Chapter 53 : Magic Mithril

Magic Mithril

Swish!

Like a phantom, Little Black rushed into the estate, activating Phantom Veil all the way—no one saw him at all.

"Who's there?"

Sensing someone passing by, a soldier in armor jolted to alertness. He drew his single-handed sword and looked around warily, but found nothing.

Startled by his companion's sudden shout, another guard patted his own chest, clearly scared by it.

"Why are you yelling like that all of a sudden? What's wrong with you?"

"But... but I heard someone just go by."

"Who could that be? Do you think your ears work better than our eyes? Are you saying all of us brothers are blind?"

"This..."

The guard who had shouted first looked around. He saw several guards stationed at the main gate, and plenty more patrolling inside the estate. If someone were there, it'd be impossible to avoid all these eyes.

"I guess I was just overthinking it."

"Stop bluffing already—it's the middle of the night, and I'd rather get some sleep."

With that, the man slumped against the wall and dozed off, while the first guard scratched his head and returned to his post.

Looking across the estate, although there were more than a dozen guards, all of them were lethargic and drowsy.

To complete the master's sudden orders, they'd had to keep watch here day and night. Accustomed to idleness, none of them could bear such hardship. Sure enough, in just a few minutes, several of them were already nodding off again.

Thus, taking advantage of Phantom Veil's stealth, Little Black easily infiltrated the roof of a huge warehouse.

Vina had entered first. Watching her fellow elves being dragged into the warehouse in cages, she crouched outside the building.

"It looks like this is the place. I should return and report this intelligence to the Queen first."

Vina had come only to find out where her people were being held, to prepare for a rescue mission.

Now, with the information in hand and aware of the danger of going further, she prepared to withdraw.

But just as she was about to leave, she heard voices talking from within the warehouse.

Listening, she hesitated, then pressed her ear to the slightly ajar warehouse door.

"Lord Pedory, is this all the cargo?"

It was Cain's voice—Vina would never mistake it.

"Yes, check it first."

"All right."

Through the crack in the warehouse, Vina could see Cain and a man in armor conversing.

Meanwhile, the elves were pushed into an underground section of the warehouse.

Vina silently memorized the position of the secret door, as several guards began unloading goods from the cages and carriages.

"Hm? What's that?"

Vina grew curious as the guards dismantled planks from the bottoms of the cages and carriages.

Smashing the wooden boards, they retrieved flat little boxes hidden inside.

Opening the boxes, they found several pieces of silvery metal—which Vina instantly recognized.

"Magic Mithril!"

Magic mithril, as the metal was known, was both extremely hard and perfect for conducting magic—an essential component for forging magitech equipment.

Even a small amount of it, if added to regular equipment, could turn it into magitech with some luck.

Such magitech equipment was coveted by any profession, any person, and even any race!

Unfortunately, magic mithril was produced in such tiny quantities that mass production was impossible.

Judging from the number of small boxes taken from under the cages and carriages, Vina roughly estimated there was enough magic mithril to forge magitech weapons for 3,000 people, or fully equip 600 people with magitech armor.

By that calculation, the value of this magic mithril... was immeasurable!

Cain took out a small piece, holding it up and examining it greedily.

"Tsk tsk tsk, so many people have fought to the death over just a tiny piece of this metal."

"As long as you understand. Not only can this spark bloodshed outside—it'll spell the end of the Terance family if you ruin things."

Pedory threatened. As an imperial warrior, he despised these hypocritical, self-serving nobles, but he had no choice. If he wanted to dispose of the magic mithril in secret, he had to rely on Cain.

Cain, however, simply smiled at the threat.

"Hehe, rest assured—what can't the Terance family handle within Jones City?"

"I'll return in a month. By then, I expect this magic mithril to have been made into new magitech equipment."

"Leave it to us."

"Don't disappoint me. I'll also leave my men to guard this batch of magic mithril—don't get any funny ideas."

"Lord Pedory, don't worry. The Terance family and I are absolutely loyal to Lord Felos and the Third Imperial Prince."

Cain offered a noble's salute, but the proud Pedory did not return it, leaving Cain slightly embarrassed.

All of this was heard by both Little Black and Vina, and once the intelligence reached Serea, she realized that this was far from something as 'simple' as an elf roundup.

Lord Felos was the highest noble of the Yeton territory, its ruler; and when she heard the words 'third prince', there could be only one person in mind: The Third Imperial Prince of the Ailera Empire—Worcester Ailera Ken!

Either of these figures, alone, was someone Serea could not afford to provoke.

Realizing the matter might involve the Ailera Empire, Serea knew she had to take it seriously.

She had to bring Vina back immediately!

But just then, Pedory suddenly looked up and shouted.

"Who's there!"

It was a deep, rough male voice. Hearing it, Vina feared she had been discovered. Just as she prepared to run, chaos erupted.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Several throwing knives suddenly appeared, hurled at tricky angles targeting weak spots in Pedory's and his guards' armor.

Two of Pedory's twenty men were struck—not in critical areas, luckily.

"Ahhhh!"

"Ughhh!"

But suddenly, the two stabbed guards began to shake violently. They collapsed, twitched a few more times, and then fell completely silent.

"Poison!"

Pedory was aghast. He swung his sword, knocking aside several more knives, and shouted out a warning.

"The weapons are poisoned—don't get hit!"

Heeding Pedory's reminder and now on guard, the group avoided further panic, and the throwing knives missed their mark thereafter.

Their impressive combat discipline was clear, but just because Pedory's men had avoided the worst didn't mean Cain's other guards would be as lucky.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

More knives flew, sinking into the guards stationed around the estate, each a fatal strike.

"Ahhh!"

"There—there's an assassin, ah!"

Seeing his guards collapsing one after another, Cain began sweating coldly inside the warehouse.

"W-what's happening..."

He looked panicked. Just then, as he hesitated, a black-robed, masked assassin who'd lain in wait sprang out.

"Die!"

A blade flashed. By the time Cain turned, it was already at his chest. In a panic, he recoiled, but his foot struck something and he fell straight onto his back.

The assassin seized the moment, bringing the poisoned blade down. As soon as it touched blood, the result would be certain death!

(To be continued...)

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=