Chapter 356: Act 117 – From the Lair (Part 3) (Second Update)
“How to deal with this?” Brendel replied, as it was indeed a problem. The wealth was too valuable, and it gave a sense that leaving it there was unsafe.
They had to continue deeper into the forest to search for the legendary Valhalla, but leaving these eggs behind, even though they were in the Black Forest, didn’t feel reassuring.
“Young boy,” Kuran said in a slow and heavy tone, “my suggestion is that you escort these eggs back to the territory immediately.”
Brendel shook his head.
Kuran stared at him: “What is so alluring in the forest that it’s worth more than these eggs?”
Brendel thought for a moment; the value of Valhalla was immeasurable and indeed greater than that of the eggs. However, that didn’t mean he could abandon the eggs. After some contemplation, he replied:
“I have a plan; it’s best to leave someone here.”
“Leave someone?” the Elder shook his head repeatedly. “Who? This is the Black Forest.”
“It’s precisely because it’s the Black Forest,” Brendel responded. “I’ve considered it; there won’t be many outsiders here. There may be some magical beasts in the forest, but the scent of the five-headed serpent lizard still lingers; low-level magical creatures won’t dare to intrude recklessly.”
“As for high-level magical creatures, they have their own territories and generally won’t roam easily. Moreover, this is the outskirts of the Black Forest, and the five-headed serpent lizard is already the apex here in the food chain.”
Kuran suddenly became alert: “With all this talk, you’re not planning something, are you?”
Brendel smiled mysteriously.
“I mean, I’ve never thought we were allies; aren’t you afraid I’ll take these eggs and run?” Kuran couldn’t help but ask irritably, “I couldn’t take them all, but taking one or two isn’t a problem.”
“This is the Black Forest, Master Kuran,” Brendel said with a friendly smile. “Without a druid to lead you, how do you plan to get out?”
The Elder was momentarily stunned, raising his eyebrows: “What, are you trying to threaten me?”
The young lord quickly shook his head, replying with a smile, “Of course not, just joking with you. Actually, I’ve already thought it through; I plan to leave a small team of fire claw lizards here. They should be enough to keep away some reckless beasts, not to mention that this is all precautionary.”
Kuran snorted: “That’s good; don’t joke about me, young boy!” But he still felt a bit disappointed; Brendel doing this indicated that the young man did not fully trust him.
As the two were conversing, suddenly a commotion from the depths of the cave interrupted them. Brendel turned and immediately saw a young man staggering out from that direction.
He recognized the young man; he should be from the third team, Kuran’s group. Initially, he had sent the third team deeper into the cave to check if there was anything inside.
Did they discover something?
Brendel had thought the cave depths likely connected to the underground river, and sending someone to take a look was more of a precaution—there could be some magical materials, like luminous moss, for example.
But seeing the panicked expression on the young man’s face, he couldn’t help but think, if there really was luminous moss down there—it would at least have to be the size of a football field to elicit such a reaction from this guy.
He quickly gestured for the other party to calm down and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Lord… Lord!” the young man exclaimed, panting heavily. “C-Carglis wants you… you should come and see for yourself…”
Brendel exchanged glances with Kuran. What was that guy Carglis up to again?
Yet he nodded and motioned for the young man to lead the way, then followed with the others. After leaving the five-headed serpent lizard’s lair, the underground cave started to narrow and elongate. In the darkness, he could barely make out the smooth walls around them, which indeed indicated signs of having been washed by flowing water.
However, those marks had accumulated over many years.
Brendel observed the ground and the walls, confirming there were no traces left by any creatures, just some small footprints—probably made by small rodents, utterly harmless.
There were no signs of the familiar spider silk he was used to, like tentacle monsters, mutated bats, or strangler monsters lurking between the stalactites.
They walked along the underground river for several minutes when a flame appeared ahead. Under the light of the torch, Brendel saw Carglis and four other young men—because Meria and the other half of the third team remained on the surface, in fact, Carglis had only set out with half the team.
Even so, they remained the most outstanding among the young people, which was why Brendel felt secure leaving the most dangerous tasks to them.
When Brendel arrived, Carglis and the others were taking a brief rest by the torchlight. Upon seeing their lord, they immediately stood up and saluted:
“Lord!” The unruly son of Sir Minate rubbed his hands, looking troubled. “We’ve encountered something that’s hard to handle.”
“Something hard to handle?” Brendel was taken aback, stopping to ask, “What situation?”
“How should I put it…” Carglis’s expression was extremely peculiar: “It’s hard to describe in words.”
Brendel’s expression changed, wondering what kind of extraordinary thing could cause this fearless young man to look as if he had witnessed the sky falling.
However, he hoped that Carglis was not trying to joke with him; otherwise, he would certainly learn the price of that joke.
Of course, he also had another absurd thought—he couldn’t help but wonder if it was really a patch of luminous moss the size of a football field.
“In any case, please come take a look, my lord,” Carglis coughed, speaking.
He then stepped aside, gesturing Brendel to follow.
Brendel nodded and followed the young man; it seemed this was the exit of the underground tunnel, and the young lord could see light at the exit.
He was stunned, thinking, could it really be luminous moss?
But as he reached the exit, he was completely frozen, his mouth slightly open with no sound coming out.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he was petrified, for a dazzling spectacle filled Brendel’s eyes, casting a bewitching light that seemed to freeze him in place.
It was a crystal mine.
A vast, seemingly endless underground magical crystal mine.
…
Cold Fir Territory—
It seemed Brendel had truly anticipated the old knight’s intentions; the week since he left for the Black Forest had been unusually calm in the southern part of Toniger, with no sign of the impending war.
Of course, compared to the situation in the north, things were far from good. Tagib and its clan had tasted sweetness in plunder and began launching more aggressive strikes.
Though there were one or two instances where they fell into the old knight’s traps, for the most part, all the troops stationed in Parsons felt miserable.
On the other side, in Firburh, Charles sought out the forging master Berun. In fact, since Antinna left, the two had been responsible for all administrative and construction matters within the territory.
As for Merchant Miss, after sorting through and reorganizing a set of accounts, she had become idle. However, as Brendel had expected, she appeared unusually well-behaved, going only to a bar at a fixed spot every day, sitting there from the afternoon until after sunset—
According to her, this was a place Brendel used to frequent, and she wanted to occupy the spot for him.
Naturally, others turned a blind eye to this; as long as this young lady didn’t tear down Firburh, they were grateful.
Of course, for Berun, it wouldn’t matter even if she did tear down Firburh; as long as his forging workshop was unharmed, he was fine with it. That day, he sat as usual on the steps outside the workshop, trying to light a pipe, but quickly found that no matter how hard he tried, not a single spark managed to land in the pipe.
In fact, one spark rolled around the rim of the pipe three times before finally extinguishing.
This was clearly not normal.
So the Elder looked up and indeed saw Charles standing not far away, clad in a light purple robe, smiling broadly. He snorted and muttered, “Damn wizard!”
But he wouldn’t dare say it out loud; he might challenge Brendel to his face, but wizards were mysterious beings—who knew if they’d curse you while you slept?
Berun looked up and mumbled, “Alright, Lord Charles, what are you doing here bothering this old man? Or just here to toy with me, the poor old fellow?”
“That would be impossible,” Charles quickly shrugged. “I’m here to discuss something with you, Master.”
“What matter?”
“The lord gave me an order.”
“En?” Berun roughly knew that this young wizard had some special methods to contact the lord.
“I mean—” Charles thought for a moment and decided to phrase it delicately so as not to frighten the old man: “Master Berun, how likely do you think it is for us to open a road into the Black Forest?”
“Open a road?” Berun was taken aback. “I see; you want to go after some resources from the Black Forest border? It’s a bit troublesome; the investment might not yield returns. There’s not much of value along the Black Forest, but maintaining such a road would require significant investment.”
He thought for a moment: “Toniger likely can’t sustain it.”
“What if it’s a direct order?” Charles asked again.
“He’s crazy!” Berun suddenly realized that this wizard was the attendant of that lord, and he quickly corrected himself. “Then it depends on how deeply he wants to delve into the Black Forest. I think a travel distance of a day or two shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“The lord’s meaning is,” Charles replied cheerfully, “at least a week’s travel.”
“Impossible!”
(To be continued, for further developments, please log in; for more chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)
