Episode 46. Hwaunseok (2)
The next day. Flornica Estate.
The estate of Flornica was located in the middle of a wooded mountainous region. The lord’s castle stood tall against a steep ravine, and in front of it stood the residence of the lords.
Jan Plonica had just returned to his estate after solving the problem caused by the Mankus brothers. Then, as usual, he devoted himself to practicing his swordsmanship until midnight.
…eyes watching him from afar.
“Rubin.”
Tina called Rubin in a rare serious tone. She was now sitting on Kuze’s head in the form of a sparrow. Kuze was biting his lips.
“No matter how stubborn I am… I don’t want to encourage a teenager to go off the rails like this. Do you know who the head of the household is? Siren.”
“My lord, I don’t know about anything else, but I agree with Lady Tina on this one. We must hurry to Capotini, where the camouflage annex is. We don’t have time for this.”
“… … .”
Two people reacted with incomprehension.
It was natural.
After parting ways with Jan yesterday afternoon, Rubin not only found lodgings in the nearest place, but also infiltrated the Flornica estate under cover of night.
‘Even if I explain it, you won’t understand.’
Rubin’s actions now were not because of Jan.
Rather, it would be better to avoid contact with Yan as much as possible. That way, Yan would grow into a ‘silver-haired rebel’, or rather, a ‘silver-haired punisher’, as Rubin knew.
“Let’s move slowly.”
“No, where on earth are you going?”
Still silent. Instead of answering, Rubin made his presence even more muted. In that state, he bypassed the castle of Lord Flornica and entered the depths of the valley.
Kuze, who could not abandon the safety of his master, followed behind with a sad face, and Tina the sparrow also flew up, grumbling.
‘According to the information gathered in advance, the Flornica family is currently out of town. Now is the chance.’
In order to detect Rubin and his party’s secret movements with the Auror, you would need to be at least 5 stars. With the Flornica family absent, the only threat was Jan.
‘Now that I know where Yan is, I can wander around the canyon with peace of mind.’
Tadah, tadah, tadah.
Rubin began to roam the canyon.
As he followed, Kuze’s eyes couldn’t help but be filled with doubt. Even though it was obvious that this was his first time, Rubin’s movements were unstoppable.
‘What are you looking for?’
It seemed like there was a set goal from the beginning, because Rubin’s exploration had a certain pattern.
Countless caves in the canyon. Rubin only checked the left wall every time he entered a cave. He didn’t go any deeper, and he didn’t even look to the right.
‘There are too many caves, more than I thought. I won’t be able to stay overnight like this.’
After about an hour of exploring the caves in the canyon, Rubin finally sat Tina and Kuze down.
“Are you finally telling me what you’re looking for?”
“Just tell us and we will help you.”
“… … .”
Rubin glanced silently at the castle of Lord Flornica. They had not yet noticed the suspicious atmosphere of Rubin and his party.
“What are you looking for in an empty cave? Oh, I wonder.”
Tina was just pecking at the cave wall, then she got hit in the head and started to flutter. She was flapping her wings as if she was dying from frustration.
As Tina says, there is nothing in the caves around here. Even the common monsters were exterminated by Plonica long ago.
Usually, monster habitats have resources that are useful to humans. In other words, the absence of monsters meant that there were no useful resources in the area.
But that’s something I don’t know.
Rubin is a regressor. He knows what things might not be worth anything now, but will increase in value tens of thousands of times in the near future.
However, the exact location is confusing.
Finally, Rubin revealed what he was looking for.
“To shorten the time as much as possible, I must tell you what I need to tell you. What I am looking for is a red tree.”
But limited information.
Since I was using the information I had acquired before returning, I couldn’t reveal it straight away. If I were to reveal everything, it would be more difficult to convince the two people.
“A red tree? Your Majesty, you’ve only checked the left wall as soon as you entered the cave.”
“That’s right. You guys can find it like that while going around other caves. Just look at the left wall from the direction you enter.”
“Just the left wall… … ?”
“If you see a red branch clinging to the left wall like a mushroom, call me immediately.”
A tree growing up against a wall?
Tina and Kuze stared blankly at each other because it was a concept that was hard to imagine at the time. The instructions were given so clearly that their doubts were further amplified.
“Is that all? I thought you were going to find and kill some bandits. You were just collecting plants? Then of course I should follow you.”
“… Hmm. This is more wholesome than I thought. I understand, Young Master.”
Still, they thought that the worst was over, so they immediately followed Rubin’s instructions. The two of them took different directions and began to explore.
Rubin also immediately went out to find a new cave. There are quite a few caves in this canyon, but if they spread out and searched, they could check all of them in two hours at the most. Then they could find the ‘red tree’ Rubin was looking for.
‘A red-colored tree growing in a deep canyon near the Flornica estate. A meteorite.’
That was what Rubin was looking for. Before Rubin died, this was the only confirmed habitat. At least that was what Rubin knew.
-Meteorite? I don’t know if it’s wood or stone. Is that such an important resource?
‘Of course.’
Meteorite was an important resource in two senses.
One is economic value. It will be widely used as a special building material on the continent within 5 years. The reason why it will be widely used is not very pleasant, but anyway.
‘The significance of preempting resources is great.’
In short, it is something that can be sold exclusively when the demand explodes.
‘But there’s another reason that’s more important to me. This meteorite can prevent the Roinecro collapse that will occur in about five years.’
-Royne Crow’s company closed?
‘This is an incident where an entire generation of Roynecro living in the Gillyfield Arboretum died. It was only after the death that we learned that the preventive measure was meteorite.’
It was the result of extensive research by Gilfield and Pyunig.
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‘Actually, mass production of meteorites will become possible in about three years. So it’s not too late to take action then to prevent the closure of Roinecro. However… … .’
-but?
‘There are ‘benefits’ that you will never get again if you don’t get them now’
That gain meant an extreme gain that only one person in the world could obtain.
Right now, the only person who knows the true value of ‘Hwaunseok’ is Rubin.
This is none other than the unrivaled wealthy man, ‘Tiss Kingven’.
He is also known as the ‘Merchant from the Future’.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he really came from the future. It was just a nickname he got because he caught the luck that came his way like a ghost and never let it go.
Several years ago, Tish accidentally came into possession of a meteorite crystal, and by even greater coincidence, discovered its incredible value.
‘There are two meteorites that can be found in this canyon. Before returning, Tees Kingven himself told me.’
-Have you ever met him?
‘no.’
Later, Tiss, who succeeded in mass-producing meteorite, published a book about his life, in which he wrote in detail about how he discovered meteorite. Rubin remembered several passages clearly.
-The ‘silver-haired rebel’ Yan, who has been causing a stir on the continent these days. His head will soon be beheaded, but since the rebellion is still being suppressed, I must be careful about mentioning him.
I found out later that the place where I found the pyroclastic seedlings was actually the estate of Yan’s fake family. How did I know? Well, I can only explain it as a stroke of luck.
Anyway, it was the time when the rebel was hiding in a ‘certain family’ and dreaming a vain dream of overthrowing the empire. At that time, I was madly collecting all the rumors and rumours known in the world, and the most plausible rumor among them was the ‘Hwaunseok’.
The value and efficacy of meteorite are now so well known that we will skip over them.
Anyway, rumor has it that the volcanic rock lives somewhere in a rugged canyon near the ‘house’ where Yan was hiding. That day, I packed my bags and left, searching every cave in the canyon.
And finally, we found a meteorite seedling… … .
Rubin, who knew everything about Jan and Tish, was able to fill in the blanks left by Tish without difficulty.
It was here that Tis collected meteorites while Jan was disguised as Prince Flornica.
In that sense, the person from the future would now be Rubin, not Tiss. If only he could find the meteorite.
-The secret of another world… How interesting. Now, tell me. What value is hidden in the ‘Hwaunseok’? What will you do if you find it?
‘It’s simple. I’ll find two meteorites here. I’ll plant one in the Gillyfield Arboretum, and sell the other to Tess Kingven.’
Money. That was Rubin’s goal.
If we only look at the wealth of the Assassin Sword Family, it surpasses that of any royal family. This is because the ‘base warehouses’ spread throughout the continent provide the Assassins with the funds and weapons they need to carry out their missions, and the Imperial Order also provides financial support.
‘But, right now I can’t receive any support.’
This was the time when he had just begun his life as a disguised man with the Roynens. Furthermore, what Rubin was going to do from now on would involve deceiving the eyes of the Emperor and the Imperial Commission.
So Rubin needed a huge amount of money that he could freely spend whenever he wanted.
-You want to make money? That’s a good idea. But why are you putting it in the arboretum? Didn’t you say the company would close in five years? When the meteorite is mass-produced in three years, you can buy it cheaply and take action.
That was true. And it was something he had already considered. Rubin was thinking of another possibility.
‘Before the return, the mass production of meteorites was done by Tish Kingven. At that time, he found two meteorites. But in this life, he will only get one.’
-… Ah, I see what you’re trying to say.
‘Yes, that’s right. Because I intervened and monopolized the supply of meteorites and controlled the distribution quantity, the future could change. For example, mass production could fail.’
-You’re saying you’re going to hide one just in case. In the safest place. If mass production fails, it won’t be too late to sell another one.
‘Yes. But the best case scenario would be if we could mass-produce it with just one. Mass production is absolutely necessary. That would also be a good way for me to get my revenge.’
At that moment, a bell rang.
Tina was flying into the cave, flapping her tiny wings.
“I found it! A red tree growing out of a rock like a mushroom! It’s blooming on the left wall just like you said!”
The place we arrived at following Tina was a cave at the very bottom of the canyon.
The moonlight was coming in a little. On the left side of the cave, a red tree was really sprouting. If you looked at it wrong, it looked like a stuffed deer head on the wall.
“uh……?”
“Why? Isn’t this what you were looking for?”
“No, that’s right. But… … .”
A single branch the size of a wrist was sticking out of the wall, and other smaller branches were extending out.
Looking closely, the branches were covered in patterns that looked like blazing fire or clouds. That’s why it’s called a fire cloud stone.
‘But why are there three instead of two?’
In Tiss Kingven’s memoir, he wrote that he found ‘two’ meteorites in the canyon.
Of course, we cannot be certain that T. Kingven’s records are all true. He may have been mistaken, or he may have intentionally adjusted the numbers.
‘It doesn’t matter. It’s even better. I’ll hide one in the arboretum as planned, and sell the other to Tiss Kingven. The last one… I’ll keep it.’
There will be a use for it someday. It is a meteorite, and it is a natural meteorite before mass production. It is the epitome of purity.
‘Perhaps it could be used as an elixir.’
Thud thud.
Soon, Rubin took out three meteorites without hesitation. The method of taking them out was simple. Just twist the part that was touching the wall and it would fall off.
– Isn’t this just a tree the size of your forearm? How can this be used as a building material? And if it looks like a ‘tree’, why is it called a ‘firestone’? No matter how you look at it, it’s not a stone.
It was a natural question.
The pyroclastic rock was a peculiar plant. Now it is only as thick as an arm, but if you bury it in the ground, it is a different story. It grows into an incredibly large tree.
Is that all? When it comes into contact with a rock, it naturally sticks to the rock face. In the process, it undergoes a ‘transformation of its essence.’
-A fundamental change?
Changing the material of the rocks that touch each other. This is why meteorites are so valuable.
Just as a poisonous snake bites a person’s ankle and the poison spreads throughout the body, meteorite completely changes the composition of the material it is joined to.
‘It is a ‘building material with special efficacy’ that does not exist in any other material in the world.’
In a few years, when great chaos comes to this world, the value of meteorite as a building material will be beyond imagination. Of course, it is not something to think about right now.
‘The problem is the time required to mass produce it. Once a meteorite comes into contact with a rock, it takes at least two years for it to be transformed.’
The only person who knows the value of meteorite and can mass produce it is Tiss Kingven. So dealing with him was inevitable.
‘It can’t be a simple give and take transaction.’
It must be the future of a man with such great business acumen that he is called a ‘merchant from the future.’
“Rubin! I found it, so why don’t you give me a prize or something?”
Now Tina, bored with being a sparrow, had transformed into a black, sleek hunting dog. She scratched at the wall where she had found the meteorite.
Kuze, who was exploring another cave at that time, also joined us.
“Your Majesty, are we going to Capotini now?”
Rubin answered by smiling at Kuze.
Kuze, who was anxious about what the smile meant, swallowed his saliva for no reason. I didn’t know that life in Roinenser would become this noisy even before it started.
“Tina.”
“Are you finally giving me the prize? Finally?”
Tina wags her tail wildly.
“Do you like auction houses?”
At those words, the tail wagging seemed to have doubled in speed. Tina’s eyes sparkled and she lifted her front paws toward Rubin in excitement.
“Auction house? Auction house! Auction house?”
The meaning is clear, though. Tina, who enjoys gambling and competition, was also fascinated by the auction house. Most of the auction houses had many trinkets and jewels that caught the eyes of the Hwanhyeol tribe.
“But, before we go to the auction house, there’s something I need to do first.”
Rubin gave Tina a meteorite.
“Fly to Gilfield as fast as you can and plant this secretly. So that it shares the soil with the Fog Tree.”
“Hey! It’ll take days of nonstop flying to get there!”
“So, I have to go there as quickly as possible. That way, I can meet you at the ‘Tolois Auction House’ on time.”
“… Sat, Tolois Auction House! Wow! Look, you see, I just turned into Roinecrow? All I have to do is plant it and come back, right, Rubin?”
