# Chapter 71
The man with a fierce expression looked at the words spoken by the man who had been tilting the liquor bottle, his face contorting in displeasure.
"...Messing with someone from the Udia Ducal family is a bit much."
"Tch, you're saying the same old thing.
We're just going to sell it to another country anyway, so what's the problem?
We'll get the money, and then we can just skip off to another nation.
With that kind of cash, we could live like kings anywhere."
"...I've never seen anyone come out of this clean after getting involved with them."
"Tch.
Stop being so timid, you man.
How long do you want to live struggling with just a few thousand or a few tens of thousands of lost?
When will you stop crawling around in the mud?"
"..."
"Anyway, once we succeed, the ones who hired us said they'll even make a route for us to escape, so we won't be in danger.
If you don't like it, just team up with someone else."
The man clicked his tongue, then made a threat, his words slithering out with a grin.
The man, flushed with drink and a red nose, stared at him for a while, before finally nodding stiffly.
"Fifty-fifty?"
"We'll need a few more hands, so let's keep that in mind.
But other than that, fifty-fifty.
Even if we have to pay off a few others, we can still walk away with 200 million each."
With that, the man with the fierce expression snatched the bottle from the other man’s hands and poured it down his own throat, licking his lower lip with a sly smile.
"Contact the others and let the guild know."
He straightened up and waved his hand lightly.
"We're about to land something big."
The man with the fierce look chuckled maliciously and quickly stepped into the alley.
The two of them walked leisurely, following the children ahead of them.
***
"Wow... what is this?"
The stairs, dark and black, stretched down endlessly.
At the bottom, dark, stagnant mana had accumulated, causing the air to grow thick and suffocating.
It was hard to breathe, and halfway down, they had to stop.
Though all three of them had divine power, none of them were specialized in large-scale purification.
It was too difficult to continue purging the increasingly thick mana.
"Father, we need to bring Salame."
"Hahaha!
How much stagnant energy has built up here?
Were there elves here?
This can't be normal...
Ugh!
Son, son, look at this.
I'm being consumed by the mana."
Still floating in mid-air, Zedrian blocked Kiriel’s path, pouting as he stretched out his hand.
Zedrian, the owner of the Magic Tower, born with an immense amount of mana, had the tips of his fingers darkened, the mana slowly consuming him.
Even though his own mana was capable of blocking and controlling some of the mana, it seemed even his immense powers were failing here.
Ignoring him, Kiriel pushed Zedrian aside with a bored look on his face.
"Salame isn't here.
I already know he went somewhere else.
Stop whining.
If it's so bad, just summon your guardian."
"Oh, how would I summon that big guy in this narrow hallway?"
Klein grimaced and sighed.
Looking back up the stairs they had descended, they saw no trace of the entrance they had come through.
Despite coming down for so long, the stairs stretched on, endless, with no sign of any exit.
"How boring!
Don't you think?
How long do we have to keep going down?
They said the ancient elves were smart, but is this really a trick?"
"The crystal keeps pointing downwards," muttered Rudebreed, pulling out the strange, humming crystal from his inner pocket.
The faint light still pointed down, deeper and deeper.
"THAT'S what I'm saying!
Is there even proof this is from the ancient elves?!
This place is gross!
Sticky!
Annoying!"
"Quit whining like a kid and move on if you can't stand it."
Kiriel coldly responded, dismissing Zedrian's complaints, and continued walking down.
He passed Zedrian’s subordinates and the knights of the church, moving ahead.
"Hey, son!
You going ahead?
You okay?
It's dark ahead, you know.
Don’t you want to slow down?"
Zedrian jumped in front of Kiriel, laughing.
"Ah, right!
Since you’re cursed by the demons, dark places and their power should be nothing for you, huh?
So it's best you go ahead.
Yup, yup."
He patted Kiriel on the shoulder, still smiling innocently, though his words grated on the nerves.
Zedrian was the same as he had been when they were young—carefree, saying whatever came to his mind.
Kiriel, fully aware that responding would only make things worse, brushed past Zedrian without a word.
Zedrian kept complaining as he floated behind them.
"Hey, come on!
Are you really just going to ignore me and leave?"
Kiriel remained silent and kept walking down the stairs.
How much farther did they have to go?
After what felt like an eternity, they finally reached a massive door.
It was made of pure black, covered in all manner of magical symbols and seals—a heavily fortified entrance.
"Wow... this is bad."
Zedrian laughed brightly.
Floating up, Zedrian inspected the huge door, which was as tall as three adult men.
After a moment, he dropped down, laughing even more brightly.
He then stepped over to Rudebreed, reaching into his inner pocket to pull out the crystal.
Snapping his fingers lightly, the crystal flew from his hand and embedded itself somewhere in the door.
A low hum filled the air.
Suddenly, the door shimmered with golden letters and symbols, lighting up the room in a bright yellow hue.
"Son, this is too much.
Look!
It’s full of ancient elvish and old tongue.
This is going to take ages to unlock.
Hahaha!
Even though I wanted to see ancient elves so badly, this is just too much~!"
Zedrian pouted, spinning around in the air as he complained.
Kiriel narrowed his eyes, sensing something was wrong, but Zedrian’s grumbling only grew louder.
“I mean, can’t you at least make a bit of an effort?
What about the ancient elvish?
I don’t know any of it… All the texts are gone, so even if we start studying now, it’ll take decades—or centuries at the very least.”
Zedrian sat down, shaking his head at the inscriptions around the door.
"Still, it's impressive.
The ancient elves sure knew how to create a powerful seal.
How far did it stretch?"
Zedrian placed his hand on the door, slowly pouring his mana into it.
It was as if he was testing the limits, trying to find a way to bypass the seal.
“If you’re done searching, we should leave.”
Kiriel spoke flatly, his gaze still fixed on the door.
Something about this felt wrong—unnerving.
With all the direct family members out, he couldn't help but worry about what was happening back at the estate.
Although people like Rebon and the other subordinates had stayed behind to manage things, he never underestimated Bernie’s unpredictability.
"Are you really just going to leave?" Zedrian called out, his tone a little more serious now.
"You said it would take too long, didn’t you?" Kiriel replied, his voice flat, not betraying any emotion.
Zedrian blinked, his grin returning.
"Ahahaha!!
What’s this?
Did you hide a honey pot somewhere?
Or are you finally getting me a sister-in-law?
How cruel!
Haha...
What a sad life, always ignored by my so-called friends."
"Friends, my ass."
Kiriel scoffed coldly, continuing to walk away.
Zedrian, still chuckling, finally took his hand off the door and grinned mischievously.
“Wait, wait!
We might not be able to get in the regular way, but I think I can find a shortcut!
Hahaha!
Either someone already opened it or maybe the seals have just worn down over time.
This is getting interesting.”
“What are you talking about?” Rudebreed asked, clearly confused.
Zedrian jumped into the air and flew off toward a different spot, hovering as he froze mid-motion.
"Here!"
He pointed to a small crack in one of the walls.
"Here.
Don’t you think if we poke around, something interesting might happen?
What do you think, Commander?"