Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

Aive took the Full Body Armor from Rurik’s hands and turned to put it on. It wasn’t as heavy as she’d expected, and faint silver light glinted from its gaps and joints.

”I mixed a little Mithril into this Full Body Armor. While it doesn’t meet the standards for true Secret Silver Armor, it does help reduce the weight,” Rurik said, looking at the Half-Elf with a hint of pride. ”It’s a perfect fit, miss. The armor suits your disposition perfectly.”

”You can tell that?” Silvia frowned. ”It completely hides all of Aive’s curves. There’s absolutely no aesthetic appeal to it.”

After all, it was a suit of Full Body Armor, so Silvia had a point. Encased in an iron can like that, not only were her curves completely hidden, you probably couldn’t tell the difference if you swapped her with another person, or even an earth goblin.

”That’s because you have no appreciation for it,” Rurik muttered. ”Why don’t we let the lady herself say what she thinks?”

”I think it’s great. It’s comfortable and fits perfectly,” Aive said, looking up at Rurik. ”I’m a little curious, how did you manage that? This is the first time we’ve met, isn’t it?”

”Actually, it’s not,” Sharlowe said, rubbing his hands together. ”The last time I was here, after asking what equipment you needed, I secretly recorded an image of you to show Rurik. He used that to calculate your measurements.”

”But please, rest assured! It was for a purely friendly purpose! The image was destroyed as soon as Rurik got the data he needed! There’s no possible way it could be used for any other reason!”

Ron could see Aive wasn’t pleased, but this world didn’t seem to have a strong concept of personal rights, so her reaction was limited to simple displeasure.

”As for your shield,” Rurik said, turning to Victoria, who was already holding it, ”what do you think?”

”This shield also has a small amount of Mithril mixed in to lighten the burden on its user.”

”It’s perfect,” Victoria said, glancing at the Dwarf Blacksmith. ”But I am a little curious. Mithril is a precious Magic Material; it’s not easy to come by, is it? And you’re just giving this to us as a sample?”

”Never mind a suit of Full Body Armor with Mithril in it—even one made of ordinary materials would be quite expensive. Isn’t this investment a little steep?”

”Not at all, not at all,” Sharlowe said with a dismissive wave of his hand. ”Any good merchant must have sharp business instincts, and I’m certain that my investment in Delusional Land will soon yield a handsome return.”

”I’ve been here for a few days, and I heard you all discovered an ancient mine. That just proves my judgment was correct!”

”An ancient mine...” Ron chuckled. ”That’s not exactly a nice place. There are beasts, Undead Creatures, and possibly even a curse. We don’t plan on developing or using it in any way until we’ve figured everything out.”

”Oh...” Sharlowe responded, sounding a little disappointed. ”But that’s alright. There will always be opportunities. Delusional Land is full of them, I believe.”

Ron was very pleased with this exchange of goodwill from the three merchants—though he’d have been even happier if Shuke hadn’t brought that old man Elden along.

However, construction in Delusional Land was still far from complete, so Sulina’s group continued to use it merely as a temporary stop and staging point. After resting for a night, they decided to depart, leaving behind the two specialists they had brought with them, along with Sulina’s construction crew. That same day, the second team, led by Klade, took Sera’s axe and prepared to clear out the mine once more—planning to also deliver the weapon to the Hill Giant as a gift.

As for Ron and his group, as much as they wanted to rest, others had different plans.

People like Ming Datiss, for instance. Or the slave masters of the Carolina City-States.

That evening, Ron reviewed his Arcane Magic studies as usual and prepared the next day’s spells in his *Weaving Introduction*.

Even without any adventures or quests, a Mage had to prepare their spells each day, just as a Warrior had to polish their armor and weapons. It was an essential daily ritual.

Besides, the constant review and practice helped deepen his understanding of Magic. Ron felt that by the time the second team returned, he could probably start looking into Third Ring Spells.

That is, if he could get his hands on the right Scrolls and Spellbooks.

The cost of learning in this world, especially for a Mage, was absurdly high. When it came to Third Ring Spells, it wasn’t a matter of whether a Mage could master them, but whether they could find anything to learn them *from*.

Silvia had long since mastered the first and second-ring spells, but she was still unable to cast anything of a higher tier. Her slave-master and mentor obviously believed a spell-casting slave had no need for more advanced knowledge. In fact, Silvia had even been forced to learn some of her Second Ring Spells in secret.

’In a tabletop RPG, you’d usually just learn spells by leveling up...’ Ron sighed. He was about to head back to his bedroom to rest, but as he opened the door, a slip of paper fluttered out from the crack beneath it and landed on the floor.

’What’s this?’ Ron picked it up, curious. He was certain the note hadn’t been there when he’d come into the conference room.

The note was simple: it had a drawing of a chandelier with a dagger next to it. In the bottom-right corner, in an inconspicuous spot, was a small drawing of a pair of devil horns and a tail.

Quest. ’It has to be him.’

Ron knew as soon as he saw the little doodle. No matter how sinister the rumors about Delusional Land were, it was still a world away from the Demon Fiends of the Nine Floors of Hell. None of his companions had any dealings with devils.

The only one who had any connection to such things was Quest.

’But what do the chandelier and dagger mean? The longer I look, the more familiar it seems...’

Ron instinctively looked up. It was the chandelier from this very conference room!

But he couldn’t see a dagger anywhere.

’Could it be...?’

Ron thought back carefully. When the construction crew from Fromm had renovated the place, they had used the same style of chandelier in every room to save time. And he was just about to head to his bedroom.

’Could it be an assassin?’

Quest had proven his allegiance several times before, so Ron considered him highly credible. Just in case, Ron closed the door again and immediately began Casting.

”Preparing materials: a small vial of alcohol, a grasshopper’s hind leg, a pinch of dirt, a piece of tanned leather...”

”False Life, Jumping Technique, Big Step Running, Mage Armor, Mirror Image Magic, Foggy Magic...”