The campfire was bustling with smiles and laughter while they were having diner. The main menu was huge catfish that bigger than an adult man's thigh with a length of about one meter. The fish was roasted atop of the yellow flame.
Reyhan and Nicholas also blended with the merchants and enjoyed the big fish. After asking Reyhan consent(act), Nicholas took a jar of liquor from the carriage to be shared with everyone.
It was one of the supplies the young maid Juewang gave to him as a ration. He stored it inside his inventory, but Nicholas went inside the carriage to not make them suspicious about it.
When Nicholas sat down on a flat rock, he tapped his thigh twice as a signal. Reyhan looked at him straight to his reddish-brown eyes and pierce through his thoughts.
"Mr. Lu, are you aware of what kind of exotic goods that auctioned in the Li & Lang Auction Fair this time?" Reyhan said after reading Nicholas's thoughts.
As a descendant of Mind Mage, he was capable of prying one's thought. He could do it forcefully by using a Mist-based spell, it was a good way to interrogate people. But if the other party was willing with this mindreading, Reyhan could just stare at the eyes and directly do it.
This was a good way to make one-way telepathic communication. Nicholas had given his consent on doing this if it's necessary. And Reyhan followed his word because, even if they act as a certain foreign young master and his butler, the one who handles the important business was Nicholas.
If Nicholas wanted him to say something, he will let Reyhan pry into his thought. The double-tap was something like a signal.
When he read Nicholas thought, the butler said 'find out what product auctioned and who's the competition!'
"Young Master Lei, it's not that I am unaware of it, but don't you already had a copy of the brochure?"
"Brochure ...? Well, Nicholas ...," he gazed at Nicholas, asking for his help. It was beyond his capabilities. And he felt that if he slips his tongue and said something unnecessary, it would end up in a bad situation.
Nicholas nodded and kindly smiled at Reyhan, he looked at Lu Zheng and said. "Mr. Lu, we're heading to the Dongpu City because we've heard about rumor circulated about the auction. Unfortunately, we haven't got a hold of the said brochure."
"Ohh ..., that's explained everything. Little Dong, go grab my satchel at my horse saddle." Lu Zheng instructed a teenage boy. The boy grumpily stood up and left.
"Hey, hey ..., big brother Lei, can I call you that?" A little girl about 13, asked Reyhan.
"It's fine. What is it?" Reyhan smiled kindly to the girl.
"Are you a rich person from somewhere? This robe ..., the fabric is strange! No, it's beautiful! And it's so soft! This must be super expensive stuff, right!" the little girl grabbed Reyhan's sleeve and observing the robe with sparkling eyes.
"Yahhh ..., I don't know the price, my servant always prepared it for me. It's like that before I know it, it's already on the dresser." Reyhan scratched the back of his head and answered.
"Rich, tall, handsome guy!" the worshiping gaze intensified. The little girl asked again, "so, where do you come from big brother Lei? I've seen a Desert Tribe when my dad took me to the south Nanyang Region before, and you just look like them. Are you one of them, the Desert people?"
"Zhi'er enough! That's rude ..., don't you know that asking a personal identity is a rude thing to do!?!" Lu Zheng reprimanded the girl with a frown.
But the little girl just put out her tongue saying. "Uncle Lu is too unsociable, that's why everyone misunderstood you!"
"You're the unsociable one! If not, then why you have no friends! Every time we get back in the village, there's no one who is willing to play with you, right?"
"Hmph, like I want to play with some little children." the girl said so while crossing her little arm on her undeveloped chest.
She said that as if she detested being lumped as the same as children, even though she was and still children.
"You're a brat yourself!" Lu Zheng pointed his hand.
"Uncle Lu, it's not good to shout suddenly like that ..., tsk tsk ..., this is why you have fewer customers. Uncle needs some basic anger management, that is the first step to be an able merchant with good social skills."
"This little ..." Lu Zheng grabbed the little girl's head with his plump hand and put strength on it.
"Ack!! Dad!! Help me, Uncle Lu is bullying me!?" screamed the little girl.
"Hmph, serve you right! Third brother, don't stop me! I will put some basic merchant ethic into this rebellious girl!"
A middle-aged man that tried to say something closed his mouth and obeyed Lu Zheng's word.
"No! Dad!!!"
This caused the little girl to be teary-eyed gazing at her father. Laughter rang among the group of merchants, they couldn't have enough of the duo banter. Nicholas smiled lukewarmly gazing at them, sipping his ale. While Reyhan laughed satisfyingly.
"Ahaha ..., this is just, ah, I'm sorry. I just can't hold it." Reyhan realized that he exaggerated his laughter and said some apologizing words.
"Please let me apologize for my daughter's insolent behavior, Young Master Lei. She didn't mean to ..."
The middle-aged man that was the little girl's father bowed his head. Reyhan waved his hand.
"No, I'm fine with it ..." He went silent for a bit and gazed at the little girl who still under Lu Zheng's vice-grip. "Mr. Lu, she has suffered enough, please release her!"
"No, if I don't use violence to this kid, she won't listen!" Lu Zheng said while still gripping her head, the little girl now already cried.
"Mister Lu Zheng, that's enough! You're hurting her!"
"..."
Shocked by the blue magician sudden shout, Lu Zheng released his hand. With wide eyes, he looked at Reyhan. By now, everyone in the camp also looks at him. The only person who was puzzled with this situation was the young errand boy who just picked up Lu Zheng's satchel.
"Young Master, please calm yourself down! Here, citrus juice." Nicholas brought an ice juice for him.
Reyhan shook his hand said. "Don't bother Nicholas ...," He then looked at the Lu Zheng and said. "I'm sorry Mr. Lu, I was agitated a bit."
"T-that's ..., it's fine, Young Master Lei. I probably went too far with my joke." Lu Zheng said while feeling ashamed.
"Come here, little girl!" Reyhan beckoned the little girl who was crying to his side.
Reyhan then took something from his pocket and give it to her. It was a string bracelet made from tree fiber. He handcrafted this trinket on his passing time. And what, although it said that this was made from tree fiber, the tree was not some random tree. It was fiber made from a Bloodcurdling Phantom Oak.
Though the name sounds sinister, the real thing was a beautiful oak tree with a bark that shines in the dark. The name was from a certain person who saw this tree shine with sinister purple light in the silent forest. The bark could emit many kinds of light, it varies on each habitat.
This tree had a good magic conductivity and it was a must-have resource for a magician. The fiber also could be processed into a pulp and then turned into some kind of glowing paper. But for Reyhan, he mainly used the fiber to make some kind of odd patch or turn it into a rope or something. A shinning rope is fascinating after all.
"Beautiful ..."
The little girl was spellbound with the string bracelet that shone like it was soaked in phosphorescent paint. It shone with a combination of purple, blue and green light, intertwining and overlapping each other. She immediately forgets about the matter from before and watched the bracelet.
"Right? I let you have it, little girl. Be grateful!" Reyhan smiled and gave it just like that.
"C- Can I?" the little girl asked once again, her eyes filled with anticipation.
"Take it!"
"Yeeyyy!!" the little girl took the bracelet and exclaimed. She then showed it to her father and some teenagers that come along in this convoy.
"What an interesting trinket. Young Master Lei, is this fine ..., giving such precious thing to her?" Lu Zheng gazed at the little girl and asked Reyhan.
"Hmmm ...? Precious, ah no. That thing is not that precious. I made it from a leftover ingredient, so don't mind about it."
Lu Zheng looked at Reyhan in disbelief, the mind mage smiled and whispered, "keep it a secret from her." He didn't want to destroy a little girl's imagination after all. Lu Zheng nodded with subtle expression.
"Uncle Lu, here's the satchel ..." the boy with a thin sense of presence around him called.
"Oh, you're here little Dong, I don't aware." Lu Zheng took the bag and retrieved a slip of yellow paper from it. "Here's the Li & Lang Auction Fair Brochure Young Master Lei."
"Many thanks, Mr. Lu" Reyhan took the brochure, reading it for a while before he handed it to Nicholas.
"Hmmm ..., this is interesting," Nicholas stated after finished with it.
"What is it, Nicholas?"
"There is something that caught my interest, perhaps Young Master also needs it. For example, this Remembrance Jade. This mineral effect is to strengthen one's soul and cleanse one's mind."
"Ohh ..., that's sure a good thing for me. But I don't need that right now ...,"
"Well, then how about this thing ..., this is a sapling of Drowned Indigo Bamboo, it could only survive in an aquatic environment therefore accumulated a lot of blue mana if matured. Does Young Master need such an article?"
"That's sure interesting, an aquatic bamboo. Hmmm ..., but bamboo isn't that good to refine into a wand or staves. At most, I could grind it, extract its fiber, and compound it with other materials. Too much of a hassle."
"Then, what about this thing right here, Young Master ..., article number 34. It said the auction a mineral called Floating Stone. This precious stone is capable of floating and maintain it's position despite the weight put on above it." Nicholas pointed at the peculiar stone illustration on the brochure.
"..., Uhumm ..., okay, then what about it?" Reyhan asked, but soon realization struck on his mind. He shouted, already lost his calm and composed image, "Laputa?"
"As expected from our Young Master, you understood this matter pretty quickly. Yes, with this we could build a foundation of a floating castle! This is the real-life version of Castle in the Sky!" Nicholas still in high tension said.
As a person who lived in Myscreat for all of his life, how could the two of them not know about the Castle in the Sky? There were numerous ancient records, folklore, and legends about the castle that float above the clouds.
This floating castle was a legacy left by the Ancient Bamboo Letter Empire. Boasting it's impenetrable defense, airborne supremacy, and mass-annihilation technology, there was no way this castle would crumble and fall to the hand of enemies.
But in the end, it was destroyed. Not because it was conquered by another flying castle or a dragon, even dragon and the like of them was afraid facing this castle. The castle crumbled and all of its inhabitants all cease to exist because of infighting and conflict that arose from the many inheritors.
The civil war from various factions and princes destroyed the castle's facility and some function was lost. Because of the supreme artificial intelligence system of the floating castle decided that humanity as their enemies, it then annihilated all of the humans inside the castle.
A certain prince with few of his followers survived the calamity and descended to the earth. He then continues living peacefully with his follower and wrote the story about his long-gone home.
At that time, there were too many to count of the said story. There was even some anthology of this 'castle in the sky', and thus the prince's work was not receiving much appreciation. After all, there was no one who still remembers the nightmare created by this castle, they all have been in the deathbed already.
But, a hundred years after the prince dead, this buried treasure finally found by a bookseller. The young bookseller fascinated with the 'prince' narration. He thought that the author of said book was just a dude with some wild imagination. But the intricate description of the politics of the castle and the detailed life-like illustration stir his heart.
He then borrowed money from a bank and then printed this book to be sold. [The Life Journey of Prince Ignus Amaranth Rarenne Vortex Pringserrat, Divine Seal Holder and Protector of the Left Wing - Last Surviving Member of Bamboo Letter Imperial Family] was the original title by the author, but the young bookseller changes it because it was too long and too crappy. The title then became [Record of the Castle in the Sky]. This book becomes the best-seller in the country and there was a day when you don't have this book on your house, then you will be condemned.
The young bookseller gained massive fame and wealth just from selling this book. Unfortunately, he died young. The matter of his death was mysterious, but perhaps he was assassinated by some envious business rival. The major populace never cares who printed the book, they simply wanted the book. And so three months after his death, the book printing continues.
The first print was printed in the late 10th century. And this book becomes a crucial historical record of the world for a few centuries afterward. It becomes obsolete and there was no further who read it in the 13th century.
But then, a calamity occurred in the early 17th century.
The long-forgotten castle in the sky that becomes only a legend suddenly appeared once again to the man in the land. The majestic castle fall down, the impact caused a massive crater in the land just like a tumor. The unmanned golem fighters of the castle came out after and started massacring the human. They still programmed to be enemy of humanity, and they attacked everything and anything that have a gene of a human.
Nations, empires, and kingdoms that ruled the Illningrad and other parts of the continent were startled. They sent everything they have, but the unmanned fortress was too mighty and domineering. No one survived in this siege.
The kings, emperors, and presidents of the various nations gathered and discussed this impending threat. This probably the first time that numerous kingdom allied themselves and fighting against one common enemy. But they were unable to found a single solution when fighting against an entire army of automaton.
Thus, the [Record of the Castle in the Sky] resurfaced and get back the attention it deserved. This long-forgotten self-descriptive and a bit narcissistic autobiography contained the necessary information for the Kingdom Alliance to understand this Castle in the Sky.
After careful preparation, they launched a siege to the Castle that Fell from the Sky. The monarchs of the small nations didn't only rely on their army, they also hired some mercenaries and groups of hooligans. The payment was from the donation from the citizen who wanted to chase away the demonic automaton.
Silver Stratum, a band of mercenaries led by a man named Edward was one of these mercenaries hired by the various countries. He was there when the final battle happened, and he survived this whole nightmarish prolonged siege warfare.
Turn out Edward inherited the blood of the long-gone Pringserrat royalty, the Royal Family who ruled Laputa. He gained the castle recognition and become its master. With the help of Castle's power, he chased away the army of the various countries. At the end of the war, he founded the Eschart Kingdom with his follower from the mercenary band.
Later on, this small kingdom grew into a majestic empire that united the whole Illningrad sub-continent with its ever famous Bloodthrone.
The Ancient Empire's technologies utilize not colored mana but the weakest and the most ignored type of mana, the Colorless. This type of mana was the most abundant and its magic spell was the weakest. But in the hand of the Ancient Empire, it becomes a frightening weapon of mass destruction. Their automaton could fight an endless war without any need of food and sleep, and their [SKY - 445(V)], the name of such an air bomb, could easily flatten a city in a matter of second.
It was an unorthodox way of thinking, to use magic for developing objects and weapons that could change the environment and topple a settlement indirectly. The mage usually thinks that only by using magic they could change the world phenomenon, a mysterious force that needs further study.
But the Ancient Empire did not have the same thought. Magic for them was only but a tool to reveal the world mysteries, and not treated as a mysterious thing itself. Their focus of the study was to reveal the world mysteries through logic and science. While there were some who still thought magic was the main subject of study, they were only a minority in the Ancient Empire.
There was a time when the Ancient Empire rule the world from the sky. Their so-called science opened up a path of study for the magician society of the Myscreat World.
Though ..., all of the above about the background story of the summoned creature and the world of Myscreat was just a plain joke from the scriptwriter who put a setting plagiarized from a legendary anime. It was never mentioned on the Card Lore, but it exists somewhere in the database. Thus making the summoned believe it to be their reality and world's history.
"This ..., we must get a hold of this stone no matter what, Nicholas!"
"Certainly, certainly Young Master." Nicholas nodded his head with all smiles.
The two overly excited Myscreatian people let out their true desires. They were fascinated by the technology left by the Ancient Bamboo Letter Empire.
"Does Young Master Lei interested in the Floating Stone? But the competition will be fierce. I've heard that Golden Arhat Fist Sect aiming at this stone, the rumor circulated was that they are trying to build their first floating island." said Lu Zheng, making the two Myscreatian face back to the reality before them.
"Golden Arhat Fist Sect?" asked Reyhan in puzzlement.
"Holy Emperor! It's one of the Ten Holy Lands! Does Young Master Lei unaware of this sect? Even if you are from other continents, I think you have heard a word about them. No?" Lu Zheng asked back incredulously.
"Mister Lu Zheng, could you provide us with the necessary information. Based on your opinion, what's the estimated price on this Floating Stone? And who will be the potential buyer?" Nicholas asked the fat merchant, trying to lure his attention from Reyhan.
"Ah, butler Nie, I am just a small-time merchant. How can I know the price of such high-end goods? Every day, I am dealing with egg and cabbage, this kind of treasure ..., I don't dare to even think about it." Lu Zheng humbly responded.
"Just rumor is fine, I desperately wanted to know it's the price."
"But you see ..., I'm also a bit troubled if you ask that ..." Lu Zheng scratched his forehead.
Nicholas stared at him with knowing glint, he glanced at Reyhan, and the mind mage pries into his thought once again. Reyhan nodded after sometime mind reading. He then said.
"One seed of the tree that glows in the dark. If you extract its fiber you can get the glowing string similar to that bracelet."
"Oho ..., Young Master Lei truly has magnanimous heart. But it will do with three seeds." Lu Zheng rubbed his hand with a greedy smile.
Reyhan shook his head, "impossible. I can't bear to let go that much. Although it was not that precious, I still have some use with the seeds."
"Then ...,"
Srarangg ...!
Sringg ...!
Sound of weapons being unsheathed from its scabbard rang out in the silent ruin. Fatty Lu Zheng already maintained a distance from the duo and in his hand was a big war hammer. Even the teenagers also joined in this farce.
Lu Zheng laughed grimly. He shrugged his shoulder and said as if it was a matter of course.
"I guess, we'll have no other choice but to force Young Master Lei to hand it over."