“Is that really true?”
“Yes. Figuring out its intended purpose isn’t all that difficult. Hmm… Your name?”
“It’s Maya. Maya Eldred.”
“Ah, the young lady of the Eldred family that Kal Elson mentioned. So, it’s you, Maya Eldred. It seems like you’ve had your hands on this item before. How was it?”
After several instances of mana depletion from blending into experiments at Bates with Khan, Maya cautiously opened her mouth after a brief moment of contemplation.
“… It was frustrating. Of course, a large part of it could be due to my own lack of skill, but every time I pushed mana into it, it felt as though it was being repelled by a wall. It took me tens of hours just to find the proper path.”
“That’s the purpose of this item.”
“Excuse me?”
“A lock. No, perhaps a safe?”
Khan’s speculation was met with a slight smile and nod of agreement from Ludmilla.
“A safe locked with the world’s most complex code, where mana must be injected following a specific pattern for it to open.”
“But that jewel….”
“I get what you’re trying to say. When you injected mana, it bent the space around it, right? You thought it was made as an offensive magical tool because of that.”
Ludmilla’s guess was spot on.
“However, this jewel possesses… Well, let’s just say, think of it as security magic. A security system designed to repel burglars attempting to force the lock open.”
Both Khan and Maya were left speechless. The spatial magic that had demolished the mansion’s ceilings and floors, merely a sophisticated security system? It was hard for them to believe, especially having witnessed firsthand its power.
‘Then, what exactly is being stored inside this jewel….’
“Well, to be frank, it’s probably best to think of it as unsolvable, for now.”
“Ludmilla. Is it impossible for you as well?”
“For the time being.”
“I wouldn’t want to end up dead stuck in a crack in space because I recklessly shoved mana into it.”
Ludmilla said with a chilling laugh, placing the jewel back on the tea table.
“However, if we could gather more of the grand magus’s relics, who knows? After all, every spell leaves a unique trace, and through that, it’s possible to discern the pattern.”
“That’s no easy task.”
“That may be. But it’s something you need, isn’t it? Something hidden within… or perhaps a secret.”
Ludmilla’s violet eyes sparkled as if peering into Khan’s inner thoughts. Yet, not even a hint of agitation could be found within the deep recesses of the barbarian warrior’s eyes.
Deciding it was futile to try and read the unreadable, Ludmilla pushed the jewel towards Khan.
Rolling…
“Thus, if you desire to uncover the secrets of this item, just bring me more relics.”
“There’s no rush. I need to take another look at what I have. That alone might solve a lot of it… But if we want to be more certain, maybe bring it up to a similar level?”
“Do you need the jewel?”
“That’s your call. If you leave it to me, there might be more gain, but considering you roam around more, it might be more useful to you. I’ll tweak your magic stones a bit so you can use it just right.”
Fortunately, they had a good number of magic stones from Neriah in the border town, so they decided to accept her kindness.
“When the magic stone is broken, its mana will automatically follow a certain pattern and be infused into the jewel. I prepared two types: one refracts the space in front, and the other warps the space around you. You know what they’re for, right?”
Ludmilla boasted that the result would be usable since it was a trick involving the jewel’s security system and directly intervening in space to produce results.
Unlike other mages, she had established her own spell system. There’s a reason she’s called the Witch of Loren.
“Thanks.”
“If you’re thankful, just make sure to clean up your mess next time. Do you know how much trouble I’m in because you left the east after causing all that trouble?”
“Marquis of the Borderlands?”
Khan thought of two people he encountered in the depth of the forest. Apart from Baron Ephil, who was helplessly bound by an oath, there was another presence hastening out of the forest…
“Then that presence must be Keilon. If he sent that loyal dog himself, something must have happened on their end.”
Ludmilla neither confirmed nor denied, but that was answer enough.
Keilon was an old man Khan was somewhat familiar with.
Marquis of the Borderlands’s son was about to play nasty with an ogre’s corpse, so Khan had given him a dose of Hoarfrost Gorge manners to rewire his brain a bit, ending up clashing with his knights, too.
Baron Ephil, that pig, harbored a grudge against Khan because he lost a few teeth in the process. Infuriated, Marquis of the Borderlands’s son begged his father, “Please punish that barbarian!” And so, Keilon was dispatched. Naturally, Khan fought the old man, ending in a draw neither here nor there.
‘He looked like a loyal subject of his age but was a total slyboots inside.’
Thinking it wasn’t going anywhere, they soon decided to make it as if nothing happened, which was unusual for an ordinary old man.
Indeed, Khan later learned that Keilon was nothing less than Marquis of the Borderlands’s right-hand man, almost like his closest companion. His actions essentially represented Marquis of the Borderlands’s will.
That raises one question.
Why would the old fox, who long ago cast out Ludmilla as an ominous being, look for his daughter now that she has become a witch?
“Well, it’s probably nothing serious. Maybe like last time, a monster appeared that’s too tough for him to handle by himself.”
Ludmilla said nonchalantly as she handed over the jewel. Khan stood up, tucking it away, and laughed.
“That’s something I’ll find out myself.”
Last time, he had somewhat played along with the old fox’s scheming. If they dare to pull the same noble antics ignorant of their place this time-
‘It’ll have to be my way.’
With fists, knives, and handaxes. The Hoarfrost Gorge way. After parting ways with the witch Ludmilla, the group quickly left the Witch’s Forest.
“That woman. I don’t like her.”
“Ha… I understand your feelings, dame. She certainly handles some creepy magic. If we had encountered her under different circumstances, for a different reason, I might have mistaken her for a real witch and gone ahead to subdue her.”
“We would’ve just died pointlessly then.”
At Khan’s pointed remark, Leo laughed awkwardly.
“I suppose with my abilities, that indeed would’ve been the case.”
“It wouldn’t be easy for anyone to kill Ludmilla, not just you. She’s the one who can deflect an ogre’s punch, after all.”
“Ogre… You don’t mean, the ogre that you hunted…”
“Did you think I caught it by myself? If it wasn’t for Ludmilla taking its head off with her magic, the eastern lands would’ve become a wasteland.”
Of course, it’s only because he was rolling around like a dog, buying time for her magic to finish. Practically speaking, it was Ludmilla’s magic that put an end to the ogre.
“The grand title of Ogre Slayer should’ve been hers, not mine.”
“But the Ogre Slayer of the rumors…”
“That’s adult circumstances.”
More accurately, it would be described as the shameful act of a pitiful father who didn’t want the reputation of the child he abandoned to grow.
“So, the beginning of your connection with her was hunting the ogre together.”
It wasn’t just that, but Khan didn’t bother to correct him. The situation was a bit too complex to explain from one to ten. In the first place, he had no intention of explaining.
“Master. Then, are we moving to collect the artifact as she requested?”
“Ah, I was curious about that too. I understand that collecting ‘Mortalia’s artifacts’ is your goal, but they aren’t exactly easy to find, are they? Do you already have a plan in mind?”
“I do.”
“Indeed, even while listening to Mr. Ron’s story, I felt it. You seem to have an incredible insight…”
“Rob the one who has the treasure.”
“Pardon?”
Leo’s otherwise dignified face twisted in confusion. Is he talking about robbing someone who possesses treasures? So, he’s planning to steal? Even if we set that aside, who exactly are we targeting? To possess an artifact of Mortalia’s caliber, the individual must hold quite a significant status…
“The royal family of a kingdom with one of the most notable histories on the frontier might have one or two such treasures.”
Instead of looking puzzled or surprised, Leo’s face reflected sheer disbelief. The proposal from a warrior chosen by the Goddess of Justice was to rob the coffers of a secular royal family? Not knowing how to react, Leo simply closed his eyes tightly.
‘Goddess of Justice, please do not test my faith…’
Unbeknownst to himself, Khan was inadvertently testing the faith of the devout Paladin. Yet, he paid no heed to Leo’s reaction. His certainty was unwavering.
‘Darkin Perayas. Who knew he would be of help now?’
A tragic boss monster whose fate was twisted upon crossing paths with Khan by chance. If Khan hadn’t defeated him in the Necar Mountain of the Western Great Range, Darkin was destined to become a master of necromancy and the lord of necro-dragons, eventually consuming Argon and becoming the king of the dead.
He would have then raised an army of the undead, armed with numerous treasures and rare equipment, to invade the empire.
In the game, players would face off against this undead army, using the sudden increase in difficulty to supplement their lack of equipment and join the hunt for Darkin. If his memory served correctly, one of the drop items included ‘Mortalia’s Artifact.’
This was the drop item of ‘Commander Erectun,’ the undead lich who commanded Darkin’s undead army.
‘Mortalia’s Morphing Robe.’
Truth be told, he had pushed the memory away, thinking there was no way to obtain it. After all, having already defeated Darkin, how could he get the items that the future Darkin would drop?
But then, a possibility crossed his mind. They say necessity is the mother of invention, or perhaps it was a shift in thinking that did the trick. Suddenly, a possibility crossed his mind.
‘The treasures future Darkin acquired would naturally have been amassed while engulfing the Kingdom of Argon. If that’s the case, they must still be stored somewhere in Argon. There aren’t many individuals in this frontier kingdom likely to possess such relics. For example… the Black Winged Duke.’
If the Black Winged Duke had sent ‘Essence of the Ancients’ to Pashantu in the north, which could be used even by a mana-less barbarian, then it was possible he had collected at least one relic of Mortalia.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t. Even being able to connect with the royal family through him would be a huge gain.
‘Bates’s rumors stated that sightings of wyverns are becoming more frequent in the Kingdom of Argon. Ron mentioned that wyverns had never appeared in Argon’s territory before. This is tied to a secret of the royal family.’
In this situation, the Marquess of the Border had called for Ludmilla. He was so desperate as to offer one of his vassals as fodder for her wrath.
‘There aren’t many who can make the Marquess of the Border swallow his pride.’
What does this signify?
The royal family, which had been silent until now, has finally unsheathed its sword. They sought Ludmilla, known for her victory over an ogre, to gather forces to hunt the wyverns nesting in Argon.
In this scenario, if a barbarian who had already slain wyverns and basilisks in the north appeared?
‘If lucky, I might be able to unlock the royal treasury.’
To achieve this, first, he needed to meet the Black Winged Duke. Conveniently, he had a plausible excuse to visit him.
‘Let’s see, an impromptu study tour at my aunt’s workplace might be a good idea.’
Of course, he planned to get her approval later.