The Bastard First Prince Doesn't Want to Die

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 176

I followed the village chief to a place that was unexpectedly a library full of old books.

"Wait here for a moment."

The village chief took out a bunch of keys and opened a thick wooden door. The door was engraved with a pattern that I had seen here and there.

"You have a lot of keys."@@novelbin@@

"They all have their uses."

"What are they used for?"

The village chief glanced at me.

"Don't try to find out."

The moment I opened the creaking door and entered, the smell of dust and mold stung my nose. Humid air clung to my skin.

I crossed the threshold and looked around inside.

It was incredibly old but by no means inferior to the royal library. The traces of its long history remained intact throughout the room.

The surroundings were dim, perhaps to protect the books from the light coming in from the outside. The wooden shelves, filled to the brim just below the low ceiling, were all faded. It was clear at a glance that they had been neglected for a long time. The books that were densely packed on each shelf also had faded or torn covers.

Still, there were a few books that looked new among them. Some books were bound with metal bands decorated with ancient patterns, and some had pages torn out, making it impossible to know the contents.

"Be careful not to fall over,” The village chief said.

At those words, I glanced at the floor and replied, "You don't have to worry about me."

I might not fall, but the village chief seemed like she could. The floor was made of uneven stone slabs. Moss was growing between them. It seemed that moss was inevitable in a closed library. It was a building built in the humid demon realm in the first place, and the door was closed.

The village chief approached a wooden table placed on the stone floor. On the table were brushes, damp paper, and other things scattered in disarray. There were some papers with writing on them that seemed to have been left unfinished. When my gaze turned to them, the village chief quickly moved the papers out of my sight. I pretended not to have been interested in the papers from the beginning and turned my head away.

"Pull this out."

The village chief pointed to a chest under the wooden table. It looked too heavy for the village chief to move alone. I pulled out the chest as the village chief ordered.

The chest was relatively clean, as if it had been opened frequently recently. The village chief took out a key from her pocket and opened the chest.

Inside the chest, there was a pile of old scrolls. The scrolls were tied with gold thread and were written with a delicate touch at a glance.

I inadvertently looked at the lid of the chest and my eyes widened. There was a map attached to the lid of the chest. It seemed to depict the terrain of the demon realm and its boundary area. Bizarre letters were densely written on the map.

I glanced at the village chief's face, but the village chief didn't seem to mind me stealing a glance at the map. I carefully examined the map and discovered something shocking.

The range of that boundary area was much more vast than I had expected. It took almost half a day to get from the village to the boundary area. But... comparing the road from the village to that place with the area of the boundary area marked on the map, it was several times larger. Moreover, the geography of the boundary area was not properly marked on the map.

I would have lost my way and starved to death. But that place is not a place where it is difficult even to stay still. The energy of the demon realm is so strong there that even a normal person cannot guarantee their survival just by entering it.

"A piece,” The village chief said suddenly.

She didn't turn to look at me. I immediately realized that she was talking about the map.

Soon I realized why the village chief didn't stop me from looking at this important map. Because I wouldn't be able to leave the village without the village chief's help anyway.

I swallowed a hollow laugh and looked around while the village chief rummaged through the chest to find something.

I tilted my head back and discovered that there was something unusual on the ceiling as well.

The patterns engraved along the corners of the ceiling caught my eye. The walls and ceilings were covered with pictures similar to the patterns on the stone pillar I saw in the shrine hidden in the fog. Between the patterns, the faint shapes of crouching animals, as if dead, were engraved. They seemed to be demonic beasts.

While looking around the library, I found a small door on the inside.

"Village chief, what is that door?"

I didn't expect her to answer anyway. But I asked just in case. As expected, the village chief pretended not to hear me and only talked about herself.

"Look at this."

The village chief handed me a scroll. It was a piece of paper tied with a string. But I can say with certainty that it was the most well-maintained document in this library.

As I received the scroll, the village chief explained, "This is a space where we have kept the records of our village. The records of the village's origin and the things that the village chiefs have done for generations are also here."

The village chief's voice echoed in the silence of the library. I turned my head and looked at the shelves that stretched along the wall and the musty old books.

"Are you suddenly going to tell me all that?"

The village chief frowned and shook her head, "Of course not."

"Yes, I guess not."

"It's still too early. And you still want to leave our village and go back to where you grew up, don't you?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you think I'll believe that?"

I guess I shouldn't have made such an absurd lie. The village chief gestured to the scroll with her chin.

"Open it."

At the village chief's words, I carefully untied the string that bound the scroll.

There was a not very long text written there. The ink was discolored and had turned a faint gray, but there was no problem in reading it. The village chief couldn't wait until I had read all the text in the scroll and started coughing.

"Cough, cough, cough! Cough...!"

I couldn't finish reading the scroll and raised my head.

"Please go out. I'll read it and organize it later..."

"No, I can't do that."

The village chief frowned and refused firmly. I didn't intend to do anything she told me not to do, but the village chief seemed to think differently. Even though I said I would only read the permitted text and clean up afterwards, the village chief stubbornly didn't leave the library. And the village chief's coughing grew louder and louder.

"I'll come next time. Something bad might happen."

The village chief also seemed to have a hard time enduring it, and with a reluctant expression, she nodded. I pushed the chest back under the table and left the library.

* * *

Since then, I haven't had a chance to set foot in the library again. The village chief said that the records of the village and the previous village chiefs were kept in the library, so if I could search through the records there, I would surely be able to find answers to the questions I had. I also wanted to get my hands on the map of the demon realm. According to the village chief, even that map was only a part of it, so if I could get the whole original, it would be of great help in finding a way back.

In order to find out about those records, I was constantly looking for a chance to approach the library, but the village chief was not easy to deal with, and reality also turned against me. It was because of the huge footprints of a demonic beast that appeared at the entrance of the village. Moreover, the depth of the footprints was considerable. I could guess the weight and power of the demonic beast that left those footprints and disappeared. The owner of those huge feet was definitely a threat to the village.

After the footprints appeared at the entrance of the village, the atmosphere of the village suddenly became uneasy. People didn't come out of their houses, and on days when it was even slightly dark or rainy, there was not a soul to be seen. At this rate, there was no reason to stay in the village.

The demonic beast never showed itself, but even so, the villagers' tension only grew sharper day by day. Rather, it was because the demonic beast continued not to appear that the villagers' anxiety did not subside. What the villagers, including the village chief, were most worried about was that the demonic beast would appear while they were all asleep and turn the village into ruins. Some people suggested to the village chief that she use more spells to strengthen the defenses, but for some reason, the village chief did not respond. I roughly guessed the reason. The village chief's condition was gradually deteriorating. She no longer had the capacity to act as a shaman.

As things had come to this, their conclusion was one. Public opinion was flowing towards the idea that they should find and deal with the demonic beast first.

The self-governing group, though it wouldn't be of much help, hurried to find the demonic beast, and the village chief was preparing something in her own way. I naturally became involved in their affairs. Meanwhile, Jawoon came down to the village and stayed there. He mainly made hunting plans with Haejung.

After realizing the relationship between Jawoon and the villagers, I was on edge throughout his stay in the village. I was worried that Jawoon might be offended and go back to his residence as it was.

"Uncle, don't worry too much."

Aro, who had a ghost-like sense of my anxiety, said that, but I still felt uneasy. Jawoon had previously said that he would never return to his hometown, but as I watched him, I could see that he actually had a deep longing for his hometown.

For example... like when he considered me an outsider in a similar situation to himself and offered me his kindness first.

As soon as Jawoon entered the village, preparations for hunting the demonic beast quickly took shape. And I joined the self-governing group and participated in the hunt.

Traces of the demonic beast were found at various points in the forest surrounding the village. Some people, including me, Jawoon, and Haejung, entered the forest following the direction of the footprints.

For a while, we wandered around searching for the demonic beast. The eerie scenery that I was trying to get used to caused tension again.

Meanwhile, I kept thinking about my memory of going to the village library. In fact, I was only thinking about the library, regardless of the demonic beast or anything else.

When we had a break while searching for the demonic beast, I cautiously talked to Haejung.

"The library?"

Haejung looked at me as if wondering why I was curious about such a thing. His eyes were full of suspicion.

"I didn't go there myself, the village chief took me there."

"What was there to see that you went there?"

"There were a lot of things to see."

Haejung didn't seem to have been to the library, or perhaps he wasn't interested in it at all, as he knew almost nothing about it. I nodded roughly and focused on what I had to do again.

Anyway, it seemed that the records were not something that anyone, even a villager, could see.

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]