There is no need to explain what happens to living beings exposed to radiation.
What about angelic power?
Angelic power causes the degeneration of human reproductive functions.
The more a person is exposed to angelic power, the smaller they become—both men and women.
Some individuals may be born small due to genetic factors, but apart from such cases, many beings in this world shrink under the influence of angelic power, even if they were meant to be larger.
In this way, angelic power negatively affects not only people but also magic stones.
Magic stones are no different from minerals, and if one were to compare them to the process of refining steel, the basic principle is to eliminate impurities as much as possible.
Angelic power is an impurity.
If the ideal magic stone is one that contains the seven types of mana in perfect balance or is concentrated with only a specific mana type, then angelic power acts as an impurity within the magic stone, disrupting the flow of mana.
This was never perfectly implemented as an in-game setting.
After all, instead of using the magic stones found in places like this, the game required obtaining a truly special magic stone from elsewhere to craft the ultimate weapon.
‘If this weren’t a game, I would have mass-produced near-ultimate weapons using the magic stones here.’
Since it was a game, acquiring the ultimate weapon had to involve an appropriate level of challenge, so these high-level magic stones were ultimately relegated to farming materials rather than holding significant value in the setting.
‘Still, these should be more effective than the angelic power-exposed magic stones scattered on the surface.’
If the ones on the surface were rated as X060, then the super magic stones obtained from the Diamond Ant here would likely have a performance level of around X080.
If these magic stones were used to craft weapons—taking Ludmila as an example—she would be able to eliminate 60 magic beasts per minute instead of 50.
X090 requires passing through that special dungeon, but that’s something for later.
“Heh… Hehehe….”
Regardless, Yurha was thrilled, even without fully understanding the value or utility of these magic stones.
She knew instinctively.
The worth of these stones.
For now, she only had a vague sense that they were superior to those found on the surface, but if she used them as a basis for research and created new tools, the results could be tremendous.
To put it in extreme terms—if these magic stones were spun into threads and used to make magic-enhanced pants?
A size 16 would become an 18, an 18 would turn into a 19, and a 20 would increase to 20.5.
It was efficient in many ways, so I was tempted to collect some as well—
‘But there’s no point.’
I had no reason to collect these magic stones for my own use.
Because I already possessed a purer, higher-grade magic stone—a core that surpassed these.
“Senior Yurha.”
“Yes, Phoenix?”
“Even if we plan to finish all the hunting today, let’s take just a small sample of these and bring them back, just in case?”
“…A sample?”
As Yurha was in the process of planning a new hunting route, she froze at my suggestion.
“Are you saying we shouldn’t just sell these as raw magic stones?”
“Yes. Judging by their condition, rather than selling them elsewhere, it would be better to process them before putting them on the market.”
“Hmm…”
“Of course, this is just a suggestion. You don’t have to follow my advice.”
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
Surprisingly, Yurha accepted my proposal without resistance.
“In fact, I was actually debating whether or not we should even take a sample. I was thinking we might need to go all in later.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we plan to collect everything here all at once in the future, then simply using the Barony of Balzac as we are now won’t be enough.”
Yurha licked her lips and smirked slyly.
“Phoenix, you don’t consider Baron Balzac to be absolutely indispensable, do you?”
“Not at all, but…”
“Then it’s fine. Let’s go up after the hunt and have a little talk. It’s nothing serious, just…”
Yurha made a subtle gesture, as if she were gripping a card.
“Just… a little cleanup.”
* * *
[Late afternoon, Baron Balzac’s Estate. Lord’s Office.]
“No movement from the carriage?”
“No, sir. It’s difficult to confirm whether there’s anyone inside.”
At the knight’s report, Baron Balzac tilted his head in confusion.
“The carriage didn’t shake or fog up from inside?”
“Baron… They’re students from the Academy.”
“Even so, students can do such things. Back in my day, if we decided to go on a date outside the Academy, spending a night together was a given.”
“I’ve never attended Esdinas Academy, so I wouldn’t know…”
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. Do you think we were up to anything improper? It was nothing but scholarly debate—purely academic discussions. No strange conversations took place, of course.”
Balzac chuckled and waved his hand dismissively, but he couldn’t shake off the knight’s skeptical gaze.
“Keep the surveillance going. We need to find out why Yurha Silverstar is trying to secure that land. There must be a reason.”
“Could it be… just for building a resort?”
“What?”
“There’s news from the southern region—an S-rank monster and Vinyudan attacked the resort [Grand Hyatt].”
“An S-rank monster…?”
Baron Balzac frowned, recalling the location.
“Wait, that’s not too far from here, is it?”
“No, sir. Fortunately, they managed to eliminate the threat immediately, and the raid was a success.”
“Raid?”
“The ones who succeeded in the raid are Yurha Silverstar’s Academy peers—the ones currently in this territory. That includes the White Sword Saint, Esta.”
“Hmm…!”
A party that had just defeated an S-rank monster.
Why had they come here, and why were they so forceful in acquiring land?
“Logically speaking, they might feel uneasy about the resort’s location and be considering building a new one here. After all, it wasn’t just any monster—it was an S-rank.”
“Yes, that’s likely. Though we don’t know where they went afterward, and we couldn’t breach the barrier around the Golden Carriage to see inside… I’m certain they’re scouting locations for a new resort.”
“In that case, we might benefit from the trickle-down effect. Hah! If we pave the road properly from the magic train station to the Barony…! Hahaha!”
Baron Balzac burst into laughter and stood up.
“Understood. You can return to your duties now. I have other matters to attend to.”
“Could it be… that?”
The knight rubbed his thumb and forefinger together slightly. Baron Balzac smirked as he threw on his coat.
“What else would it be?”
“My lord, the previous generation warned you about being careful with that before they passed away…”
“Oh, come on! It’s not like I only lose! I just came into a big pile of money—shouldn’t I have some fun with it?”
Balzac laughed loudly, clearly pleased with himself.
“Have you ever seen me lose everything from gambling!?”
* * *
There are many ways in which Silverstar takes away the economic rights of a territory.
The core strategy involves drafting a contract and then leveraging that contract to claim usage rights over the territory, the land itself, or even the noble title.
The process of signing the contract can take many forms—it can be coercion, it can be a gift, or it can be a loan.
Take the Count Habsderk family as an example. After the head and son died, leaving only the mother and daughter, a loan was extended under the guise of “family reconstruction funds”.
Of course, in the case of Habsderk’s transformation into Ludvecia, the one who orchestrated the intervention was ‘Yurha’, so it was a bit different.
But Silverstar was notorious for aggressively stripping estates of their rights and wealth.
One of their key methods? Gambling.
“Junior Phoenix, do you think it’s wrong to demand repayment of a loan from a lord who lost everything to gambling?”
“Ordinarily, no. But if the gambling den was rigged specifically against that lord, then the story changes, doesn’t it?”
As we descended into the ant burrow, I became Yurha’s conversation partner in her scheming to strip Balzac Barony clean.
Instructor Esta led the Vermilion Bird Squad behind us, hunting down the ants, so Yurha had a bit of downtime.
One might question how plotting to ruin a baron could be considered ‘rest’—but for Yurha, this was relaxation.
“Senior Yurha, do you enjoy gambling?”
“I don’t dislike probability-based games. But I don’t enjoy betting on low odds.”
“But you’re planning to drag Baron Balzac into gambling and ruin him, aren’t you?”
“Yes, exactly. However… pure gambling alone wouldn’t be enough.”
Yurha placed a finger against her lips and gave me a knowing glance.
“Junior Phoenix, what would you do if you wanted to eliminate Baron Balzac—who keeps making advances toward Marchioness Ludvecia—and lead him to ruin?”
“Gambling.”
“…Huh?”
“There are two methods.”
I raised two fingers, pointing ahead.
“Would you rather entrust the job to someone who memorizes all the cards and plays with skill… or to someone who wins every bet thanks to beginner’s luck?”
