In the northern part of the Desik Empire, there is a small and small city, which is the northernmost city of the Desik Empire. Not far to the north of the city is the Sunset Snow Mountain, a magnificent mountain that leads westward to the territory of Manning and South Madur.

The town is called "Auckland City" and has a history of thousands of years. This was the first place where the Magic Empire set up the Northern Magic Research Institute, and after the fall of the Magic Empire, the small city gradually fell into ruins with the departure of the magician.

Later, the nobles of the Desik Empire, not knowing what to start with, discovered the majestic scenery of the snow-capped mountains of the sunset in the north. In order to enjoy the snow scene, many aristocrats built holiday estates in Auckland City, which is close to the snow-capped mountains. Therefore, because of this, the people of the city began to flourish again, and many of them were nobles from all over Desik.

However, after the outbreak of the war with the Shang Alliance, many nobles chose to join the army to establish meritorious service, and the population in Auckland City became scarce again.

In the city, there is a small castle that is not big, with a stone three-person high pedestal, and a wooden fortress tower on top, with a unique shape, completely different from the general Desik architecture, revealing exquisiteness everywhere.

The castle is surrounded by a wrought-iron wall, and the tall carved iron gates are closed so that no people can be seen from the outside. Snowflakes fall on the top of the castle, adding a touch of northern flair to the castle.

Suddenly, a carriage came slowly from the street, slowly approaching the wrought iron gate of the castle, and the horse's hooves settled, and no one in the carriage came out, nor did the coachman look up. The wrought iron gate actually opened by itself, and the carriage started again, until it reached the gate of the castle, and the door of the carriage opened, and a woman in costume slowly stepped out of the carriage.

The woman, dressed in a pure black mink coat, had a pair of deep opal-like brown pupils, and wore a sky-blue Steppenwolf hair ornament on top of her black hair, which was shiny and translucent. The woman standing there has an outstanding demeanor, a dignified demeanor, a long breath, and a delicate body full of charm.

She walked softly to the front of the house, and did not raise her hand to knock on the door, as if she knew that someone was coming, and the heavy gate of the castle quietly opened, and the palace woman, lifting the hem of her skirt, walked straight in.

The inside of the castle was pitch black, and even during the day, there was not much light. On the walls, some green runes were glittering, and if there was a court mage from San Jose here, he would definitely be able to recognize that this was actually a large piece of magic runes.

The palace maid walked forward for a distance, suddenly stopped, turned her head to look at the wall on the left, where a green rune suddenly lit up. The woman smiled slightly, stretched out her slender hand, made a strange gesture, and muttered something.

I saw that the green light of the rune flashed, and then suddenly extinguished, and the entire wall suddenly sunk inward, and the palace woman snorted softly, and her eyes were dizzy for a while, and when she opened her eyes again, she had come to a bright hall.

The hall is full of floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and the winter sun shines mildly and directly, illuminating people warmly.

Two people, one young and one old, sat on the sofa in the room, and on the luxurious coffee table in front of the sofa was a bottle of tequila.

"Teacher!" the maiden bowed slightly to the younger one, then turned to the old one, "Good day, Earl Norton!"

The old man, smiling, gestured that he did not need to be polite, turned to the young one and smiled and said, "Grand Duke Bazemore, your apprentice, is really excellent. Elizabeth, you are getting prettier as you grow. And your noble magician temperament is really on display. ”

It turned out that the three people in the room were all great names in the Desik Empire, and they were all three people who were closely related to the current Emperor of the Desik Empire, Edward III.

The old one was the former Prime Minister of Desik, the Earl of Norton. The younger one is the third son of the former Emperor Wilhelm IV and the younger brother of the current Kaiser Edward VI, Archduke Bazemore. The woman in the palace was actually the youngest daughter of the former crown prince Prince Ferdinand, Princess Elizabeth (Note 1).

On the day of the "White Rock Incident" (Note 2), the Earl of Norton escaped from White Rock overnight, and under the cover of many of his men and cronies, rushed to the small border town of Oakland to meet with the Grand Duke of Bazemore.

In the previous investigation of the members of the Dark Rising organization in the whole territory of Desik, the Earl of Norton accidentally discovered the mysterious Archduke Bazemore, and actually lived in seclusion in this small castle in Auckland.

As it turned out, the Earl of Norton was right. The Grand Duke of Bazemore opened the gates of the castle to him and welcomed him in, and the gates were closed again.

For half a year after that, from summer to winter, the Earl of Norton stayed in the castle and never took a step, and Edward VI's men did not come to look for the Earl of Norton once. It was as if the Earl of Norton, the former prime minister and an ally of General King, had been forgotten.

Of course, in addition to the Grand Duke of Bazemore and his servants, there was also a very unexpected person, Princess Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of the former Crown Prince Ferdinand.

What surprised Earl Norton even more was that the two in the castle, Archduke Bazemore and Princess Elizabeth, were not ordinary people, they were both unfathomable magicians, and they were a pair of magicians and apprentices.

According to Archduke Bazemore, when he was younger, he loved to travel the continent, especially the wonderful areas off the beaten track. When he was twenty-one years old, he met a mysterious magician outside of Auckland.

You know, in the Desik Empire, magicians were strictly forbidden and regarded as devils. Who knew that at that time, the young Archduke Bazemore actually accepted the invitation of the mysterious magician and entered the castle of Auckland.

Since then, the Archduke of Bazemore has become more elusive, and no one in Desik knows that the noble Archduke Bazemore is actually a mysterious magician.

And even more amazing things are still to come, when he returned to White Rock City one year, Grand Duke Bazemore found a young girl in a royal gathering, and she could actually sense the magical elements gathered in her body.

The curious girl was fifteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth, and that was six years ago. That night, Archduke Bazemore found a reason to lure the innocent and young Elizabeth into a mysterious space. There, the Grand Duke of Bazemore showed off the mystery and wonder of magic in front of young girls. It was the girl who worshiped heroes who was completely attracted to the magic of the legend at once.

From then on, Archduke Bazemore had one more young apprentice. It's just that Princess Elizabeth has always practiced secretly based on the magic manuscripts left behind by Bazemore. At the same time, every year the Grand Duke of Bazemore would take time to return to White Rock to teach Elizabeth.

And this teaching, it has been six years.

So when Elizabeth's father, Prince Ferdinand, died and the murderers were co-oped by the Adventurers' Guild and General King, Elizabeth, who remained in White Rock City, found it boring and sneaked out to her teacher's castle, which belonged to the Archduke of Bazemore in Auckland.

By this time, the teacher of the Grand Duke of Bazemore had died, and only two masters and apprentices were left in the entire castle. Unexpectedly, it didn't take long for the former prime minister, Earl Norton, who had taken refuge, to also come to the door.

The first question Earl of Norton asked after seeing Bazemore was that he left a message in Black Harbor at that time, was it the Grand Duke of Bazemore?

In fact, he was only fifty percent sure, but when he walked into this castle, the familiar scene made him instantly confirm his judgment.

The Grand Duke of Bazemore did not deny it, but only smiled, and without explaining the reason for his actions, he shut himself up in the house, and no one could enter but Elizabeth.

The Earl of Norton was not restricted in his freedom in the castle, and every now and then, the Grand Duke of Bazemore would come out for a drink with the Earl of Norton. Usually, when there is something to go out, Elizabeth is sent to do it.

After staying in the castle for a long time, Earl Norton began to feel that this Archduke of Bazemore was probably more than just a magician.

The castle is quite old, and the interior is quite furnished, many of which are fine pieces from hundreds of years ago. At first, the Earl of Norton thought they belonged to the Archduke of Bazemore, but one day, in a moment of curiosity, he opened a magic instrument, on which was engraved with a beautiful line of letters: "Hypnos, collected in the year 891 Desic calendar" (Note 3). ”

The erudite Earl Norton looked at the row of special fonts in front of him with some curiosity, and he always felt that he had seen this row of fonts somewhere.

After racking his brains and thinking for a long time, he suddenly heard the voice of the Grand Duke of Bazemore behind him, "Lord Earl, do you think this magic vase is interesting?"

Norton hurriedly turned around and touched his face, "Hehe, it turned out to be a vase, I really didn't see it was a magic vase." ”

Grand Duke Bazemore stepped forward to take the vase and gently placed it away, "Most of the furnishings in this room are magical items, it is said that they have been handed down by my teacher's teacher's teacher, Earl Norton, don't move around, even I don't know some of their functions." Magic, you know, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. ”

Following Archduke Bazemore, Earl Norton left the room, but just as he was about to step out of the door, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, those fonts, those beautiful and ornate words, which he had seen in White Rock when he was a young man on his mission to San Jose.

Those fonts are the palace fonts used by court magicians!

Note 1: According to the rules of the Desik royal family, all women in the royal family are princesses, and men are crowned princes and dukes according to their rank.

Note 2: That is, the incident in which Edward VI assassinated General Kim, took control of White Rock Castle, and forced the death of the former German Kaiser Wilhelm IV. Mainlanders call it the "White Rock City Incident".

Note 3: Desic has always used his own year, with the day of the founding of Desik as the first year. The first five years were actually the year 1025 for Desik.