“Jade, is this the magic stone Sonia mentioned earlier?” 

Kirona crouched beside him and prodded the blue stone with her fingers. Jade blocked her with his arm. 

“Don’t touch it. You don’t know what kind of magic might be on it.” 

“Fine. So, are there magical weapons underneath this?” 

“…Please step back.” 

Kirona shot him a frustrated look. Jade held her gaze, refusing to back down. 

“Hey, you look sturdy enough. Can’t you lift this thing? Move aside; let me try.” 

Zelda intervened and arrogantly added her strength. With the three of them using the shovel as a lever, it was a bit easier. Kirona stood up and approached Zelda, but Jade blocked her again as she reached for the shovel handle. 

“Princess, step back. I’m telling you again; magic is unpredictable and dangerous…” 

But before he could finish, Kirona kicked him in the shin. He didn’t even have time to scream. When he looked up, she was glaring at him with murderous intent. 

“When I told you my secret, it was to ask for your help, not to be treated like an invalid. You insolent mercenary!” 

Marlon and Zelda both looked uneasy as the princess vented her anger. Jade knew she was right. He was a mercenary, and a mercenary followed the client’s wishes. It was only natural not to do unnecessary things. He wasn’t someone who couldn’t tell the difference. 

But at that moment, Jade clenched his teeth and yelled back. 

“Fine. Do whatever you want!” 

“Hey, what’s with that glare? Lower your eyes!” 

Marlon was beside himself, unable to intervene in their fight. A heavy silence fell. It lasted until Zelda, still digging the ground, broke the silence with her carefree voice. 

“It’s not about lifting it; it’s about opening it, Your Highness! It opens and closes like a door! I’ve opened it; come see! There’s a lot of stuff in here!” 

Kirona kicked Jade’s leg once more before heading over to Zelda. As he watched her walk away, Jade realised why he had been so insolent and why his mood had been so off. 

He was more shaken by the fact that Kirona was terminally ill than he had initially thought. And Jade Eclipse wasn’t ready to confront why that fact disturbed him so deeply. 

* * * 

Behind the small stone door lay a treasure vault filled with extraordinary artefacts. Kirona had never seen anything like them before. But Marlon, an experienced mercenary, examined them with familiarity and explained their uses to her. 

“This is a binding device designed to muzzle a monster’s jaws. It’s set up like a trap and is meant for large-scale monsters. As long as the monster isn’t too big, the device will adjust to fit the moment the monster steps into the trap.” 

“That’s absurdly large. Marlon, can we take it with us?” 

Zelda let out a whistle as she touched the first artefact Marlon had pulled from the pit. Marlon shrugged and folded the device into a more compact form. 

“Try holding it yourself, Zelda. It’s not as heavy as it looks. And it’s collapsible.” 

Kirona compared the size of the binding device to the basilisk in her mind and then asked Marlon. 

“Will this work on the basilisk?” 

“It’s big enough. They don’t make these anymore… It’s hard to believe the East was such a dangerous place a hundred years ago that they needed tools like this. It’s almost unbelievable.” 

“Will it work on the basilisk’s scales? I’ve read that its skin is nearly invincible, repelling both magical and physical attacks.” 

At Kirona’s observation, Marlon pulled something out of his pocket. It was a transparent scale about the size of a human palm. Despite the horrifying creatures that roamed this forest, scales of that size were rare. It was from a basilisk. 

“I picked this up on the way here.” 

Typically, a basilisk’s scales were supposed to be black, but the one in Marlon’s hand shimmered with an iridescent, transparent hue. 

“The basilisk has just awakened. It’s in its moulting period, which means its skin is softer. That gives us a chance. How effective our attacks will be remains uncertain, though…” 

“It would be great if we at least knew where its lair was. We could increase our chances by attacking while it’s resting or sleeping.” 

“Where else would it be? The whole forest is its territory. Honestly, I’m surprised it hasn’t devoured us yet.” 

Jade chimed in as he reached back into the pit to pull out the remaining artefacts. Once they removed the largest binding device, the rest of the magical tools became visible: a bow, a quiver of arrows, chains for connecting the binding device, a few tattered books, and two swords that unmistakably looked like cursed blades. 

As Kirona inspected the magical tools that had seen the light of day for the first time in a century, she offered a hypothesis that might help them. 

“It’s probably being more cautious. It’s already lost us once, so… Jade and me.”