Gonna Be a Demon King!-Chapter 51: Target Located

While Xaren was idly flipping through a book, he felt a faint breeze and turned to see Ilya standing beside him.

"I found him. He looks a bit older, but his face matches the picture. He has the same scar too.

He's at the second desk in the left wing."

"Really? Let's go talk to him then."

Xaren shut the book in his hands as he responded. He slid it back onto the shelf before following Ilya to the left wing.

When they stepped out from between the bookshelves, Xaren's eyes landed on the man seated at the middle desk, and he gave a slight nod.

'He does look a bit older, but he's definitely the one.'

Their target was supposedly a retired combat mage who had taken up a librarian position after his unit had been wiped out.

At least, that was the story in Zlego. It wasn't far from the truth, though—his unit was wiped out after the demons were done programming his mind.

His team had been captured alive and subjected to mental reprogramming. He was the only one to survive because he was the most susceptible and capable of handling the most instructions.

That was why he had been sent back—completely unaware that he now served as an agent of the demons.

As Xaren and Ilya approached the man's desk, he sensed their presence and lifted his head from the books he was indexing.

"How may I help you?"

"Good afternoon, Librarian...?"

Xaren trailed off, prompting the man to pause in slight confusion before realizing he was being asked for his name.

"Nuvian."

"Librarian Nuvian. I'm 'Zoga.' My friend and I have been searching for books on a particular topic, but we haven't had any luck finding them."

At this, Nuvian set down the books in his hands and flipped open the index register. Ilya subtly stepped closer to the desk just as Nuvian asked,

"What topic are you looking for?"

Xaren infused his tongue with magic power and responded.

"I'm looking for a book titled 'Biology of Spirits'."

**SNAP! **SNAP!!

At the exact moment Xaren spoke, Ilya's fingers flicked twice beside Nuvian's left ear.

The first snap sent out a subtle pulse of magic, barely extending beyond a short range—but given its proximity, it reached him. The second snap released a pulse of demonic energy.

At the sound of the rapid snaps and the energy pulses that accompanied them, Nuvian's pupils dilated before his body suddenly slumped forward.

Surprised, Xaren reached out to stop him from hitting his head on the desk, but before he could, focus returned to Nuvian's eyes, and he steadied himself—though the sudden movement caused a few books to topple off the desk.

"Huh? Ah, sorry."

He bent down to retrieve the fallen books, then looked back at them and said,

"You were asking about Biology of Spirits, right? That means you must be here for the Assistant Librarian application."

"..."

'...what?'

Xaren barely stopped himself from voicing his reaction aloud. He glanced at Ilya, who looked just as puzzled, both of them silently questioning where the talk of an Assistant Librarian position had even come from.

But a moment later, Xaren's eyes widened as realization struck.

'Wait... if we become Assistant Librarians, we might gain access to Levels 3 and 4! Staff usually have more access in places like this.'

Convinced that this was the 'arrangement' they'd been told to follow, Xaren gave a nod and replied,

"Yes. We are."

Nuvian nodded along, opening a drawer and retrieving two application forms along with pens.

"Here. Find a reading desk and fill them out."

Xaren accepted the forms and signalled Ilya with a glance. The two made their way to a nearby desk, taking their seats before Xaren leaned in slightly and explained his reasoning.

"If this position grants us access to the restricted floors, it's best to play along."

"Alright."

Ilya nodded, picking up the pen and examining it curiously to see if it was any different from the ones she was used to—which it wasn't.

Understanding the language wasn't an issue, thanks to the Survival Guide that had been downloaded into their brains back in the Newborn Zone, but Ilya still had a few questions as she went through the form.

First, she asked, "Why did you introduce yourself with a fake name?"

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"Just in case we go on another similar 'trip.' If they have a way to share the records we make here—" he gestured to the forms they were about to fill, "—with another city, then if we use the same names and details in multiple places, someone might notice. That could be a problem."

Xaren wasn't sure if this world had that kind of magi-tech, but it was better to be cautious.

As for Ilya, she didn't fully grasp what he was worried about, but she just shrugged and went along with it.

"If you say so."

She continued filling out the form, pausing occasionally to ask about a few unfamiliar sections, which Xaren quickly explained.

The form was fairly standard, containing the usual fields for Name, Age, and Address.

Xaren wrote down the name Zoga, just as he had introduced himself earlier. Though Ilya assumed it was fake, it actually wasn't—he had simply taken a fragment of his actual name. His True Name, to be exact.

For Address, he put District 7.

They were also asked to indicate their Reading & Writing Levels, and both of them checked the Intermediate box. Lastly, under Magic Capability, Ilya listed Tier 1 Wind Magic, while Xaren wrote Tier 1 Levitation Magic.

After finishing his form, Xaren glanced at Ilya's and couldn't help but notice how neat her handwriting was.

"Your handwriting's pretty nice."

Ilya blinked at the unexpected comment before responding,

"Oh. Thanks."

She twirled the pen between her fingers and added,

"I just copied the handwriting of the Mid-Rank demon who brought me out of the Newborn Zone. She...coached me for the first two weeks, so I got used to her writing style."

Hearing her, Xaren quickly recalled what Floch had mentioned on the day he woke up after his Low-Rank Promotion.

It seemed that just as Floch was considered the one who had 'found' him, this Mid-Rank demoness had been treated as the one who had 'found' Ilya. She had overseen Ilya's early training and was part of the reason Ilya had been a Troop Captain among the Unranked when they first met.

Xaren glanced at her writing again before setting down his pen.

"Guess she had good penmanship."

He went over his form once more, and by the time he was done doing that, Ilya had finished filling hers.

After going through it to make sure there weren't any errors, they handed the completed forms to Nuvian, who accepted them with a quick glance before placing them into a folder on his desk.

"Come in tomorrow morning for a short interview. There's a high chance you'll be expected to start immediately—we're short on Assistants with intermediate reading and writing skills right now."

Alright, thanks for your help."

Just as they were about to turn and leave, Nuvian stopped them.

"Wait."

He reached into his drawer, lifted a false bottom, and retrieved a textbook.

"Here. The Biology of Spirits textbook."

He handed the book to Xaren and added,

"I've gone through it before, so while you were filling out your forms, I added extra notes on important topics."

Xaren flipped through the hardcover book, noticing coloured sticky notes marking several pages. Nodding silently, he thanked Nuvian once more before turning to leave with Ilya.

'I'm guessing these 'extra notes' contain information that only someone constantly within the city would know.'

Without lingering, the two left the library and made their way to the Central District's carriage park, catching a ride back to District 7.

It wasn't until they were back in the privacy of their room at the inn that they finally opened the textbook Nuvian had given them.

The notes were written in a different language, but since it was part of their Survival Guide language set, both young demons could read it with ease.

"I see. This is basically a schedule for magic power replenishment."

"Looks like it."

The notes contained information about the Archmages of Zlego—the top figures who ruled the Magic Tower.

According to the notes, certain groups of Archmages visited the library three times a week, always staying on Level 4 throughout their visits.

Even after their usual meetings ended, at least one or two members of the group typically remained behind past the library's closing hours.

"So, does this mean the barrier core is on Level 4?"

Ilya posed the question, and Xaren narrowed his eyes in thought.

"It could be. But it also might not be. It seems too obvious."

Under normal circumstances, Xaren would have assumed the core was indeed on Level 4, but in this case, he wasn't so sure.

If they had gone as far as placing the barrier core in the library to mislead potential spies, it was likely they had taken additional steps to obscure its true location.

"I feel like their presence on Level 4 is just another layer of misdirection. Just like how they made us initially believe the Magic Tower was the city's centre when, in reality, it was the library."

"Then, if becoming Assistant Librarians grants us access to Level 4, maybe to handle some tasks and stuff, we can search for it ourselves."

"But that comes with the risk of getting too close to the Archmages," Xaren pointed out. "And they have a much higher chance of detecting our demonic energy."

Just as he said that, Xaren's eyes flashed with realization—something vital came to mind, something he guessed Ilya wasn't aware of.

"Ilya, we might need to use the perception-blocking artifacts we were given and tail these Archmages to find out what happens after their meetings."

"I was about to suggest that."

Ilya's response was casual, but Xaren shook his head. Peeling off one of the sticky notes from the textbook, he continued.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about. The important thing is their level. These Archmages are Level 300. That means they're Grandmaster Realm existences."

"Okay...?"

Ilya raised a brow, puzzled. This wasn't new information—she already knew that much.

"I don't know what skills you have that might help us on this mission, but since I can't be sure how effective those perception-blocking artifacts actually are, we need to be extremely careful.

So, while we're using them and are anywhere near the Archmages—DO NOT USE ANY SKILLS."

"Why?"

Xaren's answer to Ilya's question made her eyes widen in shock.

"Because from Level 300 onward, one can sense the activation of skills."