Eve’s flames also had a considerable impact on Iria.

 

Especially in the last explosion, she had to jump into the center of the blast, and taking it with her bare body without using magical energy caused significant damage.

 

It seemed that someone at the level of a chief knight could affect Iria.

 

“…Phew.”

 

Iria spat out the blood that had gathered in her mouth onto the floor as she moved forward.

 

Her expression didn’t change, but despite how it looked, she was quite exhausted right now.

 

She had burns all over her body, was hit by attack magic, and was also stabbed by a sword.

 

She could regenerate the wounds, but doing so consumed stamina.

 

Even that becomes tiring if continued.

 

Iria rested for a moment in that spot, then moved forward again.

 

She unlocked the door to the fourth basement floor with the key and went down.

 

Only the sound of stepping on the iron stairs echoed in the dark space.

 

There was no pursuit chasing her.

 

No signs of presence were felt beyond that either.

 

‘Did they give up?’

 

As Iria rampaged, the Empire’s losses were severe.

 

The knighthood, which was already short on manpower, had many who were seriously or critically injured.

 

There were even those who died.

 

They may have taken action to avoid further losses.

 

But there was something that didn’t add up if that was the case.

 

Below this was a Seed of the Demon King.

 

It was hard to imagine that the security would leave their posts with such a dangerous being in the basement.

 

If Iria had decided to release that monster outside, a great disaster would have occurred.

 

The Empire wasn’t such a foolish group.

 

So, it was natural to think that someone would be guarding it.

 

Probably the strongest person in this building.

 

Having the authority to enter deep into the basement meant having that much influence in the Empire.

 

Iria went down the stairs.

 

There was no one on the 4th basement floor.

 

After finding the key, she went down the stairs.

 

On the 5th basement floor, no one could be found either.

 

Only a strangely quiet scene continued.

 

***

 

“Investigation Report on the Back Alley Monster.

 

The back alley monster appears behind the central fountain of the Central Empire, in an abandoned zone.

 

There are no sightings in other places yet.

 

In terms of external characteristics, it is said to have white fur and red eyes.

 

There are many witnesses, but no humans remember its appearance in detail.

 

All those who saw its appearance suffered from hallucination symptoms or mental disorders.

 

Therefore, the back alley monster seems capable of having a mental impact on approaching humans.

 

The knighthood also assigned patrols to the chief knights, who are particularly skilled, to investigate and exterminate the monster.

 

They were sent in pairs of two, as they might not be able to handle unexpected situations alone.

 

However, the back alley monster did not show itself.

 

Did it deliberately avoid the knighthood?

 

If so, there was a high possibility that the back alley monster had intelligence.

 

…

 

An unexpected situation occurred.

 

Chief Knight Leon, who was sent to patrol the back alleys, went missing.

 

It was a strange situation.

 

Wasn’t sending two people a countermeasure against such unexpected events?

 

For some reason, he entered the back alley alone without joining the other knight.

 

He was not a foolish knight who would ignore orders from above and take reckless actions.

 

Therefore, it was reasonable to see that another factor was involved in the incident.

 

The most likely hypothesis is that the back alley monster lured him by some means.

 

…

 

A question arises.

 

How could the back alley monster lure only one knight without showing itself?

 

When two or more personnel were sent for patrol, the back alley monster did not show itself.

 

It could not be found even if all the surrounding areas were searched.

 

The back alley monster only targets humans who are alone.

 

If multiple people enter, it does not reveal itself.

 

Then how did it know and was able to hide itself?

 

It would be impossible unless it knew the number of humans entering in advance.

 

The back alley monster had excellent senses to feel presence.

 

Therefore, at this point, there was no way to catch it.

 

We seriously considered announcing to the public that the back alley monster was a false rumor.

 

Because it would be troublesome if the perception that we couldn’t resolve such an incident was imprinted.

 

Perhaps that might be for the future of the Empire.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

Iria found something interesting while browsing through the documents in the Empire’s basement.

 

It was a document about herself.

 

She was now used to reading, so she read it thoroughly from beginning to end.

 

Is this how they collect and store documents?

 

Their analysis was more accurate than expected.

 

Iria decided to erase all the documents written about her.

 

“What is this.”

 

She wanted to burn them if she could, but unfortunately, she couldn’t breathe fire.

 

-Rip!

 

It was troublesome, but she had to tear them by hand.

 

Iria took the time to find and eradicate everything related to her.

 

Because she hates having anything about her recorded in any form.

 

These things had to be erased from the world.

 

There were more things stored here in the basement than she had thought.

 

Such as the characteristics of the monsters they exterminated or the internal affairs of the Empire.

 

There were also documents containing experiments conducted on the Seeds of the Demon King.

 

Most of them were locked, so she couldn’t read them all.

 

The unlocked ones only contained information Iria already knew.

 

It seemed difficult to find the information she wanted here.

 

But it didn’t matter much.

 

She could just ask the monster she was going to meet directly.

 

“…”

 

Iria, who had closed the book she was reading, decided to start moving.

 

She couldn’t forget her original purpose for coming here.

 

She was hungry from moving a lot.

 

She should have eaten some of the humans she killed earlier.

 

She hurriedly came down because she thought there would be pursuit from behind. Still, contrary to expectations, they no longer paid attention to Iria.

 

‘If I had known, I should have eaten at least one person.’

 

It was a bit much to go back the way she came now.

 

She didn’t have much time either.

 

‘It will work out somehow.’

 

She could eat the Seed of the Demon King in the basement if necessary.

 

That might be better than eating humans.

 

Iria broke the door leading to the basement.

 

She was too lazy to find the key now.

 

It was the way to the 7th basement floor.

 

Now, the magical energy was felt very clearly.

 

If her prediction was correct, the Seed of the Demon King would be around the 8th basement floor.

 

It was certain, seeing how dense the presence of magical energy was.

 

If she went down one more floor, she could meet it.

 

It wasn’t an easy process, though.

 

Going down a little more and arriving at the 7th basement floor, Iria let out a small sigh.

 

Because, as she had somewhat expected, there was a guard there.

 

A man was leaning against the wall, waiting for Iria.

 

She also knew his face.

 

In fact, he was someone she had expected to some extent.

 

When she heard information from Leonard, she was told that this place was his territory.

 

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

 

“…”

 

A familiar voice sounded.

 

Blue hair and half-dead eyes.

 

He was probably the last guard protecting this place.

 

She had investigated him a bit.

 

It was a name that was quite famous in the Central Empire.

 

Even among the chief knights, only a very small number of talented individuals were given the title of “General.”

 

They are the ten stars symbolizing the Empire.

 

Albert, the second star among them.

 

The name of the mage who single-handedly exterminated a Seed of the Demon King and kept it in the basement.

 

He closed the book he was holding and put it down on the floor.

 

He greeted Iria with the glasses he usually wore taken off, and perhaps because of that, his characteristic half-dead eyes looked sharp.

 

Can he open his eyes like that?

 

The atmosphere was quite different from what she saw at the academy.

 

“No. I couldn’t find it.”

 

“Of course. The banned books in the basement cannot be viewed unless a designated language is entered. If you try to read them forcibly, they are set to be disposed of as a record. After all, if they are going to be exposed to outsiders, it’s much better for them to be erased as they are.”

 

“…”

 

“That’s why there are no people trying to infiltrate the Empire’s basement. Because there is nothing to gain compared to the risk.”

 

Albert spoke slowly.

 

His calm, explanatory tone, voice, and actions were no different from what she had seen at the academy.

 

She thought he was a man with consistency in at least that easygoing personality.

 

But it didn’t completely match the appearance she knew.

 

He wasn’t kindly explaining to Iria right now.

 

A vast amount of mana covered the space.

 

At the same time, it began to weigh down on Iria’s body.

 

“Then for what purpose did you come here? You don’t seem to be interested in the classified documents.”

 

As Albert spoke slowly, he didn’t erase his hostility towards Iria.

 

A sharp spirit was felt, contrasting with his relaxed voice.

 

‘He won’t let me go nicely.’

 

He was also the last obstacle here.

 

Breathing was difficult due to the thick density of mana floating around.

 

In the space where blue mana floated like stars, Iria gripped her dagger.

 

Translator’s Corner

 

Quick message for those who came here from Galaxy.

 

Hey, fancy seeing you here. Guess I’ll be working with Fenrir for the time being. Yeah…

 

I know this site usually works on coins, but I’ll be keeping chapters free till I’ve done all of the sponsored ones. Afterwords, I’ll do coins, but I’ll still have ko-fi open with a lower price if you want to unlock chapters earlier for everyone.

 

-Ruminas