"Dungeon?" all three of them got goosebumps when they heard the word, and they all took a few steps back.

"How can there be such a place in a school!" Riel blurted out.

Riel didn't like the creepy feeling and tugged at Alan's arm, trying to get out of the place, but the people inside had already reached the door.

Alan couldn't tell his age, but he looked like a thin little old man. He was not simply thin, but the skin all over his body looked wrinkled, without moisture, and without the luster of a normal person, so that when Alan saw him for the first time, a word "shriveled" popped up in his mind; he squinted, grasped the fence gate with one hand, and blocked the sun with the other, as if he had not seen the sun for a long time; he was not tall, and he was bent over, and he looked even thinner; his hair was about to fall out, and he was even close to bald; he was wearing a shabby cotton coat, tightly wrapped from neck to toe. His outfit looked strange, more like a quilt draped over his body than a garment. And although the temperature will be lower in the morning and evening, it is not cold enough to wear cotton clothes.

"I'm very sorry, as you can see, I don't have the key to my house, so I can't invite you in!" said the man. Maybe it was because he was inside the door just now, but his voice sounded much more normal now. His tone sounded rapid and loud, and he was about to shout, as if he was suppressing the excitement in his heart.

"Who are you?" asked Allen.

"Your friend!" the little old man's expression looked a little strange, like a grin, and he tried to make himself look less happy.

"But we don't know you. ”

"Well, yes, we didn't know each other before, but now we do!" he looked like he wanted to be as polite as possible.

"What's your name?"

"Doug!"

"Where's the full name?"

"Uh......" Hearing this question, he suddenly put away his expression just now, looked a little serious, opened his mouth, wanted to say something, but suddenly looked a little out of breath, and then was silent for a while, and shook his head: "I don't know...... I forgot. ”

"How can anyone forget their last name...... Don't you have a family?"

"No, I'm the only one in the house. Doug glanced at him and said quietly.

"Where is your home?"

"This is it. Doug pointed behind him.

"This is home!?" Riel was stunned.

"What is home?" Doug was a little puzzled, "the master said it must be." ”

Doug lowered his head, pointed to a not-so-obvious wound on the back of his head, and said slowly: "I have suffered a head injury before, and I have almost no memory of my childhood, except that my mother died very early...... I don't remember how or when I died, but it was the owner who brought me back and gave me this name...... I've lived here ever since, and I've never left a step. He lifted his foot.

Only then did Alan see that he was wearing a heavy shackle on his foot, as if to prevent him from escaping.

"After all these years, I really didn't expect anyone to come! Or three people! What are you doing here? Did the master let you come to see me? What do you want to know? I'll tell you!" he became more and more excited, and asked a series of questions.

"And who is your master?" said Alan, who was a little strange.

"You probably know him, because he seems to be a big guy! He used to bring other people to see me a long time ago, and I heard people call him...... Ahem...... Call him ......" Doug opened his mouth and tried several times, but he wanted to say nothing but found that he couldn't say anything, and his face was red again. It was as if there was a thorn in his throat, and whenever he tried to say the name, his throat would feel a tingle, and he couldn't help but cough.

"What do you call him?" asked Riel after waiting for a long time without seeing him say anything.

"I can't tell...... Someone was choking my neck. Doug coughed for a while before stopping.

"What are you kidding, somewhere someone touches you!" Riel looked closely behind him, not to mention anyone, not even a mosquito.

"Forbidden Spell!" Alan suddenly realized something, and was taken aback, and quickly waved his hand to signal Rare to stop talking.

"What spell?" Rare had never heard of the spell.

"Forbidden Spell...... A type of contract secrecy spell that I've only seen the effects of in books...... The caster and the castee sign a contract in exchange for certain conditions to cast the spell on the castee, and from then on, certain words specified in the contract will become forbidden to the caster...... Unless the contract is destroyed or the caster dies, it is impossible to speak for the rest of his life. Alan explained in a whisper.

That is, that name is taboo for him. Alyssa saw that Riel was still a little puzzled and added.

"That's right...... It seems that the caster does not want others to know who his master is. Allen said.

"That's about your last name...... Actually, you know, but you can't say it all the same, right?" Alan asked tentatively.

"Hmm. Doug nodded slowly.

"Then it's very strange, if it's just to hide his identity, it's enough for the two of them to agree, why hide Doug's identity? imprison him, and put a forbidden spell on him, why do you hesitate to do this?" Allen frowned, puzzled.

"By the way, what did you mean by those words in the beginning, waiting for us?" asked Riel suddenly.

"Yes, I come to this door every day for a while...... In the beginning, the owner would often come to talk to me, but over the years, almost no one had come here except for the brothers who brought me food...... Oh, a kid about your age came a year ago......"

"Do you still have a brother?" said Allen, a little surprised.

"Well, their name is Seapheus. ”

"Siphus, the old gnome?" said Riel's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Oh, you know them?"

"But he's a dwarf! how could he be your brother!" Riel looked at Doug again, and although he was also very thin, he was still taller than a dwarf, and he didn't have the slightest dwarf characteristics on his body.

"What is a dwarf, I don't know...... Anyway, that's what the master told me, let me call them brothers...... They also brought me food every day and talked to me......

"You just said they?" Alan was a little strange.

"Yes, they, though they look a little different, but they're all called Seapheth. Doug said.

Only then did Alan realize that "Seaphethus" was not the name of the old dwarf, but the common name of this group of gnomes.

"You also said someone came here a year ago?" Alan asked again.

"Well, I remember clearly, it was this time of about a year ago, uh, maybe a little later than now, that a boy who looked about your age came here. ”

"What does he look like?"

"What's that, like us, here are the eyes, here are the noses, and the ears are here......" Doug said as he gestured.

Maybe it's been too long since he's had normal communication with people, and Doug sometimes speaks very incoherently, and his emotions change rapidly. Alan felt that he couldn't ask anything, so he gave up asking any further.

But why hasn't anyone been here for so long? Although this place is in the northeast corner of the school, it is very inconspicuous, but it is not very remote, and it is impossible for them to find such obvious steps. Alan lowered his head and habitually put his finger to his mouth.

At this time, Alyssa gently tugged at the corner of Alan's coat and motioned for him to move closer to the door. Alan didn't know what Alyssa wanted to do, but she did it anyway.

As soon as Alan approached the door, he felt a strong chill hit him, a bit like lying in the snow without clothes in the middle of winter, and a cold wind blowing. He shuddered, took two steps back, and looked at Alyssa in surprise.

"I noticed at the beginning that it wasn't the usual cold. Alyssa said.

"Yes, that's right, this young lady is really sensitive! My house is a little cold, but it's not always like this, and occasionally it gets so hot that you want to sweat!" Doug said, tugging at the cotton coat on his body again, trying to wrap himself tighter.

"Occasionally?" asked Allen.

"Yes, yes, it was normal when I first moved in, but I forgot when it suddenly became like this, it was like being in an ice cave all year round, and I had to wear thicker...... But occasionally it's so hot that the whole wall is piping hot!"

"It's! I feel like boiling water will freeze instantly when poured on it, and it's hot somewhere!" Riel reached through the crack in the door and touched the wall inside, a biting chill that made him pull his hand back instantly.

However, because his movements were too large, he scraped the door frame when he pulled his hand back, and scratched a layer of skin.

"Oh!" Rare cried out in pain. He was a little annoyed, and pulled Alan up and walked back, "Let's go! I think he's a madman, and he's been locked up here for a long time, and he made up a lot of things that might not even exist in order to talk to us a little longer!"

Alan originally had something to ask, but after Riel said this, he also felt that Doug might have some mental problems, and he couldn't stand Riel's stiffness, so he had to follow him to the other side of the steps.

"Hey, don't go, talk to me for a while!" Doug looked a little anxious when he saw them saying goodbye, and quickly shouted, "You're going to come to see me, aren't you?"

Alan glanced back at him, not knowing how to answer, so he lowered his head and did not speak.

Doug, however, thought he was nodding his head in agreement, and shouted excitedly, "Then next time I invite you to come and sit at my house!"

"Psychotic!" Riel said with a look of disgust, "He must have been mentally unsane to get here!

By this time they had already climbed up the steps.

"But I don't think what he's saying is necessarily false. Allen said.

"Not all?" asked Riel.

"For example, about his master, about Siphus, and the unusually low temperature in there. Alan looked preoccupied, and his expression was a little solemn.

"My instincts told me there must be some great secret in this. ”