Located at the junction of the Kingdom's Scholar's Mansion and the Royal Palace, this low-lying mountain is covered with dense vegetation and is the largest forbidden place in the Scholar's Palace.

Only the [Supreme Magus] who can cast quasi-forbidden spells are eligible to occupy an area on the Spire Hill and build their own magical spire - there are only nine Supreme Magi in the Academy, and they are called the [Council of Nine].

And above the nine-member council, there is the title of the powerhouse at the peak of the continent: [Great Magister]. There are only two Grand Magisters in the entire kingdom of Audric, one is the [White Pony] Icarus who is in the White Tower of the Royal Palace, and the other is the [Green Magician] Rudolph in the deepest part of the Pinnacle Mountain.

The Magic Spire [Puppet Cage] is a small, twisted castle with a simple architectural tone, which is unreasonable - no wall is perpendicular to the ground, no steps of the same width, and no window is of a regular shape.

Archmage Rudolph, dressed in green robes, stood on the diagonal triangular terrace, holding a pointed telescope in his hand, looking up at the upside-down palace in the night sky.

"His Majesty the Milky King has done a big thing......"

Rudolph's chin is thin and pointed, and there are two ridiculous nasolabial folds next to his mouth, and two moustaches add a bit of comical color to the face.

"It's really hard to sleep with such a magnificent piece of empty starry sky overhead."

Sighing, Rudolph was just about to go back to the room to ponder his new trick, but suddenly stopped, and put three layers of counter-magic on himself in one breath.

"Hehe, you're really vigilant, master plagiarist."

A voice came from outside the terrace.

Rudolph turned around and saw a short, hunchbacked figure in the air.

"Notorious bounty hunter, you have secretly destroyed my alchemical creatures again?" Rudolph blew his beard angrily, "Why don't you exchange your head for a bounty?" ”

The bounty hunter Sandor sat on the wooden railing of the terrace, and he spread his hands and motioned for both of his knives to be in the scabbards behind his waist: "To put it mildly, Rudolph...... I'm not here to fight you. ”

Rudolph stroked his beard with his hand and said with a sneer: "I think you don't want to be suffocated by your origin power anymore, right?" ”

Remembering some bad memories, Sandor narrowed his eyes and said, "Don't be too complacent, who cut off your wand in half?" ”

"You reminded me, it's just time to settle the old accounts together!" As soon as Rudolph raised his hand, a green Rubik's cube appeared in his palm, and the squares on the Rubik's cube were flipped and stacked, turning into a strange wand one person tall in a blink of an eye, "In my spire, how can you be arrogant?" ”

Seeing that Rudolph was about to "steal" his origin power, Sandor hurriedly pulled out a one-and-a-half-meter-long pitch-black cane from behind his back and blocked it in front of him.

Rudolph was stunned when he saw the cane, and then he looked interested, completely forgetting that he was going to fight again in the last second.

"Show it to me, it's a good thing for some years!" He said excitedly.

Sandor waved his hand and said, "You just stand there and watch, I didn't say I was going to give it to you." ”

The pitch-black scepter in his hand looked very primitive, and the handle was not bent, just a straight handle inlaid with silver.

Rudolph wanted to step forward to take a closer look, but his nature as a magician made him not want to get close to the famous assassin in front of him, so he sighed and said impatiently, "This is the Nightfall Scepter, right?" ”

Sandor nodded: "Hehe, nine years ago, when Shamel destroyed the country, I stole this guy from the Emerald Silk, although it is a holy relic, but it is of little use to me." ”

Hearing Sandor's words, Rudolph stamped his foot and said, "What can you see?" I've long wanted to travel to the world of dreams and explore its mysteries...... Hurry up and give it to me! ”

"How can there be a free lunch on the mainland?" Sandor chuckled and said, "I can give it to you, but you'll have to trade it with me!" ”

Rudolph was stunned, angrily smashed his wand on the floor, and said, "What do you want?" ”

Sandor touched his nose through the face towel, then pointed to the dark blue sea of stars in the sky and said, "You should know what that is, right?" ”

"Nonsense, even you know, if I'm as knowledgeable as I am?" Rudolph scoffed and said, "I see, I see...... You executioner wants to be a grave robber on a whim? ”

"Without further ado, I know that Cavendish kid is beating Ji Ling's idea, but it doesn't seem to be going well." Sandor said, "I don't believe you don't want to go up and have a look?" That's the coffin of the Shadow Queen! ”

Rudolph was silent for a while, his expression cloudy, he glanced at the pale complex above his head, and then at Sandor, and said, "Why do you think I can go up?" ”

"How do I know? If you can't go up, no one can go up! "Everyone can't touch the treasure, so I won't be greedy." ”

He paused, then smiled lewdly and said, "If you can't go up either, then the Nightfall Scepter should be left to me as a crutch." ”

"Joke!" Rudolph was in a hurry, he glared and said, "I have a way to go up, one thing for another?" ”

Sandor said, "One thing for another." ”

Rudolph nodded, looked at Sandor warily, and pulled a silver shard from his arms.

"What is this? Don't fool me. Sandor glanced suspiciously at the silver shard in Rudolph's hand.

"If you don't believe it, don't change it, I'll go to Jiling to make a fortune myself." Rudolph responded with a sneer.

"Hey, I believe, I believe...... You can run anyway, your minaret can't. Sandor also raised his scepter.

The two of them glanced at each other, threw out the things in their hands at the same time, and beware of each other's deception, after all, Sandor and Rudolph did not have a good reputation, and they were both old and cunning.

"Fragments? How does it look like your broken bowl? Sandor suspected that he had been deceived.

"Something I don't know." Rudolph's hand rubbed lightly on the Nightfall Scepter, "This is the Frost King's dragon eggshell. ”

"Dragon eggs?" Sang Duo believed a little in his heart, but asked, "How can you cross the sea of void stars with this thing?" Shall I use it to smash the Frost Gate? ”

Rudolph said impatiently: "The gate? The Frost King hatched and fled at some point, and no one could open the door with this empty egg...... Don't worry about it, just carry it on your body, it's the 'ticket' I just stole from the palace tonight. ”

"The Lord of Frost has hatched? How is it possible, it is obviously a dead embryo! Sandor looked uncertain.

Rudolph didn't bother to pay attention to him, concentrating on the "new toy" in his hand.

Looking at Rudolph, who couldn't put down the Nightfall Scepter, Sandor calmed down his inner surprise, smiled, and disappeared into the light smoke.

"When I come back from Jiling, I will take back this scepter, stinky old man." Sandor left a word in the smoke.

Rudolph's angry voice came from the puppet cage and resounded throughout the dense forest—

"Don't think! If you dare to come again, just wait to step on my alchemy trap! ”

After dinner with Terella, Levi's brain returned to a high state of load. Although he did relax for a while after successfully throwing away the identity of "Nevenmor", as long as he thought of the prehistoric tomb above his head, he felt that the dark tide was turbulent and it was difficult to sleep.

Barely resting until dawn, he got out of bed, changed into civilian clothes instead of a bachelor's robe, and hid the long black dress, leather coat, and women's booties scattered on the floor in his closet.

Scanning around the room, where the easy chair behind the desk was empty, Levi walked to a tolllog house in the corner of the table and reached out to lift the roof.

The cabin is built like a real house, and Terella, the size of a finger, sleeps on a small bed in the "bedroom", covered with a blanket made of rags.

Sensing that someone had lifted the "roof", Terella opened her eyes and glanced at the huge Levi, and stretched her body lazily, the rags covering her body could not hide the leaking spring light.

"Good morning." Levi said hello.

This "palace" for Terella was a toy he had seen when he passed by the carpenter's shop last night, and he bought it because he thought it was interesting.

"Where are you going?" Terella sat up from the bed, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

Levi picked up the money bag and said, "Go and take care of some things, you can rest here." ”

He turned and walked towards the door, only to find Tyrella Thumb already sitting on his shoulder, her hair still woven into an ice-blue dress, her wings as thin as cicada's wings clinging to her back.

"Do you have to follow me?" Levi said with a frown.

"I'll sleep a little longer." Terella burrowed into the inside of his collar.

Sighing helplessly, Levi pushed the door open and walked to the second floor just in time to meet Aina Cooper.

"Ah...... Good morning, Mr. Levi. ”

Aina's mood didn't seem to be very good, and she didn't have much energy when she greeted her, and her eyes were a little evasive.

"Good morning, Miss Aina."

Levi didn't know what was on her mind, but just nodded to her as usual. As he passed her, Levi suddenly stopped, and had an idea in his mind.

"Are you free tonight, Miss Aina?" He turned.

Aina was stunned, raised her head, and said half-shyly and half-confused, "Hmm...... What's the matter, Mr. Levi? ”

Levi smiled and clasped his fingers together, and said thoughtfully, "Would you be interested in going to Miss Bertha's new play with me, if you had time?" ”

As if suspecting that she had misheard, Aina did not answer Levi immediately, but blinked, and after a long time subconsciously asked, "Miss Bertha's new play?" ”

"Well, it's 'Dedicated to Cleopatra.'" Levi touched his nose, "Aren't you interested in telling the story of the Shadow Queen?" ”

Aina finally understood what Levi meant, she nodded happily, her cheeks slightly red and said, "Okay, I want to go and see it." ”

Levi bowed slightly, smiled and said, "Then tonight...... I'm going out right now and I'll be back later to pick you up and we'll go to the Wiggins Theater together. ”

As Aina watched expectantly, Levi walked out of Twenty-Two Baker Street and headed toward Navy Avenue.

The streets were dark, and looking into the sky outside the city walls, it was already a sunny day—the sun in Slom was obscured by the tomb.

It seems that the life of the Cooper family has not been affected in any way, maybe for the entire royal capital, the ruins above their heads are just full of freshness, right? This was thanks to the swift release of news from the royal palace, where King Cavendish declared overnight that the ruins were a wonder of the kingdom, that there was no danger in them, and that they would not stay long.

So the people living in Slom ushered in a new day as usual, just amazed by the deep blue sea of stars and the upside-down palace in the sky.

It didn't take long for Levi to come to the vicinity of Canal Harbor on Navy Boulevard.

Finding a place where no one was around, he took out two bottles of paint, dipped the black paint with his fingers, and smeared it on a copper coin of the head of Welsh III, and then drew a horizontal line on his neck with red paint.

With that done, he stepped into the familiar tavern, handed the copper coins to the bartender, and was led to the black market in the basement.

Wearing a black scarf, Levi bared his neck and slowly walked through the bustling black market.

Today he has two things to do, investigate something, buy something...... To do this, he must use the power of the [Throat Sealing Guild], even if it costs a lot of money.

Flora, a black market merchant, has a tricky guest today, the bounty hunter Sandor.

Sitting in the middle of the dazzling array of containers, Flora reluctantly left her desk, looked at the hunchbacked man, and said, "Have you been idle lately, Sandor?" ”

"That's right, I don't have much to do other than study that heavenly palace." Sandor reached for a dagger from the container.

"Research? It's amazing that you would use that word. Flora leaned her hips against the desk and folded her arms.

"Hehe, some time ago there was a guy who commissioned both the guild and you, right?" Sandor played with the dagger, "You don't seem to like me very much, so I'll just say it directly, the client is the prince of Gole." ”

Flora looked at the lewd fellow who could barely be called a "companion" with her, and replied unabashedly: "Yes, he asked me to find someone to show him a painting, but the intention was to be secretive, which is what I am good at." ”

"Looking for someone else? Wouldn't it be nice to ask you, the famous thief, to help him appreciate it. Sandor gave Flora a strange look, "Or do you like to play the role of a black marketeer?" ”

"Slom is a very interesting city, and we are not the ones who cover the sky here." "Besides, of all the collectors who came that day, there was one person who saw a detail that I hadn't noticed. ”

"Oh? That's a lot of fun, worthy of Slom. Sandor chuckled under his breath.

"Didn't the guild miss that day?" Flora showed an interested look, "I didn't expect Curran to ask someone to rob his tribute, and also attracted the owner of the martyrdom, it seems that this prince of Gole is planning to swallow the treasure of the tomb by himself." ”

Sandor smiled and did not speak.

Flora tapped lightly on her desk and said, "Or is it that the guild and Curran have reached an agreement and originally planned to jointly plot for the tomb of Hime?" It's a pity that now Curran and King Oderick are still together. ”

What's the point? The guild has failed. Sandor said, "The dragon egg was not grabbed, and neither was the Dead Touch...... If I were the leader of the guild, I would definitely kill all these useless people for bounties. ”

"It seems that you, the leading assassin, really don't have any sense of belonging to the guild." Flora squinted.

Sandor put down his dagger and said, "Flora, I don't want to go around in circles, you must be interested in Ji Ling too, right?" ”

"That's right." Flora nodded, quietly waiting for Sandor to continue.

"I'm not stupid, the ritual of finding Ji Ling originally only used to open a door from the void, and I wouldn't have made such a big move at all, covering the sky." "Something must have gone wrong with the ceremony," said Sandor, "and it is not easy to get in now, and there will inevitably be contention when the time comes...... Hey. ”

"You want to work with me?" Flora, who was smart, lifted her chin slightly and said, "With all due respect, Sandor...... You're a great bounty hunter, but you don't know anything about the legacy of history. ”

She smiled contemptuously, and her gaze circled Sandor's gaze toward the black market venue, as if she had lost interest in the conversation.

"You can't say that, it's just the result that matters, doesn't it?" Sandor was not angry at all, and said cheekily, "Do you want to face the Archmage and Origin Warrior of Oderick alone in Jiling?" ”

Flora continued to look into the distance, without looking at Sandor, and said, "I am a friendly person, and cooperation is not necessary, but I can tell you one thing to calm your restless heart for a while." ”

Sang Duo laughed and said, "What's the matter?" ”

"It won't be long before the king and Curran will find a way to enter the tomb, and I already know the answer to this method." Flora said slowly, "If you don't go through the main gate, it's impossible for a Sage-level guy to enter the Ji Tomb, understand?" No one knows the secrets of the Void better than I do, and the main door can't be opened. ”

Listening to Flora's words, Sandor was stunned and almost didn't break out of his mouth.

"Don't fool me! What are you kidding, do you know how much I paid to get the 'tickets'? ”

He thought of his Nightfall Scepter, and his heart felt like he was dripping blood...... Although he was very irritable inside, he knew very well that Flora would not talk nonsense.

Flora smiled and looked into the distance and said, "Of course, if you're tired of being an Origin Warrior, won't you be able to go in?" ”

"Fuck hime!" Sandor sat on the shelves and knocked over a piece of the goods.

"Huh?"

Flora suddenly looked surprised.

"What's wrong?" Sandor glanced at her, his face full of disappointment and frustration.

"Remember when I said that there was a person who could see the details that I had overlooked? He's coming. The corners of Flora's mouth curled slightly.

"Who is it and where is it?" Sandor glanced curiously outside the shop.

"Go get the emaciated man in the black scarf."

Flora instructed the guys in the shop.

Looking at the smiling Flora and the lewd man covering his face in front of him, Levi never expected that he had not waited for the people of the guild, but was discovered by the black-hearted businesswoman first.

"See you again, Mr. Levi." Flora said, holding her arms and looking Levi's eyes.

Today, she wore straight black pants and a wide-sleeved white shirt, and a strand of black hair tied back her head, just like she had dressed that day at the Kingdom Mansion.

"Good day, Ms. Flora." Levi pulled off his towel and greeted him politely.

Flora glanced at the red paint on Levi's neck, pursed her lips and smiled, and said to Sandor, "What a coincidence, he came to the black market to find the guild." ”

After speaking, she pointed to Sandor again and said to Levi: "He is the bounty hunter of the Throat Sealing Guild, and I will help you match, so entrust him with anything." ”

Sandor rolled his eyes and said, "My salary is very expensive. ”

Levi smiled and said to Flora, "Thank you very much for your kindness, but I don't mean to commission the killing, so let's find a cheap hunter." ”

The only way to contact them is to come to the black market, paint a red horizontal line on their necks that symbolizes [throat], and wait for the bounty hunters to come to their door.

"It's okay." Flora said nonchalantly, "You can find him if you want to investigate anything, there's no reason not to do the business that comes to your door, Sandor, right?" ”

Levi felt that the atmosphere was not quite right, he glanced at Flora, who was smiling, and then at Sandor, who had a depressed expression, and was silent for a while, but decided to say things first: "I want to investigate two people, and the commission fee is five silver coins." ”

"Five silver coins?" Sandor almost laughed out loud, "Why don't you pay?" ”

Listening to the obvious irony in his words, Levi said calmly, "In the guild, the cost of the investigation is about this amount. ”

Hearing that Levi was a knowledgeable employer, but could not explain his identity, Sandor glanced at Flora irritably, and reluctantly said, "I can take over this business on behalf of the guild, but not by myself...... This kind of thing is left to the newcomer to do. ”

"No problem." Levi said.

Seeing that they had a good conversation, Flora took out a pair of pen and paper and handed it to Levi.

Levi thanked Flora again, and while writing down the contact address and the investigation on a piece of paper, he said, "I want to investigate a magician named Raymond Brown and a magician named Leon Reinhardt, both of whom are studying in the Kingdom Academy, and they are commoners. ”

When he had finished writing, he handed Sandor, along with three silver coins and paper, and said, "According to the rules, when the information is given to me, I will pay the balance." ”

Sandor glanced at the contents of the paper and found that there was nothing special, nothing more than trivial matters such as focusing on the life and activities of these two people, social connections, and so on.

"Is there anything else you need, Levi?" Flora said with a smile.

Feeling Flora's unnatural hospitality, Levi decided to say something straightforward, anyway, he was originally here to make a deal, and it didn't make much difference which store he went to.

"I want a pair [of the insects]." He said to Flora.

Flora, who had plenty of goods on hand, smiled slightly, waved her hand and asked the man to pick up the goods at the back of the store, and said, "Two gold coins and two silver coins, I'll erase the change for you, and count it as two gold coins." ”

Fraction......

Silently lamenting the richness of the businesswoman, Levi pulled the corners of his mouth and said, "Thank you for your generosity." ”

The man brought a palm-sized wooden box and handed it to Levi, who opened it, and in the box was a silk pad, on which lay two golden bugs the size of fingernails, motionless as if they were dead.

This ancient insect from the Shamel forest has a wonderful sense, often inhabiting in pairs, one male and one female, with a long lifespan, but it looks like a fossil with no traces of life. And when one of the inducers dies, no matter how far apart, the other bug flies towards the partner's corpse and dies with it.

"Good."

After a moment of confirmation, Levi nodded and handed the two gold coins to Flora.

"If nothing else, I have a question for you." Flora took the gold coin and weighed it in her hand.

"Please." Levi had a bad feeling in his heart.

There was a sly glint in Flora's black eyes, and she pointed to the ceiling.

"Do you know how to enter the Himejere?"

Hearing this, Sandor, who was originally lacking in interest, turned his head to look at Levi.

Levi frowned and said, "Ji Ling? Isn't that the tomb of the legend? I don't understand what you mean. ”

Flora looked into Levi's eyes, was silent for a few seconds, and smiled: "It's okay, you didn't say it to me." ”

Sandor sighed in disappointment and walked out of the shop without looking back.

"I'll go first, Flora." He waved his hand and hunched over.

Seeing that Sandor was gone, Levi also took the wooden box into his arms and prepared to say goodbye to Flora.

"Wait a minute, what's moving in your clothes?"

Although the movement was slight, Flora did sense something was wrong.

Levi's expression froze for a moment, then smiled slightly and stretched out his hand: "I have a silver ring worm as a pet." ”

The silver ring worm is an ancient and common worm that has not changed its name for thousands of years.

Under Flora's gaze, a thumb-sized insect moved its body and crawled onto the back of Levi's hand, its body was jet black, and each link was covered with beautiful silver rings, but the color was not normal, and the parts of the silver ring were faintly ice blue.

"It's cute, isn't it?" Levi said.

The bug crawled onto his index finger as if it were sucking on it.

"Well, but I don't like bugs." Flora raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Watching Levi put on a scarf and walk out of the store, Flora's expression became a little ambiguous.

"This little thing from Chamel is still so unfrank."

"Can't you just sleep honestly?"

Levi touched the cold sweat on his eyebrows and whispered.

"You just said I was cute?" Terella's voice came to his ears, "Why do you say bugs? I don't like it. ”

"I thought of this for the first time, I'm afraid you won't understand the names of other creatures, after all, a thousand years have passed." Levi replied.

Tyrella regained her thumb form, poked her head out of his collar, and asked, "Why are you checking those two?" What are primers used for? ”

"I was suspicious when Alva's escape necklace was damaged, and the demon fighting tactics were developed by Raymond...... I'm not in a safe place right now. Levi said, "Whether it's Curran, or the uncertain person — for a vague reason, they could all be bad for me." ”

"What a coward."

"It would be better if the danger could be ruled out." Levi said lightly, "There is no perfect secret, only a more cautious ambush than prudence." ”

("The Void is also known as the Void Star Sea, where time and space lose their original meanings.") With Ornos' cold body as the door and Ornos's young soul as the key, Saladin banishes his lover into the silent void for eternity. —The Treasure of King Saladin)