CHAPTER 145…………………………………
Secret
Amid the reconstruction of Solaris.
“Again!”
The voice of Lionel, commander of the Solar Knights, rang out powerfully.
“Tsk.”
Ronan rolled on the ground and clicked his tongue as he got back up.
How many times had it been now?
Ronan was rushing at Lionel’s shield, holding his training wooden sword.
“Not tired already, are you, knight?”
Valen, who was watching him from the side, said with his arms crossed.
“You were the one who asked to train.”
“I know.”
Ronan took a deep breath and adjusted his grip on the wooden sword.
“And I’m not tired yet.”
“Good.”
As Valen grinned,
Paang—!
Ronan pushed off the ground and charged toward Lionel’s shield again.
The pitch-black aura shimmering over the wooden sword was much weaker than that on a real sword.
By contrast, the crude wooden shield that Lionel held radiated an even more intense and dazzling divinity.
No matter how fast or sharp Ronan swung his sword,
Kwaang—!
The result didn’t change.
“Hrrgh!”
“Wait!”
Ronan steadied himself after flying back a little, and just as he tried to rush again, Lionel slammed his shield down and shouted.
“Change your sword first.”
“……?”
“It’s broken.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Ronan notice that the tip of his wooden sword had snapped and disappeared, and he lowered the sword he was holding.
Meanwhile, Lionel wiped the sweat from his forehead.
…How can he be like that?
Ronan tilted his head, staring at the broken wooden sword.
Using aura wasn’t the problem.
The problem was the next step.
To control aura more skillfully and develop it into something powerful.
But…
“…How?”
Ronan muttered, looking down at the broken sword in his hand.
He knew that Esric had formed a circle to use higher-level magic.
But without a circle, it was impossible for Ronan.
He had only seen one real aura user in action:
The half-elf captain of Ice Rock, the fairy knight Siruela.
He still remembered clearly the aura that had raised a giant tree in a single strike to defeat the disaster of the snowy mountain.
…What’s the difference between his sword and mine?
Seeing Ronan lost in thought with the broken sword, Valen uncrossed his arms and stepped closer.
“What’s bothering you so much?”
“Nothing… it’s not that I’m bothered…”
“Your face says it all.”
“…What?”
“Why isn’t it working? What’s the problem? That’s what you’re worrying about, right?”
“…….”
“Figured as much, figured as much.”
Valen chuckled, watching Ronan clamp his mouth shut.
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with your ability to handle your body or your sword. You know that, right?”
“Still… insufficient.”
“Being insufficient and having no problem are different things. The fact that you can move is the basic quality a knight must have.”
Valen spoke in a calm voice.
“The divinity used by our High Knights, or the aura you use—it’s the same. Don’t overthink it.”
“…The same?”
“It’s not wrong. All you need is the confidence that it’s not wrong. Then, whether it’s a real sword or a wooden one, you’ll be able to fully wield your strength.”
“Confidence…”
“In short…”
Lionel, having wiped his sweat, handed a fresh towel to Ronan and added,
“You need to understand yourself more clearly.”
“…Myself?”
“Everyone feels so natural about themselves that they actually don’t know themselves well. Faith, willpower, ultimately ‘whose it is’—that’s what matters, right? If you can’t make yourself the center, no matter how strong the power is, you can’t use it fully.”
“Yeah! That’s exactly what I mean!”
“…I don’t think so.”
“What?!”
Ignoring Valen’s flare, Ronan smiled faintly and wiped his sweat with the towel.
As if he had wiped away not only the sweat but the lingering doubts in his mind,
“…I think I get it now.”
His expression looked refreshed.
“But… is it really okay to stay like this?”
Lionel asked Valen with a worried tone.
“Shouldn’t we depart even now…?”
“They said it’s fine over there.”
Valen said indifferently.
“We’re not even in a position to give proper support anyway.”
“That’s… true, but…”
Lionel clicked his tongue at Valen’s words.
The Imperial Army was heading north.
Even hearing that, Leonis had decided to stay in Solaris.
He was putting effort into restoring the buildings of the Papal Court with the faithful here.
Everything had been decided by Esric’s confident words.
“If the mage said so, it should be fine. Right?”
“Right.”
Ronan cleared away his broken wooden sword and picked up a new one.
“If Esric said so, it should be fine. More importantly…”
Whoosh.
The tip of the sword cutting through the air was aimed at the two commanders.
“Next.”
Valen and Lionel smiled warmly at the young knight.
“Good momentum.”
“Let’s wear him out quickly.”
Even in this situation, Leonis stayed in Solaris.
There were two reasons he put effort into restoring the Papal Court.
One: to firmly establish his presence to other knights and the faithful.
The other…
“Hey! Over there! Your hands are idle!”
Elnor’s sharp voice echoed from the basement.
In front of her were the Radiant Knights wielding pickaxes.
Including Bartheon, the knights who had deceived her and followed the Pope’s orders were lined up.
Chaaak—!
Elnor cracked her whip, and gold sparks flew from the darkness.
“Hurry, destroy it!”
She swung the whip with divine power added.
It was a whip full of personal anger at being betrayed.
“Ah, fine! Fine!”
“Damn… why us…?”
Bartheon and the knights continued striking the wall with their pickaxes, whining that Valen would have been easier to deal with.
Clang— clang clang— clang—
In front of them stood a large, solid wall.
“But… is that really the right place?”
Leonis glanced at me and asked.
“Isn’t it just built to block enemies coming from the basement?”
“No.”
I said with confidence.
“That’s definitely it.”
The magic to sense the flow of mana, Resonance.
As I cleared the debris of the collapsed—or rather, the one I had destroyed—Solaris city walls, I scanned the entire city with Resonance.
“Those plotting types always keep a backup plan, like Lucarion.”
“Still… there’s no guarantee it’s here, right?”
“I’m certain.”
A thick, solid wall hidden underground.
No doors or paths led from the surface.
A thoroughly concealed underground space known only to its owner.
“There’s a strong mana reaction there.”
“If it’s… like a disaster, what then?”
“It’s not.”
I chuckled.
Resonance detects other mana by spreading your own.
If it were a disaster or monster, it couldn’t create such a clear resonance as I felt.
Mana that was stagnant, or massive mana concentrated in a small spot.
Unless it’s one of these, most resonances scatter in waves.
But the resonance I felt beyond that wall, where the knights were striking with pickaxes, was as clear as if I could touch it.
“If unlucky, it’ll be an artifact; if lucky…”
Before I could finish,
Boom—!
The knights’ pickaxes succeeded in punching a hole in the wall.
Boom—kurrrr—
From there, the wall cracked and split.
The sound of pickaxes hitting metal stopped.
“What, what is that?”
Elnor furrowed her brows and looked at the light seeping through the cracks.
Gold.
Blinding gold spilling from the holes and cracks in the wall.
“What are you doing?!”
She shouted at the frozen knights.
“Finish destroying it!”
“Huh? Ah, right!”
Snapping back to attention, Elnor cracked her whip again, blasting the golden light.
“Move, move! You traitors!”
Under Elnor’s command and the crackling golden whip, the frozen knights’ pickaxes moved again.
Clang, clang… friction sounds… kurrrr—!
The cracks widened, and the remaining walls collapsed.
“…!”
The space revealed beyond was entirely bathed in gold.
“Heavens…”
“This crazy….”
“I-Is that… how much?”
Bartheon and the knights holding pickaxes gaped.
“Whaaa…”
Even Elnor, whipping relentlessly, froze, mouth agape.
Gold coins.
Countless gold coins piled up like a mountain, filling both sides of the room.
Scattered among them were jewels and equipment that seemed to be artifacts.
But what I had been looking for was…
“…Found it.”
In the center of the room, kept separately, was an emerald-colored jewel.
I pushed aside the frozen knights and walked among the gold coins.
On a white marble shelf among the piles of gold, a single radiant emerald gleamed.
As soon as I reached out, a cold sensation pressed into my palm.
“Mana Stone.”
Vwooom… vwooom…
A massive mana slowly circulating within could be felt through my hand.
Like a living heartbeat, pulsing with mana.
The amount contained could instantly fill four or five circles.
“It’s real.”
“I told you it was.”
“Well, even without the mana stone…”
Leonis, who had followed me in, nodded while observing the room carefully.
The piled gold was substantial.
It was as much, or even more, than what had been collected in the East.
“They probably weren’t too disappointed.”
“That would be a disaster.”
I lightly shook the mana stone in my hand.
“Without this, it’d take forever to get to Ice Crown.”
Even if we rushed, we couldn’t reach the north before the Imperial Army.
So the only remaining option was to use the spatial magic Teleport.
There was enough mana to fly straight to Ice Crown.
The problem was right after arriving.
If we went there having consumed almost all our mana, we wouldn’t be able to fight properly.
Hence the search for the mana stone.
The second reason Leonis put effort into restoring the Papal Court.
That was this mana stone.
“Anyway, blinded by all this gold…”
“With this much money, restoring the Papal Court and rebuilding Solaris becomes much easier.”
“So you don’t care about the north?”
“I trust you.”
“Your words are smooth as silk.”
“But is it really okay? Ice Crown is too far. Didn’t they say coordinates or location are most important?”
“Right. Especially with Teleport. But…”
I fiddled with the ring on my hand and said,
“No need to worry about that either.”
The largest city in the north, Ice Crown.
The last heir of the Ice Maker family, who had risen to become the northern ruler.
Sirina Ice Maker.
“……”
She quietly fiddled with the ring on her pale, slender fingers.
