Payne's face twitched in anger as he observed a tattered shoulder bag. " A thousand soldiers searching every part of this dammed mountain, and all you could find is some old bad?" Payne humphed in anger, the amount of anger and frustration he felt almost made him pass out.
The soldier in front of Payne thought carefully about what he would say, he knew how ruthless his liege was, and a wrong answer could cost his life. " No other lead was found in the mountain, it's possible that the person who took what you were looking for was already waiting here for some time."
Payne scoffed at the soldier's words. " Don't speak nonsense, this isn't something one could just wait for." Payne suddenly remembered Hugh's last words before departing, he didn't want to admit it, but, deep down he was suspicious that someone was even more knowledgeful than him about the Star Gazing Sect Past.
The soldier trembled in fear as Payne scolded him, he knew that if he couldn't convince Duke Payne of his findings, he would be in trouble. " The food inside this bag didn't rot, so we can deduce that the man didn't stay too long here, and there was a book inside the bag."
-" A book?" Payne's eyes widened as the man mentioned the book. " What book? Show me!"
The soldier quickly took the book and passed it to Payne, he hoped that Payne would be satisfied with this finding, and spare the lives of the men who came to search the mountain.
-" Tales of the Zador Dynasty and the Golden Age of the Thule Empire?" Duke Payne swallowed as he read the book's title, his hands shook as he flipped the book, and he noticed some scribbles.
He kept flipping the book's pages in hope of some leads about the owner, but, the only thing that he found was a strange symbol on the first page of the book. " Go and search for this symbol! I won't accept any more failures." Payne shouted madly as he finally had something to search for.
Payne sighed in defeat as the soldiers all moved to their next mission, he stared at the book's cover for a few more seconds and retrieved a small compass from his spatial ring. " So someone is also looking for Tyrnos's legacy?" His face was serious as he fidgeted with the compass. " How did he open the Star Vault? Does he also have a star compass?" Payne was filled with doubt as he looked at the compass, which now had a set of small shining dots, the dots combined to form the shapes of a ram and a scale.
After observing the compass for a few more seconds, and seeing no reaction Payne closed it and began to descend the mountain. Since the day he acquired the Star Compass, he believed that he was the one fated to inherit Tyrnos's legacy and lead the Thule Kingdom to greatness once again. -" Little rat, let's see if you can hide for me for very long." Payne was sure that he was bound to fight with the man who came here before him, after all, the two were competitors for Tyrnos's most prized treasure.
Henry suddenly sniffed as he plucked another herb from the ground. " Is someone badmouthing me?" He blew his nose and continued on his way.
He hummed a happy tune, trying his best not to think much about what was happening in the mountain, yet, he couldn't help, but, to be worried.
He found it way too suspicious that the army was in the mountain just two days after the landslide. Just a few weeks ago, a flood had destroyed an entire city, but, the kingdom never sent any army to help, but, they moved to search the area of a landslide where no one lived.
-" Maybe I'm just paranoid." Henry threw back his dear to the back of his mind, and continued on his way home, it was already late and he needed to get his sword from Jonathan's store.
It didn't take too long for him to reach the magical artifacts district, and just as he entered it, he meet the slim man who kicked him out of the first store, Henry let out a smug smile as he walked past him.
Henry didn't pay much attention to the man, so he didn't notice his ominous stare.
Rick despised the young man who sold the swords to the Whitelock family store, as word had reached Marcus, the owner of the store Rick managed.
The Erwyn Family was considered one of the Whitelock's many rivals, and while Marcius knew that his Erwyn family was weaker than the Whitelock, he still tried his best to compete against them.
So, when he discovered Rick was to blame for why the man sold the swords to Abel's business, he immediately punished him.
Rick believed that his position as store manager was on the verge of being terminated, so he was eagerly awaiting an opportunity to redeem himself, and when he saw Henry leisurely strolling through the streets, he realized that this was his best shot.
"Do you see that guy? Follow him and capture him when the chance comes; I need him alive." Rick was quite certain that Henry had not told anyone about the location of where he found the swords, so if he could obtain this information from him and give it to Marcus, it was likely that he would be forgiven.
The group of men following Rick nodded and dispersed through the street waiting for the man to exit the store he just entered.
The moment Henry entered Jonathan's store, he was escorted to a luxurious room. Henry was pleased with the VIP treatment he got, there were even snacks on the table of the room.
" Thank god, you finally are here!" Jonathan looked to be ecstatic as he entered the room and meet Henry. " Kid, we need to discuss something."
Henry was surprised by Jonathan's good mood and felt that situation was odd. Alden had followed Jonathan, but, he had an embarrassed expression. -"Did something happen?" He looked around and locked eyes with Alden, who only smiled at him.
-" You should have shown me the rest of the swords! How come you didn't sell them to me?"
Henry finally understood what the man wanted, and immediately became serious. " I just wanted to save some of them for me and my sister, did she come to pick up her sword?" He first decided to see if his sister was safe.
-" Yes, she has her swords, and she is probably on her way to the Magic Academy where she is studying right now." Alden sensed Henry's concern and attempted to put him at ease.
Seeing how nothing had happened to his sister or her sword, Henry decided to listen to what Jonathan had to say."That's great to hear. So, what do we need to discuss?"
- "Sell the swords to me! What do you want for them? Money? What about other treasures? If you sell, I can even offer you a sword of the same level and money." Jonathan's barrage of offers overwhelmed Henry.
Henry sighed as he thought about Jonathan's offer, he had no idea that weapons of the arcane element would be sought after. Henry felt that Makayla could use a weapon of an element that suited her, and as he hadn't awakened his elemental pool, he had no idea what his elemental affinity was.
-" I need to give this more thought..." Henry was hesitant about departing with the sword, they were the first treasures he found with the system, so he was a bit attached to them.
-" Henry... You should think about this carefully." Jonathan's face grew serious as he keep trying to convince him. " Are you sure that letting your sister with such a powerful item is a good thing? Don't you fear for her safety?"
-" She is in the Maverick Academy, nothing will happen to her." Henry didn't worry much about his sister, he didn't like the Maverick Academy very much, but, he knew that at least they made sure that their students were safe.
-" For god sake! The Maverick Academy? They are just a third-rate school! IF anyone powerful wanted to get his hand on your sister, they wouldn't even try to stop them." Jonathan was baffled by Henry's casual attitude.
Henry bit his lips, as Jonathan kept pressuring him. " Aren't you a bit too paranoid? There is no way that they would let a student get robbed on their campus."
-" Sigh... " Jonathan couldn't help but pity Henry, he was too naive and still hadn't learned the cruelty of the nobles. " If we wanted to get the swords by force, what would you do?"
Henry froze as he heard Jonathan's question, he knew that there was only one possible answer to this question. " Nothing, at least for now."
Jonathan was curious about what Henry meant with his last words, but, he decided to continue to make his point. " We aren't even one of the Great Nobles, can you imagine one of them coming knocking down on your door?"
Jonathan's words made Henry feel dizzy, he knew that having such a treasure could be dangerous, but, he always tried to ignore it. " So? I'm supposed to give every single powerful treasure away? Why can't I have them? Because I'm not a member of a powerful family?" Henry had a bitter taste on his tongue, he always resented how the powerful had such an easy life.
Jonathan was astonished by Henry's words, he could feel the deep anguish and resentment he had. " I'm sorry if I came out as harsh, but, the meek can only comply." Jonathan sympathized with Henry, as he knew how humiliating it was to bow down your head and accept something.
-" The meek can only comply?" Henry steeled his fists as he repeated Jonathan's words, his resolve on getting stronger only grew as he realized how powerless he truly was. " So be it! I just need to be strong enough to stand up against anyone daring to threaten me!" Henry threw away all of his insecurities, he felt that with the system's help he had to fear no one. " I'm sorry, but, I will leave now. I will think about your offer."
Jonathan sighed as he realized that he only had made this matter worse, he wanted to ask henry to stay a bit more, but, after some thought, he passed the sword to him and let him go, Henry needed some time to think and it was better not to pressure him anymore.
-" Henry? I'm sorry for Jonathan's attitude, he is just a bit too harsh sometimes, but, he doesn't mean any harm." Alden followed Henry out of the room. " Why don't I arrange a carriage for you?"
-" Don't worry... I know that what he is saying is true." Henry hated the feeling of being powerless, and what made him even more frustrated was that he thought that after the system, he would finally be free from this. " It's just that hearing something like this isn't exactly pleasant."
Alden gave Henry a weak smile and patted him on the back, he knew how Henry felt, as many times his family had to bow down to the Great Nobles who ruled the Thule Kingdom.
Alden decided to accompany Henry to his house as he wanted to make sure that their relationship was intact, and he was curious about Henry too. From the way he wielded the full power of the sword to his virtually nonexistent mana reserves, Henry was a complete mystery to Alden. And all of this simply reinforced Alden's belief that he was no ordinary person, so he wanted to stay in touch with Henry.