I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 172: Interesting Mana Stones (Bonus - )

Chapter 172: Interesting Mana Stones (Bonus Chapter)

Considering the only access to the basement levels were through the kitchen which went underneath the main tower and was where the food stores were, or through the external stairs that faced the practice yard, Gunnar took Stanley back outside and he gestured towards the stairs the apprentices had been using to bring wood from the basement.

"The only place below where you indicated is the basement," Gunnar explained. "Let us know what you find. I don’t have high hopes."

Stanley tossed his robes and cast a glare over his shoulder as he stalked forward and towards the stairs. He stopped other mages from following him but didn’t seem to care when knights or apprentices went on. It seemed to have to do with mana once more. It was very clear that none of the knights or apprentices had an ounce of mage blood inside of them, or they would be badly affected by living in such a place.

Irene had always hated the basement because it was a dingy place with little external access. There was a thick, mildew smell and a general humidity.

It caused them to create a vent in the armory wall that went to the outside, just so the armor merely sitting there wouldn’t rust.

Especially in spring, the heavy snowmelt in the valley was always dangerously close to flooding the place.

Fortunately, there were internal wells in the Duke’s Tower—the largest being in the kitchen. The snow had someplace to go as it seeped through the valley and covered everything in mud.

Where Stanley had been stomping around before, Sir Gunnar stopped and looked at the ceiling. Based on the size of the room, he thought that they were only a short distance behind where the mage indicated.

As Gunnar’s eyes dropped, his eyes met Sir Phillip’s and his eyebrows rose.

"You are looking after the treasury today?" he asked.

"Certainly," Phillip responded. "These uncertain times are making everything feel a bit tense. I feel it doesn’t hurt to constantly have a guard here. The door up the stairs is concealed well, but not the strongest."

"Is this an order from the Duchess or your own conjecture?" Gunnar wondered.

"My own," Phillip responded. "This livelihood is what’s carrying the knighthood."

"Mind if we take a look inside?" Gunnar wondered.

"When the Commander was alive, only two people were allowed inside at a time," Philip explained, glancing at the group that had followed to bear witness to the scene.

"Fine," Gunnar responded. "I will take the mage. It is for the knighthood."

Phillip stepped aside and gestured for the two to go forth.

On a table just outside the treasury were two lanterns. Gunnar took one of them, casting the hallway in further darkness.

From the second the door was open, Stanley was unbelievably energized. He rushed into the room and stopped in the middle. With his hands out in front of him and his head turning left and right as he felt for the pure mana stored in the room, he launched himself forward to the corner where there were a couple of boxes and a few canvas bags full of unknown items.

The coins themselves in the treasury were neatly organized in chests on wooden shelves, and they were numerous. However, there were also a few unorganized treasures that were placed randomly in the space. Considering Gunnar hadn’t been in the treasury in a long time, he had no idea the ins and outs of the space.

"What is it?" he asked Stanley in disbelief, having never seen the mage move so quickly.

Stanley silently gestured for Gunnar to come closer with the light. The knight obliged and placed the lantern on the corner shelf just over where Stanley was searching.

Sure enough, when he got through one of the knots holding the bag shut, Stanley reached inside the bag and pulled out what seemed to be glowing pebbles by the handfuls. The mage then pressed the stones against his face and nuzzled into them as if they were small, soft animals.

"Haven’t felt such pure mana in a long time," he uttered blissfully. "Whatever other force is present in this Duke’s Tower has been polluting my mana for a long time. This is sure to clean me right up."

The ways of mages were still beyond Gunnar, and he stared in disbelief.

"You plan to use these on the mana pillar?" he questioned.

"Not these," Stanley responded with a light scoff. "These."

Further digging into the bag, the mage’s hands met what he was in there for in the first place. He then brought out a couple of larger stones. There were a purple, a red, and a blue. They glowed mysteriously and reacted to the mage’s mana-filled pathways. They seemed to resist his touch or move towards his fingers. The purple one spun in a circle.

Gunnar was in disbelief about what he was staring at. Stones that seemed to be alive on the inside were far beyond his imagination.

"Are they valuable?" Gunnar wondered.

"One would assume that something in a treasury would be valuable, wouldn’t they?" Stanley asked, his lips pulling into a wry smile. "Interestingly enough, mana stones are useless to anyone outside of mages or black magic practitioners. Feels like the work of a mage to put mana stones in a treasury. Interesting, interesting."

Stanley’s voice was surprisingly sing-song as he mocked the situation.

The mysteries were piled high, and Gunnar’s eyebrows lowered. Stanley had been making a lot of accusations about mana and black magic, but, considering it was beyond the knight’s realm of knowledge, he had no arguments in response.

Perhaps that was for the best.

The mage stood up with the bag in his hands, but he couldn’t get it off of the floor. Immediately, Gunnar went to the mage’s side and easily lifted the bag with one hand while still carrying the lantern.

"Once we’ve placed the mana stones, you are welcome to take the rest," the knight explained. "It is your payment for the trouble."

Stanley seemed pleased, but he merely shrugged in response before he left the treasury and crossed his arms at those still waiting in the hallway.

"The work here is nearly finished," he announced.

Smart enough to read between the lines, the apprentices then left the basement and went back to the mana pillar that was being built. They could tell Stanley was subtly telling them that it was time to get back to work.