Chapter 40
The gnome was right.
Long ago, his companions even tried to make contact with Geru to establish a new trading company.
But in the process, Geru was killed, and everyone involved was driven out.
After that bloody purge, only the gnome barely survived.
Since that failure, the gnome had half given up.
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t find a way to change the situation.
What’s more, after driving out the opposition, almost only loyal followers remained around Bagis Fedwick.
The situation was getting worse.
“I will come up with a way. Just give me information, anything you can.”
To complete her plan, Ariella needed materials—
deadly secrets only an insider could provide.
“They say if you see one bad deed, you know there are ten more. If he was doing shady things in our territory, there’s no way his other dealings are clean. He must have made enemies all across the Demon Realm.”
Ariella spoke with firm confidence.
“I plan to dig into that weakness.”
Her voice did not waver.
She truly believed she would succeed.
The gnome looked at her with slightly changed eyes.
“……If you are that determined.”
He began to reveal what he knew.
Some things were worth hearing, like the new trade route Fedwick had been working on or the spice-making method he was developing.
Others were useless, like his hometown or strange eating habits.
But Ariella listened quietly.
Everything had to be dragged out first, then analyzed.
And then—something caught her ear.
“……The caravan master is sending wagons to places where there are no trade partners?”
“That’s right.” The gnome nodded.
“I don’t know what’s inside those wagons. The master personally manages it, and only his closest men are involved. And those wagons aren’t ordinary.”
He explained that with special magic, no one could see what was inside.
Not even high-ranking members like the gnome knew what the wagons carried or who the recipient was.
But one thing was clear.
“Strange, isn’t it? Those wagons go toward wastelands. A place where normally no people or goods are ever sent.”
“Wastelands?”
It was a valley where no one lived, abandoned since ancient times.
And yet, wagons were sent there again and again?
‘That stinks of trouble.’
“Lately, they’ve been sending them more often at night, quietly.”
Ariella’s mind raced.
She felt a thrill.
‘Good. Let’s dig into this first!’
At that moment—
“Ah! Maybe this could be a clue.”
The gnome jumped up and brought something back.
Ludwig looked at it and asked, “Gold coin?”
“It’s not exactly gold. I’ve never seen this substance before.”
It was a shard that could easily be mistaken for a gold coin.
A golden, shining crystal, thin as paper.
It looked broken and worn, not man-made.
“It seemed suspicious, so once I secretly ordered my man to follow that wagon.”
That was shortly after Geru’s death, when the gnome still had some freedom.
“But my man lost it near the valley. So he searched nearby… and found this.”
The wagon had disappeared like it had vanished into thin air.
This was the only thing left behind.
Ludwig, peering at it, said, “Looks like the scale of some creature.”
He had seen many monsters before, so he noticed first.
“What kind of race? Golden scales?”
“I don’t know,” Ludwig admitted.
The gnome joined in. “We thought so too, but it doesn’t match any known specimens. In fact, we’re not even sure if it really is part of a creature.”
Even a secretly hired biologist had shaken his head.
“Can we take this with us?” Ariella asked.
“Of course. These days, I can’t even do much with it under such close watch.”
On the way back from the merchant headquarters—
In the wagon, Ariella stared at the golden scale, her eyes sinking into strange colors.
Seeing her expression, Ludwig stayed silent, waiting.
Had she realized something?
“……”
The air felt frozen in silence.
After a while, Ariella spoke.
“There’s a strange kind of mana inside this.”
“Strange mana?”
Ludwig snatched the scale and frowned, trying to sense it.
“I don’t feel anything.”
“It’s very faint.”
Ludwig didn’t doubt her.
Of course not—he remembered her skills during the chase after Vepar.
But even Ariella couldn’t tell if this mana belonged to the one who used the scale as a medium for magic or to the creature it came from.
One thing was certain.
“It’s unlike any mana I’ve ever felt before.”
“Isn’t that obvious? It’s probably someone you’ve never met yet.”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean.”
Ariella murmured.
“It’s faint but unique. And the waves… the depth of the mana is incredible.”
“Faint but deep? That sounds like a contradiction.”
“I can’t explain it any other way.”
When she had tracked Vepar, she followed mana traces left only hours before.
But this scale’s mana seemed like it was left a long, long time ago.
That was why it felt faint.
“Just how strong was the original mana, if it hasn’t disappeared even now?”
None of the beings they had met—not Richmond, not Vepar, not even Ludwig—could leave traces lasting this long.
She turned the shard in her hand, whispering.
“Something’s not right. Maybe it’s the mana of a race I’ve never met before.”
A few days later.
On the road leading to the abandoned land—
Two horses galloped powerfully.
The riders were Ludwig and Ariella.
Glancing sideways while holding the reins, Ludwig studied Ariella.
Even after such a long ride, her posture had not faltered.
Of course, compared to the rough mountain trails near Ludwig’s demon territory, this road was smoother.
But not everyone could ride long distances as steadily as Ariella.
She wasn’t just skilled at horseback riding—she had stamina too.
‘She really is a strange human.’
Now, the two of them were traveling with a clear purpose.
They had to move light and quiet, so they couldn’t bring a wagon this time.
Ariella had insisted on riding herself.
“I never want to ride that moving toilet again.”
Of course Ludwig opposed, and Butler Chief Grüve, even Richmond, tried to stop her.
“Why? I’ve ridden horses in the human world plenty of times.”
“That’s not the problem, Ariella!”
Just as demons and humans looked similar but were different,
demon horses and human-world horses were also different.
The ones Ariella rode in the kingdom were harmless herbivores.
“But demon horses… will eat beasts if they can!”
To prove it, the demon horse’s mouth was full of sharp teeth like a shark’s.
If bitten by a horse in the human world, the worst was a broken arm.
But here? You’d almost certainly lose the entire limb.
Even after this warning, Ariella refused to give in.
“This isn’t the time to travel in a wagon. And if I’m going to live here, I need to know how to ride.”
In the end, Ulken brought an extra horse.
“Haha! I like the spirit of the contractor. I’ll lend you one of my warhorses!”
Naturally, the demon horse refused to carry a human.
“Hiiiing!”
When Ariella approached, it neighed and kicked, snapping its teeth to threaten her.
It looked dangerous.
Ludwig was ready to step in to protect her at any moment.
‘……But I worried for nothing.’
Now, watching Ariella gallop joyfully, her short red hair flying in the wind—
he remembered that bizarre training session.
‘In the end, the one who needed saving that day wasn’t Ariella… but the horse.’
