Lais had already considered the Mithril Armor as good as his own and had been paying close attention to the armory. During his night patrols, he often patrolled nearby.
Last night, while on his usual patrol, he unexpectedly saw Zhang Cheng and Laiti sneaking toward the armory.
Lais’s face instantly changed; how did they know the location of the Mithril Armor? He had been scheming for a whole month, and now someone else was trying to beat him to it!
He immediately wanted to inform Delong to stop the two, but he hesitated, fearing he might be wrong and cause a false alarm. That would make Delong think the armory was unsafe and move the Mithril Armor elsewhere.
Then he reconsidered. Delong had hidden this matter extremely well; if Lais hadn’t accidentally noticed Delong’s suspicious behavior, he wouldn’t have believed the armory held such a priceless treasure.
These two had only arrived a few days ago; it was unlikely they knew about the Mithril Armor. They were probably just planning an escape. So, he decided to wait and observe.
To keep track of their movements and decide on his next move, Lais pretended to patrol nearby while secretly watching them.
After they left, Lais memorized their direction and hurried into the armory to check the situation. The secret chamber where the Mithril Armor was kept seemed undisturbed. His eyes flickered with an idea.
This was a godsend opportunity—a ready-made scapegoat. If he missed this chance, it wouldn’t come again. He absolutely could not let it slip!
Lais stole the armor and hid it in another secret place inside the armory, fabricating a theft. At the same time, he informed the other knights to pursue Zhang Cheng after his escape.
Afterward, things went as he had predicted. Lais fled successfully on two fast horses.
But misfortune struck—he just happened to encounter the Courage and Justice Adventurer Group and attacked them.
Under Felice’s magical potion, Lais revealed the truth, confessing everything without reservation. After hearing this, everyone’s expression turned serious.
Delong looked coldly at the now sober Lais, a flash of frost in his eyes. He demanded sternly, “Lais! I’ll give you one chance to defend yourself. What do you have to say?”
Seeing Lais beg desperately but offering no defense, Delong’s gaze turned icy. He let go of the last shred of hesitation in his heart. Thinking that his Mithril Armor could not be shown empty-handed, he no longer cared about such incidents. The traitor must be punished with torture to set an example.
To avoid unnecessary delays, Delong gave Lais a swift and merciful death on the spot.
The mastermind was dead, but the mess he caused was huge. Delong was overwhelmed trying to deal with it all.
After settling the members of the Courage and Justice Adventurer Group in the castle to rest, Delong hurried over, apologizing for his negligence.
Seeing the priceless Mithril Armor untouched and not stolen or ransacked, compared with Lais’s betrayal, Delong was deeply moved. From the bottom of his heart, he admired their noble character and trusted them even more.
Delong brought the Mithril Armor out and placed it on the table for casual inspection. The adventurers’ eyes widened, frequently exclaiming in awe.
Previously, they had only glanced at it briefly. Now, Felice was carefully examining the armor, her eyes shining as if drooling. York tugged at her sleeve to prevent her from embarrassing herself, while Sorin, also a Guardian Knight, looked on with envy.
Damn it! This was literally every professional’s dream armor on the continent! Delong was the luckiest man—his territory had discovered a Mithril vein!
Don’t think that Delong agreeing to exchange the Mithril vein for a full set of Mithril Armor was a bad deal; this was actually quite generous.
Mithril veins were incredibly rare. Without enough strength, they only invited disaster. Better to hand them over to Delong or the Kohn family than risk other forces wiping them out. Giving them to the Council guaranteed tangible benefits.
Even the Knight Kingdom, a continental powerhouse, feared leaks and guarded this secret closely. So it wasn’t entirely a blessing.
For Delong personally, this armor was like the Mithril vein was to the Knight Kingdom—a child walking the streets clutching a pile of gold.
Even if he kept the secret until his power grew, having a Mithril vein without skilled craftsmen was useless. Wealth without strength was just empty talk.
After this betrayal, although Delong feared someone in his family might embezzle the armor, realizing his security was lax, he decided to entrust the armor to the family for safekeeping.
But to prevent greed from tempting some to steal from within, he decided to request the Council delay delivering other parts, promising to pay in full once he had grown stronger.
Just one breastplate wasn’t as enticing as a full set, lowering the risk of reckless theft.
After explaining the gravity of the situation, the adventurers all expressed understanding. They signed a confidentiality agreement with Delong, promising not to leak any related information.
The sight reminded them of a contract they signed nearly a year ago, involving a certain silver dragon. Their thoughts drifted.
After completing the goblin ruins exploration and returning from the Adventurer’s Guild, the two teams were forced by a powerful mysterious figure to sign a secrecy agreement, forbidding them from revealing anything about Cecilia or the demon race in the ruins.
At first, they thought this figure was one of the powerful members of the Adventurer’s Guild, acting to protect the Guild’s reputation. But judging from the Guild’s later attitude toward Cecilia, this didn’t quite fit.
The mysterious figure was likely from another faction—the most probable being a dragon.
This was also why they kept silent about Cecilia.
After the druid catastrophe, as people who had interacted with and been saved by Cecilia, their views on the so-called “Calamity Dragon” differed from the general public.
By now, the Lightning Gryphon Adventurer Group was no longer in the Talar Kingdom, and Delong had returned home, not knowing much about the druid situation.
After the Guild issued a bounty revealing the silver dragon’s true identity, Delong had a gut feeling Cecilia was being framed or that there was more to the story.
After all, in the ruins, Cecilia saved him—a human—and his teammates. Delong could feel her strong goodwill toward humans and couldn’t believe she would commit genocide.
But members of the Courage and Justice group had been in Druid, witnessing Cecilia’s presence in the city firsthand, knowing more than Delong and growing even more doubtful about her actions.
Especially Trist, whose family was wiped out overnight. The drastic change in his status dealt him a heavy blow, making his feelings about Cecilia even more complicated.
If he ever saw her again, he would demand an explanation for her actions!
The group fell silent, each lost in thought. The atmosphere in the room grew heavy.
Delong cleared his throat and hastily changed the subject: “About the commission you accepted—sorry, that drow escaped last night…”
Before he finished, everyone suddenly sensed a powerful presence approaching from afar, followed by a chorus of shocked shouts outside.
“A dragon! A dragon is flying this way!”
Everyone quickly stood and rushed to the window, seeing a silver dragon streaking toward the castle at incredible speed. It reached nearby in moments, circling in the sky briefly before disappearing into the clouds.
“Cecilia! It must be her!” Trist excitedly dashed toward the door, with the others quickly following.
Delong was equally thrilled and immediately looked for a place to hide the Mithril Armor, eager to follow.
At that moment, a flash of white light appeared before him, and three familiar figures materialized.
Lu Qiuchen sized up the Mithril Armor in Delong’s hands. So this was what had drawn her here?
*****
Lu Qiuchen returned from mining and teleported back to the original location. The contract resumed sensing the two’s proximity.
She traced the contract’s signal to Zhang Cheng and saw he had already subdued Laiti. The atmosphere between them was harmonious, and she was quite pleased with Zhang Cheng’s efficiency.
Zhang Cheng sensed Lu Qiuchen’s return through the contract. After the three reunited, Zhang Cheng saw Laiti’s calm attitude toward Lu Qiuchen’s arrival and breathed a sigh of relief, then asked where Lu Qiuchen had been.
Lu Qiuchen found Laiti’s demeanor strange. By her logic, even if they weren’t enemies upon meeting again, they wouldn’t be this friendly.
She honestly said she had gone mining. Seeing Zhang Cheng’s skeptical face, she said no more. She’d surprise him once the armor was completed.
Zhang Cheng recalled promising Laiti to take her elsewhere. He secretly told Lu Qiuchen via mental communication that he had faked his excuse to Laiti and warned her not to slip up.
Of course, they wouldn’t tell Laiti about Lu Qiuchen and Zhang Cheng’s joint plotting.
“There was something urgent earlier that delayed us, but now it’s settled, and we’ll continue fulfilling the contract. Where do you want to go?” Laiti asked after hearing this.
Lu Qiuchen silently nodded, understanding why Laiti’s attitude had changed.
She wanted to obtain a Sky Fragment from Laiti and felt some guilt toward her. Sending Laiti elsewhere was not a big deal; she’d try her best to oblige.
“Well… I don’t know where to go. Mother didn’t say… but I’m not used to the southern continent’s environment, and the northern continent is more dangerous. I don’t know where to go… Could you help me find a suitable place?” Laiti now trusted Zhang Cheng and turned to him.
Zhang Cheng smiled bitterly. He’d only been here a few days and only knew about the various races in the northern continent and their distributions… Suitable environments for drow were even rarer. Because of their ties to the demon race, only goblins and a small number of beastmen had good relations with them.
Facing Laiti’s expectant eyes, Zhang Cheng was at a loss. He could only pray silently for Lu Qiuchen’s help.
Lu Qiuchen was troubled too. The drow’s allied races were indeed scarce.
She had considered taking Laiti to Dragon Island but now dismissed the idea.
Bringing a drow into a dragon clan hostile to demons was a recipe for disaster. If she met an extremist, she’d likely become dragon fodder in days.
“I’ve got it!” Lu Qiuchen suddenly thought of a suitable place.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.