Checking the Haul
With Ritzy gone, the other men approached their leader.
Guy 1,
"Boss, are you okay?".
Guy 2,
"It's fine boss, it was wise to let him tip you over easily".
Suddenly out of nowhere, the boss then began crying.
Guy 2,
"Boss don't worry, we all lose every once in a while".
Guy 3,
"Yeah, let's just go back to the tavern and drink our failure away".
Worried, the group waited for their leader's response.
Leader said sobbingly,
"I can't move my body".
...
Ritzy finally arrived back at camp and saw his men next to a campfire talking merrily. When they saw Ritzy arrive, they stood up to greet them.
Everyone,
"Welcome back lord".
Ritzy,
"Why are all of you here? Don't you want to go to the main camp?".
Junger,
"Sorry but only the older knights get their pay before hand. Us younger ones don't get anything until we're back at the Reds manor".
Looking around, Ritzy noticed that Alter or any of the older knights here.
Ritzy,
"It's understandable but this is an important experience, don't you say?".
Junger said confused,
"Yes?".
Ritzy,
"Okay then, take this coin and share it with everyone. See it as a thank you for not only being my knight but also working as support while I was a priority defender. Kind of like a promotion with a bonus".
Ritzy then tossed a coin to Junger. Everyone looking at the coin, they realized it was a silver coin and went hysterical.
Junger,
"Thank you, Lord!".
Everyone else,
"Thank you!".
The group of young knights then quickly left, forgetting that they had to leave someone to guard the camp for the knight and protect Ritzy while he slept.
Ritzy was in a good mood and was feeling charitable. He didn't want anyone nearby to see him opening the box. It would be extremely dangerous if anyone saw him with so many mana items. Even more if they saw the wand which was many time more valuable than all the wands combined.
Getting back to his tent, he poured more mana into his Mana Presence to make sure there was no one around. Sensing nobody, Ritzy felt it was safe to open the box.
Looking into the box, Ritzy saw many intricately designed boxes and capsules. The boxes were storage units for mana which could be recharged by the mana box. The sphere where the chargers and what made the box useful.
The sphere was mana converters. They would not only store mana but also create mana.
Then there was the wand Ritzy saw earlier. The wand was made of stone with a wooden grip.
Ritzy picked up the wand and analyzed it.
---
Item: Stone Wand
Magical: Mineral magic, Life magic
Material: Hard Dark Oak Wood, Quartzite (Stone)
State: Very Good+
Rarity: Very Rare
---
Ritzy then began thinking.
'How valuable is a Very Rare rarity wand? Do all wands have two blessings?'
To get a better answer; Ritzy left the tent, went to his carriage, grabbed the other wand he got from before that was stored in his private case, and then went back to the tent and analyzed it.
---
Item: Wooden wand
Magical: Water magic
Material: iron, red spider silk, Ashwood
State: Fair
Rarity: Uncommon
---
The wand was made out of wood with an iron grip that had silk so it can be easier to hold on to. The wand did look much better than the other wand but its stats showed it was in a poorer state, lower rarity, and only used one type of magic.
Ritzy thought about the wands and tried to figure out how he can compare them to get a better value but he didn't get much.
Ritzy,
"I really need to go see other cities and learn more about this world".
With nothing else to do, Ritzy then analyzed the stone box.
---
Item: Mana Emitter
Magical: Basic Mana
Material: Sangria, Palladium
State: Fair
Rarity: Special
---
Ritzy didn't care much about its stats but if he could dismantle the box. If he could separate the parts, Ritzy would be able to hide the parts in his personal suitcase. Since he is a pseudo-noble no one would dare open or steal the case.
Checking around, Ritzy found out that the stone box was connected through mana. If Ritzy did remove what held the box together, it would lose its usefulness and just become raw material.
With no other choice, Ritzy decided to get rid of the box. He placed his hand on the floor, created a whole, threw the box in, used mineral magic to pulverize the box, and then use mineral magic to bury the destroyed box.
Removing the evidence, Ritzy then grabbed the mana items and stored them in his briefcase. Ritzy now had two wands, 3 mana converters, and 7 mana storage items.
Satisfied with his haul, Ritzy called it a night and went to sleep.
...
The next morning Ritzy was having rations for breakfast. The knights couldn't leave the area to hunt for meat and the main camp wasn't open in the morning.
While eating dried meat, a knight with a Benedire emblem on his chest plate came to see Ritzy.
Seeing Ritzy, he bowed completely unlike last time when a knight only bowed slightly. The reason the knight bowed completely was because Ritzy proved himself to be a great warrior. Before, Benedire's knights believed Ritzy was only a noble kid that only got in his position because of his family's influence.
With yesterday's battle, Ritzy proved them wrong when he easily took out the enemies.
Knight,
"Lord Ritzy, Benedire has asked for your presence. It will be a meeting including all priority defenders and their support knights".
Ritzy,
"Understood, where are we to meet?".
Knight,
"The main camp in 20 minutes".
Ritzy,
"Orders received, I'll get my men ready. You can leave".
The knight bowed again and bade Ritzy farewell.
...
15 minutes later Ritzy arrived at the main camp with his knights while leaving the servants to take care of the outside camp.
At the camp, he wasn't sure where exactly he was supposed to be so he went to the center of the camp. Luckily, Ritzy guessed right and saw the rest of the priority defenders plus Benjamin.
Benedire seeing Ritzy arrive, he decided to start the meeting early.
Benedire,
"Unfortunately, the war hasn't ended yet. During yesterdays sieging by the main force, they faced many difficulties and casualties. Since the enemy has proven too strong for the main division regular knights, the main division has requested us the machinery division to lend our priority defenders".
"Of course we'll respond to their call but this meeting is about something else. I want to advise you all to be extremely cautious when in the city. Unlike open battlefield warfare, fighting in the city can bring many unknown variables. You'll need to be ready for anything".
"Secondly, I want to remember the reason why they called us. They called us because there are enemies in the city that the main division can't handle. The division made for pure combat. Since they can't handle the enemy, I don't want anybody fighting alone. Remember, always stay with your group and listen to whoever's in charge. Any questions?".
Benedire's knights.
"No sir".
Since Benjamin, Ritzy, and Ritzy's knights didn't raise questions either, Benedire took it as they were ready.
Benedire,
"Since there are no questions, you are to head inside the city and meet Grasso at the bank. You may leave now".
Hearing their orders, the knight left with no hesitation. Ritzy, Benjamin, and Ritzy's knights followed as well.
...
Arriving at the city, they were inspected by the knights patrolling the area. The knights wanted to make sure nobody unwanted came in or out of the city.
Everyone was inspected except for the priority defenders, Benjamin, and Ritzy because they all were wearing galaiant armor, signifying they were of higher status and shouldn't be demeaned with a lowly knight inspecting them.
Getting through the checkpoint, they traveled through the city streets. Going through the streets they saw many varieties of things. There were injured soldiers, piles of dead bodies either human or beastkin, and some knights handing out rations.
This is what could be seen normally, with Ritzy Mana Presence activated, Ritzy could see much more. His Mana Presence allowed him to see people hidden acts on the other streets and inside the houses.
Some were selling substances, others had beastkin women tied down for adult use, others were playing with beastkin children before they killed them in some horrible game, others were doing weird religious rituals with dead or almost dead beastkin.
Most likely what happened was that Grasso ordered the more unnerving acts to be out of the main path since some of the enlisted nobles had strange principles. One, for example, is seeing any other race than a human being alive. It didn't matter if the beastkin would eventually be killed in-game or was imprisoned.