Chapter Eighteen: The Absurd Truth

However, the item he referred to clearly wasn’t left in this secret room.

After entering, Miss Vilyric immediately scanned every corner. Aside from some worn or damaged ordinary household items and the scattered papers and fallen chairs, there was basically nothing else.

The layout of this secret room was exceptionally simple, and there was hardly any possibility of a secondary hiding spot. Did King Willipol take that thing with him before his disappearance?

… Regardless, let’s continue observing for now.

The black shadow representing King Willipol had been drawing at the table for a long time. He seemed somewhat anxious, moving his pen faster and more frequently, occasionally slamming his hand on the table to vent his emotions, appearing in an obviously unhealthy mental state.

No wonder he needed to hide away in this soundproof secret room to work.

By the way, the content observed through the 【Yin Yang Eye】 showed that the flow of time here was not equivalent to that of the real world. To Miss Vilyric, it looked like she was leisurely watching the scene play out, but in reality, this information was conveyed in a way that was more difficult to articulate, only lasting a mere moment to several seconds in the outside world.

Otherwise, the clueless Miss Le Qiao Qiao would have surely felt something strange and started shouting by now.

Finally, at a certain moment, the black figure of King Willipol in the white world suddenly stood up and slammed the pen in his hand onto the ground. The force of his action even knocked over the wooden chair behind him.

He frantically swept all the items off the table, then fiercely tugged at his hair, as if roaring, resembling a beast thrashing about in a wild frenzy.

That distressing scene of madness, even as just a blurry shadow in the white world, made Miss Vilyric gasp in astonishment.

After all, King Willipol was the leader of a clan. While the lifespan of merfolk may not be as long as that of dragons and other immortal species, it still averages over twice that of humans, and the Ming Merman tribe is even longer-lived. What could possibly lead this century-old king into such an uncontrollable frenzy?

After venting out, the black shadow representing Willipol seemed to calm down a bit. However, instead of righting the chair and sitting back down, he appeared to suddenly have a revelation and hurriedly bent down to pick up the unidentified item that had also been swept to the ground, seemingly related to 【Ghost Sea】 intelligence.

Thanks to this contact, the item was finally outlined in the white world.

It seemed… to be a book.

Immediately afterward, King Willipol stood in place, flipping through the pages of the book…

Then, he suddenly vanished!

「？」

The black-and-white world rapidly faded, and the observations of the Yin Yang Eye ended abruptly, indicating that afterward, King Willipol never returned to this secret room.

It seemed this was the entirety of the process behind his disappearance.

「……」

Although it only lasted a few seconds in the outside world, the bizarre sight of blood suddenly evaporating into thin air, along with the black-haired girl’s silver-blue pupils turning black and white as she fixed her gaze on a certain spot, was enough to prove she was investigating the truth through some special means.

Seeing that the mysterious black-and-white hue finally faded from her eyes, Nitira cautiously approached Miss Vilyric, attempting to inquire.

「Miss Vilyric… did you find anything?」

「……」

Suppressing the multitude of realizations from using this power for the first time, the Priestess was silent for a moment before nodding.

「I did see something, Your Highness. Let me confirm again, on the day King Willipol went missing, the warriors guarding the palace did not perceive any unusual spatial fluctuations, correct?」

The clever Ming Merman girl immediately grasped her meaning.

「You’re suggesting that there’s a possibility Father left or was transferred away through some space means?」

「…… That possibility isn’t entirely out of the question, but our Merman Tribe has a special branch. They are the Sea Maidens, very few in number, all female, naturally possessing highly sensitive magical perception and talents, known as the Blue Sea Merfolk.」

「The palace’s magical guards are primarily made up of this tribe. The Sea Priestess, Miss Silisa, whom you met before, is also a Blue Sea Merman. With them monitoring day and night, if there were truly abnormal spatial fluctuations, the palace would not have remained unaware.」

「Unless the level and concealment of that spatial magic were exceedingly high, far surpassing our capabilities, or…」

Seeming to find that possibility too unbelievable, the princess hesitated and did not immediately speak, but Miss Vilyric suddenly filled in the unfinished thought.

「Or, King Willipol possesses a mysterious teleportation ability similar to that of the Pirate King Rashid Bachiri, you’re implying this, right?」

「Um…」

The princess quietly voiced her long-held suspicion.

「Actually, at that time, the palace’s defensive barrier didn’t capture or sense any traces of spatial magic either, almost as if that fellow just appeared out of nowhere, which is why I’ve wondered multiple times whether Father’s disappearance could be…」

「Haha, perhaps the most absurd speculation is actually the closest to the truth.」

Then, the Priestess described the scene she had just traced back with the Yin Yang Eye, inducing a wave of silence.

After a long while, the princess finally snapped back to reality, somewhat incredulous.

「He opened a book and just suddenly vanished? That’s, that’s too… absurd! Plus, I’ve never seen anything like that in Father’s hands before!」

Miss Vilyric chuckled indifferently.

「Of course you wouldn’t know; otherwise, what do you think this secret room is for? And if I’m not mistaken, King Willipol likely didn’t acquire this item from Rashid but obtained it long before he secretly built this pool and this secret room.」

Hong Yan was slightly startled and instantly realized.

「So, you’re saying that the king built this secret room specifically to hide this strange book?」

「Yes, that’s currently the most plausible and reasonable explanation.」

Based on the known information, the Priestess naturally conjectured further.

「To take it even further, we can completely assume that the Pirate King came to meet King Willipol specifically because he knew the king possessed this item and sought some goal. Speaking of which, why did you suddenly start calling me ‘senior’ again…?」

「Uh… s-sorry.」

The Priestess, who had completely given up on addressing it, waved her hand casually, glancing at the still somewhat bewildered, puzzled princess.

It’s no wonder; this news was indeed too explosive for her. Disappearing without relying on spatial magic, just as if someone on Blue Star conjured fireballs and water balls out of thin air.

She definitely needed some time to digest this.

「In any case, if we want to investigate the reason behind King Willipol’s disappearance, or even the truth of this disaster connected with 【Ghost Sea】 and 【Deep Sea Spirit】, we first need to find the 【book】 held by King Willipol, at the very least to clarify what it actually is.」

「I understand, but right now…」

Seeing Nitira looking as if she had more to say, Miss Vilyric nodded reassuringly.

「That book is no longer in this secret room. However, it’s not entirely without leads to pursue. Let’s investigate here for today, don’t rush. Rushing isn’t helpful in matters like this.」

「Moreover, I do have a method that might help us obtain some additional information.」

While speaking, the black-haired girl revealed a hint of a mysterious smile.

「Your Highness, could you provide me with an absolutely secret, inaccessible, and safe place? It seems it’s time to find some outside assistance ~」

   

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