Iron Blood Earl Riccianne

“Hehe, hehe! ”

At the same time the Empire army retreated, Vermouth stopped attacking. But Tehaz breathes a heavy breath and does not release the sorcerer. Even if the army retreats, Vermouth's attack could still come.

Whee!

Along with the sound of the strong winds, the heavy static settles around Fort Derondes. The Empire army retreated, and there was no further attack by Bermurk.

“Well done, Mr. Tehaz! ”

The man who greeted Tehaz was Paventus, master of the Knights of the Twilight.

“Without Mr.Tehaz and the Mages and this wall, we would never have been able to stop their attacks. ”

The location of Fort Derondes is often said to be not a good geographical location for one hundred hostiles alone.

But a fortress, as real as its role, has its own meaning. Simply being present can slow down an enemy's footsteps once.

In fact, there was a wall, which prevented the enemy from attacking for a long period of time from sunrise to sunset.

But most of all, it was Tehaz, Priella, and a hundred other magicians. If they hadn't risked their lives to stop Bermurk's attack, the fortress would have been wiped from the world.

“No. The soldiers held out.... ”

“Teacher! ”

“Mister!”

Tehaz can't finish his sentence, and Friella and Faventus scream in terror. It was because Tehaz had fallen down, smiling and talking.

“Phew, you just fainted. ”

Faventus, who received the falling Tejas, sighs of relief.

As Priella quickly approaches to rebuild Tehaz, Faventus looks at the empire army from afar.

“We abandon the fort and retreat tonight, as planned. The Priella Wizard should get Myster Tehaz and the Mages out of here first. ”

“Yes, thank you. ”

“Hmm!”

Lycaen casually strolls around as if she were coming out of a mountain.

A bit of an exaggeration is a long passageway that is wide enough to sprint on a horse and that has been laid out flat on the floor. No light comes in, but the wall hanging on the wall does not make a dark square at a constant interval. However, if the disadvantage is that it is bent around 5 meters apart, rather than in a straight line.

“You have a lot of money? ”

The emperor was dumbfounded when he saw Lycaen speaking in a vague nuance that could not be distinguished from a simple compliment.

“What you can enjoy is living well. ”

“Well, yeah. But isn't this a bit much? ”

Those who were walking along the long corridor were the guild members of the leading Riccianne and Emperor's guild, Caith, Joel, and the masked art room guild.

And the passageway they are walking now, is a secret passageway to the Imperial Palace of Gronis.

The way Lycaen used to sneak back into the imperial palace to meet the Emperor. Of course, the secret passageway used was different than before. The passageway now was a secret passageway only known to the emperor and not to the imperial family.

“By the way, if you don't have a secret passageway like this, it's kind of lame. ”

“Hmm, don't worry about it. We'll find out soon enough. ”

“Huh?"

“I see it now. ”

The emperor points forward with a confident expression. He said with a look of admiration that Lycaen glared at him, following the actions of the emperor.

“Oh, did you just make a maze? ”

“That's right."

The path ahead was split in four ways. Lycaen asked me, just in case.

“How many crossroads are there? ”

“A hundred places. ”

“Every fork in the road? ”

“Yes."

“Huh!

“Well, that's why the road has been bent so often. ”

If you go into an invisible passageway and continue walking along a crooked path, you will lose your sense of direction. If we meet this fork in the road when we lose our sense of direction, we will not know which way to go.

It was the same even if he had a stunning sense of direction. The visible forks are also bent, so you can't predict which path will lead.

The emperor raised his chin slightly and boasted.

“Machine-made devices are at risk of rusting or breaking down after a long time. You can't put that kind of uncertainty in a secret passageway that you don't know when to use. But this way, no matter how long it takes, you won't have to worry. Even if there is an intruder. Every fork in the road is connected, and they're separate, and they're tangled, so they can't find their way. ”

“But I think I can get through it in the simplest, most obvious way. ”

No matter how big or complex the maze is, you just have to touch one wall and never let go of it, and you'll find your way out. It just takes time.

However, the emperor's expression was confident.

“Is it true? ”

“Huh?"

“This labyrinth has a straight path down and up. If you go down, or if you go up, can you clearly tell the direction of the wall you're holding? ”

“Hehe! You mean there's a fork in the road up and down? ”

“Of course.”

“Holy shit! ”

Lycaen said with a bored expression.

But it's a pretty sure way. If you go down or up along a vertically drilled passageway, the distinction of the wall you were touching becomes obscured.

“Somehow the entrance is too far from the imperial palace. How many years did it take you to complete it? ”

“I don't know.”

“How many people have you sent? ”

“I don't know. ”

“You didn't let people who knew the existence of these secret passageways live? ”

“Well, they were all death row inmates, so it doesn't matter. ”

Eventually, Lycaen shrugs as if he had lost.

“When this is over, this passageway will be closed and a new passageway will be created? ”

“Of course.”

Nothing could be dumber than leaving a secret passageway already known.

“Well, suit yourself. ”

Liquenne shakes her head excitedly, as if she doesn't have the energy to say more.

In the meantime, the party finds a fork in the road, and the emperor turns around without any worries.

As I was walking for a long time, Lycaen asked me with a curious face.

“But how do you find this path? ”

“I remember.”

“What?"

“Once the book is sealed, the emperor brings the emperor here until he can memorize the path perfectly and never forget it. And even after he's emperor, he often comes down and checks his memory. It is a sure way to be cumbersome but never leaked. ”

If a map exists, or if there are rules of the road, there is a risk that one day it will be breached. But if I just left it in my head, it was safe enough.

Lycaen, who remembered for a moment, burst into laughter.

“That's why none of the empire's fallen princes survived. ”

“Only the emperor should know this path. ”

“Scary people. It's a wonder this has continued so far. ”

If at least one of the emperors of all time had lost his way here, or had died without telling us properly, the existence of this secret passageway would have been buried forever.

The emperor nodded.

“I think so, but this place is still intact because we've kept it that way. ”

“That's true. ”

Lycaen nods, smiling bloody.

In the meantime, the group walks relentless. The emperor finds his way through countless left-hand and right-hand lanes. Some roads were downhill, some were uphill, and some were straight as the emperor had said.

“Phew, gross. ”

Lycaen, who has been walking silently for a long time, mutters with a bored expression.

This maze bored even Lycaen who was not surprised by the mess.

The emperor smiled and said.

“Stop whining. We're almost there. ”

“Hmm?"

It turns out that the passageways around you are not just made of dirt or stone, but they're all brick and brick and brick. In other words, he entered the man-made architecture. And that artificial architecture is an imperial palace.

The emperor points to the ladder of the road that was pierced upward.

“If you go up and open the door, you'll be under my bed. ”

“Oh, really? Heheh heh. Usually when kids hide, they hide under the bed. ”

As Lycaen laughs, the emperor slowly draws on Long Sod.

Lycaen brushes his back against the iron bars and grabs the ladder.

“So, shall we go? ”

Kuang!

“Rrrrgh!”

Every time the cage draws a line, there is scream and blood.

“Stop him!”

Knights in Imperial Guard armor rush in with long shots of white azimuth. However, I don't feel nervous about Ricaien's expression.

“Thyat!”

The cage of Lycaen, with a light struggle, cracks the space in a straight line, like a shot arrow. Lycaen's iron bars cut the knights' armor and slashed their flesh in one breath.

Screaming again, there's blood everywhere.

“Dammit, do we have to rebuild the imperial palace? ”

The emperor grumbled as if to listen. It was because Lycaen's footprints were clearly etched on the floor of the hallway where they had come from. All of these marks were created by Likayen on the ground.

“Well, this is also a memorial, so why don't you just leave it alone? ”

I don't know when it started, but Caith was also reacting towards the emperor. Whether Lycaien made you immune or not, the emperor did not respond to such remarks.

“No way. We can't leave footprints like that in the Imperial corridor. ”

“Hehehehe!”

“By the way... Hmmm! ”

The emperor, who was about to say something, blurred his words with a disdainful look. I was surprised to find out that I was trying to catch him.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the knights blocking the hallway piled up on the left and right sides of the hallway.

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