“Hey.”
Edgar, who was designing the next machine he was going to make shortly after inventing the sewing machine, couldn’t bear to see peanut skin that kept falling on his blueprint and frowned.
“Do you really have to eat here? There are more comfortable sofas downstairs. Go. In there, you can spill more than a ton of peanut skin without anyone protesting about it.”
Ios looked at Rubica who was making something by the window. However, it didn’t look like she would agree to go down with him, as long as Edgar was here.
He just couldn’t understand why she cared so much about her human. He pouted angrily, “I don’t want to go. If you don’t like me, you leave.”
But Edgar couldn’t move as it was daytime. Ios knew it, but it didn’t stop him from making the remark, which made Edgar very angry.
“This is my home.”
“I don’t care.”
In the end, Edgar let out a heavy sigh.
“When will Minos come back?”
Minos had sent back only Ios after going to the north with him, and he hadn’t sent a word after that. Even when they started the tea trade, he sent a representative, saying he had to find out more.
Ios was, therefore, coming to Claymore Mansion because he didn’t have the goblin to keep him company.
Edgar was eager to meet Minos again, and not just because of his curse.
The fire of their love, which was supposed to be burning hot now, was being restrained for days because of that useless lizard.
“Well, It’s none of my concern.”
“Ios.”
Rubica had to warn him eventually, and he came down from the desk.
“He said he’ll come back after doing some more research.”
“And he said nothing else?”
“Nothing else.”
Well, having that fool deliver a message couldn’t have worked well. He probably caused Minos a lot of trouble, so he must have sent him back first. Rubica and Edgar gave up and went back to what they had been doing, but then Carl knocked on the door.
“Your Graces, Mr. Minos has come.”
“Tell him to come in immediately.”
They had been waiting for that goblin eagerly, so Edgar quickly removed the pen and papers on his desk.
As they couldn’t let anyone come in, Rubica stood up and cleaned what was on the sofa herself. Only Ios stayed where he was and helped himself to more peanuts.
“Your Graces, I hope you have been fine.”
Edgar wanted to say that wasn’t the case, because of that troublemaking dragon, but he didn’t when seeing how Minos looked. He must have been through a lot, as he now had twice as many wrinkles on his face.
Carl brought tea when he sat down on the sofa, but Minos’s hand shook, not able to handle the weight of his teacup.
“Well, have you found out anything?”
Edgar waited for him to finish his cup and asked. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead and said nothing for some time.
Maybe he hadn’t found out anything, and the mood started to become heavy.
“Oh, it’s time to water my plants.”
Ios hated complicated conversations, so he stood up and left through the window. Minos seemed quite relieved to see him leave, which bothered Rubica. She opened her mouth, but the goblin spoke first.
“I met Lord Iber’s underlings to find a lead to break your curse, but they all kicked us out as soon as I said the name Claymore.”
“I know, Ios told me about it.”
After coming back from Iber’s territory, Ios wailed on how unfairly he had been treated there to Rubica for almost a week. By now, Edgar had memorized each word of his protests.
Minos smiled as if he could see what the dragon must have done.
“Anyway, I thought it wouldn’t work, so I decided to find out why they hated Claymore so much first.”
“I guess… I know why.”
Edgar said with a sigh before Minos even went to the point of his story.
“What is your guess?”
“Mana quartz.”
Minos nodded gravely. The duke was indeed clever.
“We sent a huge party of adventurers each year, although we didn’t do it this year. Many of them died, but those underlings must have suffered a lot as well.”
“Then, do you know why Iber’s underlings sacrifice their lives to protect mana quartz?”
“Well…”
Edgar had never wondered the reason before. He just thought they were just trying to protect their master’s land and her property.
He thought for a moment and went through the history of Seritos and Claymore which he knew well about, but he couldn’t find the answer in it.
Of course. Minos hadn’t been able to even guess the truth until the heavily drunk Snow revealed it. He took a sip of tea and spoke in a shaky voice.
“Mana quartz is necessary for a dragon to wake up from slumber.”
“What?”
“A lot of it.”
Now they knew why all of Iber’s underlings hated the Claymores and why they were so hostile to adventurers who mined mana quartz. They didn’t need more explanations.
“That is why the dragon is not waking up. More accurately, she can’t wake up.”
“Yes, she has been sleeping for almost five hundred years, since long before this kingdom was founded.”
“But…”
Rubica couldn’t say more and just stared at her empty teacup. She didn’t feel like filling it again. The ring made of Iber’s tear had been their last hope.
She despaired although she didn’t mind that he couldn’t walk. Whether he could walk only at night or during the daytime, no, even if he couldn’t walk at all, that wasn’t going to stop her love for him.
The problem was that he could now just fall and die at any moment.
“Your Grace, you can’t lose your hope now.”
Rubica looked up at this. Although Minos was extremely tired and wrinkled, he didn’t look completely disappointed. But before she could smile, he shook his head.
“Of course, you can’t be too optimistic either.”
“Minos, just tell us everything you know.”
“My apologies, you must be very worried. It’s just that I suffered so much in the cold mountains of the north to find out about this…”
Edgar immediately said what he was after for.
“I will pay as much as you want for your hard work. Oh, and from now on, I will entrust all the investments and profits from the tea trade to Jackal Bank. Is there anything else you want?”
“Your Grace, I only did it because I value our friendship.”
Although Minos said that, he couldn’t hide his joy as he rubbed his hands. At least five of the wrinkles on his face disappeared instantly. Well, he was a goblin and was always crazy for gold.
“I know. I also consider you as a friend.”
“Heh heh. Hmm, where should I start? Well, Lord Iber is a dragon who has a long history with Claymore. To be more accurate, the entire Kingdom of Seritos has much to do with her.”
Why was he talking about the kingdom instead of the curse and the ring? Rubica could see the conversation was going to be long, so she made more tea. But this time, she chose green tea.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know how mana stones are made?”
Edgar shook his head. Many scientists had tried to solve the mystery, but unfortunately, no one exactly knew how mana stones were made. Even its component hadn’t been perfectly analyzed yet.
“When a dragon slumbers for a long time, the minerals that surround the dragon are transformed. The material is created to protect the dragon.”
Rubica became curious and asked, “But I heard there isn’t much mana stone left in Seris Mountains… then Iber herself might be in a dangerous condition.”
“No, mana stones at the west of Seris Mountains have nothing to do with Iber. This kingdom is not in her territory.”
“Then the mana stones we have been mining are…”
“They must have been created by another dragon,” Edgar answered her question and continued, “As this kingdom isn’t in a dragon’s territory, that dragon must have died long ago.”
To Minos, it felt completely different from talking to Ios. The fool only understood one out of the ten sentences he said, but this genius could see ten with the one he told him.
He couldn’t help but smile broadly. He could see why the duke always had a huge crowd of admirers, despite his arrogance and pride. He was like a blessing to the goblin who was exhausted after talking to a fool for years.
“Yes. Five hundred years ago, Iber killed her own kind, Seris, when he had just woken up from his slumber. But she also became wounded in the fight, so she went to slumber herself to recover.”
“Then…”
Edgar ignored Rubica’s confusion and tapped on the table.
“My ancestors have been gathering mana quartz not just to test weapons. It was to stop Iber from waking up.”
“Yes, probably.”
“What the…”
He cursed. He didn’t want to use any bad words in front of Rubica, but he couldn’t stop himself. He was cursing about many things. Himself, the world, and the situation.
“Then they should have written it down!”
However, what he hated the most was that the first Claymore decided not to tell this important fact to his offspring. Edgar even wished he could beat that man up.
“He must have thought the best way to keep the secret is to leave no record of it.”
“Yes, and this tradition-obeying family gathered mana quartz for 473 years without any doubts. No, it’s more than five hundred years, counting the years before this kingdom’s foundation.”
