...

Ro-Lente Castle

The halls were raised high and painted with immaculate white paint. Furniture and carpets of high quality lined the walls and walkways passing by. But in the highest part of the castle, chattering could be heard through the thick doors.

"Did your trip turn you senile!?" Marquis Bullope said mockingly, gaining the laughter of the other Nobles around. "Surely someone like Fluder Paradyne, the greatest Magic Caster, would be a large threat… However, he too is only a single Magic Caster. How could this nobody you speak of, do features that even Fluder wouldn't be able to do. If this Ainz person could do half of what you claimed, we would have known about his existence. How DARE you boldly lie in the presence of the king! Know your place, commoner!"

Gazef gritted his teeth, he knew he couldn't retort back. Regardless of how well the people liked him, or what really happened in the village, he was only a commoner standing amongst the highest positions of the Kingdom. To argue or outburst would only tarnish the King's image; something the Noble faction would gladly provoke him to do.

"While I doubt the reliability of the Warrior Captain's words, I can't deny that we don't have a registry of talent. There could be the possibility of a potentially strong person we're unaware of. There's no way he could use the magic you claimed, but perhaps something remarkable like 3rd tier or maybe 4th? I can't understand why he'd lie, so I'd like to send an envoy to Carne Village to grasp more about the situation." Marquis Blurmish said.

It sounded like he was backing up the Warrior Captain, but in reality, he was only doing so for his agenda. The Marquis knew Gazef was loyal and wouldn't lie, so he placed more credibility in his words than he gave off. Which is why he was eager. He would do anything for gold; including selling information about talented individuals to the Empire.

The nobles whispered amongst each other. No one could refute the Marquis' logic, and each one thought of ways to use these events to further expand their influence. After a while, they came to the consensus of sending a carriage to investigate the scene.

While most nobles didn't care about the truth, sending a party out would let the people know that they care somewhat for them. Whichever faction sends their people, will be the one to gain the people's support.

The Village was in the territory of the King, so the Marquis needed the King's approval to be the official messenger. Gazef could see the hidden motives behind the Marquis, and while he was part of the Royal Faction, Gazef wouldn't let him go behind the King's back.

Gazef cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, if I may…" The king nodded for him to continue. "Thank you for hearing me out. This Magic Caster is someone who could greatly benefit the Kingdom, it would be a huge boon to create a friendly relationship rather than one of animosity…"

"Hmph! Isn't that why we're sending a carriage out? Aren't we inviting him to the capital to reward this person for their heroic deeds?" Count Litton Interrupted.

"...Yes, that is so. But I ask that the King or someone of the Royal Family be the one to go."

His suggestion earned him glares from all the nobles. Those from the Royal Faction were glaring at him because if the King went along with this, then their faction would show that they place importance on this person they haven't even met. The Nobles doubted Gazef's words about the Magic Caster's might, and so it would make their influence drop a lot if the King did go and meet this mystery person.

Those from the Noble Faction were glaring because this commoner suggested that a peasant was worth the attention of the Royal Family. This was something not even they, who oppose the Royal Faction, wouldn't do.

"Nonsense! You little peasant! I should have you executed for demanding the King to lower himself to the level of a commoner! I wonder where your loyalty lies, to the King… or your fellow peasants." The person who spat those words out was the man sitting next to the King. His firstborn son, Barbaro, heir to the throne.

His comments were met with nods and voices of approval. Some of them even openly called Gazef a traitor.

"I apologize, it was out of place for me to speak," Gazef said and hung his head low. Barboro snorted at him, but he didn't mind. Gazef was only thinking about how to keep the situation from getting worse. He was the only person who knew the extent of the person they were trying to deal with.

No matter what, we can't make an enemy of him… to do so would mark the end of the Kingdom

Despite his old age, the King was burning with fury underneath his calm composure. For the commoner he picked up and took under his wing to suggest that he lower himself, was something unacceptable. But his rage wasn't directed at his friend. It was towards the Nobles of both Factions who wrote Gazef off as a traitor. He had seen Gazef risk his life and place himself at the stake multiple times, only to save the people. He had seen him almost die because he was fulfilling the King's selfish wishes.

To the King, Gazef was his right-hand man, his best friend, and he trusted him with his life. He trusted that commoner more than the Nobles in his Faction. So he knew, for Gazef to suggest something so inappropriate, spoke volumes of the weight of the situation.

As the commotion grew, so did the King's ire. His emotions burst like a dam, and he slammed his Golden Scepter on the ground.

"SILENCE!"

The room grew quiet instantly, showing them why he was the king.

"We will talk about this no more. We will end this council for today, think about possible candidates you would like to have and we will continue this matter next time."

King Rampossa had to be careful with his words. If he chose to send someone from the Royal Family, it would appear as weakness, bending down to the will of a commoner. But if he were to send a person the nobles suggested, the gravity of the situation could turn for the worse if they didn't act properly. But right now, he had one thing to do.

He needed to know more.

There was something Gazef didn't tell the other nobles, and he knew. He didn't know why, but he knew that whatever it was, it was enough to keep his friend wary and would risk being branded as a traitor.

After the Nobles left, the only people who remained in the throne room were the King and Gazef. The King lost his composure befitting a ruler and slouched in his chair. He rested his elbow on the armrest and had his hand support his head, rubbing his brow.

"I apologize for putting you through this." Hints of remorse and regret laced his words.

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before… and it won't be the last. As long as I serve you, I will walk through whatever hell is thrown at me." Gazef knew what the King was apologizing about.

Back before he gained his title of 'Warrior Captain', Gazef had to participate in a Martial Arts Fighting Tournament to gain it. The original reward of the tournament for winning was being granted knighthood. But the Noble Faction opposed the King, saying Knights were only granted to those born from a house of Prestige. In other words, only Nobles could become a Knight.

Due to the lack of power, the King had to concede, and Gazef was given his title instead. Not becoming a knight meant that regardless of Gazef's features, the Nobles could openly look down on him and nobody could do anything about it.

A moment of silence filled the air before Gazef looked around to make sure nobody could hear them.

"Your majesty, there's something I wish to tell you. It's about what happened in Carne Village… and I felt it was better to keep this information as discreet as possible."

The King heard Gazef's words but still felt grief over his lack of power.

He took a deep breath in and exhaled. When the last breath of weakness left his body, he regained his regal posture and had the bearing of a ruler.

"Hmm, I figured there was more to the story. If it was anyone else who spoke the words you have, I would have felt the same way as the Nobles. But I had never questioned your loyalty… Tell me, what was it about that magic caster that had you so worried?"

"Your majesty, before I mention Gown-dono, you should know that the knights raiding the frontier villagers weren't from the Empire…"

The King widened his eyes with surprise. He was about to ask 'If not them, then who?', but Gazef continued before he could.

"It was the Slane Theocracy. They sent knights disguised as those from the Empire..."

Rampossa furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He wasn't an idiot, but he couldn't figure out why a nation that protects humanity would openly kill humans.

"...The Nobles from the Kingdom made a deal with the Theocracy to have me killed. While the Knights were wreaking havoc, the Nobles were to send me out without the Kingdom's Treasures, or my usual gear. The Theocracy was going to succeed in their plot if it wasn't for Gown-dono..."

Now Rampossa was purely confused. Some knights of the Theocracy wouldn't be enough to kill Gazef, even if he wore novice armor and weapons.

"...They sent out one of their secret military units to have me assassinated, the Sunlight Scripture. They even gave them an item from the Gods that summoned a legendary Angel."

King Rampossa's face paled a little. He knew the Theocracy had superior weapons and items left behind their Gods. He knew what Gazef was saying, and for the Magic Caster to kill one of the Scriptures equipped with a relic nonetheless. It was something Gazef might not even be able to do, even if he had all 5 of the Kingdom's Treasures.

"...Impossible…" The King said. It was the only thing he could say.

"It's true. But what's more frightening, is that Gown-dono wasn't the only one. He had two companions with him who could rival his power… No, from the surface it looked like they could rival his power, but Gown-dono easily overshadowed them. Just standing near him, I could feel his power seeping out. One of his subordinates was an Angel who tore control of the legendary angel summoned from the Captain of the Scripture. She easily dominated the angel of legends and then summoned thousands of blades made of light that shot down from the sky and killed every person. Gown-dono is someone with subordinates that could destroy all the Kingdoms… combined. That's what I believe."

King Rampossa now understood the weight of Gazef's words. If this person was an enemy, the Kingdom would be done for. "Are you sure he could be allied with? Someone with that much power wouldn't need us…"

Gazef knew his King was worried, and he would be too.

"That's the thing… Gown-dono is an undead…"

"What!?" King Rampossa exclaimed. He shot up from his chair and stood like a madman.

"An undead saving the living is unheard of! The only other undead to do so was…" As King Rampossa said this, his eyes widened as began thinking. He wasn't religious and didn't believe much about the 4 or 6 Gods worshipped amongst the nations. But since he was born to be a king, he learned about the rumors and stories told by his parents. So he knew there was an Undead that the Theocracy worshipped.

"I know it can be shocking, but what I wanted to point out wasn't his attitude towards living as an anomaly... What I wanted to emphasize was that he's an undead, so his age must be unimaginable. For someone with such power to remain hidden means that he has no desire for conquest or destruction. If he wanted the world to burn, he has the means necessary to do so and would have accomplished it centuries ago. And even if he did want that, why would he save those villagers and me? As much as I hate to admit it, the lives of peasants aren't worth much, and compared to him, I'm only an ant. If he wanted to spread death, why give me an item of unimaginable might?"

King Rampossa came to a similar conclusion Gazef did, but hearing Gazef introduce an item made his interest perk up. "An Item?" He asked.

"Yes, I was going to tell you about it, but I didn't want the nobles to learn of its existence. This ring has bound the angels the Theocracy used to try and kill me. Wearing it, I can feel the power of all of them inside, I know how much health they have and how much damage they can attack with. This ring gives me a connection to the dozens of angels inside." Gazef said. He was proud to have this item gifted to him.

"May I see it?"

Gazef slowly took off the ring and handed it to the King. When Rampossa put it on, he too could feel the power Gazef mentioned. "...Amazing..." He whispered and took it off to look at the details of the ring. He then handed it back to Gazef.

"Treasure that ring. There's only one place I know that has items of that caliber… Could it be?... Is this what I think it is?..."

Rampossa sighed and looked up to the ceiling. Painted on it was a picture of humans dancing around, holding hands. Surrounding them was a group of angels who sang and played instruments, worshipping humans.

"So it's come again… Do you know how this Kingdom formed?" He asked, and Gazef shook his head.

"Many people believed the 13 heroes were a fairytale and fantasy told to children. But it was real, all of it. 200 years ago was the era of the Demon Lords… They tore apart the world, spreading death and destruction everywhere. Nobody knows where they came from, but they were beings of unimaginable might that suddenly showed up. The stories about the 6 Gods and 8 Greed Kings… They're also all true."

Gazef was now in shock. "Forgive me for asking, but how do you know about this?"

"Follow me." The King said and walked to the door to leave.

The two men walked down the castle, to the first floor and went through the halls. Instead of continuing to the main entrance and garden, they took a left and continued down that hall. It didn't take long for them to reach the end of it, and once they did, King Rampossa handed his scepter to Gazef to hold.

King Rampossa used both of his hands to feel the wall and bent down to his knees, making sure to not miss a spot. While it would look disgraceful for the King to take such actions in his own home, right now he didn't care about that.

When he found the place he was looking for, he pushed the tile and it slid further back, creating a gap in the stones. It took more strength than he remembered, but he got it to shift. When the tile left an open space, he stuck his hand in it and searched with his fingers for the space behind it. Eventually, his hand came across a ledge and grabbed an item resting on top of it.

When his hand pulled back from the hole, his arm was covered in dried paint that began peeling off. Gazef looked with wonder, he had never seen anything like what the King was holding.

"Your majesty, what… is that… and why did you have to…"

"There are many hidden passages within this castle that not even my children know about. We will take one of them to a certain place. And this… it's a key… Something like one at least."

Inside the King's hand was a small stick that filled with color. It wasn't bright, but it was eye-catching. It looked like a tube with liquid inside, but there was no opening to place anything in or take out.

"Come, Gazef." He said and began walking to the other side of the hallway. Instead of turning left to walk towards the main entrance, he went straight...

The Servants and guards passing by stopped and bowed to the King, and then moved on when he left. Nobody questioned him because nobody could see his filthy arm since they were bowing.

When they reached the end of the hallway, King Rampossa pulled onto a painting that hung on the wall. When he did, it looked like it would fall off the wall and ruin an item worth hundreds of gold. But instead, the painting stuck to the wall, and the wall shifted.

An Opening was created from the moving wall, and a doorway was formed. The King proceeded and stepped through the gap, stepping into complete darkness. When Gazef came through, he closed back the wall and made sure it was sealed properly before continuing forward.

They walked down the staircase descending, and each step they took activated items lined up the sides of the wall. Lanterns lit on fire before they reached them so the duo could see where they were stepping. And it went out when they left the reach of light, causing them to travel in a moving circle of light.

It took a couple of breaks to reach the bottom. The King's old age couldn't traverse up and down like when he was in his youth. At the very bottom, there was a space to move around, and further back was another door. When they approached the door, the item in his hand glowed the color of the liquid, reacting with the place they were in.

He reached for the doorknob and opened the door with no hesitation, and both men stepped into this new place.

It was a room dimly lit with lights, releasing a cool and relaxing vibe. There wasn't much to it, but it had nice decorations and furniture that far surpassed anything the Castle above held.

Gazef gasped at how eloquent this place was and asked. "Where are we?" He had no idea that such a place existed underneath the floors he walked across thousands of times.

"We are at the heart of our past." King Rampossa said. He walked forth, and as he did, the stick in his hand activated many features and the place they stood in began activating. Lights turned on, hallways that filled with the darkness came into view, and the aroma turned sweet.

King Rampossa walked down a passage like he was just there yesterday. He kept going until he came across a room. When he entered it, it was filled with shelves of books and documents.

After searching for a while, he pulled out a book and sat down at the table set up. "This is the library, and this book is a written document about the era 200 years ago."

He motioned for Gazef to sit, and when he did, Gazef asked. "If it has a history, why is it kept here instead of inside the Castle, where people can learn about it?" He didn't know much about what the king was doing, but he let him be. The king looked like he was reminiscing. Until-

"That's because it is not allowed to leave this sacred place." A feminine voice called out from behind them.

Gazef shot up and drew his sword, prepared to defend his king. Damn, I didn't sense anyone else here. He was uptight because he couldn't see where the voice came from. His hearing said it came from behind, but he couldn't see anyone there. Then-

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder. When he turned to see who it was, he saw the King holding him and shaking his head. "It's alright, put your sword away. We are perfectly safe here."

Gazef was still confused but complied. When he did this, the King spoke to the air. "This is Gazef, my closest aide. You may come out if you want, but I can't force you to do anything you don't want to." There was a nostalgia as he spoke. As if he had tried in the past and failed.

"Hmph… It's been a long time, Rammy." The voice spoke. But this time the sound of footsteps could be heard. When both of them looked to where it came from, they saw a beautiful girl. She looked to be in her late teens, having nice curves and perfect skin. When Gazef looked at her, she reminded him of the girl that accompanied him to E-Rantel. They both had an otherworldly beauty. He couldn't even process what she had called the King earlier.

"Yes, it's been a while, Amanda. Don't worry, I haven't come to pull any stunts, I'm not as young as I used to be. I just wanted to show a friend about this." He shoved the book in front of Gazef to take.

Amanda sat at the chair across from the two men. "The diary of Tenshi-sama, I don't have to tell you the rules do I?"

"No, I may be old, but I still remember them." Rampossa turned to Gazef to speak. "When I was young, I used to come down here to play a lot. But I slowly stopped when I learned the truth."

Gazef picked up the book and flipped to a random page, to start reading. He did so because he wasn't fully literate. He could read common phrases and to a degree above what the average peasant could. But he couldn't read fluently like the nobles.

However, inside the book, it was written in a language he couldn't understand at all. He thought he would at least be able to understand a little, but the letters used were completely foreign to him.

Seeing his confused face, Amanda chuckled. "You won't understand it regardless of how much you study it. It's the language of the Supreme Beings."

Gazef's face twisted. He had heard that before. "By Supreme Beings, what do you mean?" He recalled how the girl he met referred to the Armored man as a 'Supreme Being', but since they weren't speaking to him, he let it go as some sort of custom between them. But hearing this girl mention it, he knew they were connected somehow.

"The Supreme Beings are entities on another level. They have the power to create and destroy at the edge of their fingertips, and everything you see here is proof of it, including me." Amanda said. She opened her arms and spun around to show the grandiose of the place.

Gods… Gazef Thought. Then he let what she said sink in. "What do you mean 'Including me'?"

"Exactly what I said. Tenshi-sama created me from nothing."

Gazef and Rampossa gasped. The King knew this, but every time he heard about it, it always blew his mind. How could someone have the power to create life from scratch?

"And where is Tenshi now?" Gazef asked. He didn't realize the consequences of such words. Like water breaking through a dam, a flood of Killing Intent rushed over him, drowning him.

"Amanda, he doesn't know the truth, perhaps you could enlighten him, instead of suffocating him?" King Rampossa asked in a Kingly manner. But despite being a King, his words held no value to her.

Yet, Amanda still stopped. She knew that no matter how much she killed, how much of her killing intent she released unto this world, her master wouldn't come back. That hole left her as a particle of who she was created to be.

When Gazef could finally breathe, he rose from his knees. Amanda had the power that far surpassed what he could have imagined from a girl like her. Her aura alone was enough to kill him. When he looked up at her, he noticed little details that said she wasn't human. He didn't pry further about it though, there were other things he wanted to inquire more about. He wasn't an idiot who prided himself over the realities of the world. Learning from his error instantly, he apologized. "I'm sorry for my ignorance. Could you tell me more about your master, Tenshi-sama?"

Hearing her master referred to correctly, Amanda slightly smiled. But it wouldn't fill her with the satisfaction of standing beside him in servitude.

"Tenshi-sama was one of the Supreme Beings who created everything you see here… Yes, he wasn't the only one. There were 26 other Supreme Beings who created this place. However, Tenshi-sama wasn't the leader of the Supreme Beings, but from what I could understand, this Clan was the group all 27 Supreme Beings fought under. But even if they were united, they were still divided. The proof lays in that book."

Amanda pointed to the Book Gazef held and looked at it with grief. Gazef and Rampossa could see it in her eyes. Despite being an all-powerful person, she was a broken little girl.

"The Supreme Beings divided themselves amongst two sections, a Light and Dark Order, and left the final decisions to their Leader, a Neutral person. I don't know why they did it, if they didn't, things may not have ended the way it did… NO!" She slapped herself on the cheek, leaving a red mark.

"I'm sorry" She whispered under her breath, Silently praying to the deceased.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and continued.

"My creator was the leader of the Order of Light... But when we found ourselves in this world, the Leader of the Dark Order came along with us. We were so happy to know they stayed behind with us, pledging to serve them with our entire lives. But we didn't know what to do when they started opposing each other. The two pillars of everything we knew and lived for started to tear at each other one day. The other creations were stunned, we didn't know how to choose which Supreme Being to follow. Since my creator stayed, the choice for me was easy. It was hard to choose, but I had it easier than the others."

King Rampossa quietly listened, but he saw some relief on her face whenever she mentioned her creator. Ever since he heard this story, he felt pity for the plague that brought an end to this glorious past. Something he was now facing with his Kingdom Divided.

"They had to choose between two equal loyalties, while I only had to choose the one I had greater for. When each side had been formed, everything we knew split. Two Supreme Beings went in two different directions, taking half of what the Clan had accumulated for their purposes. Half of the riches, half of the weapons, half of the armor, half of the inventory, half of the luxury, and half of the life all left behind the other Supreme Beings. There was never conflict or clashing between both sides until they changed to the point where even my creator couldn't recognize the other."

Amanda stopped to pull out a pair of Glasses from her inventory. Both men saw the void of darkness and gasped in marvel. The King knew what it was, but didn't bother to have Gazef informed about it. Amanda put on the pair of [Translation Glasses] and Grabbed the book from Gazef.

She didn't need to wear the glasses to understand the Supreme Being's Language, but she liked to anyway. When she wore the items gifted and made for her, she felt a warmth in her chest, knowing that she has something that keeps her close to her master.

She flipped through the book and stopped at a page towards the end. She searched a couple of pages before and after, making sure she found the correct one and read it in her head. Once she found the passage she was looking for, she stood up like a preacher at a podium and began reciting what her creator wrote.

"At the end of my journey, I've concluded that ever since we came into this world, our inner desires have become enhanced. The Light became magnified, creating a person that strived to humble himself. While the Dark multiplied and subtly controlled her inner thoughts to choose actions that dwelled in arrogance."

Amanda read it out loud, so King Rampossa and Gazef could hear what was written. "Somehow, my creator found the truth before his death, that coming into this world had altered him. It was in a way that even he was unaware of. He only grasped it when he saw the changes within the other Supreme Being."

Gazef was even more confused than when he first came down here. Supreme Being? Creator? God? What are all these?

"If I may, I recently came across an individual who referred to another person like how you referred to Tenshi-sama. Could it be related somehow?" He asked.

Amanda's eyes narrowed and became sharper, showing her attentiveness. "How so? What makes you believe this?"

"Because she referred to him as a 'Supreme Being', and attached '-sama' to the end of his name. Like how you've been when referring to Tenshi-sama."

Amanda stopped for a moment. It was like her body shut down, but in actuality, she was deep in her thought.

"Could this person be another of your Supreme Beings?" Gazef asked with genuine curiosity. He wanted to know more about this Magic Caster and about these anomalies he had come across.

"I can't say. Over the passage of time, there have been others to travel into this world. Each one with varying strengths and purposes… The person you spoke of earlier, what was his name?" Amanda asked.

"Hmm, he called himself 'Momon'. His partner was called 'Nabe' if I remember correctly. But from what I know, this Momon and Nabe supposedly serve an Undead Magic Caster that goes by the name Ainz Ooal Gown."

Amanda's eyes went wide from hearing this. Gazef and King Rampossa have been watching and listening intently, so they didn't fail to notice. Rampossa, who had known her for decades, has never seen her show this expression.

"Do you know him?" He asked. If she could give him more information about Ainz Ooal Gown, then he could use it to understand this new person that he was dealing with. Possibly becoming the saving grace for his dying Kingdom.

"He isn't one of the Supreme Beings…"

Gazef furrowed his eyebrows when he heard this. If he isn't one, why would she refer to him like that… Maybe that's really how they talked to each other?

He tried to reason why this could be a coincidence.

But to King Rampossa, he knew that this Magic Caster wasn't a nobody. He knew there was something about him that stood out. If there wasn't anything, then Amanda wouldn't have reacted the way she did.

"...But that name, Ainz Ooal Gown, sounds like something my creator mentioned before. I'll look into it and check the record books for anything." Amanda said and left the group, going on to look in the Library.

While it seemed like she was doing it to help King Rampossa, she was only doing it because it could lead to her finding a way to bring the Supreme Beings back.

After she left, Gazef took a minute to process everything. After meeting Gown-dono, life's become complicated for some reason. Before it was just swinging my sword and protecting the people, but now there's all this history and information to swallow.

He looked at his King and could see that he was thinking too. "Your Majesty, why have me learn all of this? Shouldn't your children be the ones to learn it? If they did, then they wouldn't let the Kingdom decay from-"

"Gazef!" The King interrupted. "Do you not get it? I didn't teach them what my father has taught me, because it won't change anything. Barbaro, he's my son and I love him, but he doesn't have the heart of a true king. His passion lies between what he can hold and attain. If I showed him this, he would use its knowledge and riches, and who knows what atrocities will come to follow? Zanac has the drive for a stable kingdom, so he doesn't need the knowledge to learn from the past. But he doesn't have the passion a King needs for the future. He only wants a proficient life for the Kingdom, not the exemplary future a King should aim for. My daughters have their own lives and families now, telling them this would only confuse them. Renner could use this, I know she cares for the citizens deeply, but that is why it is unnecessary." His words carried conviction and love. The Conviction to grant a brighter future, but the love of a father for his children.

"...I see. Then why me?"

"Because you've met the Magic Caster. You know most of anyone in this Kingdom- no, the world- about what he can bring. If my assumption is correct, this person is a being from the world which Amanda and her masters came from."

Gazef's eyes widened. He didn't realize what the king had been trying to do this whole time was prepare him. He was being prepared with knowledge for if a time came where he would have to face off against this Magic Caster, then he would be donned with the armor and weapons of knowledge. It might not be enough for victory, but it was better than nothing.

"If such a time comes, can we count on the strength of Amanda?" Gazef asked. He truly didn't want for such a thing to happen, but if Amanda was fighting along with him, their chances of victory would enlarge by a lot.

"No, she will not." King Rampossa said with certainty.

"But why? I couldn't gauge the depth of her power, but from what I could feel, she would be more than enough to protect the Kingdom and erase its enemies. She would become the ultimate sword and shield."

"Do you know how many Kings have tried to gather her under their banner in the past?"

Up until now, Gazef hadn't thought about it. He hadn't thought about how many people knew of her existence. He assumed that they were the only ones to know. But now that he thought more, he realized that she wasn't known to him all this time. How many other people were ignorant about her too? And how long has she stayed here? She didn't come to the surface, so now he was more stunned about what the king said.

King Rampossa understood this and continued. "Every generation of Kings for the Entire Re-Estize history has tried to enlist Amanda underneath their banner, myself included. And every single one has failed."

Every King!? How many generations is that? And How old is she?

Gazef's head was about to explode. Then he recalled the Kingdom being created 200 years ago. The same time when the Demon Lords were. Focusing on that subject, he also recalled what his King told him in the Throne Room. "Does this somehow have to do with the 13 Heroes?"

The King let out a light chuckle upon seeing his friend like this. "Amanda is one of the 13 heroes."

Gazef's mind was all over the place. But surprisingly, it was calm too. It explained a lot about the questions he had about how his King could state things being true with certainty.

The King let out a sigh. "Tenshi-sama, her creator, was the leader and person who formed the 13 Heroes. Although there were more than 13 people in their group, only 13 were acknowledged by humanity…" He said

Gazef furrowed his brows as he thought. "Does that mean…"

"Yes, the Leader of the Demon Lords who ravaged the lands was her other master." The King said.

For the first time since coming here, Gazef truly pitied the girl. He couldn't even imagine what it was like to have to choose between two masters and fight everything they created. To him, that was like choosing between the King and the Kingdom. While he would choose the King every time, there would be scars left behind if his king ordered him to kill innocent people.

He understood why King Rampossa had stopped coming down here. He too pitied the girl. For Centuries, the Kings of the Kingdom would walk in and out of this place like it was their home, demanding servitude from the person who only worked to keep it clean. His blood boiled with rage when he thought about it.

King Rampossa could see Gazef's facial expressions and how they changed. He knew his friend too well to know the thought process he went through. He knew because he too had the same thought process when he learned about it. "The previous kings did what they did because they felt entitled to it. They felt they had the right to command such a person. I'm ashamed to say that in my early years ruling, I too was like them."

"But why? What could they have that made them entitled to it?"

"Blood." The King said.

"Huh?"

"The blood of Tenshi-sama courses through our veins. The royal family has been the leaders of Re-Estize because the founder of our Kingdom was Tenshi-sama himself. It wasn't originally a Kingdom or a country. It started as a town where he could live a peaceful life. But because of his power, people gathered around and slowly joined to gain his protection. After he died, the Kingdom was in its early stages and his firstborn took the throne. By then, people forgot the dangers of the Demon Lords and didn't see a reason to leave the Kingdom or want a different ruler. My ancestors are the people who built this place, so the past Kings felt that everything in here, Amanda included, was their birthright."

Gazef felt like a thousand needles punctured his brain. Learning all of this was just too much. Not to mention the emotional pain he felt for the girl. Then-

A Grumble resounded through the silent library. King Rampossa's stomach grumbled.

"Haha, it seems like it's my lunchtime. We should get going now." He said.

The King and Gazef stood up, making sure to push in the chairs nicely and to leave the place how they found it. As they left the area and started ascending the staircase, King Rampossa turned behind him and looked at Gazef.

"I shouldn't have to tell you that this remains between us, right?"

Gazef nodded in understanding.

"Good. Make sure everything you learned today doesn't leave your lips."

After he said that, both men returned to the Castle floor and went on with their daily schedules. Both of them acting like nothing happened. But eating away at the back of Gazef's mind was thoughts of the truths he learned about.

Truly, things are complicated...

...