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POV: Third Person

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"Sir, as you said: further ahead there are ruins of what appears to be a medium-sized city."

"Good! The ancient texts were not lying: here is an important city from the ancient age of the gods."

"It had better be! I spent a lot of resources hiring mercenaries and provisions. Well, as we agreed, it will be 30% for me, 30% for Raphael, and 40% for you, Vasil."

"Hold on; this is not the time to talk about that. I recommend that we temporarily halt our march: now that we have confirmation of the place's existence, let's send more scouts and plan our next steps."

"Well, what you say is true, Raphael; they could just be empty ruins. I don't want thirty percent of empty structures."

"I assure you that won't be the case. According to the texts, this was an important place; even though it was only a report from the lord of the city, it made clear how prosperous it was, not to mention the lunorite mine and the fire amethysts."

"Well, that's why I accept this. There's nothing better than such rare minerals. We could start producing more powerful weapons and get ahead of those pesky demons. If we manage to get these mines, it will all be worth it."

"If this will give us a big advantage... Tomás, order the march to stop, and have the mages put up simple barriers and be on the lookout for another possible attack from those strange wolves."

"Yes, sir."

Vasil, who possessed royal blood from the kingdom of Vasalia, the kingdom ruled by elves, and was the leader of one of the four factions currently in existence, was someone his subordinates described as generous and a great lord to serve.

He always sought the benefit of all those under his command, earning the loyalty of many and making his faction the strongest in Vasalia.

He gave the order to Thomas, his trusted subordinate and one of the first members of his faction, as Raphael's proposal seemed the best course of action.

"Clarens, could you...?"

"Of course."

Clarens was the faction leader of one of only two current factions in Aquila, the dwarf kingdom; he was someone who was well known for his peculiarity, that he seemed to be able to smell money: his instincts always led him to great profits for himself and his faction.

He joined this three-faction alliance proposed by Vasil in this unknown valley because he definitely smelled profits; although his talent did not include sensing danger—which has led his faction into difficult situations—he was someone who knew how to adapt and understand the situation in order to reap the greatest benefit.

He understood what Vasil meant. From his storage, he took out a small box that, when unfolded, quickly turned into a large tent; there, the three of them and their closest subordinates entered.

It was time to discuss their next actions.

..

.

"Sir, That the city is protected by barriers and is devoid of beasts."

"Barrier? Is there still a barrier functioning after a thousand years?"

"Yes, sir. This barrier keeps the beasts away, but it does not repel any of the scouts; we also noticed that it does not prevent the passage of..."

After a few hours, the scouts had returned with more complete information.

Vasil, Raphael, and Clarens listened to all the reports, giving them more clarity about their objective. When the last scout gave his report and withdrew, the room, where there were no more than ten people, fell silent briefly, until Clarens was the first to speak.

"Yes, it really seems like a jackpot. If the barrier is still working, it means it's of unprecedented quality, not to mention that there must be many good things inside. I knew this would bring unprecedented profits."

"Yes, that's good. Honestly, I was a little worried that this expedition wasn't enough to recoup the investment."

"Well, most expeditions are like that. It's like a gamble. But tell me something, do you regret sharing it among us now that we've discovered it's a jackpot?"

"...No. The journey here would not have been easy if it had been just my faction. If I had come alone, there would have been many casualties. Rather, I reaffirm that it was an excellent decision."

"Hmm, that sounds like you. You don't seem to be greedy; I don't understand how people like you think. What do you think, Raphael?"

"...Honestly, I still think it's too early to be happy. I don't think I should make a judgment without seeing this through to the end."

"Yes, always so calm and neutral. You're one of the few pleasant guys to negotiate with. I understand why Vasil asked you for help, and I guess he also came to me because he knew I'm good at keeping secrets and I confirmed to him that there would be profits, based on my instincts. Isn't that right, Vasil?"

"Well, what you said about Raphael is true. And well, Raphael recommended you when I proposed a third faction to him."

"Huh? Was that so? Then why did you recommend me, Raphael?"

"Because of what you said... but that's not important now."

Honestly, Raphael's real reason was because he thought that, among the five kingdoms, the dwarves were the easiest to deal with; and among the two factions, one was already busy on another expedition, so he recommended him by process of elimination.

But he thought it was something better left unsaid.

Now it was time to discuss what to do with the information they had and plan the best course of action. That was why they were there. The three of them and their subordinates talked for an hour and finally...

"Right, it's time to get going if we want to be inside that barrier before nightfall. All right, lads, let's go."

"Yes."

"Let's go get the treasures!"

In fact, those three were one of the few groups that were somewhat compatible among the faction leaders; even so, their personalities contrasted quite a bit. But that was okay; as long as there was a benefit, each faction would do their best.

That's how it had always worked, and it had worked so far.

..

.

"Oh!, so this is the place. It's great: it looks like just an abandoned city; most of the structures are complete. Hmmm, from the structure, I guess it was a civilization from our world. Well, no one better than us to inherit it."

"Yes, as the reports said, there are no signs of beasts. I guess that's what the barriers are for. I think it's okay to sleep inside it; it saves us resources. I also think that tomorrow we should split up to search for treasures, resources, or magical technology; that way it will be more efficient for such a large city."

"Yes, but I think we'll go by area and in pairs as we've been doing, so we don't spread out too much in case of any mishaps. Just because there are no beasts doesn't mean there's no danger. Also, have the mages analyze the barrier and see if they can trace its core."

This was the first impression of Clarence, Vasil, and finally Raphael when they saw the city from a nearby hill.

Clarence was more than excited, his eyes sparkling like coins; Vasil was calmer but very happy, as he had been short on funds lately and his faction was running low on resources and money; Raphael was more serene and focused on what needed to be done.

The rest of the group that caught up with the leaders was also surprised: this place was definitely very well preserved and would have many valuable things from the previous era.

According to legends, passed down in the upper echelons of the kingdoms in the past era, this continent was ruled by a single nation, but due to the chaotic and dangerous nature of the age of the gods, it fell during its final stages.

The survivors split up, and without reaching an agreement, the continent became even more chaotic.

But that changed when Maximilian and his group arrived in search of a peaceful place to retreat to; although it may not seem like it, for beings like them, this continent was just that: they easily subdued and brought order, founding the five kingdoms that exist today.

Now, with the opening of the middle kingdom in this new era, the preserved remains of that era or even older ones were very welcome; anything that makes them stronger and, therefore, the kingdoms stronger, is more than welcome.

So everyone has high expectations for tomorrow's exploration, as a first glance already gives a promising impression.

..

.

"Hahahaha! This is wonderful, this is glorious! I'm going crazy! Hahahaha! Someone hit me, I think I'm dreaming; no, even if I am, leave me here. Hahaha."

"...I understand your happiness, but I think you're getting a little carried away."

"Hahahaha!"

"It's no use, Sir Vasil; he doesn't seem to be listening to you."

"Haah~ well, I'm just worried. I mean, have you ever seen a dwarf turn so red? He looks like one of those red demons."

"Yes, he dies; his parts will be divided among us."

"Huh!? Who wants to take what's mine? I'll kill them!"

"Hey, calm down, he just said that to calm you down, right, Raphael?"

"...Yes (¬_¬)."

"Hmph, I don't think so. Well, anyway, how can you not get excited—I mean, everything is so well cared for—there's magical technology everywhere. We found blueprints for weapons; some are even something only a soul conversion person could wield. There was a magic tower with various branches of magic, including spatial magic: magic to slow down entropy! What the hell is that even? In the church we even found a branch of three-element healing magic that I hadn't heard of. How the hell can the poison element heal? And now here's a whole vault of many minerals; forget about lunorite and fire amethyst: there are some I've never seen before. And we haven't even reached the core of the barrier yet, hahaha! With this, with this!"

It was the next day, after arriving in the city, and in fact, thanks to Raphael's guidance, they were very methodical and thorough: they had cleaned out the city, taking everything that would be beneficial to them, and the harvest was not small.

It could be said that it had been the most fruitful expedition so far since it began; the things they had obtained would give them an advantage against the demons who seemed to have discovered space-related magical technology, and would also make their kingdoms and factions very prosperous for a long time to come.

It was not surprising that Clarence was losing his cool; they were still in the process of opening the vault, but they had found a list of its contents, so excitement and anticipation were running high.

"Calm down! Are you blushing again? You look like you're going to run out of air; do you want to lose your share?"

"What!? Who wants to take my money? I'll kill them!"

"..."

"Sir Vasil, he doesn't seem to be in the right state of mind; it's better not to waste your breath on him."

"Yes, I think you're right, Raphael. Honestly, if we hadn't signed a contract, I'd be worried he'd betray us and run off with the money."

"It was good that Miss Evangeline helped us; Aeloria is a very trustworthy goddess."

"Yes, that's right... but hmm..."

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's just that I've been feeling a strange sensation for a while, and it got stronger the closer we got to the city centre...it doesn't seem like anything bad, I just feel uncomfortable! But I think it's best to get this over with and leave as soon as possible."

"It's understandable, things are going too well, it's normal to think that when they reward you, they don't accept the difficulty, something bad is happening. Not to mention that it's a place that hasn't been touched in centuries... I think that even at this point it's okay if we withdraw."

"I feel the same way. As we discovered, we have the decree on our side, and no other faction can come to explore or take possession of it. Our three kingdoms will definitely cooperate, even if we do not manage to open the vault or find the origin of the barrier. Later we can do it more calmly...

"That's right, we just have to prevent the information from reaching the demons and..."

"Hey, you two, don't even think about it! I'm not going back without opening this. Just because of a silly hunch? If that's the case, I have one too, and it's a very good one. Besides, I'm not going to risk leaving here without this treasure."

"..."

"..."

"Ahem!, but I won't be unreasonable. Let's just open this up, and that's that. The mine and everything else is, as they say, better left in the hands of the kingdoms. Hey! How long until it opens?"

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