Chapter Fourteen
"Excuse me?"
Kaelen's composed facade cracked, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing his face. Even the normally stoic knight seemed taken aback about the fact that information could be traded. "Who was your first customer, Your Grace?"
Or, was he taken aback by the fact that I could do it?
I guess, it wouldn't hurt to play around for a while?
I let out a soft chuckle, enjoying myself a little. "Do you really think I, the esteemed Duke of Halcrest, would reveal my trade secrets so easily? That's for me to know, and for you to... well, not know, unless you're willing to pay for the privilege."
[Ping!]
[Kaelen can't understand if you're bluffing to extort money or you really know something.]
I allowed a faint smirk to play on my lips as I watched him make funny faces.
Haah... Must be nice to be young.
"Take a free advice instead." My voice dropped as a sigh passed my lips. I closed my eyes, overturning my palms to heat the back of my hands. "It's best if you don't know somethings, Kaelen. Everything in this world has a price."
Kaelen stayed silent for a long moment, the firelight dancing in his pupils. "I suppose my curiosity will have to remain unfulfilled then. Though, I find it difficult to imagine anyone else would be daring to engage in such… commercial ventures with you, Your Grace."
Well, it's not like I was talking about my first customer in this life. Even I wouldn't trade anything with someone as incompetent as this.
"Oh, you'd be surprised," I hummed, my eyes still closed. The pain was still present, a dull throb rather than a scream, which was progress.
Even I was surprised... The golden hair I could never find again.
It's been so long that even her warm smile has blurred in the back of my head. She definitely had no business extending a hand to an orphan like me yet she did.
"Your Grace," Kaelen started, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "By any chance… could your first customer also have been your first love?"
The sentimentality hit me like a splash of ice cold water as blood rushed to my cheeks.
"What nonsense! I don't believe in love."
[Ping!]
[Your gold from past life feels betrayed. How could you!]
Wait! It's not like that! It's just people that I don't love. Of course, I love gold! I love gold so much!
[Ping]
[Your gold from past life doesn't want to talk to you.]
Noooooo... Ugh!!!
I felt a phantom ache in my chest that had nothing to do with my mana channels. Losing the 'respect' of my imaginary past-life wealth was a blow I hadn't prepared for.
"Your Grace?" Kaelen's voice broke through my internal crisis. "You've gone pale. Was it something I said?"
"Silence," I hissed, rubbing my temples. "You've used up your free trial of conversation. My head hurts."
My gold hates me... My gold hates me... My gold hates me...
Kaelen stared at me, then slowly turned back to the fire, shaking his head. He looked like a man who had realized he wasn't just guarding a Duke, but a complete lunatic.
[Ping!]
[Isn't it true though?]
I took a deep breath, pushing the thought of my gold hating me into a mental box to be dealt with later.
Ughhhh... Forget it. I should take a look at that Lithovar first.
"Kaelen," I said, my voice regaining its edge as I forced my body to cooperate. "Where are the remains of that monster I killed? And the bow I used? I didn't go through a near-death experience for a participation trophy."
Kaelen gestured with his chin toward the back of the cave. There, the textured snow met a wall of solid, translucent ice that looked like a frozen waterfall caught in mid-descent. "Behind that ice wall, Your Grace. I moved the rubbles there so you can have a a clean place to rest. But, your bow... It vanished, Your Grace."
"Vanished?" I repeated, my voice flat.
"Yes, Your Grace."
[Ping!]
[We moved it to the inventory. Host doesn't need to worry.]
I see. Thank you.
"Forget the bow for now," I said, dismissively waving a hand. My head turned around as my eyes squinted at the barrier.
Beyond the frost, the cave didn't look like a natural formation. The angles were too sharp, the floors too level in certain places.
Wait... Could this be what I missed!? This place... it's like someone started a mining operation and just gave up.
There's someone... Someone who knew the existence of mana stones. Could it be why I can't find mana stones here? But, the mana flow and the beast... I need to quickly take a look and return back to the castle to gather people.
The 1.2 million worth debt needs to be settled before I begin the mining operations.
"Kaelen, unfreeze it. I've recovered enough."
Kaelen hesitated as he got up and walked to his sword. His hand hovering near its hilt. "Are you sure? Your Grace, the structure looks... unstable after the monster's death. If this ice is what's holding the ceiling up—"
"It's not," I interrupted, standing back on my feet as I traced the line of a perfectly 90-degree corner near the floor. "Trust me, Kaelen. Do it. Melt the wall. And anyway, I didn't climb the mountain to rest."
"Understood, Your Grace." Kaelen's hand closed around the hilt, and with a swift motion, he pulled the blade free.
Swissshhh...
There was no theatrical flourish, no shouted incantation. Just a quiet, almost imperceptible hum that resonated from the steel blade.
Well... That was a bit disappointing.
As the sword left the ground, the faint mana that was spread like a spiderweb throughout the rocks started to retract, pulling back like an invisible tide. The snow-laden walls of the temporary igloo Kaelen constructed, began to shiver.
Creaaaaaakkkkkk...
A low creaking sound filled the air, growing louder as cracks, like webs, spread across the ice barrier at the back of the cave. Within moments, the snow and ice that had encased the cave with such warmth and comfort began to melt, sloughing off the rock in glistening sheets of water that were absorbed by the soil instantly.
The air grew colder, losing its gentle warmth as the natural, rugged stone walls of the cave re-emerged. The ice wall at the back and mouth of cave fractured completely, collapsing into a pile of shattered, crystal-like shards.
Ah yes... I should ask what they call mana.
"Kaelen?" I called out as I walked to the rubbles of Lithovar.
Clink!
Kaelen placed his sword back into his sheath before following me. "Yes, Your Grace?"
"That thing... The thing you used to make ice. What do you call it?"
"I'm sorry, Your Grace?"
"What do you call the energy enveloping your sword, Kaelen?"
"Ah that... Aura."