Chapter 595: Chapter 385: Hope in Despair (5k)_2
"Hmm." After pondering for a moment, Colin said, "Bring me two bottles first."
He had no plans to personally venture into the cave tonight to buy Magic Erasure Potion; it was merely for an emergency, and two bottles would suffice.
"Alright, that will be three hundred Magic Stones." The shopkeeper said, and then added, "You are a valued customer of the Chasai Commerce, so this is the cost price for you."
"Hmm." Colin promptly paid with the Magic Stones.
If his memory served him right, the Magic Erasure Potion he had purchased through a merchant introduced by his senior, Lillian, was two hundred Magic Stones a bottle.
Still, such a price could be considered steep, no wonder the Wood Family hadn’t stocked up.
Colin sighed and stepped out of the shop.
It was only just past noon outside, and Colin gauged that the time was about right. He slipped away quietly in a small alley and then made his way back to the Wood Family.
Although there hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary with the Wood Family so far, he wasn’t naive enough to fully trust Conmonds.
The Giant Mountain Breathing Method was critical to the future of the knightly path, and Colin wasn’t willing to miss even a slim chance.
He would take this opportunity to thoroughly explore the entire Wood Family!
Colin stood firm in the secret chamber where the Giant Mountain Breathing Method was stored, as his Frost Shadow silently dispersed in all directions.
Of course, he wasn’t idle either, scanning the entire secret chamber with his spiritual power.
Soon, one of the Frost Shadows reported something unusual.
Colin quickly made his way toward the southeast corner of the chamber.
After a search, he found a hidden compartment in the wall at that corner.
Opening the compartment and examining its contents, a look of anticipation appeared faintly on Colin’s face.
But moments later, the anticipation faded, replaced by disappointment.
Inside were only some valuable treasures, including Magic Stones and the like.
’...What is this?’
But shortly after, at the very bottom of the compartment, Colin found several familiar items—
Transparent glass bottles contained a unique, sparkling liquid... was it, Magic Erasure Potion?
Colin took a bottle of Magic Erasure Potion from his Storage Ring with a flip of his hand.
After a careful comparison, Colin confirmed that the bottles of potion in front of him were indeed Magic Erasure Potion!
But what use was this?
Colin furrowed his brow in thought for a while but couldn’t discern anything amiss.
At most, it was just that Conmonds had deceived him today about not having any Magic Erasure Potion.
But the hidden compartment in front of him was likely the Wood Family’s last bastion in case of emergencies.
It made sense that Conmonds didn’t want to casually use what was stored here... a common human sentiment.
Releasing a sigh, Colin disappointingly restored the hidden compartment and then commanded the Frost Shadow to explore further out from the current secret chamber as the center.
Like this, Colin turned the entire Wood Family upside down until evening.
However, the only gain was learning some random gossip.
As the last of the evening sunlight receded, Colin arrived at the entrance to the Wood Family on time.
Onions had been waiting there for a long time, and Conmonds was standing beside him.
"You are here," Conmonds greeted warmly upon seeing him.
Colin nodded slightly and addressed Onions beside him,
"Are you ready?"
"Ready," Onions, a mountain of a man, replied with a slight nod, albeit a little stiff.
Without further delay, Colin took to the sky with Onions, flying toward the south of the city.
At the door, Conmonds watched them depart into the distance, then retracted his gaze and silently walked back to his family.
What Conmonds didn’t notice, however, was that under the moonlight, his shadow on the ground seemed to flicker subtly.
...
"We’ll be there if we fly a bit further, Sir Colin."
In the sky, Onions had removed his helmet and was carefully distinguishing landmarks on the ground.
Below was a boundless golden wheat field, silent like an ocean of land under the silver-white moonlight; to the naked eye, it all looked identical.
But to Onions, every part of this sea of wheat was different.
He knew this place well.
Before being taken in by the Wood Family, he lived in a farmer’s household.
Almost more than half of every year was spent here, working alongside his foster parents, guarding the wheat fields.
Occasionally, during the rare leisure times, he would venture near the cave entrance that adults strictly forbade.
"We are here, Sir," Onions, engulfed in his thoughts, had not forgotten his duty to lead the way.
Colin looked ahead.
His vision shifted abruptly from the colorful sea of wheat to stark black and grey as an extremely peculiar territory appeared before him, unlike any terrain he’d seen elsewhere.
It was like... an abandoned open-pit coal mine.
Except this "coal mine" spanned an enormous area. Even from a hundred meters in the air, Colin could hardly grasp its entirety.
Furthermore, the terrain was complex with variations: hills, cliffs, basins, abysses—all were visible.
Numerous black holes of varying sizes dotted the entire grey-black area. Their shapes were irregular, oval or diamond-shaped, yet they all appeared exceptionally deep.
In front of the whole cave region, a small cluster of buildings was gathered.
Here was a town that had developed by relying on the cave, mainly providing services for wizards who came to venture into the cave.
Of course, it also served as the first warning outpost for when a magic tide from the cave approached.
If this were earlier, he and the other stationed wizards who came to the Roon Kingdom might have been assigned here.
But now, only merchants and visiting wizards remained.
"Sir, although there are a great number of entrances to the entire cave region, about eighty to ninety percent of them," Onions continued to explain, "eventually converge to five different nodes after a journey of three to eight hours at the average walking speed of a regular knight."