Countess Amelia

The two statues outside the castle's grand gate have been completely destroyed. Now only the bases of the two statues remain, with the parts below the ankles still standing. The rest is just a pile of broken stones, with occasional recognizable parts such as ears or fingers.

Scattered among the grass, Roy casually picked up a piece of the statue's rubble, which was still discernible as a corner of the statue's right hand, roughly larger than Roy's head.

Many elves were searching for valuable stones in the pile of rocks.

Klayr found a bluish-white stone the size of a basketball and excitedly showed it off to Roy, completely disregarding Edith's feelings standing nearby...

The stone is a very good quality marble, and the carving is also excellent. The only pity is that it was broken into a pile of rubble.

To enter from the entrance, you need to cross a stone bridge.

Although it can be called a stone bridge, what makes this stone bridge different is that it was built directly up from the bottom of the valley, and there is no water in the deep ravine...

After crossing the stone bridge, the buildings inside the castle are very densely packed, and many alleys are very narrow. Only the main street in the middle of the castle is passable by carriages, and there is a small square in front of it, where many students from the Elf Academy have gathered.

Many Silver Moon Elf Elves greeted Edith proactively, showing that she held a high position in Silver Moon Elf eyes.

Edith was very polite and always responded positively to anyone who greeted her.

The inspection team unknowingly arrived in front of the main building of the castle. They climbed dozens of stone steps to reach the main gate of the castle. However, the two ironwood gates were severely damaged. One of the gates was lying on the steps, and the ironwood on it had been almost completely dismantled.

The other door still stands at the main entrance, but unfortunately, it's just some rotten wood left.

Surprisingly, the statues on either side of the castle's main gate were preserved; they were statues of two heavily armored Sword Dancer.

Stepping into the dimly lit first-floor lobby, one finds numerous cracks in the marble floor, which is covered with debris and garbage. The lobby is empty.

The coating on the surrounding walls had long since peeled off, revealing the stone walls underneath.

There were still some painted patterns on the ceiling of the hall, but all the chandeliers on the ceiling were gone.

There were only a few hanging ropes, with some vines wrapped around them.

There were also some corner cabinets against the walls around the hall, but the cabinet lids were all gone...

Even the stairs have been removed, and members of the expedition team have to use rope ladders to climb to the second floor.

Squad Sixteen seemed to have been prepared for this. Klayr and the elf who had prepared the rope ladder nimbly climbed up to the second floor, secured the rope ladder to the railing next to the stairs, and then lowered the rope ladder. One by one, the members of Squad Sixteen climbed up the rope ladder.

Perhaps because the staircase leading from the first floor to the second floor has been cut off, the second-floor corridor is much cleaner; at least the floor pattern is still visible.

There weren't many animal tracks left; the most common thing was some bird droppings near the window.

It seems that not many expeditions have been to the second floor yet, as there are only a few rows of footprints on the floor. The second floor of the castle is quite exquisitely designed, with many rooms, but there are only some empty rooms left, and even the furniture such as chests and cabinets have all been moved away.

Edith walked at the front, with the rest of the delegation following Edith, listening quietly to her introduction of the rooms.

In addition to guest rooms, the second floor also includes a music room, an art studio, and a reception room, totaling twenty-four rooms. The castle's corridors are designed in a circular pattern, and as you walk along them, you can see the reliefs and exquisite paintings on the walls.

It's clear that Ellington Castle is really big, Roy is very curious: how did such a magnificent building become ruins?

The third floor houses the rooms of the Ellington Family. It is more complexly constructed, divided into three separate areas, each with its own staircase leading to the second floor. The third floor of the castle is relatively well-preserved.

Some stair railings can still be seen at the stairwell. Although these railings would likely collapse completely if touched, they have been preserved so far.

Some rooms still contained simple furniture. Edith walked into one room, her eyes filled with memories. She pushed open the half-closed wooden door on the terrace, and the dazzling sunlight shone in, forming a golden edge around her body.

She turned and smiled at everyone, saying, "This used to be my father's bedroom, and there's an identical room in our Castleton home."

Reaching the fourth floor, which is the top floor of the castle, there is nowhere higher than this except for the Lookout Platform and the attic.

After everyone climbed the spiral staircase, what came into view was a mural. The colors on the wall were still incredibly vibrant, and the countess on the wall was also very lifelike. She was riding a Silver Pegasus, wearing silver armor, holding the reins of the Silver Pegasus in one hand and raising a longsword in the other, looking down at the entire Castleton City.

Behind the Earl stood a legion of Silver Pegasus...

"The mural on the wall depicts Countess Amelia."

Edith stood in front of the mural and introduced herself to everyone, saying, "She is my grandmother. My grandmother had three children in her lifetime. My father also had two older brothers. My father was her third son, and he was born in Ellington Castle."

"My grandmother spent almost her entire life following the Silver Moon Elf King and commanding the Seventeenth Silver Pegasus Legion. She spent her later years in this ancient castle."

"The Seventeenth Legion ' barracks used to be located opposite Ellington Castle. You could see the barracks from the terrace, but it's long since abandoned."

"My grandmother was a Moonlight Guardian. She could communicate with the Silver Pegasus on a spiritual level, and she would drive away any outsider who dared to set foot in Castleton Bay."

"..."

Roy felt that accepting Edith's invitation was the wisest move he could have made.

Listening to Edith's introduction, Roy not only gained some understanding of Ellington Castle, but also of Countess Amelia, the last owner of Ellington Castle.

In Roy's view, the period when Countess Amelia served as the commander of the Seventeenth Silver Pegasus Legion should have been the most glorious period for Ellington Castle.

Sure enough, the fourth floor of the castle was decorated in a more imposing style, with colorful murals on the dome that had changed from the rich elven style to depict the war of the gods.

To Roy's surprise, the war of the gods depicted on the dome featured many deities, but the Goddess Elune was conspicuously absent...

He then searched the reliefs and murals on the surrounding walls, but unfortunately he couldn't find Elune anywhere.

We spent almost the entire afternoon wandering around the main building of the castle.

When the group came down from the top floor, they discovered that several other inspection teams were also wandering around on the second floor...

After nightfall, the temperature inside the castle dropped sharply.

Perhaps it was because it was cooler in the mountains than by the sea, a cool breeze blew into the campsite near the armory.

This was Klayr's first time camping outside, and she had trouble sleeping, with a constant whistling wind and rustling leaves.

He poked his head out of the tent and looked around...

As night fell, there wasn't a single light in the castle. He glanced at Roy's tent beside him.

Roy's snoring came from inside the tent, making it even harder for Klayr to sleep. He then emerged from the tent, wearing a robe.

I wanted to wander around outside the armory, but it felt a bit eerie here...

Seeing that the other tents were also very quiet, he carefully walked to Roy's tent and called Roy to wake him up.

Roy was half asleep when he heard Klayr calling.

Opening his eyes and peeking out of the tent, he saw Klayr standing outside, looking at him pitifully.

"Why aren't you asleep yet? It's so late." Roy asked groggily.

Klayr quickly said, "I can't sleep, would you like to come with me?"

Roy, with his eyes closed, replied, "Forget it, it's so late!"

In the evening, Roy organized the information he had gathered during the day. Now he was so sleepy and tired that he could barely keep his eyes open.

Roy needs to write a report about the castle, from a tourist's perspective, noting several places worth stopping at.

In addition, Roy asked Edith some interesting anecdotes, which he planned to compile into several short stories, all about Count Amy, and then briefly introduce Count Amy's simple life.

Klayr also needs to write a travelogue about the entire Malaga Jungle.

However, Klayr hasn't started writing yet, not even some of the short stories.

He sat somewhat troubled outside Roy's tent. Roy could only crawl out of the tent, throw on a piece of clothing, and sit drowsily next to Klayr, looking up at the star-studded night sky, muttering to himself:

"Tell me, what do I need your help with this time?"

Klayr said to Roy, "How about we talk about how to write my travelogue?"

"I'm really not that good at this. By the way... what are you going to do about the sculpture class assignment? I saw you pick up a piece of stone outside the castle gate. What kind of work are you planning to carve...?"

Roy asked.

... I've been having headaches lately, I need to get myself in a better state of mind.