Chapter 114 Volume III - Chapter 35: Business Offer
"Haaa... Damn it."
I looked at the building in front of me and sighed, while Sith squinted at me and the building in front of me with one eyebrow raised.
'You rested pretty well.'
'I will do nothing but rest until I'm healed after talking to Ulka.'
I quickly entered the building and headed for the reception desk as usual. Since I had already gotten special permission from Ulka to go to him, this time the process was faster and after only two minutes I was in front of his door.
I pressed the button next to the door and a few seconds later the door opened by itself.
Sighing, I walked in, closed the door, and looked around the room, focusing on what he was doing when I saw a tall man who looked to be in his early thirties with golden eyes and short dark blue hair standing behind the glass at the other end of the room.
Ulka seemed to be very focused, trying to prepare a potion by checking the parameters on the device in front of him.
He pressed a few more buttons. The device vibrated slightly, then he poured a few liquids into a vial that was clearly visible inside and began to spin it. A few more liquids went through similar processes and then Ulka stopped playing with the parameters and opened the lid of the device. He took out the potion and sniffed it.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue, poured the potion into a tube, put it into another device where he was working, and then pressed another button.
The device literally sucked the tube in, a slowly filling sign appeared on the screen above it, and with a deep sigh, Ulka looked at me through the glass.
When our eyes met, I quickly straightened my posture, smiled, and waved at him. The medical bracelet that covered my entire left arm was still there, so my movement was a little awkward, but I didn't care.
Ulka came out of the glass-partitioned room, gestured to the armchairs on the side of the room and we both took them.
Not to lie, he looked a little tired.
"What are you working on?"
"A potion that provides immunity to a special poison for one of the guilds I contract with."
He sounded relaxed, he didn't normally like talking to anyone, but he didn't hesitate to talk to me.
"Things don't seem to be going so well, huh?"
"The limit they want is at least half an hour, but the poison is strong, so I have to cut it down to make it work."
Oh? I remember that.
"For the new dungeon discovered on the Neutral?"
Ulka nodded at me.
'Neutral' is a continent in the southernmost part of the world where no kingdom has 'land'. The reason for this is that after the event eighty years ago, a large number of the creatures hunted by humans fled there.
It is a paradise and hell at the same time. There are countless unexplored creatures, dungeons, and all sorts of things. And there are also beings like dragons that are extremely powerful compared to humans. So it's very dangerous and that's why it's a hell.
It's a 'paradise' for exactly the same reasons. Nobles, guilds, and countries send hunters there to clear the dungeons and make money. They compete for the title deeds of the discovered dungeons, and even the economy is almost shaped according to that region. The amount of money spent in that part is astronomical.
"I see..."
After me, Ulka looked at me and lifted one of his brows expressionlessly.
"Are you going to tell me what made you visit me in this state of your body?"
His gaze shifted to the glassed-in room where he had just been working. He wanted to continue his work, but I was preventing him to do it.
I sighed slightly, then proceed to talk as I was in a hurry as well.
"This time it will be more of an offer than a simple conversation."
Ulka suddenly shifted his focus away from his work and turned to me, this time curiously.
"An offer?"
"Yes, an offer."
"Explain."
He seemed quite interested.
"You know what happened after the attack on the academy, don't you?"
His face suddenly soured, the current state of the academy and the issue with the Malus had touched him too.
"Yes?"
"Since your sister is the daughter-in-law of the Malus, they will do a search for you, maybe they already have."
"They did, they found nothing."
A smile appeared on my face.
"So you're saying I hid myself well?"
Ulka was silent and I turned my smile into a grin.
"Anyway, I don't really care. My business is with you. We both know that the Maluses are going to lose their unlimited source of money now that all activity has been suspended and most family members have been arrested. The DeLaor family has already been in decline for a long time, and you won't have any income there either. Right now you have only your own fortune and your only source of income is your research and the salary the academy pays you."
"So? What are you trying to say?"
"Simple, leave the academy and work with me, Ulka."
There was silence between us.
"You are not a noble and you don't even have your own company."
"That doesn't mean I can't create a company and become a noble in the future."
Ulka frowned, but I didn't let him speak.
"I'm thinking of opening a few research centers similar to those in academy and creating an information network. The research centers will work on theories, create potions and present them to the kingdom and the guilds. On the information network side, I'm thinking of setting up a large intelligence agency. It might seem like an empty investment at first, but once we have enough contacts and information, we'll get a return. And for you..."
I widened my smile.
"I'm sure your fortune is at least enough to open a company and a research center for it. That's why I came to you."
"Besides investing my money, you want me to be your business partner..."
"Exactly. Let me tell you upfront that you are going to be the head of the research center. From the outside it may seem like a dream that everyone has but never achieves, but I'm different. I don't have dreams, I have a goal, and I have enough knowledge to feel confident that I can achieve it. Think about the theories I have presented to you so far, think about what I should not know but I do. There is so much more waiting in the background."
Ulka remained silent, thinking. But I continued.
"Let's be honest, you don't give a damn about the Malus Family, not your niece, not your sister, not the reputation of that family... You have no ties with them, in fact you can count on your fingers the times you have seen your sister's husband. For you, these are all resources that you used and now you have lost them. You are still widely known and you continue to work in the academy, but the current state of the academy is obvious. Soon your salary and funding will start to drop. You probably already have a lot of job offers. The world is full of opportunists, and I am one of them, and I can offer you much more than they can."
He was still hesitating, thinking quietly.
I clicked my tongue and grimaced. I wanted to finish quickly and leave, but he was hesitant.
I need to push him a little.
"Do you know why the source of mana in the atmosphere has not been found so far? Because what we call mana is not produced by a 'source', people are trying to look for something that doesn't exist. Do you know why we haven't heard from the King of Piarlin for two months? Because he's already dead and the kingdom is trying to hide it because it doesn't have an heir. Do you know why the elves have become more involved in trade and political affairs lately? Because what they fear is coming true, dark elves are coming out of their midst and they are looking for help."
Ulka didn't even try to hide his surprise at what I said. He was genuinely shocked.
"You wonder how I know all this, you probably think I'm imagining things, but no, Ulka. If you don't believe me now, in the future you will find out, even if you don't want to, that it's all true, and when it happens, our partnership will 'never' be the same as it is now."
I emphasized the last part.
"Now, this is my first and last offer to you. Together we can shake not only this kingdom but the world."
I narrowed my eyes, widened my smile, and held out my hand to him.
"Are you in or out?"
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