Borena lay quietly in the dark.

He didn't have the strength to make any more noises. This damp prison that seeps water from even the four walls will probably last him a few more days, but what is the difference between starving to death and dying of thirst?

The man next door had been completely silent yesterday. Borena failed to ask why he was being held here, just as he could never guess why he was locked up here.

Thinking of a corpse starting to rot and stink just across the wall, Borena preferred to die sooner herself.

But of course he wasn't going to die headfirst - it wasn't until the last minute, and he had to continue struggling. Even for Krichens, and he hasn't even met yet, the newborn daughter.

He tried his best to ignore the pain of hunger and thirst, and tried again and again to clear his mind - why on earth was he in the three-storied tower? Does this have anything to do with His Majesty the King of Rutegar?

Although King Ante at the Temple of Collins seems friendly and pious, his queen is quite innocent and cute...... But Borena is well aware that Ante Bofford is not such a simple character.

As the second son of the cousin of the former king, Ante was not the farthest away from the throne, if not the farthest, to the throne, and when Gaden Boford died of a violent illness, he was not among the people who first raised the army to fight for the throne, but he was finally crowned king...... Judging by the little bit of "experience" that Borena didn't want, it was definitely not just luck.

But the support of the Temple of Water was clearly one of the reasons for his success. Even Borena had heard of His Majesty's secret to the Temple...... In particular, he was unhappy with Sean Fletcher's growing influence, but he would have been bold enough to be in the midst of a meeting to confirm the new Sage at the Collins Temple. Secretly kidnap the distinguished guest invited by Sean, a friend of the Sage...... The king of a neighboring country?

Ante doesn't seem to be the kind of person who likes to take risks.

What's more, what did he kidnap him for? In order to make the situation in Anktann turbulent again, so that Lutgar could take advantage of it? Anketane did take away a large area of the northern forest during the last war between the two countries, but didn't Ante also quietly take it back while Anktan's civil strife was still unsettled...... The northerners were martial, but they were beginning to grow tired of endless wars, and Borena was a man of little ambition, so he was content to govern the land he had. But he didn't plan to start the war again. Isn't it good for everyone to do some business in harmony?......

Even if Ante really intended to go to war on Anktan...... Wouldn't it be easier to kill Borena and throw him into the Vinez River, so laboriously trying to get him all the way into the three-storied tower, and it seems that he doesn't intend to live...... What's the point?

I can't figure it out anyway...... It's really unwilling to die like this.

In his groggy mind, Eli Crofeller was pale. With a sneering face, a deeper worry made Borena suddenly sober up a little.

-- If someone tries to get the two countries to go to war......

Once his body was found lying in the three-storied pagoda, it would be difficult for Ante to tell that it had nothing to do with him at all, after all. The three-storied pagoda is located in Lockburg. Under his nose...... And once instigated, people can always easily lose their minds. A little friction can turn into a fight, and a fight can turn into a war......

Borena has experienced war. Whoever wins or loses, whether he's dead or not, he doesn't want Anktann to be caught in the flames of war again. Especially when I think of the dark shadow standing behind the scenes, it is likely that it is a necromancer...... A kingdom full of undead was not what he wanted to give to Sercio.

He climbed up the slippery wall. I still can't figure out how to escape, but I can't really lie down and die.

Struggling to straighten up, he groped for the only exit many times - the iron bars above his head were still desperately strong.

"Is there anyone......" he cried out with the strength of what was still there, almost dazed, but he didn't expect an answer.

Rosa stopped.

She felt as if she had heard something. The voice that floated seemed to be the whisper of someone's dream. Vague and slight, almost inaudible. It's some kind of hallucination.

It's normal to stay in this place for too long and have a little hallucination.

But the elves also stopped.

“...... Someone. He turned back and whispered to her.

The string in her head tightened, and Rosa subconsciously clenched the hilt of her sword.

"Wait. She said.

That might be D'Amour...... But here, no amount of caution can be overstated.

Three-storied pagoda ...... Although she could see the tower from any corner of Stonebucci, she never imagined that she would one day get in. Let's not mention the terrible rumors about it. The three-storied tower is located in Lockburg, and as a person who lives in Stonebuch, Rosa doesn't want to provoke His Majesty the King within the high walls.

She had been suspicious as she climbed the long staircase, but it wasn't until they drilled through a small door, the light of the torches swaying and illuminating the strange black walls that bulged inwards around her, but couldn't penetrate the deep darkness above her head and beneath her feet, that she was sure that they were really in the three-storied tower.

The magnificence and eerie structure left Sesyana speechless for a while. It's one thing to look from the outside, it's another to be in it. The emptiness and darkness make this tower, which is already too large to seem beyond human capabilities, reveal a strange arrogance in the weirdness and mystery. They hung alone in the air, the light of the torches like a glow in the endless night, small and fragile.

There is another staircase at the foot, as if it sticks directly from the wall, and on the other side is the bottomless darkness, which is enough to make many people frightened at a glance, but the other entrance under the staircase is so attractive that people can't help but want to explore it.

"There are a lot of doors in the wall...... Up and down. Sesyana whispered to Rosa, "A stone staircase connects two doors. ”

His tone could almost be described as "excited" to an elf who was not good at expressing emotions.

The longer she spent with him, the more Rosa realized that perhaps she had been suppressed for too long, and that the young sword dancer's curiosity and yearning for adventure were probably even stronger than Norvi's.

“...... I'm not sure if I want to know what's behind the door. She smiled wryly, "And I hate labyrinths too." ”

The elf just looked at him silently and said nothing.

But Rosa could see the longing in his eyes, and she couldn't bear to refuse, and no matter how much her sanity screamed in her head, it wasn't too late to retreat...... However, Sesyana will most likely find an opportunity to sneak in on her own, although it will not be her responsibility to do whatever happens......

"I only brought two torches. "As soon as this root is extinguished, we will go back immediately." And...... Don't touch anything. ”

Sethyana nodded vigorously without hesitation.

Rosa was at first worried that they would get lost, but that seemed impossible. Behind the door, as in front of the door, there is only one path, whether it is long or short, whether it is lined with empty rooms or mountains of gems...... Rosa stood for a long time in front of the pile of gems that rivaled a dragon's treasure, but sane enough not to reach for one.

They are so spotless and shining...... In the depths of the tower, which had been uninhabited for many years, it was hard to believe that it was not a trap.

Rosa Latus loves money, but she values her life even more.

And is the faint sound ahead another trap?--it's hard to say.

If she could, Rosa was eager to snuff out the unseasonably durable torch and turned and walked back. She had a very, very ominous premonition, and every little bit she moved forward was stronger......

The faint voice was intermittent, but it rang persistently, listening intently, even she could hear that it was a man's desperate cry for help, and the hoarse and broken voice could not tell whether it belonged to De Amo or not, but at such a time, even she could not convince herself.

After she nodded, Sesyana continued silently. Finding the place where the sound was coming from was effortless for him, and Rosa had to almost trot all the way to keep up with his ever-faster pace. The passage twisted and went, up and down, and made a few turns, and the firelight illuminated a beehive-like passage.

Up and down, left and right, the holes sealed by iron bars were neatly arranged, stretching far to the next corner, and there were things that looked like stones scattered on the ground......

When she saw what it was, Rosa couldn't help but shudder—it was broken bones.

She's not a timid person. But growing up listening to the story of the three-storied pagoda, a certain fear seems to be ingrained in my heart. And she did remember the most terrible of all the legends - that the people who entered the three-storied tower could never leave, whether they lived or died, their lives and souls would be one with the tower, so that it could always stand there, not only did it not collapse, it could not be damaged, and not even a single broken stone fell for nearly two hundred years......

Now it seems that it is probably not people who made it up to scare children.

As she unconsciously slowed down, Sesyana crouched down at a hole in the ground not far away, but the sound had stopped.

Rosa hesitantly walked over and lowered her torch. In the dimming light of the fire, she saw the terrifying eyes under the bars. They were staring blankly, their pupils narrowed, and the bloodshot on their eyeballs was clearly visible—barely like the eyes of a living person.

But they blinked, and then, disbelief took the place of the dying, and a hand jerked out from the crack in the bar, its pale and stiff fingers as if trying to grasp something.

"Help me!" the man under the bars cried hoarsely, "I'm Borena Dejuri...... King of Anktane!".

(To be continued......)