Chapter 43: The Secret Hideout


    A heavy and awkward silence starts to take ce the moment our gazes meet. Alex tried his best to look calm and poised in front of me, and I did the same thing.


    But what the heck is he doing in this kind of ce?


    "Right. So you stalked me," he said with a straight face. My face instantly flushed on the term he used.


    "Stalked you? Is this what you call stalking?" I scowled.


    "Hmmm" This annoying guy pretended to rub his chin and think of the words he is about to say, then after a few moments of silence, he spoke once again.


    "Yeah this is definitely stalking to me, no matter how I look at it."


    Unbelievable. I rolled my eyes at him in exasperation.


    "Fine, whatever. So can you please exin to me what are you doing in this spooky ce?"


    Alex made a long, frustrated sigh before he decided to reply to my question.


    "Since you are here already, might as well show you around here."


    The ambiance was then filled with heavy silence once again when thed did not talk for a while, but instead cast a spell all of a sudden.


    "Mico!"


    If I remember on the spellbook that I borrowed from my deceased father (because stealing is a negative word to use, don''t you think?) that basic or level one spell is used to flicker light in one''s hand and it has the ability to illuminate a dark ce.


    That is the exact thing that this guy did. With a flicker of his hand, the wallmps in this room were instantly lighted, thus letting me see a clear picture of what is really inside this ce.


    I can see about five huge shelves made of fine, varnished wood on my right which is arranged neatly. In it are hundreds, or maybe, thousands of books to choose from. On the left are tables made of wood.


    On the far end corner of the back is arge space with loads of unopened boxes neatly piled together, and right behind me is where arge country map was pinned on a corkboard with red lines drawn in several ces, some are formed into circles to highlight them.


    "This ce was once called by Prince Arthur himself as our secret hideout. Here, we usually have our bonding together since both of us love to read books, then also in this ce is where we discuss the quests that we are about to make that we cannot further disclose to the royal council." Alex thoroughly exined.


    "Wow you turned a hidden library into your secret hideout?"


    "There are actually two libraries in this castle, but this one is undiscovered even by Lucas and Lancelott himself." Alex paused for a moment, as if recalling something at the back of his head.


    "I actually don''t understand why, up until now, but the prince only shared this ce to me, thus he called it our secret hideout."


    I cast my gaze around the area once more. So that exins why a map was here behind me. I don''t know why but I could somehow imagine him and the prince on one table, with the mapid on top of it, while Prince Arthur highlights the ces that he should need to go on his next quest.


    Wait a minute My eyes widened upon realizing something.


    I turned to face therge map behind us. Here, we have the whole territory of Gilead drawn in this huge piece of paper where the cities, towns, and small viges are under it.


    Seeing my baffled reaction, Alex chose to say something about it.


    "What is it? You looked like a dummy who has thought of something stupid-- ow!" Before he could further say something, I decided to smack his arm with my right hand and gave him an annoyed look.


    "Listen here, you jerk has the prince told you about hisst quest? Or thest ce he went to?"


    The captain stopped touching the part where I hit him earlier and began rubbing his chin once again as he tries his best to remember all the things that he and the prince had discussed earlier.


    "So far, thest quest I remembered he went to is to solve the mystery case in Citrus town where children are being captured and are found dead. That is why I was on my way to that town the day when I found you at the subway station, to meet with their town mayor and know theirtest situation after we have raided the ce and found the ck wizard behind these attacks." he narrated the things that he can remember so far.


    "Aright. So let''s presume that thest ce the prince went to is Citrus Town. Did you perhaps check the ce the day he went missing?" I asked.


    "Yes, we did. And we ended up not finding him there." Alex sighed. "I was with my troops when we went to that ce to check if he was there."


    "Oh."


    After that brief conversation, neither one of us speak for the next couple of minutes. I tried to focus my gaze on the map once again, and found out there are actually ten ces that were highlighted here. Four of them are viges, three cities, and the rest of them are towns.


    I''ve got this feeling that the prince was hidden, captured, or imprisoned somewhere along with these highlighted ces .. assuming he is not dead up until now.


    "Oh! I suddenly recall the prince''s most treasured possession lies somewhere here. I believe that it contains thest thing he did and thest ce he visited before he went missing for a year now. Wait, I''ll try to find where hest ced it." Alex suddenly blurted out and moved away towards the shelves to find that thing that he is pertaining to.


    "Should I help you find it?"


    "No!" He stopped mid-way and looked at me with a bizarre look stered on his face that surprised me a bit. He did raise his voice all of a sudden.


    "I mean " he tried topose himself in front of me once again before proceeding to what he is about to say.


    "That thing contains a high-level magic seal. If any mortals touched it, they would be as good as dead. If it is touched by an inexperienced and low-ranking wizard like you without any safety precautions, you would be paralyzed for a week." he exined.


    O...kay. That is quite surprising to hear indeed. I don''t have any idea that the prince could be that powerful to create those kinds of magic seals.


    "Stay there and I will be right back."


    After hisst statement, he indeed departed from here and started skimming through the bookshelves to find that thing twitch a level S magic seal hat he mentioned


    I, on the other hand, chose to sit at the table and waited for him to show up once again, assuming he already has the thing that he is looking for. But several seconds had passed, he still hasn''t returned


    Well, with all these many books stored inside this room, it is indeed understandable that he can''t find that thing so easily.


    And so I got bored and decided to scan some books to read while waiting for him. If you haven''t asked, I am also a lover of books as well just like that guy and the prince.


    My mother usually tells me, and the same thing I''ve heard from others, that knowledge is power. And in order for you to attain power, one must learn to enjoy thepany of books and let themselves dive into its pages.


    With that thought stuck in mind, I started standing up from my seat and went near the shelves to start looking for some good books to read. Out of instinct, I began looking at the second shelf.


    "Hey, Alex? If you don''t mind, I will look for some books to read while waiting for you at the table, or else I would fall asleep anytime soon." I announced, but thed did not respond to that so that means he did not hear me at all.


    Nevermind him. I am sure he wouldn''t get angry with me borrowing just a few books for a while. And so I also started my own mission of scrolling down some books on the second shelf.


    My fingers would slide into every book that it will have in contact as I seriously kept myself busy here just to avoid getting sleepy. Anyway, I know it is already past my bedtime, but it is still Sunday tomorrow, so I guess it wouldn''t hurt if I stay awake for a while.


    What I did is I randomly pull out some books that I believe would suit to my liking. They say that never judge the book by its cover, but I base my judgment on the titles, and if I don''t find it interesting, then I would put it back on the shelf and find another one.


    "Nope. Too formal, I guess." I said to the random book I pulled and ced it back and looked for another one.


    This continued for a while until my finger slid on a book with a maroon cover. Unlike any other books ced here, this one is a bit thin, and shiny as well. I exactly don''t know why, but there is something in this book that persuades me to pull it out.


    And so I did.


    The moment the book was in my hands, my mouth gaped when I started reading its title. Then I tried calling Alex''s attention from here.


    "Uh, Alex?" I called, but no response from him. I started to wonder howe he missed this.


    "I believe I have found what you''re looking for."