The dungeon was pitch black, and a mixed sigh came from behind the walls.

"It's... I don't know where to start. The young man behind the wall poured a sip of soju and took a big gulp of spicy wine like a tongue:

Loren was silent, and the roast and bread beside him were getting cold.

"By the way, it just started the day we set off - the Rangers who had gone to patrol the north still hadn't returned after a month of the scheduled period, so His Highness Conod sent a search party to investigate the situation. ”

"It's not very common in Broken Mountains, but it's not uncommon, and I should feel something was wrong when I think about it now. ”

The voice of the young man behind the wall was very calm, as if he were telling the story of another man: "To be sure, the entire search party has nearly a hundred rangers, all of whom are veterans of the legion, and I am the captain's lieutenant. ”

"We marched north for ten days, during which time we accidentally ran into two snowstorms, and we could not find any trace of the Ranger until we crossed the Valley of Bloodshed, so our captain, a knight of the Church from the south, began to hesitate. ”

"To cross the Valley of the Bloody Bones is to cross the natural dividing line between the Empire and the North, and to be far from the protection of the Broken Mountains and Fortresses - in the words of the Church, we are half a foot in the gates of hell!"

"So, I came up with a compromise – the main force of the search party was stationed on the hillside near the Valley of Bloodbones, and then the Rangers were sent out in batches to search the surrounding area, while calling for help from the nearest watchtower. ”

Loren bowed slightly, this is indeed a very wise judgment. It is very dangerous to venture into an unknown area, and a small number of elite troops should always be vigilant and prepared to seek the enemy. When he himself went on an expedition to the Eternal Night Forest in the Ancient Wood Forest, he used similar tactics.

"We've been searching the neighborhood for seven days, and we've consumed more than half of the supplies we carried, but we haven't found even a trace of that Ranger - to be honest, if it weren't for the captain of the Church Knight, we'd have given up long ago and are ready to report him missing!"

Speaking of this, the young man suddenly paused, and took a sip of hot soju in a sullen voice:

"And then... It was the eighth day. ”

Loren slowly tensed his nerves and was fully engrossed.

"On the eighth day, an old soldier from Lothair, named Mandalay Grantham, suddenly told me that he had found some very old traces—not like days, but from a long time ago, a very old sheep's intestine trail, to which I don't know where it leads. ”

Mandalay Grantham, Loren immediately sensed something when he heard the name - Isaac's father, who was executed as a "deserter".

"If it were usual, I wouldn't have paid attention to this kind of information at all, there are too many secrets in the north that are not known, but this time is different. The young man whispered, "It was on that trail that we actually found traces left by the Fortress Rangers. ”

"And most importantly, those traces and signs...... It's like it was deliberately left behind. ”

"So, the captain of the knights of the church immediately decided that it was the 'will of the Holy Cross', that the Ranger must have found some very important information and did not go back, and deliberately left a clue for us to find him—that sounds like that, doesn't it?"

"The most interesting thing is that he didn't notice a lot of things wrong from start to finish, such as the traces are too old, the road is too remote - and most importantly, the nearest watchtower of the Broken Mountain Fortress is a day's journey away, why would that Ranger be stupid enough to go alone?"

"So... That clue isn't from the Rangers?" asked Loren rhetorically.

"No, we later found a broken sword on that road, and it was indeed a Ranger thing. The young man's voice was tinged with mockery:

"It's just that the broken sword has been around for at least a hundred years - we fools have been led to the point of no return by the mark left by a certain senior who hit the fortune more than a hundred years ago!"

The black-haired wizard suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

"Wait! You just said a hundred years ago, is it difficult to ......"

"You guessed it, Lord Loren Turin. The voice behind the wall chuckled, "If that's right, that Ranger should be your ancestor, the Black Duke, Roland Turin." ”

"And the one who found this path in the first place should be Roland Turin himself!"

"Probably...... This incident has nothing to do with his later rebellion, right? Of course, I'm just guessing, so please don't mind. ”

"Of course... Never mind. Loren stared blankly at the torches outside his cell, muttering.

"Anyway, in the end, the captain of the Church Knight decided that he would lead the main force back to the nearest watchtower to ask for help from the Broken Mountain Fortress, while I would lead a team to search the trail for more clues. ”

The young man behind the wall snorted coldly:

"You can probably guess what happened next. ”

Although the other party couldn't see it, the black-haired wizard nodded subconsciously.

The search party retreating to the watchtower was immediately confronted by the sudden appearance of the monster army, and nearly 100 rangers wiped out the entire watchtower, and the team led by the young man was spared because they left halfway.

And the reinforcements who came later naturally found out about this situation, and then it was logical - because the entire search party did not survive, naturally no one could confirm the order, and the reinforcements only saw that the main force was raided, and they left with supplies.

But any officer with normal intelligence can immediately "make up" the "plot" that the young man found a large number of monster troops, and did not return to report but fled with his own people, resulting in the complete destruction of the search team!

But there are still some loopholes in the other party's words......

"You just said that you found your way to Nidhogg—wouldn't it prove that you weren't deserters if you told Conod what you found?"

"Evidence?"

The voice chuckled suddenly, and then said lightly:

"Lord Loren Turin, I don't know who you are or why you are in the Broken Mountain Fortress - but please tell me the truth, about the Dragon King... How much do you know?"

"The capital of the Dragon Kingdom, hundreds of years ago, when the empire was still rising, they and the dragon were the first to stop the invading evil gods. Loren replied silently.

"Good... Knowing this, you're already ahead of a lot of fools, and the vast majority of the Imperial nobility just dismiss Nidhogg as a deceptive legend, and even more don't even know what the name means. ”

The young man sighed very grumblingly, "So you should know that I can't come up with any conclusive evidence other than to bring them to that place again! Not to mention that it is definitely not as easy as you think to get to Nidhogg, we almost died before we witnessed its existence!"

"Nidhogg, the city of the Dragon King, the ancient, dragon kingdom destroyed by the evil gods...... It's all real!"

The dungeon is dead and silent.

“...... So, you've really been there, standing outside the gates of Niederhogg yourself?"

"No, I mean I actually saw it with my own eyes - but we were at the time, and it wasn't that easy to get there. ”

The young man sighed faintly, and drank the last sip of the flask: "It's a city that towers over a cliff, like a tower of mountains and mountains—think of it unless you can fly over." ”

"Fly over......" The black-haired wizard slowly hooked the corners of his mouth: "It's not impossible!"

"What do you mean?"

"Meaning, if I can find a way to set you free, are you sure you'll find that place again?" Loren said with a soft smile, a little seductive in his voice.

"Can you convince His Highness Connad not to hang me?!"

The young man's voice was even more astonished than just now, and Loren could even hear him trembling: "Loren Turin, you... Who the hell are you?"

"Well, keep it a secret for now. Loren's smile grew thicker and thicker, as if he was seducing a child:

"But first...... You'll have to tell me your name first. ”

He now felt that his decision to "go to prison" was incomparably correct!1910