Ethan Croefler didn't seem to have changed, gloomy, displeased, preoccupied, elusive.

Of course...... It's been less than two months since they last met.

Alan tapped his broken leg lightly, and couldn't help but feel a little emotionally the changes in fate. Two months ago, he was the object of Ethan's turn for help, and two months later, he had to apologize to Ethan - for the same person.

Borena De Jury, "The Man Chosen by God".

"Are you sure he was kidnapped and didn't escape on his own?"

Ethan's question came as a surprise to Allen.

“...... Is there any reason why he needs to escape?" Alan asked with a wry smile, seemingly casually joking, "maybe some mishospitality...... But I think he was at least very pleased with the wine at the Temple of Collins. ”

Of course, he was a contented man, and the only thing he wasn't happy with was the chair under his ass. Ethan looked angry, his sunken eyes bloodshot.

The consul didn't seem to be easy to handle, but Alan had little sympathy for him. You should bear the consequences of your own choice...... It's all the same for them.

“...... I've heard he's a good king. He cautiously tested.

Ethan snorted coldly and took a long sip of wine: "It's good." Except that he didn't want to be this king at all. ”

Alan smiled disappreciatively, "Did he say that?"

"Nope. He never complained, but looking at his face I knew he wanted to run away all the time, just like he used to!" Ethan slammed his glass on the table with a low growl.

He was very frank. was so frank that Alan wondered if he had drunk too much...... Or pretend to drink too much.

But Ethan fell silent. The pale fingers played with the wine glass, and the empty eyes did not know where to look, but the exhaustion from the heart was real.

It is probably much harder to govern a country than to take it.

Half an hour later. He shook his head, much calmer.

"Are you sure he's still alive?" he asked, but it was not clear from his tone whether he really cared about Borena's life or death.

"It is extremely dangerous to take an invited king from the Temple of Collins...... I don't think anyone who ventured to do such a thing would easily let Borena die so silently. Alan replied cautiously.

Ethan nodded, his fingers tapping on the table: "Within a month, I can control the situation." But you'd better get him back as soon as possible...... I don't want to be seen as a regre. ”

He was so straightforward that Alan had nothing to say.

"Don't worry. If...... I mean if. He had to add, "If there is any accident...... The Collins Temple will also be sure to give an explanation to all Anktans. ”

Ethan looked at him and suddenly chuckled lowly.

"Alan Cavo......" he raised his empty glass to the old man. "Do you really not understand, whether Borena has not been heard from since, or who has seen him killed...... No matter how unassailable the explanations you give, I will be the one to be doubted, to be condemned. A person who was convicted of killing a king. Even if I end up crowning king...... or die by the sword. ”

Alan smiled reluctantly and left. Behind him, Ethan still sat still, staring at his messy table.

"Bastard......" After a long time, he cursed in a low voice, "You'd better get me back completely!".

The aura of darkness was so familiar that Borena had to suspect that he was back in the dungeon beneath Castle Black...... Or maybe he never left.

After waking up, he hadn't moved his position for a long time. He just sat there with his arms folded and thought back to him in confusion. Which part is the real illusion - the death match before the gods, the miraculous resurrection from the dead, Eli's revenge, and the involuntary ascension to the throne...... Or was he grabbed by his ankle and dragged him into the water in the square of Collins, and his eyes were dark...... And then wake up and find yourself back in the dungeon?

None of this can be true. The best part of his life has obviously passed, and after all that, he has the right to demand that the rest of his life be peaceful, or even boring!

But when he was sure he was sane, he could only admit that he was such a man who was favored by the gods - and the gods apparently took pleasure in tossing him.

He resigned himself to groping in the darkness, finally determining that this was not a dungeon beneath the Black Castle...... At least not the one he had ever been with.

The place was so much smaller that he couldn't even stand up straight, and he could reach the opposite wall three steps away, and there was no little hole in either wall that had given him hope. Of course, there won't be three young people...... Two people in a dragon, telling him in the dark that they believe he will not kill their father......

And the two dry bones in the corner made his heart even colder...... Aren't there even guards here to dispose of the corpses?!

I don't know if someone will come to his rescue this time - Borena was slightly ashamed when the thought came to him. When did he degenerate into expecting others to save him, rather than trying to save himself......? It's reluctant, but it's not a princess who has been snatched by a dragon and locked in a tower!

He pulled himself together and checked what he was doing. The person who searched him must have been very careful, not only did all the weapons and decorations disappear, but even his clothes were changed...... It probably wasn't because he was worried that he would catch a cold in his wet clothes.

He realized that the place was not cold. It was damp, but it was warmer than the room where Llewellyn had stopped heating by fire. You can feel a breeze on your head, but there is no light. After much probing, he finally found a hole in the top, which was tightly sealed by the criss-crossing bars, and no matter how much he shook it, he did not move at all, and did not even make a sound.

After thinking about it for a while, Borena used the simplest way to confirm where exactly he had been thrown.

"Hey!!" he shouted, "anyone?!......

He roared for a long time. His throat began to smoke, and he didn't respond at all, when he shook his head and was about to give up. But out of nowhere, a half-dead voice floated:

"The gods are above...... Can't you let people die quietly? I just dreamed of a good pot of wine!"

Borena grinned.

"Hey, friend," he said, "I'm sorry to disturb your good dreams, I'm just trying to die...... Can you tell me what the hell this is?"

What he got was a disheartened, resigned and irrefutable answer: "What's the difference? Your free soul will naturally know. ”

“...... What if I don't want to die yet?"

"Then you're torturing yourself. Listen to me, 'friend', or lie down and wait to die. Either hit your head and die, in the triple tower, no one has ever been able to get out alive. ”

With a chill in his heart, Borena jerked up straight. His head slammed against the bar.

"Three-storied pagoda?" he repeated in dismay. "Tonbuch's Triple Tower?!".

No matter what angle you look at, the three-storied pagoda is not a pleasant sight. It was twisted, eerie, and gloomy, as if it could absorb all the light around it...... But it's so high, it's impossible not to be respected.

Ante Bofford stood in front of the window with his arms crossed, staring at the tower not far away, half-hidden in the mist, and suddenly hesitated a little about the idea of building a library.

Of course, the three-storied pagoda can't just be a place to store books. Although the floors that could be accessed through the only visible door did not seem to be dangerous, they attracted the mages to flock to them. Apparently not the half-rotten books and scrolls he could see.

Before entering Lockburg, becoming king. He had heard the legend that the mages who coveted the power of the tower, once entered, would never be able to leave, and their power and life would be absorbed, and the twisted tower would never collapse.

By cleaning up the books and scrolls that are already half rotten, he may be able to uncover the secrets...... But is that worth it?

He knew the power of magic and saw how terrible it was. He had been suppressing his curiosity for nearly a decade since the first few explorers he sent out had either found nothing or disappeared again...... And the urge to simply smash it, and to ignore the tower, as all kings have done, after all, it would not be for nothing.

And the three-storied tower is not the nameless tomb hidden in the corner of the city, if something happens, maybe the whole of Lockcastle will be destroyed......

"Your Majesty. Someone behind him interrupted his thoughts softly, "Lord Aaron Mancini, Count Ferdinand, has asked to see him. ”

"Let him in. ”

Ante casually closed the curtains, and the light on a rainy day was bleak anyway.

Aaron Mancini was still innocent, easy-going, and self-satisfied, and smiled and bowed to his majesty the king, which was overly respectful, but not obnoxious.

"I've found a wonderful location for the new library you want, Your Majesty. He said happily, "You're going to love that place." ”

Ante was momentarily speechless—he was just about to abandon the plan......

"Where?" he asked.

"Just south of the Stoke Fountain, Adela Old Street Market. Mancini replied merrily.

Ante frowned: "There are a lot of people living in that place. ”

"I know, I know. Mancini was still smiling, "But people in the neighborhood are complaining about the thieves and the sewage flowing there...... A new library would be fitting one of the most beautiful fountains in Stonebuch, and as for those who live in Old Street, there is still a large open space to the west of the New Town, and if I can compensate them a little, I think they will be more than happy to move to the airy suburbs. ”

Ante was silent for a moment. The Adela Old Street Market is a jumble of alleys between the upper and lower towns, and he had thought about tidying it up, but there had never been a suitable opportunity...... A new library is a good reason.

As for "compensation...... In the past ten years, the treasury has been abundant, and this is what he is most proud of.

"Don't be stingy. He told Mansini, "I don't want to hear rumors that the king of Rutgar has left his people homeless in order to build a library." I'll let Tabor know about it, and you can consult with him for the rest. ”

"Of course, of course. Mancini patted his stomach and bowed to him with a satisfied expression.

Looking at his departing back, Ante crossed his hands thoughtfully...... To the west of the new town, in the shadow of the three-storied pagoda.

(To be continued......)