Chapter 80: CH 80

“To find the Spirit Stone.”

So, he was after that too, huh?

Riett thought Lucas had given up on finding the Spirit Stone.

The whole reason he was looking for the Spirit Stones was to get out of the guild’s successor position, but from what he’d said in her debutante ball, he had seemed to be in the midst of successor training.

But it turned out that wasn’t the case.

“You didn’t give up? Trying to escape from the guild successor position, like with that broken knife?”

“I was about to give up, but someone stopped me.”

Lucas brought both hands behind his head and leaned back against the chair’s backrest. Then, as if he had gone back to his childhood, he smiled mischievously.

“It was you, Riett. You encouraged me.”

On the contrary, Riett looked puzzled.

“What?”

When did she…?

“On the day of your debutante ball, Riett told me that there was no Spirit Stone in the school’s artifact storage room.”

“Huh?”

“It was meant as ‘don’t give up,’ was it?”

Did he see such an overinterpretation?

How did the fact that there was no Spirit Stone in the artifact storage room sound like, ‘The Spirit Stone is somewhere else, Lucas! Don’t give up!’?

“I just thought I had to tell the truth.”

Lucas raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t care.

“Well, anyway, I accepted it that way that day and wanted to escape from that wretched successor position.”

‘Why did you drag me, who doesn’t care, into this?’

Anyway, this guy has more audacity than Riett thought.

“If a few words from me could change your determination, you should have searched for the Spirit Stone a bit more instead of giving up halfway from the beginning.”

“My father was too obstinate. If I rebelled more, he would have torn my throat out.”

Lucas playfully opened his mouth, imitating a hunting dog. She still can’t figure this guy out.

“Riett, on the day of the debutante ball, you asked me if I was getting beat up.”

The bruises on Lucas’ cheeks that day were very prominent, and his skin looked pale. For a moment, Riett thought there was a soft feeling in her memories, but it quickly disappeared.

“Every day of the successor lessons was like hell. There was no way out, and there was only a thorny path in front of me.”

As if recalling the painful past, the mischievous energy disappeared from Lucas’ eyes.

Lucas was still smiling faintly, but that apparently made the person watching him feel uncomfortable instead.

“But Riett, you opened up hope for me.”

What hope? The grandiose words made Riett feel a little embarrassed.

Then, Lucas’ slightly subdued voice reached her.

“I’m really sorry for betraying you at the noble school.”

Lucas stared at Riett with a serious expression.

“I was foolish. Even though I had uncertain information, I entered the noble school, thinking that as long as I achieve what I want, regardless of who I hurt or insulted.”

In that sense, he was no different from his father. Lucas murmured.

“Meeting you here by chance must be the will of the gods, telling me to apologize properly.”

Lucas showed a wry smile.

Riett felt awkward in this situation, so she deliberately looked away, not at Lucas.

“Whatever, talking about the past only brings up the desire to hit you.”

Hahahaha. Finally, Lucas burst into laughter. Riett thought that such a reaction seemed to mock her, so she felt somewhat uncomfortable.

“Why? Do you really want me to hit you?”

“No, it’s because you’re truly Riett.”

Lucas’ bright laughter was irritating yet added a lively atmosphere to the otherwise quiet mansion, so it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Riett’s mouth twitched, following Lucas’ laughter, but then stopped.

Wait a moment.

‘According to what I heard from the child I saw during the day, the Haren Empire’s exploration team has already visited this place and might have taken the Spirit Stone…’

Does Lucas know this fact too?

‘If he doesn’t know, it’ll be another fruitless effort.’

She wanted to ask it directly, but since any information about the Spirit Stone was a national secret, she had to be cautious with her words.

Riett decided to turn the situation around and ask indirectly.

“Lucas, have you found any clues about the Spirit Stone?”

“I came here thinking it might be here… but it seems that the Haren Empire’s exploration team that already visited couldn’t find anything.”

Riett’s eyes widened.

‘He already knows that the Haren Empire’s exploration team has been here.’

The villagers don’t know if the outsiders who have been intruding into this place recently are from the Haren Empire or not. Moreover, they don’t even know that they came to find the Spirit Stone.

“How did you know that the Haren Empire exploration team came to find the Spirit Stone?”

“Just something I know.”

Lucas shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

“Can I tell you one thing that you don’t know, Riett?”

Huh? Riett blinked.

“The Spirit Stone is probably not here. So the Haren Empire exploration team must have come here for nothing.”

“…Is that true?”

Should she consider this fortunate?

Regardless, the whereabouts of the Spirit Stone had once again fallen into the depths of the labyrinth, but at least no other country had found it first.

“It’s true.”

“How do you know that the Spirit Stone isn’t here?”

Lucas, who casually revealed unknown facts even to himself, seemed suspicious.

“Riett, I’m not just a member of some back-alley guild.”

“The Broken Knife?”

Although Hemsworth’s Guild seemed quite famous in the underworld-like realm, someone unrelated to that world wouldn’t know about it.

“Thanks to being involved in everything, I have access to all sorts of information. There’s nothing I can’t obtain or find.”

Saying so, Lucas took out a small compass from his pocket. It looked like an ordinary compass at first glance, but it had a peculiar shape with the needle pointing only in one direction.

“This is an item made by the guild. It’s a compass that points to the location of the Spirit Stone.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Riett immediately denied it. Was there such a thing?

If such a tool existed, anyone would have already found the Spirit Stone. While the guild to which Lucas belonged was said to be remarkable, could they create such a tool?

“Riett, the realms of this world are all interconnected. Borders are meaningless to us. So, as long as we have money, we can create anything and find it easily.”

With an overconfident attitude, Riett realized that he wasn’t just saying it.

Although what she knew so far might not be everything…

After regaining her composure, Riett looked closely at the compass and asked.

“What’s the principle behind this compass?”

“It responds to the immense power of the spirits.”

“Then would it also be affected by the power of a spirit mage?”

“With the power of an ordinary spirit mage, the needle won’t move. It’s designed to move only when approached by immense energy.”

Listening to Lucas’ calm explanation, Riett couldn’t help but be amazed.

When the thought that the Spirit Stone compass was real occurred to her, she felt as if she had become a frog in a well in an instant.

“Riett, the Spirit Stone possesses much greater power than people think.”

“I know. Rumor has it that it has enough power to cause earthquakes on small islands.”

Lucas laughed.

“It’s more than that.”

For example…

Lucas trailed off and lightly tilted the cup of water onto the table. The water flowing down the glass onto the table quickly formed a small lake.

Then, as Lucas’ finger cut through the water, the stagnant water dispersed momentarily in both directions.

“Right now, I’ve only separated stagnant water, but with the use of the Spirit Stone, you could even split the sea with the same motion.”

“…What?”

Riett’s mouth was slightly agape at the story that seemed straight out of a myth.

“In other words, those who possess the Spirit Stone gain the ability to wield nature as they please, almost like the power of a god.”

Riett, who had been looking down at the small puddle of water on the table, raised her head.

“But only spirit mages can use the Spirit Stone, right?”

“Well, that’s true. But even without being a spirit mage, there are many things one can do with the Spirit Stone.”

“For example?”

“Just think about it briefly. You could hand it over to a spirit mage country and obtain a high position, or if it’s a rare item, you could sell it for a huge sum at the markets that go crazy over such things.”

Well, if it’s an item of that level, anyone would be willing to pay a high price to get their hands on it.

But the immediate important fact is…

“But your words mean that there’s no Spirit Stone here, right?”

“Probably. The compass should react when we get closer to the Spirit Stone, but it doesn’t seem to be moving at all. I also overheard the Haren Empire’s exploration team saying that they couldn’t find anything.”

Lucas shook the unresponsive compass back and forth. Watching him, Riett asked,

“So what will you do now?”

“Hmm…”

Lucas glanced at Riett for a moment. Riett’s figure faintly reflected in his bright eyes.

“Still, just in case, I thought I’d stay here for a while longer to observe…”

Saying it might not be here, there’s no need to cling to hope.

However, Riett didn’t feel the need to add any more words. Lucas would figure it out on his own, she thought.

As they continued their conversation, they suddenly noticed the window, engulfed in pitch-black darkness.

Riett felt her body, which had been moving all day, creaking.

“I should go to bed now.”

Riett stood up from her seat.

The hired employees, including Natasha, had finished their meal and each returned to their rooms. The mansion was quiet, and it seemed like everyone was asleep now.

‘I’ll have to clean up the dining room tomorrow.’

“You must be tired. You should go to bed early too.”

Riett took a look around the now quiet mansion and spoke to Lucas.

Then, as she was about to go up to her room on the second floor…

Knock, knock—the sound of knocking came from beyond the front door.

‘Who could it be on such a late night?’

Riett had a foreboding feeling.

Perhaps Lucas also sensed that something was off, as he quietly stood up from his seat and stood next to Riett.

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know.”

Knock, knock—the knocking sound came again.

Riett cautiously retrieved the dagger she had strapped to her body. There was no private security like in the capital’s mansions, and there were no guards nearby to call for help.

Riett swallowed her dry saliva and looked at Lucas. Lucas seemed to understand what she meant and nodded lightly, picking up the sword that was on the chair.

A visit from a stranger in an unfamiliar place. Riett calmed her pounding heart and approached the door cautiously.

With the sword tightly gripped, she opened the door.