Chapter 97………………………………………
Even after Riena and Roland disappeared from view, Duke Cassius stood there for a long time, dazed.
“Father.”
After a while, Leheim, who had followed the two of them, returned. The duke asked his son, who was holding his forehead with his hand:
“What happened?”
“Oh, this? I told him not to go, but I got hit by grandfather’s staff.”
“……”
“I’m fine. Riena stopped him, so I only got hit once.”
“……Go get treated immediately.”
“By the way, are you going to leave them as they are? I agree with your opinion that being with grandfather won’t do Riena any good.”
Leheim frowned.
“That person has always glared at me and my brother with such hostile eyes.”
“That’s probably because he resembles me.”
Duke Cassius, staring intently at his son’s face, turned toward the stairs.
“I have no intention of leaving it be.”
His voice was firm, as if a decision had been made.
“I have a duty as a father.”
Upon entering his office, Duke Cassius summoned the intelligence division of the Cassius household. Soon, one of the agents who worked secretly for Cassius appeared.
“You called for me?”
“Investigate Riena and my father’s movements discreetly. Find out exactly what they’re doing and what their purpose is, and report everything to me.”
“……You mean without Miss Riena knowing?”
Cassius almost asked why that was even a question.
However, seeing the startled expression on the agent’s face, something clicked. This man had been introduced to the family directly by Riena.
The decision was quick. Edmond swiftly drew his sword with precise, deliberate movements and pointed it at the man’s neck.
“D-Duke!”
“Stay still.”
Then he summoned the most trustworthy of his subordinates.
They had served faithfully as the duke’s hands even before Riena set foot in Cassius.
“Quietly imprison this one in the underground cell.”
“Yes, sir.”
After the man was dragged away, Duke Cassius gave the same order to the remaining agents.
This time, the person who received the order showed no doubt or hesitation as he went to carry out his master’s command.
“So that was the meaning……”
Alone, the duke murmured, recalling words Cade had subtly said to him long ago:
“Nowadays, there are far too many in Cassius’ household who act not for the duke, but for the lady.”
At that time, he hadn’t fully realized it, but now, with his intentions differing from Riena’s, he understood perfectly. His instincts had told him.
If he hadn’t restrained the man a moment ago, he would have immediately run to Riena and confessed everything.
Moreover, Riena often introduced jobs within the household to those in trouble or those who were capable.
It was safe to say there was almost no corner of Cassius where Riena’s influence didn’t reach.
“In the worst case, I might have to overhaul everything.”
Duke Cassius’ sigh deepened.
“We’ve arrived. This is the abandoned mine.”
The girl guiding us pointed to a shabby entrance halfway up the mountain. I handed her a silver coin.
“Thanks for showing us the way.”
“Thank you!”
Her bright smile was so cute it loosened the corners of my mouth.
“I heard a few days ago that a meteor fell somewhere around here. Is that true?”
“Yes, I saw it clearly! There was a loud ‘thump’ at night, and many villagers woke up.”
“Did anyone find the fallen meteor?”
“No. I said I’d go look with my friends, but our parents scolded us.”
The girl’s eyebrows drooped.
“They said it’s dangerous, and if we have time for that, we should help with chores. Adults are always busy. To pay taxes to the lord, we must work.”
“……”
This region originally belonged to Count Wallace.
However, when the count’s family couldn’t repay a loan secured by the territory, it passed to the creditor, Marquis Kainber.
‘They really squeeze the people dry.’
The villages we saw yesterday and today seemed harsh, and the residents looked exhausted. Their usual wariness of outsiders was less than expected; they barely had the energy to care.
Even if the money wasn’t repaid, this was extreme.
In the few years since taking over the territory, Marquis Kainber would have already recouped his losses many times over by exploiting the people to this extent.
‘Just as the novel said, he really is a villain.’
In the story, when the abandoned mine’s true value was revealed, Marquis Kainber immediately tried to claim ownership—but Riena soon gave him a harsh lesson.
It was understandable he’d regret it; the only land in the region he hadn’t received from Wallace was this mine.
Count Wallace had tried to use a useless mine to get a debt reduction, but Kainber refused.
Sometimes, even his lack of conscience worked to our advantage.
“I should go now! My mother will prepare dinner, so please return by evening.”
The girl left, descending the mountain.
She was the neighbor of the inn where we were staying. Being a small village with no proper restaurants, we were relying on her family for meals, though we paid generously.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Dressed in clothing suitable for activity, I looked at Terrence and Vineta in turn.
“Never take off the cloak I gave you!”
“I will remember. But……”
Vineta tilted her head at her cloak.
“This cloak is a magic resistance artifact, right? Would we need it in a place like this?”
Then she exclaimed, “Ah!”
“Also, the magic barrier artifact you gave us earlier—are we going to fight a wizard in here? Or is there an enemy lurking inside?”
“Well… rather than that……”
It was far more likely we’d face a being stronger than a wizard, but it would be strange for me to know that in advance. I had to come up with a vague explanation.
“If my guess is correct, some massive magical phenomenon is happening in this mine. If we get caught in it, these artifacts might help us.”
Fortunately, Vineta seemed convinced. Terrence backed me up.
“Indeed. It’s better to be prepared. Thank you, we’ll use them wisely.”
“No problem. Let’s go!”
Carrying a lantern each, we followed the tunnel into the dark mine.
Vineta took the lead, claiming her duty was to protect Terrence and me. I walked side by side with Terrence.
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
“Ah!”
A rat suddenly appeared, and Terrence caught me as I almost fell. His arm was still reassuringly strong.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Be careful. This place has been closed for a long time and is poorly maintained.”
He picked up one of the many large stones scattered on the floor.
“Stones like this lying around everywhere… hmm?”
His eyes suddenly changed.
“What is it?”
“Wait a moment. I’ll try infusing it with magic.”
Terrence’s hand glowed a deep crimson. The stone began to shine, as brightly as the lantern we carried.
“Wow!”
Its beauty made me exclaim without thinking. Terrence examined it closely.
“Judging by the brightness, this is at least an upper-grade to top-grade magic stone.”
Magic stones emit light in response to magical energy; the higher the quality, the brighter the glow.
“You were correct.”
His voice carried a faint excitement.
“Even though this was a magic stone mine in the past, they wouldn’t leave upper-grade stones lying on the floor. This must have been either an ordinary stone or a lower-grade stone not worth the effort to carry out.”
“Also, as far as I know, even in the past, this mine only produced medium-grade stones at best.”
“Then it’s certain that after the mine was abandoned, this stone transformed into upper-grade or higher.”
We exchanged smiles. I felt like I could fly with joy.
“Upper-grade stones… I’m rich now……”
“It could even be top-grade.”
“Eh, top-grade? Surely not.”
As widely known, there was only one mine in the empire capable of producing top-grade stones, owned by a temple.
“You never know. Judging by the magical energy in this stone, top-grade is possible.”
Thanks to reading the novel, I knew this mine only produced up to upper-grade stones, but Terrence’s encouragement was appreciated.
‘Just imagining it feels amazing.’
Owning a top-grade stone mine would not just make one rich; it would instantly make me one of the wealthiest in the empire.
Then Vineta, who had been leading, returned.
“There’s a fork. Which way should we go?”
As she said, the tunnel ahead split into two. Terrence asked me:
“We’ve already confirmed the stones in this mine have transformed. Do we really need to go further?”
A reasonable question, but I needed to see the fallen meteor as soon as possible—to truly claim ownership of this mine.
“I personally want to check the meteor too……”
At that moment, a vibration ran through the entire mine. Terrence and Vineta quickly went on alert.
“Idel! Behind me!”
“Be careful!”
A strange sensation swept over me, similar to when Miella frightened me in a dream.
It wasn’t overwhelming, but the feeling was familiar.
After a moment, the sensation faded without incident, and the mine’s vibration stopped. But it didn’t mean all was well.
“The exit is blocked.”
Terrence knocked on the transparent wall that had appeared behind us. This development wasn’t in the novel.
