'Their purpose was the Ancient Red Gem.' Alex thought.
"Sir, Indrot Thabuil [Monarch of Forge] failed in creating an item that completely replicated the Ancient Artifact, but he did create something that could do the same thing even though on a much lower quality."
"The Artifact created by Sir, Indrot was just like the Ancient Artifact made of two Individual Items, this Nexus Bracelet and a Dark Gem," Azgral said, pointing at the Bracelet placed on the table.
"The Dark Gem was destroyed in an unfortunate event, the same event that made the Beastmen lose the real Ancient Artifact."
"The Ancient Red Gem and the Archaic Ring are both of above legendary quality, but only the Gem could be bound to a person, and after that person dies, the gem will be randomly teleported to someplace in the world."
'This explains why they didn't outright kill me to get the Ancient Red Gem, and here I thought these bastards were nice and didn't want to harm me and wanted to build a good relationship with me using the Beast Ingredients business.' Alex thought.
"I will explain everything in detail to make you understand our motive clearly because I don't want to die for not giving a proper explanation," Azgral said, seeing Alex giving him a cold stare.
"The [Archaic Ring] has the ability to locate the Red Gem, and as the Nexus bracelet is forged to replicate the real Archaic Ring, it also has the ability to locate the Dark Gem, but it could also help locate the Red Gem."
"The Nexus bracelet could tell the general direction of the Red Gem and give a strong reaction when it is near it, and as you can guess, Yanric came to the Human Continent to search for the Red Gem."
"After two years of searching, Yanric and his group made no progress, so to search on a large scale with more freedom and without being hindered by the Human Empire, he decided to use the Beast continent resources to build a big merchant group."
"Yanric needed a good partner he could trust and, with his help, do business on the whole Human continent, making him efficiently search for the Red Gem."
"Yanric needed a Noble to back his business with Nobility in all three kingdoms and the Empire, but that is a rarity among nobles, and no noble who had such authority will ever risk his nobility for some money."
"This problem left Yanric with the only option of making a deal with some Immortal adventurer who could meet the condition and buy his loyalty by giving him lucrative benefits,"
"But each Immortal adventurer who met the condition belonged to some big guild who wanted access to the beast continent in return for their corporation, which we can't do."
'This doesn't make any sense.' Alex thought.
"If Yanric just wanted to open a business while using it as a cover to search for the Red Gem, why he needed a Noble to find just one Noble when he could get four different Noble to back four different businesses in each kingdom?" Alex asked.
A Beastmen could only gain the support of one Noble at a time, so if they wanted to expand their business to other kingdoms, they needed to find a noble with nobility in two kingdoms.
"The people of the Empire strictly watch all Beastmen businesses, and if Yanric has chosen this route, he will be discovered very quickly, which will cause a big problem."
"If the Human Emperor discovered that Beastmen are on his land for a purpose, he would not rest until he finds out the truth, and if he knew that we are searching for an Artifact that purifies our bloodline and make us strong, he would do everything in his power to stop us."
"This was why I sent Yanric to locate the Red Gem because he is the perfect candidate who could have strong guardians and do things that will not look suspicious," Azgral said.
'This makes sense as Yanric could go wild searching for something, and even if the emperor suspected him, he could get away by telling the truth.' Alex thought, understanding the bigger picture.
Alex understood that Yanric was searching for a cure for his sealed bloodline, but if his clan showed too much involvement, the Emperor was bound to get suspicious.
"The Black Market gatekeeper reported to Yanric about your Royal family Guest Noble badge, and with little help from the City Guard, he led you to his shop to offer you the business deal."
"As Luck was shining on my child, the moment you entered the range of Nexus bracelet, it detected the Ancient Red Gem on you, and Yanric took the opportunity to close the business deal with you," Azgral said and waited for Alex's reaction.
"Domain Ruler, You should understand how much value the Ancient Red gem holds to us Beastmen, and it cant be taken from you, so you hold the same value to us, and it was the reason we sent a group of strong and loyal members for your protection," Azgral said after seeing Alex staying silent.
'Domain Ruler, everything he said is true, and he meant it when he said the group was sent to protect you.' Lady Margaret said.
'It is great that they didn't want to harm me and wanted to offer me a generous deal, but this still doesn't change the fact that the group of Beastmen know about my secret and also know what I did in the past weeks, including the contents of my meeting with Vlad, Badger, and Hecate.' Alex thought.
"I just have a question for you, and your answer will decide whether you guys live and have a friendly relationship with me or die with the regret of being greedy," Alex said with a smile.
"When Do you plan to kill Guild Leader Hecate and take the Key of Damnation that you know will open the tomb of a Dragon Monarch?" Alex asked.
Alex knew that the Beastmen would want the key and the dragon tomb treasure as the tomb belonged to a Monarch because it would be guaranteed filled with lucrative treasure that no person would want to miss.
'I hope they didn't plan to completely mess with my plan and take everything for themselves because if they did, then there is no excuse for their greediness, and death will be a nice end to them.' Alex thought, hoping for a good reply.
"I won't deny that the Group leader sent to protect you wanted to take the key from that little girl using force as she and you didn't look close,"
"As our selfish decision could affect you and your organization's plans for that Immortal adventurer guild leader and because of that, we decided to discuss things with you to make a deal with your organization to buy the knowledge and research records gained from the Monarch Tomb," Azgral said.
'Domain Ruler, he is telling the truth.' Lady Margaret said.
'A friendly relationship with the Royal Beastmen Clan would only benefit me, and the good thing is I have nothing to lose.' Alex thought.
"Clan Leader Azgral, I hope you can forget my previous behavior, and we can come to an understanding that could benefit both of us," Alex said with a smile.
After hearing Alex's offer, Azgral eyes came back to life, and the troubled look vanished instantly, getting replaced with a happy smile.
"Domain Ruler, I appreciate your kindness," Azgral said with a smile.
'If you have the strength, anything is possible.' Alex thought, knowing things would have gone very differently if he didn't have the backing of strong people.
"Senior Azgral, I know very little about the capabilities of Ancient Artifact, so I would appreciate it if you could tell me everything you know about the Ancient Red Gem," Alex said with much more respect.
Alex knew he could take what he wanted from the Azgral with force, but why go such an extreme route when he could easily gain what he wanted with minimal effort and more?
"The Ancient Red Gem is the core that holds the immense abilities of the Ancient Artifact, while the Archaic Ring is the container responsible for properly using those abilities to their maximum potential."
"The Ancient Red Gem has many useful abilities, but the main ability is called [Refinement], and as its name indicates, it could be used to refine anything to a greater condition or until the thing reached its limits and it also includes Bloodlines, Elemental Physiques and anything that has the potential to reach a higher stage."
"The Refinement ability Evolve things or just refine things from impurities?" Alex asked.
"It doesn't evolve things, but it also does more than just refine a thing from impurities,"
"This space ring has all the records of information that my clan ancestors left on the Ancient Artifact and its abilities," Azgral said as he placed a brown wooden ring on the table.