The Capital City of the Wildenhall Kingdom.
It was located in the central-western region of the Wildenhall territory.
Unlike the Barkaley's region, which was only up to 200 square kilometers, the capital was almost ten times that size, and large and high walls surrounded the city. Almost everywhere, there were gatekeepers standing guard on the walls. The wall surrounding the capital had three gates to enter. The main gate for entry is in the west; the east gate is for the exit; and the north gate of the street is for the royal nobles. Each gate had a post under the entrance to data the people who entered the capital city. The city gates are open daily, as merchants and travelers enter and exit almost every day. The gates close at 9 p.m.; after that time, visitors must enter through the small door beside the gates.
The capital city was now very busy. In a month, there would be a whitmoon festival, often called pentecoste by the peasants in the capital. During that festival, the youngest prince, the fourteenth prince of the Wildenhall kingdom, Francis Ismenia Wildenhall, would be baptized on that day. Many merchants from all over the region and even other states also entered the kingdom; because of that, the east gate was also used to enter merchants and travelers, with the condition that after entering, they were not allowed to leave until the festival ended.
That afternoon at the west gate, people still queuing to enter were now ordered by the soldiers to stay away,
"Hey, what's going on? We've been waiting in line since this morning!"
People protested because their horse-drawn carriages were told to get out of the way for no apparent reason.
"I will not apologize. This time there is a priority carriage that will pass," said the head of the gate guards, as well as one of the royal knights.
"Huh? Who needs to be prioritized?"
The knight pointed his sword at the protesting merchant and said:
"Shut your mouth and just do it,"
The blade scratched his cheek slightly. He then got scared and pushed his cart aside, followed by others who also moved aside. They were now looking straight at the horse-drawn carriage at the end of the road that kept moving. The carriage was striking and different from the other carriages, with a litter covered in blue cloth and a royal crest on the carriage's roof. It was the royal family's carriage, and everyone immediately lowered their heads and put their hands on their chests.
The carriage passed leisurely, and when it reached the gate, it stopped, and the window opened,
Mathias spoke up and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
It was the carriage that Leofric had used to visit the Barkaley's residence earlier.
But there was something strange about the carriage. The right side of the carriage was covered in a small amount of blood that seemed to be splattered, which made the merchants and guards wonder.
"W-what happened, sir?" the gatekeeper asked Mathias.
"Oh, about this? There was a group of bandits attacking on the way here," Mathias explained.
"I see, poor thing... those bandits."
Mathias paused slightly at the man's words, thinking he was trying to make a joke, but it wasn't funny.
"In that case, why did you go through the main gate instead of the north gate?"
"Your highness does not wish to meet the nobles for now; he is not in a good mood."
"I see. Then please pass, sir."
Mathias closed the window again, and the carriage moved on.
The carriage entered the city, and the people around it noticed it. There were no special reservations to be made, but everyone who saw that carriage immediately put their hands on their chests and bowed their heads.
After walking a few kilometers, they came to the center of the city and the magnificent castle where the royal family lived, especially the king and queen. The castle was vast and tall. You could see the court all over the city, and a 3-meter-high wall also surrounded the castle. The castle gatekeeper came out and saluted the incoming carriage. Inside the wall was the main road leading straight to the castle. The main street was decorated with cypress trees growing on the sides of the road. There are grass and flower gardens all around. The flowers were taken care of by the royal gardeners. So almost everywhere, there were people taking care of the gardens, and they had now stopped working to salute Leofric's carriage that was passing by.
Then they finally arrived in front of the castle.
Inside the carriage, there were Mathias and Leofric. When they arrived, they were greeted by ten maids and one butler in front of the stairs. By the way, the entrance to the castle was very high; there were 30 steps to climb the stairs to get inside.
Mathias got out of the carriage and greeted the butler. Then Mathias returned to the carriage and knocked on the door.
"Sir, we've arrived."
Leofric woke up from his sleep. He was no longer wearing armor. He wore a blue tunic that was not too luxurious; luxurious tunics were usually heavy and uncomfortable to sleep with.
"Heit, we're here."
"Hmmm... wait a minute…"
It turned out that Leofric wasn't the only one inside the train. Another person was sleeping on Leofric's lap. A little girl with short, fluffy white hair. She also wore a blue-colored dress, which covered her body up to her thighs.
The girl was the human form of Heit.
-PUM
Leofric hit her head,
"OUCH!"
Then Leofric forcibly removed Heit's body and got out of the carriage.
"UGH... master, you should learn how to take care of a lady,"
Leofric ignored him. Heit got up and got off the train. Heit didn't walk, her feet didn't touch the ground for 10 centimeters. She was an adfeqtus reliqua who had a match with the spirit of the wind, without the spirit's help, she could fly even if it were only a few centimeters.
It wasn't just the maids who greeted her; another person, a woman, was standing on the stairs.
"Welcome," she said.
"LIL SIS ALICIA!!!" Heit approached the woman and hugged her tightly.
"Heit, long time no see," said the woman.
Leofric snorted, not liking that the woman had picked him up.
"What are you here for, Sister?" said Leofric.
She was the Third Prince of the Wildenhall Kingdom, Her Highness, Alicia Regina Wildenhall. The king's sons and even daughters were officially called prince in the kingdom.
"To chit-chat, we are siblings but rarely speak."
Even though Alicia is older than Leofric, Leofric is much taller than her. She was about 25 years old, one year older than Leofric. Her hair was also yellow-gold, and her eyes were bright green. She was wearing a luxurious long robe, around which was attached some jewelry, her head was covered by a transparent wimple, while the back of her hair was put in a ponytail and tied with a rope, dangling down to the floor. Her voice was soft, and her demeanor was graceful. She was indeed the embodiment of a royal princess in a fairy tale.
"You're not cut out for jokes, so what do you need?"
The smile on Alicia's face disappeared.
"I've already heard about it. Why do you insist on doing a dungeon raid? You brought 200 people with you. How could a dungeon raid be completed with just 200 people? Your previous raid alone required 1000 combined soldiers and palladium-rank explorers. And in the end, only 300 people survived. That's why the council banned dungeon raids for a while. Our troops were greatly reduced. Then, in your last raid, I heard you failed. How many are still alive?"
Leofric continued walking, passing Alicia.
"I don't know, about 30 people."
"Only 30... you really wasted a lot of lives just for your selfish desires, poor thing. It would be best if you stopped doing things like this, Leofric. How many floors have you finished?"
"One floor."
Hearing that, Alicia was immediately shocked,
"!!! What's going on?"
At least with adfeqtus reliqua, Leofric should have been able to keep going until the 6th floor alone. But even with that weapon, he had only completed the first floor.
"Huh, no... why should I? it is so troublesome. Just read the report from Mathias later."
Leofric moved away from her, followed by Heit, who walked (hovered) behind him. Alicia then turned around and asked,
"Isn't it because you already have adfeqtus reliqua that you're trying to compete with big brother Eldritch?"
Alicia's words brought Leofric's steps to a halt.
"The f*ck?" said Leofric, looking back with an annoyed face.
Eldritch Odelina Wildenhall, the first prince of the Wildenhall kingdom and crown prince. He was the only one in the kingdom, or perhaps the world, who had conquered more than one dungeon. He has currently completed three dungeons. In his first raid, he completed the dungeon with only 100 supply soldiers and five mithril-rank explorers. Then, after getting his first adfeqtus reliqua, he completed the dungeon with only three Demonite-rank explorers. Then in his third dungeon, he was able to complete it alone. A genius among genii, people called him the strongest among luminite-ranked explorers, and some explorers called him Painite-ranked, an unofficial rank created by explorers after luminite.
"So It is true… If you really want to defeat him, don't take other people's lives with you. Just do it alone. I don't want people to die just because of your envy."
"AA AAA AAAA Okay okay! I'm already tired. Let's talk later," said Leofric, who was already annoyed and didn't care about what Alicia said.
Leofric entered the castle, leaving Alicia outside.
"I've just come… why should I get annoyed like this? I never liked that woman."
"Really? Heit likes her, the idealistic and good naive girl,"
"Whatever"
Leofric, who was already upset because his name had been spread after only finishing one floor, was made even worse when Alicia mentioned his eldest brother, Eldritch.