Torture the hero, why has the Demon King's castle collapsed again?

Page 9

“I will not hand over Chief Lak’s information to you…”

[Second Stage Mission: The zombie maid Fim's cooking is so delicious that you've confessed. Please sincerely reveal the activation spell for the magician's round tower handwriting...]

"Chief Lark is an elder who is both a mentor and a friend to me, and a pillar of the human camp."

Mino's expression was resolute, but her eyes began to wander, finally settling on the end of the mission information.

"so--"

[Quest Reward: Key to the Demon King's Castle Prison]

"If you want intelligence, you'll need more rice!"

Altottai nodded in agreement.

"Ah yes!"

"Correct!"

"Correct!"

"what?!"

The next second, the blade made a 180-degree turn like a magic tube, and then vibrated uncontrollably like a chainsaw.

A million alpacas galloped through my mind.

Maid Fim suddenly looked up, her blank face filled with unease. Could it be... that she had put too much seasoning in the food and made the Mino Warrior sick?

Kleiner looked at Mino, and this time, she had a new understanding.

Is this your struggle against the Demon King's army, Mino...? I understand.

You survived the interrogation, yet handed over the intelligence to us for nothing. This is not a trap, but a declaration to our demon race: humanity will never be defeated by this.

Mino Lake, he is the true embodiment of human will.

"What, you don't want this intelligence?" Mino urged.

If you don't let me explain right now, how am I supposed to complete the mission?!

After struggling for a while, Mino gave himself a reasonable explanation: if he got the key to the cell, he would have countless opportunities to try to escape from the Demon King's castle!

As for revealing the password to Chief Lark's notes, so what? Who could possibly access notes that only Chief Lark has the authority to read, under the guard of a group of great mages in the capital city at the heart of the kingdom?

Chief Lachlan, I believe in you!

In Kleinna's eyes, Mino's urging was a challenge, and her expression became extremely serious.

"Yes, of course I want it. Mino, you'll regret your decision..."

She will risk all the power of the demon race to thoroughly infiltrate the territory of that chief of the Round Tower!

Kleiner didn't say the second half of what she wanted to say aloud; instead, she kept it to herself.

"Fim, let's go."

After obtaining the information, Kletina turned to leave. Fim nodded, then turned back and stared blankly at Mino.

The latter ladled out another full bowl of rice, slurping it down without a care for the scalding heat, savoring it with a blissful expression...

"My lord, is the incantation you recited true?"

After Kleitana and Fim had gone far away, the Holy Sword Altote slowly began to communicate in Mino's mind.

“Of course, a person should keep their word!” Mino said with a righteous expression.

"But... why would Ang Lac, a great mage, tell you such an important incantation?" Artotai felt that something was off.

Mino pondered for a moment before raising his head, understanding the other party's good intentions: "Chief Lark is an elderly man who must be afraid of dying one day, which is why he entrusted the incantation to me, whom he trusts deeply."

Thinking of this, Mino sighed: "The white-haired man burying the black-haired man, Chief Lark must be very sad right now."

Altote muttered, "Could you put down the bowl in your hand before you say that... Traitorous Hero?"

"No! I'm not a traitor!" Mino straightened his back: "Don't forget, what kind of person is Altotai, the mage Lak?! The chief of the Supreme Mage Tower, a legendary elder who has fought against the demons for decades, the guiding star of the kingdom!"

"With his divine magical power, his perception of magic must far surpass mine. Do you really think someone like that could be tricked by the demons' petty schemes?!"

“This…” Altottai hesitated.

Yes, that's a figure at the level of a great mage. He probably has a divine perception power as strong as that of the saintess. Ordinary monsters simply cannot escape the perception of divine magic... In other words, the holy mage Ang Lak is invincible against the demon race.

“That’s right! So my giving away this for free is out of absolute trust in Chief Lark.” Waving his hand, Mino stated righteously:

"The more I give away freebies, the more reliable Chief Lark is!"

"The counterattack is only just beginning..."

Mino spread his hands, and a ball of light gradually condensed in his hands.

[You have received the first stage mission reward: a secret item belonging to a Demon King's military officer]

[Random draw in progress - You have obtained the "Kreitina's" secret item]

"Good!" Mino perked up. "As long as we find Kleinna's weakness, we can threaten her and force her to release us from the Demon King's castle."

"open!"

The sound gradually echoed in the cell.

Mino watched with anticipation as the rose-scented object in her hand gradually took shape.

……

in the corridor.

"what!"

Kleidina, who was walking, suddenly trembled, her legs shook violently, and she cried out in surprise.

"Lady Kletina, what's wrong?" Fim, who was following behind, quickly stepped forward.

The dignified composure of Kleidina, the clerk before him, vanished, replaced by confusion and panic in her eyes. Her face flushed like a young girl's, and her voice betrayed her bewilderment:

“No, no more…”

Kleidina frantically rummaged around for a moment, her face flushing even more. The next instant, she transformed into streaks of shadow and flew towards her room...

In the cell.

"Ah."

Looking at the still-warm, thin fabric in his hands, Mino fell into deep thought:

"If I use this to threaten Kleinna, I hope she won't kill me..."

He turned his head and found Artotai in the corner, inscribing something on the wall with ancient script that only he recognized, while muttering incantations:

"On the fourth day of the Freebie Calendar, the indomitable hero Mino Rek couldn't withstand the severe interrogation of the Ninth Demon, the zombie maid Fim. In the end, he revealed important information about the Holy Mage in exchange for what he desperately craved—"

"A pair of light pink panties with delicate rose patterns!"

Chapter 12 One-Time Notes

"The above is the code to the Round Tower Notebook revealed by the hero Mino..."

The Demon Conference.

Kleinera let out a soft sigh, briefly summarized the interrogation, and also shared her thoughts on Mino for Wells and Fim to consider.

"I see. As expected of a brave warrior with unwavering will. It seems it will take some time to completely subdue his spirit..."

The voice of the demon strategist Swell came from the will-o'-the-wisps, "But it doesn't matter, this doesn't affect our plan to destroy the power of the Round Tower on the other side."

“This time, Your Excellency Fim, you have done very well.” The will-o’-the-wisp turned toward Fim, the maid who sat at the ninth seat at the other end of the long table.

Fim looked quietly at the will-o'-the-wisp, nodded slightly, and showed no extra emotion on his gray face.

"With the password, we can break the magical defenses on the notebook and then completely destroy it."

Kleidina's face broke into a slight smile.

The Mage's Round Tower is not merely a simple symbolic building, but a strategic weapon with extremely complex and rich magical functions.

The notes of the Mage Tower are the most important key. Using an extremely concentrated method of inscription, a large number of complex magic arrays that activate various functions of the Tower are recorded on magic paper. Each generation of chief mage leaves their own magical insights in it. For all human mages, that notebook can be called a precious sacred object.

The amount of knowledge stored there is now estimated to be comparable to the Kingdom's library; even the great mage Lak could not possibly remember all of its contents.

If the notebook is destroyed, the mage's tower will lose most of its functions, causing considerable trouble for the archmage.

"The only difficulty now lies in how to get close to the notebook located at the core of the round tower." Thinking of this, Kletina was somewhat troubled. This was the real challenge, just like figuring out how to steal the key to a vault locked inside.

"Hehe." The demon strategist Swell's laughter suddenly rang out.

"This is actually the easiest part for me. My scribe, don't forget my demon race."

Kleidina snapped out of her daze.

"Demon Strategist" was merely Svir's title; before he became the Demon Strategist, his name was etched with human fear for a long time.

—The Book Demon, Swell.

"That's right, Your Excellency, anything in the form of a book can be manipulated by me to a certain extent from the void. I think that notebook is no exception..."

Recalling the disasters that Swell had caused in the past, Klettina's expression finally relaxed.

"If Mino's code is accurate, then our infiltration of the human camp..."

"We've finally taken the first step!"

……

The royal capital, the Magician's Round Tower.

Lark arrived at the room at the top of the round tower. As usual, he opened the drawer in the center of the desk, confirmed that the round tower notes were intact, and then, bathed in the darkness of the room, continued his research of the past few days.

On the Round Tower Notes, the prototype of a magic circle that secretly controls the subject with a mental imprint is slowly taking shape.

"The selection ceremony for the next hero is probably about to begin. This time... I want to nip the risks in the bud and completely control the hero as soon as he is selected!"

Lak's chilling voice echoed in the darkness.

After a long while, Lak wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood up.

"Fortunately, I have these notes as an index, so I don't need to memorize so much knowledge; I can directly refer to it. Soon, I'll be able to control the Hero Ritual with ease! Mino, there won't be another one like you!"