The central part of the royal capital was the domain of the royal family, separated from the outside by a high wall, and then guarded by the elite troops of the empire at all times, and the soldiers would be killed if a non-member of the royal family trespassed without permission.

And this has never happened since the establishment of the empire, because the people of the Elnos Empire have been taught since childhood that royal power is sacred and supreme, and the royal blood is also the most excellent, and ordinary people cannot step into the royal territory at will, even if the title is high, unless they are invited, so those who are invited will always feel extremely proud.

Although the walls of the wall were richly decorated, showing the openness and magnificence of the imperial family at every turn, the people knew nothing more than that everything inside the walls was tense and fearful.

However, at the moment when the king's position was vacant, those elite troops were only guarding an empty palace, so the soldiers also became quite scattered, and some nobles with higher status wanted to go to the palace to do business, and they would not say anything at all.

Among the buildings in the royal domain, there is a particularly conspicuous building, which is a tall tower, more than a hundred meters high, even when the royal family is so decaying, this tower stands like a giant, as if it is supporting the entire empire alone.

The tower becomes narrower the higher it goes, that is, it has a tapered shape as a whole, and all but the bottom three floors are inaccessible, because they are only forged for beauty.

A large bell hangs on the top floor of the tower, and every hour that passes, the bell ringers who live in the tower all year round will pull the rope on time and use the conduction device to ring the bell to tell the time for the royal family.

Of course, the bell is so loud that even the guards at the gate of the royal capital can hear it, and according to the popular saying in the streets and alleys, all people in the royal capital are equal just when it comes to listening to the bells.

At this time, the moonlight was just right, and the ground was covered with a silver carpet.

A spatial crack suddenly appeared in front of the tower, and two figures came out of it, and Cornes once again took on the form of an old man, and Elena followed him with her head bowed.

When Cornes knocked on the door of the bell tower, the people inside opened a slight crack in the door and poked their heads out.

"May I ask who you are......"

The person in charge of the bell tower, an old man of sixty or seventy years old, bowed, and then asked respectfully.

He knew very well that the status of being able to enter here was definitely not ordinary, and he was the lowest-status person here, so he naturally had to have a respectful attitude towards everyone.

Although he had lived here for decades, he had never met Cornes, but he could understand that he might be a new nobleman.

"We're guests of Lord Leonard, I've been here before, how ......"

"Oh, I'm really sorry," the old man quickly apologized, and then explained, "I'm afraid it was my son who received you when you came before, I went out to buy supplies, because I heard that Lord Leonard was coming back, so I went to buy good wine and food, you don't know, I used to serve Lord Leonard, but unfortunately later he left the royal capital, and this is five years...... Ah, sorry, it's me talking too much, please come in. ”

Cornes couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, he listened to this guy's rambling, and he almost couldn't bear to stab this guy, but fortunately he finally regained his senses, after all, he still had to restrain himself before turning his face with his partner, so as not to make any trouble.

Upon entering the tower, there was a rather spacious hall in which even banquets could be held, and Cones could not help but think that it would be a waste of such a good place for the father and son to live.

"Yo, Cornes, you're finally back, are you done?"

It was Leonard who said this on the plush sofa, and even at such times, he did not forget to lean back comfortably on the soft sofa and drink.

"Of course, my Lord Leonard," said Cornes with a smile, "I don't worry, so without further ado, let's get to the next step." ”

"Oh, don't be in such a hurry, have you had dinner? My old servant has prepared good food and wine, let's have a drink together, after all, you have helped me so much. ”

“…… Lord Leonard, I don't have that leisure right now. Cornes' tone was cold.

Even the old man on the side felt the chill, he didn't understand how high this person really was, and he dared to speak to the candidate for the throne in such a tone.

"Uh...... Okay, okay, so where do we go next? Leonard had no choice but to compromise.

He understood his situation, although Cornes said that he would help him take the throne, but after that, he might kill him, but unfortunately, even if he could guess this outcome, he would not be able to do anything, but he could only be at the mercy of Cornes.

"Right here." Cones gestured to the floor.

"What?" Leonard was slightly surprised.

Now that he had the key, it was time to open the locked place, but he knew the tower all too well, how could this be the destination.

"Still don't understand? I mean, there's a basement in this tower, and that's where we're going. ”

“…… Yes? ”

This time it was the old man who stood by, after all, he had been ringing the bell here for more than fifty years, but he had never known that there was a basement under the tower.

"Okay, no nonsense, we're pressed for time."

After Cornes finished speaking, he walked directly to the center of the hall on the first floor, where there was a round dining table, he casually drew his magic sword and slashed it, and the table was instantly torn apart.

"Oh my God, you, what did you do!" Seeing this, the old man immediately fell to his knees and said in grief, "That's an antique table with a history of more than a hundred years, a priceless treasure!" ”

"Hmph, so what, it's just scrap in front of me."

"This, this ......," the old man was incoherent, and then questioned Leonard, "my master, what is the origin of this fellow, and why don't you stop his rudeness?" ”

"Oh, what do you care about so much," Leonard suddenly became impatient, "It's really a lot of things, I'm not in the mood for dinner today, you should hurry up and take your son home, don't bother me." ”

“…… Lord Leonard, are you trying to drive me away? The old man couldn't help but burst into tears, "I grew up watching you, and when you were a child, you always pestered me to tell me stories, why did you want to drive me away today because I shouldn't talk too much?" ”

“……”

Cornes couldn't help but be angry, and his hand quietly pressed on the sword, and Leonard immediately saw it and rushed to the old man.

"Let you go, where is so much nonsense, when am I going to drive you away, it's just that we have something important today, and it's extremely confidential, if you're here, we'll have to silence it, so if you're not afraid of death, stay here, I don't care anyway."

"Ah......h Yes, yes, I see. When the old man heard this, his heart sank, and he hurriedly ran to the back kitchen to call his son, and left together.

Leonard stood between Cornes and them until they left the door, and as the only loyal servant left by his side, he did not want to see them die in vain.

"Hehe, do you think I can't see it?" Cornes couldn't help but sneer.

“…… Forget it, it's just two ordinary people, why bother so much? Leonard hurriedly persuaded.

"Hmph, you heard me clearly," Cornes grabbed him by the collar, "I let them go only because I was afraid of soiling my sword, but don't think it's for your sake, don't take yourself too seriously." ”

"Yes, yes." Leonard nodded repeatedly.

At this time, his heart was bitter, thinking that he was a dignified candidate for the throne, almost fighting for power for half his life, sacrificing almost everything, and finally ending up like this, which is really miserable.

Cones then kicked away the debris of the dining table, then tore a large hole in the luxurious carpet to reveal a round metal lid about five meters in diameter.

When the lid is lifted, there is a stone platform with a rough surface underneath.

"Come on, stand up."

Once everyone had stepped up, Cornes crouched down and pressed his hand to the platform, which began to slowly move downward as a wave of magic was infused.

Ten minutes later, the platform continued to fall, and Elena couldn't help but wonder.

"Father, why don't we just open the spatial rift and teleport down?"

"Hehe, silly boy, the destination has to be a place I've been to for that magic to work."

"I see, I'm too stupid."

"You do have a lot to learn, but unfortunately when this plan is successfully implemented and your mission is accomplished, we will never see each other again."

Cones sighed, as if genuinely saddened that day was coming.

Elena didn't say anything, if it was before, she would have been excited to hear that her mission was about to be completed, but now she only felt fear.

Then, she inadvertently glanced at Leonard next to her, and her mood suddenly became complicated.

Just now, Cornes killed Leonard's daughter with his own hands, and while he was still working for Cornes, Elena was hesitant to tell him the truth.

But if you think about it, what can you do if you know the truth? He couldn't protect himself, and if he learned of his daughter's death at this time, what could he do except become more grief? And the result of the rebellion is also a dead end.

In this way, after a long silence, the three of them finally reached the deepest part of the tower's beneath.

Perhaps it was closer to the underground river, and there was a clear sound of running water in his ears, and as Cornes took out the crystal ball for lighting and threw it into the darkness ahead, the surroundings were illuminated.

Only then did Elena realize that after leaving the platform, there was a straight road paved with bricks, and the road was lined with extremely fast flowing water, and I didn't know how deep it was.

Then, they continued on their way, and after a while, they finally came to the end, and a gate more than six meters high appeared in front of them, and it was dark around the door, and it was impossible to see whether it was a black wall or something else.

"Great, it's finally this moment, and the next thing is to make humans ......"

Cornes said excitedly as he opened the box containing the key, only to stop abruptly because he found that there was only one key in the box, and there were two keyholes in the door.

With the mindset of giving it a try, he inserted the key into one of the keyholes, but to his disappointment, the door did not open, and it seemed that two keys were indeed needed.

"Well, where am I going to find the other key?"

Seeing that he was at a loss, Leonard said tentatively.

"Since this key was found in the warehouse of the Academy of Magic, it is likely that the other one is in my sister's possession."

"Oh? How do you know? ”

"Well," Leonard scratched his head and continued, "I don't know what's behind this door, but since this is also a royal domain, then my father should know about this place, or further, this is where my father kept important things, and the two people he liked most during his lifetime were the former head of the Academy of Magic, and the other was one of my sisters, Agnes, so it is likely that he gave them the key for safekeeping." ”

"Hehe, I can't see it, you're still a little useful." Cornes saw hope again and couldn't help but praise him.

"It's just speculation." Leonard said embarrassedly.

"It's okay, it's better to have a clue than to be a headless fly, okay, let's go."

Cornes immediately tore open the spatial rift, and the three of them returned to the ground of the royal capital together.