In a dark room at the top of the Magic Tower.
"Aaaargh!"
Ryan screamed and shot up from the bed.
"Huff, huff..."
He was panting, wiping away the cold sweat. He ran his hand over his neck, jaw, and temple, reaching his eye, and cursed under his breath.
"Damn it...!"
He ground his teeth, touching his empty eye socket.
He glanced at the foggy window and saw his reflection. A one-eyed wizard with reddish-brown eyes stared back.
'Damn it.'
His missing right eye throbbed, a phantom pain that kept him from ever sleeping deeply.
Yes, from that day.
"Killing you would be too easy."
The devil's voice, full of laughter, echoed like a hallucination.
Everyone thought Ryan had fled from Ayan, but they were wrong.
"Just kill me!"
Ryan wanted to die.
He didn't want to live in a world with Ayan Kroetz anymore.
But the devil only chuckled at his bloodcurdling screams, as if to say, 'I'll never give you what you want.'
"Alright, then. Let's do this."
Ayan stalked toward Ryan.
"Wh-what are you going to do...!"
Ayan's pale hand reached for his right eye, a wicked smile on his face.
Ryan tried to back away, but his body froze, as if held by some invisible force. Cold sweat poured down his back.
"D-don't, don't do it!"
"Ryan, you should have said that before you pierced my side."
With those words, searing pain exploded in his right eye.
"N-no! Argh! Aaaaaagh!"
"This is a symbol of your audacity to think you could kill me."
"Aaaaaaaaaargh!"
The devil held up a reddish-brown eye, smiling. He dangled it in front of Ryan's left eye as if playing a prank.
"Now, every time you see that empty socket, you'll remember. You'll remember your audacity."
Through his tears, he saw his own eyeball, dangling from Ayan's hand. It was a more unreal horror than the pain in his right eye.
Ayan's lips curled into a cruel smile.
"This is my reward for the gift you gave me, Ryan."
It fell with a thud and was crushed under his boot.
"Ayaaaaaaaaan-!"
Crash-!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Crash-!
Along with Ryan's roar, all the mirrors in the room shattered.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Ryan touched his empty eye socket.
Reflect?!
Don't make me laugh.
He would get revenge. No matter what it took! Even if it cost him his life!
From Ryan's palm, swarms of black butterflies began to rise.
One of them would find Ayan.
"Find Ayan Kroetz. I want to know where he is, who he's with, and what he's doing."
Ryan ordered his familiars, grinding his teeth.
"Find what that bastard holds most precious."
Even that inhuman bastard must have some weakness.
'Winter is ending, already.'
It was already January, and she was 12. She barely remembered turning 11.
'Still cold though.'
A shiver ran down Kinemia's spine as the chilly winter wind blew, and she pulled a blanket over her head. She burrowed into the blanket like a cocoon, leaving only her face exposed. Her nanny, Vanessa, asked from behind.
"Are you very cold?"
"A little?"
"Actually, a lot?"
She tried to play it off, but her nanny wasn't fooled.
"Uhh-huh, very cold."
When Kinemia whined, Vanessa rubbed Kinemia's cheeks with her palms.
"Our young lady, you feel the cold so much; we're running out of magic stones again this winter."
"Ehh..."
Nanny always picks on me. Kinemia pouted.
When Vanessa put a magic stone into the heater, warm air quickly spread throughout the room.
The heater in this world was a magical device. It used magic stones as fuel to amplify the fire energy and warm the surrounding air.
It was much warmer and simpler than a fireplace, but it consumed so many magic stones that it was a device not easily affordable unless you were quite wealthy.
'Expensive but warm....'
Is it warm because it's expensive? Kinemia slumped onto the table, resting her chin on its surface.
The chill in her bones began to fade.
She couldn't imagine life without the heater now.
"We can just buy magic stones."
"Magic stones aren't cheap, you know."
Kinemia mumbled, resting her cheek on the table.
"But we have a lot of money. We do."
Behemoth and Hyeminwon were both becoming well-known and doing good business. Sales were increasing every day, and accordingly, the Leon family's financial situation improved, and the salaries of the employees were raised all at once.
'Everyone was so happy.'
Loyalty, it seemed, could be bought. Kinemia clenched her fist, reaffirming her belief in the power of money.
Loyalty, favorability, I'll buy it all with money!
"Magic stones are so expensive these days," Vanessa said, folding the blanket that Kinemia had taken off as the room warmed up.
"Really...."
"They say it's 4 gold for 50g?"
"Huh? Why did it get so expensive?"
Vanessa explained as she put another magic stone into the heater.
"Magic stone mining is getting harder and harder. It's so hard to find good guilds, and dungeon raids are getting more and more difficult. So, those who have them are holding onto them and not releasing them, and also..."
"Also?"
When Kinemia perked up her ears, Vanessa waved her hand.
"That's all, really."
Ah, I know that expression. Kinemia narrowed her eyes.
That was the troubled face Vanessa used to make when Kinemia asked as a child, 'Why don't we have parties at our castle like other noble families?'
'She could just tell me honestly.'
Because of grudges.
The adults of the Grand Duke's castle tried to hide it from Kinemia, but Kinemia knew that most of the problems in the Grand Duchy were due to the grudges that had been built up over time.
"What's the 'also'? Is Count Harve selling magic stones to us at a higher price?"
Vanessa hugged the blanket, forcing a smile.
"Well, I wouldn't know about that."
Duke Duron Harve was a big player in the magic stone industry.
Depending on how he set the price, the price of magic stones circulating in the market would change, so that must be the reason.
'Duke Duron Harve also has a grudge against Leon....'
He had a bad relationship with her grandfather, Kenneth Leon.
'Grandfather passed away ages ago. Everyone is so petty, really.'
Kinemia let out a frustrated huff.
'Magic stones....'
If we mined them ourselves, we wouldn't have to worry about whether they were expensive or not.
"......Hmm?"
That's right...? Kinemia rolled her eyes.
'Right, we can mine them ourselves.'
Magic stones in this world are mined from dungeons.
Therefore, if you want to mine magic stones, you can buy a dungeon.
Of course, dungeons had the risk of being lairs of monsters.
However, dungeons were a treasure trove of all minerals, herbs, and treasures in this world.
Because of this, it was becoming trendy among wealthy people who had some money these days to buy un-raided dungeons instead of gambling.
'To hit the jackpot, a dungeon overflowing with magic stones.'
Kinemia's eyes lit up.
Dungeons weren't cheap, and it was really a high-risk, high-return gamble enjoyed by the super-rich, but.
"Hahaha, hahahaha..."
'In the original story, the protagonist did nothing but raid dungeons!'
And Kinemia already knew which dungeon all those things came from...!
Kinemia slammed her hands on the table and jumped up.
'That's it!'
This is like knowing the lottery numbers that will be announced tomorrow!
She'd call it—
'Lotto Dungeon!’
