Chapter 77 – The Four Great Spirit Halls

The day of our appointment arrived, so I brought Grace and Ashley to Theoreme Castle. Sheila and Irmhild had politely declined. Those two probably didn’t want to get too close to public places.

“We’ve been expecting you,” a servant of the royal castle respectfully greeted us as we disembarked from the carriage.

Just like my previous visit, we rode the floating stones into the interior of the King’s Tower. We were led through a door beside the waiting room near the audience chamber.

The corridor was spacious, with tasteful ornaments and furnishings decorating both sides and the ceiling. While these were likely expensive items, compared to the corridors connected to the audience chamber, they gave the impression of being more modest pieces placed only at key locations.

If they intended to decorate, they could have made it more extravagant, but this was probably due to King Melvin’s personality. It was also likely because this was the royal family’s living space rather than an area meant to impress visitors to the castle.

As we walked along the corridor that curved widely around the tower’s outer perimeter, our view suddenly opened up. The tower’s outer wall had been removed to create something like a balcony, offering a panoramic view of the night sky and the cityscape.

Despite being on an upper floor, the balcony was blooming with colorful flowers, resembling an aerial garden. This was probably a place for the royal family to enjoy the scenery and appreciate plants.

I never imagined such a place existed inside the tower.

“What an amazing view.”

“The moon is in that position—is that the Eastern District?”

Grace and Ashley seemed impressed as well.

“Maintaining this garden must be quite difficult.”

“The gardeners say it’s good that monsters don’t mix in here,” the servant said jokingly. Well… indeed, even Evil Weed probably couldn’t reach this place.

“Please wait in this room.”

The room just past the balcony appeared to be a dining hall. Knives and forks were arranged on the dining table. We were told to take our assigned seats and wait.

While certainly spacious, it had the atmosphere of a private dinner rather than showcasing the royal family’s splendor to guests. The furnishings were relatively modest.

King Melvin soon arrived with his attendants. He hadn’t brought the queen or other princes and princesses. Accompanying him were Knight Order Commander Mildred and an elderly magician. I didn’t know who the magician was, but he was likely someone of comparable strength to Mildred. It seemed clear they intended to discuss matters about the labyrinth.

When King Melvin recognized us, his face broke into a smile.

“Oh! Theodore! Right on time.”

“Your Majesty, thank you for inviting us today—” I began to greet him, but King Melvin stopped me with a laugh and a wave of his hand.

“Ah, no need for that. Save those formalities for public occasions. You can relax more here.”

His smile had a somewhat friendly air reminiscent of Alfred. Was this King Melvin’s true nature? In this aspect, they really were father and son.

“Understood.”

When I nodded, King Melvin and the others also took their seats at the table.

“You’ve already met Mildred. This is Court Magician Ricard.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Hmm. So you’re the boy who recreated that Flight Technique. Truly impressive.”

Court Magician Ricard. Hmm. According to Prince Albert’s story, he reproduced the Flight Technique but got sick and vomited, or something like that.

Well… better not bring that up.

Food was soon served. The dishes were mainly meat-based, but both the appearance and cooking methods gave the impression of being elaborate. The sauces were also colorful, each rich and complex in flavor. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how they were prepared just by looking at them, but Grace was carefully examining each bite with a serious expression, possibly analyzing them to incorporate the techniques.

Additionally, artisan sugar confections and candy sculptures were brought out, making the dining table quite lively.

“Hmm. I’ll ask while we’re at it. I have good news and matters to discuss, but—let’s get the troublesome talk out of the way first.”

After we’d been enjoying the food for a while, King Melvin spoke up.

“Is this about the labyrinth’s seal?”

“Yes. After thoroughly examining and deciphering the ancient documents stored in the royal castle… It seems that in the past, after winning the battle against the demons, something taken from them was enshrined in the Moonlight Temple.”

“From the demons…?”

“We don’t know exactly what it is, but judging from their attempts to retrieve it, it’s probably not something that should fall into their hands.”

I certainly agreed with that. It would almost certainly lead to nothing good.

The possibility that it might be connected to a potential future large-scale monster outbreak… well, that was just my own speculation without any proof.

“Do you know about the labyrinth’s characteristics? That similar things gather in the same places. The Moonlight Temple is the same.”

…I see. So it was something artificially created by utilizing the labyrinth’s characteristics.

The sacred floor was likely formed by gathering prayers from the Moon Temple built above the labyrinth into the lower levels.

“So there were techniques in the past to utilize the labyrinth, you mean?”

For example, Theoreme Castle might have been created through similar means.

“Hmm. You catch on quickly, as expected. Just as there are barriers around the outer walls, temples, and the royal castle, multiple barriers are also placed at the entrance to the Moonlight Temple itself. What maintains those barriers are—the Orbs housed in the Four Great Spirit Halls beyond the Sealed Door of the labyrinth.”

“The Four Great Spirits—earth, water, fire, and wind?”

“That’s right.”

If so, that means there are three more Sealed Doors like the one I found somewhere within the labyrinth. I had expected there to be multiple doors since Chester was still exploring the Great Corruption Lake even after I found the Sealed Door.

But what I don’t understand is—if such a strict seal is in place, why would they deliberately seek it out themselves?

Certainly, the demons might find a way to secretly infiltrate the Moonlight Temple in BFO, but the human side wouldn’t know that. With the demons probing around, I would think they wouldn’t go out of their way to search for it, risking information leakage.

King Melvin answered that question as well.

“It’s said that the barrier around the Moonlight Temple maintained by the Orbs will eventually weaken if left alone. According to the ancient documents, this isn’t something in the distant future. Before the seal weakens, we must find a way to enter the Four Great Spirit Halls, locate the Orbs, and perform a ritual to replenish them with the spirits’ power. The problem is—”

Ricard, prompted by King Melvin, continued the explanation.

“We don’t know how to proceed beyond the Sealed Door. The crucial parts of the ancient documents were eaten by insects.”

“Hmm”

The Sealed Door, huh? Even though the demons couldn’t breach that door, they seemed to consider merely reporting it as completing a task. Somehow, the demons seem to know more about the situation.

I should think from my own perspective. I know about that door in BFO and other things from a different standpoint.

Well. They knew the seal would weaken from the beginning, right?

In BFO, what was that door? It wasn’t particularly a secret door or anything. It was positioned as a door leading to an unimplemented area.

What was displayed there was—a countdown, notification of the time remaining until the unimplemented area would be unlocked.

What if the display on the door is the same here? A seal that weakens over time. Orbs that require maintenance. Putting these together, what the relief signifies is—

“The positions of celestial bodies—”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing. I’m not that knowledgeable about astronomy. That relief was composed of several overlapping elliptical lines with large and small circles positioned along them, right? Doesn’t it mean that when the celestial bodies align in the corresponding positions, the Sealed Doors leading to the Four Great Spirit Halls will open?”

If the relief carved on the door is announcing the unlock time, just like in BFO.

If you think about how humans have understood calendars since ancient times, it’s primarily through the movements of celestial bodies. If the labyrinth is synchronized with the moon’s movements, it wouldn’t be strange for other celestial movements to be incorporated as well.

“Celestial positions… That falls under the Moon Temple’s domain. Should we contact the Moon Temple and request their cooperation?”

So the Moon Temple is knowledgeable about astronomy. This gives us an idea of when that door will open.

“But in that case, failing to prevent the demons’ report is quite damaging.”

“They’ll send demons accordingly, then?”

Mildred crossed her arms and furrowed her brows. As expected, she’s quick to understand such points.

“That’s likely.”

“Since they can penetrate the outer wall’s barrier… Though it’s unclear if they can enter the temple’s sacred areas or the royal castle interior…”

It’s not limited to the Labyrinth City, but major cities typically have barriers along their outer walls to prevent demon intrusion. Those guys—probably thanks to Linette’s research—seem to have means to deceive and bypass them.

“We should assume they can make them targets even if they can’t directly touch the temple and royal castle, using methods like what Linette did.”

“Using powerful monsters as familiars to attack, then?”

Yes. In Linette’s case, it was an undead hydra. The marine creatures used for reporting were similar—the anti-demon barriers don’t provide protection against familiars.

“At any rate. We’ve identified both the problems and what needs to be done. We’ll coordinate with the temple side about when the doors will open, and we must also find the remaining doors leading to the other Four Great Spirit Halls. Theodore. The matter I wanted to consult you about is…”

King Melvin closed his eyes. He seemed to hesitate for a while about whether to say it or not, but eventually looked at me with a serious expression.

“…As an official request from the royal family, would you be willing to cooperate in the coming battle against the demons?”

King Melvin paused there, knitting his brows together.

“I understand this request is shameless. Even though you have exceptional magical talent—to have to drag out a child as young as you to the battlefield is

solely

due to my lack of wisdom and virtue. But with demons like Zevion appearing…”

“…Demons are enemies. Even without a request, I’ll fight them if they appear.”

“My apologies.”

“No need.”

My stance remains unchanged. If demons come to Termwills, I’ll simply eliminate them.

But if that’s the case, it might turn into something like a competition between us and the demons for the Orbs of the Four Great Spirit Halls… right?