This afternoon, the commander of the Guards of the Kingdom of Andrew, Chief Birune, will hold a welcome banquet in his mansion to receive the detectives invited from all over Europe.

It is said that this chief Birune is a minister who is very relied on by the current King Andrew, and when the king is seriously ill, he is ordered by the king to assist the royal brother in handling government affairs.

With the invitation letter in Mary's hand, Karasuma Ying and Mary entered the palace without any obstacles.

It is said to be a royal palace, but in fact, it is a noble villa area built around a large castle, except for the king's castle in the center, the surrounding houses are all standard modern European architectural style, without the slightest historical atmosphere.

No, not entirely without ......

On the way to the residence of the chief of Biruen, Karasuma Ying was passing by the welcome square when she saw an obelisk in the middle of the square.

The obelisk, which is more than 10 meters high, has the shape of a spire square column, and the overall width is constantly shrinking from bottom to top, and the spire seems to be wrapped in some kind of metal, reflecting a dazzling light under the sun's rays.

Karasuma Ying was a little curious, if she remembered correctly, this kind of obelisk should be one of the characteristic buildings of ancient Egyptian civilization after the pyramids, representing the sun worship of the ancient Egyptians.

Unexpectedly, she could see similar buildings in another country thousands of miles away from Egypt, which is amazing.

"What's wrong? Karasuma-sama? ”

Beside him, a foreign man dressed in the military uniform of Andrew's Kingdom asked in English.

His name was Hans, and he was a soldier of Andrew's Kingdom Guard, and because of his proficiency in English, he was sent to serve as a guide and assistant to the two Marys.

"How long ago was this obelisk built?" Karasuma Ying looked up at the obelisk in the distance and asked in English as well.

When Mary heard this, she also stopped and followed her line of sight.

"I'm sorry, Karasuma-san, but I don't know about that."

Hans replied apologetically.

"Because this obelisk was originally an ancient Egyptian building, it is said that it was built for sacrifice in a local temple......"

"Built in Egypt?" Karasuma looked at him in surprise.

"Yes, it was brought back from Egypt as a trophy by the first kings of the kingdom hundreds of years ago, and it has been left in the kingdom ever since, and today it is one of the most famous attractions in the kingdom......"

Proudly explaining, Hans smiled and proposed to the two:

"Miss Karasuma, Miss Mary, if you are interested, you can go over and take a group photo, rest assured, the obelisk is one of the famous attractions of the kingdom, and this behavior is allowed."

"I don't need to." Instantly losing interest, Karasuma Ying replied in a flat tone.

She originally thought it was the country's own cultural building, but it turned out that it was also snatched from other countries?

Without further discussion of the subject, Hans led the two men on their way towards the Commander's mansion.

Along the way, he spontaneously introduced the two of them to some of the situation in Andrew's kingdom.

Andrew's current king is named Heningu, and he is called the Holy Monarch by the people of the kingdom.

It is said that ten years ago, King Heningu issued a series of political reforms and economic measures to sweep away the decadent aristocracy of the kingdom and vigorously develop tourism and foreign high-tech industries.

These actions saved the economy of Andrew's kingdom from bankruptcy at the time, greatly boosted the country's economic development, and brought the affluent life of his citizens today.

However, due to his advanced age, King Heningu's health is getting worse and worse, and since half a year ago, he has gradually handed over the affairs of the country to his brother Preben on the grounds of illness.

In addition, King Geningu himself had no heirs, and only two adopted princesses were the heirs of the kingdom.

The king is seriously ill, the heir is an adopted princess, and the king's own brother is in charge of the kingdom......

Karasuma Ying silently complained in her heart.

"Commander Birun's mansion is just ahead."

Following Hans, Marie and the others came to a secluded and quiet campus in the palace, surrounded by woods, a luxurious Western annex.

The façade of the first floor of the annex is equipped with many large arched windows from left to right, through which Mary and Mary can clearly see the interior of the first floor of the annex, even from dozens of meters away.

Although it was not yet time for the banquet to begin, the banquet hall on the first floor of the annex was already crowded with men and women in different costumes, in addition to the soldiers and maids in charge of security and reception, and it seemed that they were also detectives who had been invited.

Two hundred meters diagonally opposite the annex of this mansion, there is also a castle surrounded by a small river.

The castle is not tall, the area is not large, and it looks very dilapidated, neither like an open tourist attraction nor like it is inhabited.

When the three of them happened to pass by the castle, Mary suddenly asked, "What is this castle for?" ”

"Oh, it's the kingdom's dungeon, and it's filled with terrorists and criminals who have committed rebellion." Hans explained, reminding them as well:

"Miss Mary, Miss Karasuma, since the dungeon is not open to the public, and there are guards there at all times, so in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, I do not recommend that you go near there."

"Rest assured, we understand." Mary nodded back.

"Well, because in previous years, there were always many tourists who wanted to sneak into the dungeon out of curiosity and ended up being accidentally injured by the guards, so I ...... Anyway, just don't go near here. ”

Listening to Hans's reminder, Karasuma Ying deliberately took a second look at the dungeon castle, and happened to see an old guard coming out of the gate.

The old guard had a serious face, and there was a scar on his face that had passed diagonally through his left eye, which looked a little hideous and terrifying.

He seemed to be aware of Karasuma's gaze, and when Karasuma looked over, his intact right eye also happened to look at it.

After the two looked at each other for a moment, the old guard looked away and left straight away from the annex.

Karasuma Ying also retracted her gaze and followed Mary and Hans in front of her.

Since it was not yet time for the banquet to officially begin, Hans took the two of them to the second floor of the annex after taking a look at the banquet hall on the first floor of the annex.

There were many rooms on the second floor of the annex, and Hans led the two of them straight to one of the rooms and opened the door with the key.

"Two young ladies, this is your room."

Chapter 2 is a little later (『)

(End of chapter)