Faced with the dazzling sight of gold coins and crystals, Rebecca, Amber, and Sir Byron were all unsurprisingly stunned.
Byron, who had once seen so-called mountain treasures during his days as a mercenary, knew that those dusty antiques were nothing compared to these military-grade supplies, preserved under protective runes.
Rebecca, as a noblewoman from a declining rural family, had never seen even half as much treasure in her family's castle as was stored in this single warehouse.
Amber, as an ever-dedicated thief, had to admit for the first time that there might be too much treasure here to loot…
Amid their amazement, their curiosity grew. Most of these items were standardized equipment from the Gondor era, reliant on the empire's advanced magical technology. Since Ansu was founded, such gear from the early expeditions had become increasingly rare. Over time, many of them ran out of energy, and now Gondor's ancient weapons were scarcely known, even in history books.
Yet for Amber, the underlying principles didn't matter much; all she could see was their incredible value!
"Gondor gold crowns... silver coins with shield emblems... and actual trinity coins! My goodness!" Amber rushed over to the chest brimming with coins, practically diving into the pile. "Money! It's all money! We've hit the jackpot! Boss, boss, we're rich!"
When they were poor, she called him an old miser; when they were rich, he was suddenly "boss." Her quick change of attitude truly lived up to her title as the disgrace of the elves.
Gawain pulled her out of the money pile by the collar. "Calm down, calm down! This is *my* money, not yours!"
Amber looked at him, feigning noble purpose, "As your most loyal follower, your money is my money!"
"These gold and silver coins are actually the least valuable things here. It's the crystals over there that are the real treasures..." Gawain said, introducing the unfamiliar items to the others. "The ones stacked outside the chests are raw crystal ore, unprocessed magic material. Rebecca, as a mage, you should recognize them. They'll be useful once refined. The crystals inside the chests are Gondor-era standard military crystals. They're simple to use and will significantly boost the combat abilities of our soldiers for a long time."
He paused, then added, "The swords and armor, however, are a bit problematic. I checked earlier; they're not in great condition. Especially the magical mechanisms—most of them are in disrepair, so I'm not sure how much combat power they still hold."
Although the seals and runes in the treasury had slowed down the oxidation and corrosion of the metals, the degradation of the magical mechanisms and the energy dissipation couldn't be fully prevented. While these artifacts had a long "shelf life," even that had limits in the span of seven hundred years. Not only were the weapons and armor affected; even the military crystals in the chests had lost a substantial amount of their energy. The energy they currently held was likely less than a third of their original levels, and the failure rates of these relics would also be an issue.
But for the Cecil family, impoverished as they were, this was still an incredible fortune.
So even though Gawain pointed out the condition of these items, Rebecca and Amber's gazes remained locked on the treasure, eyes gleaming.
"This… such a massive fortune…" Sir Byron's voice was dry as he spoke. "To think it's been lying here all this time, right on the kingdom's border… and no one knew about it…"
"In a way, I have to thank the Misty Moon Rebellion a century ago," Gawain said, shaking his head. "When the Moen family still remembered this fortune, the magic tide had blocked anyone from reaching it. And by the time the tide receded, the Moen family's lineage had already faded. Fate is a strange thing…"
While he spoke about fate, what truly weighed on Gawain's mind was the backward, feudal system. In this society, all wealth belonged to kings and nobles, and the nation's critical resources were held as private property by a handful of families.
When a noble family lost its line, its wealth could end up as ownerless treasures in remote mountains—a truly absurd scenario.
Had the Moen family of that era properly documented these treasuries and stored the records in archives, with the royal family merely holding the keys, this treasure might have never come into his hands. The weakened royal family, after the Misty Moon Rebellion, would surely have claimed it.
But then again, the phenomenon of treasure troves lost in the wilderness due to the twists of family legacy is a hallmark of the Middle Ages, isn't it?
Rebecca's gaze roamed over the ancient equipment and crystals before finally settling on the chest of gold and silver coins. She let out a long sigh. "With all this, we can pay back Viscount Andrew's debt, buy grain, and purchase building materials."
Gawain glanced at Rebecca, shaking his head. "No, we can't just spend this money openly."
"Huh?" Rebecca was taken aback, but she quickly caught on. "Because these are ancient coins?"
"Exactly. If you take a bunch of seven-hundred-year-old Gondor gold and silver coins to buy things, even the densest merchant would guess that the Cecil family found a treasure trove in these Dark Mountains," Gawain explained, nodding. "At least until we're fully established, we can't expose these treasures."
"But what do we do then?" Rebecca frowned. "We really need money right now..."
"It's simple. Gold is still gold, and silver is still silver, even if we change its form. Thank goodness for the precious metal economy…" Gawain's smile was bright, though his suggestion made Amber's heart skip a beat. "We melt them down!"
"Whoa!" The half-elf nearly jumped out of her skin. "Do you even know what you're saying? Melt them down?! These are ancient gold and silver coins from seven centuries ago! Even on the black market, selling them as antiques would be better than melting them!"
"Yes, they're ancient coins from seven hundred years ago, preserved in mint condition, and many of them are now entirely extinct, found only in books. Try selling all six chests of them and see what happens. If you manage to come back alive, I'll give you one of the chests as a reward!" Gawain replied, looking at Amber with the same patient expression he usually reserved for Rebecca.
Amber bit her lip, contemplating making off with a chest of coins on her back, but one glance at Gawain's arms—which were thicker than her thighs—dissuaded her from any reckless ideas.
She still wanted to protest, though. "But you can't melt them all down… that's such a waste!"
"Of course, we'll only melt part of it," Gawain spread his hands. "I'd feel the sting too if we melted all these antiques. For now, we'll melt some to cover our urgent needs, and the rest will be stored away for later use."
Only then did Amber's expression relax. Gawain turned back to Rebecca with a cheerful smile. "Now do you understand why I insisted on retaining the title of Duke of Cecil in the Silver Fort that day?"
Rebecca blinked, "Huh?"
"Idiot! Dukes have the right to mint coins!" Amber's eyes widened as she turned to Gawain with a sudden realization. "So you planned to melt down these antiques from the start, didn't you?!"
"You could say that," Gawain admitted without hesitation. "I'm an unprecedented, non-territorial duke for now, with a domain that's effectively zero and land that I have to cultivate myself. But even without any actual land, the privileges associated with my ducal title are 'innate' by law. Minting coins is just one of those privileges."
Amber stared at Gawain with a mixture of admiration and disbelief before finally muttering, "You ancient nobles really know how to play the game. The modern nobles, who are only interested in digging toll pits on their lands and harassing passing merchants, can't even compare."
Gawain's response was simple: "Keep your vision broad. This entire treasury, compared to what lies ahead, is a trifle."
He then instructed Byron and Rebecca to pack a selection of crystals and coins, preparing to leave the treasury for the time being. Although the treasure trove was now in their possession, they couldn't immediately put everything here to use.
First, they needed to establish the camp below, then organize trusted soldiers to transport the most critical items, especially the weapons and equipment, in batches.
Additionally, the treasury needed guards. Even though the magical door protected it, now that Gawain had found it, he couldn't leave it unattended in the mountains any longer.
Moreover, the ancient warrior buried outside the ruins needed a proper reburial. A mere pile of rocks was not a fitting grave. Now that people from the civilized world had returned to this land, a fallen warrior deserved a dignified burial.
After re-locking the treasury with the platinum disc, Gawain and his group departed from the site.
Back at the riverside, the camp was bustling, nearing completion. Byron and Sir Philip had purchased a large number of tents from Tanzan Town, essentially just canvas and lumber for constructing the tents on-site as temporary shelters.
The first wave of the advance team was made up of skilled workers, so setting up tents was quick. With Hedy using some supportive spells to assist, the camp had already taken shape.
Following Gawain's initial layout, all the tents were built on the south side of the White River, roughly in a fan shape. Essential supplies like grain and iron were stored at the camp's center, while prefabricated lumber was stacked along the riverbank. The transport wagons and carts were arranged around the camp perimeter, serving as a temporary barrier until a proper wall could be built. Though the magic tide had receded, they were still in the wild, far from civilization, and who knew what beasts might wander out of the mountains?
Near the central tents, Gawain found Hedy, who looked utterly exhausted.
He hoped the sight of these ancient crystals would provide her with a much-needed boost.