Arnold knew one thing for certain. The barrier stone they had was not good enough.
As he looked at the corner stone in the shallow grave, he knew that he had to find something that was at least Rank S in value.
The ghosts would not be stopped for long. It was in their nature, as every fiend there was or would be, to want to eat the living.
The priest, who had stayed behind to give him guidance, looked at the grave as well.
"I think you should contact the priesthood for another priest to come here," Father Sam said, as he ran a hand through his ghostly hair. "But I think that the new settlers can help you with the new barrier stone. You just need enough mana stones."
"How do I ask them such a thing?" Arnold knew that for them, mana stones were just something they had too much of. But he also knew that one day, the mine was going to run dry.
The party had two babies to look after. Two babies who would need to make their own way into the world.
Dragons were tough beasts to kill, Arnold knew. There was no guarantee that the party would be able to make another mine if they wanted to.
"You don't have another option," Father Sam told him. "It will take about 1,000 mana stones to power an S-ranked barrier stone. If you don't take the stones from the new ones, then you will end up in debt to the ears."
Arnold bowed his head.
"Yes, I know," he murmured. "But they are my charges."
The ghost sighed.
"One of these days, Arnold, you will die for your guild. I just hope the day is a long way from now."
No more words were spoken.
Both knew that the truth had been spoken.
****
When the guild master came back to the training hall, there were vegetables grilling over the survival cooking pits, with fruit salads being sliced here and there.
He made his way to Nikola, who was in the process of turning some onions on the grill.
"Niki," Arnold said as he sat down by him. Nikola was as fast as lightning. He took a plate and piled it up with some grilled vegetables.
The guild master took it gratefully. Eating some of it, as he had not eaten in the last 10 hours.
When he felt so, as if he was not going to fall to the ground anymore, he looked at Nikola with a guarded expression.
"That, which I am going to ask you for is not something I do gladly," Arnold said.
Nikola bowed his head.
"We will pack and leave. Thank you for fighting for us for so long," Nikola murmured as he flipped yet another onion.
"Pack and leave?" Arnold asked. He shook his head. "I'd rather die than to leave you and your family to fend for yourselves. Niki, there is something else I am trying to ask you: we need 1,000 mana stones for an S-ranked barrier stone. Do you have that many?"
Nikola blinked.
"After all the trouble, you still won't chase us away?" This was something Nikola could not understand. If he had been in the guild master's shoes, he would have chosen the good of the many before the good of the few.
It was a logical thing to do. Just what sort of a man was Arnold, to not pick the easier way?
"Niki, you are part of the guild. I trusted you to protect your guildies and the town's folk. You did just that. Now, tell me why I should kick you out. You, who have been nothing but helpful from the start?"
Nikola had no answer to that. He went back to cooking.
"There is only one thing you lack, dear boy," Arnold told him, before taking some more of his food. It was tasty. Not too spicy, not too bland. And it even had the lovely traces of the grill still on it.
"And that is confidence," Arnold said as he took a grilled tomato and bit it in half. "If you only had the same confidence with who you are as when you cook, I think you would be S-ranked by now."
Nikola bit his bottom lip. He didn't believe in those words. He knew his limits.
But he knew that Arnold was not lying.
The man would not get anything out of a white lie. Nikola was going to fork over the mana stones regardless.
It was his duty. A way to give back to the community.
"I will speak with the kobolds to bring over the mana stones," the brunette said. He finally looked up from the food, trying to search for any signs of a lie in the guild master's eyes.
But there was none.
"Confidence, Niki," Arnold repeated as he ate some onions. "Just nurture it. Let it grow. The training and the mana control will soon follow."
Arnold didn't say anything more. Nikola picked up his communication pendant and dialed the kobold chieftain.
"Hello, Chief Leo! I need 1,000 mana stones by tomorrow. Do we have enough?"
For a second, there was no answer. Until the hologram of the kobold appeared before Nikola.
"We only have 500 right now. You give them away like candy. We can't mine that fast," which was all true. Nikola took in a breath. "But if you give us time, we can have the rest of the 500 mana stones by the end of the month."
They didn't have a month, Nikola knew. If the dead had been summoned forth, then there would be another summoning, and soon.
"Just… do it as fast as you can. Please!" Nikola said, as he looked at the guild master.
The man had eaten everything on his plate. He was looking at the pendant with narrow eyes.
"Niki, we can hold up for a month," Arnold told him as he began to help himself to more of the food. "But we will at least need for the fields to stay fertile. I know that it will be a drain on your mana, but can you handle it? Can you please purify the fields every time they are poisoned?"
"I can supply us with food," Nikola countered. He didn't want to end up without mana, in case he needed to fight.
"The soil should be kept healthy. We can't rely on you for food. Nothing lasts forever. Besides, if the fields end up as necromantic wastelands, sicknesses will spread."
Nikola's green eyes widened.
He began to pour his druidic mana into the fields. Praying that it wasn't too late.