"Fin..."

"Fin... al..."

"Finally... I’ve made contact."

At first, Fulina’s image was choppy, but after it stabilized, her voice came through, tinged with relief.

The image from the Transmission Stone asked directly.

"Si Kai, have you dealt with that Wilderness Alliance Army?"

Looking at the image before them, Fulina was still wearing the Silver Armor she’d left in. However, she was clearly not in a good state. Her face was haggard, and the Magic Stone on her chest plate had dimmed considerably.

"My apologies, Duke Fulina. The natives fled back into the depths of the Wilderness just today."

Fujero’s face was filled with shame.

As a highly regarded commander, making such a mistake was a true loss of face.

"Good day, Baron Levi."

Just then, Fulina’s image looked past the two of them.

Fujero and Si Kai were both startled and followed her gaze.

They saw their Lord, who they thought had left, peeking out from behind them. There was no telling how long he had been there.

"Ahem." Levi gave two awkward coughs, then offered a beaming smile and a greeting. "Good day, Lady Fulina."

He then turned to the two men, who had fallen silent with expressions as if they’d eaten shit, and explained, "I had already left, but I remembered I’d left something behind and came back for it. I didn’t expect to walk in on Duke Fulina... sending you a message."

Levi, who had been about to say ’video calling,’ corrected himself. He then stared curiously at the small stone on the ground.

Without a doubt, the image was coming from it.

This made the Lord marvel at the wonder of Magic Items while also feeling a stir of excitement; he couldn’t resist the urge to pick it up and toy with it.

Seeing their Lord’s innocent expression, the two men felt helpless.

To avoid the appearance of being overly secretive, they hadn’t specifically ordered soldiers to stand guard and forbid entry. They had merely sent the other officers away.

But they never expected Levi to slip back into this dilapidated camp without anyone noticing.

"It’s not a particularly important secret. It’s fine if Baron Levi knows."

"Besides, I happen to need his help with something."

Fulina rubbed the bridge of her nose, looking heavily preoccupied.

"Understood." Receiving the order, the two men nodded.

"Duke, for anything within my power, I will certainly do as you wish." The Lord nodded with a smile, not daring to pound his chest and guarantee completion.

"I don’t know if it’s the distance or if something is interfering, but I was only just now able to contact you."

"So, I’ll make this quick."

Fulina’s expression became very serious.

"A group of Dark Elves that appeared out of nowhere organized this southern campaign for the Wilderness Alliance Army. They used them to distract us. Their true goal was to cut off the Elf Tribe in the northern Lonely Valley from calling for our aid, and to plunder their Magic Crystal Ore."

"When I led the cavalry here, I ran right into them leading their main force to attack Lonely Valley. After a fierce battle, we temporarily repelled them, and I successfully met with the Wind Speech Tribe of Lonely Valley."

"I wanted to contact you immediately and have you defeat the Wilderness Alliance Army and head north to support us, but I couldn’t get through until now."

"So, Fujero, forget about those Wilderness Natives. Bring the Thorn Corps to Lonely Valley as quickly as possible."

At this, Fulina turned to Levi. "Baron Levi, this war, which belongs to Bailiu City, requires your assistance. The promised title of Knight is still yours. As for this military aid, I will pay you a satisfactory reward."

Fulina spoke quickly and urgently; one could imagine the situation was dire.

"Lady Fulina, I’d like to know the strength of this Dark Elf force. It will affect whether I agree to this military aid."

Levi asked, his own expression serious.

This time, he wasn’t just trying to raise his price; he was genuinely weighing the pros and cons.

’To put it bluntly, the trigger for this war is that this group of Zor Elves has its eyes on another Elf Tribe’s so-called... Magic Crystal Ore.’

’Fulina is willing to bleed for this, so she most likely has a stake in the Magic Crystal Ore as well. This war is just a struggle for profit between two powers.’

’It has absolutely nothing to do with me.’

’Even if Fulina is willing to pay, if the enemy is too strong, there’s really no need for me to get involved in this mess.’

"The enemy force is massive. There are five... thousand... Zor... twenty thousand..."

But right at this critical moment, the image began to break up, and a wave of static came through.

"Si... Si Kai... will... tell... you everything..."

With that final sentence, the image vanished with a PFFT.

"Worri, the signal’s out at a critical moment?"

’Are you kidding me?!’

The Lord looked at the stone, now devoid of any image, and turned it over and over in his hands, but it remained unresponsive. He was so angry his guts hurt.

"My Lord, there’s no use. Once a Transmission Stone has been used, it’s no different from any other rock you’d find in the mountains," Si Kai said, trying to stop Levi from slapping the stone repeatedly.

"Damn."

The Lord hurled it violently to the ground, venting his displeasure.

He even began to suspect—judging the heart of a gentleman with his own petty mind—that Fulina might have done it on purpose to influence his judgment and get him to join the support mission.

"Let’s head back first. Si Kai will explain everything to you on the way." Fujero dropped this line and hurried off to command the army to set out again.

The corps, flying the banner of the "Thorn-Entwined Sword," set off again, returning to camp at a pace a good thirty percent faster than when they arrived.

The Lord and Knight Si Kai rode side-by-side, with the latter explaining everything.

"So, Magic Crystal Ore is a type of ore that contains a large amount of Magic Power?" the Lord asked, suppressing his inner turmoil as he sought confirmation again.

"My Lord, not Magic Power, but Primordial Magic Power. The former can be directly absorbed and used, while the latter is a form of Magic from ancient times. Its concentration is too high and it must be refined through special methods before it can be used."

Si Kai explained gravely.

After all, Primordial Magic Power was no joke. A careless mistake could lead to Magic Disease.

"Back then, our Trade with the Elf Tribe was for this Magic Crystal Ore. Everything else was just a smokescreen."

"You could say that Magic Crystal Ore is responsible for at least thirty percent of the Northern Territory’s current prosperity." Si Kai sighed. "That’s why, even with the threat from the south looming, Duke Fulina can’t just stand by and watch the Magic Crystal Ore be stolen by others."

The Lord nodded.

Inwardly, however, he was ecstatic.

The moment Si Kai explained what Magic Crystal Ore truly was, he thought of something.

The Stone Egg!

The Stone Egg connected to the Natural Goddess.

Back when that old fellow Sam discovered that the Stone Egg could only be hatched with Magic Power, the Lord had been forced to put the matter aside due to High Cliff Castle’s dire financial situation.

But now, wouldn’t this so-called Magic Crystal Ore be the perfect solution to that problem?

As for the concentration difference between Magic Power and Primordial Magic Power, the Stone Egg itself was a relic from ancient times. Wasn’t this a case of a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse—a stroke of sheer luck?

The Lord, who had still been hesitating, now made up his mind.