The Amber Sword

“You should be a little more careful these few days. That bastard is acting up again recently, but this time his actions are more covert and I’m unable to find evidence of his wrongdoings—”

Freya frowned and looked worriedly at her.

“There’s no need to worry yet,” Maynild’s black eyes were resolute and she drew in a light breath, “I’m still here. Still, you should just be a little more careful.”

She glanced at the disappearing horse carriage as she cautioned Freya again. The sky to the north was a little dark, as though it was an omen for a terrible storm.

[Is this storm going to come before the winter ends?]

She knew that there were people in the academy who were starting to feel uneasy.

This place was supposed to be a land that was a safe haven for all, but it was possible that it was actually the center of a chaotic maelstrom. The peace it had now was nothing more than an illusion.

[The negotiation battle has begun in Ampere Seale and it will soon turn into a true war.]

“Do you think you can take on the responsibilities??” Maynild suddenly asked.

“I’m sorry......?” Freya said in confusion.

Freya’s startled expression made Maynild laugh and the latter covered her mouth slightly.

“No, nothing,” Maynild’s voice sounded like she found something amusing.

============== Brendel’s POV ================

Two weeks had passed since the strange earthquake in the Schafflund mines—

While the troubles in the north intensified and seemed like war about to break out any given moment, the town’s citizens lived as though nothing had happened. Even though there were deaths in the silver mines, they were quickly forgotten by many. Only the injured and family members of the dead would remember this unfortunate day.

Most people went about their usual schedule within a short week, forgetting all too easily.

On the surface, the silver mines seemed like it had not changed, continuing like it had been for the past few decades. But things were different when one looked deeper.

Shortly after the people who were trapped in the coliseum escaped from the silver mines—

Brendel and Medissa went straight to Perkins’s office and forced him to surrender, which the noble did readily. Jana was then ordered to lead twenty-odd Iron-ranked mercenaries to watch him constantly at all times.

There was a good excuse to replace the injured and dead soldiers by enlisting them as such. However, this solution would not last very long as Perkins explained that Count Randner would not let his silver mines be employed with unknown soldiers.

The longest that Perkins could delay was two months, but it was enough for Brendel.

Kodan then announced to the workers and guards that he would transfer all his authority to Perkins and rest to recuperate from his injuries.

In truth, his speech was composed by Brendel to mislead them.

Contrary to what Brendel knew of the noble, Perkins was cowardly and responded by working harder on the documents before him in the days after the change in management, to the point where the administrative personnel who was kept in the dark praised him.

They thought their superior had turned over a new leaf when all the responsibilities in the mine had fallen onto his lap. Even Count Randner’s spies who were sent there to monitor him wrote positive remarks about him for the past two weeks.

Naturally, each report by the spies was intercepted by Brendel to ensure that his secret was still safe. When he showed them to Perkins, the latter actually cursed Randner for not trusting him.

Though, Perkins cautiously looked around him to ensure that none of Randner’s spies were around him. Brendel shook his head when he saw Perkins’s actions.

In order to soothe the cowardly and ambitious noble, Brendel promised that he would not reveal this conspiracy and that Perkins was free to find a solution on his own if the secret was ever revealed. The latter soon started to find someone who resembled him and planned to act like he was imprisoned as a last resort.

Even though it seemed like a weak solution, Perkins was still relieved to possibly have a way to avoid taking responsibility for the loss of the silver mines.

Kodan was escorted to Firburh shortly after he made his speech by Medissa and Scarlett. When the old man saw Ciel, he understood there was no way he could escape. But he rejected Brendel’s further attempts to recruit him and reminded the latter to keep his promise and release him when the time was up.

Brendel who was staying at the inn in Schafflund, could only smile and shake his head when he saw the report that came from Trentheim.

Even though there was definitely a relationship between his grandfather and Kodan, the latter did not even mention a word about it after they left the mines.

Brendel was considerably interested to find out his grandfather’s secrets, but he was a patient person and he had more important things to deal with.

He glanced at the lithe figure buried in a mountain of accounting documents near him. He had reprimanded Romaine again when things settled down and thought that she would throw up a tantrum by ignoring him, but she held on to his hands for the past few days like a precious treasure as though she was afraid to lose him.

She was even working hard at the documents and cleared the numbers required for his administration in Schafflund. She was now working on the flawed sections in the reports that Perkins and the past people who governed his place, or more notably the amount of embezzled funds done by them.

He wondered if he was a little too hard on her, but there were moments where she slipped back to her usual self, and he believed that it was only a matter of time before her antics started appearing again.

Brendel’s eyes went back to the report on the table, but his mind was thinking of something else.

He was immensely appreciative of Cohen’s intelligence, and the fact that the latter would rise to become a duke proved he was someone worth going after. Unfortunately, to Brendel’s surprise, Cohen and the youths rejected him and stated clearly that they would leave this place and follow their original plan to see the world and make it on their own.

[It’s a pity, but since they’re still in town for the next few months, there might still be a chance to get them to change their minds.]

Strangely enough, while he failed to recruit the people he wanted to have, there was someone else who stuck around even though he had no interest in him.

Odum, the dwarf who claimed to be the last bloodline of the Rune Dwarves, seemed to be appearing in front of him almost as if he was doing it intentionally. The bad-tempered dwarf seemed to alternate between respectful tones and angry shouting whenever he appeared.

The performance Odum had in the silver mines did make Brendel believe in his words, but the youth was not exactly certain he wanted to see the dwarf.

It was because of Halran Gaia.

He was secretly worried that Odum’s goal was ultimately the sword.

[Even when I told him I’m not giving the sword back, he still lingers around with that crazy attitude...... Urgh. This mad fellow.]

He shook his head, stopped thinking about the dwarf, and continued to read the report.

The Nightsong Tiger was about to reach Schafflund in a few days in order to secretly transport the silver ore in the warehouse.

Ciel had found Graudin’s private coin factory in one of the gardens within Firburh. Surprisingly, there were still remnants of Graudin’s private soldiers who shut themselves by barring the entrance and even claimed that they would fight to the very last man against the mercenaries.

This act naturally angered the mercenaries, and the captain leading them at that time wanted to fulfill the private soldiers’ wishes by killing them all. His fiery temper was about to be unleashed on them, but Ciel denied his request to attack.

‘Wait and see.’

It was only one sentence.

But a day after the wizard’s reply, the private soldiers who seemed keen to resist for all eternity came out to surrender. The mercenaries were momentarily stunned by the wizard’s mysterious foresight, though their marvel was somewhat lessened upon learning the truth.

It was quite simple.

The news of Lord Macsen’s utter defeat had spread throughout Trentheim—