A secret that could lead to fortune? Magnus’s interest was piqued. Judging by the man’s expression, he didn’t look like he was joking. Could it really be so earth-shattering secret?
But in this end-of-the-world ss, what secret could possibly be that huge?
Magnus stood up, dug into his pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, tore it open, and handed a cigarette to the middle-aged man. The man looked surprised and grateful, thanking him repeatedly. Magnus gave a small smile and lit the cigarette for him.
"Alex, mind if I ask - what group were you with before?"
"? Uh, I’m from Willowglen Village. We don’t got no team or group. Just a village," Alex said a bit awkwardly.
Magnus grabbed a stool, sat down across from him, and offered an easy smile. "So, this secret of yours, it’s about Willowglen?"
"Yeah!" Alex nodded, then shook his head, hesitating. "Well, not all of it."
"Oh?" Magnus raised a brow. "Then can you tell what it is?"
"Sure!" Alex nodded hard, then quickly added, "But - you gotta promise. I need rice. A cart of it. And one box of noodles. Plus... two Blue Stones!"
"Hey!" Sophia snapped. "You never said anything about Blue Stones before. Are you trying to push it now?"
Magnus ignored her and said calmly, "Alright, no problem. If your secret’s worth it, you’ve got yourself a deal. I’ll even throw in two cartons of smokes and a couple bottles of good liquor."
"For real? You’re not ssing with ?" Alex’s eyes went wide.
Magnus nodded. "For real. You’ve got my word."
"Alright, then I’ll talk!" Alex cleared his throat, thought for a second, then began. "Back in Willowglen, we’ve got a giant teorite. Still untouched... a huge one..."
Just a teorite? Magnus frowned slightly, feeling a bit let down. He was expecting sothing more groundbreaking. The won around him had similar expressions.
But Alex didn’t notice. He was gesturing excitedly. "It’s massive - you wouldn’t guess how big."
"How big could it be? Bigger than the sky?" Sophia said with a scoff.
"Heh..." Alex scratched his head, grinning sheepishly. "Now that’s nonsense. But I tell you - if you stand far enough, you can’t even tell it’s a teorite. Get it now?"
"What do you an can’t tell?" Magnus asked, interest rising again.
"I an, from far away, it just looks like a regular mountain. Folks walk by and don’t even realize what they’re lookin’ at. That’s how big it is." Alex chuckled happily.
"A damn mountain?" Magnus was stunned. "You saying it’s the size of a mountain?"
"Exactly!" Alex nodded seriously. "Only one ever landed in our place. At first, none of us knew what the hell it was. Then monsters started showing up. Once we killed ’em all, we finally figured out - it’s a teorite. Got all kinds of gems inside. That’s when I knew..."
Willowglen Village, buried deep between mountains, had no roads and no cars. Electricity only got there last year - it was the last place in Northreach Province to get connected.
No wonder Magnus had never heard of it. But a teorite the size of a mountain? That hit him like a punch to the gut. Magnus stared straight into Alex’s eyes, his voice steady and low, "Why didn’t you dig it up yourselves? Climbed all the way here just to tell us this - why?"
"We - We tried! But we couldn’t handle it!" Alex let out a long sigh. "The damn thing’s guarded by swarms of centipedes and spiders - and rats. Big ones. You wouldn’t believe how huge. Those bastards ate more than a dozen of us."
A teorite the size of a mountain, crawling with centipedes, spiders, and monstrous rats.
Magnus kept his eyes on him, unsure. This was way out of his past life knowledge. Even then, he’d never heard of anything like this, and back then, the Ice Regint was based in the lumber yard in northern Springvale City. He barely knew anything about this area. But still... he couldn’t be sure.
"You said the teorite’s as big as a mountain..." Magnus repeated, slowly.
Alex nodded hard. "Yeah! That’s right! Why?"
"And the centipedes, spiders, rats - they’re guarding it?"
"Yeah! I ain’t lying!" Alex looked serious.
"Then why don’t those damn bugs and beasts attack your village?" Magnus narrowed his eyes.
"How would I know? You askin’ like I’m their boss?" Alex was losing patience. Honest to the bone, being doubted clearly ticked him off.
Didn’t look like he was making it up. If he was, it was a hell of a ridiculous lie.
Magnus wasn’t sure what to believe, but before he could say anything, Alex raised his voice. "What? You guys thinking of screwin’ over? Got the info and now you don’t wanna pay? My family’s waiting on back ho for firewood and food!"
Magnus glanced at Charlotte, then at the other won in the truck. Silence. No one could tell if he was full of it or not.
"Well?! Say sothing!" snapped Alex. "Ain’t gonna give the stuff, huh?"
"No, no..." Magnus raised his hand to calm him. He pulled out a cigarette, passed one to Alex and lit it for him. "Alex, brother, we ain’t planning to stiff you. Just... you asked for a whole truck of rice. Your Willowglen Village doesn’t even have roads. How do you plan to haul it back?"
The question hit ho. All eyes turned to Alex.
"I figured it out already - you guys gotta head there anyway, right? I lead the way, you’ve got enough folks to carry the rice into the mountains. Two birds, one stone!"
Two birds, one stone? Sohow the only idiom he knew, and he used it wrong. Magnus couldn’t help but chuckle. Still, he was starting to believe most of his story.
"Alright then, Alex..." Magnus stood and slapped his thigh. "It’s getting late. Why don’t you stay here tonight? Tomorrow morning, I’ll gather the team and we’ll head out together. Sound fair?"
"Sleep here? Nah, that ain’t right - you’re all girls here. , a grown man... not proper." Alex flushed red, like he’d just been invited for sothing more than sleep.
Liana chuckled softly. "Don’t worry, Alex. We’ve got room. We’ll get you your own truck to sleep in, just you."
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