North Woods And Chestnuts (2)

“Sit!”

A bear isn’t a dog.

But no beast can refuse Rurin’s words when she starts to release her Dragon Fear. The bear, which was growling and struggling alone, was suppressed by the fear and sat down.

“Stand up!”

It obeyed the next command as well.

I left Rurin playing with the bear behind and focused on the roasted chestnuts again.

As the chestnut shells turned black, the yellow and brown roasted chestnuts revealed themselves. I quickly extinguished the fireball and inspected the chestnuts.

They were perfectly roasted.

I peeled open the slightly cracked shell and brought the roasted chestnut to my mouth. Hmm, the sweetness was just right, and the unique texture spread in my mouth with each bite.

It had an umami sweetness, a taste that made you want to keep eating.

“Ahhh-!”

I peeled another chestnut and put it into the mouth of the dragon staring intently at me.

“Oh! It’s delicious!”

Rurin also exclaimed in admiration.

“Right?”

If meat-lover Rurin is satisfied, nothing more needs to be said.

“Hehe, my clothes got dirty because of that guy, but you bought me a lot, so it’s okay.”

Rurin flipped the bear over and sat down next to me, peeling and eating chestnuts.

After finishing the snack time, I tidied up the branches and pondered for a moment. How should I restore this crater? Should I cover it with fallen leaves?

“You!”

At that moment, Rurin called me while looking at the bear, or rather, the bear digging furiously at the center of the crater, precisely where I had made the fire.

“Something’s strange here. Something’s shining!”

“Huh?”

“Shining?”

When I approached, something was indeed shining. It wasn’t gold or silver. It sparkled like a gemstone. A vein?

Greek Mountain already had an iron mine.

The last mine accident happened at the iron mine in Greek Mountain.

Of course, this northern forest is completely opposite from the iron mine. To be precise, the iron mine is located south of Greek City, and this northern forest is in the opposite direction. If you go through the northern forest and descend Greek Mountain, you leave Greek City.

So it wouldn’t be surprising if there was another vein. I dug lightly at the shining part. Then the buried shining object revealed itself. It was a ruby with a deep red hue.

A red gemstone with a round shape. In modern times, it’s called one of the two great peaks of gemstones along with diamonds.

Naturally, it’s also highly valued as a gemstone in this world. One of the luxury items that nobles can’t get enough of.

However, one thing is certain: this crater cannot be a gemstone mine because of this ruby.

What kind of vein produces perfectly cut gemstones? It’s impossible.

But the ruby in my hand was perfectly cut. It had also passed through the hands of a skilled artisan.

So it’s far from a vein.

Then why is a gemstone buried in a place like this?

Was it accidentally dropped and buried over the years? Or is it someone’s treasure trove?

The word ‘treasure’ piqued my curiosity. Rurin, too, couldn’t resist treasure. She saw the ruby shining in my hand and her eyes sparkled.

“That’s pretty!”

“Right? The craftsmanship is exceptional. It’s definitely the work of a dwarven artisan.”

“Dwarven? Why is something like that buried in the ground?”

“Exactly.”

I inspected the crater Rurin had made with a renewed gaze. I started digging a little more in the center I had just dug. Something caught my fingertips.

They kept coming out as I dug. It felt like half soil, half gemstones.

Moreover, what caught my fingertips was a diamond.

Diamond.

That is, a diamond.

It wasn’t just a diamond. It was a diamond ring. The transparent diamond emitted a mesmerizing light, as if it would draw in the viewer.

I secretly grabbed the diamond ring while Rurin was fascinated by the ruby.

It seemed there was some secret in this northern forest.

The restricted access alone indicated this. It must be a secret related to an ancestor of the Greek family.

But if it was just about hiding treasure, why wasn’t it passed down to descendants? Usually, hidden treasures are found in treasure chests or at least buried in coffins, not just in the soil.

Simply burying it in the soil is unusual. It would be very difficult to find.

Thus, my curiosity was piqued. Secrets are meant to be uncovered.

I have magic for that.

I stepped back from the deep crater. Then Rurin, who had chased the bear away, followed me.

“You?”

“Stay still for a moment? I want to check something.”

“Alright!”

Rurin squatted down and rested her chin on her hands, watching me. She generally didn’t question what I did. She just watched. She would grumble if I asked for help, though.

But in the end, she always followed my words. Lately, she had been grumbling less.

Anyway, I started to channel my mana, ignoring Rurin. The spell I would use was Earthquake Blaine, a 9th-class magic.

As I chanted the spell, the ground began to shake.

Rumble!

Crack!

A powerful magical earthquake occurred around the crater Rurin had made. With a loud noise, the ground around the crater split apart.

The crater split in half, revealing the geological layers below.

Just like an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher on the Richter scale splits the ground and reveals geological layers. Earthquake Blaine can cause an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or higher in the desired range and intensity. It’s a 9th-class magic for a reason. Moreover, it doesn’t affect areas outside the targeted region.

Even now, the ground in front of me was split, but only within the desired range. The rest of the area was calm, as if nothing had happened.

“Why are you splitting the ground all of a sudden?”

Rurin generally didn’t question me, but if she got curious, she would naturally ask questions. That was Rurin. She tilted her head and grabbed my arm while looking at me.

“It’s nothing special. I just thought there might be a secret under this ground, so I split it a bit.”

“A secret?”

“Yeah.”

I descended into the split ground.

The depth of the split ground was appropriate. Since it was created by magic, it differed from cracks formed by real earthquakes.

In other words, there was a bottom.

Using Rurin’s mana to land on the bottom, I saw the rubies, diamonds, and lumps of gold and silver scattered throughout the geological layers. The amount was considerable. It was like countless treasures were buried in the geological layers like fossils.

Rurin also exclaimed in admiration as she looked at the treasure-laden layers. But what I was curious about was why these treasures were buried in the layers.

This was definitely caused by some other force. It wasn’t a naturally occurring situation. So there must be a cause-and-effect relationship. In other words, there must be a reason why the treasures were buried here.

“You! I know what this is!”

At that moment, Rurin pointed below the treasure-laden layers and approached. There were bones where she pointed. Thanks to the split ground, parts of the bones were exposed.

“Do you know what it is? What is it?”

“This is a dragon’s grave!”

“A dragon’s grave?”

“Yes. It’s certain that a fellow dragon lived in this Greek City. It seems they died a long time ago. And…”

Rurin stared at the bones for a moment. Then she started to release her mana. A round orb buried around the bones floated up in front of Rurin due to the dragon’s power.

It looked like a pearl, but it was obviously not a pearl. The orb glowed red. The red wasn’t like a ruby’s red or sparkle. It was like the glow of a modern neon sign.

“A dragon’s grave refers to the series of actions when a dragon with no offspring returns to the earth with its lair at the end of its life. It’s the path I was going to take after my mother died. So I know it well! If it weren’t for you, I would have been alone.”

“Really?”

Come to think of it, Greek City and its surroundings were not the territory of another dragon. It was an empty territory.

Just as humans have territories, ordinary dragons declare the area where their lair is located as their territory.

But there was no dragon that claimed Greek City and its surroundings as their territory. So the Elder of the Black Dragons said he would declare Greek City and its vicinity as Rurin’s territory once a lair was established.

It must have been a place that had an owner in the past but had been left vacant.

Indeed, the bones, though decayed, were enormous. There’s no doubt they belonged to a giant creature like a dragon.

Rurin’s words were probably correct. Then, naturally, what’s buried above the bones must be the treasure buried with the dragon’s lair.

“Then, what’s that red orb?”

“This is… something I dislike.”

“Something you dislike?”

“This is a condensed mass of a dragon’s mana.”

“A dragon’s mana?”

“Yes, I heard from my mother. Our lifespan is usually between 3,000 and 4,000 years. Living for 4,000 years is incredibly long-lived. But I heard that occasionally, there are ancient dragons that live over 5,000 years. This is a condensed mass of mana from a dragon that lived for 5,000 years and then died naturally!”

A condensed mass of mana from a dragon that lived for 5,000 years?

Is it like the sarira that comes from the bodies of monks?

Of course, the concept seems entirely different from sarira, but still, if it’s a dragon that lived for 5,000 years, it wouldn’t be surprising if something unusual came out.

“They called it Ancient Mable. My mother also had one she obtained by chance. But she died because of it. Those bad guys! They’re bad guys.”

“So it’s something that even dragons covet?”

“Yes. This amplifies mana.”

Rurin held a total of five mana orbs. Dragons covet even one of these orbs, but she had five.

“You, this is only useful for dragons. Other beings can’t handle the mana in these orbs. But you’re fine! So take them all.”

Rurin approached me, opened my palm, and placed all five red orbs in my hand.

“They fight so hard to obtain even one of these?”

“That’s why I hate them. These orbs caused my mother’s death and left me alone! But I don’t mind if you use them. I’m happy if you get stronger. You promised to protect me forever!”