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Kana's POV
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A man's voice echoed through the empty lobby. From the sound of it, he seemed to be about 50 or 60 years old, though, he looked around 40.

His blonde hair shone brilliantly in the simple lighting, and his golden eyes seemed to stare right into me.

"I didn't realise Duke Boule was still sane." (Kana)

"Hahaha. Well, as you can see, I'm still very sane, and still very well." (Duke Boule)

He gestures to his body, and I know only recognise the fact that he only has trousers on, with his torso completely bare.

But I see what he means. Instead of a common nobility body, the Duke’s looks as if he'd been training in swordsmanship his entire life.

"I guess the rumours are wrong." (Kana)

"Very. They must have even forgotten about my fiance." (Duke Boule)

"Hmm. Can we have a chat?" (Kana)

"With an elf? It would be my honour." (Duke Boule)

He walks back the way he came, and I follow after him, through the many corridors and into a large room.

A table fit for many people sat inside. It was as big as a meeting table, though it had a table cloth laid out on it, with 2 sets of candles sitting on top.

"Fetch us some tea." (Duke Boule)

He motions towards the door, and the servant who had been in the room left promptly, leaving us alone.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" (Duke Boule)

"How up to date are you on the gossip on the Capital, Duke?" (Kana)

"I hear things now and then." (Duke Boule)

"So do you know of the recent assassination attempt?" (Kana)

"On Brother?" (Duke Boule)

"So you don't know. It was on his son, Subaru, the Crown Prince." (Kana)

"Ah, him." (Duke Boule)

"You know him?" (Kana)

"Of course, he's my nephew after all. But I don't think he likes me." (Duke Boule)

He chuckles after speaking, though it seems twinged on regret.

"Why's that?" (Kana)

"When he was first named Crown Prince, I went to Broth-- His Highness and told him to change his mind. I didn't think he was going to be a good leader." (Duke Boule)

"Do you still think that?" (Kana)

"No, not any more. You should have seen him during an annual hunting session. The way he commanded his allies, the way he handled his sword and bow; it seemed to have potential that surpassed the First King." (Duke Boule)

"The First King?" (Duke Boule)

"You don't know? Well, the Kingdom of Reichtum has been around for about 2000 ish years now, and have reigned supreme for all of those. The First King is the man who founded the Kingdom. He was said to have united the 4 races and built a place they could all stay." (Duke Boule)

"4 races? There're 5 though?" (Kana)

"There are, yes. We don't know why the scriptures say 4, but they are what the First King had written, so we can't say he was wrong." (Duke Boule)

"Do we know which races they were?" (Kana)

"We do. It was the Elves, Humans, Dwarves and Beastmen. He was able to unite them because he had the ability to use their race magic apparently." (Duke Boule)

"Use their race magic?! Isn't that impossible?!" (Kana)

I spring up from my chair unconsciously, startling the Duke slightly.

"It is, but since we humans have [Bloodline], and the Royal Family have that of {Absolute Magic Affinity}, the progenitor has the most powerful of them all." (Duke Boule)

"... So he had the affinity for all magic, including race magic..." (Kana)

"Yes, he did." (Duke Boule)

"And you're saying that the Crown Prince has the same potential as that?" (Kana)

"I haven't seen his magic, so I'm not sure about that, but his swordsmanship and archery had the potential to be either on par, or better than the First King." (Duke Boule)

"Alright. But back to what I wanted to talk about. Did you order the assassination on the Crown Prince?" (Kana)

"No, I didn't." (Duke Boule)

I stare at him for a few seconds afte the speaks, but spot no lies in his voice nor eyes.

"Alright, I'll believe you, but you have to help us figure out who did." (Kana)

"How do you expect me to do that? After all, I'm simply an isolated man with trau--" (Duke Boule)

"Send the person who casted magic on this estate." (Kana)

"..." (Duke Boule)

Silence crosses between us, before he let's out a sigh.

"Haah, well, it isn't like I was trying to hide it... Alright, I'll ask them to have a look. Come back in a few days." (Duke Boule)

"Alright. Thanks for your time." (Kana)

"It was my pleasure." (Duke Boule)

He escorts me out of the room towards the front door, the one I had entered from.

As I put my hand on the handle, a shiver runs down my spine.

My instincts react faster than my brain, and my body jumps backwards, towards the Duke.

In the same instant, a small hole pierces through the door at the space where my head was, no bigger than an arrow head.

"Duke, stay down for a bit." (Kana)

"Alright." (Duke Boule)

I stand up slowly, relying on my intuition to prepare myself for the possible attacks.

Inching towards the door, a cold sweat runs down my back, just before another shiver, to which my body ducks down.

This time, an arrow shatters a window on the far side of the lobby, opposite to where we are, almost hitting me in the neck had I not ducked.

"We're going. Now." (Kana)

"Follow me then." (Duke Boule)

The calmness in his voice surprises me, as if he'd gone through this situation before.

I follow him anyway, this time running to the right-side of the lobby, towards a large hallway, probably for the servants to do their work.

We burst into the kitchen, and the Duke pushes aside a rack of fruits to reveal a small button.

A few seconds after it is pressed, a loud thunk could be heard below, before the middle of the room opens up, revealing a staircase going down.

"What the..." (Kana)

He doesn't try to answer me, instead going down the stairs, and stopping at a certain point.

"Come on. Hurry unless you want to die." (Duke Boule)

His words spur me on and I head down the stairs, passing him while hearing the room returning to its original stage.

The stairway turns to complete darkness as the hatch we walked down from closes.

"What now?" (Kana)

"I think you forget I'm a Royal." (Duke Boule)

A small orb of golden appears from his hand, as if it grew from nothing.

"Holy magic?" (Kana)

"Well, I was more interested in magic than I was the throne maybe 30 or 40 years ago, so I spent alot of time researching, and found this." (Duke Boule)

He gestures towards the ball of light.

"So it's pure mana?" (Kana)

"Yes." (Duke Boule)

I don't ask him anymore questions, since I'm sure many of them will be answered as the head further down the shaft.

We walk for what seems like hours, before we finally reach the bottom.

The air around us felt cold, yet humid, as if we were in a cave.

"Hear my call, answer my prayer, open a path for I must carry forward." (Duke Boule)

He says a short cast, activating a magic circle which lights up the room, allowing me to see.

It was extremely large, maybe about twice the size of the estate.

On the right side was a large workshop, with the clanging of metal echoing through the room.

On the left was an archery range, mixed with a dueling ring.

Straight ahead of us was what seemed like a laboratory. I could feel large amounts of mana emenate from it as I stepped closer.

"So, where are we?" (Kana)

"... Welcome to the Shadow Kings." (Duke Boule)

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Author Notes
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So, while I was writing this chapter, it turns out that I managed to reach first place in #swordsmanship somehow, so thank you very much for that.

But about this chapter. I know I said I wasn't going to introduce a whole lot of information, I'm sorry but I couldn't help myself. I saw a chance at world building and grasped it firmly.

All in all though, I don't actually have that much to write about in this AN, it was a pretty average chapter.

So, thank you for reading this chapter, please continue to do so!