Episode 52: The situation has changed. (1)
After resting for a couple more days to recuperate, Jiselle immediately called up the mercenaries.
Although I wasn’t in the best physical condition, just being able to move to this extent saved me a considerable amount of time.
Gillian suddenly stopped as he was lining up his mercenaries, then glanced back at Giselle.
Even Giselle, who had been wondering, soon realized the reason. Belinda was walking slowly toward the mansion.
“What, are you here to see me off?”
“Gisselle blurted out jokingly. Belinda snorted and shook her head.
“What kind of farewell are you talking about? I’ll go with you too.”
Jiselle frowned slightly.
Although the tangled mana has been stabilized to some extent, it is not completely healed yet.
“Belinda, why don’t you rest a little longer? You don’t have to come with me.”
“No. What are you going to do if you meet bandits on the way? Anyone who sees a runestone as big as mine will be unable to help but pounce on me. If you don’t follow me, I’ll get worried and I won’t be able to rest any longer.”
She spoke bluntly and put on a robe.
Giselle shook her head. Belinda was so firm, she didn’t feel like giving in.
No matter what, he was the one who took care of Jiselle since she was little. There was nothing he could do about her weakening heart.
Jiselle sighed and made a promise.
“If you have any difficulties along the way, please let me know.”
“Okay. Are you going to leave the territory right now?”
“No, let’s go get what we left behind.”
Jisel led the mercenaries back into the Forest of Demons to retrieve the ent’s lining and the remaining corpse of the Blood Phyton.
Unlike when they first entered, the group moved quickly on horseback.
“Are you going to mine the remaining rune stones as well?”
When Gillian asked, Giselle shook her head.
“No, there’s no time for that. I’ll just collect the bodies and go sell the runestones.”
The mercenaries’ faces lit up when they heard that they were going to sell runestones.
Because they need to sell the rune stones so they can get a good reward.
“Come on, let’s move quickly.”
Thanks to their well-earned rest, the mercenaries were also full of energy. In just half a day, the party collected all the monster corpses and returned to the territory.
“The skin will not rot, so keep it as is, and separate the poison, blood, flesh, and leather from the corpse of the python and store them so that they do not rot.”
Giselle left the body to the waiting workers to handle and store it, and led the mercenaries out of the territory.
The mercenaries shouted excitedly as they followed Jiselle, who was moving busily as if being chased by something.
“Wow, the captain’s body looks really stiff.”
“Kekekeke, if you sell this many runestones, you’ll make a ton of money. Just thinking about it makes my heart race.”
Gillian spoke with a hint of concern, separate from the mercenaries’ chattering.
“Your Majesty, even so, is it really necessary to move so hastily? You are not yet in good health, so please do not push yourself too hard.”
Gillian knew the situation was urgent thanks to what she heard from Giselle, but she didn’t know he would act so urgently.
They were riding so fast that the wagons carrying the rune stones could not keep up.
“That may be true. But we must always remember that time is not on our side.”
Giselle did not slow down as she spoke. Only when the horses pulling the cart could not keep up and broke ranks did she reluctantly slow down a little.
“Keep the speed the same. Let’s move as fast as possible.”
The mercenaries also followed closely behind Jiselle, who was picking up speed, because they thought it wouldn’t hurt to get paid quickly.
“Wow, but our leader is good at horse riding. Is he a centaur?”
“Is it something that would make even the most average knights go away?”
“You’re young, but there’s nothing you can’t do.”
Although horse riding was an essential skill for the nobility, Giselle’s horse riding skills were not at the level of cultured people.
Even the mercenaries who had fought in countless battles had never seen anyone who spoke so well.
Every time I saw him, he showed skill and maturity that was beyond his years, so it was always amazing.
Whether or not he knew that the mercenaries behind him were admiring him, Jiselle rode south silently.
The mercenaries who had been following Jiselle without thinking realized something strange only after a while.
“But why are you going this way?”
“Yeah. If you’re looking for a big top, Raypold would be the fastest.”
“Aren’t you just running without thinking?”
The wealthiest estate in the North is Leipold. There are many large merchants there, so if you want to sell something, going to Leipold is the easiest and fastest way.
But Jiselle was heading further south, bypassing the Zimbar territory.
As they moved over several days, voices of doubt grew louder among the mercenaries.
Kaor asked Giselle on behalf of the mercenaries.
“Where are you going, Master? We have already passed the territory where the great merchants are located.”
Jiselle said with a smirk.
“Go to the Brevan estate.”
It was a destination no one had expected. The mercenaries, including Kaor, were surprised and asked back.
“Why do you go all the way there?”
“Is there a big top there?”
The domain of Brivant was a small domain in the north, but it was so famous that there was no one in the kingdom who did not know it.
The mercenaries who had been muttering soon exclaimed in admiration as they remembered why Brivant was famous.
“If it’s Brivant… … Oh, no way!”
“Are you going there?”
Jiselle nodded.
“Yeah, I’m going to the rooftop.”
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The mercenaries quickly realized what Jiselle was thinking just by hearing the word ‘Matap’.
“I see! So you’re trying to sell it directly to the Magic Tower instead of the upper floor? Then you can get more money!”
“That’s right, that’s right. The prince is more frugal than I thought.”
There are only a few merchants in the North who can buy Runestones in bulk. Even those who do will pay the price after deducting the merchant’s profit.
But if you sell directly to the rooftop, it’s a different story.
This is because the most commonly used material in magical research is the rune stone.
If you are a magician who is crazy about runestones, you will buy them all no matter how much they are. The price will also be higher at the magic tower than at the top.
The mercenaries, who were practically country bumpkins living at the northern tip, looked excited to see the famous magic tower.
Everyone was laughing, saying that it was a good idea to follow Jiselle since they would both have money and be able to go sightseeing.
But Kaor thought for a moment and then asked Giselle.
“Your Majesty, the Magic Tower in Brivant is the Red Magic Tower. Wouldn’t it be better to go to the Crimson Magic Tower?”
“Oh, really? Then there’s no need to go all the way to the Brivant Estate?”
“That’s right. The Crimson Tower is the best in the North. I guess they’ll give you the best price, right?”
Hearing Kaor’s words, the mercenaries began to chatter.
If you were going to sell it at the Magic Tower, it would be right to sell it at the place that would give you the best price for the Rune Stone.
The small magic towers wouldn’t be able to handle the amount of rune stones they had, so they had to go to the large magic towers.
The most powerful magic tower in the North is the Crimson Magic Tower. It is also the place that offers the most Rune Stones and buys them in large quantities.
So most of the other tops also mainly traded with the Crimson Tower.
But Giselle shook her head.
“No, we are going to the Red Flame Tower.”
“Yes? Why?”
The mercenaries, including Kaor, asked back in confusion.
The Red Flame Tower was once the wealthiest and most powerful place in the North.
However, after the rival Crimson Tower’s tower lord Delmud became the 7th circle’s great magician and gained fame, the situation was completely reversed.
Although they were desperately trying to regain their former glory, it was not easy to catch up with the Crimson Tower, which had already grown too large.
“Excuse me, you’re not mistaken, are you?”
“The one in Brivant is not the crimson one, but the red one.”
“With this amount of inventory, we should go to the place that sells the best.”
The mercenaries couldn’t help but think that Jiselle was mistaken. Why would she make a decision at a loss when she could get more money?
Belinda frowned as she watched the mercenaries chattering away without any reason.
I really didn’t like the sight of ignorant and rude people crawling up to Jiselle.
She poked Gillian in the ribs without Giselle knowing. When he turned around, Belinda raised her eyebrows, telling him to educate her properly.
But Jiselle herself seemed completely oblivious to such ill-mannered behavior.
“Don’t be mistaken, you should go to the Red Flame Tower. I have something to think about, so follow me.”
The mercenaries did not understand his intentions, but they followed Jiselle obediently without saying anything more.
Just like in the Forest of Demons, I was half-hearted in believing that Jiselle would have some kind of plan, and half-hearted in not caring whether they would suffer losses or not, thinking that it was none of their business.
After passing a few more estates, a tall tower finally came into view.
The mercenaries looked at the tower and started to chat among themselves.
Jiselle chuckled and spurred her horse on.
* * *
By the time Giselle arrived at the Brevant estate, Harold, Earl of Desmond, was holding a copy of the document tightly and reading it with trembling eyes.
It was a report delivered from spies who infiltrated the Ferdium territory.
Harold threw the report on the desk and let out a sigh.
“Runestones… …Runestones? And in such large quantities?”
As Giselle had expected, the news of his acquisition of the runestone reached Harold’s ears in just a few days.
Harold closed his eyes, stroked his moustache, and looked serious.
‘The plan has completely gone awry.’
The plan was to slowly weaken the Ferdium territory, but now that you have obtained the Rune Stone, it will not be an easy task.
‘Tsk, maybe I should’ve just forced the fight.’
Even if Gilmore Digald’s body was gone, they could still force a fight.
But I couldn’t figure out who the hell got rid of that body, so I tried to watch a little longer… … I didn’t know it would lead to this result.
‘I heard he brought mercenaries into the Demon Forest and did something crazy.’
It was so uncomfortable that Giselle’s name came up when contact with Frank was lost.
From then on, Harold was constantly informed of Giselle’s every move.
Although his personality seems to have changed a bit, there are no reports that his skills have improved enough to beat Frank.
Then, after receiving a report that he had entered the forest with mercenaries and demons, he completely turned his attention away from Jiselle.
I thought I was going to die there anyway.
But when I heard the news that Jiselle had finally retrieved the Runestone, my uneasy feeling now turned into complete anxiety.
‘It probably wasn’t that big of a vessel.’
We have spent a long time investigating the Northern Territory.
Of course, I also investigated the main characters, but based on the information at the time, Jiselle was not even worth paying attention to.
But I’ve heard that name twice recently, which means there’s a problem with the information.
Harold gave new orders to the adjutant waiting next to him.
“Re-collect information on the key figures in the North. Don’t worry about the previous investigation results, start from scratch.”
“All right.”
The newly appointed adjutant is more capable of gathering information than plotting, so he will do a good job.
Harold looked out the window with a strange sense of unease.
The red sunset was dyeing his room.
