"God Evander, you're leaving already?" the Scylla's first head asked despondently.
The meeting with the elves had ended a few hours ago. King Melandrach and his entourage had already returned to their kingdom, leaving behind five elves proficient in earth magic to help with the creation of the road connecting the castle and Aerith.
"These herbs I received from the elves," said Lark. "I want to try them out. I'll probably be able to make high-grade potions with these. And these fabrics, I'm going to show them to a merchant I'm acquainted with."
"I believe the poison brat left behind several pinnacle-grade potions.
There's no need for God Evander to concern himself with mere high-grade potions," said the fifth head.
"That's right! And the fabrics produced by these elves are mediocre at best! We can easily tear through it with our claws!" said the seventh head.
"These aren't for me." Lark smiled in understanding. "They're for my subjects. The people living in Blackstone Town."
"Are those humans living in that town really that important?" said the third head.
"That's right," said Lark. "Blackstone Town is important."
"Blackstone Town is important," repeated the first head in a small, almost inaudible voice.
Lark looked at the five elves left behind to help the Scylla create the road. Although the five of them were trembling from fear and their faces were drained of color, Lark could see the conviction within their eyes.
"I'm really glad that we've become trading partners with the elves," Lark said to them. "Even if something similar to the black famine strikes our land, we'll be fine. King Melandrach told me that your kingdom never once suffered from hunger nor drought. He told me that in Aerith, food is incredibly abundant."
The oldest among the five elves spoke, "W-We're also grateful that you're willing to give us something as valuable as the bloodstone water!"
Lark smiled wryly. He felt a prick of conscience. Dipping the bloodstone in water hardly sapped away at its strength—it was almost negligible. Lark cleared his throat. "I've already received permission from King Melandrach for the creation of the road. He told me that the five of you held the highest aptitude in earth magic."
"Yes," said the oldest elf. "We have also made contracts with earth spirits."
"Impressive," said Lark. "Then, I'll leave it to you. Please work together with Blackie here."
The Scylla looked disapprovingly at the elves after Lark praised them.
"Yes! Please leave it to us!"
"We'll do our best to make a road connecting to this castle!"
The Scylla snorted.
"God Evander," said the first head. "These insects will just be a hindrance. Earth spirits? Bah! They're nothing compared to an Earth Scylla!"
"What did you say?" one of the elves snapped upon hearing the Scylla insult their contracted spirits.
"It's true, isn't it? Can your spirits make a castle as majestic as this?"
said the first head.
"The most they could probably do is make a bump on the ground!"
sneered the seventh head.
The rest of the Scylla's heads started chuckling, as though it was the most hilarious thing they'd ever heard. Even the third head was openly showing its dislike of the five elves, especially after Lark uttered his praises for them.
The elves were livid. One of them even started putting his hands on the quiver, ready to pull out an arrow.
Lark immediately moved to pacify them. "Now, now. Let's get along, shall we? Blackie, with King Melandrach gone, these five elves represent the elven kingdom. I want you to treat them with respect. And you are not allowed to harm them, no matter what. Do you understand?"
"B-But we can create the road on our own!" protested the first head.
"That's right! We don't need these elves to help us!" said the second head.
Lark cast an apologetic glance at the elves. With a stern voice, he repeated to the Scylla, "Do you understand?"
The Scylla lowered its heads glumly. "Yes. We… We won't harm these elves, God Evander. Please leave the creation of the road to us."
Lark sighed. "I'll visit every now and then. Cooperate with the elves.
You can destroy some trees, but be sure to keep the damage to the bare minimum, just enough to create a path, a road. And you absolutely must not harm any elven oaks."
"Yes, God Evander."
Lark nodded in satisfaction. At least now, he'd no longer have to worry about the Scylla 'accidentally' killing the elves. Furthermore, he'd no longer have to worry about the Scylla greatly damaging the forest. He'd promised King Melandrach that he would keep the damage to the bare minimum, after all.
After giving several more instructions to the Scylla, Lark finally went back to Blackstone Town. Only the Scylla and the five elves were left in the castle. Now that they were alone, the five elves wondered if they would suddenly be eaten by the seven-headed monster. But to their surprise, a rift in the illusion spell opened, and a path leading to the outside appeared.
"We shall start making the road immediately," said the Scylla domineeringly.
Following behind the Scylla, the elves left the castle. The rift closed and they were finally back in the Endless Forest.
The elves looked at each other. They thought that maybe the creation of the road wouldn't end in a tragedy as they'd initially thought.
But they soon realized that they were wrong.
To their horror, without warning, the Scylla started gathering vast amounts of mana, and using all seven heads, cast Grand Scale Magic. A colossal wind vortex started forming in front of the Scylla. It slowly grew in size as it continuously sucked in mana from the seven-headed monster. And the moment it reached a diameter of thirty meters, it shot forward, in a straight path toward the direction of the elven kingdom.
"W-What are you doing?"
"Oh, God Gaia!"
"Stop!"
"You're destroying the forest!"
The elves' shouts were muffled by the blast of wind. Trees were blown into chips and fragments and even the root-blanketed ground wasn't spared by the spell. The Grand Scale Magic the Scylla had cast easily made a half kilometer long clearing on the ground.
"What, what is this? What did you do?" the oldest elf ran to the Scylla and started kicking its legs. He was fuming with rage and no longer considered the consequences of aggravating the seven-headed monster.
"The trees! You! You destroyed the forest!"
"Stop yapping. I'm creating the road," said the Scylla. "And stop asking the obvious, damn insect."
The elves opened and closed their mouths. They were stunned speechless by the Scylla's flawed logic.
Making roads? This seven-headed monster had just destroyed over a hundred trees with a single spell!
"My master told me that this is the best way. The fastest way," said the Scylla with pride. "Indeed, the master is wise. It'll be easier to make the road now, isn't that right?"
The Scylla stared at the elves and added, "And worry not, we'll use a weaker spell if an elven oak is nearby."
Ignoring the dumbstruck elves, the Scylla started hardening the clearing it had made using magic. Astonishingly, despite its tendency to destroy everything in its path, the Scylla was incredibly dexterous in earth magic. It skillfully manipulated the soil as it created the road.
A realization dawned unto the elves.
"Were you the one who made that castle?" breathed one of the elves.
The Scylla looked at the elves. The seven-headed monster looked at them as though they were pitiful creatures who couldn't even comprehend something so glaringly obvious. The Scylla snorted and didn't utter another word. It shouldn't have expected much from these… things.
God Evander said that he would visit this place every now and then.
The Scylla vowed to make a grand road, something that would shame even that of an empire, for him.
The Scylla looked forward to the day when he would see the road it had created.
*** [Lion City] Big Mona hummed as he flipped through the Merchant Guild's ledger in his hand. He could still vividly remember the incident in Mavas City several weeks ago.
"That fool," chuckled the fat merchant. "He should have stored them at different granaries. How stupid."
A few months ago, Mavas City had suffered an arson attack. The lord's castle burned to the ground, and all of the food stored inside—meant to feed the people during winter—was engulfed by the flames, reduced to nothing but dust.
Although Big Mona held no solid evidence yet, according to his intelligence network, this was most probably the work of Black Midas. The most powerful underground syndicate of the kingdom.
Mavas City was ruled by Lord Hais. After his death, his eldest son acceded the role. Unfortunately, his eldest son's rule was short-lived. All of Lord Hais' children, including his wife, died in the fire. Big Mona surmised that all of this was done to prevent any more information regarding Black Midas from leaking out. As expected of the underground syndicate—they were thorough in eliminating any trails they'd left behind.
"Where there is tragedy, there is profit!" Big Mona smirked. "I've got to hand it to those arsonists! Well done! Well done!"
Big Mona thanked the arsonists from the bottom of his heart. Because of this incident, he'd managed to sell all of the wheat and meat he'd bought from Blackstone Town at several times its original price. The citizens of Mavas City—the city where Lion City used to import their grains from— even went as far as selling some of their children to survive.
"Big Mona, Sir," said his administrative assistant. "We've received a letter and a parcel just now. I believe you may want to look at it, Sir. It's from the Lord of Blackstone Town."
"The Lord of Blackstone Town?" Big Mona's eyebrow twitched. He put down the ledger and said in a gleeful voice, "From Lark Marcus, my dearest partner? Bring it to me. Immediately."
"Yes, Sir."
Big Mona's belief that Lark Marcus was an undug goldmine had already been solidified after he came back victorious from the war against the Empire. That young noble was simply too competent for his age, too ambitious. Just like Lui Marcus in his younger days.
The administrative assistant soon came back carrying a parcel and a letter. He handed it to the fat merchant obsequiously.
Big Mona opened the letter first and read its contents.
If yo?'re interested in these items, come to Blackstone Town.
A single line, but it was more than enough to pique Big Mona's interest. He quickly unwrapped the parcel and opened the box. Contained inside were a vial of an unknown liquid, several fruits the fat merchant had never seen before, and a strange fabric.
The fabric and the fruits were definitely unusual, but what concerned Big Mona the most was the vial. It was the same container used for middle-grade potions. But unlike the red liquid seen in middle-grade potions, the liquid sloshing inside this one was yellow.
"D-Don't tell me."
Big Mona shuddered when a certain thought crossed his mind. He immediately wanted to try it out. He wanted to confirm if his suspicions were true.
"Summon one of the slaves here!" said Big Mona, his eyes still glued to the vial. "Now!"
"Which slave, Sir?" the assistant said hesitantly.
Big Mona glared at him. "Are you stupid? Any of them! If that scrawny kid cleaning the drawing room is still there, call her! And a sword!
Bring a sword!"
"Y-Yes!"
The assistant ran outside the room and soon came back with a scrawny girl. Although she was wearing clean clothes—the same ones used by the maids tasked to clean the rooms—her skin looked greasy, as though she hadn't taken a bath for weeks.
Big Mona grinned impishly upon seeing her. "William. The sword.
Stab her."
The girl trembled upon hearing this. Tears started forming in the corners of her eyes as color drained from her face.
"Pardon?" The assistant was greatly perturbed by the order.
"I said stab her. Just make sure she doesn't die immediately," said Big Mona. "What? You're going to disobey my order? Should I stab you instead, is that it?"
The administrative assistant was horrified. He instinctively took a step back.
The girl looked at the assistant pleadingly. She croaked, "P-Please don't!"
"This softy! She's just a slave! What are you hesitating for?" snarled Big Mona. "Here, give it to me!"
Big Mona forcefully grabbed the sword from the assistant, unsheathed it, and without hesitation, stabbed it into the girl's stomach. Big Mona pulled out the sword and blood spurted out. The woman immediately fell to the ground and started coughing up blood.
"S-Sir! What, what are you doing?" said the assistant.
Big Mona ignored him. He took out the vial, uncorked it, and shoved the contents down the girl's throat. After a few seconds, the girl's complexion visibly brightened. There was a hint of confusion on her face as she stared at Big Mona, then at the place where she had been stabbed.
"The wound closed," mumbled the fat merchant. "It healed even faster than when I used the middle-grade potion. The potion's limit, what is it?"
Using the sword, Big Mona cut off the girl's index finger. The girl screamed but Big Mona simply ignored her. He stared intently at the new wound. Just like before, the wound closed over in mere seconds.
Big Mona clicked his tongue in dismay. "It's incapable of regrowing body parts, huh?"
Big Mona cut off another of the girl's fingers, but this time, reattached it. To his delight, the cut finger reattached itself in mere seconds. He ordered the slave to move her fingers and they all moved without any problems at all.
Big Mona chuckled.
The Lord of Blackstone Town was indeed a gold mine. And this time, he'd presented a potion far more potent than the ones before. Just the thought of selling these to the kingdom made the fat merchant shudder in ecstasy. With this, his dream of becoming a more prominent merchant than the Vont Family had become closer to reality.
Big Mona couldn't wait to meet Lark Marcus once again. His beloved partner.
"William, prepare the carriage," said Big Mona. "I shall depart for Blackstone Town immediately."