It was already afternoon when Emil reached the top of the mountain. After climbing the last step, he collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

Ophelia stood next to him and said with her hands on her hips.

"You're not good at this. You're too lacking in training. It's a shame you can survive on the battlefield."

"Haha, I made you laugh."

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to laugh at you, but I want to say that I will give you a long period of devil training."

"What?" Emil was stunned and quickly begged for mercy, "Don't, don't do this, I will die from exhaustion."

"Don't say that," Ophelia said with a bad smile, "I'm doing this for your own good. It's much better than if you die on the battlefield in the future. You have to know that humans can't leave their bodies intact under the hands of monsters.

.”

"That doesn't require devil training. I, I will learn magic from Anne later."

"Huh? Who said magic doesn't require training," Ophelia said seriously, "Magicians also need a strong body, otherwise the body will not be able to bear it after only releasing magic a few times."

"Uh...you won't lie to me, right?" Emil was doubtful.

"Humph, is there any benefit to me from lying to you? If you really don't believe it, you can ask Annie."

"Then...well, I will accept your training." Emil agreed with a wry smile.

"That's why you are obedient." Ophelia stretched out her hand to him.

Because she took off her knight gloves, her white hands were exposed, and Emil was afraid to touch them for fear of getting her hands dirty.

However, Ophelia didn't care about this at all. Seeing that he was hesitant and unwilling to reach out, she bent down and pulled him up.

"Let's go. Don't be nervous when you meet Leonard later, and don't be frightened by his bluff. If he rewards you with something, try not to show surprise. In short, don't be fooled."

"Uh, what does pinching mean?"

Ophelia stared into his eyes, then covered her mouth and laughed.

"Haha, Emil, you are so innocent. It reminds me of my childhood."

"Hehe." Emil could only scratch his head and giggle.

Then, Ophelia walked forward and explained.

"Leonard is a man who cherishes talents very much. Everyone under him is willing to work for him because he has a special talent, which is that he can quickly judge a person's needs through his words and deeds.

As long as you can meet the person's needs, you can make them listen to you."

"Uh, is it so evil?" Emil was surprised, and then a little confused, "But this is not a bad thing. For example, I just want to rebuild Blackpool Town. Since he is willing to make me a noble, then

It’s not difficult to give me some random people, and I don’t ask for more.”

However, Ophelia shook her head.

"Well, that's why I said you are too young and don't know much about the world. As the saying goes, you can take advantage of others' shortcomings and be soft-spoken. When you accepted his reward, do you think you don't need to pay the corresponding price? Of course, you

It's not difficult to do things for him, as long as you do your best, but the key is that sometimes he asks you to do things you don't want to do. What should you do? Resist? No, you can't resist.

Resistance means betrayal of him."

After hearing these words, Emil couldn't help but fell into deep thought. At first, he really thought it was very simple. As long as he accepted Leonard's reward, he could go back and rebuild Blackpool Town. But now it seems that once he accepts it, it means

I also lost my freedom, at least I couldn't act according to my own wishes like before.

Take the matter of taking sides. In order to avoid getting into a dispute, he doesn't want to take sides, but if he accepts it, it will be equivalent to siding with Leonard. Leonard's competitors will not do that at all.

If he cares so much, he will definitely be regarded as a threat. In this way, he will unknowingly get into a dispute and can't help himself.

"Then what should I do? Do you want me to refuse?"

"No, that's not the case. As I said just now, as long as you don't get picked on, it's enough. As long as you have a noble status, try to politely refuse anything else. Of course, if it doesn't work, I will help you then."

"Oh, that's good." Emil finally felt relieved.

Afterwards, after walking for a while, a huge iron gate appeared in front of them. Looking up, they saw the blue-grey walls of the castle, which gave people a solid and heavy feeling. Opposite the gate was a tall building.

I don't know how many floors there are, but there is a tall, pointed and long tower every other place around the building.

The two guards at the door seemed to have been waiting for a long time. They pushed the door open and made an invitation gesture to them.

Emil took a deep breath and took steps. For some reason, when he stepped into the castle, he felt that the air had become cold and heavy, and it was difficult for him to breathe.

Until Ophelia noticed his expression and quickly patted his shoulder to remind him to cheer up.

…

After that, they passed through several more doors before finally reaching the hall of the castle.

As soon as he entered the spacious hall, Emil saw a middle-aged man wearing gorgeous clothes standing in the middle.

There are several steps deep in the hall. At the end is a large and square seat with a high backrest. A rectangular flag hangs on the wall at the top of the seat with various strange animals painted on it. Obviously

, this is Leonard’s exclusive seat.

At first, Emil subconsciously thought that this man was Leonard, but after thinking about it carefully, he did not sit in Leonard's seat to receive the audience, which was completely inconsistent with the status of a candidate for the throne.

Sure enough, the man saw the two coming and said with a smile.

"You must be Ophelia. Nice to meet you." After the man finished speaking, he bowed slightly.

Emil looked around him and discovered that Ophelia had put on a helmet at some point. The reason why the man recognized her was probably because there was a female knight wearing pure white armor.

"I have kept you waiting, Mr. Abdullah." Ophelia bowed to him in return.

"Haha, I'm not waiting for you. Someone else is coming later, but please wait a moment and I'll inform Lord Leonard." After the man finished speaking, he walked straight to the back of the hall.

When Emil heard these words, he realized that this man's identity was equivalent to Leonard's assistant.

"Hey, Ophelia, who is this person? Could it be Lord Leonard's assistant?"

"Hahahaha," Ophelia couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Don't let him hear what you said. He is the representative of the aristocracy of Baifeng Town. You must know that the person who can be the representative is not an ordinary person.

A nobleman, he is the only marquis in the entire Baifeng Town, and the status of other nobles is below him."

"I see, I'm sorry for my blindness."

"Okay, stop gossiping, Leonard is here." Ophelia quickly reminded him.

Emil turned around and saw a man surrounded by several servants appearing at the end of the steps. He was wearing a large and gorgeous robe, part of which was even dragging on the ground. One of them quickly reached out to pull him.

He wore a headband in the shape of an olive branch, which seemed to be carved from jade. He looked about forty years old, with an expressionless face and a rather majestic look.

Soon he sat in his exclusive seat, with servants standing around. Then two young and beautiful girls came up. One brought a fruit plate to him, and the other held a bottle of red wine.

Then he poured a glass and handed it over carefully.

After Leonard sat down, he took the wine glass rather rudely, then grabbed the bottle, and waved impatiently to the people around him, signaling them to leave. The servants and maids quickly bowed and left.

Already.

The maid carrying the fruit plate didn't seem to know what she should do. After all, there was no place to put the plate here. It couldn't be placed on the floor, so she fell behind for a moment. Leonard noticed this and stood up suddenly.

He slapped her and the fruit plate in her hand fell to the ground.

"Damn guy, don't you understand I told you to get out?"

"Yes Yes."

The maid covered her face with one hand and ran out quickly with tears in her eyes.

This kind of movement obviously frightened Emil. He was not as scared as he was now when he faced the Dark Knight.

Because the contrast between Leonard and Leonard was so great, Emil thought he was a very gentle person, but this was actually his inherent impression from the story books. Only now did he understand that the so-called ruler and

Gentleness is absolutely irrelevant.

At this time, Ophelia quickly pulled the corner of Emil's clothes, and he immediately understood.

"Dear Lord Leonard, my name is Emir. I came to see you at your summons. I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting for so long."

After Emil finished speaking, he quickly knelt on the ground without daring to raise his head.

"Oh? Are you Emil?" Leonard said lightly while drinking wine.

At this time, in order to facilitate his movement, he took off his loose robe and threw it aside, then sat in the chair and rested one foot on the armrest.

Ophelia was not surprised by his behavior, and like Emil, she knelt down on one knee.

"Yes, this is Emil from Blackpool Town."

"Hey, you are just a young boy as rumored. I heard about your deeds and you dared to face monsters on the battlefield. You are truly a hero."

Leonard said with a smile, but his smiling face was really scary. Fortunately, Emil kept his head down, otherwise he would have been even more nervous.

"You flatter me."

"Haha, that's great. You also know how to be humble. Then do you know why I asked you to come here?"

"I don't know." Emil replied quickly.

"By the way, you seem a little nervous," Leonard stared at him closely, "Relax and raise your head, I won't eat you."

"yes."

Emil raised his head as required and met Leonard's eyes. Faced with that aggressive look, he had to force himself to remain calm, just like he had faced the Dark Knight before.
To be continued...