đźź Chapter 74:
🟧 POV Takeru:
We continued our search for Elithius, leaving Mirai and Number Four behind.
Despite everything, Number Four didn't try to stop us.
We had no idea where Elithius might be, so Elnar came up with a clever plan to locate his brother:
"Let's go to Elithius's room. We might find his necklace there—it could help us track him down."
It was a good idea, so we agreed and headed there. Ryo couldn't enter because of his huge size, so only Elnar and I went inside.
The moment Elnar opened the door, a strong smell of sweat hit my nose. The room was a complete disaster—papers scattered everywhere, old food, the bed mattress on the floor, and tons of statues of himself.
Despite all that, Elnar didn't seem surprised, unlike me. I couldn't help but comment honestly:
"If I didn't know your brother, I'd never believe this was his room."
"It's always been like this since we were kids. He never let anyone in. Now, where do we start looking?"
When we first came to the palace, we had given the necklace to Ryo. I didn't know if he still remembered where it was, but I hoped he had an idea.
I left the room to ask him:
"Ryo, do you know exactly where the necklace is in his room?"
"I gave it back to the prince yesterday, so I don't know where he put it. But if you want my advice, check his statues—he hides important stuff in them."
"His statues? What do you mean?"
"They're hollow inside. If you twist the head and leg, they open."
"Alright, I'll take a look."
I went back and started searching through the statues. There were lots of them. I opened the first one—small, about the size of my arm—and found a bunch of papers inside.
"What are these…? Failed, failed, failed… Are these his exam papers?"
Was he hiding them so his father wouldn't find out? I tossed the statue aside and checked another, a larger one this time—it contained a golden crown.
"A golden crown? Is this the king's?"
Does he like pretending to be king or something? I threw that statue away too, but before I could open another, Elnar spoke:
"Takeru, I found the necklace."
"Where did you find it?"
"In Elithius's socks."
"What's wrong with your brother? Why would he hide something important there?"
"You're wrong. If it were truly important, he'd hide it in his statues. Things that are precious to him, he hides in his socks."
Seriously… I had no comment for that.
After finding the necklace, we left the room. Ryo immediately asked:
"Where did you find it?"
Elnar replied as if it were the most normal thing in the world:
"In one of his socks."
And the worst part? Ryo wasn't even surprised.
"I see. Then it must be precious to him—that's why he kept it there."
These people have quirks stranger than mine…
Elnar then used the necklace to sense Elithius's mana and told us where he was:
"Elithius's energy is coming from beneath the palace."
We followed the necklace's signal downstairs. I couldn't help but wonder—what brought Elithius down there? Or rather, what brought Number One there?
"Why did Number One take Elithius underground? What's down there?"
Elnar answered, his tone tense:
"Under this palace lies a secret reserve of Vitalis Crystals. Even Orfin didn't know about it. So maybe Number One used Elithius to reach it."
"And did Elithius know where the reserve was?"
"Not exactly, but he could easily find out. No one would stop him if he decided to investigate. My father and I never paid much attention to his actions, so he might've stumbled across documents about the crystal locations—or even the reserve itself."
That explains why the gang boss needed Elithius.
But what did he want the crystal for? Did he cause all this chaos just to steal it?
I asked Elnar:
"What's the boss planning to do with the Vitalis Crystal? Just steal it?"
"I don't think so. He clearly wants more than that. This crystal can accelerate the growth of anything—it must be part of a bigger plan."
Accelerate growth…? I had no idea what Number One intended, but whatever it was, it sounded dangerous—possibly catastrophic.
We had been on the upper floors of the palace—the grand hall where we'd left Mirai and Number Four, and Elithius's room—but now we reached the ground level.
Elnar led us to a gate that opened into the underground halls.
Ryo couldn't fit through the entrance because of his massive frame, so he used his strength to smash through the upper wall and get in. We went down a long staircase into the basement. The air was thick with dust.
The silence was eerie—unsettling.
Even though it was dark, we could still see faintly. When we reached the bottom, we noticed a dim light. The place turned out to be a series of prison cells, illuminated by lamps containing glowing insects.
Elnar explained that Orfin had previously been imprisoned here after his betrayal was discovered:
"This is where Minister Orfin was locked up after we learned the truth about him."
He led us to the cell where Orfin was supposed to be—but it was empty. Number One must have freed him.
Elnar continued following the necklace's energy until we reached a dead end.
I wasn't sure if the necklace had malfunctioned or if Elnar had misread his brother's energy, but judging by his face, he didn't seem confused.
He stepped forward and pressed one of the stones in the wall.
The entire wall shifted and disappeared, revealing a hidden passage.
Classic. Even this world had secret wall passages like in movies.
Beyond the wall was another staircase.
How deep did they dig under this palace? They must have reached magma by now.
Unlike the previous stairs, though, these were wider.
We descended until we reached the lowest level—a massive gate stood before us, and behind it was a colossal chamber filled with light-blue crystals.
They shimmered like gemstones—no, even more brilliantly. The entire room was at least twenty times the size of a normal one.
Elnar looked at us and said:
"Elithius is here. Let's go in and bring him back."
Ryo and Elnar's eyes gleamed with determination unlike anything I'd seen before.
If I had known things would go this far, I never would've gotten involved in the first place.
But each time, I can't shake off this guilt. The first time Elithius was kidnapped—it was because Haizen and I decided to go to Orivia.
And this time, it's because I decided to come to the palace.
Since things have gone this far, there's nothing left to do but face reality.
I'm not doing this out of heroism—but if I ran away now, after everything I've done, the regret would suffocate me.
So I have no choice but to help these two… save their kingdom.