Ch.196Chapter 196: The Kingdom of Duron (2).

# Chapter 196: The Kingdom of Duron (2)

In the reception room attached to Lamrpo’s secret office—luxurious yet permeated with an inexplicable chill.

After a brief awkward silence, Lamrpo’s fussy hospitality soon filled the table with exquisite delicacies that seemed prepared with the finest magitech cooking equipment.

Steaming roast beef was drizzled with a luminous magical sauce, while the seafood salad in transparent bowls emanated a subtle coolness.

Strange fruits of unfamiliar shapes and sparkling desserts seemed to flaunt the wealth and technological prowess of the Kingdom of Duron.

“Come, come, Your Highness and brave companions! You must be hungry, so please help yourselves! I apologize for serving such humble food in this modest place, but I assure you, I’ve badgered Duron’s finest chefs to prepare these dishes! Ha ha!”

Lamrpo forced a hearty laugh as he offered the food, but the tense muscles of his face trembled visibly.

He sidled up to Valt as he ate, repeatedly producing small boxes as if revealing secret treasures.

“Your Highness, this is a new portable magical amplifier developed by our guild’s magical engineers! Despite its small size, the output is quite impressive…! I thought you might need it…”

“And these are ‘Lava Rhinoceros Leather Gauntlets’ specially commissioned for the brave warriors from the South! The durability and heat resistance are simply…”

“Oh! And this ‘Map of the Forgotten Giant Kingdom Ruins’ that you showed interest in before! You wouldn’t believe how much trouble our intelligence team went through to acquire this! It’s rare-grade, and fortunately we managed to get one…”

As he practically whimpered while trying to present his gifts, Valt slightly furrowed his brow and stopped his hand.

“Lamrpo.”

Valt called his name in a low voice.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but understanding the situation takes priority over these things right now.”

“Ah, yes! Of course, Your Highness! Absolutely right!”

Lamrpo hastily set the boxes aside.

Professor Liman had already piled his plate high with food and was savoring the taste.

“Hmm… meat cooked with magical energy. The texture isn’t bad, but it lacks that flame-grilled flavor. As I thought, meat needs direct fire. These Duron folks still have a long way to go.”

He grumbled like a food critic but didn’t stop using his fork.

Yuria was already devouring meat with both hands in a combative manner.

“Munch, munch… Hey, this is pretty good! Got any more?”

Her eyes were searching for the next prey.

Solphin, also a big eater, was practically inhaling his food.

As they ate, the conversation naturally shifted to the threats currently facing Lamrpo’s guild.

Valt persistently questioned Lamrpo about the Shadow Society’s specific attack methods, the extent of damage, and the current security measures.

“…So now the royal ‘Magitek Knights’ are providing round-the-clock protection. They’re guarding this headquarters building, my mansion, the guild’s main facilities, and even the residences of key executives. Thanks to them, we shouldn’t face any major incidents within the capital ‘Siduron’ for the time being… but I can hardly feel at ease. Those villains could attack again anytime, anywhere, in any manner.”

Lamrpo swallowed dryly.

“Their methods are… truly beyond imagination, Your Highness. Recently, five of our latest magitech transport vessels heading north simply vanished! They were escorted by elite mercenaries and mages, and equipped with cutting-edge tracking devices! Yet they disappeared without a trace, as if they’d been completely excavated from the ground—not even a single fragment was found!”

Professor Liman raised an eyebrow.

“Vanished? Dimensional magic? Or powerful illusion magic? Leaving no trace at all… that’s no ordinary skill.”

Valt had a suspicion.

“Artifacts…”

Duron was a magic kingdom.

They were supposed to be experts in investigating magical crimes.

The fact that they couldn’t find any traces suggested nothing but artifacts.

Besides, he had witnessed the Shadow Society using artifacts multiple times before.

Lamrpo shook his head.

“That’s not all. A large magical crystal storage warehouse near the capital experienced an unexplained magical surge and was reduced to ashes. It wasn’t a simple fire. Investigations revealed that someone deliberately destroyed the magical stabilization devices and even injected contaminated magical energy. Standard fire suppression spells were completely ineffective. As a result, we lost all the premium-grade magical crystals that were to be delivered to the royal family. The losses are… truly…!”

He bit his lip, unable to continue.

“And even… to my wife and children…”

His voice began to tremble violently.

“Along with a lock of my child’s hair from who knows where… a bloodstained dagger and threatening letter were delivered.

‘The shadow sees everything. If you don’t step aside willingly, your precious ones will disappear one by one.’ These monsters… they’re not human!”

A heavy silence fell over the lounge. The Shadow Society’s methods were more cruel and meticulous than imagined.

At that point, Lamrpo’s face suddenly turned deathly pale, gripped by fear incomparably worse than before. Gasping for breath, he cried out in a voice close to a scream:

“But you know what? I could somehow endure all of it—the terrorism, threats, intimidation—all of it! But the items that must be delivered to Kwan… Your Highness, please save me! Do you know what Kwan said to me?”

Valt felt a throbbing in his head as he asked:

“What did my father say?”

Lamrpo, with a truly terrified expression, his face gaunt yet still somewhat chubby cheeks trembling, spoke as if he’d seen a ghost:

“Kwan told me… ‘I look forward to this delivery.’ He said that to me! He’s never said anything like that before! THE Kwan saying he looks forward to something!? And if I fail to meet his expectations!? Hiiieek!! I might suffer something worse than death! Your Highness.”

Hearing this, Professor Liman added from the side:

“Lamrpo’s screwed. Man, if Kwan told me he ‘looked forward’ to something, I’d have wet myself on the spot.”

Valt sighed and said:

“In the current situation, it seems our priority should be obtaining what my father wants. The rest can wait for now. The knights of Duron aren’t that incompetent… But what exactly is this item that made someone of my father’s stature say he ‘looks forward’ to it?”

Lamrpo looked at Valt with a desperate expression and began explaining in a trembling voice:

“W-well, Your Highness… as you know, the South is… so barren that our Duron magical items are absolutely essential there, aren’t they? Especially magitech related to water and food production, or equipment that helps people function in harsh environments. We’ve always been sending valuable magical tools and resources, but…”

His voice trembled even more.

“This time is truly different! For Kwan… the fastidious Kwan to tell us he ‘looks forward’ to something! It’s an item called the ‘Core of Life Spring Storage’!”

Lamrpo was as cautious as if uttering a forbidden word.

“What’s that?”

Lamrpo began to explain:

“It’s the culmination of Duron’s cutting-edge magical engineering and ancient water magic! It can draw in minute amounts of mana from even the driest land, purify it, and generate vast quantities of clean water almost perpetually…! You know about the South’s chronic water supply problems, don’t you, Your Highness? This could solve them at once… it’s truly a miraculous item!”

The eyes of Valt’s party widened.

This wasn’t simply a rare item. It was something of immense strategic value that could change the very fate of the South.

Even Professor Liman seemed surprised.

“Oh? Duron actually allowed this to be sold?”

But Lamrpo’s expression grew even darker.

“But Your Highness, that’s precisely the problem—because you understand how extraordinary this item is! This is essentially a ‘top-tier strategic asset’ of our Kingdom of Duron! You can’t imagine how fiercely our kingdom’s nobles and magic towers opposed giving this to Kwan, the absolute ruler of the South! ‘The South will become too powerful,’ ‘We’re handing them a weapon they might one day turn against us,’ ‘We should sell it to the Empire instead’… there was all manner of interference and slander.”

He clenched his fist.

“You have no idea… how hard I worked. Persistently persuading the royal family, using diplomatic cards with other kingdoms, even agreeing to give up some of the guild’s enormous interests as a condition! Only recently did I finally, just barely, receive the royal family’s final permission and conclude the supply contract with Kwan! But if I can’t deliver this on time… never mind Kwan’s wrath, I’ll be branded a traitor in the Kingdom of Duron…”

His lips trembled as he failed to continue.

“To make matters worse, this ‘Storage Core’ is so massive and has such an extremely unstable magical structure that it can’t be moved in its completed form all at once. We promised to send the core components and energy sources—each produced in different locations—sequentially over at least five shipments, with special magical processing. But because of those Shadow Society bastards, we’ve been blocked from the very first shipment… It’s nearly impossible to safely transport all these components within the remaining six days before next week, especially through such extremely dangerous regions!”

Lamrpo’s expression was one of near complete resignation.

“And… this contract included not only the ‘Storage Core’ components but also various new magitech weapons and large-scale military supplies that Kwan ordered separately to verify their performance! They were like preliminary work for transporting the Storage Core! Those are all held up now too! Oh, Your Highness! I’m truly finished! If I incur Kwan’s wrath… not only our guild but even the Kingdom of Duron because of me…!”

Lamrpo finally burst into tears, nearly collapsing onto the table.

His fear and despair settled heavily throughout the room.

Solphin also muttered to Yuria beside him:

“He’s really screwed, isn’t he? No, isn’t Duron itself screwed now?”

Valt felt like he was going to lose his mind.

‘This is maddening. In the worst case, I was planning to use my achievements to talk my way out of this… but this is far beyond mere gifts.’

In the worst scenario, Duron’s failure to deliver promised supplies could be used as a pretext for war.

No, his father was more than capable of that.

The Shadow Society was no longer the main problem.