Chapter 366: 366

“A very long time ago, there was a nation called Yin on this earth . It was said that the people of Yin were the goblins from the north, who at that time used to cultivate humans like livestock . ”

‘Uh? This surely sounds like…’

The nation of Yin that Zegal Moon was referring to sounded very similar to the Mado Abaron Empire . The goblins were the fairies .

“Humans learned a lot of literature from them . However, apart from that, most of the men in high-status were goblins . Dissatisfied with that, the humans revolted . The rebels had lost in the hands of goblins, but at that time, a man called Heechang appeared and changed the situation . ”

Heechang, who had learned skills from a nice goblin, created a huge hole by stabbing a spear of light and dark into the ground .

The evil goblins got sucked into the hole and never appeared .

‘A spear of light and dark, in the ground, a huge hole…’

At the story of Zegal Moon, Luke recalled the situation before he got sucked into the subspace .

A barrier that sucked in all power .

To escape from there, Luke gave out Magi and Arch Duke Gregory used divine power .

The contrast natured energies created collisions inside the barrier and created a subspace as a reflux process .

‘This sounds very similar to the old-time story which he is saying . Considering that there are many metaphorical expressions in the traditional stories and legends, I never thought that something similar could happen in the southern continent . ’

While Luke was thinking, Zegal Moon continued, “Honestly, it is very hard to believe an old story like that . However, the fact that you have saved the 3rd crown prince and Hui is a reminder to me . So whenever you need help, we will always be there for you . ”

Luke was swayed by those words and decided to talk to the head about what he wanted .

“Then, would you mind giving me the iron core?”

“Iron core?”

“I don’t know if the head knows, but I tried to buy the iron core once already . ”

Luke told him about how he was developing a Gigant and how he asked Kirillov to buy it for him .

At that, Zegal Moon seemed like he did know something about it .

“Hmm, that did happen . Nevertheless, for a few reasons, the northern merchants did try to find the iron core . I guess this was the reason . ”

“Since you are aware of the reason, will you sell it now?”

At Luke’s question, Zegal Moon, who was seated, got up .

“Follow me . ”

The place where Zegal Moon took Luke was a rocky mountain behind the main road .

Passing through the complex cluttered road and other things was a cave that was guarded by warriors .

“I see the head . ”

“Glory to the clan!”

With the strong greetings of the clan warriors, the party approached the cave .

The cave was blocked by a thick gate, and showing that, Zegal Moon spoke, “Normally, this had been banned from the outside world since 10 years ago, but I think I can show it to you . ”

There was a reason that the value of the cave had decreased when compared to the past because of the struggle between the clans was fierce .

In order to survive in the midst of the unfamiliar situation as such, they thought that it would be advantageous to have at least one strong friend from the royal forces .

Kuuuung!

The iron gate that was 30 centimeters thick opened .

Its iron gate wasn’t one but threefold .

When the threefold gate opened and what expected to be a city in the cave turned out to be a large-scaled cavity .

The underground cavity was like a spider web, and the passages were all around . However, it wasn’t all dark, there were flowers and fresh bushes growing around .

It was because the inside of the ceiling was bright with daylight .

‘This, this is amazing! Only the dwarves of the ancient Mado Empire can make this…’

For Luke, who was lost in thoughts, Zegal Moon briefly explained the origin of the cave .

“According to the legends, the cave belonged to the goblins . Even now, in the deepest part of the mines ‘black iron’ or ‘cold iron’ can be mined at times . ”

However, it was said that rather than for mining, the place had been used as a warehouse for stocking the goods of the Zegal clan, or a workshop for weapons or labs for tactical arts .

“The iron core is in this room . ”

The place guided by Zegal Moon was a workshop that produced the Puppet .

Inside, along with a half-finished puppet, were what supposed to be the pieces of iron core rolling on the floor .

However, Luke’s eyes were drifting in the thickly dusted room .

“It looks like the work here has stopped for quite some time . ”

“Huh, it did . Perhaps, the Puppet in front of your eyes will be the last Puppet the Zegal clan will make . ”

At the deep sigh of Zegal Moon, Luke asked cautiously, “Are there any problems with the iron core?”

If that was the case, then it was huge drawback .

“Most of the iron core that grew on the mountain plateau in the south got killed because of the drought that lasted for several years . ”

The provincial plateau near the border between the Song Empire and the Barat Empire was the only source to gather iron core .

There were thousands of large and small iron core plateau, and most of them had died due to the heatwaves and long periods of drought .

“Honestly, it wasn’t because the rain didn’t fall . The problem was that the drought caused the insects to gnaw through the crops and the iron core trees were no exception . ”

It was a tree that was known to be hard, but the pests even ate a tree’s roots, so the trees died .

In addition, it was said that the natives burned poisoned trees to chase off the pests and that led to wildfires .

“It was a disaster I guess,” said Luke .

“The sky was to blame . Fortunately, few remaining seedlings were left behind . ”

That was why the Zegal clan refused to sell the iron core wood .

Though the iron core was a precious metal, their essence was lost because of the unstoppable disasters .

‘It doesn’t look like it was a lie… But even then, things might get difficult . ’

And Luke wasn’t planning on using it only for the tuning helm of his Gigant .

If possible, the idea was to apply the tuning helm to all the Gigants in the lordship, and not just Orion .

However, listening to their situation, he was forced to step back on his plan .

‘Should I just give up? Is there any way to use magic or something?’

If he could solve the problem, it would be possible to get a constant supply of the iron core .

However, as almost all of them were wiped out, reviving them wasn’t going to be an easy task .