A man and a woman, Ella, tour a grand hall built with valuable obsidian crystals. The man dismisses the southern nobles as blind fools, unaware the north possesses immense mineral wealth beneath the Black Flame Fortress. As they walk by a river, Ella spots shimmering gravel, which the man considers useless for forging. Ella is stunned by this casual display of overlooked riches, realizing the north's poverty is a profound misconception as she prepares to send a crate of this 'gravel' to her mother.