached. However, what if there was indeed a change? I have yet to test that for out regarding it so I’m still filled with worries.

“As I thought, from the escape route then.”

I murmured and then turned back towards the castle going up in smoke.

Incidentally, the problem was I’ll need to enter the secret route from its exit but… no need to worry. Eventually, the castle would become occupied by the mazoku after having a decisive bout with the protagonist which in this case was Eina. The infiltration will be done by running through the escape route from the opposite side and even I wouldn’t have any problems in doing so as the details regarding how to go through were already explained in the game.

The town was still under attack but I had to leave… Originally, I would have rescued it if this place was the first to be raided but I was only limited to my own capabilities and If I were to poorly stand out, dangers of rushing into the > were likely increase… I therefore vowed till the very end to advance according to the scenario. From here is where I must endure and move only towards my goal.

The objective is the forest located at the backside of the castle. Inside are several places and within one of them covers the secret route. I continued to move with care as I advanced in order to avoid an encounter with Eina and her party ―suddenly, there was a voice.

“Exactly, where did they flee?”

Upon seeing where the voice came, I observed the party considering that it had gone according to how it was in the scenario again. There number of people amounted to four. Within the party were two people whom I cannot discern as both were clad in full body armor. The remaining two however… is a male and a female whose face I can see.

The male one had blonde hair ―it’s just that his hair that was barely raised was short and his face too was stern that it was akin to a wandering samurai. His name is Grazen Dadanru. Among the knights of the country, he was the one appointed as captain.

Then there was the other person… her silver hair was at shoulder’s length but contrary to Grazen, she was extremely quiet.

“Princes…!”

Eina’s eyes were casted down as she murmured those words while tightly clenching her fists.

“It’s no good… I was entrusted the matter pertaining to your safety. The princess is alright. The other commanders are also doing their best…”

Grazen said to her as a way to encourage her. The reality of the situation however was the commanders who were facing the attacks of monsters had no choice but to eventually retreat… this tale on the other hand was confirmed sometime only in the middle stages.

Well to consider it once more, saving the princess would in time change the situation surrounding the scenario. I do think however that events that contains trifling conversations only would have very little effects… it’s just that if the idea of the king running away were to be discovered would turn out bad. Of course I do posses several plans to deceive the Mazoku but precise planning and execution was needed after the completion of the rescue. They need to be hidden to a degree where it was similar to a situation that they had already died in order to not get discovered by Eina and her group.

While I was lost in my thoughts, Eina and her group vexingly moved out of the forest. Afterwards was them moving towards one of the town within the territory of the kingdom and from there, they would meet up with the other knights that had fled. Starting from that point, Eina’s free scenario would start―

After the figure of her group had vanished, I moved towards the place where they had previously stood. Although the entrance of the secret route within the forest was something that should not be found, I still moved the place without hesitations.

Within the place was one fairly large boulder. Due to the different trees that naturally populated a third of its surrounding, it didn’t became unnatural for it to be here. Also, if one were make this out as a landmark within the forest, I would find it hard to do so.

“Now then, pretty sure that there’s a switch from the ground near here…”

First of all, I decided to trace the surface of the boulder. Some time afterwards, I felt something different along an area where my hand had gone through.

“Oh! This is BINGO right?”

I firmly pressed on that area. Magic was used on a part of this rock in order to place a special stone that’s able to contain magic and used it to store a mechanism where if pressed, it would then start to activate.

Afterwards, right after I pressed on it, a “GIGIGI” creaking sound could be heard in the background.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

From here would be the real start. Within my head, I took out the map in the game from my previous life.

―Coming from all the experience I had until this point and pulling out the village where I had met Fili as an example, I already had the understanding that the dungeons were supposed to be large yet the inside of it when viewed from within had become more complex. Regarding the dungeons that I had seen for the first time and from those free ones that I had from the game however, the details match so it doesn’t mean that the map from the game is never wrong nor is it always right.

And since the pa.s.sage that had existed before me was the same with what I had remembered from the game, I’m confident that I should be able to reach the place that I plan to go by advancing through this route… that place was the prison. Held within there should be the king and the others. I summoned light then set foot towards the bas.e.m.e.nt.

The stones along the pa.s.sage were making the air cold that I can feel it entering my body as I felt a chill… I continued to remain vigilant however as I think of the things I would do after their rescue.

Since I gave up the idea of changing the scenario as opposed to the ones I took on Fili’s situation, I need to take notice of all the things and be meticulous with outmost care. I had simulated everything inside my head but there were also situations like the first conversation with Fili that I had… I hung my head down as I had seemingly recalled that scene so I continued to drive it out of my head as I advance through the current route.

Anyhow, encountering any of the enemies would be bad. The area surrounding the prison is bound to have guards stationed. I already have various plans laid out but unless I confirm the situation around the prison, I won’t be able to decide. The consequences of being discovered inside the castle would have possibilities of encountering the boss of the mazoku here and if words were to spread that the king and the others had escaped, large unforeseen changes would occur in the scenario… that was something I need to avoid.

I continued to advance inside the bas.e.m.e.nt as well as feel nervous at the situation of having an encounter similar from the village. Making any mistakes here was something I cannot afford… Even though the thought of situations where I would be fighting the demon king spring forward, I had different things that I can do when faced with such a situation but without much of an experience with the things that would may play out, I needed to be more sensitive and cautious in order for them to not get wind of what I am doing. My body felt heavier as a great deal of tension takes over.

Calm down… within my mind, such words were told continuously as I moved forward within the dark route. Diverging paths could be seen along the way but since I’ve had the place memorized in some way, I was sure to soon reach the prison and moved forward.

Now, finally… at the time while I was still muttering the words from my mind, I found the stairs that lead upward. Taking a deep breath, I headed towards the exit of the bas.e.m.e.nt little by little.