Everything went well as planned.
Ian was able to rob Perian’s subspace as he wanted, and the guards were able to keep the guards from dying thanks to the advance notice to the chief.
The deputy chief was also seriously injured, but thanks to my quick evacuation, his life was saved.
Of course, the destruction of the dungeon was a big problem.
It was impossible to know which of the prisoners had died, who had escaped, and it was difficult to manage the criminals who had to be locked up.
However, a bigger problem awaited us.
“… … none?”
The mana stones that contained the powerful mana that Ian saw did not exist in Perian’s subspace.
Of course, there were no traces of mana stones that I thought had been put in the subspace.
“Have you left the mana stones aside?”
“Let’s try to find more. We may not have been able to find it because we have a lot of luggage.”
Of course, it was a lot of luggage to fill one room, but there was no way that more than 5 people were looking for it and couldn’t find it.
If it was full of mana, you would have felt that energy.
However, he did not feel that strong mana here.
As Ian said, I searched the room several times.
“Ian Astria. Are you going to stop now? If you can’t find anything that you’ve been looking for like this, it doesn’t seem like it’s there.”
When Li said to Ian, Ian sighed and nodded.
“i get it. Let’s start with the information here.”
After Ian said that, things started to get organized to some extent.
The people who were looking for mana stones together returned home, and Li, Ian, and the three of them remained at the place.
The three of us read the documents that Perian had gathered and analyzed the magic tools he was trying to make.
so for a while.
Lie stretched out as if her body was wrinkled.
Then he looked at me and opened his mouth.
“I’ve read a bit, but I still don’t know.”
“You can’t help but understand that. Knowing this, you don’t even know what Perian’s plans are up to you.”
“It is not. But first, aren’t those mana stones the most important thing?”
I nodded at Lie’s words, and Ian added an explanation.
“Even if the mana stones exploded, the capital would be blown away, so stealing this amplifier is not the end of the story.”
“Hmm… … .”
I listened to Ian as I read the documents that Perian had gathered.
“Then, shouldn’t we have to go catch Perian quickly?”
“You go out in a coercive way and you don’t know what the other person will do. First of all, let’s take a quick look at the situation.”
I heard that and looked at Ian.
“Is it because of the possibility that Perian will explode mana stones in the capital?”
“Yeah, think of that mana stone exploding in the capital. How will some people survive, but will the rebels stand still?”
After the capital disappears, rebel attacks will follow.
The poorly maintained castle and the soldiers who lost the command system could not stop the rebels.
“Can’t we stop the explosion? When a mana stone is about to explode, it is blown away with space magic.”
“The opponent is the head of the Astrian family. Don’t you think you can’t even think of that?”
Lee looked at us with a fat face.
“Then you will need a remedy.”
“If that was possible, I wouldn’t have suffered like this… … .”
The opponent is the person sitting on the peacock.
Even if he gave something to such a person, he wouldn’t listen.
“It won’t happen at all.”
He tilted his head at Ian’s words.
“Isn’t your father already a cornered rat? If we stay like this, won’t you bite us?”
“It was a plan that took several years. He must have planned something like that because he wanted something. If you burst the mana stones, the plan will collapse overnight. Would you have made such a choice just because the amplifier was gone?”
It was a sensible thing to say.
“Once I figure out my father’s plan. You can decide what to do after that.”
“ha… … . All right.”
So we started reading Perian’s material one by one.
After hours of reading the material, the plan slowly came to light.
“what’s this?”
Rie frowned, meaning that she was in a bad mood.
She was holding a plan.
“Take everyone in the capital hostage?”
That was what was in the plan.
Taking all the people hostage.
It didn’t end there.
All castles and territories in the Empire are taken hostage.
That was Perian’s plan.
“… … This is not hostage level.”
Ian also joined in with Rie’s words.
I nodded at his words.
“You don’t mean to enslave the entire empire, not hostages.”
Perian installs an amplifier in the capital.
After that, the entire capital is taken hostage with the magic that comes out of it.
Using those taken hostage, they make something similar to the mana stones installed in the capital, and install the same in other castles.
In this way, the whole empire will be captured.
But the reason they are slaves and not hostages is that they are exploited.
The magic that Perian was trying to engrave on the mana stones.
“Life Drain.”
Spirit magic that absorbs the opponent’s mana and vitality and transforms it into your own.
It is a magic used by people who lived eternal life in the past.
However, the problem with this magic was that he had to be stronger than others.
You have to defeat someone and absorb that person’s life force.
So the person who tried to live eternal life in this way was killed by someone stronger than himself.
Perian tried to close this gap.
A magical tool that can exploit other people’s life force at will.
A magic that can steal a person’s vitality even if they only enter the realm of magic tools.
It was Perian’s plan to make it.
***
“Damn it… … .”
Perian sat down and quenched his anger.
All the data he had accumulated and even the results were stolen.
If there was any material, I had to hide it as it is, thinking that I would make it again, but since the material was also gone, I had no choice but to worry.
“I make it from scratch… … .”
That was crazy.
The data Perian has accumulated since he was in his twenties.
It was only then that he was healthy and his brain was spinning so fast that he built it up in an instant.
It was different from the now-deceased Perian.
The Duchy also disappears, and if you lead your aging body and start researching again, you will only die of old age.
The only things Perian had were mana stones and body made with necromantic magic.
You have to come up with a solution for this somehow.
Whether they recover the amplifier they stole.
Whether you are thinking of other applications with mana stones.
I had to do something.
The first thing that came to mind for Ferian was the rebels.
Use the rebels to get an amplifier.
Or, let them build amplifiers.
However, this method could not be implemented.
Perian is no less the enemy of the current necromancer.
The high ranks of the rebels had a pretty deep connection with the necromancer, so they couldn’t approach them recklessly.
In the past, the rebels could not tamper with the fact that they had a dukedom, but if they go to the current state, they will only be caught by them.
The mana stones were taken from them, and the possibility of death was high.
However, there was no other way for Perian.
The only thing he can do alone is to threaten the opponent with mana stones.
If you do that, the only thing you can get is your life.
If you were going to live a normal life, you wouldn’t have made this choice from the beginning.
It was a gamble that even placed a bet on the duke he was sitting on.
The dice had already been rolled, so Ferian had only one decision to make.
“I… … I will take the highest seat.”
don’t step back
He was planning to go ahead with the plan.
Even if you take the risk of teaming up with the rebels.
Perian immediately wrote the letter.
Due to the necromancers, they had some connection with them.
It is Perian who provided the rebels with mana stones made by the necromancer and used their distribution channels.
They received help from the rebels to transport the mana stones from the Astria estate to the place where the amplifier was made.
Ordinary distribution could be used, but he didn’t want to risk getting ordinary people into contact with necromancers.
If mana stones were continuously transported from the Astria estates where there were no mines there, whoever it was could be suspicious at least once.
Perian has continued his ties with the rebels to avoid taking such risks.
Perian wrote a letter to the rebels and patted his chin.
‘By the way, guys… … . Haven’t you been in a bad mood lately?’
The rebels were defeated by the Imperial Army, and these days, they are crouching and showing no movement.
So maybe they don’t know about the necromancer?
The Astrian territory is quite far from where the rebels are.
If I hadn’t been paying attention to this, I might not have noticed about the necromancers.
He realized too late that the necromancers had been killed by Robert.
‘Can you still take the initiative with the spirit wizards?’
Rumors about the necromancer in the capital did not spread at all.
People in high-ranking positions would know, but I wondered if the rebels had heard of such news.
If there was a way to obtain such advanced information, the rebels would not have suffered a major defeat by the Imperial Army.
“There is still a chance.”
Perian clenched his fists as he spoke to himself like that.
***
Deep in the forest, not even the moonlight could enter through the trees, so he could not see an inch ahead.
Two men walked into the forest.
The two men noticed each other and stopped walking.
One of them opened his mouth.
“Perian Astria. Long time no see.”
“Isn’t this the first time you’ve seen it? Aryandor.”
“I’ve seen it from afar.”
Ferian and Aryandor looked at each other and smiled.