Christine took a glance at Erwin, and Erwin shook his head in response, telling her that he also had no idea what Fall Crystals were.

Judging from the expressions on Erwin and Christine's faces, it was clear to Lewen that both were quite befuddled, and he explained, "Indeed, not many know what Fall Crystals are anymore. I only learned about this material after reading through many of the books available only to members of our organization. This is a type of ore that can only be found near large mountain ranges, and it has the ability to steal time."

"What does that mean?" Christine asked with a puzzled expression.

Erwin was also quite intrigued to hear this, and he looked at Elder Lewen with an expectant expression, waiting for him to elaborate.

"To put it in layman's terms, stealing time means to stop the flow of time," Lewen said as his gaze roamed over Erwin and Christine, but his eyes seemed to have settled on Erwin for a moment longer than they did on Christine.

Seeing as this organization had records of his performance during the Pillow Sword Tournament, Erwin knew that they had to be aware that he was a time and space magician. 

The way that Lewen is looking at me now suggests that the properties of these Fall Crystals must have some similarities with my time and space magic, Erwin thought to himself.

With that in mind, Erwin suddenly put on an indifferent and detached facade, seemingly having suddenly lost all interest in what Lewen was saying.

"Fall Crystals can stop the flow of time?" Christine was so incredulous to hear this that she almost burst into laughter. "That sounds like an old wives' tale, Elder Lewen."

"But this is very much real, Christine," Lewen said as he looked at her with a serious expression. "There were accessories crafted from Fall Crystals several dozen years ago, and they had the ability to preserve one's youth."

"Preserve one's youth?" Christine asked as her brows furrowed slightly. It was clear that she was very intrigued by this prospect.

Erwin couldn't help but chuckle internally upon seeing this. It seemed that all women held an eternal interest in things that could stop the effects of aging and maintain their appearance. Even for a little girl of Christine's age, this universal rule still clearly applied.

"Is that really true, Elder Lewen? Is there really something in this world that can preserve one's youth?" Christine asked with a skeptical expression.

"Indeed," Elder Lewen replied with a nod. "The only downside is..."

"What is it?" Christine asked.

"The price for these accessories is a little steep. In reality, Fall Crystals are an extremely versatile material, but the first batch of Fall Crystals to be mined were crafted by master artisans into accessories capable of stealing time, so most people came under the false assumption that this is the only use for Fall Crystals," Lewen explained. "At the time, as soon as these Fall Crystals accessories were released to the world, they immediately became extremely sought after among the nobles, to the extent that entire wars were instigated over them, which made sense, considering the allure of being able to halt the effects of aging. In the end, all of these accessories fell into the hands of the most powerful figures in the world, such as the kings, the princes, the regents, and other figures of similarly lofty status. These people had the power to claim those accessories, and they also felt like they were the ones most worthy of owning the accessories."

"After that, more wars inevitably followed. In order to attain immortality, all of the most powerful figures of the world were trying to take the Fall Crystal accessories from others to add to their collection," Lewen continued.

"Why is that? Isn't owning a single accessory enough to grant immortality?" Christine asked with a puzzled expression.

Lewen didn't offer a reply to her question. Instead, he cast his gaze toward Erwin with a faint smile.

As a result, Christine also turned to look at him with an inquisitive expression.

"I'm assuming it's because these Fall Crystals are consumable resources," Erwin theorized after a brief moment of contemplation. He didn't know exactly how these Fall Crystals worked, but he knew just how much magic power expenditure was required to stop the flow of time inside his light shield. If a single Fall Crystal could indefinitely halt the flow of time, then time and space magic would be nothing more than a complete and utter joke.

Christine looked back at Elder Lewen upon hearing this, in response to which Lewen nodded in confirmation, and she couldn't help but be amazed that Erwin seemed to know everything. She had never learned magic before, but she had traveled extensively across the continent and seen many things. During their journey along the coastline of the Joffan Sea, she had witnessed Erwin in battle on several occasions, and she had already guessed that his magic was different from normal magic.

"Can't they just keep mining Fall Crystals to keep up with demand?" It was Erwin raising the question on this occasion.

"Fall Crystals are extremely difficult to mine, and only a small amount can be produced even over the course of several decades. On top of that, the large mountain ranges where they're found are rife with magic beasts, so it would be unrealistic to mine Fall Crystals on a large scale," Lewen explained. "Even more importantly, even if a consistent source of Fall Crystals can be guaranteed, the number of accessories that can be crafted from them is extremely limited."

"Why is that?" Erwin asked with a curious expression.

"The procedure required to process Fall Crystals is extremely complex. Even with master artisans at work, thousands of ounces of Fall Crystal ore will usually have to go to waste before a few accessories the size of a fingernail can be produced," Lewen explained.

"How long can an accessory of that size be used for?" Christine asked.

"That depends on the skills of the artisan. The better quality ones can be used for three to five years, while the inferior quality ones can only be used for around a year or two," Lewen replied.

"These people are instigating wars just so they can live for an extra year or two?" Christine exclaimed.

Even though she was a brilliant businesswoman for someone of her age, she was still too naive due to her limited life experience. For those who were in power, they would do anything just to live for an extra month or even an extra day, let alone an extra year or two.

"Why does it seem like there are very few records on these wars?" Erwin asked. "This is the first time that I've ever heard about such a thing."

"Thinking back, the last war over Fall Crystals took place around 60 to 70 years ago," Lewen replied after a moment of contemplation. "On top of that, how are the historians supposed to record that chapter of history? Are they supposed to go into detail about how wars were instigated by the most powerful rulers on the continent over a few accessories? In any case, all of the historical records I've seen of that chapter in history glossed over the events very vaguely. I'm sure there are many Fall Crystal wars that weren't even recorded in the history books at all."

"I see. In that case, it's no wonder that barely anyone knows about these things nowadays," Erwin mused, following which a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he asked, "Do you know why King Cameron prohibited the mining of Fall Crystals?"

"I'm afraid I do not. In any case, as soon as King Cameron ascended to the throne, he officially prohibited the mining of Fall Crystals," Lewen said as he took another glance at Erwin, trying to gauge his reaction to confirm whether he was aware that King Cameron had already fallen in battle.

Erwin was naturally sharp enough to see what Lewen's intentions were, but he refused to mention anything about the battle on the Marrod Plain.

"Then if we go by what you said earlier, does that mean mining of Fall Crystals is about to come into full swing in Fooz as well?" Christine asked before picking up her cup and taking a sip of tea.

"I'm sure Prince Lazaar's army is about to march for Fooz soon. In fact, I'm confident that such a development will take place within the next month," Lewen said in an assured voice. "At the very most, Fooz may be able to resist for a month or two before it'll also be forced to submit to Prince Lazaar."

"Even then, the mining rights will only go to the True Light Church, wouldn't it? How does your organization plan to involve itself and get a slice of this pie?" Erwin asked as he took a glance at Lewen.

"I'm afraid that's confidential information that I cannot divulge to you," Lewen replied with a polite smile. "I can't tell you how we plan to source Fall Crystals, but if you're interested in this material, I can assure you that our organization will definitely be able to supply it to you. As long as..."

"As long as we can afford the asking price?" Erwin asked with an amused expression.

"That's right. Looks like Christine has already told you about how our organization operates," Lewen replied as an amused look appeared on his face as well.

"What I want to know is, are there still artisans who can process Fall Crystals in this era?" Erwin asked as he looked at Lewen. "Or are you only trading Fall Crystal ore and no finished products?"

"That's a very good question," Lewen said with a smile. "Several dozen years ago, all of the skilled artisans in the art of processing Fall Crystals perished during the wars waged over the Fall Crystal accessories by the upper echelons of the continent. Many of the people in power back then realized that as long as they could capture these artisans, no matter how large a supply of Fall Crystal ore their opposition had, they wouldn't be able to do anything with the ore. Thus, top artisans skilled in processing Fall Crystals were assassinated left and right, and at this point, there are very few such artisans that can be found even on the entire continent."

"Judging from your tone, it sounds like your organization has already prepared a group of artisans capable of processing Fall Crystals," Erwin said. 

"This is why I like dealing with intelligent people. It saves me a lot of time and effort," Lewen said with a smile of approval. "Over the course of the past few decades, almost all of the Fall Crystal artisans were wiped out, but that doesn't mean that their skills haven't been passed down."

An amused smile appeared on Erwin's face upon hearing this. "I'm assuming your organization also played a part in the assassination of the Fall Crystal artisans several decades ago."

Lewen immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this, clasping his hand over his own belly as he did so. Finally, two of the buttons of his shirt were unable to hold on any longer, and they popped off from his bulging belly before landing in his grasp. "I see you have a propensity for humor. Our Lodais Organization has only been around for less than 10 years. I'm afraid you're severely overestimating our capabilities."

"I see," Erwin replied in a meaningful voice, and he was very amused by the comical yet swift movements Lewen had displayed to catch the two buttons from his shirt. "I can see that your organization is very confident in its ability to secure this material. What is the asking price for it?"

"We are offering 250,000 Loonies for a single finished product," Lewen replied with a smile. It seemed that he had completely failed to realize that he had just stated an astronomical number. Furthermore, looking at his calm and assured expression, it appeared that he felt this price to be very reasonable.

Even though Erwin and Christine were doing their best to hide their emotions, both of them couldn't help but display a hint of shock upon hearing this.

"You can issue a deposit of 50% of the total price now, then come and collect the item in half a year," Lewen continued as he looked at the two of them.

Erwin finally understood why this organization had been able to develop to such an enormous scale over the course of less than 10 years.