Chapter 143

“Damn it…! This damned headache never feels familiar!”

It was worse than any other pain he had ever felt in his life.

If it weren’t for the fact that it had the useful part of showing him the future—or rather, the contents of a forgotten book for some reason—Gismond would have done anything to get rid of the pain.

“But this time…”

There were countless scenes.

However, the only one that floated before Gismond’s eyes was:

[Mountains of gold, jewels, and all kinds of treasures.]

A dragon’s nest. The richest place in any fantasy world.

“With that money…”

Truly, he could do anything.

Gismond was about to wipe the drool running down the corner of his mouth when he jolted in surprise.

“Damn it, you scared me!”

Fernan was standing at the door, staring at him intently.

“…Fernan?”

“Yes, it’s me, senior.”

“What, why… again what?!”

The trauma from that day returned all at once, and Gismond trembled.

“I suppose this time you also saw the future.”

“…Is that why you came? Of course I saw it.”

“You can’t tell anyone about it.”

“Of course I won’t tell anyone.”

“To anyone.”

Fernan took a step forward. Under that icy gaze, Gismond instinctively stepped back the same distance.

“Wait! Stay there and let’s talk!”

“You must not speak of it.”

“I haven’t even talked about it with anyone else but you! And besides… wait a moment.”

Although several prophecies had appeared before, it was the first time he saw such an unexpected reaction from Fernan. And recalling it along with the content of the vision, Gismond realized something.

“Don’t tell me that…”

“It’s mine.”

“But that’s supposed to be Aint’s!”

“It’s mine.”

“But you yourself said you stole the potions from Aint…”

“So what?”

Fernan brought his face close to his.

“Is there a problem with what I said? Or do you have any complaints about me, senior?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Then whose is it?”

Gismond wasn’t dumb enough to cling to his initial opinion in a situation like this.

“…Since it has no owner, obviously it belongs to the first one who picks it up.”

“Now it seems you’re starting to understand.”

Fernan smiled and dragged a chair over to sit.

“See, senior. I don’t like people who covet what is mine.”

Tap, tap.

Fernan drummed his fingers on the table. That steady rhythm tightened Gismond’s chest more and more.

“No, let me correct that. It’s not that I don’t like them, I hate them. So much so that, if necessary, I eliminate them.”

“…Hic.”

A blatant threat—if he coveted the treasures, Fernan wouldn’t leave him alone. Gismond nodded quickly.

“I… I’m not so greedy as to desire what belongs to someone else.”

“And I also like discreet people.”

“Of course. My nickname is the silent death…”

“Excellent.”

Fernan stood up.

“You better live up to that nickname. Otherwise, you won’t taste kraken ink pasta again—the one you praised so much three days ago.”

“You… you were watching me?”

“Watching? No need to call it that. On this island, nothing escapes my sight. See you next time, senior.”

And he vanished.

“Huff, huff…!”

Gismond exhaled the air he had been holding in.

“Damn, that bastard is worse than a demon…!”

His legs, which had barely withstood that overwhelming pressure, gave out and dropped him to the floor.

“He must have really sold things even to demons! Damn hypocrite…”

He was furious.

“That son of a bitch…!”

He remembered Fernan’s last threat, shuddered, and checked his surroundings.

Upon confirming that no one was around, he sighed in relief and whispered softly:

“I’m putting up with this because I have no power now… because I have no power…”

But a bad feeling pierced him—maybe he’d have to endure it for the rest of his life.

***

There was no time.

The fact that the vision had appeared meant it would soon come true.

Even though the past had changed and with it many parts of the future, this had nothing to do with that.

Gardner was going to suggest it without fail, and Aint would search for the underwater cave.

Before Aint could realize it, Fernan had to sneak in and take the treasure.

“The guardian is the problem…”

The chimera created by the first Archmage.

He had never seen it, but it must be powerful.

‘With my level, I couldn’t handle it.’

If he used Wooden, the situation might be different, but defeating the chimera like that would also be problematic.

If it disappeared, Aint and Gardner would suspect something was wrong.

Ideally, he’d sneak in without waking the guardian.

“I must go immediately.”

Fernan returned to his quarters and prepared to depart.

Wooden would accompany him, of course, along with Hyde.

Silver whimpered, wanting to go too, but Fernan calmed him using Wooden.

He also gave him a spirit herb to chew on, and the bird nodded firmly, as if saying it would endure at least one day.

“Definitely, being a mystical beast means you’re incredibly expensive to feed.”

A bird that ate spirit herbs—Fernan was almost speechless.

“But, is it really okay to do this?”

“What do you mean?”

“According to your own words, this is something Aint should obtain and use one day for Armian. And yet you plan to take it from him…?”

“Hyde. You’ve been with me for more than ten years and you still don’t understand.”

Fernan scoffed disdainfully.

“This isn’t a potion. Having it doesn’t mean a drastic change or immediate usefulness.”

Rather, Aint would hide that he had such fortune.

That mountain of riches would become a hidden weapon, a dagger saved for Armian’s future.

“Of course, Armian must be restored. When Aint becomes emperor, I’ll get back everything I’ve invested, and much more.”

However.

“The fact that a peasant harvests wheat doesn’t mean it reaches the consumer directly. Maybe in his village they sell it in cash, but normally there’s a middleman. That’s also how the Golden Turtle Company grew.”

“…Don’t tell me?”

“Yes, just that.”

Greed had clouded his judgment for a moment, but Fernan wasn’t dumb enough to act without a plan.

After all, if Aint failed for lack of that money, the demons would conquer the continent.

Gold would lose all value, and Fernan’s future would go down with it.

So he would never do something like that.

The only thing he would do was keep a fork at the table of destiny.

“I’ll lend that money to Aint.”

With a small interest.

Small, of course—though in such a sum, even a minimal interest would be enormous.

“Just thinking about it makes me happy.”

After all, there was nothing more pleasurable than earning money with money.

***

The underwater cave mentioned in the book of prophecies was half a day away by boat from the Academy.

Getting on a boat wasn’t a problem. Most of the vessels within the Academy belonged to the Golden Turtle Company.

Fernan departed on a small ship, avoiding drawing attention from others.

“Is it here?”

“Yes. Right in the middle between the twin-shaped island and the crescent-shaped island. They say the underwater cave lies beneath this. Near the Academy, there are no uninhabited islands besides these two.”

Although a thousand years had passed and the shape of the islands had changed slightly, the general silhouette matched the description in the book.

Fernan broke a scroll of breathing magic. He immediately dove into the sea, followed by Hyde.

‘There it is.’

After descending for quite a while, when the sunlight no longer penetrated the water and they were in the abyssal darkness, a cave appeared.

“Ugh!”

Fernan and Hyde entered the cavern where no water seeped in. And they understood they were in the right place.

“Magic lamps.”

“Weren’t those the ones you ordered to sell last time? Don’t tell me you got them this way.”

“Better to be with someone who can appreciate their value than rotting in a place where no one but Aint would ever enter.”

“Don’t talk about the lamps as if they had consciousness.”

There were no enemies in the cave.

Although it was shaped like a labyrinth, the magic lamps hanging from the ceiling illuminated the path so clearly it was impossible to get lost.

Even without them, finding the way wouldn’t have been too hard.

“It’s getting colder.”

The icy air intensified as they moved in the right direction.

Finally, they stood before a door unbefitting of the place and a massive block of ice guarding it.

“There it is, Hyde. That’s the guardian they spoke of—the chimera created by the first Archmage.”

An enemy against whom, even fighting together, Fernan and Hyde had low chances of winning. With Wooden, maybe they had a shot.

— Kyu!

“We’re not going to wake it. Stop saying nonsense, Wooden.”

“So what do we do now?”

“That thing wakes up when the main door is opened. So we have to enter another way.”

Luckily, perhaps due to the first Emperor’s style, a vast chamber stretched in front of the door. The wall was wide enough that they didn’t have to force their way through the main entrance.

“And is there a way?”

“I’ve said it many times—that’s why I learned earth magic.”

“To steal? I thought it was for mining.”

“Both.”

Fernan placed his hand on the wall, as far from the chimera as possible. Mana filtered into the rock and bounced off immediately.

“…Tsk!”

“You okay?”

“The walls have a magic circle engraved that blocks all external intrusion.”

It was so advanced that Fernan, with his level, could never break it.

But he didn’t despair.

“I more or less expected that. There’s no way the first Emperor would be so careless.”

It made sense. Keeping a treasure like that unprotected? That wouldn’t be like an Emperor but like an idiot.

“So is there a solution?”

“Dig.”

“…Excuse me?”

“We dig down until we’re outside the magic circle’s range, and enter from there.”

“…Oh.”

It sounded simple, but convincing.

“Will it work?”

“I’m a mage, I know how these things are done. They almost never engrave circles on the floor. And even less in an underwater cave.”

“The first Emperor wasn’t a mage, though.”

“But whoever helped him build this certainly was.”

Fernan began digging with earth magic. In an instant, they started descending.

After five attempts, they reached a depth free from the influence of the magic circles, and from there began carving their way inward.

Then.

Thud—

From the crack opening in the rock, a beam of light leaked out along with gold coins that fell tinkling.

“Gold! Hyde, did you see that! It’s raining gold! I told you it would work, I knew it would work!”

Fernan gathered the coins with a childlike grin, as if it were the first time he had seen a treasure.

“…The first Emperor never imagined someone would tunnel all the way here to bypass the magic circles.”

Normally, inscriptions were engraved on the walls, not on the floor.

It wasn’t that the Emperor had been careless—it was that Fernan was exceptional.

“Definitely a wise move to learn earth magic!”

Pushing through the fallen coins, Fernan emerged inside.

“…Beautiful. More beautiful, elegant, noble, and majestic than anything I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“…Agreed. Even for me, it’s an imposing sight. It’s massive.”

A mountain of treasures so large it exceeded the sum of all the Pellenberg warehouses.

“They say after suffering comes the reward.”

He had avoided a future where he would fall into ruin, and now fortune was offered on a silver platter.

Fernan opened a subspace and began sweeping treasures inside. He had stopped by headquarters beforehand to acquire more storage artifacts, so he had space to spare.

While Fernan collected gold and jewels, Hyde found an old piece of paper on the ground.

“What’s this? A letter?”

“Put it in the most visible spot, right in front of the door. That way, even if no treasures remain, they won’t suspect.”

“Understood.”

For an hour, Fernan kept filling his spaces until not even a single coin could fit.

“Not a single gap left in the subspace. It’s completely full.”

“Shall we go back now?”

“Yes. And make sure to erase all traces that we were here.”

Ah, Fernan added.

“Before we leave, collect everything hanging from the ceiling.”

When the three of them departed, nothing but absolute darkness remained in the underwater cave.