The Dim Crystal and the Shadow’s Dilemma

Lockwood Manor, the residence of the Lockwood lord, appeared particularly desolate in the early winter chill. The clamor of the returning carriages had long since faded. Yet, the bloody memories of Iron Anvil Town and the crushing burden of debt weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts, like invisible blocks of lead.

Days passed without any sign of the promised aid from the Raven Guild. Rachel understood implicitly that Siena required time to manage the chaos left in Iron Anvil Town, and reporting up the chain of command also involved a lengthy process.

Waiting had become the only viable option, though the prolonged anticipation left Rachel restless. The treasury remained utterly barren, while the day of the Grand Tour drew nearer with each passing moment.

That afternoon, the heavy study curtains were drawn halfway, obscuring the gloomy daylight outside. Inside, firewood crackled in the fireplace, barely managing to dispel the pervasive chill.

Instead of her usual languid posture, slumped in a chair, Rachel was uncharacteristically bent over the expansive desk. Before her lay a weighty tome titled ‘Fundamental Principles and Elementary Applications of Alchemy,’ its gilded cover worn at the edges. Her silver-grey hair was casually swept back, with a few stray strands framing her cheeks. Her brows furrowed slightly as her gaze intently absorbed the words on the page.

In one corner of the desk, several thumb-sized grey crystals lay scattered. These were the very ones she had brought back from Iron Anvil Town. They rested quietly, their surfaces rough and colors murky, yet they shimmered with a faint, peculiar luster under the fireplace’s glow.

Vera carefully entered, carrying a pot of freshly brewed hot tea. Upon seeing Rachel’s serious demeanor, she was so startled that she nearly dropped the teapot.

“M-My Lady? Are you… are you reading?”

Vera set down the teapot, her voice imbued with disbelief. After all, in her memory, her lord had always kept a respectful distance from such ‘troublesome matters’ that required intellectual effort.

“Mm.”

Rachel did not lift her head, merely gesturing towards the opposite side of the desk.

“Sit. Where is Naiya?”

“Naiya fell asleep on the small blanket by the fireplace.”

Vera sat as instructed, her gaze flitting curiously between the grey crystals and the book.

“My Lady, what are you researching these stones for? They look… well, quite ordinary.”

“Ordinary?”

Rachel finally tore her gaze from the pages, picking up a grey crystal and weighing it in her hand. Its touch was cold and coarse.

“Vera, do you recall the monster from Iron Anvil Town? When Naiya unleashed her power to repel it, I collected these from the scene.”

“Ah!”

Vera instantly remembered, a look of lingering fear crossing her face.

“These stones appeared then?”

“Precisely.”

Rachel nodded, returning the crystal to the desktop before tapping the open page with her finger.

“I have been studying these stones for days, and their properties are remarkably similar to the magic crystals described in this book; they can release magical energy, only…”

As Rachel spoke, she picked up a piece, scrutinizing it carefully under the firelight.

“Compared to true magic crystals, their purity is significantly lower, and the total amount of magical energy they contain is far less. Simply put, they are like a degraded version of magic crystals; for now, we can refer to them as Dim Crystals.”

“Degraded version?”

Vera appeared to grasp some of it, yet not entirely.

“Then… what good are they? Aren’t magic crystals very expensive? A degraded version… would that make them worthless?”

“Whether they are valuable depends entirely on what they can achieve.”

A glint of shrewdness sparkled in Rachel’s eyes. She flipped through the pages, locating a diagram for a very basic alchemical array.

“Look here; the most fundamental magical tools utilize magic crystals as their energy core, achieving simple functions through specific conductive circuits. For instance… generating heat.”

“And if we were to use Dim Crystals to replace the magic crystals in this process…”

As she spoke, she picked up several rudimentary materials already prepared on the desk: a small, polished piece of ordinary iron and a specialized alchemical stylus.

“Vera, do me a favor and hold this iron plate steady; don’t let it move.”

Rachel took up the stylus, drew a deep breath, and began to engrave the pattern from the book onto the iron plate’s surface with extreme slowness and concentration.

Vera, holding her breath in nervousness, pressed her hands tightly against the edges of the iron plate. Her eyes were wide, fearing that even a slight mishap on her part might disturb the focused Rachel.

Unbeknownst to them, Naiya had also awakened. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she silently crawled to the side of the desk, quietly crouching at Rachel’s feet. Her intact right eye watched Rachel’s movements with curiosity, much like a kitten observing its owner.

Time gradually slipped away amidst the faint scratching of the stylus against metal. The only sounds in the study were the crackling fireplace and Rachel’s occasional adjustments to her breathing. Vera’s arms began to ache, yet she gritted her teeth and persevered.

Finally, a palm-sized, relatively simple alchemical array was complete. Rachel put down the stylus, stretched her somewhat stiff fingers, and noticed a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead. She picked up a Dim Crystal, carefully placing it into the recessed groove reserved at the array’s center.

‘Success or failure hinges on this moment…’

Rachel murmured to herself, a trace of imperceptible tension in her voice. She extended her index finger, a faint wisp of spiritual energy gathering at its tip—the activation method described in the book—and gently touched a crucial node on the alchemical array.

A faint hum…

An exceedingly subtle, almost imperceptible tremor emanated from the iron plate. Immediately after, the murky grey surface of the crystal embedded in the groove seemed to stir as if agitated by an unseen force. Within, an extremely faint, smoke-like greyish-white glow began to flow. This luminescence swiftly spread along the silver powder-etched lines, instantly illuminating the entire alchemical array!

A faint yet distinctly palpable warmth began to emanate slowly from the central area of the iron plate!

“It’s… it’s warm! It’s really warm!”

Vera was the first to exclaim, her fingers pressed against the iron plate’s edge clearly feeling the rise in temperature. Her face immediately blossomed with immense surprise and adoration.

“My Lady! You succeeded! You actually created a magical tool!”

Naiya also looked up, her small face gazing at the heat-emitting iron plate, her eyes filled with wonder. Instinctively, she reached out a tiny hand, seemingly wanting to touch the warm source of light.

Rachel let out a long breath, her tense shoulders relaxing as an irrepressible smile curved her lips upward.

‘It worked! Though its duration might not be long, this is undeniably a magical tool capable of generating its own heat!’

“The book calls this a ‘Heatstone’.”

Rachel picked up the warm iron plate, feeling the comforting heat against her palm, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Though it’s one of the most basic magical tools, in this season… Vera, do you think anyone would buy it?”

“Of course they would! Absolutely!”

Vera nodded enthusiastically, as if envisioning golden coins beckoning to her.

“With winter so cold, commoners can’t afford expensive heaters, and noble ladies need something to warm their hands when they go out! Even if the effect is a little weaker, as long as it’s cheap, many people will surely scramble for it! My Lady, you are truly amazing!”

“The weaker effect is because the ‘fuel’ we’re using is inferior.”

Rachel’s gaze returned to the few remaining grey crystals on the table; more than half of them had already been used.

“The crucial question is, can we consistently acquire these Dim Crystals?”

Her eyes naturally fell upon Naiya, who was still by her feet.

“Naiya.”

Rachel knelt down, trying to make her voice gentle. She picked up a leftover Dim Crystal and held it out to Naiya.

“Can you… make some more of these stones? Like you did that day in Iron Anvil Town?”

Naiya blinked her right eye, looking at Rachel, then at the grey crystal in her hand. A look of earnest thought crossed her small face. She seemed to understand Rachel’s meaning, nodding in innocent acknowledgment.

Then, under the tense gazes of Rachel and Vera, Naiya extended her tiny hand.

There was no earth-shattering light, nor any violent energy fluctuations. It was as if invisible dust in the air was simply being drawn and condensed by some force.

A faint greyish-white speck of light appeared in her palm, shimmering like a firefly. Then, a second, a third… The specks rapidly multiplied and converged, merging and solidifying.

A thumb-sized, rough-surfaced, murky grey crystal materialized out of thin air in Naiya’s tiny palm, as if by magic! The entire process took only a few short seconds!

“Wow!” Vera couldn’t help but gasp, covering her mouth.

Naiya seemed to find this amusing, or perhaps it was to reciprocate Rachel’s expectant gaze, for she did not stop.

One piece, then another…

The grey Dim Crystals, like mushrooms after rain, continuously ‘grew’ in her palm, which she then carefully placed on the nearby rug. One, two, three… The pace was not fast, but it was steady and continuous.

Rachel’s heart began to pound faster. As she watched the continuously appearing grey crystals, she felt as though she glimpsed the dawn of a solution to her territory’s financial crisis! This was no mere trouble she had picked up; this was clearly a little girl who laid golden eggs… or rather, a little girl who produced valuable crystals?

When Naiya produced the eighteenth Dim Crystal, her movements noticeably slowed. Her small face began to whiten, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. By the time she created the nineteenth, her body even swayed slightly, and that crystal was a full size smaller and duller in color than the previous ones.

“Naiya!”

Rachel immediately noticed her unusual state and quickly reached out to steady her small shoulders.

“Enough! That’s quite enough!”

Naiya looked up, the light in her right eye somewhat unfocused. She gazed at Rachel, her small mouth opening and closing a few times, emitting an extremely faint yet perfectly clear sound:

“Hungry…”

No sooner had the word left her lips than her tiny body softly collapsed forward, leaning against Rachel’s leg. It was as if the recent ‘creation’ had drained all her strength, leaving only her most primal physiological need.

“Vera! To the kitchen, quickly! Bring some hot milk and bread! Hurry!” Rachel commanded instantly. At the same time, she carefully lifted Naiya, cradling her in her arms.

The little girl’s body was light and cool to the touch.

Vera, as if roused from a dream, dashed out of the study like a gust of wind.

Rachel held the drowsy Naiya, who was softly muttering “hungry,” her gaze complex as she looked at the eighteen and a half freshly produced Dim Crystals on the rug.

‘Using that power, or rather, manufacturing these crystals, drastically depletes her physical and mental energy, requiring replenishment through substantial food intake?’

Nevertheless, this was at last a tangible means of generating wealth, far superior to merely waiting for the guild’s charity.

‘Perhaps… it truly can work?’ Rachel held Naiya, feeling the faint warmth emanating from the little girl’s body. The heavy anxiety in her heart seemed to dissipate, if only slightly, at the sight of this pile of unassuming grey stones before her.

Meanwhile, at the edge of a sparse, withered forest not far from Lockwood Manor.

The cold wind swept through the bare branches, producing a mournful, wailing sound. Ruby leaned against a stout old oak, her long red hair somewhat disheveled by the wind. Her expression was stern, and her amber eyes meticulously scanned her surroundings. Only after confirming she was not being followed did she speak in a low voice to a seemingly empty patch of shadow before her:

“Come out, there’s no one here.”

The shadow rippled like water, and a man dressed in inconspicuous grey-brown coarse cloth, his face so ordinary he would be lost in a crowd, silently emerged.

“You are much later than scheduled.”

The man’s voice, much like his appearance, was utterly unremarkable and devoid of distinctiveness.

“I encountered some unexpected circumstances in Iron Anvil Town, related to the Cult. This is a detailed report.” Ruby stated concisely, handing over a stack of documents.

The man immediately took the documents and began to peruse their contents. Ruby watched him silently until he had finished reading everything before speaking again.

“Are there any new instructions?”

“Continue your previous mission: monitor Rachel, and ensure she doesn’t speak out of turn.” The man paused, then added, “Also, pay close attention to the child named Naiya.”

“Understood.” Ruby’s voice remained utterly flat.

The man nodded, preparing to leave, but Ruby suddenly spoke before he could turn.

“Wait.”

The man’s steps halted. He turned around, his face still devoid of expression.

“Is there anything else to report?”

Ruby’s expression remained cold.

“It’s about the refugees I saw in Iron Anvil Town. I heard… they came from the North.”

The man fell silent for a moment, a faint ripple passing through the depths of his eyes.

“Grand Duke Kalam’s territory suffered an unprecedented blizzard, causing many commoners to flee south…”

Ruby’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. “Does Her Royal Highness know about this? Does she have any arrangements?”

A trace of imperceptible concern entered her voice. As a Shadow Guard, she ought not to have spoken such words, yet the images of the ragged, emaciated refugees she had seen upon entering Iron Anvil Town lingered persistently in her mind.

The man was silent for a moment before replying in an even flatter tone.

“Her Royal Highness is engaged in an important endeavor in the North, one that concerns the very foundation of the Empire. As for the refugees, Her Highness has neither the time nor the capacity to attend to them.”

“Your duty is to keep an eye on Rachel; other matters are not for you to question!”

“…” Ruby fell silent, her gaze complex.

She knew Her Royal Highness was plotting something earth-shattering, and those commoners shivering in the cold wind were, perhaps, merely insignificant dust in Her Highness’s grand blueprint.

The man no longer spoke. He turned, his figure dissolving into the shadows of the withered forest like ink in water, vanishing as silently as he had appeared.

The cold wind still whistled and wailed through the bare branches.

Ruby stood alone, gazing in the direction the man had disappeared, and then, as if through the dense, withered trees, towards the famine-stricken lands of the North. Her stern face remained expressionless, but in the depths of her amber eyes, an inexpressible knot of frustration churned.

Her Royal Highness’s will was supreme, and as the princess’s Shadow Guard, she naturally ought to obey her commands unconditionally.

But…

Ruby suddenly slammed a fist against the rough trunk of the old oak beside her, producing a dull thud that dislodged several long-dead pieces of bark. Then, she drew a deep breath of icy air, forcibly suppressed the turmoil in her heart, and turned. Her footsteps, as resolute as when she arrived yet seemingly a few shades heavier, carried her towards Rachel’s cold and desolate manor.

The heavy, leaden clouds pressed low over Lockwood territory, and the cold wind whipped up dry leaves and dust, sending them swirling. Ruby’s red figure appeared particularly solitary beneath the gloomy sky.

It seemed the snowstorm was truly coming.