The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason

23 – Operation at the Labyrinth of Confluence (5)

“Yuris, doesn’t that look really suspicious?”

“What?”

Inside the dark Labyrinth of Confluence.

Lily quietly muttered as she watched the hero walking at the front. They were currently descending through the staircase the hero had found earlier.

How could they possibly have found the passage that not even Adel could find… The party members couldn’t understand no matter how much they thought about it.

Of course, his mention of “discovering it by chance” was completely ignored.

It wasn’t simply because of the curse he mentioned.

It was because he had already shown too much.

Being unusually knowledgeable about monsters, cleverly showing the way, finding strange passages, and so on.

He mainly revealed his presence through his knowledge.

“How does he know knowledge that we don’t know…? This is the Four Kings’ Castle after all. Balkan is one of the newly born Four Kings. These must be knowledge that is not written in the books. How does he know?”

“……”

The saint nodded quietly in her mind.

It truly was amazing.

What kind of life had he lived to possess such knowledge? It was as if something came out every time one peeled the layers off, like an onion.

She had seen the hero’s past, but she had not shown anything before the hero.

She was still in a state of not knowing Luke well.

What kind of life had he lived?

What beliefs did he have, and what environment did he grow up in?

All of that was still a mystery.

Of course, there were a few possible guesses, but…

Unable to ask, the saint could only suffer silently.

Then Lily brought up a sinister assumption once again.

“You’re not a spy for the Demon King’s army, are you?”

It was an assumption that had been brought up countless times.

She nodded her head, even if it was just to herself, as if answering her own question.

“Right. I’m sure. He’s at least someone who has been part of the Demon King’s army before. Otherwise, how could he know these secrets?”

Lily looked around the staircase.

Her eyes, looking at the hero, were filled with caution.

‘This pattern again…’

The saint chuckled bitterly. How many times has this been?

Just in the past month, there have been dozens of times, and it was unimaginable how many times he had been suspected in the past half a year.

The saint decided to defend him a little.

“Didn’t Luke say it himself? That the gods told him.”

God told me.

This was one of Luke’s usual lies when he found it difficult to explain the source of information. Naturally a lie, but the saint decided to give it a little power.

“Hey, Yuris. Do you believe that? Obviously, it’s a lie!”

“Well, who knows? It might be true. For now, he’s as close to a deity as a hero can be, maybe even closer than a saint. It’s not strange to hear the words of the gods.”

The saint spoke.

“And anyway, the information he provided has been helpful, hasn’t it?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Lily took a step back. She had no counterargument.

Even if the source of the information was suspicious, the information itself was helpful.

Although a bit uneasy, the party members had no choice but to listen to him.

“Yuris, you… have changed a bit too.”

“Me?”

As they walked for a while, Lily spoke to her again. Yuris raised an eyebrow at the somewhat abrupt remark.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know. In the past, we used to doubt, curse, and try to uncover his identity together. But these days, you just keep praising him.”

“Ah, hahahaha…”

The saint awkwardly laughed.

It was a story from before her regression. At the same time, it was a somewhat embarrassing past. Even now, she felt a sense of guilt when thinking about it.

“Just…”

Yuris opened his mouth as he watched him walk ahead.

“I decided to believe. At least for now, he’s our hero.”

“Really? I still don’t like it. The way he’s growing recently is abnormally fast. He’s copying the kids’ skills and all…”

Lily glared at Luke.

“Wait and see. I’ll uncover his identity someday. And then, I’ll definitely find a real hero.”

“…”

The saint let out a small sigh.

‘The hero is right in front of you.’

Even if it was because of the curse, it was unavoidable that it was frustrating.

Especially with the recent unpleasant atmosphere.

Perhaps the stress from the uncomfortable environment and the curse the hero had were merging.

These days, it felt like walking on thin ice.

Everyone’s nerves were getting sharper.

If someone were to cross the line even a little, it felt like the party members would definitely start fighting each other.

“Sigh…”

The Saint just hoped that such a thing wouldn’t happen.

Before that, she prayed earnestly to the gods.

*

[You have entered the Balkan Library!]

“Wow! What is this?”

“There are so many books…”

As we descended the stairs, piles of books greeted us like mountains.

Perhaps to preserve the books intact, there wasn’t even a single bug here.

“Wow, how long has it been since I’ve seen such a clean space?”

“It may not be perfectly clean, but compared to the upper levels, it’s like heaven.”

Camilla picked up one of the stacked books and frowned.

“But… the books themselves are a mess. Couldn’t we tidy up a bit?”

What’s the use? That damned Crown Prince.

He’s a scoundrel who lives among insects in such a filthy place. Asking him for tidiness.

It would be faster to wait for the world to end.

Clap!

As I cursed him for a moment, I clapped my hands to grab the party members’ attention.

This spacious place, almost as big as a mansion, is filled with nothing but books.

It would take a considerable amount of time to find what we want here. There was no time to waste on dealing with them.

“Alright, everyone, let’s split up and look for anything that might be helpful. If we stick together, even a week won’t be enough to see it all.”

Fortunately, no one opposed my suggestion this time.

They were all thinking the same thing. It would be best to split up this time.

Especially our team’s mage, Lily. She even welcomed it with open arms.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard something I like. Great! Wow, how many books are there? Some of them seem to be books that even the Tower didn’t have.”

That’s why they’re mages. They’re all crazy about knowledge.

It looked like Lily was no different from before.

Having seen that appearance, Camilla said to her team members.

“Then let’s all disperse and meet again in 12 hours.”

“I also need to do some research after a long time.”

12 hours.

That should be enough time to skim through the desired book. I turned my head and distanced myself from them.

*

The owner of this castle.

A black magician who has mastered the essence of treachery and a follower of the Demon King.

The Worm King Balkan was a guy obsessed with books.

Because extensive knowledge was necessary for the development of new insects or investigation of rare monsters.

From anatomy, entomology, and magic to summoning laws, equivalent exchange, alchemy, and so on…

Most of the knowledge and records he had accumulated for hundreds of years were piled up here.

I randomly picked up a book from those placed all around and read the titles.

“Journal of Cockroach Dissection”

“Fifth Demon King vs Warrior Battle”

“Sun and Moon Stories”

“About the Fact that I, the Summoner of ‘Lv1 Skeleton,’ Turned out to be the Strongest… Volumes 1-12”

“Hmm…”

Of course, it wasn’t just a collection of study books.

Although I explained it like that earlier.

To be honest, this place was more like a junkyard.

Books that Balkan had already read or found uninteresting were all piled up here.

Thanks to that, most of the books piled up here were either useless or of low quality.

But that’s the way it is.

Even in a garbage dump, you can still find one or two treasures if you look.

To me, this place was no different from a treasure trove.

“Basic Guide to Magic that Even Fools Can Understand – Part 1”

“What are the Four Elemental Spirits?”

“How to Avoid Scams in Summoning Magic”

“The Law of the Holy Arts – Part 1”

“The Wind and Thunder Spear Technique – Beginner’s Guide”

Look, already, can’t you see a few useful things?

As I mentioned earlier, this guy is crazy about knowledge.

And that ‘knowledge’ wasn’t limited to his own field.

He just devours books as if he’s insane whenever he’s even slightly interested. As a result, this place became a shallow but incredibly vast repository of knowledge.

It’s the perfect place for a novice with a good physique and no knowledge to learn.

Today, I will establish the foundation of the class here.

“Let’s see, what would be good?”

I paced around the books with a feeling similar to going shopping at a mart.

I should choose a profession that synergizes well with my abilities as much as possible. Naturally, there were many options that came to mind.

Holy Knight, Spear Master, Dark Mage, and so on.

No matter which one I choose, they all have more than enough to handle.

However, there was still an issue.

First, it was the problem of difficulty.

The game has become incredibly challenging.

Certainly, good and stable professions are suitable, but can I defeat the Demon King with just those four… I couldn’t help but shake my head when I thought about it.

Isn’t it just like trying to save a heroine that failed 999 times?

If I stick to my usual build, it’s almost certain to fail.

The second reason was the reward from the quest.

The Insect Technique (Chongsul) that you can obtain by defeating the Insect King.

As an almost perfect skill, it didn’t synergize well with most other skills.

Furthermore, it’s practically the opposite of most skills, being a Dark Magic skill.

Although it’s a skill with a lot of potential, it also has many limitations.

So, I pondered for a long time.

What could there be that combines well with healing and sacrificial abilities and can also be compatible with Dark Magic…

“Huh?”

As I continued to walk, a few books caught my eye.

“The Blood Fiend Technique.”

“《Pain Perception Technique》

In an instant, I spotted Yi-Chae in my view.

Well, now that it’s come to this.

Wouldn’t it be fine to ride the dark mage tree altogether?