novelraw Chapter 350: Moonstone
Chapter 350: Moonstone
"Get inside, hurry up!"
Within the territory of the Snow Fox-kin tribe, the armed personnel of the Turan Family violently dragged and tossed the several miniature Snow Fox-kin into a room. Following them were the one-armed Balzac, Sertil, and Heidelin. Having taken a hit from that Snowflake Knight earlier, Heidelin was not in a very good state; she had been coughing constantly while being dragged over, occasionally spitting out a mouthful or two of blood-streaked saliva. Seeing this made the complexion of Sertil beside her incredibly pale.
This room seemed to be a storage room used by the Snow Fox-kin tribe to store miscellaneous items. Using it as a cell to imprison them right now was just right. Furthermore, proceeding a short distance from this room deeper into the Snow Fox-kin tribe was the quarantine zone Dar had set up previously.
Balzac clutched his severed arm wound and cast a resentful glare at the Turan Family members walking out of the room. He took a look at Clan Chief Dar behind him, whose aura was withered, and said with unbelievable disbelief,
"How dare the Turan family?! Is he trying to exterminate your entire tribe just because you sheltered Lady Valentiina? Attacking a tribe so blatantly—aren't they afraid of making enemies out of other demi-human tribes? How utterly foolish!"
Juna placed the small wooden basket in her hands onto the ground, looking rather worriedly at the hopeless Clan Chief Dar. She felt extremely anxious in her heart yet had absolutely no feasible options. At this spot, which wasn't considered too far from the quarantine zone, she could even faintly hear the miserable screams of the patients infected by the Death-Rot Plague. This scene of despair suddenly made her want to cry, not understanding how the situation could deteriorate to such an extent.
On the contrary, having been in a daze for a long while, Clan Chief Dar let out a long sigh. Shaking his head, he spoke in a low voice,
"It's not that simple, young man. You can say those people from the Turan Family are wicked and despicable, but you cannot call them foolish... sigh, our luck is truly terrible. The heavens seek to destroy my Snow Fox-kin. Ancestors, is this the price we pay for failing the Moon Princess? But... the clansmen, they are innocent..."
Balzac turned his head in unbelievable disbelief to look at Clan Chief Dar, not understanding what his words meant at all. Yet he merely saw Dar sorrowfully lift his head to look around. Inside this tiny room used for storing tools and utensils lay piled quite a few ores shimmering with a crystalline radiance. The luster of these ores was clear and lustrous, drawing one's gaze quite strongly even during the daytime.
"Young man, do you know about Moonstones?""Moonstones?"
Balzac looked at the unrefined mineral stones stored around the room. Although there was still quite a gap between these and the expensive, processed jewelry sold on the market, he nevertheless managed to recognize that the things stored in this room were indeed Moonstones—a type of decorative ore that was quite expensive in the Northern Border.
"How could I not know? The price of this stuff is very high in the Northern Border... Wait, are you saying him making a move against you guys is related to Moonstones?"
Clan Chief Dar nodded, but then quickly shook his head. He asked Balzac,
"Do you know why the Moon Princess is called the Moon Princess? These exalted titles were not bestowed upon them by the Phoenix King, but rather were honorable titles given by their dependents after they each obtained their fiefdoms. Among them, the Moon Princess obtained her honorable title because she exclusively loved the moonlight. Naturally, this kind of ore radiating moonlight also earned her favor. Otherwise, why would the Moon Princess's fortress be constructed in the northernmost point of the Northern Border, isolated from human habitation? It's because the mineral deposits there are abundant, capable of producing many of her favored gemstones..."
Balzac parted his lips, finally understanding why there were so many minerals near the Snowflake Fortress where the Turan Family resided. And as it happened, the pillar business of the Turan Family was mining, among which "Moonstones" were exceptionally expensive specifically because they were exclusively produced in that vicinity.
Just as Balzac was reeling in shock, Dar's voice continued,
"Within the generational encampment of our Snow Fox-kin, there is also a Moonstone mineral deposit no inferior to the one near the Snowflake Fortress. Moreover, because our ancestors were the Moon Princess's dependents, they frequently offered her favorite Moonstone ornaments as tribute. As times have changed and arrived at the present day, roughly half a year ago, the Turan Family's mineral surveying team suddenly paid a visit to our door, wanting to mine the Moonstone minerals within our tribe. However, we strictly refused them."
"Although our Snow Fox-kin isolate ourselves from the world, we hold very good relationships with many surrounding tribes. Earlier, I was even considering sending you all to them for care. And the Turan Family presumably took this into consideration, unexpectedly taking the initiative to abandon their pursuit of our Moonstone mine. Their Family Head even specially sent us many gifts to express his apologies for that offense because of this matter. The scent of that envoy was very friendly... heh, precisely because of this, none of us took this matter to heart at the time. It blew over very quickly, and we even harbored a decent impression of them... Otherwise, how could I have considered contacting the Turan Family first when the plague struck our tribe?"
"I never expected that allowing the Turan Family to learn of the plague within our tribe was the most foolish decision I've ever made. To prevent other nearby tribes from being infected by the plague, I informed the other tribes not to recklessly travel to our tribe's territory until we proactively contacted them to declare the plague cured... sigh. I never expected to let the Turan Family kill two birds with one stone. They not only want Valentiina but also our Moonstone mine."
"It was only when he crushed the medicine we brought back that this old antique who hasn't left the tribe in ages finally realized... It turns out the Turan family's methods of doing things are actually this ruthlessly absolute. They actually want to eradicate my entire tribe..."
In these ancient demi-human tribes, their methods of handling plagues remained primitive. Once they determined a plague was impossible to handle, they would take the initiative to sever contact with all other tribes. This way, even if a single tribe was completely wiped out by the plague, it wouldn't bring disaster to the other tribes around them. And once everyone in the tribe died of illness, the plague naturally would also dissipate not long after.
In actuality, during the period when the Death-Rot Plague historically spread across Schwari, this method of treatment was indeed capable of suppressing the plague's transmission. However, as it was during wartime against Naris at the time, because the war mobilized the entire nation's resources and people continuously died, that unprecedentedly frequent personnel motility, massive amounts of death, and extremely crude sanitation conditions ultimately resulted in the plague spiraling out of control, evolving into a terrifying and uncontrollable disaster.
Therefore, even if the entire Snow Fox-kin tribe died of illness right now, the other tribes wouldn't suspect the Turan Family.
But Balzac still found it somewhat hard to believe. Looking at the several Moonstones resting on the table, he said,
"But what use do they have taking Moonstones? This stuff is at most used to make jewelry. Could they be that short on money?"
"Sigh, how would I know what they are going to do with this stuff? However, at the time I did indeed sense an intense yearning for these stones emanating from the Turan Family members who came to negotiate..."
Right at this moment, Heidelin, who was lying in the corner of the room, suddenly unclasped her lips with a cold sneer.
"Cough, cough... How could those beasts from the Turan Family not know the characteristics of the Snow Fox-kin? The people making the decisions hide inside the Snowflake Fortress. Those who came to deliver the letter and conduct the survey were merely their lackeys; they had absolutely no concept regarding the entire situation. Even if the Snow Fox-kin could smell their scents, it was merely the scent of those envoys. They probably truly believed the family wanted to be on good terms with the Snow Fox-kin..."
"As for the Moonstones... cough, cough. I'm not too clear regarding this matter either, but it seems to be related to the Young Lady. Back then, when she resurrected Herdor, I heard the name 'Moonstone' mentioned in the transaction reached between the family and that mysterious person. And ever since then, the Snowflake Knights the family spent massive prices to train all transformed into those flying monsters..."
If Fisher were here, he might instantly be able to deduce what the context of this matter actually was. His guess had been absolutely correct. The transaction between the Turan Family and the Lord Cardinal wasn't merely the resurrection of Herdor; they saw something far more valuable within it, and that was the "Cardinals".
The Lord Cardinal manufactured practical Cardinals for the Turan Family, while the Turan Family concurrently provided stable sources of Moonstones and funds for the Lord Cardinal. This was originally a mutually beneficial transaction. However, the Moonstones the Turan Family previously supplied for the Lord Cardinal ceased production. This also directly led to the Lord Cardinal lacking raw materials to manufacture any additional combat Cardinals following his battle with Erwind... ultimately leading to his death from Erwind's sneak attack.
The number of Moonstones consumed to manufacture Cardinals exceeded the Turan Family's imaginations. That massive order of Snowflake Knights he placed hollowed out the final traces of the mineral deposits, which was precisely what caused them to begin searching for other sources of Moonstone minerals in the first place.
Dar let out a despondent sigh. The fur on his body stuck up bit by bit, making him look quite disheveled. He covered his furry face somewhat self-reproachfully and said,
"This is my fault. If I had been just a bit more careful... It was only because my four children and wife were all infected by the plague and wailing agonizingly on the beds that I was momentarily careless and rushed out so hastily to seek medicine. I... I truly feel ashamed facing my clansmen."
Balzac pursed his lips. With a somewhat helpless sigh, he sat down on the ground. The most horrible things in this world were nothing more than 'it never rains but it pours' and 'misfortune strikes the vulnerable'. Clearly Dar was already in a terrible fix due to this plague that was on the verge of exterminating his tribe, yet he also ran into this Turan Family harboring ill intentions and coveting their tribe's treasures. Regardless of whether Dar took Valentiina away or not out of compassion back then, they would have been caught by the Turan Family exploiting the plague's vulnerability nonetheless.
Naturally, the trace of self-reproach and guilt inside a tiny room couldn't dispel the haze shrouding the sky above the entire Snow Fox-kin tribe. Inside the entire Snow Fox-kin encampment, the patients infected with the Death-Rot Plague were mourning and crying agonizingly. Yet those armed Turan Family personnel standing guard seemed entirely deaf to it. They merely stood within the empty Snow Fox-kin tribe holding their muskets, bored to death, chatting and joking among themselves.
Until, a solitary, lonely figure vaguely walked over amidst the vast white wind and snow in the distance.
That was a bizarre figure wearing a black trench coat. He walked completely alone with his hands in his pockets amidst this expanse of heaven and earth. It was simply unknown whether it was an illusion or not, but that figure flickered hazily non-stop within the wind and snow. Despite his footsteps clearly not being fast, he quickly closed in on this quiet Snow Fox tribe. Just moments ago, the Turan Family personnel on guard duty had been squinting their eyes evaluating the figure in the distance, but the next moment, that bizarre individual instantaneously arrived at the gate of the tribe.
A beaked mask seemed embedded onto that bizarre figure's face. His build was frail and thin, yet he didn't seem to feel the cold in the slightest. Upon arriving at the Snow Fox-kin tribe, he made no other movements, merely sizing up this quiet atmosphere. Yet the instant the guards caught sight of that figure, the hairs on their bodies immediately stood on end, prompting them to scratch their arms in confusion.
"Hey, where are you from, traveler? Go back quickly. This is the territory of the Turan Family, you are not welcome here! If you still don't leave, I'm going to get rough with you!"
Brandishing their muskets, the two guards strutted forward, waving their hands at that fragile-looking, thin lost traveler. It seemed as if the very next moment, they were about to impart a profound, memorable lesson upon this pitiful lost soul. Only, before they even drew near, that beaked figure abruptly looked toward them.
"It would seem... he has already ascended the snowy mountain. What a great pity indeed."
"Ah? You lunatic, talking to yourse..."
The guard's words came to an abrupt end, leaving only the blood-stained wind and snow remaining as before.
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(End of this chapter)