Chapter 209 What next?
"Haa, why are we here?" Alver inquired, glancing around the area, which was noticeably busier than earlier in the day.
"Let's just get inside," I replied, scanning the vicinity as I waited for the door to open.
Click*
"How did that happen?" Alver questioned as he seemed to have missed Blaze going inside to unlock it from the other side.
"...Just a handy trick," I explained.
'Taking credit away from me, you greedy bastard!' Blaze sent.
We entered the building, and I promptly locked the door behind us.
"This is what I was talking about," I pointed, "but let's go a bit deeper. They aren't here." I sighed and proceeded further inside.
After a few minutes of passing cages, Alver continued to peer inside them, chuckling to himself as he observed the mana beasts.
"So, how is it?" I asked, as if this were the end of our agreement.
"...Haa, fine, that works then. For the next few years, the church won't be touched at all," Alver sighed, rubbing his temples. "Still, I'm surprised that you're concerned about something religious like this."
"You say that like you've known me for a long time," I responded sarcastically. "But I only asked you to leave the orphanage. I don't care what you do with the church itself."
"Ouch," Alver commented, leaning on a nearby barrel. "Well, you might not care, but as the owner, if I were to rebuild everything and leave the orphanage out of it, it'd be really weird. Might as well do it all together."
"Fine," I didn't say much, and silence fell upon us once more.
'You two are quite awkward for some reason,' Blaze observed, hopping out of the darkness to startle Alver again.
"This familiar of yours..." Alver looked at me.
"Blaze, his name," I replied, grabbing a nearby barrel and sitting on it.
"Hmm, how about you sell him too? I might offer you a generous amount for him," Alver eyed Blaze like a predator sizing up prey.
'His gaze makes me want to puke for some reason,' Blaze felt uncomfortable.
"Nah, I'm good," I shrugged, "but still, how much would you offer?" I was curious.
'Ayo, fucker! Who do you think you are to think that you can sell me, SELL ME!' Blaze easily got flustered about such matters.
"Maybe a couple of gold coins. I'm interested because I can't seem to feel his presence for some reason; it's hard to detect him with my eyes closed," Alver explained.
"Oh, then nah. If he's that special, I'll keep him with me until the bidding gets higher," I joked.
*Hiss*
""Pffff,""
Blaze hissed at us, making both of us laugh.
"How much can they fetch on the market, especially in a place like this near no man's land?" I delved into the topic.
Alver froze momentarily, blinking at my question. "Is there an issue? Can't answer me?" I probed.
"No, but... are you really sixteen years old? Knowing about the smuggler's market near the no man's land is quite unsettling," he remarked,"Nah.... there's lot of things that are unsettling about you." He spoke to himself.
It was indeed true that this kind of knowledge wasn't common, and I had no intention of explaining to him how I came by it.
"Maybe a few platinum coins. Their price goes up significantly if they're alive, like a hundred times more than if they were dead," he replied.
"Wow, that's a substantial amount of money," I commented, knowing that many generations of ordinary folks hadn't seen a single platinum coin in their lifetimes.
"It is... like a substantial sum," he replied, then shifted the conversation. "So, what else did you want to discuss? I assume this isn't the only reason you wanted to meet."
I returned the question. "Who are you meeting after this? You've got an appointment, right?"
He attempted to evade the question. "I can't—"
"Nocny Gryf," I interrupted him.
He looked surprised but then realized it must have been in the documents I obtained. "Damn, it was in those documents, huh.....Anyway I am going to meet them-"
"I killed them," I stated plainly.
"Eh?" He appeared as if he had seen a ghost. "What did you say?" he asked, clearly taken aback.
"I killed Nocny Gryf... the entire group. This is the shipment they were supposed to deliver, maybe to you," I explained as pointed around myself.
I had already decided that this cargo would go to Alver or someone working for him because there was no straightforward way to know a criminal group's travel route unless you were connected to them. So, indirectly, I had replaced the middleman between the client and the shipment.
'More like you've replaced the middleman with yourself,' Blaze quipped in my mind.
"Just say that you're lying," he said with a hopeful smile, which was met with my stern expression.
"Nope, I'm not lying," I asserted.
It took him a moment to process this before he exclaimed, "Nooooo! Are you crazy? More like how! But noooo, shit! Aghhh, you messed up!"
"Calm down," I tried to soothe him, but he wasn't having it. "I know this might attract the attention of many sub-syndicates."
"Fuck those sub-syndicates! I'm worried about my money! That's more important! Who cares what these pests do with themselves!" Alver's true priorities were laid bare.
'Damn, this guy is money-hungry,' Blaze commented, echoing my thoughts. Money-crazed people were everywhere in any world.
"Don't tell me you thought you'd get twice the amount for the beasts." I did my best to stifle a laugh.
".... Don't laugh, dude, I did. I thought it would be a jackpot, but... fuck," he grumbled, clearly upset.
"Still, you got the shipment for free. It's a win in my opinion." I stopped talking when Alver shot me a look that clearly said, "Really? Free?"
"Anyway, I have a proposal for you. I'm sure I can trust you a bit." I hoped he could see the potential in my idea.
"Make it worth it. You've already broken my heart and my hope," Alver replied, sounding rather desperate for a deal.
"Haha, so... I want you to invest in Viceburg," I suggested, fully aware he might scoff at the idea.
"That's stupid. That place is already in shambles," he dismissed the notion, clearly thinking I was naive.
"Let's move past this then—" I began, but Alver raised both hands in a 'hold on' gesture, signaling for me to continue.
"I want you to buy a significant amount of land there and bring three top criminal groups into the city," I put it bluntly.
"And what's that for?" He inquired.
"It's for—!!!" I halted mid-sentence as I sensed a powerful mana signature nearby.
I activated my mana vision, but to my surprise, I couldn't detect the presence of that person. It meant that this individual possessed immense power, enough to cloak a larger area with their aura.
.....that means Stormborne was nearby, not in the immediate vicinity, but close enough for my senses to pick up.
"Listen, Alver, I have to go now. I'll explain everything later. Let's meet tomorrow, and be sure to bring a map with you," I hastily explained.
"Fine, I don't know what's happening, but whatever," Alver agreed, clearly confused but willing to comply.
"Good, it's nice to see that aristocrats can be understanding of commoners," I smirked, tapping him on the shoulder before bolting towards the exit.
Pushing open the door, I quickly left the warehouse.
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[Inside the Warehouse]
Alver stood alone inside the dimly lit warehouse, a stark contrast to the lively coffee shop he had just been in. His face was as pale as a ghost, his mind racing as he tried to process the shock of Ren's revelation.
"He knows that... I am an Aristocrat? How?" His words fell apart, disbelief and anxiety etched across his features. This was the first time someone had seen through his facade, and it left him feeling exposed and vulnerable.
Alver's thoughts raced as he grappled with the implications of this newfound knowledge. The walls of secrecy he had carefully built around himself had crumbled, and he was left wondering how to navigate this unexpected turn of events.
Alver's mind was in turmoil as he sat there, overwhelmed by the unexpected turn of events. He couldn't help but worry about the consequences of Ren's discovery.
"I hope he doesn't do anything that'll require me to kill him," Alver mumbled to himself, his shock evident in his words. This was not how he had envisioned his day going.
He continued to mutter in frustration, "If this is known to Mother, she'll be very angry with this... Man, why can't things get easy for once!" It seemed that Alver was facing a dilemma he had not prepared for, and the weight of it was taking its toll on him.
[A/N : His mother!? And then wait he's a Aristocrat? Who said....how did Ren know that? Anyways thank you for the 10k colls hehe.]
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