Rumble—
With a faint tremor, the ground shook. Jagged rocks burst forth, dislodging the mithril ore that had been buried deep underground.
It was a method that consumed a large amount of mana, but made miners or excavation equipment unnecessary.
Only those well-versed in earth magic could perform it—one of the many reasons Fernan had chosen the earth attribute.
"There's more than I thought."
Fernan barely managed to suppress the grin threatening to spread across his face as he looked at the turquoise-hued ore filling his view.
According to the prophecy book, Sir Gardner Alpenfarsen had predicted there would be about 5kg of mithril.
To be honest, Fernan had assumed it was half-exaggerated. He'd have been content with even half that amount—but the reality turned out to be the opposite.
'This place is heaven…!'
What was visible on the surface alone was about 5kg, and digging deeper with magic revealed even more.
Roughly 20kg. That amount was enough to buy a small nation and still have plenty left over.
Thud!
Crash!
As chunks of rock tumbled down, Fernan raised a stone wall to protect himself.
The tremors and impacts were growing more intense by the minute.
"They're going at it hard."
They must have been fighting like mad—no wonder the thick wall had collapsed and revealed the mithril.
There had been quite a distance between the spot where the sea dragon had been and this place.
What's more, it had been blocked by a wall over two meters thick. While Fernan had tunneled through and restored the wall using earth magic, Aint hadn't.
For the mithril to be exposed after all that, the battle on the other side had to be no ordinary clash.
"…Don't tell me they're losing over there?"
Though Aint had grown stronger thanks to the elixir, there was still a tinge of unease. After all, they'd managed to defeat Berian here—maybe things weren't going as smoothly on that side.
[Shhhhaaaaa!]
The sea dragon's breath attacked every corner of the cave. Crash! Rubble fell from all directions, but it was nothing more than the beast's final outburst.
Beyond the collapsed terrain was a bottomless abyss. No matter how mighty the sea dragon was, falling from this height would make it difficult to get up again.
"We… we're alive!"
—We got lucky. The ground collapsing like that… Still, we'd better get moving before that thing comes to its senses and climbs back up—
Wait.
Gardner suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
—What is that?
"What do you mean?"
—There, isn't that a bluish glow?
At the exact spot behind where the sea dragon had been resting, a faint beam of light shimmered between the half-collapsed walls.
Aint, carefully collecting spirit grass from earlier, slowly approached.
"…This is…"
—Mithril! It's a mithril vein!
Fernan nodded, clutching his throbbing head.
"So we didn't win through strength after all."
That made things simpler. It all made sense now.
"Well, of course we couldn't win. Makes sense."
Berian, who had received power from a demon, had been that weak. Even if Aint had awakened and defeated him, the difference was marginal.
"…We need to hurry."
Soon, the sea dragon's attacks would likely batter the cave walls again, causing partial collapse. They needed to extract all the mithril and escape before that happened.
"At least we don't need to worry about hiding the signs of mining."
The whole area would be a mess from the battle anyway. Anyone who could tell the difference wasn't a knight—they'd have to be a professional miner.
Fernan picked up the pace.
"Huff… Huff…!"
Aint gasped for breath. His whole body was soaked in sweat, and his skin was scraped up with minor wounds.
Right before him was a vast void of darkness. The collapsed ground had formed an abyss that had swallowed the sea dragon whole.
"…Did it die?"
—That's a deep fall… It probably won't be climbing out any time soon.
The problem was, the sea dragon wasn't the only one that had fallen. Fortunately, Aint had managed to throw himself into a side tunnel, but the impact had left him injured.
"If only that quake hadn't happened…!"
—Could've been the aftershock from the battle rather than a natural quake. This is a cave, after all.
"…Still, it's really high."
—Who would've thought a space like this existed underground? Even the late emperor probably never imagined it.
"Do you think we can climb out?"
Aint looked straight up, spotting a dim light far above.
—We have to. Unless you plan on starving to death down here?
"Of course not."
It was dangerous—one wrong move and he'd fall—but it didn't feel impossible to climb. If he used aura to dig his fingers into the wall, it'd be slow but manageable.
—For now, take a potion and pull yourself together. Then climb up, grab the spirit grass, and get out of here. Who knows when that sea dragon might crawl back up… Hold on.
"What is it? Don't tell me the sea dragon…?"
Aint spread his senses in alarm, but there was no trace of the sea dragon nearby.
—No, not down there. Look over there.
There was a small opening inside the alcove. Narrow enough that Aint would have to crouch to enter, but it seemed to gradually widen further in.
"What's inside?"
—Not sure. But… I'm getting a strange feeling from it.
At that, Aint forced himself to squeeze inside.
At first, he crawled. Then crouched. Then, eventually, he could stand upright.
Finally, he emerged into a small chamber.
And there,
—...Jackpot!
"There's no spirit grass, though?"
—Is that what you're worried about right now?!
—Don't you see what's right in front of your eyes?!
It was a faintly glowing ore. A metallic substance similar in color to steel, yet it gave off a far more complex impression.
"What is it?"
—That's adamant.
"Adamant? What's tha... wait, ada...mant?!"
Aint was stunned. He knew next to nothing about ores, but even he was familiar with the legendary three metals.
The metal blessed by mana: Mithril.
The hardest substance in existence: Adamant.
And the one with an uplifting nature, also known as floating stone: Orichalcum.
All three were so rare that no amount of money could easily acquire them.
"Are you saying that's really adamant?"
—You call yourself a knight and don't recognize it on sight? A proper knight should always know the best materials to forge their weapon and armor with!
—The very sword I dwell in was forged from a mix of adamant and mithril, the finest—
"That's not what's important right now!"
—Right, right. Just mine it! Get it all, now!
Aint tightened his grip, cloaked his sword in aura, and struck the adamant.
Clang!
With a tremendous recoil, his aura shattered and dispersed. A grimace twisted across his face from the impact.
"…I don't think this is gonna work."
—What the hell are you doing?
"Am I doing it wrong?"
—You think you can break adamant head-on with that pathetic excuse for aura?
—Don't strike it directly—collapse the surrounding ground instead. That's how adamant is normally mined.
"Aha."
But even the ground surrounding the adamant was tough, making it no easy task.
—Of course. Adamant affects the density of the surrounding terrain.
"This won't be a quick job, huh? If the sea dragon shows up again…"
—Adamant is one of the most valuable ores out there. With this much, you'll never have to worry about money again.
"Then I'll risk my life and get it all. But… can I even use it?"
—If you have the skills. Even among dwarves, only top-tier craftsmen can forge adamant properly.
—And finding such craftsmen is no easy task. Even if you do, there's no guarantee they'll take your request.
—Not to mention, the commission fee will be astronomical. Way more than you could afford right now.
"...That's true."
A trace of disappointment flashed across Aint's face.
A sword or armor made of the hardest metal in the world—he'd be lying if he said he'd never dreamed of it as a knight.
"But what if I offer part of the adamant as payment...?"
—More importantly.
Gardner cut him off.
—The real problem is that neither you nor Armian has the strength to protect this adamant.
—You've lost the throne. You've lost so much. What makes you think you won't lose the adamant too?
"..."
Aint couldn't refute that. He felt it in his bones—more than anyone else.
"Then who could I sell it to? I can't just hand it over to anyone…"
—What's there to agonize about?
Gardner replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
—There's a nouveau riche right under your nose.
—If you want armor, just make an offer.
"So, did you get what you wanted?"
Jace greeted Fernan, who popped up from the ground, with a sly grin.
"Anything happen?"
"Some monsters went wild, and there were a few fights with students nearby, but nothing that needed a teaching assistant's involvement."
"Good to hear."
"So it's all over now?"
"For now."
At those words, Jace retrieved his clone, which had been standing guard in the trees.
"Then I guess I can stop sitting around like a statue."
"It hasn't even been a day."
"But even one day of being still drives me nuts."
"So, is our deal finished?"
Jace asked as Fernan responded with a faint chuckle.
"You got what you wanted, you paid the price."
"Yeah, good work."
"Just curious though—what kind of elixir was it, really? What kind of potion is worth going through all this trouble for?"
Instead of answering, Fernan just looked silently at Jace. That look alone made Jace shake his head.
"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't tell me. Well, that's that. Good job, TA. Call me if you ever need anything again!"
Jace laughed and disappeared. Fernan returned to his original spot atop the tree—where he belonged as a teaching assistant.
"Things went better than expected."
There was a substantial amount of mithril, and Aint hadn't noticed a thing.
'With this much, I should be able to make it.'
Even though it was only 20kg, mithril was so light that its volume was enormous—roughly equivalent to the size of an average house.
The quantity wouldn't be a problem.
'The problem is finding the right secondary ore.'
Mithril was renowned for its mana absorption and conductivity—it was called a metal blessed by mana—but it couldn't shine on its own.
Alloying. Only by mixing mithril with other metals could its efficiency more than double.
Of course, no half-baked ore would ever satisfy him.
"I guess I'll have to spend every coin I have to find something decent."
If he pulled every string he had—connections, family influence—surely he could obtain a few useful materials that could be paired with the mithril.
"Adamant... even darksteel would be ideal..."
But it wasn't like those ores could be bought just because you had money.
'Anyway, the job's done. I'll just keep doing my TA duties for a while and then wrap it up—'
That's when it happened.
—!
BOOM!
SCREEEE—
GROWL—
Explosions. Roars. The screeching of beasts and a pungent wave of monster stench filled the air.
Fernan rose to his feet. In the distance, a pack of dozens of Hellhounds were chasing a single student.
"Help! Please help me!"
Her armor was half-shredded, dried blood crusted all over her body, and her cries were desperate.
She was a student who had encountered a monster horde she couldn't handle—and was now fleeing for her life.
This was precisely why professors and teaching assistants were stationed throughout the area—to supervise and manage situations like this.
But Fernan didn't intervene.
The student screamed dozens of times, running in circles around Fernan's tree for what felt like hundreds of laps.
"…Oh, come on!"
Eventually, the student shouted up at him.
"You're seriously not going to help!?"
"Should I?"
"Isn't the whole point of TAs to assist students when they're in danger?"
"If it's dangerous, sure."
Fernan leaned his chin on his hand and tapped the tree lazily.
"But since when do elves ever find a pack of Hellhounds dangerous in the forest?"
"…Tch."
The orange-haired elf, Aria, clicked her tongue.
She lightly leapt up and landed beside Fernan. The pursuing Hellhounds slammed into the tree beneath them.
THUD!
"Stop fooling around and deal with them already. The tree's about to fall."
"Wouldn't it be faster if you helped me, TA?"
"So that whole 'elves love nature and trees' thing was just crap, huh?"
In the end, Aria cast a spell. Dozens of wind blades whipped through the pack like a storm.
Slice—
She didn't eliminate all the Hellhounds in one go, but several were fatally wounded and retreated. The sudden assault startled the pack, causing them to back off in confusion.
"…Did you come looking for me?"
"It was a coincidence."
"Then get lost."
"…Okay, I came looking for you."
"Why?"
"Curiosity."
Curiosity? Fernan gave her a questioning glance. Aria nodded.
"To my knowledge, second-years aren't allowed to be temporary TAs."
"I wasn't disallowed. I just didn't bother."
"Exactly. Everyone avoids it because the cons outweigh the pros. So why did you take the job? That's what I want to know."
Fernan understood immediately from the curious glint in her eyes.
"Your father... the Marquis of Pridien told you to, didn't he? Told you to get close to the prince-elect families and build connections?"
"…Was it that obvious? I thought my acting was pretty solid."
She didn't bother denying it.
"Very."
"I won't deny it, then. So—friends?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm older than you."
Elves weren't all that different from humans. Their ears were pointier, they got along better with forests and spirits—but that was about it.
"Then let's be close upperclassman and underclassman."
"That doesn't sound appealing either."
"I am the heir of a prince-elect family, you know?"
"Weren't you trying to make a move on Aint?"
"An elf can't live on meat alone. Sometimes you gotta eat fruit, too. I'm planning to get close with all six of the prince-elects anyway, so what's the problem?"
That short conversation told Fernan all he needed to know about her personality.
Brazen. Shameless. Bold as they come.
'She didn't even consider who'd actually foot the bill for—'
And then—
────!
A thunderous roar tore through the air, sharp enough to split eardrums.
A roar.
The fury of a dragon that had lost its lair and the treasure it guarded.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The sea dragon erupted from the lake, sending the water blasting outward in all directions. Fernan swallowed hard.
'Don't tell me Aint is dead…?'
Something had gone terribly wrong.
"A sea dragon? Why the hell is that here… Wait, when did—?"
Aria blinked in confusion.
Far off in the distance, Fernan had already turned into a tiny speck—vanishing fast.