Chapter 60

C60: The Almighty Stone (2)

"Ummm."

Lying on her dorm bed and staring blankly at her ceiling, Rene continued tossing her body. She closed her eyes to sleep, but she couldn't sleep. The time may have come earlier than expected for her now, but it was also because her heart was a little troubled.

'Mr. Rudger finally hired her assistant.'

It's not particularly strange. There's no reason not to hire an assistant for someone as big as Rudger in the first place. However, she felt a bit regretful that the place was not hers but it was something else that kept her concerned.

'A book about non-attribute magic.'

Rene held the book at the head of the bed and unfolded it while lying down. Inside the book, detailed articles about non-attribute magic were spread out. The part she felt uncomfortable while practicing her magic until now, and the situation she hadn't realized yet. This book was full of such experiences.

For her, who has suffered many inconveniences due to the non-existence of her attributes, this book was a hard-to-find item even with money.

'No matter how many times I read it, it still seeps into my heart. Why did Mr. Rudger hand this over to me? And where did he get it?'

Obviously, the value of this book is high, no not high but astronomical. Just by bringing it to the Tower and passing it over one could gain enormous wealth and fame for the rest of his life but Rudger didn't. He said he didn't write the book himself, and that it was right to return it to its deserving owner.

'Then who wrote this book?'

Every time Rene opened this book, she felt a strange feeling. The author of the book did not reveal his name. He didn't even say why he wrote this book.

'But I don't think it's a complete stranger.'

It was just a feeling, though. Whenever Rene looked at the writings in the book, her heart felt suffocated. The familiarity and longing for an unknown reason felt in the writing itself and even the sadness that made her heart ache. She couldn't figure out why she was feeling this.

'Strange. I have no idea why I am doing this.'

In the end, Rene had no choice but to close the book.

"Ah! Let's go to sleep! I don't have time to worry about this now."

Rene dug her blanket up to her head but she still couldn't sleep, and for hours she had no choice but to toss and turn in the bed.

* * *

A long time ago, I traveled all over the continent and changed my identity. Sometimes I was a mercenary, sometimes a hunter, sometimes a criminal consultant and many others but here was only one reason I was hiding my true self and wandering around the world.

'Relic.'

I wandered around the world to find fragments of the Relic I was holding.

The sun had completely set and the night sky was full of stars. I sat by the window of the dormitory in my chair under the moonlight.

'I got the information that there is a Relic in the Empire and came over, but I guess there must have been another one in Theon.'

I feel like I've earned an unexpected income. Of course, I don't think the Relic I'm looking for and the <Almighty Stone> in Theon are the same.

These relics are of different types, but there are cases where the effects or performance are completely different. However, the rumor circulating that it is a wish-granting stone must be because there is a good reason for that.

'There is no need to covet the Almighty Stone, but I can use this Almighty Stone to search for the Relic fragment I am looking for.'

In a way, this was an opportunity. Relics are very rare, so it's not something I can easily find just because I want to find them. Even I, who wandered the continent for a long time, met countless people and experienced all kinds of events.

There are only 3 Relic pieces, including this one that I got through the hardships.

'Guessing the size and shape of the Relic, there are four fragments remaining.'

A total of 7 pieces must be collected to complete the Relic.

'If I do that, obviously I.......'

I stared silently at the 'first piece' I was holding in my hand. When I first got this by chance the remnants of the last power contained in the fragment of the relic showed me a miracle.

If only I could reproduce it again.......

"......."

"Beep."

After thinking about it, I slowly got up from my seat because a signal came from the crystal ball I had left for Hans to contact me. I put magical energy in my fingertips and poured it lightly into the crystal ball then, the crystal ball shone softly, and a voice came out.

[Brother, are you there?]

"Is it Hans?"

It was Hans who contacted me. Well, actually, Hans is the only person who personally communicates with me. There will be more later, but not right now.

"What's going on?"

[Since brother did all the work, I've just finished tidying up.]

"The rest of the organizations."

[Exactly.]

Hans's voice, heard from beyond the crystal ball, contained a sense of reassurance that he had finished his task.

"So what happened?"

[For now, there is no one who opposes us. That's fortunate for us and them.]

"Were they unexpectedly tacitly accepting our existence?"

[Just the two of us, we divided the existing Ren Society. No, it was actually done by my brother alone.]

"Even so, they too have been rolling in the darkness of Leathervelk for a long time. They cannot be ignored."

[I know. Well, in the first place, I am not interested in supremacy or anything like that, just having enough space to sit down is enough.]

"Even so, there must have been quite a bit of talk about the powers that the Red Society already had, right?"

The Red Society was in charge of all sorts of dirty businesses like drugs, alcohol and gambling in Leathervelk underworld. Even with drugs, the bars and gambling establishments operated by the Red Society were large enough to circulate large sums of money.

The wall that protected them disappeared overnight, so the surroundings must have become quite noisy. There must be some people who will reach out their hand trying to get a share of the profits. Guys who couldn't even dare to show their faces before would raise their heads one by one.

It was truly a time of chaos and if at this time, someone does not appear and calms the chaos, the smell of blood will spread in the darkness of Leathervelk.

[For now, the other three organizations are working together to suppress it, but I think we need to discuss this later.]

"I will."

[For once, their side took the initiative, but anyway, I am not in the mood to negotiate by myself so I need your help.]

"When?"

[The sooner the better, but it's not urgent. I want you to decide what you are comfortable with.]

That being said, I also know that the grace period should not be too long. I'll need to get to the negotiating table in at least a week although in my mind, it would be more convenient to move right now.

'There are things related to the Almighty Stone, so it would be unreasonable right now.'

Sooner or later, the Almighty Stone will be moved out of its original storage area to a temporary storage area. Perhaps it can be said that those who lead this work already know the time and place when the Almighty Stone will be moved.

'The Black Dawn's actions are certain, but the question is who the hell is leading this.'

I haven't received any contact yet. If there was an issue, Sedina would have notified me right away.

'I don't know yet whether the First Order other than me was doing things in their own line, or if there was another reason.'

However, one thing is certain: the events surrounding this Almighty Stone will surely erupt sooner or later so I can't leave Theon right now.

"I'll need a week."

[What happened there?]

"It has to do with a Relic."

As Hans has a keen ear for information, he immediately understood the word Relic.

[Brother is a good teacher, but you seem to be going through more incidents than before.]

"I agree."

[Even so, a Relic. Hmm...Who would have known that Theon kept a relic?]

"Because it is a place with so much history and tradition."

[According to the rumors, there is also a secret dungeon created by the first president, isn't it real?]

"Hans, stop talking nonsense."

[I'm kidding. Anyway, I'll try to arrange the negotiation time a week later.]

"Yes. Do your best."

After I finished talking to Hans, I looked out the window without saying a word.

'Is it a Relic?'

It's not meant to be, but I'm sure I'll get caught up in an incident related to the Relic. The thought of whether this is fate or not comes to mind and the moonlight floating in the night sky felt unusually chilly today.

* * *

"Princess, shall we prepare a bath?"

"No."

"Do you want to eat?"

"I'm not hungry."

"What about snacks?"

"I don't need anything, just leave me alone."

At Erendir's command, the servants nodded their heads and retreated, although they did not know what to do.

"Uh-huh."

Erendir, who was barely left alone, let out a small sigh so that the users could not hear it. If anyone ever heard her sigh, they would stick around and annoy her.

Erendir, who was finally freed from the gaze of others, entered her room.

'It's hard.'

When the other students were allocated dormitories, the princess was assigned a large mansion and was living there. No matter how much she treats everyone equally, she dared not ignore the blood of her imperial family but Erendir was dissatisfied with that.

'I also wanted to live a normal life like other students.'

She honestly wanted to make new friends, and spend an exciting academy life. However, her position as the 3rd princess did not allow her to. Her grandiose mansion was the second-largest, and the hospitality of her over 30 employees was beyond her gratitude and was very uncomfortable.

'It is unavoidable.'

If she behaves as she pleases, it will only make it harder for the users and maids. In order to be considerate of them, it was necessary to give them a little bit of what they wanted, even if it was uncomfortable.

'It's not to the point that I can't stand it.'

Normally, there would have been a lot of stress, but lately, that has been less, because Erendir has someone she can call her friend.

Rene was a cute junior and the fact that she was a commoner made Erendir worried about her but she had no intention of mocking her because of that.

Maybe it was because she was friendly with Rene and treated her normally, Erendir felt good because it seemed like she was living the life she wanted little by little.

'I hope to increase the number of friends like this one by one in the future.'

At least in this place, she can escape from her sister's stern touch.

As she was thinking about it, someone knocked on her door. Erendir, who had been relaxed, asked in a solemn voice, as she straightened up.

"What happened?"

"Princess, I got a message from outside."

It was impossible to contact the princess directly unless someone had a fairly high status.

'I'm sure it's not your sister, is it?'

Although they're heirs to the same throne, the 1st princess and Erendir did not have a particularly bad relationship. In fact, since the 1st princess had confirmed her right to the throne, there was no competition between her brothers and sisters.

Especially since Erendir didn't really want that kind of place in the first place. However, her older sister showed that she cared for Erendir so much that it was strange. She sometimes went too far with her.

'I'm not my sister's doll.'

There was no reason for Erendir to come to Theon, or to escape from her older sister's interference. In a way, it was natural to worry about whether she was trying to interfere even within Theon but fortunately, the one who contacted her was not the 1st princess.

"It's Trina Ryanhowl."

"Trina the Knight Commander?"

It was unexpected to be contacted by her. She never thought that the one considered the strongest knight in the Exilion Empire would reach out to her.

"Bring it."

The user immediately brought the contact crystal ball she had prepared then he nodded her head and stepped back.

Erendir activated the crystal ball when she confirmed that no one was present.

"You wanted to speak with Knight Commander Trina?"

[Sorry for calling you late at night Princess Erendir but it's an emergency.]

"It's okay. Rather, I was curious as to why the knight commander suddenly contacted me. What's going on?"

[I heard that there was an incident where a werewolf appeared in Theon recently. Did you hear about it princess?]

She had met the werewolf and if Rudger had not appeared to help, she might have been seriously injured, however if she said that the knight commander would start talking about her safety so she decided to hide the fact for now.

"Yes I heard but it was resolved quickly."

[A werewolf also appeared here in Leathervelk.]

"Yes? Sir Trina is in Leathervelk now?"

[Yes. We are investigating a case related to that case.]

"Is it......?"

[Please forgive me for not being able to inform the princess because it is a secret investigation.]

"I understand."

The fact that Trina came out meant that she was moved by the sheriff's office.

[While I was investigating the case, it was confirmed that this werewolf incident was not normal.]

"Not normal?"

[Someone did this on purpose. The moment I checked and traced them, the clues were destroyed.]

Trina Ryanhowl's powerful voice echoed through the room from beyond the crystal ball.

[Princess, may I know who solved the werewolf case in Theon?]