Chapter 47: Another Agenda

When Viscount Bird woke up again, it was already early morning. By now, he had left that terrifying and eerie space and returned to the real world. Especially after seeing the sunlight streaming through the window, Viscount Bird felt incredibly happy and relieved. This was the first time in his life he had experienced such a feeling. But now, he had no time to reflect on anything. Although daytime should be safe, last night’s experience still left Viscount Bird feeling uneasy. So after waking up Thomson, who had fainted in the second-floor corridor, the master and servant hurriedly left the ancient castle. Although it was impolite, the pair who had “survived a calamity” obviously no longer had the mood to stay in this castle. After leaving a letter for Julian explaining an urgent family matter requiring them to return quickly, they swiftly left the castle. After all, they didn’t want to encounter such terrifying and strange things a second time.

“Farewell, no need to see us off.”

Standing by the window, watching Viscount Bird’s carriage disappear into the forest, Julian’s lips curled up slightly, revealing a smug smile.

“Master, how was our performance?”

The speaker was the girl who had been killed by Viscount Bird earlier. Now she stood behind Julian, constantly fiddling with the head in her hands. The originally somewhat twisted, deformed head spoke while gradually returning to its original state under the girl’s manipulation, becoming a slightly different but still mischievous and beautiful face. Then, the girl picked up her head, looked at it in the mirror, and satisfied, reattached it to her neck.

“Very good. I think this will give the Viscount an unforgettable memory.”

“It’s a pity about Charlotte’s outfit.”

The girl looked at her body with some resignation. The maid uniform was still in the same tattered state as before, and it was hard to say whether it could be repaired.

“Don’t worry, everyone has spares.”

“That’s a relief.”

Saying this, the girl paused, then raised her head to look at Julian.

“Well then, Master, time’s up. I should return to my sisters…”

With these words, the girl’s body became increasingly transparent. When the first ray of morning sunlight crossed the mountain peak and shone into the castle, the girl’s form enveloped in sunlight instantly turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared into the air. The tattered maid uniform, no longer supported by its owner, fell to the ground. Only then did Julian turn around and look at the clothes.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Then, he said softly.

“So, the Viscount has returned?” Ophariel asked, watching Julian eating with an amused smile.

“Yes, much earlier than we expected.”

Julian sighed and shrugged, putting down the bread in his hand.

“It’s a shame. I had hoped to let the Viscount stay a few more days to fully experience my hospitality…”

“Know when to stop, my lord.”

Hearing this, Ophariel finally couldn’t help but laugh. Since she noticed the wraiths’ unusual agitation last night, she understood that Julian must have planned to do something to scare the Viscount. The answer she got from Julian this morning also confirmed her judgment. Of course, Ophariel wouldn’t have any sympathy for the poor Viscount’s experience, but hearing Julian’s words still made her laugh. What a joke – if that Viscount had stayed in the castle for another two or three days, it would be questionable whether he could return with a clear mind.

Of course, they both knew this was just talk. If after last night’s events, this Viscount Bird still had the courage to continue staying in this castle, it would mean he was definitely not an ordinary character. At that point, they would have to pay even more attention to this fellow. However, from what they could see now, this Viscount Bird was clearly not someone who needed special attention, just as Julian and Ophariel had judged.

However, Ophariel had other questions.

“My lord, why did you ask him for a boundary map?”

Honestly, Ophariel naturally knew the details of Julian’s negotiation with Viscount Bird last night, but she really couldn’t understand Julian’s intention in doing this. If it were a serious and responsible lord, requesting such a map wouldn’t be strange. But if Julian did this, it was very odd. From what Ophariel knew of him, since the other party hadn’t drawn boundaries when handing over the territory, Julian’s character would definitely pretend to be ignorant. Even if something happened in the future, he would use this point to pressure the other party. After all, Twilight Forest was just starting out and had no profit at all. The Bird family had been operating the Golden Trade Route for over a hundred years. Although their power was enormous, they also had many interest conflicts because of it. As the saying goes, those with nothing to lose aren’t afraid of those who have something to lose. When the border division was unclear, Julian could still use this as a shield to force the other party to compromise. The Bird family, considering this point, at least initially wouldn’t want to cause trouble for them to avoid harming themselves in the process. But now, with the border division settled, responsibilities were clear on both sides. If the Bird family wanted to do something within their territory, it would be much more convenient. Not to mention, at that time, even if they found some ruffians and hooligans to disguise as bandits and harass the Golden Trade Route from the Twilight Forest side, it would be enough to give Julian a headache.

So, for Julian’s behavior of actively requesting the other party to divide the border, Ophariel had only one guess.

“Did you find some… good stuff?”

“It’s not really anything good.”

Julian casually replied while cutting open the fried egg in front of him.

“It’s just that when I went to recruit maids earlier, I found some traces of a ‘Source’.”

Erin, standing nearby, widened her eyes in surprise, seeing a scene she had never imagined – that always elegant and noble Sister Ophariel, upon hearing Julian’s answer, almost immediately widened her eyes and nearly spat out what was in her mouth. Fortunately, at the last moment, she realized her loss of composure and quickly covered her mouth, forcefully swallowing the food. But because she was too anxious, she started coughing incessantly. Erin, standing nearby, hurriedly poured a glass of water and handed it to the young woman, finally allowing the coughing girl to calm down with difficulty.

“Don’t get excited.”

Julian didn’t mind Ophariel’s loss of composure at all.

“It’s just a ‘Source’, right? As the dignified princess, you couldn’t possibly have never seen that thing before, right?”

Hearing Julian’s words, Ophariel rolled her eyes, nearly angered to death by him. She certainly knew what a Source was, and precisely because of this, after hearing Julian’s words, even Ophariel couldn’t control her emotions completely.

On this continent, energy called Mana permeates everything. It’s not only necessary for maintaining life but also a powerful source of magic. According to legend, after all living things die, their souls turn into the most primal source energy – Mana – and return to the endless sea of souls. Mana is also the necessary energy for all life to grow, just like sunlight, oxygen, and water, essential for all life. It’s also the power that mages manipulate. They summon Mana power according to their different attributes and transform it into powerful magic.

Of course, Mana isn’t evenly distributed across the continent. Some places have denser Mana power, while others have relatively thin Mana power. But there are some places that contain powerful Mana power. They seem like the center of everything, endlessly radiating Mana power, pushing it to spread outwards. This is what’s called a “Source”.

The Mana power contained in a “Source” is infinite. After learning this, humans naturally began to develop and utilize it. They quickly built devices to absorb Mana power for propulsion and to advance their civilization. Every “Source” discovered by humans became either a central city or a national capital. With the help of infinite Mana power, the civilization in those places far surpassed the level of other regions. Don’t look at Julian’s Twilight Forest being as poor as the Middle Ages. In the central capital of the kingdom, it’s a completely different civilized scene. Tall buildings are everywhere, and people there don’t use horse-drawn carriages like in other regions. For them, those magical constructs driven by Mana power are obviously a better choice. All this is simply because they have a “Source” there, nothing more.

Of course, although the civilization level in areas with “Sources” is relatively high, this power also has limits. After Mana power spreads to a certain extent, its effect weakens due to decreased concentration. Moreover, humans haven’t fully understood this power yet and have no way to store and move it like batteries. Only magic crystals and mages have the ability to store Mana power, but the former is rare and expensive, making it impossible to popularize. As for the latter… who would expect those arrogant mages to become human batteries?

Because of this, although central cities with “Sources” are relatively developed, on the battlefield, the weapons used by various countries are still mainly cold weapons and mages’ magical attacks. Moreover, the effect of the Source itself varies depending on its scale. Just like oil fields, some “Sources” release enough Mana power to support a huge metropolis, but some “Sources” release power that can at most maintain only a town. Their quantity and quality also limit urban development, which is unchangeable.

Although in places without “Sources”, people can still rely on those devices to extract energy, this would cause the Mana power in that area to be depleted. Not only would rivers dry up, but the soil would also be unable to grow any crops. Forests would be completely destroyed, and even humans with the strongest survival ability would die from strange diseases – Mana is the source of life, and no one would want to face the consequences of losing life. As a result, that depleted land would need hundreds of years, or even longer, to regain its former vitality. This is naturally something no one wants to see.

This also explains why Ophariel was so excited. She could foresee that once a “Source” was really discovered in Twilight Forest, this place would immediately become one of the hottest centers of the entire continent. The Golden Trade Route? Compared to a “Source”, that thing was like the difference between a copper coin and a gem! If Ophariel didn’t understand Julian’s actions before, now she completely understood. If they could really confirm a Source, they must immediately draw up a boundary map, at least to legally and clearly own this land!

However…

“So, my lord, have you decided which force to curry favor with?”

Looking at Julian’s calm expression, Ophariel had to make such a guess. You should know, Mana extraction devices aren’t something anyone can get their hands on. Especially after discovering the disastrous consequences of using such devices in non-“Source” areas, various countries have increased their supervision of them. Currently, only three organizations are qualified and able to manufacture these extraction devices.

The first is the royal families that own “Sources”. They all possess this technology. Of course, this is considered the core of national secrets and naturally won’t be easily shown to others. Although Julian would definitely get a response if he reported his discovery to the West Kingdom royal family, it would also announce the end of his life as a lord. After all, Julian is now just a lord of a noble fief, not only without his own power, but his status also doesn’t qualify him to control a territory with a “Source”. It’s imaginable that after Julian reports to the royal family, he would definitely be nominally promoted but actually demoted, given some official title, then given another territory, and Twilight Forest would be taken back into the royal family’s hands – Julian absolutely wouldn’t do such a thing as picking up sesame seeds but losing watermelons.

The second force is the Mage Association. As manipulators and users of Mana, they certainly couldn’t be without Mana extraction devices. In fact, the central city of the Mage Association – the City of Ten Thousand Spells – is built on one of the largest “Sources” on the continent. Those mages also possess powerful strength and combat power. Not to mention, the Mage Association’s influence spans the entire continent, and they are naturally very interested in new discoveries of “Sources”.

As for the last force, it’s the Holy Grace Sect. Unlike the Mage Association, which uses and views Mana as pure energy, the Holy Grace Sect sees Mana as the supreme existence, a gift given to humans by the continent. Because of this, the Holy Grace Sect advocates using Mana with a grateful heart, and they oppose wasting and using Mana to endlessly expand human civilization. They believe this will inevitably lead to destruction. Although this proposition conflicts with the ideas of the upper class, because it has a good reputation among the lower-class people, and the Holy Grace Sect itself also has strong power, it has become a force that cannot be ignored on the continent.

However, whether choosing the Mage Association or the Holy Grace Sect, Julian’s situation wouldn’t be much better – although he might keep his superficial position as a lord. But he would inevitably become a pawn and puppet of the Mage Association or the Holy Grace Sect. You should know, Mana extraction devices are in the hands of those big powers. With Julian’s current status and qualifications, how could he possibly order them to work for him?

“Haven’t thought about it.”

Faced with Ophariel’s inquiry, Julian wiped his hands and gave a straightforward answer.

“After all, I haven’t confirmed whether it’s really a Source yet, or where the center of the Source is.”

Finding a Source is a difficult thing. After all, many Sources are like oil – without exploration and development, their existence can’t be found at all. This is obviously a very professional job. In the royal family, Mage Association, and Holy Grace Sect, there are specialists doing this work. They have been searching for hundreds of years, but with little harvest. Moreover, Sources themselves are very rare things, which further increases the difficulty.

Julian, coincidentally, knows some necessary knowledge about finding “Sources”. Under ordinary perception, Sources can’t be detected, but their energy concentration is completely incomparable to ordinary Mana power. This is why Julian became suspicious after encountering that variant wild boar – the local Mana concentration couldn’t possibly cause animals to mutate, unless some places had Mana concentrations exceeding normal standards, which would cause such a situation. This possibility was almost certain after he killed the variant and found no magic center inside it.

Of course, “Sources” are not without influence on humans. In fact, people living in the center of a Source, influenced by Mana power, become healthier and have a much higher chance of giving birth to children with magical potential – for example, Miss Ophariel in front of him is a good example, although she awakened quite late.

“So…”

“Don’t worry.”

Julian waved his hand, blocking Ophariel’s inquiry.

“There’s no need to deal with those bloodsuckers. I have a better way.”