Arc | Chapter. 66: of Water

Chapter. 66: of Water

It felt like an eternity.

Not long had passed since Arc had left, and yet Ceylon’s days felt longer and longer. She didn’t consider herself dependent on Arc per se, but her company was nice. At the same time Ceylon felt a bit worried, worried that Arc would do something impulsive and she wouldn’t be around to help with things, or at least offer an opinion.

Ceylon didn’t know why she felt that way, and didn’t know if her feelings in regards to the situation were justified or not. However, Arc was impulsive, so perhaps she would be even more impulsive if she wasn’t around?

Then she promptly shook her head.

Arc had left to make an alliance with the dragons, nothing else and nothing more. Sure, she liked fighting, but it wasn’t as if all she did was fight, nor was it like she went there to seek trouble.

Ceylon chuckled to herself. “What is the worst thing that she can do there anyway?”

Her mood brightened and she smiled to herself as she faced down on the paperwork she was filling. There were more contracts, and the business was booming. Every single town of Draliz was interested in getting everlasting ice. The revenue and demand was increasing, and so were the prices, but it was temporary.

Ceylon understood that the business was a limited one, with a capped market. It wasn’t a sustainable thing, but for Arc’s goal it wasn’t necessarily important. While Ceylon understood that at some point the demand for the ice would come to a near complete stop. However, when that point in time came the selection for the new king would have ended.

Credence had passed, and with it his legacy of commerce.

Perhaps Draliz would undergo great changes, or perhaps it would remain almost the same. Ceylon didn’t know, but she felt nervous, nervous about what was to come, and nervous about the outcome. After all, deep down she believed that there was no way for Arlow to compete with the already established Grand Dukes.

But even then, she still did her best, and seeked out every single opportunity she could seize. It was a matter of principle. Ceylon was sure that Arc would otherwise be disappointed, though admittedly, Ceylon knew that it wasn’t her responsibility. Especially knowing the fact that she intended to leave her family behind.

Perhaps Arc had been harsh in her wording, but she was right that she had received very little in exchange for all her sacrifices. Maybe it was the outlook of a heretic, but Ceylon had made her decision.

As for whether she’d be able to follow through with it…

She didn’t know.

Ceylon took a deep breath, she was thinking a bit too much. But work was exhausting, while it was fulfilling it was nonetheless exhausting. At least however, Ceylon was sure that after this the Arlow family would attain the rank of Marquees, or maybe even Archduke. And with that, their future was assured.

As for why she cared? That she didn’t know.

Shaking her head, she got ready to work, that was at least until she heard knocks outside of her door. She had rented an office space for the company, so it wasn’t completely unusual however there were people to filter things and who got to speak with her. Which could only mean…

“Come in,” she said, preparing herself.

There was a moment before the door silently opened and a man in noble clothes walked in, he was dressed in purple hues and a hat sat atop his head. However, Ceylon raised her brow watching his features⁠— his entire face, his entire body was wrapped in bandages.

Her heart immediately began to race and nervousness settled in her mind/

She recognized him.

It was one of the Grand Dukes of Draliz, Alderman. A man who had a foul reputation known for helping dying businesses and profiting more than their owners by the end of things.

Someone who always made unfair deals.

Ceylon got ready to reject him as he closed the door, and with a smile he began.

“I’ll keep it simple, Miss Ceylon of Arlow.” He met her gaze. “I want to purchase the entirety of your eternal ice stock.”

And she paused.

The entirety of it?

* * * * *

For a moment, it was as if my thoughts had paused even though the world kept flowing around me. Before finally, half a second later I blinked.

“Pardon?”

The Dragon of Water nodded. “Queen, I want to request your help to overtake or rule the Kingdomship of Draliz, the country that is ruled by wealth.”

I took in his statement, digesting it for what he meant before I shook my head.

“I can’t do that.”

The Dragon of Water paused, his body language indicating his curiosity. “May I know the reason for this rejection? I do want to add that I should have enough wealth to turn any vassal into the current king.”

“That is…” I thought for a moment. “The reason is very simple, I want to turn my companion’s family into the rulers of Draliz.”

The Dragon of Water nodded. “That wouldn’t be a problem; allow me to explain. I am not after the country itself but an artifact within the country.”

Malz seemed a bit uninterested in the conversation, as did the other dragons, but my interest was piqued.

“An artifact?”

“That is right.” He nodded. “I need it for⁠—”

And at that moment the server came. We were served an assortment of meats and breads that made my mouth water, but I wanted to deal with this conversation first. I looked at the Dragon of Water who was still regarding me, all while the rest of the dragons began to enthusiastically eat. I met his blue eyes, the little skin I could see was slightly blue too.

“I’ll continue now.” He nodded. “I need it to see the visions of the age of oblivion, I wish to see what exactly happened.”

I paused. “Are you trying to⁠—”

“No, I’m not trying to research arcane magic,” he said simply. “I’m not as rash as the Dragon of Frost, and also the research of arcane magic has already been done by him, so if I wanted it I could go take it at the Maw of Dragons. Though I guess it’s only for frost magic.” He tilted his head before shaking it. “Regardless, it is not within my goals.”

“Well what are your goals?” I prompted.

He crossed his arms. “Research, knowledge about past heroes, and knowledge of my ancestors.”

I raised my brow now more confused than ever. “Weren’t you there?”

There was a pause from everyone this time, except for the Dragon of Water who shook his head.

“Not at all, perhaps you might have gotten that impression from Regis’karr ⁠— the youngest of us ⁠— because he is knowledgeable about it. But perhaps among all of us, the only one that got to live within the age of oblivion was the Dragon of Frost, but even then I believe he was but a fledgling.”

I blinked. “Huh… I see.”

“Anyway,” the Dragon of Water said slightly irked. “Those are my reasons. The item I'm seeking is called the Scepter of Past Visions, an S Tier item that is rumored to be close to SS Tier. According to my information it’s in Draliz’s treasury.”

“So that is all you want?” I asked, confused.

The Dragon of Water nodded. “I hold no interest in ruling something as small as Draliz where there are entire empires in other continents.”

“Right…”

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised about that, but it was my first time hearing about it so it still gave me pause. However, the Dragon of Water ignored it and continued.

“I have no use for all the wealth I have amassed across the centuries, so what do you think?”

I took in his question and closed my eyes.

It seemed like a very simple offer, but there were two things. One, the Dragon of Water was my subordinate but most likely had no loyalty to me. And two…

“So would you remain the ruler after you get the staff?”

“If you’re uncomfortable with that and it affects your plans, no,” he said, shaking his head. “My main focus is the staff, in fact if you’d like me to only trade for the scepter I’d be more than happy to do that.”

“Right, I’m fine with you helping with my plans. Would help us secure things.”

“Alright.” The Dragon of Water nodded. “Any other term you’d like to enlist or add?”

I thought for a moment, wondering if there was something. The Dragon of Water seemed to be acting like a business-man which I found weird. But I paid it no mind. Instead I decided to try something.

“Do you know about business?” I asked somewhat curious, it was far-fetched.

He paused. “As in economics? I do, yes, why?”

“I’d like you to help Thomas, the soon to be king and vassal, to establish businesses. As well as act as his bodyguard until the king is elected,” I said simply.

The Dragon of Water did not immediately answer and chose to place his hand on his bandaged chin.

“Hmm…” he thought for some time. And then, finally, he nodded. “Very well, I’ll also help launder my funds into his pockets.”

“Right, that’d be helpful.”

The Dragon of Water nodded before extending his hand at me. “Do we have a deal?”

I paused, and at that moment Malz reached over to our side and swept our plates. I blinked almost sighing at the gesture but grabbed the Dragon of Water’s hand.

“We do.”

Then, we shook hands and just like that we had made our deal.

Finally, I turned to look at the feast down below only to see it had long been eaten by everyone. A small sigh left me, and more food was ordered. The rest of the time at the restaurant was spent waiting and eating, I did get to enjoy the food but for the most part Malz ate the large majority of it.

Then finally came the time to pay. The server stood before us.

“That would be three cobalt coins and two gold coins.”

I paused and stared at the pouch of silver coins, wondering if that would be enough. It was all the money I had, and well I had acquired it a long while ago. I paused for a moment, sensing the amount of coins in the bag and realized it was about one cobalt coin and one gold if I did the exchange.

Which I believed to be ten silver equals one gold, if it was one-hundred I’d be…

No I was a bit fucked regardless. That was until finally the Dragon of Water nodded at me and produced the requested money exactly from his hand. Though they were wet.

He handed them to the waiter who seemed thrown off by them, but just like that I had been saved by the Dragon of Water.

As for eating three cobalt worth of food… I turned to Malz. Maybe I should turn her into an adventurer and make her take jobs.

Malz turned to me tilting her head. “What is it?”

I sighed. “Nothing.”

With that we stood up and left the establishment, but the Dragon of Water stopped at the front of everyone, seemingly thinking to himself. We all stopped along with him, before finally he turned to someone on the street.

“Hey you.”

It was a man of dark skin and burly physique, he raised his brow and came over, evidently slightly annoyed.

“What do you want?”

“Is there an Adventurer’s Guild?”

The man blinked clearly confused before breaking out in laughter. “We don’t do that here.”

“Where do you earn money via fighting then?” The Dragon of Water asked randomly.

I raised my brow unsure of where things were going. Then the man answered, almost laughing.

“In the colosseum of course, as for where you can find it, I won’t say. But most people won’t want to fight someone who seems weak.”

With those words the man departed, as we all stood around in confusion. Then a moment later the Dragon of Water turned to me.

“I want you to go to the arena and pay me back, you’ll be fighting as the Heroine of Frost to attract opponents.”

“Ha?” I raised my brow. “I’m not going to expose my identity for shit.”

He shook his head. “This is a different region, it doesn’t matter, we are not in Draliz.” His words were cold. “This is outside the scope of our deal, and I won’t be doing these kinds of favors ever.”

Then he turned to me, his eyes narrowing.

“If you don’t want to then we can cancel our deal and I’ll take Draliz over myself.”