Saga of the Two-World Emperor
Volume 1: A Spark in the Ashes
Chapter 19 – A New Legend and the Crystal's Promise
Adrian returned to the dilapidated mine office, his clothes soaked and his body covered in grime, but his eyes were shining with a brilliance that defied his wretched appearance. He instructed everyone to wait outside, requesting some time alone to "review his findings."
The moment the door to his temporary quarters closed, he collapsed onto a hard wooden chair. His body trembled from the lingering cold and exhaustion, but his mind was on fire with ideas.
*"Mind-reflecting crystal…"* he murmured to himself, looking at the small, dark blue crystal shard he had secretly pocketed while Garrick was pulling him up from the chasm (Reference: Chapter 18).
He hadn't had much time to study its properties, but based on the System's initial analysis, it was a unique energy source capable of "amplifying" and "reflecting" mental or spiritual energy. It was the reason his "Emperor's Will" had awakened so quickly, and it could be the key to developing his body and latent powers in the future.
This was a treasure far more valuable than an entire mountain of iron ore, and he had to keep it an absolute secret.
After a short rest, he opened the door to face Borin and Garrick, who were waiting with expressions of deep suspicion and curiosity.
"Well, Second Young Master?" Borin was the first to speak, his gruff voice unable to hide his impatience. "You went down to 'greet' that serpent. Did it whisper any secrets to you?" His tone was thick with sarcasm.
Adrian met his gaze with calm, steady eyes before speaking in a serious and convincing tone.
"There is no Earth Serpent… at least, not in the way the legends tell it."
He paused, letting his words sink in and capture their attention.
"But the legend was not entirely wrong. There is something down there… something that 'pulled' our iron vein away."
He unrolled the damp mine map onto an old wooden table.
"From my inspection, my hypothesis has been confirmed," he stated. "There is a massive underground river flowing beneath this mine. Two years ago, a geological shift caused the main iron vein to collapse and sink beneath that raging current."
He pointed to the spot on the map that once marked the main vein.
"The iron ore has not vanished. It is simply in a place we can never reach with our current technology. To put it simply… as an iron mine, the Rust Serpent Mine is 'dead'."
His decisive and confident words silenced both Borin and Garrick. It was a harsh but logical conclusion, one that matched their experiences over the past two years.
"Then… what are we going to do?" Borin asked, his voice deflating, all his hopes crumbling.
"When one door closes, another always opens," Adrian said. "The iron vein may be gone… but I have discovered something new. Something that could be worth many times more."
He took out a small piece of rock he had deliberately picked up from the riverbank and placed it on the table. It was an ordinary black rock, but it had thin, dark blue mineral lines running through it.
"What is this?" Garrick asked.
"I'm not entirely certain yet," Adrian lied smoothly. "But from the texts I've studied, it could be a new type of metal ore never before discovered. For now, I will call it 'Starlight Iron'."
He was deliberately creating a new narrative.
"The iron vein may have sunk, but the immense pressure from deep within the earth and the erosion from the underground river have exposed a new vein, one that lies even deeper. Its quantity is not large, but its properties are likely to be extremely special and rare."
He turned to look Borin in the eye.
"Lord Cornelius is an investor. He will certainly not be interested in pouring money into recovering an iron vein sunk under a river. But every investor… is always excited by the 'opportunity' of a new discovery."
His plan began to take shape in their minds.
"You mean… we stop digging for iron… and start digging for this 'Starlight Iron' instead?" Borin asked.
"Precisely," Adrian nodded. "It is a great gamble, a high-risk investment, but the potential returns are equally high. And this is what I will propose to Lord Cornelius."
He then spent time explaining his plan in detail: changing the mining method from open-pit to a more targeted approach requiring fewer workers and less equipment; creating a "story" for Starlight Iron to build its market value; and offering an attractive profit-sharing proposal to Lord Cornelius.
Borin, who had initially looked down on him, was now listening with rapt attention, his expression shifting from despair to excitement. Garrick, too, looked at the young man before him with completely different eyes. He no longer saw a sickly boy, but the shadow of a formidable leader and strategist.
That night, Adrian did not rest. He sat in his shabby room and began to write the first "business proposal" of his new life.
He didn't write it like a simple report. He structured it as an "investment plan," a format he had used countless times in his old world. It included an executive summary, a situation analysis, a risk assessment, an operational plan, and most importantly, a projection of profits and return on investment in clear, hard numbers.
He deliberately used business terms that no one in this era had ever heard of, explaining everything with cold, irrefutable logic.
At the end of the proposal, he identified the "key" to making the plan succeed: the "blue crystals" he had seen on the other side of the river.
He did not reveal their true nature. Instead, he wrote:
*"Based on preliminary observations, the 'Starlight Iron' vein appears to form around an unknown energy source, which manifests in the form of blue crystals. To effectively mine the Starlight Iron, it is imperative that we first study and understand the properties of these crystals."*
He made his final proposal: a request for a certain amount of "seed funding" from Lord Cornelius to establish a small exploratory team to collect crystal samples for analysis. It was a logical request that seemed beneficial to the long-term investment.
The next morning, he handed the carefully sealed parchment to Garrick.
"Please have this report delivered to Lord Cornelius as quickly as possible," he said. "The fate of this mine, and of the town of Rustfang, now depends on his answer."
Garrick accepted the scroll with a solemn expression. He looked at the document in his hand, then at Adrian's impassive yet confident face.
He had a feeling… that this young man was about to create a massive wave that would ripple far beyond this abandoned mine.
The chessboard had been flipped, and Adrian had just made his first move.
(End of Chapter 19)