2025-04-09 22:41:18Anthonius was reluctant to leave the salt traders' camp in Kelana Field because of Masha's striking resemblance to Luda. In order to urge the young general to meet Meuz before midday, Anthonius even had to be pursued. Anthonius turned to face the girl before they walked through the city gates of Filanesia, despite An's stern reminder to return to the city right away.
"What is the matter with you? What happened to you?!" asked An, who was already annoyed by Anthonius's mischievous behavior.
Anthonius simply was staring at a wooden box that Masha had given him, which contained a number of therapeutic herbs, without responding to his friend's question. Anthonius fixed the medicine box with his intense gaze. He ran his hands over the wooden box, feeling each side softly. Then Anthonius inhaled deeply and let it out gradually. He made an effort to remember every moment he had just had with Masha.
"Do you remember the first daughter of the Volkova family?" Anthonius inquired. "Masha and Luda are very similar, for some reason. Her eyes, voice, smile, and manner of speaking. When Luda was still living, 111 years ago, my time appeared to stop. Anthonius was genuinely perplexed by how closely Masha, whom he had recently met, resembled Luda.
An became silent. In fact, he had been aware of it for a while. When Iosif Zaitsev and his family arrived in Filanesia City two months ago for the first time. And when he first met Masha, he experienced a mixture of confusion and amazement. In particular, Masha somewhat resembles Luda or Ludmila Volkova. They resemble a single individual who exists in two distinct eras. The distance is too great for Luda, who is still 14 years old, to emerge 111 years later without looking a little older. They are very similar in both their physical characteristics and their skills.
"Shouldn't you go meet Meuz soon?" With the intention of reminding Anthonius of his primary reason for coming back to the city, An inquired.
Anthonius said nothing.
"The problem with Masha... maybe that girl just happens to look a lot like Luda. Long ago... I even believed Luda was similar to you, elf. Iosif told me that Masha is the daughter of one of his friends who passed away, so if that's the case, it's not impossible for her to remain this way even after 111 years. Bearskins were traded by Masha's parents for use in carpets and crafts. After they were robbed and died, Iosif and his wife made the decision to adopt the child."
"Yeah… maybe it's just a coincidence that they are exactly the same. Not only physically, but also in their behavior." Anthoniuss must immediately meet Meuz to report on the death of the Dark Dragon. Anthonius must not be late, lest there be casualties among the people of Terra due to the actions of the mysterious creature that has killed the dragon.
"Well then… Thank you very much for everything, An." Anthonius said goodbye to An after thanking him. He then walked along the main road of Filanesi City towards the Celestial Tower, where Meuz was located.
…
That afternoon, the Celestial Tower appeared to be empty. The dungeon was empty of wizards, knights, and would-be Terra warriors. Anthonius was genuinely uncomfortable in that environment. because young combatants frequently test their bravery and fighting prowess in the Celestial Tower. If they are fortunate, the announcement board in the city center will display the highest score they manage to obtain while navigating the dungeon that Zu built hundreds of years ago. This excludes a number of arbitrary incentives that Meuz will give them directly.
"Very quiet!" said Anthonius while walking towards the main entrance of Celestial Tower.
As soon as he arrived in front of Meuz's room, Anthonius was surprised to find Leah and Arutala discussing something with Meuz.
"I've been waiting for you!" Meuz said, as soon as he noticed Anthonius standing at the door, watching them.
"I can wait. I will wait outside," said Anthonius as he prepared to leave.
"Come in!" ordered Meuz. "I feel lucky that you both came at the same time. There's something I want to discuss with both of you," Meuz said while signaling Arutala to leave the three of them.
As the moon fairy left the chamber and Anthonius made his way inside Meuz's room, he happened to run into Arutala. Anthonius noticed mud marks still adhered to Arutala's shoes and detected the pungent peat scent emanating from her body. It occurred to Anthonius that Arutala might have been sent to the Mithril mine or the area around the lake. As Anthonius had heard the guard say before.
"Sit down!" Meuz's command.
Anthonius immediately walked over to one of the chairs near Meuz's desk. Next to him, Leah, who was sitting, seemed to smile at Anthonius as if greeting him.
"It's been a while since I last saw Leah..." said Anthonius.
Leah was still smiling, then nodded. "Almost 20 years," Leah said. "But I'm sure it felt like only 2 weeks for you."
Hearing that, Anthonius just smiled. Words like that are actually a jab at the elves, who are often labeled as a group that frequently disregards other people's time.
Meuz walked over to where Anthonius was sitting, then poured a cup of herbal tea into the cup in front of Anthonius. Unlike Leah, Anthonius only received tea, without any pieces of cake or sweets. Because Meuz knew that Anthonius could not consume the same food as him.
"What about the evacuation process?" Meuz asked.
"Alyosha and the others are still working on that, but we have already managed to evacuate 4 bodies from the Mother River, as well as the Ruins of Winnie City," explained Anthonius.
"May everything go easy for you," Meuz said.
Anthonius smiled, then thanked Meuz for his kindness. "The purpose of my visit here is... I want to report something that Omar and I accidentally discovered while trying to evacuate the bodies of two sorcerers in the Ruins of Winnei City." Anthonius then took out the scale of the Dark Dragon from within the robe he was wearing.
"Where did you get it?!" Meuz rose from his seat. He then brandished a spear with a gleaming red light aimed directly at Anthonius.
"2 out of the 4 bodies we were searching for, one of them is in the Ruins of the Dark Dragon Temple. Omar and I discovered the body of a dead dragon by mistake while looking for the two bodies. It is assumed that the dragon died six to seven hours before our arrival based on the state of its body. We still don't know the cause or the perpetrator. As of right now, I have already employed 30-day-lasting S-rank illusion magic. Anybody who attempts to enter the Winnei City Ruins will be misled or possibly killed by the enchantment." Then Anthonius gave Meuz the scales of the dark dragon he had brought.
Meuz remained silent, not responding to what Anthonius had said to him. Nevertheless, Meuz lowered his guard. The spear in his hand suddenly vanished, along with the glimmer of light at the spear's tip that slowly faded. On the other side, Leah stared at Anthonius with a surprised expression. She couldn't even hide her fear, but a moment later Leah seemed to smile. A smile that looked so bitter.
"I thought... I was the only one bringing bad news today," Leah said softly, glancing at Anthonius, who was sitting beside her. "I didn't expect… The main investigation team brought even more shocking news.”
"What happened at the mithril mine?" asked Anthonius curiously.
Leah laughed, but at the same time, she felt desperate. "We... should take good care of all the equipment we still have, so it can be used for a long time!"
Anthonius couldn't say anything. He stared at Leah with a shocked face. Leah's words might not have provided a direct answer to the question Anthonius asked, but that simple command was enough for Anthonius to understand what had happened to the only mithril mine they had.
Mithril is one of the rocks or minerals commonly used to forge magical equipment with a 30% success rate. Besides mithril, there are actually other minerals that can be used. Such as orichalcum with a forging success rate of 80%, Damascus steel with a forging success rate of 10%, and iron with a forging success rate of 0.1%. Although the success rate of forging mithril is lower compared to orichalcum, this ore is easier to extract and does not require a large cost to mine. In addition to being mined, mithril can also be obtained by killing the goblins found in several caves scattered across Terra and then taking the beads from the necklaces or bracelets they possess. Goblins really like mithril because the stone glows in the dark just like a magic crystal.
The destruction of the mithril mine could lead to inflation of various magical equipment, and the further impact of the destruction of the mithril mine could result in the extinction of wizards. A war over the remaining magical equipment could even occur if they do not find a new mine soon. Not only that, the crime rate will increase, and riots will occur everywhere. Terra will become even more chaotic.
"Meuz…, what should we do?" Leah asked desperately. "Antonius might be able to hide the dragon's death for the next 30 days, but we will never be able to hide that death forever. The same goes for the destruction of the mine. Our current supply of mithril ore will surely run out one day if we don't find a new mine soon!" Leah said.
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