Laurent’s words didn’t just catch Li De’s attention, even Betty, the Valkyrie with Northern royal blood, was instantly intrigued.

She reached out and gently ran two fingers along the gleaming silver blade in her hands, the greatsword that once belonged to Grote.

The blade was sharp and deadly, its edge capable of piercing even a dragon’s scales.

This sword, which had once severed several tons of armor from Kosso the Cyclops, leaving him heavily wounded, was no ordinary weapon. It had been granted to Grote’s ancestors by the Northern royal family for their meritorious service.

Betty knew the sword’s terrifying sharpness wasn’t just due to the Dwarven master’s countless hours of forging, it was also because a fist-sized piece of mithril had been used during its creation.

This rare magical metal, capable of boosting a weapon’s performance by several grades, had always been considered a royal treasure in the North.

So there was no one in the room more aware of how precious mithril truly was.

“You’re sure it’s a mithril vein? What kind of small-time merchant has the qualifications to know something that could spark a war between two nations?”

Betty couldn’t help but speak up and question him directly.

Her voice was lazy yet mature, a classic domineering older-sister tone.

Laurent glanced at Li De. When he saw the subtle nod permitting him to speak, he respectfully bowed to the woman said to be a Level 15 Northern warrior.

One must always show the proper deference to the strong.

“Lady Betty, I didn’t discover the mithril vein myself. It was the dwarves who found it.”

Dwarves?

Li De raised an eyebrow. What were dwarves doing in this story?

In Glory, dwarves had a significant reputation. As innate master smiths, any weapon crafted by a dwarf was practically synonymous with quality.

“Explain in detail,” Li De said, his interest now piqued. Dwarves and a mithril vein, those two terms together sounded far more reliable than just Laurent, a merchant.

If dwarves were the ones who had discovered the vein, that instantly made the claim far more credible.

These short-statured maniacs with an obsession for mining weren’t just likely to dig up a mithril vein, they could dig into magma, into a dragon’s lair, or even straight into another Plane, and Li De would believe it.

“Yes, Lord Li De.” Laurent’s voice carried a hint of relief. “Do you remember our first meeting outside Green City last October?”

Li De nodded. At the time, the Golden Wheat Merchant Guild had just returned from the border and had its goods completely looted by Beastmen.

He himself had just returned from the ancient vampire castle that would later become Dawn City.

That fateful encounter was what led him to acquire the merchant guild.

“That’s where it all started,” Laurent continued, diving into a story with surprising layers.

More than half a year ago, before Laurent had gone bankrupt and before Li De had bought out his guild, he had taken a huge gamble. He put up his entire fortune and borrowed another 200 Gold Pucks from the Green City Merchant Guild to travel to the borderlands and try to trade for mithril ore.

It was a long shot based on a piece of information he had stumbled upon, a dwarven clan living near the border was secretly selling mithril ore.

At the time, he’d only intended to try his luck. But miraculously, he actually succeeded. He managed to purchase a batch of mithril ore from the dwarves. Though the quality was low, and only a small amount of refined mithril could be extracted, it was enough to make a handsome profit.

Unfortunately, on his way back to Green City with the shipment, he was ambushed by Beastmen raiders, and everything was stolen.

The rest followed the story Li De already knew, Laurent went bankrupt and was taken under Li De’s wing, which began his path to resurgence.

But if that were the end of it, Laurent wouldn’t be here now with such astonishing news.

As the Golden Wheat Merchant Guild grew stronger, Laurent had never stopped thinking about that lost mithril. He even hoped that reacquiring such a rare resource could help him regain Li De’s favor.

So he kept dispatching people to the borders to look for news of the dwarves. But because of the Beastmen invasion, the dwarves’ outposts had long vanished, and the plan was eventually shelved.

Until a month and a half ago, when everything changed.

With the guild’s rapid growth and increased influence, and thanks to continued trade with the borderlands, Laurent’s agents managed to reconnect with the dwarves.

But to his dismay, the dwarves had announced they were no longer selling mithril ore. Despite his disappointment, Laurent still established trade relations with their clan, hoping that one day, he might be able to buy from them again.

He didn’t hold out much hope though. After all, dwarves were the best craftsmen in the world. It was unthinkable for them to sell large amounts of such a precious material.

But then came the news that shook him to the core.

Just three days ago, the dwarves came to him asking for help.

Naturally curious, Laurent pressed them for details.

It turned out that the dwarves’ settlement wasn’t actually in Nolan Empire territory, but rather in the Barren Plains of the Beastmen, deep within the Far Mountain Range that spanned both nations.

The part that extended into the Barren Plains was a vast, treacherous region, and the dwarven clan had hidden themselves deep within it.

Because they lacked food and basic living supplies, they regularly traded forged weapons and mined ore with humans at the border.

But no secret lasts forever, especially when it involves large-scale trade.

Over time, the dwarves grew less vigilant. Eventually, their presence was discovered by a powerful Beastman tribe living near their mountain home.

Inevitably, a racial war broke out.

To Beastmen, dwarves were no different from humans, they were enemies.

Although the dwarves were powerful fighters in their own right, they simply didn’t have the numbers. Facing an army of over 10,000 Beastmen, their settlement only lasted three days before it was completely overrun.

The dwarven clan became prisoners of the Beastmen.

And the dwarf who had escaped sought out Laurent with an offer.

If Laurent could rescue his captured kin, he would be rewarded with a map to a newly-discovered, unmined mithril vein, a treasure the dwarves had just found before the invasion.

After hearing Laurent’s story, Li De’s expression became very strange.

This whole thing… sounded a little too fantastical.

Was this a bard’s tavern tale?

“Laurent… how can you be sure the dwarf is telling the truth?

And why you? You’re just a merchant. Why would he come to you for help?

How could you possibly deal with an army of over 10,000 Beastmen, especially in the Barren Plains?

You do realize whose territory that is, don’t you?

Even Green City itself would have to think twice before going there, much less you.”

Behind Li De, Vina spoke calmly, even though the offer of a complete mithril vein made her heart stir.

As the de facto authority behind the Crimson Mage Tower, the information she’d been exposed to recently had long made her aware of how precious mithril truly was.

But the risk here… was too great.

A Beastmen tribe with over ten thousand soldiers?

Even if they staked the entire Crimson Mage Tower, it would still be impossible to face such a powerful enemy head-on.