Chapter 164
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Orichalcon's Secret
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“Leon, if this gets out to the world...”
“Can I be honest?”
“It's probably what I'm already thinking... but go ahead...”
“If word spreads that Orichalcon can be mined to even a small degree, it wouldn't be strange if war broke out immediately.”
They could just slap on some pretext.
The value of a mine producing Orichalcon was nothing short of astronomical.
The world's only existing Orichalcon mine.
That was the significance.
“I... want to keep this under wraps for now. Do you know anyone else?”
“At the very least, the Vergal Association's overseer will know.”
“Damn... That association is notorious for openly sharing information everywhere.”
It wasn't something to worry about.
Raida owed me a favor, so I could just ask her to report it as a natural phenomenon that resolved itself.
“That won't be a problem. The overseer is sympathetic to my side.”
“That's a relief. How much ore is there?”
Now came the important part: the reserves.
“I can't say for sure, but Orichalcon only forms from layer upon layer of coincidences, so there probably won't be much.”
Even knowing the principle, you couldn't produce it.
It wasn't efficient in terms of technology or yield.
Yet Orichalcon's value was unquestionable.
“This is Orichalcon... I never thought I'd see some in my lifetime. But do we have the technology to process it?”
That was the fundamental issue.
How many craftsmen in the world even had the skill to handle something like Orichalcon, which wasn't your average metal?
“Even a master dwarf artisan might lack experience with it, but they could forge one sword worthy of you.”
“You're not using it?”
“I considered it, but this precious sword fits my hand better than I expected.”
I subtly pulled the hilt of my precious sword Electra from my subspace and showed it to her. She nodded.
With the amount of Orichalcon we could secure right now, there wasn't enough for anything beyond one sword anyway.
“True, with an heirloom like that, you wouldn't need an Orichalcon blade.”
I'd handled Orichalcon several times before.
But this precious sword Electra didn't feel inferior to any Orichalcon-forged blade I'd used.
Maybe after I returned it, but for now, I had no need for it.
Of course, I planned to skim a little for a certain item I'd been thinking of making.
“I'll take a bit later.”
“It's your achievement, so do what you want. No one else could process it right now anyway. Even if you took it all, they'd accept whatever explanation you gave.”
It's not like I was handling things without reason, right?
I was surprised to realize just how deep Melissa's trust in me had grown.
“Hm? A letter from the Holy Kingdom? From the Saintess?”
“Oh. Look at me spacing out. It arrived while you were at the mine...”
She let out a short groan.
“Seems like things worked out well enough that they don't need your help anymore.”
Hm? Whatever, it didn't matter to me, but this was someone who'd been saying things were urgent not long ago?
“Did you check the handwriting?”
“Yeah. It looks like hers...”
My eyes narrowed as I stared at the letter the Saintess had sent.
The content genuinely stated that things with the Hael Tribe had resolved smoothly without issue.
It was good news, but...
I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.
Just in case, I scanned the paper with the Heart of the Machine God.
And that confirmed it.
“This isn't ordinary paper.”
With that thought, I leaped straight to my workshop, grabbed a special pigment, and doused the letter with it.
Then I returned to Melissa's office and slid the paper into the fireplace, pulling it out moments later.
“H-Hey... Hey?! What are you doing?!”
The paper charred quickly, but strangely, only the surface burned while the shape remained intact.
As soon as the flames died out on their own, I brushed off the soot.
“There's hidden text.”
“What does it say?”
“Location and time.”
“...”
Melissa took the letter, her face blank as she scanned the content.
The letter contained only a specific location and time.
What kind of lunatic hides a message like a riddle?
It was ridiculous.
“A request to join up, done this dramatically?”
But since it was from the Saintess, responding was the proper thing to do.
The appointed time in the letter was about three days from now.
In truth, it was something we couldn't have responded to if we hadn't noticed.
Did they not care if we missed it, or were they in a situation where they had no choice but to send it this way?
If the former, fine—but if the latter, as Melissa feared, it could spark conflict with the Holy Kingdom.
In the worst case, we couldn't count on aid from the Bata Kingdom, so as Border Count and lord of the territory, it was a burden Melissa couldn't ignore.
“This the place?”
Unlike I'd expected, the meeting spot wasn't en route to the Hael Tribe but in the outskirts on the opposite side, toward the Holy Kingdom.
It was a fortress housing a direct branch office under the Heresy Inquisitors' headquarters—one of the Holy Kingdom's famed natural strongholds.
Among places where heretics were imprisoned, it was notorious for tight security, yet its majestic presence also drew quite a few tourists.
“Hmm...”
I let out a short sigh of admiration at the sight of the fortress, which we'd reached via teleport gate to the nearest city followed by flight magic.
Whatever the situation, the fortress's grandeur was undeniably impressive.
It had that eerie aura, like you'd be branded a heretic and dragged off if spotted.
Of course, this wasn't headquarters, just a branch, and as no heretic myself, I had no reason to get caught by them.
If the Saintess was anywhere, it had to be the Heresy Inquisitors' branch office at the fortress's heart.
After proving our identities to some Holy Kingdom soldiers guarding the fortress, we entered to find neat, austere interiors.
Including this place, the headquarters and branches where Heresy Inquisitors lived were all inhabited by people adhering strictly to such rigid, orderly rules.
On the streets, men and women in Inquisitor uniforms patrolled in groups of twos or threes.
Each one, rigorously trained, exuded considerable presence.
Yet for peacetime, the security felt stricter than expected.
“Hold it right there.”
A team of Heresy Inquisitors spotted us entering the city and approached.
“What's this about?”
“Apologies. We need to inspect you. Ma'am, please remove your hood and mask.”
“Refused.”
“A heretic has escaped this fortress. One male, one female. We have a duty to search for them.”
If heretics escaped from a prison holding them, the Inquisitors would lose their minds.
I felt Luna glance my way.
“Just cooperate.”
At my words, she quietly removed her mask and pulled back her hood slightly.
The Inquisitors' eyes widened instantly.
When I showed them the Cascadia family crest afterward, they backed off with understanding nods.
“Ahem... It seems you're not the heretics we're after. Enjoy your visit.”
“What's going on?”
I'd already grasped the situation, but to gather info, I asked. He sighed.
“A vicious heretic imprisoned for heinous crimes escaped the detention center. Looks like they had accomplices.”
“Hey.”
“What? They're just civilians. We're searching for them, so if you spot anyone suspicious, please report it.”
“Sure.”
The timing was ironically perfect—someone had just escaped.
As Luna put her mask back on while watching the Inquisitors pass, I started walking again.
The streets hummed with holy power.
A force I hadn't wielded yet, but its presence was distinctly palpable.
We were heading to the branch office where Saintess Nadia might be.
“Found them!”
“Move out!!”
The patrolling Heresy Inquisitors grew hectic, the atmosphere turning tense.
Citizens silently cleared the way, wary of stray sparks, as Inquisitors swiftly and precisely converged to encircle the signal's source.
Thanks to the sudden emptiness, we reached our destination without obstruction.
The Holy Kingdom never had a dull day.
Upon arriving at the Heresy Inquisitors' branch office, a low-ranking priest greeted us at reception.
“We're here at High Priest Navel's request. Is she inside?”
“Na... vel? One moment, please.”
He tilted his head at my request and quickly rifled through the registry.
“That's odd. No one named Navel is listed here at the branch. Are you sure it's Navel?”
“Yes, that's correct.”
Unless the Saintess had lost her mind, she wouldn't have signed with a fake name like Nadia Ten Lilibel.
“Strange. Hmm...”
As he searched the registry, his eyes suddenly widened.
“Ah! Here it is. High Priest Navel... Huh? Heretic? Wait, this is the heretic roster.”
He frowned and asked,
“Are you sure it's Navel?”
Suspicion laced his gaze.
“Yes. She said she needed help, so we came. Was she a heretic?”
“...”
“If she's a heretic, we'll leave it be. No reason to aid one.”
“...Understood. Since the heresy declaration was recent, we'll overlook it.”
Knowing entanglement with heretics got messy, I drew a firm line.
What a ridiculous situation.
“A heretic? Has the Holy Kingdom gone mad?”
Of all things, branding the Saintess a heretic?
Then the heretic fleeing this city right now was Saintess Nadia Ten Lilibel.
Luna had said she didn't like holy marks much, but that was entirely separate from her being a heretic.
The Holy Kingdom had no right to label a Saintess with an intact holy mark as a heretic.
That would shake the kingdom's very foundation.
Yet they'd done it—either they'd all gone insane as a group, or Saintess Nadia had caused a grave issue while still bearing her holy mark.
One or the other.