Shion agreed to Regulus's terms.
Even as an Elf with a long lifespan, she knew time couldn't simply be wasted on a five-year standoff with reviving monsters. Moreover, she used to manage various trade routes between the demi-human territories and human cities, so this new position as his lead merchant was a relatively familiar job.
Along the way, while guiding Regulus and Sphinx deeper into the wetlands, she inquired about what had happened in the outside world over the past few years.
Upon learning of the brutal civil war between the Demi-Human alliance and the Kingdom of Lugnica, she was deeply surprised. Yet, at the same time, she felt it was an inevitable tragedy. As a member of the elven race, she had a profound, personal understanding of the deep-rooted friction between humans and demi-humans.
If it weren't for her considerable personal strength and the substantial amount of money she earned to grease the wheels, she would never have engaged in cross-faction business in the first place. She just never expected the tension to erupt into a full-scale war so suddenly.
'In the few years I was trapped out here, troubled by how to retrieve my property, I somehow managed to completely avoid being drafted into this bloody conflict,' Shion realized. 'Should it be called a lucky coincidence or fate?'
However, if it weren't for this unexpected monster infestation, there was a very high probability she would have gone entirely bankrupt or been killed during the outbreak of the civil war anyway. What surprised her the most, however, was that the current King's final handling of the peace treaty was completely without prejudice.
She definitely needed to thoroughly inquire more about this political shift later.
With the three of them moving at a brisk pace, it didn't take long before they reached the abandoned village Shion had mentioned.
Looking at the dilapidated ruins before them, where even the dirt paths had disappeared under a dense canopy of overgrown weeds, Shion's emotions wavered nervously.
"Are we really going in just like this?"
"Don't worry," Regulus said casually. "You don't need to do anything. Just follow closely beside me and show me the way."
"Mm..." Shion nodded hesitantly.
Although she was still very worried, if Regulus was so confident, anything she said wouldn't have any effect. But as she peered into the gloom, a chill ran down her spine.
'Have the monsters here increased in number again?' she thought, her eyes widening. 'No! It's not just their numbers... I have a terrible feeling that their base strength has mutated as well.'
The subsequent events immediately confirmed her dark thoughts.
As they stepped past the ruined village gates, the further they advanced toward the center, the stronger the glowing Mabeasts became, and the more aggressive their coordinated attacks grew.
If she could handle a dozen of the straggling monsters outside the village by herself five years ago, then for the mutated variants they just encountered upon entering the village square, she could at most deal with five or six before being overwhelmed. Now, seeing the glowing behemoths lurking near the center, even dealing with two of them at once would be extremely difficult for her.
If they continued further, wouldn't even a one-on-one fight be strenuous?
However, despite this terrifying realization, what surprised—or rather, shocked—her even more was the white-haired man holding Sphinx in his arms.
He merely waved his free hand casually as he walked. There wasn't even a hint of magical fluctuation or mana in the air, yet the invisible force he unleashed instantly and effortlessly shredded the powerful monsters into bloody mist.
It was an entirely incomprehensible, god-like power.
"These monsters seem to be aggressively guarding something," Sphinx noted, her brows furrowing deeply as she analyzed their patrol patterns. "And whatever it is they're guarding also seems to be passively radiating energy, making them physically stronger over time."
"Something they're guarding?" Shion murmured softly.
'Could it be that there's some magical treasure hidden in this village?' she wondered.
Suddenly, a memory flashed in Shion's mind. Sphinx, who had been sharply observing her surroundings, naturally noticed the change in the elf's expression immediately, but before the Witch could even ask...
"Um..." Shion stammered, raising her hand.
"What is it?" Regulus asked without looking back, slicing another Mabeast in half with a flick of his wrist.
"Regarding what these monsters are guarding... I think I might know what it is."
"You know?"
"Yes," Shion swallowed hard. "It... it might be because of me that these monsters appeared here in the first place."
Shion's expression became incredibly awkward. She truly couldn't accept the bitter irony that the massive, deadly problem that had trapped her in these woods for five years was something she herself had unwittingly caused.
"Let's talk as we go," Regulus said, his interest genuinely piqued.
The sheer number and mutated strength of the Mabeasts here were such that even if the most elite Royal Knights personally marched here, they might not be able to clear them out without heavy casualties. Especially since, according to Shion, these monsters would likely revive about a day after dying.
Just thinking about a self-sustaining monster army that revives every single day felt terrifying to any normal nation.
"Actually, right before coming to rest in this village five years ago, I met a human girl on the road who seemed quite down on her luck," Shion explained. "But her attire and nominal status were very unique—unlike anything I had ever seen. When that girl learned I was a traveling merchant, after much nervous deliberation, she pulled out a very strange, glowing metal sphere and asked if I would buy it."
Shion sighed, rubbing her arm. "Although I had absolutely no idea what it was, seeing her pitiful, starving state, I bought the sphere from her for two Holy Gold Coins."
"Two Holy Gold Coins... for a sphere of unknown value?" Regulus raised an eyebrow. That was a small fortune.
"It wasn't purely charity, you know," Shion defended her business acumen. "Because the craftsmanship looked incredibly exquisite, and I'd never seen anything remotely like it before. I figured even if I just resold it to a noble collector in the Capital as a curiosity, I could easily get my money back."
'I see. That makes sense then,' Regulus thought, nodding slightly.
She was indeed a merchant, but she didn't seem to be the kind of unscrupulous, cutthroat profiteer who would squeeze every last drop of value out of a desperate person.
If she were a true profiteer facing someone down on their luck who wanted to sell a highly valuable item, they definitely wouldn't offer a fair estimated price. Instead, they would try every possible, underhanded way to drive the price down to a few coppers, or even steal it for free. For instance, they might extort them, or deliberately call the city guards and falsely claim the starving person had stolen the artifact. Between a wealthy merchant and a ragged vagabond, who would the guards likely believe?
However, that down-on-her-luck girl daring to take out a highly valuable, glowing item and trade it with a passing merchant on an open road was also quite bold. Or perhaps she was just a very good judge of character and could intuitively tell Shion wouldn't swindle her.
'I'm actually becoming quite interested in this mysterious girl,' Regulus mused.
"Do you happen to know the name of that down-on-her-luck girl?" Regulus asked.
"Yes, her name seemed to be Kisaragi Naoko," Shion recalled. "And when I accepted her item, she also promised to buy it back from me at ten times the price later once she was settled. She specifically left me an address, asking me to find her when I passed through on my future travels."
'Kisaragi Naoko...' Regulus's eyes widened fractionally.
This name did not sound like a native of this fantasy world at all. In fact, it followed the exact same naming convention as Natsuki Subaru.
'And this girl's name gives me a very strong sense of déjà vu,' Regulus's mind raced, piecing the meta-knowledge together. 'If the surname "Kisaragi" were replaced with "Natsuki", the picture would be completely different. However, if it truly is what I suspect... the situation is going to become extremely interesting.'
After all, Naoko was the given name of Natsuki Subaru's mother.
At that exact moment, Regulus parted the final thicket of weeds and entered the village square. He immediately spotted the small, ruined house where Shion had once taken shelter.
And parked right outside the house was a dilapidated, moss-covered merchant carriage. This abandoned carriage was the epicenter of the glowing Mabeasts' patrol routes, serving as the throne they were fiercely guarding.
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Give me powerstones.
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