Chapter 272: Act 39 – Schafflund Town (Second Update)
“Retreat.” Carglis stared into the forest, his expression growing serious.
“What?” Sir Minate could hardly believe his ears; his youngest son was actually telling him to retreat. While being cautious wasn’t a bad idea, wasn’t this a bit excessive?
And what about the dignity of this old man?
“Brat, I’m not dead yet; you have no right to command here!” Sir Minate cleared his throat seriously and reprimanded.
“Lord, I fear the young master is right.” At that moment, a knight beside him spoke with a grave face, “We should withdraw—”
“What’s going on?” Sir Minate was taken aback; his old subordinates wouldn’t joke with him. Now, even he started to feel anxious.
But as soon as he spoke, a piercing wail echoed from the forest!
The young man instinctively looked up—he saw a prominent magical signal slowly rising in midair.
Goodness, are they really a mob?
This was the only thought in Carglis’s mind.
……
It had been a day and a night since leaving Firburh.
Crossing the dark green peaks, a group stood on the mountain top, their view spreading in all directions; the fields formed a patchwork quilt of green flowers that wove through winding valleys, extending into the distance.
Brendel didn’t expect such scenery within Graham’s Mountain and couldn’t help but pause for a moment.
“That’s Schafflund.” Juliette pointed down the mountain path, where red rooftops dotted the forest, gradually becoming denser, forming a settlement.
The small town lay quietly amidst the mountains.
They had just reached here as the day approached noon.
Though prior to leaving, Charles’s words had opened up a completely new perspective for Brendel. As a free trade port, Ampere Seale was a place of abundant riches—he not only possessed a painting from Ramona Darkshine, but he also had a future Alchemist with him. Coupled with his own experience from the game, making a fortune in the free trade port shouldn’t be too difficult.
However, while he did want to go to Ampere Seale, the Schafflund silver mine was also a long-term concern, thus Brendel didn’t change plans and still arrived at this mining town nestled in the mountains.
“It’s beautiful.” Xi murmured as she beheld the scene behind her.
At that moment, rustling sounds came from the bushes, and mercenaries started emerging from the forest, a total of twenty-seven, each steady in footing and sharp-eyed, surveying their surroundings. These individuals were at least at the peak of Black Iron strength, all elite members from Juliette’s ranks. To gather enough personnel, the female mercenary captain had even borrowed quite a few from other smaller mercenary groups.
To be honest, Brendel was surprised when he saw these individuals. The peak of Black Iron stood on the threshold of Silver; with a bit of training, they could become formidable experts, seasoned knights were nothing compared to them.
However, compared to his own luxurious lineup, these individuals paled in comparison.
Forget Brendel himself; everyone here knew that the two young girls flanking this young lord were both Golden Warriors; there were also two silent servants who had followed all the way—actually, they were angels, but Brendel had them hide their conspicuous snowy wings at his request—they had at least Silver-level strength.
For Brendel, summoning the Holy Angels repeatedly was too great a waste of Light elements. Although his deck size wasn’t too large, drawing that card was still manageable. However, Brendel had no effective means of replenishing Light elements, so he decided to keep the two angels outside, preferring to spend a bit of Light daily instead of temporarily needing the resurrection cards.
Brendel thought he would put the angels back once he had five points of Light elements left, saving one opportunity for resurrection cards would be sufficient. The hundred wealth he saved while capturing the cavemen could finally be used to unlock the fire element land card—’Ember Volcano’ and the wind element land card—’Storm Nest’.
At that moment, a dormant volcano and the constantly swirling eye of a storm silently lay within his mental structure’s independent space, while the only card left on his deck was the fire element land card: Karos Waste.
With the wind element land card, summoning Wind Elemental Spiders would no longer be a burden. The fire element land card pointed him towards a card in his deck:
Fire Giant
(Blazing Hell X)
15 Fire
[Creature—Elemental/Giant, Level 36]
Tap, deal massive damage from the Fire Giant to your enemies and shuffle it back into your deck.
“When on the scorching earth, the Fire Giant always instills dread in its foes—”
(Purchase Condition: Pay 50 Fire Elements)
Purchasing this card requires fire elements instead of wealth, which was highly appealing to Brendel, who urgently needed to accumulate wealth to unlock those ‘resource-type’ fate cards.
Although needing fifty fire elements seemed excessive for Brendel’s current thirty-seven fire element slots, it was acceptable. As an elementalist leaning towards fire, he could always practice fire spells to slowly expand his fire element pool.
Fortunately, when he leveled up as an elementalist, most of the initial spells he chose were fire-based; spells like Fire Arrow didn’t consume too much mana.
Apart from this, another card that had already been predetermined entered his sight:
Silver Flag
(Shining Alliance VII)
12 Earth (or) Water
[Treasure—Artifact/Fantasy]
While the Silver Flag is on the field, the maintenance costs of all creatures on the field are reduced by 1; if there are multiple maintenance costs, choose one.
Tap, designate a card to double its generated wealth.
‘Flowing silver—’
(Purchase Condition: Pay 100 Wealth)
Brendel had coveted this card for a long time; even at the time of his choice, he had hesitated for a long time between this one and the land card. It wasn’t until Charles made a suggestion that he made up his mind—regardless, the foundation of the traveler’s power was still the land cards.
“What should we do next,” Xi asked as she hoisted her axe/spear onto her shoulder—making one worry if the girl’s petite shoulders could bear the weight—she turned back to ask, “My Lord?”
Before Brendel could reply, the captain of the mercenary band spoke first: “Schafflund is a small town developed around the silver mine, most of the residents are miners. The town’s prosperity is built on the miners’ daily livelihoods; there are many shops run by merchants, and a few inns.”
“Such a place has inns?” The red-haired girl interrupted her.
“Not surprising; Schafflund is also the furthest point east into Graham’s Mountain, a place like this wouldn’t lack visitors. Not to mention there are legends of open silver veins hidden within the forest, many who come here dream of striking it rich.”
“Open silver veins?” Romaine’s voice piped up from behind, “Is there really such a thing?”
Everyone turned to see Merchant Miss emerge last from the bushes—she was tugging at her dress with one hand to prevent it from getting caught on branches.
But this time, she wasn’t alone; Brendel had invited her along. There must be numerous accounts regarding the Schafflund silver mine, and self-taught or not, aside from Antinna, only Romaine could read those ledgers.
“It is said there are indeed open silver veins in the forest, some people have seen them, and even made a fortune. However, such occurrences are rare, and most people return empty-handed,” Juliette replied.
“Even so, so many people come here?” Xi questioned, “I’ve heard there are several inns?”
“People only notice the few success stories.” Brendel observed from above at Schafflund, chiming in.
Though Juliette thought the phrasing of Lord’s remark was a bit odd, she had to admit the truth was indeed as he said. She nodded, “The Lord is right. Moreover, those adventurers who got rich just throw their newfound wealth on the gambling table, only to lose it all in the blink of an eye.”
“Things that come too easily go away just as easily.” Medisa’s voice was low and soft, describing it with an ancient Silver Elf proverb.
Everyone couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
But Romaine had a differing opinion: “Since some have indeed gotten rich, then it must be real, right?” She seemed obsessed with the idea of open silver veins, “Aunt always says, ‘A common man is innocent; a jewel brings misfortune!’ Such things would definitely catch the attention of the nobles, right? Open silver veins would tempt evenCount Rendener’s people!”
“But no one who has discovered an open silver vein has ever managed to return to find it again in the forest,” Juliette shook her head, “That’s the mysterious part of this forest.”
“Eh?” Romaine’s eyes widened, clearly curious about this matter.
Xi flicked her fiery ponytail and scoffed, “Superstitious nonsense! The rich who became wealthy might not have found open silver veins; perhaps it’s just a rumor passed around!”
“Indeed, that is a possibility.” Brendel thought of another possibility but intended to steer the conversation back on track: “However, let’s discuss our plans first. Juliette, you’re the most familiar with this area; please share your thoughts.”
“Lord, just two miles northeast of Schafflund is the mining area. Every morning, workers travel along a specially cut mountain path into the mining area. This route is lined with towers and has light cavalry patrolling; there’s no way for us to walk in openly.”
“Is that the only way?” Brendel inquired, “Given our skills, how likely is it that we can sneak in through the mountains?”
“It’s not impossible,” Juliette thought for a moment, “but I heard that the Chief of Security for the mining area is a swordsman of mid-Gold rank.”
Brendel nodded, thinking it strange for such a place not to have experts; after all, the highest defense commander at the Tobarand Fortress silver mining area was a swordsman of enlightenment.
“Well then,” he replied after listening, “compared to the heavily guarded mining area—getting into Schafflund Town should not be too difficult. There’s quite a flow of people here; splitting up and entering separately shouldn’t raise much suspicion; everyone, be sure to take care of your funds and check into the inns.”
Brendel glanced at the sky, “We’ll regroup in the evening; does everyone remember the signs we agreed upon?”
Everyone nodded.
“Then let’s commence.”
……(To be continued, for further developments, please log in for more chapters, support the author, and support legitimate reading!)
