Chapter 161
“Sal is my friend, but I don’t have memories of that anyway.”
Kyle nodded as if realizing a new fact, then his eyebrows rose sharply once, as if he had realized something.
“Speaking of which, did you find out anything from Sal? You said he was your friend, so he must know something.”
I flinched in surprise at the unexpected question. Kyle probably thought Sal and I had met when I was the Great Sage, but in truth, he was the Black Flame Dragon’s friend, so I couldn’t answer honestly.
“That’s… true, but he said we weren’t that close. He said we only met briefly when I stayed in this village.”
My mind nearly went blank for a moment, so it was a relief that I had gotten my story straight with Sal in advance.
“Really? That’s a shame. He was the first old friend of yours we met. In any case, I hope you can recover your past memories here. I promise I’ll do my best for that too.”
Kyle quietly placed his hand on my shoulder as he said that. This time, I didn’t shake off his hand either. It was because I could feel his sincerity.
“Yeah. We’ll be able to find a clue about the Black Flame Dragon’s whereabouts too.”
So I said something I didn’t even mean for no reason. Perhaps Kyle sensed that too, because he burst into a hearty laugh.
“We don’t have much time left, so let’s hope so.”
There probably wouldn’t be any clues about the Black Flame Dragon’s whereabouts here, but even so, I sincerely hoped we could find the connection between the Devotees of Darkness and the Black Flame Dragon.
* * *
Unlike its terrifying infamy, there wasn’t a single being threatening the party in the village, which was empty like a ghost town.
There were occasionally writhing plant-type monsters and insect-type monsters, but they weren’t enough to cause harm. So we were able to approach the royal castle smoothly without any particular obstruction.
“That is the entrance to the royal castle.”
Sal pointed at the solid gray castle standing amid the hazy smoke as he spoke. I lifted my head to check where it ended, but I couldn’t see because it was hidden by the smoke.
From the outside, it had a relatively clear shape. And unlike when we had passed through the village earlier, skeletons were scattered here and there, creating an even more eerie atmosphere.
The party stood before the royal castle’s solid main gate and exchanged glances. I felt the same solemn atmosphere I had felt in front of the Black Flame Dragon’s lair.
“We don’t know what’s inside. Everyone, prepare for battle and follow me.”
Kyle showed his heroic side and was the first to open the door and enter. The party took out their respective weapons and followed Kyle inside.
The first thing I saw was a hall in complete disarray. The chandelier was broken and smashed into the floor, and all the windows were shattered, with glass scattered carelessly across the floor.
“Watch your feet. There are a lot of glass shards.”
As soon as Kyle said that, the eerie sound of glass crunching came from under his feet.
“It’s a bit dark inside. Everyone, take out something that can provide light.”
I fiddled with the necklace Kyle had given me in the cave before. The moment a soft light poured out, a blue figure suddenly popped out from the end of the corridor.
“There’s something over there!”
At my shout, the party turned reflexively. What had popped out from the darkness was a being with a bluish, opaque form…
“Is that a ghost?”
Gerard muttered, doubting his eyes. Just as he said, several bluish ghosts were rushing toward us in a fluster.
I had seen plant-type monsters, insect-type monsters, and even inanimate-type monsters, but this was my first time seeing a ghost-type monster.
The ghosts were all equipped with full armor like real knights, and they threateningly swung heavy long swords. It was a bizarre sight I had never seen in my life.
“Be careful, Kyle!”
As Gerard’s voice rang out, Kyle easily dodged the sword of the ghost knight charging at him.
Since it was a ghost, I thought it might simply pass through the wall, but the sword lodged itself into the wall and made an unpleasant clang!
