People weren’t seriously concerned about the war situation in the Overgeared Kingdom. Was the empire’s army hundreds of times larger than the Overgeared Kingdom?

“What does that mean?”

Grid would come forward and slaughter the enemies as always. People took it for granted, and the experts didn’t disagree. It was because Grid and the Overgeared members had shown too much. They always handled crises in ways and methods that transcended common sense.

Then what was the truth? The situation of the Overgeared Kingdom was like a candle flickering in the wind. The armies of the seven dukes were tied down for a while as they defended the port cities, but there were still the magicians of the Tower of Eternity, the magic machines, the Red Knights, the Five Pillars, and so on. The empire hadn’t pulled out their real power yet. On the other hand, the Overgeared Kingdom had already put a lot of effort into stopping the empire’s troops.

Grid was nervous. He was anxious because bad results kept coming up. The reason why Grid used methods, such as dealing with the companies and using his network of connections, was in effort to change the expected outcome. He came here for the same reason.

[Marie Rose’s evil influence makes your magic power turbid. All types of spells and skills aren’t available.]

[You have resisted.]

It was an ominous entrance that looked like the mouth of a monster. This was the cave Marie Rose was trapped in. The vampire duke sealed by the second pope Chreshler and Rebecca’s Daughters—the ultimate vampire who transcended Beriache—was released from the seal by none other than Grid.

‘It happened because of Malacus’ Cloak.’

An unintentional accident had occurred. Grid was looking forward to the effect of the Blood King Candidate.

[Blood King Candidate]

[You have become a candidate to be a blood king.

You will give a sense of pressure to ordinary vampires. All ordinary vampires hostile toward you will have their stats decreased by 15%.

You will give a sense of confusion to true blood vampires. All true blood vampires hostile toward you will have their stats decreased by 8%.

Direct descendant vampires will be interested in you. Any direct descendant vampires facing you will temporally awaken from the Curse of Sloth.]

Grid had sealed four direct descendants, so the title Qualification of a Blood King was promoted to Blood King Candidate. The alertness of the direct descendants rose, and this was enough to awaken them from the Curse of Sloth. This might work positively for Marie Rose.

‘I am happy to play.’

Noll said that when he faced Blood King Candidate Grid, the thought that ‘everything was annoying’ had been erased from his head and he had been filled with motivation. He’d felt ‘emotions’ for the first time since he was born, and he had been filled with a fearsome anger and killing intent toward Grid.

Noll had described the event of the day like this, “I realized I was alive after feeling the emotion. Once the Curse of Sloth was broken, I felt sorry for the wasted time and even grateful to you for making me angry and forgetting the curse.”

This was why Grid looked forward to the effect of Blood King Candidate.

‘If Marie Rose is like Noll...’

Would she be thankful to him for freeing her from the seal and the Curse of Sloth? What emotions would she feel, and if she felt favorable toward him, would she take a cooperative attitude? Of course, it was an extremely optimistic idea. He could provoke Marie Rose and be slain by her.

However, the circumstances weren’t clear, so Grid planned to grasp a straw and contact her. Marie Rose was one of the most powerful beings in the world. The benefits that came from having her as a companion were so huge that it couldn’t compare with the value of Grid’s life.

‘It is a gamble I should challenge once.’

Grid came here to increase his chances through a gamble. He sent Shay back and entered the cave alone. Then he pulled out a pickaxe and held it.

‘Braham said it previously. Marie Rose’s evil influence was inherited from the progenitor Beriache, and she has a very strong personality.’

He knew because he actually experienced it. It had been ~15–17 years since Marie Rose left here, but there were still remnants of her evil energy. Grid made a hypothesis, ‘The cave that sealed Marie Rose for hundreds of years will have a thick evil influence...’

It was a natural formula that caves had minerals. That’s right. Grid thought it was likely that the minerals present in the cave were affected by Marie Rose’s evil influence. He wasn’t expecting much from the performance of the minerals.

‘The minerals affected by Marie Rose’s evil influence will have a low rating. I only hope that they aren't corroded by the evil influence.’

The land near the cave was barren. Thus, the minerals which were directly exposed to Marie Rose’s evil influence might’ve become dusty and corroded. Nevertheless, the reason why Grid needed the minerals was to buy Marie Rose’s favor when they met someday.

‘She’s very sensitive to the smell of blood from Malacus’ Cloak.’

It was enough to wake her up from the seal after hundreds of years!

‘If I am wearing items that contain her evil influence, she will recognize them immediately.’

He couldn’t help being impressed with his way of thinking. His thoughts were occasionally extraordinary. Then Grid started looking closely at the cave. It was to observe the presence of minerals. However, there were only stones at the entrance, and he had to go deeper.

[Marie Rose’s evil influence makes your magic power turbid. All types of spells and skills aren’t available.]

[You have resisted.]

[The remnants of the evil influence is eating at your physical and mental strength. You have fallen into the ‘weak’ and ‘confused’ state.]

[You have resisted.]

The deeper he went, the thicker the concentration of evil influence and the higher the physical burden became. Grid was able to resist them, but it would’ve been different for Shay’s party.

‘They can’t even enter here.’

Marie Rose’s seal wasn’t defiled. Once he learned that, Grid’s mind felt more comfortable. He was once again impressed by the fraudulent nature of a ‘legend’ and felt thankful as he arrived at the innermost part of the cave.

‘It is surprisingly big.’

He hadn't known it from the outside, but it was a huge cave. It took 40 minutes to reach this place despite there being only one road.

‘She has been sleeping here for hundreds of years.’

Grid looked at the coffin in the middle of the space. It was a pure white coffin. The beautiful figure of Marie Rose sleeping there naturally came to his mind.

“Ah...”

He had imagined it, but her real beauty was enough to make him feel in awe of her. It was mysterious. Grid emerged from his thoughts and carefully observed the wall of this space. It was in order to find minerals, but most of them were already corroded by the evil influence. This space was quite big, and it took time to search.

‘Ah, the efficiency is too bad.’

If it wasn’t for the residual evil influence, he would’ve called Minor over right away. The minerals detector hadn’t found new minerals in a long time, and he was inactive these days.

‘Still, he isn’t playing around...’

For a few years already, Minor had been forced to work in the library without a break. He read books related to minerals and geography and expanded his knowledge. Grid had raised the building level of the library for Minor’s sake. Increasing the level of the library widened the variety of books it handled.

‘Minor’s mineral detection capability is evolving steadily.’

In order for Minor to be more active, the territory of the Overgeared Kingdom had to expand. The larger the scope of Minor’s activities, the greater the likelihood was of finding new minerals. Thus, he couldn’t lose more in the war.

‘I absolutely can’t lose any land. Absolutely not.’

The Overgeared Kingdom had been built by Grid and his colleagues. It contained all of their hard work and enthusiasm. Yet it was going to be taken away by others now? Grid couldn’t accept it. He had no thoughts of letting it being taken away. Thus, he planned to depend on Marie Rose.

“Ah...!”

Grid searched for a while and finally found his goal. There were some minerals in the corner of the space which was so darkened by the evil influence that it was blacker than darkness.

“This is it!”

Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!

Grid started mining. His skill handling the pickaxe wasn’t rusty and was still amazing. Any miner who saw it would cry. By the way...

[The mining has failed.]

[The mining has failed.]

[The mining...]

[The continuous mining failure has increased the possibility of damage to the stones.]

“...?”

It was a mineral that endured Marie Rose’s evil influence. This was the first time Grid had seen such a stubborn mineral. The stones—which were embedded deep into the ground—weren’t easy to mine, even with Grid’s skills.

‘Ah, what to do?’

Failing to mine a mineral one or two more times could damage the mineral and reduce its value. Grid pondered for a moment if he should bring Minor inside, even if it was dangerous. Then he shook his head.

‘I need the residue of the evil influence, not the mineral itself.’

In the first place, he didn’t have any expectations for the performance of a weakened mineral. As mentioned earlier, the mineral itself might be useless. It wouldn’t be a problem if he kept failing in the mining and damaged it. Grid gave up on his idea and started mining again. Surprisingly, the mining succeeded without failing once.

[You have succeeded in the mining.]

[The Unidentified Iron Ore has been acquired.]

“Legendary Blacksmith’s Appraisal.”

[The information about the target item has been updated.]

Ttiring~

[Iron Ore with Evil Energy]

[An iron ore that has been saturated with evil energy for many years.

Care is required when handling it.

There is a possibility of dying when touching it by hand.

Weight: 5]

[This item has a hidden function!]

[Iron Ore with the Power of Transcendence]

[An iron ore imbued with the power of an existence that isn’t subject to death.

Anyone who can cope with the evil influence of the iron ore can obtain the hidden strength behind it.

* There is an option to add stats when using it as an item making material.

However, there is a high possibility that all types of restrictions will arise due to the evil influence.

Weight: 5]

“Huh...”

From an ordinary person’s standpoint, it didn’t look very good because of the evil influence.

“...Hahahat.”

Was there any more? Grid’s eyes that were blank for a while lit up. He started to search the entire cave again. The coffin which had been watching Grid closely asked, -Did you wake up Marie Rose?

“...?” Feeling stunned, Grid was lost for words.

The coffin introduced itself, -I am 2nd Pope Chreshler.

“...?”

Was this also Pagma’s work?

‘Is he crazy?’

No, he wasn’t. Pagma had locked the soul of 5th Pope Franz into the sword despite Franz being his friend. As far as Grid knew, there was no contact between Pagma and the second pope.

‘...Thus, he could do it without any burden.’

Grid’s expression was awkward as the coffin inquired again, -You woke up Marie Rose, right? Why did you wake up the person sleeping inside me?

“No, it wasn’t me. It was empty when I came here, ” Grid denied it. He didn’t know what would happen if he revealed the truth. Grid overlooked one fact. The first pope and second pope had been the ones who made the Rebecca Church transcend the category of ordinary humans. Grid couldn’t deceive the ego of a transcendent.

-You are lying to me right now.

The coffin flew and hit Grid.

“Eek...?”

Was he being beaten up by a coffin? Grid had suffered through a lot in his life, and he thought this was absurd and unfair. Then the coffin scoffed contemptuously at him, -Did you learn to lie from Pagma while inheriting his skills?

“...!?”