The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 121: When you’re the actor but you don’t know the script

Chapter 121: When you’re the actor but you don’t know the script

I was too flabbergasted by my new wealth that I couldn’t concentrate on Malta’s explanation on each room this floor has--I’d just ask Theemis later.

I mean...yes, I knew I was bound to a relationship with the wealthiest demon in the realm. I knew that I could just ask him for anything and Natha would buy it for me, provided it was reasonable. There were three rooms full of treasures that I could plunder to my heart’s content.

But it was different, way different with raw capital. It was different when I had the freedom to buy and procure what I wanted by myself, without having to first amass the courage to ask him for something.

So, forgive me, Malta, but right now your explanation kept bouncing off my ears.

Thankfully, she ended the tour fast, because it was just an introduction anyway. "I heard you’re waiting for someone to work as your researcher, Young Master, so we put the position of the floor’s manager on hold."

That topic brought my focus back, because I had to think about what she meant. It took me a few seconds to remember the mission that Heraz had been doing right now; catching the runaway elf.

"Ah, right. I don’t know if he’ll work with me, though..."

"If you wish for it, His Lordship shall make it happen," Malta replied confidently.

Geez--what do you think Natha was? A genie?

"We’ll see about that later. I’ll still use the place either way,"

We bid farewell to the two imps then, because today’s tour still had one more itinerary. Again, I had to endure those curious and interested stares as we left the southern tower and made our way to a colosseum-like building just outside of the main castle.

I had seen it before, through the vision that Jade sent me as the bird roamed around the estate. Ever since we moved here, Jade would randomly send images of things that it found interesting while exploring, and although it made me dizzy sometimes, it was also interesting.

Anyway, the training ground was a circular stadium that also functioned as an arena for combat shows sometimes, so it had a tribune too. The circular wall beneath the tribune was home to several doors leading to rooms with space expansion magic on them. So really, the colosseum was more like a lobby for the troops to gather.

Each door had a different plaque and color, fitted to the colors of the divisions they belonged to. There were also several doors for foreign envoys, for the Lord’s guests, or for free uses. And of course, one of these doors belonged to me now.

Malta had told me that Natha added a new door to be commissioned not long ago, and the space inside was curated especially for me by the best magicians in the realm. Yeah, okay, good, wow--but were you telling me this human, the demon slaughterer, would have to traverse a place where soldiers gathered before proceeding to train with a weapon that had been killing demons?

Perhaps because they saw I got tensed suddenly, the two guards moved closer to me, and Panne asked if I was alright. Malta, as if predicting my reaction, gave me a slightly wider smile than that subtle one she gave once in a blue moon.

"Please endure it just a little bit more, Young Master," she said quietly, in a voice that could only be heard by our group. "For now, just ignore everything that might happen."

After blinking my eyes a few times, and putting my brain to work, I finally realized that maybe...maybe, the fact that Natha did not come with me today was very much intentional.

Were they...trying to test something with my presence?

Immediately, I closed my eyes and spread out my consciousness through the earth and the wind and the trees. From the gaps among the mana, I could sense some presence spread out around our group, like an additional safety net.

I stared at Malta, whose face had returned to her stony one as we entered the gate of the training ground. She glanced at me with a little mischievous twinkling in her eyes that didn’t match her countenance, but also reminded me of her younger siblings.

What exactly are you demons cooking this time?

It already sounded loud and boisterous from the outside, but it was even more when I stepped into the hard soil of the colosseum ground. There were no sounds of clinking metals or explosions of magic like I was imagining, but rather the sounds of conversations. As Malta had explained to me, except for inter-division duels, the training itself happened behind those doors, which could only be opened by the division Captain or the Chief Guard--except for mine, of course.

The loud sounds, however, gradually stopped as Malta brought me to walk along the corridor on the side of the training ground, where the doors were located. With a nonchalant voice that gave no fuck to the attention that suddenly trained on us, Malta began her tour guiding again.

"Each division of Castle Guards had their own training schedule and time, but there’s a joint session at least once a month. Coincidentally, today is that day,"

"..."

"Forgive me, Young Master. I should have picked another day, but I wanted to show you the place as soon as possible," Malta glanced at me with almost no expression.

But don’t you think I didn’t see that corner of your lips turned, Miss! You did it deliberately, didn’t you? There was nothing coincidental about this at all, wasn’t it?!

I tried to convey all that by narrowing my eyes dubiously at her words, but she just blinked once and shifted her gaze to someone who was walking in our direction.

"Malta," the low, heavy voice came first.

Ah, this stern, uncompromising tone was so unforgettable that I instantly recognize it despite only hearing it once before. "Haikal," Malta called out the name that instantly came up to my mind before I even saw the Chief Guard. "You’re here to deliver the key, I presume?"

Oh--I was too preoccupied thinking about what kind of conspiracy happening that I didn’t realize we had arrived in front of the door--my door.

It was in deep green color with a silver frame. The runes and formations were also carved in the silver lining, all centering around a niche in the middle of the door where the key to activate the door should be inserted.

The key itself, which was being transferred from Haikal’s hand to Malta, was in a shape of a medallion, enough to be held in my palm. A decorative dark blue and green tassel hung from the silver medallion with a rich emerald embedded in the center.

"Here, Young Master," Malta handed the hexagonal medallion to me. "Why don’t you try to open it yourself? It’s yours after all."

Oh--oh! This was...kind of exciting? I had never gone to a room with a space extension before. Malta told me that the space inside could be designed however we want, provided the magicians in charge had the skill to do it. It could be turned into another colosseum, like a fortress, or even mimic a warzone. It could be changed so that we didn’t feel like we were in a closed-off room, but in an open space like the sea or forest.

Wouldn’t that be like entering a dungeon?

I looked at the medallion with my heart thumping in excitement, forgetting all the eyes looking at me and the tension I felt earlier. Who cares? There was a game-like item in front of me!

"Young Master,"

Before I could even raise my hand to put the medallion key in its place, that stern and heavy voice suddenly called out to me. Trying not to sound dejected, I turned to look at the Chief Guard, who wasn’t wearing armor this time, but a set of training clothes. "Yes?"

"Are you going to use the room to train with your weapon?"

Ugh--what kind of question was this? I had no idea what he was thinking about because his face was as stony as Malta, and because he was a guard, with a huge claymore on his back, he looked even scarier than Malta.

But I remembered what Eruha taught me; I was the one in power, so I shouldn’t cower easily.

"Of course," I nodded, trying to sound not panic. "I can hardly do purification mana in a place with no natural mana, isn’t it?"

"The Spear of Judgment?"

Wow--that response was swift!

"Yes," since he stared so keenly at me, I had no choice but met his gaze. But perhaps because his short tone felt kind of accusatory, it made me rather annoyed. In turn, it shed the slight anxiety that I felt, and my heart became calmer. "I don’t have any other weapon," I added, a little bit colder. "For now."

What you were going to do about it, huh? It wasn’t me who killed those demons, if you must know!

"I see," the Chief Guard, however, just responded briefly.

Damn--now I felt like I wasted my tension.

"It’s not you to talk vaguely, Haikal," and then Malta came beside me, looking at the Chief Guard with an unapproving frown. "Just say what you want so we don’t waste Young Master’s time any longer."

Way to go, Malta!

"You’re right, pardon me," he bowed, a little bit lower than his usual nod. When he straightened his back again, his already stern face became even more serious. "Young Master, would it be alright for me to see the Spear?"

"You...want me to take out Alveitya?" I replied, dumbfoundedly, almost shedding my ’in power and cool’ persona.

"Yes," he answered immediately, before stepping back for a bit and bowed again. Only, this time, he bent his waist even lower. "It’s a request."

Why? Why, though? This was confusing. I thought they hated the Spear and didn’t want it to roam around, so what with this...request? Even going so far as to bow like this, when it was clear he didn’t really appreciate my presence there.

Was this actually a ruse to make the soldier alerted and attack me?

No--no, calm down, Val. This was the Lord Castle; your fiance was the Lord, you had two guards and the Chief Secretary here. So I took a breath to calm down and got rid of the negative thought.

Still...

"Do you not want to, Young Master?" Malta asked me after a long silence created by my pondering.

"That’s..." I looked at her and couldn’t hold back my sigh anymore. "Because even you reacted badly when Alveitya is mentioned..."

"Young Master," at my response, the Chief Guard walked closer, and spoke in a low, quieter tone. "That’s exactly why."