After passing through swamps, endless rice paddies and farms, the group finally arrived at the capital of the Empire, surrounded by tall white walls, the largest and richest city in the Empire.

Aldolph.

Because of General Past's side, Duanmu Huai did not suffer much trouble when he entered the imperial capital. The soldiers returned to the barracks, and the fighters of the warband settled the final pay. Most people can't wait to eat, drink and be merry in this bustling city.

As for the dimensional stones, they were handed over to the court mages under the watchful eye of the witch hunters——— which were a group of guys wrapped in robes, without even showing their faces, and the words "I am suspicious" were written on them. They didn't seem to notice the cats on the Dimension Stone, or they were so shocked by the huge fragment of the Dimension Stone on the carriage that they didn't have time to investigate the authenticity of the rubble, but anyway, the fragments were taken away by the court mages for disposal.

At least on the surface.

Walking out of the barracks, Duanmu Huai weighed the money bag in his hand, and according to General Past, fifteen days later, the Grand Prince would hold a grand banquet for them in the palace to celebrate their recovery of the cursed city of Mordheim. And Duanmu Huai and other war group leaders will naturally participate.

"Are you going back to the Holy City?"

Duanmu Huai looked at Lorena and Meletti, who thought for a moment, looked at each other and shook their heads.

"We want to walk around the city, Lord Knight."

Looking at the buildings around her, Lorena seemed to be very interested in the city, after all, this is another world, the capital of an empire, so Lorena also wants to look around.

"Then Fia will go with you, and don't cause trouble."

Duanmu Huai didn't care, he wasn't worried that something would happen to these people, if they were attacked, he would know immediately, and then summon them back through cards.

As for those court mages, the witch hunters had already volunteered to investigate, and Duanmu Huai also summoned two torture puppets to follow behind them to monitor their every move at any time for the sake of safety.

"What are you going to do, Knight?"

"I'm going to go to the library and look for records and clues about the country of Manalia."

Nothing was found on Mordheim's side, and Duanmu Huai could only see if there were any clues on Aldolph's side now.

So next, Lorena and the others went shopping, while Duanmu Huai took Ojis to Aldolph's Great Library.

Along the way, Duanmu Huai discovered that the city was ......... Something is very wrong.

The whole of Aldolph looks vibrant and thriving, with a bustling crowd everywhere. However, Duanmu Huai found that this change was full of disorderly chaos. For example, it seems that he has a hard time finding the right path on the street, or rather, the road is there in the first place, but a strange force seems to affect the city, making it very difficult for Duanmu Huai to discern whether he is on the right path or not.

It's like a person standing at an intersection and originally planned to cross the street, but when a group of people bustle through the intersection, that person suddenly finds that the intersection that was originally opposite him seems to have moved to the other side, and it is easy to suspect that there is a problem with his eyes......... Or is there something wrong with the city itself.

Duanmu Huai can be sure that he is definitely not a road idiot, so Aldolph's current situation is very intriguing.

The chaos of disorder changes ——— sign of the deceitful gods.

Looking at the city in front of him, Duanmu Huai's expression was solemn, Aldolph, as a royal city, must have many nobles and high-ranking officials, which means that the city is full of intrigues and tricks, plus Aldolph's magic academy——— all the elements and conditions of the deceit god are almost met.

To be honest, even if all the mages and high-ranking people in this city were believers in the God of Trickery right now, Duanmu Huai would not be surprised.

"Master, it seems to be noisy here."

O'Kis followed Duanmu Huai's side, looked at the scene in front of her, and whispered. Duanmu Huai nodded——— Aldolph was full of a special kind of noise, but this was not because of the excitement or anything like that, on the contrary, everyone walking here almost all looked hurried, whether it was a commoner, a merchant, a mage or a laborer, they behaved as if someone was waving a whip behind them all the time, making the whole city full of a noisy and impetuous atmosphere.

Truth be told, this place is not good for physical and mental health at all.

Duanmu Huai watched a carriage driver almost roar and wave the reins, driving the carriage speeding across the road, as if he was guilty of road rage, and wanted to kill everyone who stood in his way.

"Let's hurry up and go to the library."

Aldolph's library is located in the Magic Academy area, and because of General Paster's certificate, Duanmu Huai easily entered the library.

He originally thought that he would get a moment of peace here, but what Duanmu Huai didn't expect was that even in the library, it would also make people feel upset and irritable.

Logically, the library is supposed to be a quiet place to fall asleep, but the reality is that a group of mages gather around whispering to each other, and from time to time someone gets up quickly, trots over to the bookshelf, and then picks up a book and walks back to his seat......... It's as if if you slow down and your place will be taken away by others.

This whispering and footsteps sometimes makes people feel more and more restless.

"I'm looking for some references."

Duanmu Huai came to the librarian and whispered, but the latter didn't even raise his head, just stared at the book in front of him, as if there were flowers growing in it.

"I want to know something about Manalia."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai took out a few silver coins and threw them on the table, and the clanging sound of the silver coins touching the table finally made the librarian raise his head, he glanced at the silver coins on the table, and then quickly reached out and retrieved them at a speed not inferior to that of a professional pickpocket.

"Shelf Fifteen, Legends and Allusions to Rick's Collar."

"Thank you."

Duanmu Huai took out a few silver coins again and put them on the table, then turned to leave, he followed the instructions of the librarian, came to the fifteenth bookshelf, found the heavy book, and then- Duanmu Huai opened the portal without hesitation, and returned directly to the Holy City.

"Hoo ..............."

Returning to the holy city of blue sky and white clouds, feeling the warm and comfortable atmosphere here, Duanmu Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, Aldolph didn't feel good at all, even if it was Duanmu Huai, he could feel an ominous sense of unease, as if some threat was spreading around him, but he couldn't find its true body at all.

But now it's fine.

Duanmu Huai came to the central park of the Holy City, then found a big tree and sat down, and began to flip through the books in his hand. And Ogis sat beside him, staring at Duanmu Huai, or observing the crowd and animals around him, which was also considered to be self-satisfied.

It didn't take much effort for Duanmu Huai to find a record of Manalia.

However......... It was a fairy tale.

Legend has it that a long, long time ago, there was a war on this continent, and the evil dragon tried to destroy humanity, and humanity was in crisis. But later, the princess of the human nation stepped forward and led her soldiers to defeat the dragon and gain peace. And that human kingdom is called Manalia.

That's all there is to it.

Not without clues, though.

"This story is widely circulated in Dunkelberg and is a well-known fairy tale in the area, and although its origin cannot be verified, I believe that this story is not just a superstitious story of a rural villager.........

Well, the next target has been found.