The summons arrived at dawn.
Not through a scroll or guild messenger, but through a knight of the inner guard—white tabard, gold-thread insignia, posture rigid enough to make refusal unthinkable.
"The king requests the presence of the summoned heroes," he said. "Along with the White Mirelen healer."
No reason was given.
Which, in itself, was reason enough.
The audience chamber was brighter than the rest of the castle, sunlight pouring through tall stained windows that depicted elemental gods in idealized forms—fire unburning, water unnaturally calm, stone without cracks.
Haruto noticed the details immediately.
Nothing here showed decay.
The heroes were arranged in a semicircle before the throne. Behind the king stood several high-ranking nobles, robed clergy of the Elemental Church, and two advisors whose expressions never shifted.
Ilyrien stood slightly behind the heroes, her white scales catching the light. More than one noble stared longer than etiquette allowed.
King Aldric smiled.
A practiced smile.
"You have progressed swiftly," he began. "H-rank within months. The kingdom is… pleased."
No one responded.
The silence stretched just long enough to be uncomfortable.
Yui stepped forward. "Your Majesty, we requested this meeting to ask about demons."
The smile did not falter—but something tightened behind it.
"Demons?" the king echoed lightly. "A broad term. Monsters from hostile regions, perhaps?"
Naoki spoke next. "We were told there are records. Detailed ones. Kept in the royal library."
A murmur rippled through the nobles.
One of the clergy raised his staff slightly. "Such information is not suitable for unprepared minds."
Takumi's voice was calm, controlled. "We are H-rank adventurers. We fight monsters weekly. What exactly are we unprepared for?"
The king raised a hand, silencing the room.
"There is no demon archive," he said smoothly. "What you heard were exaggerations. Old myths. Border legends."
Riku frowned. "Knights told us."
The temperature in the room shifted—not physically, but socially.
The king's gaze sharpened. "Which knights?"
Riku hesitated.
Haruto spoke instead. "Veterans. Men with scars that don't come from beasts."
That earned a reaction.
One noble scoffed. "Heroes listening to soldier gossip now?"
Emi clenched her fists. "They weren't gossiping. They warned us."
The clergy member stepped forward. "Heroes should focus on their divine mission. Digging into forbidden histories only weakens faith."
"Faith in what?" Shun asked quietly.
The question landed harder than shouting would have.
The king exhaled slowly. "You misunderstand the nature of rule," he said. "Truth is not a single thing. It is a tool. And tools must be handled carefully."
Mio stared at him. "So it does exist."
Silence.
Then one of the advisors finally spoke—a thin man with ink-stained fingers.
"There are… incomplete records," he admitted. "From eras before the current religious alignment. They are fragmented, contradictory, and dangerous to morale."
Ilyrien lifted her head slightly. "Dangerous because they contradict the official narrative?"
Several nobles stiffened.
The king's eyes flicked to her. "You are a guest of this kingdom, Mirelen."
"And a healer sworn to protect lives," she replied evenly. "Including theirs. Ignorance kills more efficiently than demons."
That was when the denial truly cracked.
The king's smile vanished.
"You are not ready," he said, voice low now. "Demons are not enemies you can defeat with steel and spells. They erode trust. They twist perception. Entire kingdoms have collapsed because people learned too much, too fast."
Haruto stepped forward.
"Then teach us properly," he said. "Or stop calling us heroes."
The nobles erupted into whispered outrage.
The king studied Haruto for a long moment.
Finally, he spoke.
"The deep library is sealed," he said. "By royal decree and by church law. You will not access it."
Yui's voice trembled—not with fear, but anger. "Then why summon us at all?"
The king straightened.
"Because," he said, "you will soon encounter things that cannot be explained away. And when that happens, I want you to remember this moment."
He turned slightly, signaling the end of the audience.
"You were warned. You were protected. And you were denied—for your own good."
They left the chamber under watchful eyes.
No one spoke until they reached the outer corridor.
"That wasn't a denial," Akira said finally. "That was containment."
"They're afraid," Hana whispered. "Not of demons."
"Of questions," Naoki replied.
Ilyrien looked back once, toward the sealed inner halls of the castle.
"In my homeland," she said softly, "truth is dangerous too. But we believe a wound left untreated will rot."
Haruto nodded.
"They've chosen rot," he said. "We haven't."
Somewhere beneath their feet, behind stone and decree, the library waited.
And with it, answers that kings and gods alike preferred buried.