Chapter 77: The Organ My Rifle Needs Could Save the City

"No."

Maelor looked at him.

"Already?"

"It won’t work."

The alchemist looked personally offended.

"It’s an excellent specimen."

"Not for the rifle."

Valeria smiled.

"I’m starting to think your weapon simply enjoys making you suffer."

"I’m beginning to share that suspicion."

The toad jumped—not toward them, but into the water.

SPLASH.

One of the soldiers reached for a net, but Maelor stopped him.

"Leave it."

Raven looked at the alchemist.

"Don’t you need it?"

"It’s alive and healthy in an area where the population still exists. Removing it now would make the problem worse."

That was logical.

It also meant Raven couldn’t turn every failed specimen into seventy crowns.

Unfortunate.

"Then we find another."

They found six more over the next three hours.

Every one of them was insufficient.

Level Nine. Ten. Twelve. Another Twelve. One reached Thirteen.

The best specimen achieved seventy-one percent compatibility, but FORGE kept returning the same problem.

[Mana Capacity: ACCEPTABLE]

[Discharge Stability: HIGH]

[Maximum Sustained Output: INSUFFICIENT]

[Prototype Rifle Requirement Not Satisfied.]

Raven was beginning to hate that sentence.

The seventh specimen was dead.

They found it floating among the reeds, and Maelor ordered the boat brought closer. There were no obvious signs of predation. The skin was intact.

Raven pulled it closer with a pole before gripping one leg.

"Recent."

Maelor examined the eyes.

"Less than a day."

Predation reacted.

[Mana Reservoir Toad]

[Level: 12]

[Status: Deceased]

[Mana Reserves: 4%]

[Foreign Organism Signature: NONE]

Raven frowned.

"It’s empty."

Maelor looked toward the abdomen.

"Empty of mana?"

"Almost."

"Hollow Threads?"

"I don’t detect any."

That was worse.

Valeria leaned closer.

"Then what drained it?"

"I don’t know yet."

Maelor pointed toward the bank.

"Let’s take it with us."

The corpse was useless as a living specimen, but its recent death meant the reservoir could still have medical value.

It also gave Raven an opportunity.

They opened it on a wooden platform used by hunters.

The reservoir was easy to locate: a partially crystallized blue bladder beside the intestine, threaded with natural mana filaments.

Raven extracted it with Maelor’s help.

FORGE appeared.

[Crystalline Mana Reservoir]

[Integrity: 92%]

[Mana Capacity: ACCEPTABLE]

[Discharge Stability: HIGH]

[Recharge Potential: MODERATE]

[Maximum Sustained Output: INSUFFICIENT]

[Prototype Rifle Requirement Not Satisfied.]

Raven looked at the wet organ in his hand.

"Of course."

Valeria stood behind him.

"Problems?"

"My rifle has standards."

"We already knew that."

Maelor stepped closer.

"Are you giving it to me?"

Raven looked at him.

"Seventy crowns."

"Fifty."

"The board said seventy."

"For high capacity."

"FORGE says the capacity is acceptable."

"I have no idea what the hell ’acceptable’ means according to your ability."

Raven raised the organ slightly.

"It’s ninety-two percent intact."

Maelor stopped.

"You can measure that?"

"Yes."

"Sixty-five."

"Seventy."

"Sixty-seven, and I give you access to the historical Reservoir Toad records."

Raven lowered the organ slightly.

"What records?"

Maelor knew he had him.

"Variants. Migration patterns. Recorded evolutions. High-mana zones."

Raven handed him the reservoir.

"Sixty-seven and the records."

Valeria slowly shook her head.

"You just sold an organ your system rejected for more than some mercenaries earn in weeks."

"It wasn’t rejected."

"It doesn’t work for your rifle."

"That doesn’t mean it has no value."

Raven watched Maelor place the reservoir into a container.

That distinction mattered.

FORGE evaluated components according to the project, not according to the market.

A reservoir insufficient for his rifle could still power wards, alchemical equipment, medical systems, or any number of other things in Veyr.

Failed candidates could finance future attempts.

That improved the economics of the expedition considerably.

"How many do you need?" Raven asked.

Maelor gave a humorless laugh.

"Every one you can find."

Raven started calculating.

Valeria noticed.

"No."

"What?"

"You just turned the epidemic into a rifle budget."

"I’m taking advantage of existing demand."

"There’s a word for that."

"Trade."

"Of course."

The records turned out to be more interesting than the crowns.

They returned to Mirevale at sunset with two recently dead specimens, water samples from five locations, and confirmation that the surviving Reservoir Toads were concentrating farther and farther from the town.

After eating, Raven joined Maelor in the alchemical archive.

The records went back almost eighty years.

Most of them were useless to Raven—prices, harvests, reproductive observations, seasonal changes—but eventually they found an old classification.

Maelor pulled out a book warped by moisture.

"Here."

Raven read the heading.

Mana Reservoir Toad — Evolutionary Deviations

Three variants had been recorded.

One adapted to brackish water.

Another resistant to cold.

And a third.

Deepwell Toad

Rare evolved variant.

Recorded Level Range: 21–24

Rank: Awakened

Observed in high-mana wetlands and subterranean springs.

Distinguishing Feature:

Prolonged mana saturation causes partial crystallization of internal reservoir walls.

Resulting organ displays dramatically increased capacity, pressure tolerance, and discharge stability.

FORGE appeared before Raven finished reading.

[Advanced Component Candidate Identified]

[Species: Deepwell Toad]

[Relevant Structure:]

[Deepwell Crystalline Reservoir]

[Estimated Project Compatibility: 89–94%]

[Potential Function:]

[Stable Mana Storage]

[Sustained High-Output Discharge]

[Replaceable Energy Reservoir Architecture]

[Acquisition Recommended.]

Raven smiled faintly.

Maelor noticed.

"That one?"

"Probably."

Valeria was reading from the opposite side of the table.

"Where do they appear?"

Maelor turned several pages.

"Last confirmed record was nine years ago."

"Location?"

The alchemist went quiet.

Raven already knew the answer.

"Deep Mire."

Maelor pointed toward an old map.

"Here. Near a network of underground springs."

Raven compared it with the current map.

Red zone.

Deeper than the routes where the hunter teams had disappeared.

Naturally.

Valeria leaned back in her chair.

"At least we can stop pretending there’s any chance we won’t end up there."

"I was never pretending very hard," Raven said.

Maelor kept reading.

"There’s more."

Raven waited.

"A Deepwell isn’t simply a larger Reservoir Toad. Its organ can hold several times as much mana as a normal specimen."

"That’s what I need."

"It’s also what we need."

The voice came from the doorway.

Garran.

Raven turned.

The captain entered with Serah behind him.

They had heard enough.

Garran took the book and read the relevant section.

"How much?"

Maelor answered.

"If the record is accurate, one reservoir could keep the central ward running for two to three weeks without relying on our current crystals."

Serah added, "Possibly longer if we only use it during critical periods."

Raven stopped smiling.

There it was.

The problem he had been expecting all day.

Garran closed the book.

"If you find one, I need it."

Raven answered immediately.

"So do I."

"The ward covers three medical pavilions and part of the clean district."

"My rifle needs that reservoir."

Garran watched him as if waiting for something more.

Raven added nothing.

Finally, the captain spoke.

"There are hundreds of people here."

"Yes."

"If the ward fails, we lose magical isolation, environmental purification, and part of the medical equipment."

"I understand."

"Then you understand why you can’t keep it."

Raven rested his forearms on the table.

"No."

Garran’s expression hardened.

Valeria didn’t interfere.

Yet.

"Ashford."

"I came to Mirevale specifically for that kind of organ. I entered a quarantine because I needed to find it. I’m crossing Asteria to collect components I can’t easily replace."

"And I’m trying to stop a parasitic disease from leaving this region."

"Your priorities don’t change mine."

Maelor suddenly found the documents in front of him extremely interesting.

Serah studied Raven.

"That reservoir could save lives."

"Probably."

"And that changes nothing?"

Raven considered his answer before giving it, not because he felt guilty, but because he wanted to be precise.

"It changes its value. Not its owner."

Garran took a step closer to the table.

"Strategic resources inside a quarantine zone can be requisitioned."

Raven held his gaze.

"Then don’t ask me to go into Deep Mire and retrieve it for you."

Silence.

That stopped the captain.

Raven continued.

"You can forbid me from entering. You can send your own men. You can find the Deepwell without me and keep it."

He tapped the book.

"But if you want my ability to locate biological anomalies, my experience, and Valeria helping keep your team alive while we figure out what’s happening out there, we’re not starting with ’everything you find belongs to Mirevale.’"

Garran did not answer immediately.

Now it was a negotiation.

Not morality.

Better.

Valeria finally spoke.

"You also have a different problem."

Garran looked at her.

She pointed toward the day’s records.

"The normal specimens don’t work for Raven."

"I know."

"But they work for you."

Maelor understood first.

"The normal reservoirs."

Raven looked at him.

The alchemist continued.

"The wards don’t need Deepwell-level density. We need volume and stability."

Raven nodded.

"FORGE rejected seven today."

"Six were alive," Maelor said.

"And one was dead."

"But we’ll find more."

Garran looked between them.

"What are you proposing?"

Raven had already calculated most of it.

"Normal specimens I don’t need remain Mirevale’s if they’re alive. Organs from dead animals or specimens that can’t be saved get sold to you at the agreed price."

"That’s already happening."

"In exchange, I want information access, alchemical supplies, and authorization for Deep Mire."

"And the Deepwell?"

There it was again.

Raven didn’t smile.

"If we find one whose reservoir meets the rifle’s requirements, I keep it."

Garran rejected the idea immediately.

"No."

"Then find another."

The captain’s jaw tightened.

"We don’t know whether another exists."

"Neither do I."

"You could condemn the ward to build a weapon."

Raven stared at him.

"And you want me to abandon months of work to solve a problem that existed before I arrived."

Serah intervened.

"We’re not asking you to solve the entire epidemic."

Raven looked at her.

"You’re talking about taking the one component I need if I’m the one who finds it."

Serah did not answer immediately.

Valeria rested her chin on one hand.

"You could find another solution for the ward."

Garran turned toward her.

"Such as?"

"That’s precisely the point. Raven is looking for an alternative for his weapon because normal reservoirs don’t work. You can look for another energy source too."

Maelor began thinking aloud.

"Mana crystals in parallel. Multiple normal reservoirs. Possibly an alchemical buffer..."

Garran looked at him.

"Can that be done?"

"I didn’t say that."

"It sounded similar."

"I said possibly."

Raven pointed toward the alchemist.

"Find another solution."

Garran looked back at him.

"How convenient."

"For both of us."

The captain remained silent for several seconds before opening the map again.

"Tomorrow, we go deeper."

Raven looked at the marked region.

"Deep Mire?"

"The edge first."

"That wasn’t what I asked."

"If the data confirms the source is there, I’ll authorize an expedition."

"And the Deepwell?"

Garran looked at him.

"If we find one, we discuss it before anyone cuts it open."

Raven considered the offer.

It wasn’t what he wanted.

It also wasn’t a definitive refusal.

"Acceptable."

"That does not mean I’m letting you take it."

"And it doesn’t mean I’m giving it to you."

Valeria slowly exhaled.

"Wonderful. Progress."

Raven returned to the inn with sixty-seven additional crowns, access to records he hadn’t possessed that morning, and one new certainty.

The second rifle component existed.

Probably.

And all of Mirevale wanted it.

He opened FORGE before sleeping.

[PROJECT: PROTOTYPE RIFLE]

[Core Component Acquired: 1 / 5]

[Activation System: AVAILABLE]

[Completion: 12.6%]

[Next Candidate:]

[Deepwell Crystalline Reservoir]

[Estimated Compatibility: 89–94%]

[Known Probable Location:]

[Deep Mire]

A second line appeared beneath it.

[Regional resource competition detected.]

Raven stared at it for several seconds.

"Now you’re making comments too."

FORGE did not respond.

From the other bed, Valeria spoke without opening her eyes.

"Are you arguing with your ability again?"

"No."

"That sounded exactly like yes."

Raven closed the interface.

"Sleep."

Valeria sounded amused.

"So, months of work?"

Raven chose to ignore her.

"Are you really going to keep the organ if it could keep the ward running?"

He remained silent for a few seconds.

"Yes."

Valeria opened one eye.

"Fast answer."

"I need the component."

"And if they don’t find an alternative?"

"Then they’ll have to decide how much finding another one is worth."

She studied him.

"Most people would at least pretend they were considering sacrificing it for everyone."

"That would waste time."

Valeria closed her eye again.

"That’s why I asked."

Raven looked toward the window.

The pyres were still burning in the distance.

He didn’t enjoy watching people die, and he didn’t want Hollow Fever escaping Mirevale. A mana-consuming parasitic epidemic was a problem for anyone planning to travel across Asteria.

But that did not automatically make every resource he found public property.

If he could help without losing what he needed, he would.

If the rejected reservoirs could be sold, even better.

If Mirevale could build another power source for the wards, perfect.

But the right component for the rifle had another destination.

Raven closed his eyes.

Tomorrow, they would go deeper into the swamp to find whatever was killing the Mana Reservoir Toads and trace the source of Hollow Fever.

And if FORGE was right, somewhere ahead was a Level Twenty or higher creature whose organ could either help keep a city alive or become the energy core of a weapon this world still didn’t understand.

Finding the Deepwell Toad was no longer the hardest part.

The real problem would begin when everyone reached for the same corpse.