"It's a beautiful castle, more beautiful than anything I've ever seen in the real world."

Asuna sighed, and her words immediately made Kirito and Klein of the "commoner" class a little "hurt".

"Are you referring to a castle in a well-known amusement park in the real world? Or is it a real castle somewhere in Europe? ”

Kirito muttered quietly, and Asuna pretended not to hear.

"It's okay, it's not too exaggerated."

Ling Ze gave a pertinent evaluation, he was different, he had not only seen it, but he had also lived in the castle.

"Hurry up and get in, and let us hillbillies see it too."

Klein was joking while manipulating the "Tillnelle" to move on, they didn't feel estranged from Asuna or anything, after all, when a person is good enough, her family background has become an embellishment, and the normal children of the wealthy family will not necessarily be concerned, but the losers of the wealthy family will definitely be particularly concerned.

As for Ling Ze, they only have admiration and awe, after all, Ling Ze's blind "killer" identity can be said to be not a "world" person at all.

Klein maneuvered the Tiernelle to a halt next to the pier, and a huge gate stood not far in front of it.

On either side of the door, they were guarded by tall "hoplites" armed with axes and spears of surprising length.

The crowd approached the gate and was stopped not far from the door.

"What for?! This is not a place for the Terrans to enter! Hurry up and get out! Otherwise, we won't show mercy! ”

The "Dark Elf Heavy Guards" shouted loudly in front of the door, and they had already raised their weapons and prepared for battle.

"Don't be nervous, we have a letter of introduction, it was written by the commander of the advance team on the third level, and you also have someone we know in the camp, is Knight Kizmer here?"

Klein pulled out a materialized "letter of introduction" from his belt bag and held it aloft, a wax scroll with the same seal as the flag on the Fortress.

After seeing the letter of introduction written by the "Commander of the Dark Elf Advance Team", the two "heavily armed guards" put down their axes and guns, and then saluted Ling Ze and them.

"Come in, Terran warriors."

The attitude of the "Heavy Guards" is much better, and it seems that they have actually heard of them, which should be the credit of Kizmail.

"Boom, boom!"

As Ling Ze and the others were allowed to enter the castle, the huge main entrance of the castle opened to the left and right with a loud noise.

Ling Ze and the others stepped into the castle and were immediately shocked by the scene in front of them, this was indeed a beautiful scenery like a famous painting.

The potted plants covered in powder, the hedges, and the cast-iron fence glittered in the light of oil lamps, and the gate of the main fort could be seen from the depths of the untouched passage, and the scenery was so beautiful that you wondered whether to step on it.

This scene reminded Ling Ze of the castle of the Einzberen family.

"Bang dang."

The door behind closed and everyone no longer hesitated, and finally stepped out, stepping through the front court while stepping on the snow as crisp as a wafer, and came to the entrance to the front of the main castle.

After opening the door and entering the inside, the first thing is the center of the main hall covered with a red velvet carpet, the marble fountain is swaying on the shining water, the deep hall is a large staircase, and the left and right sides are wide passages, and the background music of the whole hall is with violin sounds.

There are quite a few NPCs in the court, all of whom are "dark elves", but unlike the third layer, there are quite few people with weapons, and they are basically dressed in rather ornate and formal clothes.

"May I ask all of you from the Wind Forest Volcano Squad?"

A "dark elf" NPC dressed like a "waiter" came over and took the initiative to talk to Ling Ze and them.

"Yes, you are?"

Looking at the buoy on the head of this NPC, it shows "Castle Clerk Jeresa", and it doesn't look like an ordinary "waiter".

"I am Jeresa, the official of the castle, please come with me, and I will take you to the lord of the city, His Excellency Jofelix."

This castle affairs officer, it seems that he followed the follow-up events triggered by the "Letter of Introduction" quest, and he was going to take Ling Ze and his party to meet the city lord.

"Huh? I'd like to go to Miss Kizmer first. ”

Asuna was suddenly a little unhappy, the first time she came here, she wanted to meet with Kizmail, but she didn't expect the task to follow and pick up.

"Do you know Knight Kizmer?"

Affairs Officer Yeresa magically picked up Asuna's complaints, which everyone didn't expect, Ling Ze was also a little puzzled, this guy's AI is also special? Although it still doesn't seem to be as agile as Kizmail.

"Yes, we've been fighting side by side with Kizmail."

Ling Ze took the initiative to reply, he became interested in this phenomenon.

"Then it's better to take you to see Knight Kizmel first, anyway, I haven't reported to Lord Jofelis, it's meal time, let Lord Jofeliz have a good meal."

The clerk Yeresa blinked, this "dark elf clerk" wearing a "waiter's suit" still looked very handsome.

"Of course, we all want to see Kizmer."

For the proposal of the affairs officer Yeresa, everyone is naturally indispensable, but they are more and more surprised by this Jeresa's AI, which is much more than ordinary NPCs.

"Please come with me, this way."

The clerk Jeresa led the way in front, and Ling Ze followed behind, and they first advanced through the passage on the right, then turned left at the end, and after passing through a small door, they came to the atrium surrounded by the castle.

It's not a golden vestibule, but a mysterious one, with thorny hedges with small black flowers blocking the way like a labyrinth.

The group walked along the snow-covered stone path under the blue-white light of oil lamps, and if you look closely, you can see that there are a few traces of a person in the center of the passage.

The commissioner, Jeresa, led the group through the labyrinth of thorns to a beautiful garden surrounded by majestic conifers, surrounded by flower beds and bronze benches, on which a slender figure sat quietly.

The figure had apparently noticed their presence as well, and she got up from the bench, jumped over the flower bed and ran over the flower bed at a speed that seemed to be a "Rushing Sword Technique", and then stood in front of everyone with a look of surprise on her face.

"Ling Ze! Asuna! Kirito! And everyone! How did you guys get here? Jeresa, what's going on? ”

The person who came was naturally the "Dark Elf Knight" Kizmer, but the aura she exuded seemed to be a little different from before, because at this time, the only thing that wrapped her slender body was a long dark purple dress, which was completely different from the original armor, saber and cloak, and even made people look like a different person at a glance.

"We've come to you as promised, Miss Kizmeer!"

Asuna stood up and said, and Kizmel's response to her was a hug, and the two girls hugged tightly for five seconds before letting go, which made Ling Ze and them a little embarrassed, it seems that Asuna and Kizmel have really established a shallow bond, Ling Ze even saw that after separating, Asuna gently wiped the corner of her eye with the tip of her right finger.

"Although I believe that you will soon be able to reach the fourth floor, I am still surprised and happy to meet so soon, fortunately you have all arrived safely, I have been praying for you, I hope that each of you can be safe."

After parting, Kizmer took Asuna's hand, looked at Ling Ze and said, although it is not the first time, but for Kizmer's behavior and language that is beyond the NPC, everyone will still feel very shocked.

"We're glad to finally see Kizmael again!"

Asuna replied with a pure smile on her face.

"By the way, how did you know I was here?"

Kizmer asked, a little confused, as her gaze turned to the clerk Jeresa, and the others all looked at the softly smiling male "dark elf".

"This juniper tree has access to Miss Tilner's favorite essential oil, so I thought Kiesmer Knight would be here, because there are so many juniper trees here."

The clerk, Jeresa, pointed to the tall conifers that surrounded him, and his words were full of nostalgia.

Everyone looked up at the tree, took a deep breath, and could indeed feel the cool aroma of wood.

"Is this juniper? It's juniper, right? In our world, in addition to pharmaceuticals, it is also used as a flavoring for alcohol, and it seems to taste very spicy, right? ”

Asuna showed her erudition, and Ling Ze actually knew something about this, because "gin", also known as "gin", or "gin", yes, is the "gin" of the distillery in "Detective Conan", and in addition, the medicinal use of juniper berries is "dehumidification diuretic".

"Oh, is that so? I'll give it a try when I get the chance. ”

Kizmael replied that she could tell that Asuna was trying to change the subject, afraid that she would be sad about Tyrnier, because the sight of her sitting alone here would indeed make those who cared about her very worried.

Kizmer's heart was warm, she did feel the warmth of Asuna's friendship, but Kizmer was more worried about Jeresha than herself.

If there was anyone else who was saddened by Tilnelle's death but her, it was Jeresa.

"Is Miss Jereza and Miss Tyrnier in a relationship?"

Obviously, Jeresa's performance, as well as his words, made everyone see some kind of clue, and Klein asked directly, maybe it was the reason why their ship was named "Tillier", and now everyone in "Wind Forest Volcano" still has an inexplicable concern for the late Miss Tillier.

"No, but I'm courting her."

Clerk Jeresa didn't care about Klein's directness, but shook his head and replied, the sad nostalgia on his face had been hidden and returned to his normal state.

"I see."

Klein nodded in understanding.

"Don't talk about that, you should be hungry all the way here, right? It's meal time, so let's go to the cafeteria to eat, and I didn't eat either. ”

Kizmer grabbed Asuna's hand and made an offer to the crowd, and she really didn't want to talk about Tilnier here.

"Ah, yes, I'm so hungry, let's go, let's go eat."

Everyone responded, and followed Kizmael all the way to the cafeteria.

The castle of the "Dark Elves", called "Jofer City", is mainly constructed of four towers of different sizes, the room on the right side of the fortress is for the soldiers stationed here, and the room on the left belongs to the lord and his servants.

The large canteen of "Jofer City" is located on the second floor of the west wing of the city fortress.

After opening the door of the cafeteria, the aroma of the appetizing people came to the face, and the chatter and laughter of the "dark elves" also sounded, and now it is indeed a meal, and there are many people in the canteen.

Dinner at the table,Almost all of them are "dark elf native soldiers" wearing leather armor, but you can also see people wearing robes who look like magicians exist, which makes people have to be surprised, after all, the setting says that SAO is a world without magic, and the "dark elves" don't still have magic legions, right?

"They are priests who serve the sacred tree, and they have been sent here from the royal city on the ninth floor to oversee the recovery of the key."

Obviously, Kizmer noticed Ling Ze's gaze, and this "special NPC" very consciously introduced that ordinary NPCs can't do this kind of performance.

The commissioner, Jeresa, stiffened a little more than Kizmer, and he didn't seem to have fully become like Kizimer, but he clearly had that omen.

At this time, Ling Ze couldn't help but start to wonder if the NPCs he knew with Kizmel had been affected, right?

"Priest, ......"

This special profession obviously makes everyone not know what to say, after all, the priests in the human city can indeed be buffed, and the priests of the "dark elves" should also have a similar effect, right? However, they seem to be still holding the position of "supervising the army"? That's rare.

"Who are those kids?"

Asuna wasn't much interested in the "priests", she was more interested in the "dark elf kids" who laughed in the dining room.

"Those are the children of the lord's family, all good children, this castle belongs to the territory of the Jofer family, and Lord Joferis, who is now the head of the Jofer family, is also the owner of this Jofer city."

This time, without waiting for Kizmer to speak, the affairs officer Yeresha opened his mouth first, and he seemed to have reacted a little.

As they spoke, they split into three tables and sat down at each table, and the "Dark Elf Maids" served a sumptuous meal, and Asuna began to tell Kizmel about what they had seen along the way, as if they were two true friends of the player, rather than the player and the NPC.