"Ah~~~! So comfortable~——!"
On the soft, fluffy large bed, Mino lay down with all his might, letting out a sound of pure comfort.
Warm blankets wrapped his whole body. For the first time, Mino realized that the material of a "high-class bed" was something you could truly appreciate by sleeping in it... Compared to the rough wild grass, the hard floors of dungeons, and the sandy ground full of beetles, the fluffy feather-filled pillows and blankets in the prison cell were simply artifacts comparable to Alto Tai!
The refreshing feeling after the spa, combined with the softness of the bed, had Mino on the verge of drifting off into sweet sleep.
Wait... did he forget something? Right, Alto Tai!
Mino abruptly sat up from the bed and found that his holy sword Alto Tai had been abandoned in a cold stone corner at some point.
Mino quickly went to the corner and vigorously patted his holy sword.
"Wake up! Wake up, my Eternal Holy Light, Sky-Rending Void-Breaking Final World-Annihilating Heaven-and-Earth-Diverging Great Treasure Sword!!!"
A deep will was transmitted to his mind along with the voice: "How many times have I told you... my Lord... My name is Holy Sword... Alto Tai."
The holy sword's blade vibrated slightly, and Alto Tai's voice gradually became clear: "This is... the Demon King's Castle?! My Lord, we're still alive?!"
"That's right." Mino immediately straightened his back, looked left and right to confirm no one was around, and then said with a radiant expression:
"To wage an unending war against the Demon Clan, I was captured and thrown into their prison, intending to humiliate my soul and break my spirit! Fortunately, I did not completely yield!!!"
Only yielded, just a little bit... that's all.
"As expected of my Lord!" The holy sword Alto Tai trembled with excitement, its voice full of reverence and confidence:
"Those pathetic Demon Clan will never understand the great ideal in our hearts... It is something that cannot be destroyed by anything, not even tempting delicacies or comfortable dwellings!"
Mino glanced at the 'big' shape left on the bed, coughed a few times, and then asked:
"Let's not talk about this, Alto Tai, you are awake, immediately help me cut off the power restraints in my body, this is the best opportunity! We must fight our way through the Demon King's Castle and eliminate the Demon Lord!!!"
"Oh! Watch me..." The holy sword let out a spirited cry, and an unprecedented pure light suddenly gathered on its blade.
Poof... like the sound of a balloon deflating.
The next moment, the light completely dissipated, and Alto Tai's astonished voice emerged from his mind: "This, my power, I don't know where it went..."
"Nani?!"
Mino's mouth fell open. Didn't the system reward revive the holy sword? Why is it still useless?!
"Ah, my Lord, I know... Although I am awake, they have planted a magic array inside me that absorbs magic power, just like you are now. I am just a useless prisoner with no strength to even truss a chicken."
"...Did you just... take the opportunity to insult me..."
"No, no."
Mino dejectedly threw the holy sword back into the corner and lay back on the bed.
Just then, Claytina, who had just finished the Demons' council meeting, passed by and glanced in, slightly surprised.
"Oh? The holy sword Alto Tai has awakened. I really didn't expect that..."
"By rights, the holy sword should only have awakened in three more days... As expected of Hero Mino's holy sword."
Mino looked up at the ceiling.
So this reward could have been gotten for free in three days...
Never mind, never mind.
Mino could only comfort himself. Fortunately, he hadn't revealed the real information about Otta.
"If Otta were here, he'd have to thank me! Just by using some mini dolls, I broke through the Demon Clan's conspiracy trap..."
"As expected of me."
Thinking this, Mino got into bed and slept contentedly.
...
Inside the study, the dim lights flickered.
Otta locked the door, walked to the corner, gently pulled open the glass cabinet door, and looked at the neatly arranged, exquisite beautiful girl clay figures, a smile uncontrollably spreading across his lips.
He carefully picked up a brand new clay figure he had acquired in the past few days. The exquisite figure shone with a delicate luster under the soft light, as if you could see the texture of the skin.
Otta showed a look of infatuation and quickly made a decision.
"Tonight, it's her..."
A long time passed.
Prince Ota finished handling government affairs and walked out of the study door.
It was late at night...
A cold wind blew open the window, and an eyeball with bat wings flapped inside.
"Lord Strategist... are these them? I can feel faint magic power."
The monster's eye kept turning, only its pupil lacked highlights, as if connected to some void.
"Yes, that's right."
Svir's voice came through, with a tone of satisfaction: "The information brought by the secretary was indeed correct... I just don't know which figure is the most important to Prince Otta."
"Hmm, just in case... destroy them all."
"Understood."
A scorching red light immediately shot out from the monster's eye. After melting the cabinet's glass completely, the light landed on the rows of exquisite young girl figures...
"Lord Strategist, my mission is complete."
...
The next day.
Prince Otta, who had spent a refreshing night, pushed open the study door with a smile on his face.
The smile vanished from his face in the blink of an eye.
A full three minutes passed.
"Ah ah ah——!!! Who did this ah ah——! Woo woo woo ah ah ah how could this happen!!!!"
A pig-slaughtering cry suddenly erupted from the study.
"What happened?! Prince Ota!"
The next moment, with a bang, the door was violently pushed open by Otta.
Ota Cour's eyes were bloodshot, filled with anger and pain, and two lines of bloody tears flowed tragically down his face.
The Royal Palace staff trembled and knelt, their hearts filled with astonishment.
Prince Ota... what did he encounter? Even when the bad news of Hero's capture arrived, the calm pillar of the Kingdom, His Highness Otta, only showed a little sadness...
"Prince Ota!" The Knight Commander Erwin asked, "Do you have any instructions? The Knight Order is your sharp blade!"
"Give me... give me to find..." Otta was about to speak, but feeling everyone's gaze, his face gradually turned red and his neck thickened.
He closed his mouth bitterly.
"No, it's nothing... You may withdraw... I was just a little upset because of Mino's matter."
The knights were filled with sympathy, never expecting the friendship between His Highness Otta and Hero Mino to be even deeper than rumored.
Someone who didn't know might have thought Prince Ota had lost a partner overnight, or rather, lost many.
"Leave me alone."
Otta heavily closed the door.
The calmness on his face was torn apart, revealing gritted teeth: "Who is it?! What kind of powerful evil force could evade the heavily guarded Royal Palace and directly destroy my treasures!"
"This is murder! This is the act of Demons! They must pay for this."
Otta raged helplessly in the study for a while.
Finally, an unresolved doubt arose in his heart.
Who... could possibly know such an important secret of his.
Not even his best brother Mino, he hadn't told him...
Bang! Otta slammed the desk hard, gritting his teeth.
"If I find out which bastard leaked the information, I will definitely throw him into a pile of Demons and subject him to the cruelest torture!!!"
"Definitely!"