Mom adjusted her clothing. She then looked at me with a serious look and said: "It looks like they've connected their nest with the sewers. In other words, the church was also involved in the incident two months ago when you returned and they took you down into the sewers."

I nodded then looked at mom and asked: "Mom, did you see a group of children on your way here?"

Mom thought about it for a moment. She then shook her head and replied:  "Children? No. The only people I met here were the ones transporting the weapons as well as this group who killed the prisoners and then tried to flee. I haven't seen children though."

I thought about it for a second. I then looked at my surroundings and said: "That means the kids are still here.

I don't think that the group fleeing would go out of their way to bring along the children. I think they were aware that the children weren't a bargaining chip. I looked at Nier. Nier had her head lowered and didn't speak. She didn't dare to look at the empress's face either. I hesitated for a moment before sneaking a glance at mom. Mom still had her kind smile on, so I wasn't sure what Nier was worried about.

Mom looked at me, wiped the blood on her body off and said: "In that the case, son, you two head out first. Mommy will get the guards to search for them. Mommy can't leave with you two. Mommy is going to go back the way mommy came from."

I shook my head and said: "No, mom. I want to search for those children. I must find those children no matter what. I promised Nier, so I must find them."

"For Nier, huh…?"

Mom sounded like she had her teeth clenched as she said that. She then looked at Nier with a strange smile. Nier froze up and didn't dare to say a word. I noticed that, so I looked at mom and sternly said: "Mom, I just want to help Nier, that's all. I'm not doing it out of any other emotions. Mom, don't make things hard for Nier."

"Alright, alright, alright, mommy promises you." Mom nodded and then turned around to say, "Nier, my son's safety is in your hands. Remember, you're a Valkyrie tomorrow. Return to my side and report in."

Nier bowed and loudly replied: "Understood!"

Mom turned around and left. I let out a sigh of relief. No wonder why everything went so smoothly like there was no resistance. The church only had a few guns. Alice and Nier stomped them as soon as we entered. Turns out mom cut off their weapon transportation. That's mom for you.

After I thanked mom I turned around and looked at the surrounding walls. The level below doesn't seem to have anything. It seems to just be an entrance to the sewer. However, the layout should be relatively similar to upstairs. The elves were locked up upstairs. It had long corridors left and right, pretty much like a prison. The floor we were on currently had the same layout.

But it felt somewhat different. There weren't any rooms on the left or right. There were only two long corridors. But if it's an entrance, why do they need two corridors? I led Nier along to a dead-end. I touched the wall and didn't find any problem. It was just like any other normal wall. There weren't any slots.

I smashed the door hard. If there was someone inside, they should be able to hear, right? There was no response though. I inspected the walls closer. I was literally close enough to be glued to it. I can't let Alice go on a frenzy smas.h.i.+ng the walls. While she might not cause the walls to collapse, I'm sure Aice hates this sort of stuff.

I reckon Alice would get angry smas.h.i.+ng it once. Even Alice would get tired if she smashed a statue almost ten metres in length and an iron door. Therefore, it's best if I just find where the issue is. Nier looked at me and softly said: "Your majesty, if you can't find them, let's head back, since… her majesty has gone back… If you return late, her majesty will get angry."

"What about the children then?"

"You've already tried your best. I understand that. Let's just leave it to the guards now." Nier looked at me with her lips pursed. She then said: "You have already done enough for me. I am very thankful to you. I'm being honest. So I want to put your safety first now. If the church does something now, we'll be in danger. Also, it stinks down below."

"Did you know, Nier? Trying your best is the equivalent of failure to me." I shook my head. There's no "try your best" for me. There's only success and failure. Trying your best means failure. It's just an excuse for you to comfort yourself with.

I went to the second floor. I looked at the wall at the end of the road as well as the rooms on the left and right. It just felt like something was wrong. I walked to the end of the corridor and touched the wall ahead. There was nothing out of the norm. It was unfortunate that the elves on both sides had all died. They killed over ten elves here. And they were all young girls. I was really angry right now, but what I wanted to know more was where. Where were elves being sold off?

Were these elves kidnapped here? Or were they tricked into coming here?

If mom found out about this, there's a chance there a second war breaks out.

There were no problems with the walls here either. I took a step back and kicked the wall hard. I didn't find any obscure mechanisms. The walls were fine. Nothing peeled off any wall. This is doing my b.l.o.o.d.y head in.

I'm not convinced that the children aren't here in the church. Maybe a group of people escaped, but there's no way they would bring the kids along now, would they? If they did, they wouldn't have killed the elves. The elves are much more valuable than the kids. At least they could fetch for a good price.

I went back downstairs again. I looked at the wall in front stubbornly. I then walked upstairs again. I couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong with these two floors. If a problem didn't exist, my torch would be the problem. On the second floor, the torch couldn't light up the most inner section, while on the floor below, the torch could light up the entire area.

I went silent for a while. I looked at the wall in front and took a big step. I stomped on the ground. Based on my standards, my step should be seventy-five centimetres. That I can guarantee. It's muscle memory. Even if there is an error, it wouldn't be too significant.

"Your majesty, what are you……"

Nier watched me walk forward blankly, completely bewildered as to what I was doing.

"Goose-stepping…… Don't you think it emits a pretty tough aura if an army were to march like this?"

"Yes……" Nier wore a puzzled look on her face. It looks like she can't comprehend what I'm doing at the moment and how it relates to solving the problem.

I stopped in front of the wall. That was about twenty steps. I then looked at the level below and walked.

Fifteen steps. That's five steps less.

If we're talking about a building with levels, the length should be the same. Put another way, there's something wrong with the rear of this wall, otherwise it wouldn't be protruding outwards.

"Nier, go up and call Alice… Actually, forget it. I think everybody underneath will be dead if she punches it." I chuckled coldly and stopped Nier who was about to head up. I bent over to touch the body of a guard mom killed. I found gun powder wrapped in paper. I poured the gun powder out and then rolled the sheet of paper up into a small rod. I then picked up their gun and smashed the wall in front hard making a small hole. I then poured the gunpowder inside, sticked the sheet of paper in and placed the torch next to it.

*Boom!*

After it exploded, I used my hands to get rid of the smoke. It didn't destroy the wall, it just blew off a small piece. I then poured more gunpowder into the hole and lit it up again.

*Boom!*

This time, a section of the wall exploded to bits. I had opened up a small pa.s.sageway. I reached my hand into the hole and brushed the dirt away. I then held the torch up to the front of the small hole.

I could see the sleeping faces of the children inside……

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