Ellie had just received a report about the northern continent when the phoenix symbol on the back of her hand shone brightly.
"...This."
Her eyebrows creased in worry.
There was only one reason why the symbol would shine so brightly. It meant that the person with 'Ellie's Stigma' was asking for her help. And there was only one person who had this stigma. It was Minhyuk, her beloved dongsaeng and friend.
Ellie looked at the light shining out of the symbol closely. Through the light, she could see where he was currently located. Ellie's Stigma was, in a way, a link that was connecting him to her.
She rose slowly from her seat.
'Kingdom of Barras. Coordinate point K-51.'
Ellie shook her head.
"Ruth, bring me a map of the Kingdom of Barras."
"Yes."
Ruth placed the reports down as he moved quickly. He realized that the sudden orders were an emergency.
The Kingdom of Barras wanted to form a favorable connection with Empress Ellie of the Eivelis Empire. They literally wanted to be friendly with the Empire. This was how great the strength and power the Eivelis Empire possessed. It was so great that the Kingdom of Barras was like a child in front of the Empire.
The king of that kingdom, Richard, even has to bow down his head whenever he meets with Ellie!
Ellie quickly looked through the map of the Kingdom of Barras that Ruth handed over.
"He's located in the mines. Something bad must have happened there."
Minhyuk was a playful, kind and pleasant child. However, Ellie knew that he was also a meticulous, calm and cautious child. For such a child to request her help… And the child that was requesting was also her only friend and dongsaeng. She even promised him herself that she would run and come to him whenever he needed her help. What's more, there was a special warp gate in the palace that could easily teleport them to the Kingdom of Barras.
"Ruth."
"Yes."
"It looks like Minhyuk is in danger."
"...I see."
Ruth was not too pleased to recall the person who used the Empire's Elixir for budaejjigae but he still nodded his head at her.
Meanwhile, Ellie gave her orders.
"Gather the Phoenix Knights within 10 minutes. We will immediately head to the Kingdom of Barras."
"Yes!"
The knights of the Phoenix Knights all exceed Lv350~400. They were also named as the best knights in the whole continent.
Those knights together with the greatest Empress Ellie, started to move out.
Brony looked at all of his guild members who were gathered together.
"The other mines were also blocked by a transparent barrier?"
"No."
"As expected."
Perhaps there were no miners who were able to reach out and press the button that would trigger the barrier.
He looked over at the other side of the barrier as Minhyuk led the miners further inside the mines.
'Who is that bastard's dumb sister? He even led them further inside. Are they going to feed themselves to the monsters? Tch!'
He grinned darkly.
His guild members had started to attack the barrier with all kinds of skills and abilities.
[You have dealt 2,100 damage to the barrier.]
[You have dealt 1,813 damage to the barrier.]
[You have dealt 3,513 damage to the barrier.]
The transparent barrier that looked like it wouldn't move started to shake little by little.
I think it will take us at least half an hour.
Brony secretly calculated it in his mind.
"Will they die to the monsters first or will the barrier be broken first?"
He was still thinking that the situation ahead of him would work out well for him and his guild.
Minhyuk deliberately led the miners further inside the mines. They would be extremely terrified if they watched the barrier get attacked continuously. Of course, this would also be the case if the monsters kept on coming out just like what they said.
'It seems like people don't really change.'
He recalled the memories of his past. Lee Sangmin was someone who liked bullying his friends back when he was young. And Minhyuk, who was close to almost all of his classmates, heard this from one of his friends who suddenly bursted out in tears.
'Lee Sangmin stole my money for tuition!'
At that time, the child even told him that he was in a bad situation however he still took the money away from him. The boy who did such a thing grew up to be more of a bully.
"W, what should we do now?"
Minhyuk grinned at Ruan when he heard his question.
"Don't worry. No one in this place is going to die."
"No, if what those bastards out there said is true then monsters will really come out from the inside..."
"Then, me and Ruan-nim will have to do our best."
Minhyuk, who said those words, sat down and started to pull out his equipment. In this situation, he started to cook.
"W, what are you... Is now the time to cook?"
"I have to cook because I'm in this situation. My job is a chef, you know."
He took out a carrot that was as big as his arm from his inventory. He received this carrot from one of the sealed fruits once he reached Lv90.
The Fruit of Your Efforts' Carrot!
Minhyuk realized that the ingredients have a large impact on the buff effect of his Food God's Cooking Skill. The amount of buffs tend to increase significantly depending on the effects and special abilities attached on the ingredient itself. Of course, the fact still remained that the special abilities and effects of the ingredients would not be obtained permanently.
He started to slice the carrot thinly. After preparing his ingredients, he started making fried rice.
Shwaaaaa!
Onion, carrots and ham. Even with just these three ingredients, the fried rice would still have an excellent flavor.
The miners and Ruan who was watching him cook comfortably could not understand his logic.
Minhyuk added the highest amount of buff that he could add into two bowls of fried rice while he set the buff normally for the rest of the servings. One bowl of fried rice with the highest amount of buff went to him, while the other went to Ruan. And the normally buffed fried rice was distributed to the miners.
"Wow... Really... You wanted to eat while all of us were shaking in fear."
Ruan let out a 'phew' as he looked at Minhyuk who was already munching on his fried rice.
"As expected! Fried rice is still delicious even if I just used these simple ingredients! If I put ripe kimchi on top of it... Kggk!"
The thought 'This person is really relaxed and comfortable.' ran through Ruan's mind. He started to eat his portion of the fried rice to fill his fullness stat.
As he tasted the fried rice, he suddenly stopped.
'...It's really delicious.'
It was so delicious that he couldn't even open his eyes. It was just a bowl filled with stir-fried rice, onions, carrots and ham but he couldn't help but admit that it was really excellent. The taste wouldn't even let you get bored.
Ruan's spoon did not stop moving.
"De, delicious..."
"It's like the tension in my body is gone."
"It's really delicious!"
The miners started to eat with great vigor. They ate like there was no tomorrow. After all, they were also quite hungry since they did such heavy work earlier.
Ruan, who finished eating, suddenly heard a set of notifications.
[You have eaten fried rice.]
[Your stats will be increased for 10 hours: attack power +14%, defensive power +15%, STM +40.]
"Heok...!"
He was completely shocked with the notifications that he heard.
On the other hand, the miners started to feel that their body was getting filled with strength.
"Oh, ooooooooh...!"
"I just ate fried rice but my fatigue has disappeared!"
"H, how can this be?!"
Everyone started to exclaim in surprise while Ruan looked at Minhyuk as if he was someone that was out of this world.
Minhyuk, on the other hand, looked at his almost empty bowl and sighed sadly.
"I already ate it all... That's too bad..."
The Fruit of your Efforts' Carrot would give him a permanent +20 boost in his STM. However, it was changed into buff effect. Instead of a permanent boost in his STM, it turned into a buff effect with a x2 increase in STM. It might not be permanent, but in the short term and in their current situation, it was already a huge boost in their strength.
Thud!
Thud, thud, thud!
Just like what their enemies said earlier, the monsters started to appear one by one. This time, it was the Iron Golems. These monsters were stronger than the Iron Wolves that appeared much earlier. These monsters were currently at Lv170 and their figures showed up and formed from the walls of the mines.
Minhyuk quickly finished his meal and attacked the Iron Golems.
[Rampant Sword.]
[A flurry of rampant swords with additional 30% attack power will be created for 5 seconds.]
Taererererere!
[You have dealt a fatal blow.]
Taererererere!
[You have dealt a fatal blow.]
Crumble!
The solid and imposing Iron Golem fell with a thud and a long with its death…
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
Minhyuk's level continued to rise.
Ruan, who was watching on the sides, started to join the fray and fight with the monsters. Even though his level was much lower compared to the monsters, the buff from Minhyuk's dishes had excellent effects.
The miners ran away together and left their vicinity to avoid being a nuisance to their fight and to avoid getting hurt or injured.
'He looks like he's the one at Lv170...'
He wondered how his stats could be so high despite having a low level. At the same time, he also thought that they would be able to hold out until his Mysterious Noona arrived and rescued them.
But…
'Who the hell is his noona?'
This was his greatest concern.
'I think the barrier is about to be broken...'
Although he was hunting and killing off the monsters in front of him, he was still thinking about what would happen to them once the barrier was broken.
Card was inside the Brethni Mines. Since he was wearing a mask, even the members of the Horden Guild couldn't recognize him.
He continuously followed the other guild members into the different mining areas.
'It's not here either.'
The person who used the black key was the only person who would be able to see the entrance. However there was no passageway or entrance in the 1st~4th mining area. The only area left that he wasn't able to check was the 5th mining area.
He sent a whisper to Brony but he said that he was in a difficult situation due to the users present in the 5th mining area. However, he also said that the transparent barrier was going to break soon.
Card prepared to go out of the 4th mining area.
'I'm sure that the entrance is in the 5th mining area.'
He thought so as he started walking to the 5th mining area. However, the member of the Horden Guild that was walking in front suddenly stopped walking.
"What's the matter?"
Card tilted his head in confusion as the guild member turned his head towards one direction.
"I, I also don't understand the situation right now."
"Yes?"
Card once again tilted his head in confusion as he followed him out of the mines. Once they got out of the mines, he finally saw the situation that they were in.
There were troops wearing bright and impressive plate armors with the symbol of the phoenix walking from afar and at the very front of these people was a woman wearing bright red armor.
She was walking along as she tied her blonde hair with a string. The woman also had a sword hanging on her waist. This person was so famous that even if a 1-year-old child accessed Athenae, the baby would still recognize who she was. There was no one in Athenae who did not know who this woman was.
The Empress of the Eivelis Empire.
And the woman hailed as the Sword Emperor.
This was Ellie.
There were also people who were moving quickly around her. They were the Imperial Mages and they were preparing to cast magic. Next to the mages were the soldiers. They were waiting for Ellie's orders as they aimed their bows towards them in unison.
Step, step, step, step━
Ellie walked in front of the mines as she looked around. Then, Card's eyes met with hers.
'Keok...!'
Card might have connections with a Marquis of a kingdom however Ellie was a different matter altogether. If the Marquis was a cat, then Ellie was a tigress that could lead a group of full-grown tigers.
Her sharp gaze made Card flinch. Then, she opened her mouth and spoke.
"So you're a blacksmith."
Card knew that his identity was exposed with just one word but he still kept his mouth shut since he did not know what to say.
"And you're the culprit behind this mayhem."
Ellie was talking about the corpses of the soldiers of the Kingdom of Barras scattered all over the mines.
Card gulped down his saliva. It felt like he was extremely parched as he listened to her words.
At that moment, Ellie shook her hand.
"Let me see your mug."
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
The mask that he was wearing started to crack. And in no time at all, it crumbled into pieces and revealed his face.
Crumble━
"Ca, Card...?"
"The Blacksmith Card? The second in the blacksmith ranking?!"
The guild members of the Horden Guild quickly realized who he was once his mask was removed. It was then that Card realized the situation that he was in.
'I think I'm fXcked...'
Footnotes
[Tigers] Tigers do not form a pack, I have read that they are mostly solitary creatures. However they also can interact with each other especially during mating period. Female tigers would have a territory of their own while males would go and traverse the lands as they find tigers to mate with. I think what the author wanted to say was that Elllie was so fierce that she would be able to lead a group of solitary tigers if she became a tiger. Or smth like that. It was just an analogy.