When he compared that with what he saw right now, it wasn't comparable in any which way. What he saw was more fit to be called a fortress than a castle. Outer wall guards were patrolling everywhere in their heavy steel armor and tower s.h.i.+elds and even the occasional inner wall guard with their dark green armor were running around.

On the left side of the castle were the barracks and training fields were soldiers and guards were stationed, and three groups were training right now, one with short swords, one with spears and the last one with rapiers.

On the other side of the castle stood two silent towers, both were perfectly round and stood seven storeys high, side by side.

A bit further away Allan saw a wide but flat complex, thick smoke rising from the chimneys and one could hear the constant sound of metal hitting metal, most definitely a smithy.

When the carriages stopped they stood already right in front of the castles maingates. Following the cardinal, who once again had to show the doc.u.ments to an elegantly clothed servant, they finally entered the castle.

In front of them was a beautifully decorated courtyard, surrounded by an arcade and with several pathways leading here and there.

Following along the arcade they walked halfway around the courtyard, until they stood in front of a pair of gates, on the opposite site from where they entered the castle. Just like the others, this gate was guarded as well, unlike the other the guards were wearing armor that had obviously decorative purposes as they were s.h.i.+ning in silver and golden colors with long red cloaks. The armors were beautiful but clearly unfit for battle. The halberds that the guards held upright in their right hands, planted firmly on the ground, had just the right length, as if only intended for this purpose, to cross them in front of the gate. Perfectly suited to block of unwanted guests.

The next difference was that those guards opened the gates as soon as they saw the cardinal, without asking for any doc.u.ments at all.

When they entered what could only be the throne room Allan was almost surprised by how cliche it looked. A grand long hall, around three storeys high. Ceiling high pillars on either side and three grandiose chandeliers hanging down. To make the picture perfect, a red carpet starting at the gate and leading through the whole room, three steps up, and ending in front of a beautiful and grand throne, one slightly smaller on its right side and three that only looked like beautiful chairs on the left. He didn't know what he expected, but as he just came to accept magic it seemed like he put his expectations a little bit to high.

The cardinal led them through the hall and kept going until he reached the rear end, and walked toward the corner on the right side of the hall. There, in front of a door, which seemed just like the other doors one could see through the pillar every now and then, stood an inconspicuous pair of man, guarding it.

Ignoring them, the cardinal opened the door and led them in the room. In this room stood a huge table, and on top of it was a map spread wide. Behind that table stood another desk, in front of which sat a man in his forties. He was going through some sort of doc.u.ment and constantly mumbling something, reading the text carefully. With a stressed look on his face he ruffled his hair.

*cough* *cough*

The man looked up with a shocked expression on his face.

„In G.o.ds name, Eberhardt, how many times do i need to tell you to knock on the door before coming in!", the man said angrily.

He stood up from his chair and hastily grabbed the crown that laid on the corner of his desk, putting it on his head.

„I greet you, you are the heroes i presume? I am King Joseph Loreley."

Indeed, this person seemed to be this country's king.

„May i ask for your names?"

Feeling Julias hand on his back, Cale took a step to the front.

„Of course, my name is Cale, i'm the representative of us seven."

„Loras van Fordan, it's a pleasure."

„Julia Bauer."

-As my name is physically unspeakable, just call me Magus.-

„Is.h.i.+kawa Aya. Oh, Is.h.i.+kawa is my last name! And she is called Shade!"

„Nn."

„Allan Walker, it's an honor your majesty."

„So you are the heroes lady Arimas has send us. I don't know how much you know about our situation, so i will explain it to you."

„By the way, if i may interrupt, i realized that no one seemed to know about our arrival, or is there a different reason for this?", Loras asked.

„Yes, only very few people know at this moment of your summoning. And we will try to keep it as a secret as long as possible."

„Why is that?"

„Currently you are still weak, and as soon as the enemy finds out about your existence they will try to get rid of you, preventing you from growing stronger properly. This should be the obvious step, as we are doing exactly the same right now."

„You are saying that there are other heroes?"

„You catch up fast, exactly that is the case. The enemy has summoned a group of heroes first, and the chances that you will clash with them at some point sooner or later are high. But at the moment you are still weaker, on the bright side, they only summoned five heroes, so we have an advantage."