There is still a considerable distance from the west of the city to the mountain, and everything is covered by woods, except for a straight line drawn out of the city gate. Although there is basically no greenery in sight due to the season, the canopy of the towering trees that are not known for many years is still layered, allowing only a little sunlight and completely blocking the warmth.

When Brunei reacted, his body had already shrunk unconsciously, and at the same time he trembled slightly. There was also some mud under his feet - according to Brunei's impression, it has not rained recently, is it because he is close to a stream? Bruneith speculated, but he did not hear the sound of running water, so he could not find any evidence.

Considering that the direction of the original avenue was due west, even though he turned around and walked through the gaps between trees in the shady woods, which were not roads at all, Brunei could generally feel that it was heading in the northwest direction of College City. But beyond that, Brunei didn't know anything else.

Brunei came in the direction of about the southwest of College City, that is, along the eastern edge of the Endless Mountains. To the south of the academy is the territory of the Empire, to the north is the territory of the Federation, and to the east is a narrow strip of area on the north side, which is where Brunei once speculated to exist, like the academy city, a group of small neutral forces sandwiched between the two powers to keep warm.

However, politically, due to the unique geographical advantage of the Academy City, which is basically enclosed in the Endless Mountains, the Academy City should be one of the relatively neutral forces in the true sense of the word.

These are all things that Brunei learned in the course that William had arranged for him. The Empire's enlightenment education did not teach this knowledge, and even the Federation, which was regarded as the biggest enemy, was only known to be about the north at that time, and he had to rely on guesswork to judge the existence of these small forces. William really helped him a lot.

That being said, as things stand, none of this helped him much. To the west is the depths of the Endless Mountains, and even to the north, it is a very long way to reach the territory of the Federation. Although it seems that there is no custom in Academy City not to go deep into the Endless Mountains, it is clear that it does not know much about the situation in the deep mountains.

Therefore, the black-robed man who led the way in front was so familiar with the road in this dense forest, which left a very deep impression on Brunei. This, combined with the fact that he was clearly deliberately taking a detour, was all the more indicative of his familiarity with the area – which was quite incredible, as in Brunei's view, there was not even a road to speak of.

The man in front of him was covered in black robes, as if the repetition of the road, the cold, or the mud did not affect him in any way. However, it was clear that this was not the case, and the hem of the black robe behind him was inevitably stuck to the mud. Despite his mysteriousness and unknown strength, it shows that he is not beyond the realm of humans.

Brunei couldn't help but start thinking about whether he could kill him if he was stabbed from behind while he was walking in front? He may be a very powerful mage, and he may be sensitive to magic fluctuations, but Brunei doesn't need to use magic. Let the system do a stealth check, or maybe an agility or luck check, and if it succeeds, he should be able to get the short knife in his pocket into his back socket.

No matter how powerful a mage is, under certain conditions, he can die at the hands of a small mage apprentice because he is defenseless. Brunei once thought of this suddenly during the battle of Kailan, and at that time he couldn't believe it, so he deduced some of the abilities possessed by the second-turn mage - however, now, Brunei knew better, and at that time it took a lot of effort to guess a little bit of the special features of the second-turn mage, and now he had read it in the book and remembered it firmly, and now in such a moment, Brunei thought had this idea again, and it lingered.

In the end, he didn't do anything, because, he finally remembered, he had come here to save Scarly.

After nearly three hours, in the middle of the valley, under the cliff, about a dozen meters from the almost dry stream, there was a stone house about ten meters wide, only one floor, and a height of five or six meters.

Before Brunei could think about whether he was lonely and unheard, or whether such a remarkable building had never been known, the black-robed man spoke, and stopped Brunei's thoughts in his characteristic voice: "This is it. ”

It was not yet dark, and the sun, which was completely gone, was still emitting a dim light somewhere, and Brunei could faintly see the door that was similar to the color of the surrounding wall. It looks like a normal size for a normal building, but it looks stingy for this building. Maybe it's because of the dark sky, I can't see the material, but Brunei guesses it must be wooden.

“...... Lady is inside?" asked Brunei Darussalam, abandoning superfluous observations and speculations.

The black-robed man nodded slowly, pushed it without force, and opened the door: "Follow me." ”

[Observation verification: 23<3060, fail.] Once again, you try to guess something from his look and tone, but you can't refrain from recalling the bad memories of that previous failure. You're even glad it's so dark that you can't see his face clearly, otherwise you're not sure if you'd just throw it up this time. 】

The failure of psychology is to be expected. The system once again used such a description to describe the other party, proving that the previous time was not a casual nonsense because of a big failure, and this black-robed man did have something special. And the so-called "pattern" that is particularly pointed out in this difficult and successful observation and verification, to be honest, considering all kinds of doubts, is not difficult to guess.

The black-robed man walked into the room with his feet raised, turned his head, looked at Brunei Darussalam, who was not following, and paused: "Please come in." ”

Instead, Brunei took a step back and laughed, "Is the eldest lady in that room inside?"

The black-robed man paused again, and Brunei began to wonder if he was thinking or considering his words, or if he hadn't thought about anything at all, but was just pausing subconsciously. In short, he paused for a moment, then nodded again: "Yes." Miss Miltrov was well cared for. So, please follow me. ”

The corners of Brunei's mouth twitched, and he secretly scolded himself: "What is the situation with this thing? From the beginning, if he was really lying to me, he was too unsophisticated, right?"

So, assuming he is in his right mind, there are two possible scenarios. First, he is sure that you will be deceived, and second, he does not care if you are deceived. Specifically, he only cares about whether his goal can be achieved, and as for the process, he doesn't care. 】

Brunei took another step back and coughed lightly, "Ahem." Then please bring the eldest lady out. After confirming the safety of the eldest lady, the 50,000 standard units are yours. As he spoke, Brunei took out the box he had been carrying all the way.

As expected, the other party heard and saw 50,000 standard units, without the slightest fluctuation.

He only fell into a long silence again, and this time, Brunei guessed he was speaking. Unfortunately, even after thinking about it for so long, the last thing he said was, "Please come in." Such unconvincing demanding rhetoric.

"Huh. Brunei sneered, turned around and prepared to run away - if it weren't for the fact that another black-robed man appeared behind him at some point to take the box in his hand and firmly block his way with a muscular body more than twice as wide as Brunei's, "...... What are you going to do?"

"Brunei Carlyle, a long-time admirer. "The black robe of the other man in the black robe seemed to be exactly the same as the one before him, so it was too loose on that man, and on him it was like a straitjacket with a hood, and his huge face was in stark contrast with the previous one, and the hood was held tightly, perhaps because it was getting darker, and his skin was almost one with the black robe, and only a mouthful of brilliant white teeth still reflected a glimmer in the air," Miss Miltrov was inside. ”

“...... Long admiration of the Daimyo?" Brunei's eyebrows twitched slightly.

The dark-skinned black-robed man laughed: "You probably know that William Robesy is also a well-known dueling maniac in College City. He was defeated by you during your mage apprenticeship, and it didn't take long for him to spread throughout the academy city. It's not that he's invincible, it's just that the mage apprentice's victory over a mage in a head-to-head duel is big news in itself. ”

"Oh. "Compared with the guy who cherished words like gold before, this person was obviously much easier to communicate, but although what he said could explain some problems, there were still as many doubts as a mountain.

"Carlisle, just call me Franks. The second black-robed man who claimed to be Franks opened the box as he spoke, casually fiddling with the external magic emblem inside, "50,000 standard units, amazing." You can take it, and you are really willing to pay so much money to ransom Miss Miltrov, your courage is commendable. ”

Brunei frowned: "You guys, don't you think I'll come to pay?"

"No, it's not us, it's me. Otherwise, this wouldn't have happened, and I've heard you're smart, you should understand, right? Franks re-closed the box and handed it to the first man in the black robe, "Anyway, now it turns out that I guessed wrong." Let's not talk about it. Let's talk about something else, for example, I'm a second-turn mage. ”

The corners of Brunei's mouth twitched, and he subconsciously distanced himself from Franks.

"Then, that skinny guy in the room behind you—I guess it's a third-turn mage. It's a special type, however, in terms of level, it's a three-turn mage. Franks raised his hand and pointed at the thin guy in the room, the skin on his hands was also dark, and the back of his hand was painted with unique lines, "And you're just a mage." ”

[Observation verification: 7<30<60, difficult and successful.] Your gaze cuts through the darkness to the back of Franks' right hand, and you can clearly make out the eagle-like pattern on the back of his hand, hovering between the cliffs. You can even see the peculiar sheen reflected by the pattern, and if Franks wasn't a freak like you and Gerald, it would have been his magic emblem. 】

If it was indeed a magic emblem, Franks would be at least a second-turn mage. And the so-called "three-turn mage" guy in the house, it doesn't really matter what his true strength is, because if he doesn't plan to enter that room, the distance between Brunei and Franks, who has his back to the room, is no longer enough for him to escape.

After thinking about the situation, Brunei coughed: "Yes." So I'm not going to be serious with you. You can take the 50,000 standard units, and if you have any requirements, as long as you can let me and the eldest lady get out, you can do anything. ”

Franks clenched his hands into fists, colliding with each other, and a mouthful of snow-white teeth grew brighter: "Yes? That's what you said." ”

"Well, let's go over the two. ”