Chapter 445: Chapter 6 High-Energy Magic Crystal
“This… Young Brother Ig, to be honest, we also don’t know what those thieves wanted. But most likely, they were just trying to plunder the merchant caravan’s goods and money.”
Ig thought that his direct questioning was a bit too demanding, so he smiled and was about to reply.
“That’s right! This young lady just heard a very strong explosion. Was it caused by those thieves attacking your caravan’s goods?”
A crisp, bell-like young girl’s voice sounded. Verafia walked over from the side, still holding a crystal shard in her slender white hand. Her beautiful face and snowy cheeks lifted her large, scorching gold eyes. “This shard… I just found it. It doesn’t feel like ordinary crystal…”
“This… cough cough, it’s just a power-storing magic crystal. However, it usually dissolves completely after exploding in contact with air. It’s truly not easy for you, Miss, to have found it, haha…”
The merchant said while wiping sweat from his brow.
Although the merchant’s words had no obvious contradictions, looking at his expression, it was easy to guess that it wasn’t that simple. Ig just smiled and took the crystal shard from Verafia’s small hand.
The moment Ig took the crystal, the merchant’s eyes visibly narrowed. He desperately wanted to snatch it back, but it seemed that considering Ig, and the girl beside him who looked beautiful and gentle but was clearly much stronger, this impulse was forcefully suppressed.
A faint light rippled in his azure blue eyes, reflecting the crystal shard. Ig slightly raised his head and uttered, “Sochel Crystal.”
“The Sochel Crystal is the work of the alchemy master Sochel from a hundred years ago. Although it is artificially made, its energy storage function surpasses any natural crystal mineral. The energy it can store per unit volume is even comparable to the highest-grade magic beast crystals.”
A clear young voice chimed in. Although it was just a simple statement, it gave a warm feeling.
Ig looked up. The blue-haired youth who had previously led the mercenaries in battle was walking towards him. The youth smiled slightly at him and continued, “However, precisely because of this, Sochel Crystals are not only extremely prone to explosion but are also strictly controlled by His Majesty the King’s army and are considered contraband everywhere.”
As the youth’s voice fell, the merchant from the Lake Blue Trade Union broke out in a cold sweat, almost falling to his knees begging for mercy. Even the slowest person could understand that their actions constituted smuggling.
As for killing to silence them… even if all the mercenaries were willing to help, they probably wouldn’t be enough for the seemingly delicate girl to handle with one hand.
“It’s contraband?”
Verafia showed an interested expression. She suddenly tilted her beautiful face, her large eyes looking at the blue-haired youth. “By the way, aren’t you part of their group? Why would you reveal your secrets to this young lady?”
Verafia remembered that the youth before her could see through her disguise… To know that when she was in Lorinc, Verafia had already recovered her Star Rank. With the Divine Spark of Atros in her hand, she was much stronger than when she had just left the Sea of Flames.
Even though it was just a mental disguise, it was difficult for even mages of the same rank to see through it, let alone knights who were not proficient in mental power… And the blue-haired youth before her had clearly not stepped into the Saint Rank domain.
“Miss Mage, you can call me Andiel.”
The youth spoke. He seemed not to notice the girl’s thoughts, and a smile appeared on his handsome face. “As for your question… Miss Siya and I are just accompanying Mr. Ryan. It’s just that the god of luck doesn’t seem to have favored us, and in just one day, we encountered these thieves.”
After “Andiel’s” voice fell, Ig noticed that beside him was a girl with soft red long hair who looked very young.
The girl called Siya was even younger than Verafia beside her, and only slightly older than Flarn. Her beautiful red flame-like long hair was tied up and cascaded down. However, the feeling she gave off was not the bright and vibrant flame of Miss Phoenix beside her, but rather a gentle radiance.
As if noticing Ig’s gaze, the girl also slightly turned her head. On her doll-like exquisite face, her large crimson glass-like eyes also showed a hint of curiosity.
“Is that so?”
Verafia slightly raised her golden eyes, looking at the youth. “However… Andiel, you’re called, that, you can just call this young lady Verafia.”
“If that’s the case, with your approval… I will respectfully obey.”
Andiel seemed to look at the girl deeply, then said, “Regarding these Sochel Magic Crystals, I guess Mr. Ryan hid them in the gaps created by space magic, hidden among ordinary goods. However, these thieves were still able to find them.”
“If it wasn’t a coincidence, then they most likely also carried detection instruments, or magic beasts that are sensitive to magic crystals… Miss Verafia, if you need to, perhaps you can search the surroundings?”
—
Verafia and the others’ search didn’t take much effort. With the help of Ophi, the dragon, they quickly found the dead crystal-hunting hounds not far away.
Beside the crystal-hunting hounds, there was also the incomplete corpse of a person. Like the corpses left by the previous thieves, it was burning in black fire. It was probably that when the thief leader died, he also triggered an instant-kill taboo.
Although they were all completely dead, for Ophi, who had inherited the Underworld Frost Dragon’s legacy, with the help of Flarn’s blood magic, it was not too difficult to “temporarily” revive it.
When the girls returned, they happened to see Andiel and Siya walking with Ig.
Andiel shook his head and smiled at the girls, “We asked Mr. Ryan. According to him, he was only asked by a trade union to bring this batch of goods to Riel. At least on the surface, there was no direct relationship with these thieves.”
Ig nodded, confirming Andiel’s words. He remembered the trade union leader’s almost tearful and terrified look when he was questioned, almost kneeling to beg for mercy. In fact, even Ig was startled when he saw the high-energy magic crystals being smuggled by this caravan.
A full thousand pieces, three large crates of Sochel crystals, just the smuggling profit would not be less than hundreds of thousands of kingdom silver coins. If they were ignited and released simultaneously, the resulting power would even be comparable to ten Saint-level full attacks, enough to level an ordinary small town.
Not to mention, Riel was the closest barony to the Royal Capital Lichen, and it would not take more than half a day’s walk. If they were used in the Royal Capital, even as accomplices, they would surely face the death penalty.
Therefore, the members of the trade union, knowing that their crimes were exposed, and after trying to escape from Andiel were completely futile, naturally had only fear and pleas for mercy left.
