Above the jagged, rocky mountain range, pitch-black ore jutted out from various cliff faces, razor-sharp.
Gravel littered the road in an uneven layer, and under the high temperatures, some of the rocks had already cracked apart.
Several demi-human guards followed beside Liya.
Ever since the demi-human guards of the Clavenna family had been exposed in the south, they no longer needed to hide their identities and could openly show themselves.
Although the empire had regulations forbidding demi-humans from entering the country, if demi-humans were discovered within the territory, nobles were free to deal with them as they pleased.
So forming a guard unit did not count as violating the rules.
Liya wore a metal miner's helmet and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
She squinted her eyes as she looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky.
Inside the mining site, several workers carried over a huge mirror.
The mirror was extremely tall and narrow, over a person's height, almost able to reflect Liya's entire body.
At the top of the mirror were embedded two pieces of black ore, like tightly closed eyes.
Even so, it gave off a faintly eerie feeling.
Liya looked at her own reflection in the mirror and asked the workers, "This thing… is what you dug up?"
The workers all nodded in unison.
According to them, this mirror was extremely sturdy.
Even if they struck it with a pickaxe, the mirror surface wouldn't be damaged at all.
They thought it was very strange and special, so they planned to bring it to Miss Liya to have a look.
Liya stared at the mirror, one hand resting on her chin, feeling puzzled.
The Liya in the mirror made the exact same movement.
At that moment, Liya happened to speak.
"Looks like the material of this mirror is very good."
"For now, move it to my house."
Looking at her reflection, Liya subconsciously extended her right hand.
The reflection did the same, and the palm carrying the "Mage Hand" was especially noticeable.
Soon, her hand touched the mirror's surface.
Liya felt the smooth glass under her fingers, sensing nothing unusual.
But the next second, the eyes at the top of the mirror suddenly opened and stared straight at Liya.
Liya cried out in alarm. A burst of white light flashed, and she was completely absorbed into the mirror.
The white light seemed to freeze everyone in place.
It was only when Liya had completely vanished, and the mirror fell to the ground with a loud bang, that the workers finally reacted.
They lifted the strange mirror that had fallen and felt utterly confused.
The pair of ore eyes were tightly closed, as if they had never opened at all.
At this moment, outside the mine, Leon slowly walked in.
When the workers saw Leon wearing a hood, they greeted her respectfully with smiles.
"Lady Leon."
"What are you doing here?"
The workers began reporting to Leon, "We dug this up while mining and were just about to report it to..."
Halfway through, they felt a sudden sense of confusion.
Strange… who were they supposed to report this to again?
Leon listened, walked forward, and examined the mirror.
Then she spoke as well.
"Send this thing to the Clavenna estate first."
After saying that, she turned and prepared to leave.
The moment she took a step, Leon's mind suddenly went completely blank.
"That's strange."
"Why did I come here again?"
With that doubt in mind, Leon left while trying hard to recall her reason.
———
In front of the Clavenna estate gates, a merchant sat in his carriage, quietly waiting for the servants outside to make arrangements.
A servant stood at the entrance and said respectfully to the merchant,
"Please wait a moment, Mr. Dill. I'll go notify..."
At this point, the servant suddenly froze in place.
At this moment, she didn't even know who she was supposed to notify.
The next second, she remembered that the family head, Viktor, seemed to have returned to the estate.
So she said directly to the merchant, "Mr. Dill, please wait. I'll go notify the family head right away."
After seeing the merchant nod, the servant turned and hurried into the estate.
Not long after, the servant came back out, stood at the entrance, nodded slightly to the merchant, and said, "Mr. Dill, please come in."
The servant led Dill into the meeting hall of the Clavenna estate.
"Sir, please take a seat."
Dill sat down nervously on the sofa, feeling its softness beneath him, his eyes scanning the living room of the Clavenna estate.
He had never imagined that one day he would personally deal with the head of the Clavenna family.
But he had no choice but to come.
The corresponding contact person for the goods had suddenly gone missing, and a large batch of materials had arrived at the port but was left there unattended.
Soon, a gust of wind swept through the living room.
White mist gathered together with the howling whirlwind.
The mist condensed and swirled beneath the wind.
The next second, a black trench coat scattered the mist.
A tall man radiating coldness appeared in the living room and smoothly sat down on the sofa.
This startled the merchant badly.
Eek!
He instantly felt much more alert.
Viktor clasped his hands together, calmly looked at Dill, and asked, "What is it?"
It was Dill's first time seeing Viktor. He tightly clenched the corner of his clothes, his gaze unsteady.
Just looking at Viktor made panic rise in his heart.
But he didn't forget the purpose of his visit and spoke up.
"Mr. Viktor, our goods have been delivered, but up until now, no contact person has come to meet us."
"That's really strange."
Without a contact person, it meant no one was paying the remaining balance for the shipment, and they couldn't unload the goods.
Hearing this, Viktor crossed one leg over the other, leaned back, and rested his hands on his leg, his brows lowering slightly.
He looked at the merchant and narrowed his eyes.
"What goods did we purchase?"
"A large amount of black jade, purple iron, and star-pattern ore."
Hearing these materials, Viktor nodded.
These were indeed materials they needed.
Manufacturing firearms didn't rely solely on the elves' natural energy, that was only the final step.
They needed these special ores to refine the weapons.
Elves were important, but materials were just as important.
Viktor then asked, "Who was your previous contact?"
"It was…"
At this point, Dill froze completely, thinking hard.
"The previous contact…?"
He tried desperately to recall, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't remember.
Suddenly, a thought filled his mind.
For such a big deal, aside from Count Viktor, who else in the Clavenna family could handle it?
Thinking this way, cold sweat broke out all over his body.
The one who bought such a large batch of materials could only be Viktor himself.
So the contact person for this shipment… was Viktor?
And he had actually come here to ask Viktor about it. That was unbelievably stupid.
He should have personally brought the contract and order and come respectfully to see Count Viktor from the start.
Dill hurriedly lowered his head, sweat pouring down as his body trembled slightly under Viktor's gaze.
"I'm terribly sorry, Count Viktor. I was rude."
Fortunately, the count didn't care about someone insignificant like him. Viktor merely snapped his fingers lightly.
Then Vanilla walked down from upstairs.
A petite white-furred catgirl in a maid outfit walked over to Viktor.
She bowed respectfully to him.
"Master, please give your orders."
Dill glanced at the catgirl, surprised.
He had long heard rumors that the head of the Clavenna family liked demi-humans, especially underage ones.
It seemed those rumors weren't unfounded at all.
Information like this had long ceased to be a secret among merchants.
Viktor's voice then sounded.
"Vanilla, take him to settle the remaining payment for the materials, then send people to bring the goods back."
"For now, you'll take over handling the family's business. I believe you can do it."
Vanilla bent down respectfully and replied, "Yes."
She then walked up to Dill and said, "Sir, please follow me."
Dill looked at the petite demi-human before him, her respectful and elegant demeanor leaving him somewhat stunned.
Was this really a demi-human?
It wasn't like he had never dealt with slave traders. The demi-humans under those traders definitely didn't have this kind of refined bearing.
All he could say was that the Clavenna family's methods of training demi-humans truly lived up to the rumors.
He let out a slight sigh of relief. At least the head of the Clavenna family in front of him wasn't angry.
'Maybe I can buy a few underage demi-humans from friends and send them over.' Thinking this, Dill stood up.
He removed his hat, tilted his body slightly, and bowed to Viktor.
"Then I'll take my leave."
"Pleasant cooperation, Count Viktor."
Dill put his hat back on and followed Vanilla out.
Viktor sat on the sofa, calmly watching Dill leave, his expression utterly indifferent.
Veigar flapped his wings and landed on Viktor's shoulder.
His hoarse voice sounded.
"Hmm, I think I've got a better idea of your sister's influence now."
After Liya disappeared, the entire Clavenna family fell into chaos.
For merchants like this one who could come directly to the door, Viktor could personally step in to handle things.
But there were many other merchants cooperating with the Clavenna family who were at a loss when facing huge orders.
With Liya's disappearance, they completely lost their contact person.
Even when workers and servants finished their tasks, they didn't know who they should report to.
For a time, the entire management of the Clavenna family was practically paralyzed.
If it weren't for the Clavenna family's strong reputation and Viktor holding things together at the estate, those workers and servants would have descended into total disorder long ago.
"Everyone has forgotten Liya. Her existence is as if it's been erased." Viktor said softly, as if talking to himself.
"But fortunately, I haven't forgotten."
He stood up again, hands in his pockets.
His gaze turned toward several workers carrying a tall, narrow mirror as they walked through the gates of the Clavenna estate.
Viktor looked at the mirror, his eyes sharp and deep, and said slowly, "I've found her."