Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: High-Grade Mana Stone
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‘Listen to the sound of the snow falling, my child.’
First Prince Marib suddenly recalled his mother’s words and glanced out the window. Sure enough, snow was falling. Strangely enough, every year, the moment the first snow fell, the Empress’s voice would echo in his mind without fail.
“Oh, it’s the first snow.”
The aide handed documents to Marib at his desk with a smile. Winter was cold and harsh, but wasn’t it the season that marked the end and beginning of the year? Marib turned his head indifferently and muttered.
“The New Year’s banquet will be upon us soon.”
“That’s right. The main imperial palace building was in quite a frenzy. They say the finance officer in charge is bickering daily with Lady Dillaina’s chamberlain over the budget or something...”
Dillaina was the only woman in the Emperor’s rear palace who attended him at his side. The Empress’s position had remained tacitly vacant for quite some time since both Marib’s birth mother and Gail’s had passed away.
‘Has it already been over ten years?’
Several times, talks of appointing a new Empress had circulated, but they never even made it onto the council agenda. It was the one point where Marib and Gail saw eye to eye.
No one could ascend to the Empress’s throne until their respective mothers returned alive.
No one but their birth mothers could call them sons.
“It’s really shameless, isn’t it? I don’t know why they make such a fuss every New Year’s.”
“The New Year’s banquet has always been under His Majesty the Emperor’s purview, hasn’t it? With His Majesty not feeling well, it’s only natural for the closest rear palace consort to handle it. Isn’t it an honor?”
“Receiving a word of encouragement from Father?”
Marib tried to push his mother’s face from his mind as he continued speaking. He hoped the aide would ramble on with some useless talk to distract him.
“Hmm, still, having Lady Dillaina does make things a bit easier. If it weren’t for her, we’d be the ones preparing the New Year’s banquet. On top of not even getting off on time...”
The aide, who had been lamenting his plight, lightly smacked his own mouth and organized the documents. It was the excitement from the snow. His mouth was blabbering without regard for time or place.
“When is Romandro supposed to arrive? With, uh, Lord Ian.”
“We haven’t received separate word at the palace, but since he said he’d come on schedule, we expect he’s setting off soon.”
“And Molin?”
“He should arrive in the capital before Lord Ian. The administration might issue him mandatory leave, though it’s not confirmed. We’ll assign someone as soon as he arrives.”
“That guy’s life sure is tenacious.”
At Marib’s irritated mutter, the aide stealthily gauged his mood. Due to the unresolved issue of the High Priest appointment at the New Year’s banquet and the Magic Department’s checks on it, they’d had no choice but to delay dealing with Molin.
And it had dragged on until now.
Until the first snow fell and the New Year’s rites approached.
“Paal.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Marib pressed his brow lightly and called the aide. Paal’s shoulders stiffened rigidly—whenever his name was called like that, a question inevitably followed.
“Is there no way?”
A way to kill Molin and fend off the Magic Department’s interference.
“If it weren’t for that truth serum, we wouldn’t be racking our brains like this. The biggest issue is that the Magic Department has no grounds to intervene in other departments by nature.”
Potion development progress, efficacy, lack of physical side effects, and so on. It was all coming up in written reports, so it was hard to trust.
Aide Paal paused briefly before answering.
“Given the gravity of the matter, other places are united in opposition as well.”
“But the administration is immovable, so what’s the point.”
Silence meant affirmation, and petitions related to the Emperor were flooding in daily, yet none had been properly approved.
“Since we have Lord Molin in custody, it’s best to wait until the New Year’s banquet. And once Lord Ian is assigned to the Magic Department, it should make it easier to check on that side’s information.”
Paal glanced at his superior and cautiously offered his opinion. But judging by Marib’s expression, it didn’t satisfy him. It was just reiterating what they all knew.
“Bring the report from the Magic Department.”
“Yes. My apologies.”
Marib rummaged through the Magic Department’s truth serum report again. It was meticulously noted, but the content was utterly incomprehensible to a layman. Forget understanding—some words were hard to even read.
‘To interpret this, we’d need the Magic Department’s help again, which is the problem.’
It hadn’t been like this before.
Those who inherited sacred power had, until just a few years ago, maintained neutrality and firmly guarded the palace’s center. But ever since Wesley became Magic Department Minister, that balance had shattered.
“What about the report comparing it to the homogeneity potion?”
“It’s here.”
At least by using the popularized homogeneity potion as a baseline, they could see what was newly added or removed in the truth serum. Marib, who had been scrutinizing it carefully, paused.
“Luron?”
Luron. A name he’d never heard before in his life. The notation next to it suggested it was a mana stone...
“Paal. It says a mana stone called Luron is in the truth serum—find related materials.”
“Ah, I happen to have requested some from the Magic Department.”
The aide jumped up and rummaged through the stack of files on the trolley. He pulled out a bundle of papers about an inch thick and flipped through them briskly.
“Shall I read it?”
“Yes.”
Marib turned back to the report and waited for the aide’s explanation. There were five special ingredients unique to the truth serum.
“Luron, a high-grade rarity mana stone.”
“High-grade rarity?”
Just as it sounded—rare, thus high value, and scarce data. The first sentence already grated on Marib’s nerves.
“If it’s high-grade rarity, they must’ve lacked quantity for research, yet the report says human trials and efficacy tests were all completed?”
“That’s what the report says. Though high-grade rarity, only a tiny amount is used, so no supply issues.”
“Well, it’d only be used on those up for appointment anyway.”
“The Magic Department managed a total of 15 kilograms of Luron—5 kilograms used in research, and about 10 grams per batch for truth serum production.”
“Don’t they keep hundreds of kilograms of common low-grade mana stones?”
“Luron was only reported to academia last year.”
Tap, tap. Marib drummed the desk, signaling to continue reading. It was a mana stone he’d never heard of, but compared to other materials, its rarity was clear.
“Deposit location unconfirmed, though said to be near ordinary veins, but samples are few. However, something peculiar...”
“What?”
The aide tilted his head as if seeing such a mana stone for the first time.
“It exists as liquid and hardens into stone upon resonating with external mana. For example, when mages arrived at a reported deposit site, a miner standing on Luron had his feet instantly bound.”
It reached up to his ankles and hardened solid—no way to free him. The constriction was severe, so they had to amputate the intact ankle before the entire leg necrotized.
“Ankles were fortunate.”
“No reports yet of it going deep enough to swallow the body. That would’ve been disastrous. If it had bound his entire lower half, whew.”
“Anything else?”
“Oh, it has a purple hue, and the more bubbles that rise when solidified, the better the mana resonance. Not sure what that means to mages, though.”
The explanatory material distributed with Magic Department cooperation ended there. They probably had more detailed internal data...
“We need more info on Luron.”
“I’ll investigate.”
The aide nodded as if to say leave it to him and gathered the documents. Meanwhile, Marib glanced out the window again. The snow that had been falling had stopped.
“By the way, is the solidified mana stone used as is in production? Looks like it’s added as powder, not liquid.”
“The report doesn’t specify the fusion method. But it says the hardness is extreme—barely a scratch from ordinary means.”
“Then how do they manage it?”
The aide flipped through the report quickly and read the desired info.
“It apparently crumbles under a mage’s mana. Research shows the stronger the mana condensation, the easier to handle.”
Marib rubbed his chin and drummed the table.
So that meant...
“It could serve as a criterion to select mages with strong mana.”
* * *
“Wait!”
Romandro thrust out his hand and shouted. Unlike the nonchalant Ian and the seemingly oblivious Berik, every orifice on his face was wide open. Eyes bulging, nostrils flaring, mouth agape with no sign of closing.
“W-Wait a second. What did I just hear?”
“There’s mana in the Monne Mine.”
“Mana stones in Monne? Mana stones? You mean the ones I know?”
His head was spinning. Even getting struck by a bolt of money on the street wouldn’t feel like this. A mana stone in that little mine he’d thought was just a coal pit!?
“Ian! Ian! Whoaaa! Oh my god!”
“Lord Romandro, you’re fully awake now.”
“How could I sleep through this? You must’ve done something huge in a past life! Mana stones!”
Past life huge deed—yeah, he had. Ian chuckled and raised both hands. A plea to calm down.
“But the problem is we can’t identify the mana stone. No info. It’s gripping the knight’s corpse tight, so it seems dangerous... or maybe not...”
Seen but unseen—Ian could only smile awkwardly. All the mana stones he’d encountered before had undergone refining dozens of times. Confirming raw ore was confusing; he couldn’t be sure.
“Any issues? Contact the Magic Department right—”
Romandro’s heated excitement cooled in an instant. He realized exactly what the problem was.
“Gail must’ve targeted this place for that reason. Not certain, but he seems to have had some inkling.”
“If the Magic Department finds out, it’ll be utter chaos.”
“I agree. The good news is no one else knows but us.”
Ian suddenly recalled Mac and Drgor constantly roaming outside the estate. He’d thought they were scheming about Gula, but they’d visited the mine too.
“H-How big was it?”
“Big enough to swallow an adult man’s entire lower body.”
“Oh my god. Insane. You’re truly terrifying!”
Its value was incalculable. Even low-grade mana stones matched diamonds of equal volume.
What if mid-grade? No—high-grade?
Lost in fantasy, Romandro snapped to and gripped Ian’s shoulders tight.
“You could found a kingdom. Hahaha!”
“...Not words befitting an imperial advisor, no?”
“Just a figure of speech! A figure!”
Ian chuckled and replied.
“First, I won’t report to the capital. The mine’s our territory anyway, and after I join the Magic Department and gauge the atmosphere, we can handle it then.”
“Yes. I think so too. Better consult with Prince Marib there.”
“Leave that to me as well. I’ll speak to him.”
“Ah, right, right. The master should handle it.”
“We’ll head to the mine as soon as dawn breaks tomorrow.”
They needed to examine the mana stone more closely. At Ian’s words, Romandro whipped his head to check the clock. One a.m. Time was crawling unbearably.