Chapter 42 (2/2)

“Very simple. Even if we change its form, gold remains as gold, and silver remains as silver, thanks to this era where precious metal is used as currency,” Gawain said gleefully. His words sent Amber’s heart twitching. “Melt these things!”

“What the!!” The half-elf almost jumped up. “Do you know what you are talking about! Melt them?! These are 700-year-old ancient gold and silver coins! You might as well sell them on the black market!”

“These 700-year-old ancient gold and silver coins are kept as good as new. More importantly, many of them of them are already extinct. You can only find their pictures in books.” Gawain gave Amber the gentle look that he usually gave Rebecca. “You can sell one or two of them. But try selling six boxes of them? If you can come back alive, I’ll give you one box!”

Amber gritted her teeth as she thought of carrying one of the chests and escaping, but upon seeing Gawain’s arm which was thicker than her thigh, she suppressed her bold, impudent idea.

But she still could not accept it. “But you can’t melt them all… it’s too wasteful…”

“Of course. We’re only melting some of them.” Gawain spread open his hand. “If I really had to melt all these antiques, I would feel the pain too, right? Let’s first melt some of the coins to solve the problem at hand. We’ll seal up the rest and see when they might come in handy.”

Amber’s expression relaxed, and Gawain smiled at Rebecca. “Now you know why I specifically asked that my title as Grand Duke Cecil be retained in the Silver Castle that day?”

Rebecca batted her eyes. “Huh?”

“Are you dumb! Dukes have the right to make coins!” Amber’s eyes widened, and she turned to Gawain. “So you were already thinking of melting these antiques back then, right?”

“You can say that.” Gawain admitted as though he was under no pressure at all. “I’m now a Grand Duke not bounded to any territory, unprecedented in history. For now, I don’t have a territory, and I have to open it up for myself. But even if I don’t have a territory, I still have the rights that come ‘naturally’ with being a Grand Duke according to the law. The right to make coins is just one of them.”

Amber’s eyes widened as she stared at Gawain. In the end, she could only lament, “You ancient nobles are still the pros. Those bumpkin aristocrats who only know how to extort travel tolls can’t compare to you.”

In this regard, Gawain answered simply, “Set your sights on the longer term. Even this entire treasure house is worth nothing compared to what you can get in the future.”

Then he instructed Byron and Rebecca to take some crystals and coins and prepared to leave the place.

Now that they had taken the treasure, they still could not put these things to use. First, they had to set up camp below. Then they had to get some trusted soldiers to transport the items, most importantly the equipment, to the camp in batches. At the same time, there must be people guarding the storehouse. Though there was a magic gate, they could not just leave the storehouse unattended in the mountains since they were already here.

And the warrior outside of the ruins would have to receive a new burial. A pile of rocks could not make for a proper tomb. Now that people from the civilized world had returned to this land, the warrior who died in battle should receive a proper burial.

Gawain and the party left the place after sealing the treasury with the platinum disk.

The camp near the river bank was still under construction, but it was nearing completion.

Byron and Philip bought a large number of tents back in Tanzan Town. They were actually just made of the canvas and wood needed to set up the tents. After arriving at the place, they still had to do some manual work in setting them up for the temporary camp. But the advance party were skilled workers. They were quick in setting up the tents. Herti also used some support spells to help out. The camp had already begun to take shape.

According to the plan left by Gawain earlier, all the tents were built on the south side of the White River, forming a fan shape. Important materials such as food and ironware were kept in the center of the camp. And the prefabricated wood was put along the river bank. The carts and caravans used for transport were kept at the edges of the camp after they were emptied, serving as temporary barriers before building walls in the future. Although the Dark Wave had subsided, they were in the wilderness, cut off from civilization. Who knows what beasts would appear?

Next to the tent in the middle of the camp, Gawain found Herti, who was looking exhausted.

Those ancient crystals could probably rejuvenate this exhausted lady.