Chapter 381: How to Report Back

Chapter 381: How to Report Back

“Heh, this thing is pretty ordinary… I wonder if I can make some copies…” Lena looked at a ring in her hand, squinting her eyes and smiling. The ring’s effect lasted for one day. If someone wanted to get another one from the Sanctuary Church within the same day, they had to pay some money. After one day, though, they could get a new one for free again.

This was mainly for people who didn’t feel safe enough. A single ring was just an ordinary metal charm. Some people felt it wasn’t reliable just by holding it, even though the power contained within was very special and completely unbreakable by their own strength. But a sense of security… you couldn’t just talk it into existence. Better to have a few more!

The Sanctuary Church showed they understood the trouble these people brought. Want more? Sure, bring money. Buying a sense of security with money was a great deal. Maybe the ring was just a lump of iron, costing less than a few copper coins. The hollow patterns on the ring weren’t just for decoration; decorating it surely lowered the cost. Low cost didn’t mean the Sanctuary Church didn’t want to recycle them. Also, the technology (power) contained inside… didn’t that cost money too?

Something that cost less than a few copper coins, and you wanted to repeatedly get more without paying a few silver coins? Dream on!

Drastically raising the price could also curb the consequence of everyone wanting to grab a handful. People within the Sanctuary Church only got two as standard issue. This thing still had some guarantee.

“Can’t we get one for free each day?” Gale asked, somewhat confused.

“To make money!” Lena glanced at him, saying helplessly, “You hold this one ring, and you feel safe entering Windwhisper Valley?”

“Uh…” Gale froze for a moment, then shook his head vigorously. If this ring were some powerful Magic Artifact, that would be one thing, but it was just made of ordinary materials, yet they were going into an area covered by Witch Power? It didn’t seem reliable at all!

As for why they were here… Well, Lena was very persuasive and had convinced them.

“Can we copy this?” Wood asked. This was indeed a pretty good money-making scheme, but doing this under the nose of the Sanctuary Church required some caution.

“Hmm… No!” Lena stared at the ring for a while, then shook her head. “This contains a specific power, not just Mana. I can’t copy it.”

“That’s a real shame,” Gale said, somewhat regretfully. He had already started calculating earlier. If they could really copy it, how much money could they get… Hmm, five silver coins per ring. An ordinary family’s monthly expenses were about that much… No, being frugal, it would be more than enough for two months. If they could make a hundred copies, that would be five gold coins… Ah! The money was just gone like that!?

“If we can’t, we can’t. This is a place under the Sanctuary Church’s jurisdiction. Doing this kind of thing isn’t good.” Oss thought for a moment, took out a gold coin, and handed it to Rick. “Anyway, let’s each prepare two more. Safer that way.”

There were five of them. Besides the free ones, each person prepared two extra. They spent fifty silver coins right away. There were quite a few people doing the same as them. Even those not particularly lacking a sense of security, thinking about facing a place covered by Witch Power, would always prepare a few more. Having insurance was better than something happening and not knowing why, right?

So the Church members responsible for handing out the rings discovered that, without them noticing… not only had they recovered the cost, but they had even earned profits dozens of times over. And the amount of this profit was gradually increasing. With the Magic Weapon Summoning Book spreading news, information about this place traveled fast. Many people who learned about the recent situation in Windwhisper Valley changed their minds and were gathering here.

Since the Sanctuary Church opened the first Lockdown Zone, and even lowered the entry review conditions for the second Lockdown Zone, it was clear that the previous crisis in Windwhisper Valley had lessened significantly, reaching a level where normal exploration was possible. In that case, why wait? Those who could go definitely rushed over.

“Letting those Adventurers and Mercenaries go in like this still seems unsafe, doesn’t it?” Deya said, looking toward Windwhisper Valley. She looked somewhat tired, not from handling those rings, but from dealing with other things earlier. Those things were specifically prepared to deal with the grey mist inside Windwhisper Valley. After a quick investigation,

The Church here had confirmed that those Wind Dragonflies were mainly maintaining the storm’s existence and didn’t pay much attention to people entering Windwhisper Valley. Only a few Wind Dragonflies split off to deal with scouts.

“It is indeed unsafe, but even if we don’t let them go, they’ll find a way in anyway.” Achille shook his head, staring at the storm in the sky, thinking. That thing was starting to weaken. The Wind Dragonflies were still desperately maintaining it, as if its purpose wasn’t just to expand the disaster area; it seemed to have another intention. What exactly was it? “You go rest first. We might have a real tough fight later.”

This was the probing stage. A real conflict later was unavoidable. The combined attack of the Wind Dragonflies was unmatched. Not only the Saintess, but even a Witch would find it somewhat troublesome to face head-on. Now that the Element Crystal that supported the Wind Dragonflies was gone, their desperate effort to maintain the storm was a form of consumption. When the consumption became too great, their subsequent combined attacks would also weaken significantly.

By then, as long as someone capable of withstanding the pressure head-on stepped forward, other combatants could take the opportunity to attack the Wind Dragonflies, taking down a portion. Once the cycle started, it would just be a matter of time before all the mutated Wind Dragonflies were eliminated. It wouldn’t take long, maybe not even half a day.

Now wasn’t a good time. The Wind Dragonflies’ power consumption wasn’t that high yet, and the storm’s intensity remained. Fighting now and cornering the Wind Dragonflies might make them directly gather the storm’s power to attack, creating a greater threat than their normal combined attack.

In another tent, the Empire’s Delegation was also holding a meeting. Regarding the situation in Windwhisper Valley, after they learned the Sanctuary Church could reduce the damage to an area the Empire could accept, they didn’t care anymore. Instead, during this time, their attention had been focused on another matter – that Element Crystal the size of a small hill!

The Empire really wanted this thing, desperately wanted to get their hands on it. However, Achille, who was in charge here for the Sanctuary Church, had an attitude of ‘what’s that thing worth? Solving the Witch disaster in Windwhisper Valley is the main thing!’ This seemed good on the surface. Since he didn’t care about it, the Empire could take it more easily. After all, this was the Empire’s territory; taking something away was perfectly justified.

With less ‘competition’ from the Sanctuary Church, they were quite happy inside. The chance of completing the Quest assigned by their superiors increased greatly… But soon their happiness faded. After the Windwhisper Valley matter was resolved, there was a high possibility that huge Element Crystal would become polluted, or even destroyed!?

That definitely wouldn’t do. But Achille’s attitude toward that thing was clear. Bribery? Meaningless. Threats? He had the entire Sanctuary Church behind him, and he was directly in charge of this matter. Afraid of the Empire’s threats? Even less likely!

Achille was determined to solve the Windwhisper Valley matter beautifully. The Delegation, who hadn’t been happy for long, could only force smiles while additionally and ‘strongly’ urging that every possible effort must be made to preserve the Empire’s property. There would be heavy rewards afterward. Overt and covert methods were used. Achille acted like a blockhead, speaking with such determination, promising not to let the Empire’s territory be destroyed by the Undying Witch!

The Delegation nearly cried about this. They really wanted to say it’s fine if a little is destroyed; it’s all wasteland anyway. As long as that Element Crystal could be taken away, that would be enough. After all, the Ore Vein was already ruined; this place basically had no subsequent value. The Empire really wouldn’t care if it was destroyed.

Fortunately, although the people in this Delegation were frustrated by Achille, making their Quest hard to complete, and were so anxious they were about to cry, they weren’t stupid. They didn’t mindlessly say it’s fine, let the Undying Witch destroy whatever. They clearly knew the consequences of daring to say that. If Achille was decent, he’d find a reason to send them back.

If he was harsh, he could directly pin a charge on them of conspiring with a Witch to destroy the Empire’s territorial property, and cleanly execute them all on the spot with no problem at all. The Empire wouldn’t find any reason to cause trouble afterward. As for whether Achille would do this, they didn’t dare say they were sure he wouldn’t!

The people present weren’t fools. Taking away that Element Crystal would definitely require great sacrifice. The Empire wanted to get it for nothing, doing nothing. Given the chance, why wouldn’t he do that? The Sanctuary Church had a good reputation, but that wasn’t a sign of being easy to push around. In short, just as they were racking their brains for solutions, secretly bribing and winning over everyone who could influence the situation, paying heavy prices, and making some significant progress… a new storm… no, a new problem appeared.

That Element Crystal was stolen… stolen in a very un-Magic way!

“About that Element Crystal matter, it couldn’t have been done by the Sanctuary Church themselves, could it?” Inside the tent, the Delegation members made sure the area was tightly sealed and no sound could leak out before starting this brief meeting.

“Probably not. The Sanctuary Church wouldn’t ruin their long-accumulated reputation for a special treasure. If they really did it, we would at least have a reason to report back.” Another delegate said. The Empire had always wanted to find leverage to restrain the Sanctuary Church, even within its own territory.

“Then was it another Witch?”

“…The reason given by the Sanctuary Church, just take it with a grain of salt. They only said it’s possible. The person who stole it this time… probably even the Church hasn’t figured it out yet… Let’s first think about how to report back.”