Chapter 26: Surprised.

My father only managed to return home before nightfall, and even though he was able to settle everything he told me that some of our industries still suffered minor damages due to the looting and chaos that erupted in the city.

Although it would not affect our productivity, but it will definitely take us days before we can resume working again.

The only good thing about this, is a lot of people have suddenly evacuated the entire city, for fear that a tide of Magic beasts would start attacking us.

What I just don't understand, is that they insist on leaving the city despite the dangerous situation outside.

In order to do this they would need to take the only route available, and that highway is surrounded by the enchanted forest itself, it's like delivering yourself to the mouth of a beast.

But even so, my father got the news that the highway is clear of any monsters. So those nobles and merchants were able to escape the territory in droves.

This might sound bad but this also helps us to easily calm down the entire situation.

With fewer people to manage our soldiers were able to restore order in the city much faster than before, and it only takes them a few hours to do it.

But due to this situation, the entire city has suddenly become empty and the previous city thriving with people are now nowhere in sight. It's like the entire city has become a ghost town with no people in sight except for the soldiers.

And for the remaining people, they have kept their selves locked inside their homes, in the hopes that it would keep them safe.

A lot of soldiers can now be seen patrolling regularly around the place to make sure that everyone was following the laws. 

But the bad thing about this is a lot of businesses have suddenly closed down indefinitely, and this is definitely a huge blow to our economy.

Although we managed to recover some strength in the last three months that our business has grown. It is not enough to sustain us for a long time.

And the sudden emergence of the magic beasts near the border of Florentine city would definitely alarm the Turox Kingdom. Though I don't know if they would do any action to stop this.

I have a strong hunch that they might just watch everything on the sideline before they make their move.

Given that a lot of Noble families in the capital are hostile to us. I would not be surprised if they will use their influence and power to delay, or even stop the help from coming in.

And I know that once this news spread around the kingdom a lot of nobles would surely gloat about our situation.

Although it was long known to everyone that Florentine city was established near the edge of the enchanted forest. Which is known as the home of magic beats, this is still the first instance that multiple rank 5 magic beasts and thousands of low-rank magic beasts show up out of now where.

For the last three months, we were already receiving a report of some strange sightings of dozens of low-rank magic beasts near the enchanted forest.

This is the reason why we kept our security on high alert.

Aside from several incidents where people attack this small gathering of the magic beast for their meat and magic cores, no big news has really happened.

In fact, due to this sighting of magic beasts, there are some nobles who have decided to bring their knight entourage into the city to hunt this low-ranking magic beasts and show them off to others. And a lot of rich businessmen who wanted to associate themselves with the nobility copied this behavior making it the new trend in the circle.

It has been a while since regular nobles have started to slowly abandon this culture of hunting a magic beast with their own power.

A lot of Nobility nowadays use their knights to hunt the magic beasts. And when it can no longer move or fight on its own that's the time they take over the fight to kill it, claiming all the credits and hard work of their soldiers as their own.

They spread their lies of bravery and their gallant passion of killing demonic creatures and magic beasts to everyone with such enthusiasm, enough for you to believe that they were telling the truth but it's not. 

They like to tell their story with "a few and minor corrections" exaggerating everything about their actions.

So, this sudden increase of low-rank magic beasts allowed this culture to spread once again, and it immediately become popular around the kingdom, to the point that a lot of low-ranking nobility started to flock around the city in order to have their own great story to brag at their socialite parties.

However, every citizen who grew up in Florentine city knows to discern the truth. and are experts on how to judge which one is telling lies.

But they all ignore the habits of this people as they are not stingy with their gold, and because of this, businesses within the city have immediately risen due to their generous expending.

But with the increasing number of magic beasts around the forest, my father was forced to restrict access to the enchanted forest in order to keep them safe.

Aside from the booming business of our spices, Florentine city had also become known as the best hunting ground for magic beasts. And a new business around this field has quickly emerged allowing us to further fasten the expansion of the city.

But even though a lot of nobles had decided to hunt in that place, none of them really dared to venture inside of it.

Because they all know the danger that comes, with exploring the enchanted forest. They are all aware of the possible consequences that it would bring to them.

So, this is also the reason why we don't have any information on what the heck is going on in that place.

As no one has really ventured inside of that place.

The last time I went close to that forest, is from the time that I explored the edges of it to retrieve the tomato. At that time, the enchanted forest is still at peace.

Although there have been more sightings of low-ranking magic beasts gathering in larger groups, no one is particularly concerned because the numbers are still within acceptable limits.

From time to time, Florentine city has occasionally faced small or medium-sized sieges from magic beasts, but nothing particularly serious has occurred before.

Most of the time, the sieges are carried out by rank 1 magic beasts, which are weaker than others and are often driven away from the enchanted forests by more powerful magic beasts. When this happens, they often attack the nearest human settlement, which has an abundant supply of food.

It is fairly known that the enchanted forest is rich in resources, particularly in magic elements that magic beasts needs in order to sustain themselves and grow.

Both people and magic beasts use magic elements to cultivate their power, that's why any resources that are rich in this element are very important to both groups.

Mana elements, also known as magic elements, are the most valuable and important resources on the Vreachland continent. Without them, it is difficult for people to advance to the next rank. Because Mana elements is a type of power that can be easily converted into any type of energy because they are the most neutral and easiest to digest.

This is the reason why wizards commonly use mana stone because that they contain a large amount of magic elements. In fact, a single mana stone can refill a wizard's mana reserves several times before it loses its luster and becomes an ordinary piece of stone.

Magic beasts can also be distinguished by their ranks, based on the color of their magic cores. I think this is a universal method of classification that applies to everyone in this world.

The cores of rank 1 magic beasts are copper, those of rank 2 are silver, those of rank 3 are gold, and those of rank 4 are white. The rarest and most expensive magic cores are black in color and can only be found in rank 5 magic beasts.

And the most powerful magic beast that the city has ever faced was a rank 4, and this occurred when the city was just established which is 800 years ago. However, thanks to the presence of our founder, the beasts was defeated and since then, no other powerful magic beasts have dared to harass us home.

That's why when my father returned from his inspection of the city, I immediately told him about the surprise our cook, Gaspar, had brought for us.

"Do you mean to tell me that this entire bag is full of magic fruits?" Father asks in a bewildered voice.

"Yes, and Gaspar said that he got all of these from the enchanted forest."

"Wait, how? Didn't I forbid people from going there? It's too dangerous, especially now that we have confirmed the presence of a rank 5 magic beast in the enchanted forest." Father said in a solemn voice, concerned about Gaspar's safety.

"Yes, I know, but you wouldn't believe what he told me. I think it would be better if you could talk to Gaspar yourself." I said to him while we waited for James to call Gaspar.

"What did he tell you, and how did he manage to collect a bag of magic fruits from the enchanted forest? Even I and the other knights only manage to get a few pieces of them every now and then." Father asked as he opened the bag containing the magic fruit.

"Thi-This is indeed a magic fruit. I haven't seen so many magic fruits before. This would be enough for us to create an army of knights, and we might even be able to cultivate a wizard with all of these." Father spoke with full seriousness in his voice.

"Yeah, that's also what came to my mind when I saw this, but I think we have a bigger problem than this." I answered when a knock on the door suddenly interrupted us.

"Gaspar?" said by father in surprise.

Who wouldn't be surprised by Gaspar appearance? He looks very different.

He looks younger than before since he ate the magical fruit. This fruit is popular among the girls because it can make them look younger.

"What happened to you?" Father said in shock.

"I-I ah-I ate some of this fruit in the forest." Gaspar stuttered while trying to avoid my father's gaze.

"What! How are you still alive?" Father asked him in disbelief.

"I-I d-don't know, my lord. I just ate some of this and nothing bad happened to me. At the same time, I felt extremely comfortable every time I ate this." Gaspar said in distress.

"But how is that even possible?" Father asked.

Magic fruits are rich in mana elements, and anyone who directly consumes them, except for magic beasts with strong bodies, would die due to an explosion of energy.

To be clear, magic fruits are special plants that can be found anywhere. The only difference is that the amount of mana elements in their fruits depends on the environment in which they grow. As long as there is an abundance of mana in their surroundings, the magic plant will absorb it and store all of that energy in its fruits.

Magic plants that grow in places without enough magic do not produce any fruits at all. You can even find some of them around the city, but none of them have fruits because there is not enough mana to nourish them.

"But if you managed to eat this without any complications, then how come that I can't feel any energy from you? where did it all go?" Father ask in wonder as he looked at Gaspar's body with interest.

"I don't know lord Hubert, but I have eaten a lot of this fruit and nothing seems to be wrong with my body." Gasper said in daze.

"What do you mean that there's nothing wrong with your body ha? You suddenly become younger and now you're saying that there's nothing wrong with you that's a big lie"  is what I thought off inside my head while listening to their conversation as I give him a strange look.

"If what you said is true, then are you willing to eat this fruit in front of us?" Father said seriously as he handed another magic fruit to Gaspar.

"No problem, my lord." Gaspar said as he took the fruit in his mouth and took a big bite out of it.

We watched in silence as Gaspar devoured the whole thing, and at the same time, the mana elements present in the entire room suddenly increased by a few breaths as a few droplets of its juice fell on the floor.

But we all watched in shock as nothing happened to him, in fact, he just made it look like he had eaten some ordinary food.

"Where did it all go? Why did it suddenly vanish?" Father asked in horror, referring to the rich mana elements that vanished in Gaspar's body.

"How odd," Father said while giving him a weird look.

"Gaspar, do you feel something different this time?" I asked, as I was curious about what was going on.

"I have felt nothing this time, young master. It's just that compared to before, I didn't receive the same feeling I had when I first consumed this fruit." Gaspar said while he was lost in thought.

"Then I have just wasted a magic fruit for nothing, but at least we now know that Gaspar is somewhat special." Father said in dismay, but his gaze suggested otherwise.