When they entered the office, the Duke seemed to be upset by something, the displeased look on his face making even Hylla apprehensive. The look disappeared when they entered the room though, at least when he noticed their presence.
"Oh, you're here. Apologize for having you see me like that. I just received a piece of rather unsettling news from... well... everywhere," the Duke apologized, though what he said made the two look at each other in confusion.
"Can you elaborate, my Lord?" Ryker asked, the Duke coughing a bit as he seemed to realize his explanation was not even one.
"Oh, right. Well, there had been not just an increase in sightings of bandits, but also the number of bandit attacks happening all over the Duchy. There had been reports regarding bandits attacking settlements and small towns before but now, they seemed to be even bolder and tried to attack a major town,"
The two let out a shock gasp. After all, to attack a town, the forces required, well, could contend with an entire army or so. For the bandits to have that much manpower, implied some unsettling things about the Duchy's future.
"Are there a lot of casualties?" Hylla asked, worry on her face.
"Thankfully, the casualties are small. But the fact they attack a major city says something nasty will come in the future. As of right now, I had ordered the settlements to be abandoned, along with some of the more isolated towns," the Duke replied.
"They won't like it, to be forced to leave their home," Hylla said, a frown on her face telling of how much she approved of the plan.
"Unfortunately, there is nothing that could be done unless we have some help from the Kingdom. Even help from some of the nearby nations would be appreciated. But with most of our neighbors either weak or busy with their own troubles, we are on our own," the Duke said, clearly liking the plan as much as Hylla did.
"Right now, our best option would be for any of you to get a huge harvest from the hidden realm, along with the 'thing'," the Duke continued, looking at Ryker while saying 'the thing'.
"It would be easier if I knew what the 'thing' is," he replied, a bit annoyed at how he didn't even know about what he was supposed to retrieve.
"I wish I knew. The previous King had told my father and me about an item he put inside the hidden realm, saying it would be helpful for a Genesis Sea expert to ascend to the next Grand realm.
The catch is that only Genesis Source or below could enter, less the place self-destruct. So, we have to depend on some of my best subordinates but they didn't even find a clue about it. The King at least should have the decency to tell what the item looks like," the Duke complained before clearing his throat.
"Anyhow, we should get going first. The hidden realm still needs to be open and the others should be waiting for us," he said before walking out of his room, Ryker and Hylla following him.
-x-
While the existence of the hidden realm is known to him and all of the inhabitants of the Duchy, its exact location remains a secret to most. He had tried to ask about it days before but got no concrete answers as most of it was just the speculation of the citizens.
As for the ones that get to enter the previous opening of the hidden realm, they either die, join the guards, or become an official or part of the powerful families. So, he couldn't even try to get information from them.
However, because of its secrecy, he guessed the hidden realm should be inside the territory of the capital city as a large movement outside the capital would be inconspicuous. His bet is the hidden realm is located under the capital city, only able to be entered through some means.
However, he was wrong as the Duke led him to the wall of the city, though instead of going outside the city, they walked on it, moving along the length of the wall.
They stopped when they reached an area of the wall that bulged out. While the walls are not a perfect circle, they at least seem to almost create a circle except for this one part. The part of the wall didn't even protect anything important, only surrounding a large forest-!
"This is it, the entrance to the hidden realm," the Duke said before showing him, Hylla, and the rest of his entourage the stairs.
"There are formations all over the place preventing people from flying on this piece of land. There are also defensive formations for obvious reasons along with some killing formations to slaughter any intruders," the Duke told them before he brought them to a large hall inside the wall.
Inside the hall were some of the most promising members of the powerful families, along with some outstanding figures among the commoners living in the capital city. The figures had been given the entry tokens a long time ago when they had proven their strength and abilities in some form.
That is also the reason why they didn't enter the tournament, after all, why would they want more entry tokens when there is no one they knew of who is strong enough to join the exploration of the hidden realm?
The Duke looked at the assembled group and smiled. 'This is almost twice as many as the previous opening. But it is necessary. Thankfully the late King had given father the methods to increase the number of people allowed to enter, along with the method to increase the treasures and opportunities inside,' the Duke thought to himself.
Seeing the assembled youngsters raring to go, the Duke didn't stand on ceremony. He led the group through the massive gate, where they soon exited the inside of the wall and into the huge forest.
The Duke took out a token, the symbol on it didn't resemble forces in Kilrun Duchy that Ryker knew of. He guessed the symbol might belong to the royalties of Birak Kingdom.
As he mulled over the symbol, the token floated into a tree, resulting in the tree lighting up on glowing brightly. The brightness forced them to cover their eyes, though the Duke and Ryker remained indifferent about it.
Ryker was able to observe as some sort of gate seemed to be open inside the tree. It didn't take a genius to guess they had to pass through the tree and into the gate.
"The hidden realm had been opened. Now it up to you youngsters to claim the treasures inside, if you can," the Duke said before giving them a nod.
Ryker returned it before grabbing Hylla and the entourage nearest to him, making the rest follow him. He entered the tree and passed through the gate, ready to explore the hidden realm.