Chapter 52
Chapter 52: The Situation Changed. (1)
Ghislaine took a couple more days to rest and regain her strength before promptly summoning the mercenaries.
She wasn’t in peak condition, but the fact that she could move at all saved quite a bit of time.
Gillian was organizing the mercenaries when he suddenly paused and glanced back at Ghislaine.
Realizing what was happening, Ghislaine soon understood too. Belinda was slowly walking towards them from the direction of the mansion.
“What’s up? Here to see me off?”
Ghislaine joked, and Belinda scoffed and shook her head.
“See you off? I’m going with you.”
Ghislaine subtly frowned. While she had managed to stabilize her chaotic mana to some extent, she surely wasn’t fully healed yet.
“How about you take it easy, Belinda? There’s really no need for you to tag along.”
“No way. What if we run into bandits on the way? Anyone would jump at the chance to take down someone like me with a runestone. If I don’t follow, I wouldn’t be able to relax anyway.”
She stated decisively, draping a robe over herself.
Ghislaine shook her head. With Belinda so resolute, she didn’t feel inclined to bend her will.
After all, Belinda had been the one to care for her since childhood. It was impossible not to feel soft-hearted.
With a sigh, Ghislaine made a promise.
“If you find it tough at any point, make sure to tell me.”
“Alright. Are we heading out of the territory right now?”
“No, first, let’s go retrieve what we left behind.”
Ghislaine led the mercenaries back into the Forest of Monsters to collect the inner skin of the Dirus Ent and the remaining carcass of the Blood Python.
Unlike the first time they entered, this time they moved quickly on horseback.
“Are we going to mine the remaining runestones as well?”
Gillian asked, and Ghislaine shook her head.
“No, we don’t have time for that. We’ll gather the corpses and go straight to sell the runestones.”
Upon hearing that they were heading to sell runestones, the mercenaries brightened up.
Selling the runestones meant they’d be able to earn a hefty payment themselves.
“Alright, let’s get moving quickly!”
Thanks to the ample rest, the mercenaries were brimming with energy. Within half a day, they had collected all the monster carcasses and returned to the territory.
“Store the inner skin as is since it doesn’t rot, and separate the blood, poison, flesh, and leather from the Python’s carcass to keep them from spoiling.”
After assigning the workers to prepare and store the corpses, Ghislaine led the mercenaries out of the territory.
Following Ghislaine, who was moving busily as if being chased by something, the mercenaries yelled excitedly.
“Wow, looks like the captain’s got ants in his pants!”
“Hehe, just imagine how much money we’ll make selling this many runestones. Just thinking about it gets my heart racing!”
Aside from the cheers of the mercenaries, Gillian spoke with a hint of concern.
“Milord, is there really a need to move so hastily? Your body isn’t fully well yet, don’t overexert yourself.”
Gillian understood the urgency from what Ghislaine had shared, but he hadn’t expected her to move this frantically.
She was riding so quickly that the wagons carrying the runestones struggled to keep up.
“That could be the case. But always remember, time is not on our side.”
Even while speaking, Ghislaine didn’t slow down. If the horses pulling the wagons fell behind, she grudgingly eased up just a tad.
“Maintain this pace. We need to move as quickly as possible.”
The mercenaries had no objections to Ghislaine’s insistence on speed, as they, too, wanted to get paid sooner.
“Wow, but our captain rides pretty well, doesn’t he? Are you a centaur?”
“He’s better than most knights, that’s for sure!”
“Young too, it seems he can handle everything!”
Though riding was a necessary skill for nobility, Ghislaine’s horsemanship was beyond mere sophistication.
Even the mercenaries, who had fought through numerous battlefields, had never seen someone handle a horse like her.
Every time they watched her, she exhibited a level of competence and experience that was astonishing for her age.
Knowing that the mercenaries were admiring her from behind, Ghislaine continued to ride silently south.
It was only after a while that the mercenaries began to realize something strange.
“But why are we going this way?”
“Right? If we’re looking for a big merchant group, Raybold would be fastest.”
“Are we just running aimlessly then?”
Raybold was the wealthiest territory in the north. There were plenty of large merchant groups, so it was the easiest and fastest route to sell anything.
However, Ghislaine was veering south, away from the Zimbart Territory.
As they traveled over a few more territories, voices of confusion among the mercenaries grew louder.
Kaor, representing the mercenaries, asked Ghislaine.
“Milord, where are we headed? We’ve already passed all the territories with major merchant groups.”
Ghislaine smiled faintly and said, “We’re going to the Brivante Territory.”
It was an unexpected destination for everyone. Kaor and the mercenaries were taken aback.
“Why go all the way there?”
“Is there even a major merchant group there?”
Brivante was a small territory in the north, but it was famous enough that no one in the kingdom was unaware of it.
As the murmur among the mercenaries grew, they remembered the reason for Brivante’s fame and quickly expressed their feelings.
“Brivante? Oh, wait! Are we going to…?”
“That place?”
Ghislaine nodded.
“Yes, we’re going to the Mage Tower.”
Just hearing the word “Mage Tower” led the mercenaries to quickly understand what Ghislaine was thinking.
“Ah, I get it! Instead of selling to a merchant group, you’re going to sell directly to the Mage Tower? Then we could get a better price!”
“Right, right. Milord is more frugal than I imagined!”
Only a handful of large merchant groups in the north could buy runestones in bulk. Plus, the merchant group would cut into the profit.
However, selling directly to the Mage Tower changed the game.
Runestones were one of the most sought-after materials for magical research.
If the wizards, who were obsessed with runestones, wanted them in large quantities, they would buy everything regardless of the amount. The price would likely be higher from the Mage Tower than from the merchant groups.
Excited by the prospect of finally seeing the famous Mage Tower, the once humble mercenaries felt thrilled to be following Ghislaine.
They exuberantly cheered, glad to be accompanying her for both the profit and the sightseeing.
But Kaor paused for thought and then asked Ghislaine.
“Milord, the Mage Tower in Brivante is the Tower of the Bloody Flame. Wouldn’t it be better to head to the Tower of the Crimson Flame instead for a better price?”
“Oh, that’s true? Then we really don’t need to go all the way to Brivante.”
“Exactly. The Crimson Flame Tower is the best in the north. They’d definitely offer a much better price!”
Upon hearing Kaor’s words, the mercenaries began to murmur among themselves.
If they were going to sell to a Mage Tower, it made sense to sell to the one that would offer the highest price.
Lower-tier Mage Towers wouldn’t be able to handle the quantity of runestones they had, so they needed to head to a more powerful Mage Tower.
The most powerful Mage Tower in the north was the Tower of the Crimson Flame. They were known for their generous prices and for buying the most stones.
That’s why the majority of merchant groups traded mainly with the Tower of the Crimson Flame.
However, Ghislaine shook her head.
“No, we’re going to the Tower of the Bloody Flame.”
“What? Why?”
Kaor and the mercenaries asked back in confusion.
The Tower of the Bloody Flame had once been the wealthiest and strongest in the north.
Yet, after the rival, the Tower of the Crimson Flame, had its head, Delmood, become a 7th-circle Archmage, the balance had shifted completely.
Though it was striving to regain its former glory, catching up to an already established Tower of the Crimson Flame was no easy feat.
“Uh, you’re not mistaken, are you?”
“The one in Brivante is the Tower of the Bloody Flame, not the Crimson Flame.”
“With this volume, we should definitely go to the most profitable place.”
The mercenaries had no choice but to think that Ghislaine had made a mistake. Why would she choose a worse deal when she could earn more?
As they chatted back and forth, Belinda furrowed her brow.
She didn’t appreciate how those ignorant and rude fellows were climbing up to Ghislaine.
In annoyance, she poked Gillian in the side when Ghislaine wasn’t looking. When he turned to her, Belinda silently demanded him to educate them properly with narrowed eyes.
However, Ghislaine herself seemed to be completely unconcerned with their disrespectful attitude.
“I’m not mistaken; going to the Tower of the Bloody Flame is the right choice. I have my reasons, so just follow me.”
Though the mercenaries didn’t understand her reasoning, they decided not to press further and quietly followed Ghislaine.
As with the Forest of Monsters, half of the mercenaries believed Ghislaine must have some plan while the other half didn’t care about potential losses since that was not their concern.
After passing through a few more territories, the tall tower finally came into view.
The mercenaries began to chatter excitedly among themselves when they saw the tower.
With a grin, Ghislaine urged her horse onward.
*
By the time Ghislaine arrived at the Brivante Territory, Count Desmond Harold was gripping a document tightly, reading it with trembling eyes.
It was a report delivered by the spies infiltrated in the Perdium Territory.
Harold threw the report onto his desk, letting out a sigh as if lamenting.
“Runestones… Runestones, of all things. And in such large quantities?”
Just as Ghislaine had anticipated, the fact that she had obtained the runestones reached Harold’s ears merely a few days later.
With a serious expression, Harold closed his eyes while stroking his mustache, deep in thought.
‘The plan has completely unraveled.’
He had intended to slowly weaken the Perdium Territory, but with them securing runestones, that approach would become difficult.
‘Tch, maybe I should have just forced a conflict.’
Even though the bodies of Gilmore and Digald had disappeared, he could have still instigated a confrontation.
But he was baffled about who had removed those bodies. He wanted to keep watch a little longer… but he never expected it to lead to this result.
‘What madness was Ghislaine up to by bringing mercenaries into the Forest of Monsters?’
The mention of Ghislaine’s name had stirred discomfort when communication with Frank was lost.
Since then, Harold had been consistently receiving reports on Ghislaine’s every move.
Though there were hints that her personality had shifted, he hadn’t received any reports indicating that she had become strong enough to defeat Frank.
However, once he heard that she had ventured into the Forest of Monsters with mercenaries, he completely stopped paying attention to her.
He believed she would die there regardless.
But when he later caught wind of Ghislaine successfully bringing back runestones, that unease had transformed entirely into anxiety.
‘She must not be that kind of person.’
He had spent considerable time investigating to swallow the northern territories.
Naturally, he had also looked into the main figures, but based on previous information, Ghislaine was someone he deemed not worth his concern.
Yet, recently, he had heard her name twice. It indicated that there was an issue with the intelligence.
Harold gave a new order to his waiting deputy beside him.
“Collect information on the key figures in the north again. Do not concern yourself with previous findings; start from scratch.”
“Understood.”
The newly appointed deputy was more skilled at gathering intelligence than weaving plots, so he would get the job done.
Harold felt an odd sense of unease as he gazed out the window.
The red sunset was tinting his room.
