Chapter 30：Conspiracy vs Conspiracy

There was a manor in the Tindus Domain.

It was located on the Barren Stonewall Plain. The wall around the garden was just a very simple clay wall. The wall was only about one meter tall. Anyone could enter as long by jumping over the wall. There was not even a gate. Instead there were four unblocked access points that anyone could enter through.

Within the clay wall was a magnificent white building. Four entrances faced the clay wall. At each of the entrances was a building that was about five meters tall. The entrances to the buildings were movable windows that reached from the floor to the ceiling. Four sealed corridors connected the four buildings. The corridors were six meters tall and were divided into two floors. The sides of the corridors that faced the clay wall were very simple, with arrow holes and stabilizing planks dotting the exposed surface. The other side of the corridors faced the garden, and there were many different rooms. The rooms were used for numerous things such as storing weapons and food or living in.

In the center of the diamond-shaped buildings was another set of four buildings that had three floors. The buildings were more than nine meters tall. In the middle of the space on the third floor of the buildings was an open terrace. There was a large round table that had a drawing of rivers and mountains in all of the terraces. Although the drawing was no longer active, it was made by replicating a magic map, so it looked very real. Sean was able to recognize that the landscape was the Gleason Region.

The four buildings were the main buildings of the manor.

The manor was known to almost everyone in the Tindus Domain because it was just as famous as the Tindus Castle. The manor was known as the Royce Manor.

The Royce family was founded after they won their nobility title through winning battles. At first, the land they received was only a small knights' territory. Due to its remote and desolate location, no one wanted the Knights' Domain. Even if a manor was built on the land, it would not be very pretty. Anyone could tell that the Royce family had offended someone. However, the ancestor of the Royce family was not discouraged. He built a manor in the style of a fortress and did not need the walls to surround the manor because it would make him forget his anger. The purpose of the manor was to warn his descendants that they should not forget the humiliation and anger of that year.

Later, after the efforts from several future generations, the Royce family finally managed to expand their land to its present size. Their title also rose from a Knight to a Marquis. Any enemies of the Royce family had long been annihilated in the Portoroa Kingdom's Long River of History.

The moonlight poured down on the manor. It seemed to cover the bloodiness that the manor emanated like a pure silver cloth.

On top of the open terrace of the main building, the eyes of a middle-aged man landed on the Landscape Map on the round table that was in the middle of the terrace.

His eyes were fixed on a fortress on the Landscape Map. His expression was so gloomy that it seemed as if he could cry at any moment. His hands were clenched tightly into fists, and his breath was a little short. It was not excitement, but a fit of rage. The magnificent clothes on his body slightly trembled from his anger. It was obvious that he could not control his body.

"You're telling me!" It was obvious from the middle-aged man's voice that he was suppressing his anger. "Drouin has already returned to Tindus Castle?"

The middle-aged man was Count Mario.

"Yes, Lord Viscount." One of the young knights who stood behind Count Mario nodded. Even the knight was surprised. "According to the informant from Anrola, Drouin just entered the city today in the evening. He went straight to Tindus Castle without stopping along the way."

"Straight to Tindus Castle?" Count Mario's face grew uglier as he frowned. He turned his head to look at a man who had stopped beside him who was in a black magician's robe. "Could he have found the Ice Heart Grass?"

The man had a head of brown hair. His face was a little thin, and his skinny fingers looked a little dirty. Although the magician's robe was slightly big, it did not look funny on him; it made him look a little bit grim. He did not have a staff on him. Instead, he tightly held a black-covered magic book in his left hand. The magic book was not as big and thick as the one Cecilia had. However, the force that was emitted from the book was not much weaker than Cecilia's book. Also, he wore a ring on his right hand's ring finger, which had a black obsidian stone on it. The ring had a force that made people's hearts beat faster.

The man was a magician. He was not an apprentice magician like Cecilia, but a formal magician!

"It would be useless even if he did find the Ice Heart Grass." The man's voice was a little hoarse. It sounded just as bad as the scraping of a sharp metal instrument. "A month ago, the Ice Heart Grass might have been able to save the old man's life. However, it is useless now. The Fire Dragon Poison is not an ordinary poison. In the beginning, it is only blood poisoning. Therefore, using the Ice Heart Grass could cure it. However, now that three months have passed, the poison has entered deep into the internal organs. Therefore, the Ice Heart Grass can only delay the old man's death for a bit."

The magician sneered creepily. "After being poisoned by the Fire Dragon Poison for three months, he will die! No one in the world can save him!"

Hearing what the magician said, Count Mario was finally able to feel relieved. His gaze turned back around to look at the round table in front of him, and his expression relaxed a bit. However, the gloominess in his eyes was still very ugly. Perhaps because Count Mario's expression was still grim, the knight who stood behind Count Mario did not dare to leave without permission, so he could only stand there and wait in silence.

"I sent Martin to take people with him to intercept Drouin, but there were no signs of him. They only managed to rob the merchant group of that businessman Halle…" Count Mario's face turned ugly once again. "Go and find out how Drouin was able to return to his territory unnoticed!"

"Yes!" The knight immediately nodded to accept the command. He could not help but breathe a sigh of relief on the inside.

After this knight had left, Count Mario finally looked away from the Landscape Map and turned towards the south. He looked towards the end of the horizon where the Anrola City was. The city was the busiest city within the Tindus Domain. About 20 minutes away from the Tindus Domain was the Tindus Castle. The castle was as famous as the manor and was the Royce family's pride.

After a moment of silence, Count Mario finally spoke again, but this time, the expression on his face was kind and gentle. "We should go too. My dear nephew has finally found the antidote to the Fire Dragon Poison for my brother. I must quickly go back to celebrate and witness the miraculous moment when he saves my brother."

"Of course, Lord Viscount." The black-robed magician bowed. "I will send someone to prepare the carriage right away."

"By the way..." As soon as Mario took a step forward, he seemed to think of something as he suddenly turned to face the black-robed magician. "How is the matter with the Black Cat Business Guild going?"

"Everything is going well."

"Very good." Count Mario nodded. "Even though it was unexpected that Drouin would return alive, it is a good thing that everything else is going according to plan. Once I take care of Drouin, the rest won't be a problem. However, this batch of Square Tipped Crystals must be watched carefully. Many people in the kingdom have their eyes on it and are waiting for it to enter the market."

"Lord Viscount, you can rest assured that there is absolutely no fourth person in this world who knows where the material is hidden."

"I'm relieved to hear you say that." Count Mario nodded as he strode towards the door.

...

Inside Arthur City, which was located dozens of kilometers away from the Royce Manor, another secret discussion was taking place.

However, the secret discussion did not have as good of an atmosphere as expected. It was not as serious and mysterious as people would think.

The secret discussion was taking place inside a room. The room was the room in the inn that Sean and Cecilia were staying in. The two parties that were having the secret discussion were Sean and Ron.

Cecilia sat on the edge of the bed, holding a bag of snacks. The snack was very popular in the Portoroa Kingdom. It was pink and about the size of a fingernail. It was made from different fruits and herbs, and thus was sweet, but not overly so. Cecilia's favorite thing about it was that it was sweet but not oily, so she could enjoy it happily without getting her hands messy.

Ron's bodyguard stood outside the door to the room to prevent others from approaching or eavesdropping.

Four days had passed since Ron and Sean first met.

The night after they first met, under the protection of more than a dozen rank-three guards, a merchant leader from Arthur City's Black Cat Business Guild delivered the ruby that Sean valued so much. At the same time, he brought a lot of new information about people inside the business guild. Just like Sean had said to Ron, the massive Black Cat Business Guild had made their move. They found new clues not long after.

It was indeed a joint operation between Arctic Silver and the Medusa Business Guild.

If they had suspected it was mountain bandits, then there would have been nothing they could do about it once there was a dead end. However, now that they knew who was behind the robbery, there were a lot of clues and tracks to follow, especially since they were big guilds like Arctic Silver and the Medusa Business Guild. However, no matter how much the Black Cat Business Guild inquired, they still could not find any clues. It made them feel helpless.

Ron did not want to take out the ruby he had if he could avoid it.

On the table, a hand that was pressed on top of a beautiful blue embroidered box pushed it forward two inches and then stopped. After a moment of silence, the hand clenched into a fist and retracted like lightning. It was obvious that the owner of the hand was reluctant to give up the embroidered box under his hand.

"I heard that Mr. Sean seems to be very interested in all kinds of gemstones. This is a ruby I accidentally received." There was a smile on Ron's face. If it were not for the fact that his extremely subtle movements had revealed his true feelings, anyone would have thought that he had taken the embroidered box out willingly. "This ruby is very beautiful. There are no traces of knife marks on any parts of it, and it is completely natural. I think that only people like Mr. Sean, who likes to collect gemstones, will be able to display its dazzling side."

Sean raised his eyebrows and replied softly, "Oh?"

When Sean reached out and opened the embroidered box, he saw a flat ruby lying quietly inside. The ruby was about an inch thick, four centimeters long, and three centimeters wide. It had no sharp corners, but its degree of purity was extremely high. The ruby was almost completely transparent. When Sean held it in his hand, he could feel a bit of warmth. Even people like Sean who had no magic were able to feel the strange fluctuations from the ruby.

The strong fluctuations were magic waves that were so strong they could even distort the air.

"It is indeed a very beautiful ruby." Sean smiled as he placed the ruby back inside the embroidered box.

The ruby's high purity alone was enough for it to be sold at a sky-high price, and the magic fluctuations only increased that price. However, Ron had not spoken about any of those things. How could Sean not know what Ron was up to? Even though the ruby was indeed a task item back in the game world, it was not necessarily a task item in the real world. Sean had already been prepared to ask Ron for the ruby. However, he had not expected Ron to bring the ruby to him. Of course, Sean was very excited, he just did not want to show it right now, since if he seemed indifferent, he might be able to get a better trade for it.

"I am glad Mr. Sean likes it." Ron smiled. "The reason I came here this time is that I have something to ask Mr. Sean."

"What?" Sean glanced at Ron with a bigger smile on his face. "After these last couple of days, you still have not found where the Square Tipped Crystals are hidden? I thought that when you sent your men to do such a large-scale search, you would have found them."

In reality, Sean already knew about this a few days ago, when the merchant leader of the Black Cat Business Guild had rushed there from Anrola. Sean just did not care about it because he already knew that they would never be able to find where the Square Tipped Crystals were hidden. It was not that the people from the Black Cat Business Guild were incompetent. It was just that it was very difficult to deduce where the Square Tipped Crystals were hidden using normal methods.

After all, the real boss behind the Medusa Business Guild was a demon. In the game, many players had completed a lot of tasks that were related to the demon. After harassing the demon countless times and studying it in detail, the demon's identity and everything related to it was finally revealed. In the end, this demon appeared as a BOSS of a high-class 100-person dungeon, and then later contributed a lot of amazing equipment to the majority of the players.

However, the Black Cat Business Guild was not made up of good people either. The real boss behind the business guild was a demonic witch who was close to becoming a demigod.

Both the Black Cat Business Guild and the Medusa Business Guild were just facade businesses for a devil and a demonic witch. They did not deliberately create the two business guilds, but rather they grew up around them, and they suited their purposes enough that they did not disband them. Therefore, whether the two guilds continued or were dispersed did not matter to the two bosses. They could make do just fine if they were gone. The people within the two business guilds might never find out what the bosses were.

No one in this world knew the business guilds better than Sean.

After Ron heard Sean's slightly sarcastic remark, he smiled sheepishly. "The people of the Medusa Business Guild are indeed very cunning."

"Huh." Sean could not laugh any longer when he heard what Ron said. However, even if Sean knew where the Square Tipped Crystals were hidden, he would not tell Ron. It did not matter to Sean that he had told Cecilia he was a God Wand, he would never say the words to Ron. Sean could only guide Ron another way. "You should familiarize yourself with the Medusa Business Guild's living environment."

"The Medusa Business Guild's living environment?" Ron was stunned for a moment, as he had not understood the meaning of Sean's words.

"These people are a type of underground creature. They are very dangerous and cunning and are very good at deceiving others." Looking at Ron's appearance, Sean knew that he could not expect Ron to go try and understand the Medusa Business Guild's living environment. Ron might even look in the wrong direction, which would be bad for Sean's next plan. "Motivation is also one of their instinctive habits. The Medusa Business Guild has inherited the characteristics of Medusa, so if you use your normal way of finding clues and making deductions to find the next clue or trail, then you will never be able to find them. Therefore, the best method is to do the opposite of what you have been doing."

After hearing Sean's words, Ron became silent and started to frown. It was obvious that Ron was thinking about the clues he had gotten previously. Sean did not disturb him, instead, he was minding his own business and eating the food that was in front of him. Of course, the food was being paid by a certain "Stupid Excess Speed." Sean would never purchase so much exuberant food if he was the one paying. He prioritized food that could fill his stomach.

A moment later, Ron's eyes finally lit up as he raised his head and thanked Sean. "Thank you very much for your reminder. If it were not for your words, I would have neglected these details."

With that, Ron got up and left, while Sean casually waved his hand. He did not care what Ron was going to do next. Cecilia did not utter a single word. If Ron had not brought Cecilia the little gift, she would not have even sat there and listened to them this entire time.

When the rapid footsteps in the corridor had faded away, Cecilia jumped off the edge of the bed. She ran to pick up the embroidered box and then opened it. A look of excitement could be seen on her little face, which had been tense the entire time. "It is indeed the Flame of Crimson!"

Looking at Cecilia's excited appearance, Sean also smiled. "You already experienced the power of an actual magician when we were inside the Starfall Forest. Even though the power was only temporary, you have at least some experience as a formal magician. This proves that you have reached the level of an actual magician in terms of knowledge and your spirit. The only thing you lack is magic power. But now that you have the Flame of Crimson, your meditation speed will be much faster. Now, it will no longer be a problem for you to break through the limit and become an official magician."

Stroking the Flame of Crimson ruby in her hand, Cecilia nodded gently and replied, "Yes. It will probably happen within the next few days."

When Cecilia spoke, there was a sense of pride contained in her words.

"However, it's a pity that this Flame of Crimson can only strengthen your fire-based reaction force. It would be nice if it was a Four Colored Holy Flame.

"A person cannot be too greedy." Cecilia giggled when she heard Sean's words. "I am satisfied with the Flame of Crimson."

Sean pouted with disdain as he said to himself, "You are satisfied, but I am not. I will train you to become an elemental magician. It is just a Four Colored Holy Flame. It's not that I don't know how to do it. It's just a bit more troublesome."

Cecilia had not noticed the change in the expression on Sean's face. Her mind was completely immersed in the joy of gaining the Flame of Crimson. "What are we going to do next? Are we going back to the Serian Kingdom?"

"What would we go back there for?" Sean made an exaggerated gesture. "We are going to stay in Arthur City for a few more days."

"Why?" Cecilia looked puzzled. She was used to Sean's nomadic lifestyle and was confused by the fact that they were staying in the same place for longer than she expected.

"I will bet you five copper coins that those idiots at the Black Cat Business Guild won't be able to handle the dog-headed men. Which is why Ron will come back to find me in two days." Sean pouted. "If we leave now, where will he go to find us? How can we make money? Those two jerks, Halle and Drouin, haven't paid me yet. Right now, we have only three gold coins, 13 silver coins, and 75 copper coins. If we don't make some more money, we will soon be sleeping on the streets."

"It's because you spent so much money buying so many materials," Cecilia suddenly shouted like a housekeeper. "That amount of money could have made us rich for a long time! By the way, speaking of which, where are the materials?"

"There. It's all there." Sean nudged his mouth towards the Charles' Sword.

Cecilia froze on the spot. "You…You are a blacksmith alchemist?"