"This is it." They had finally reached the valley after going around the hill.
The valley was hidden behind two ranges of hills going straight to the north. There was a river going down the valley, creating lives in this valley.
There was a huge castle three hundred meters away, standing tall to stop all the incoming danger. Behind the castle were huge fields filled with farms.
"Is there any destruction around that castle?" Noel narrowed his eyes, trying to see farther.
"I'm not sure because the view is blocked by them, but if they're attacked by monsters, their north should have become a barren ground… After all, the number the demons need to take down this castle is huge, so their steps would destroy all kinds of things." Paul shook his head. "Still, we can't see anything from here. It's better to go there and check it ourselves."
"In that case, Zion and I will be moving around the town," said Rose. Her sense was extraordinary and Zion was quick in his feet, so they were perfect to go around to gather information.
"Yeah, I'll leave it to you two. Jonathan and Noel will come with Ben and me to handle the negotiation with the valley master. Stella will go with Anna to see if you can find something suspicious." Paul nodded, assigning their task.
"Ehm? What?" Anna and Stella widened their eyes, not understanding why Paul went all the way to pair them up.
But the latter immediately walked to them. Even though he was smiling, they could only feel chills all over their bodies. He said with a strict tone. "If I were to see both of you arguing about a silly matter again…"
Stella and Anna nodded furiously, assuring him they wouldn't do something foolish again.
"Good then. Let's go." Paul was satisfied with their answer and immediately led the group to enter the city.
They were able to get in as soon as they saw the Demon Relief Squad's badge. The city was surprisingly clean even though they were far away from other places. It was bustling with people and most of them wore a smile on their faces.
'This is quite surprising. To think there is a good city like this in the middle of nowhere…' Noel muttered inwardly. 'The air is cool, the area also has enough sunlight, and the soil is fertile. It seems that the underground vein is truly giving a lot to this city.
'And if the Supreme Devil Organization takes over this city, they will have a perfect place to fight the kingdom, considering this place is far away from other people. And any kind of movement will be spotted from the mountain ranges.
'Besides, by killing the Water Lord, no one is going to help this city. As long as they surround the city with demons, people won't go to this place, allowing them to cultivate it for a long time.
'Still, a Superior Demon, huh. And if my prediction is right, there will also be a Devil Bishop. Both of them are enough to eliminate all of us here. In other words, we need at least another Captain to handle the enemies this time…'
Noel didn't consider Dimitri again because he didn't know about his strength and didn't want to be reliant on him.
Hence, Noel was trying to figure out a way to ask for reinforcement.
They were guided to the castle where the Valley Master lived. As arranged, only four of them entered the castle while Paul dismissed the other four, allowing them to have fun around the city.
As soon as they entered this castle, they were greeted by huge staircases leading to the fourth floor.
"Mhm?" Paul narrowed his eyes, not understanding why the construction looked like this. Creating stairs straight to the fourth floor put immense pressure on the support, so it was better to create the foundation on each floor and connect them one by one with the stairs.
Yet, the stairs went straight to the fourth floor as if there was something hidden in these three floors.
As if expecting this kind of confused face, the butler, who had been working in this place for a long time, explained, "My Master's research place is behind this stair, so the stairs are this long.
"Not anyone can be invited into this place. The people, who have entered the gate have some strength, so I believe everyone has the ability to climb the stairs, right?" The butler smiled. Even though he only worked as a butler, Paul could feel that the butler's strength was close to a Spirit Grandmaster. Even Stella, who was the strongest in the group, wouldn't know whether she could win or not against this person.
Paul nodded. "We don't have any problem with the staircases, so please…" Paul extended his hand, asking the butler to guide them.
"Then, please forgive us for the inconvenience." The butler nodded and immediately climbed the stairs. "My Master's office is on the fourth floor. He has been waiting for you there."
"I see. It seems that we've made the Valley Master wait." Paul looked around to see if he could find anything. But because the huge stairs covered almost everything, he could only see the white walls on both sides.
When glancing back, his heart skipped a beat, realizing he had to go down this long. He somehow had some fear of going down after this because the long, wide stairs were messing with his balance.
'Hmm… this is surprising. So, there is a construction that can confuse me like this.' Paul narrowed his eyes. 'The height is similar to a city wall, but those stairs aren't this wide, so they aren't confusing my balance… Interesting.'
Noel, on the other hand, noticed something different from Paul. Instead of the construction, he was confused why they didn't see any other person after entering this place. With a castle this big, it was normal to employ at least thirty maids and butlers to take care of this castle. Yet, they didn't find anyone.
"…" Noel felt a bit suspicious.
