Chapter 645: Act 7 – The Transaction (Part 1)
“You already have clues! Right, right!” Tanyia suddenly flew up, looking down at the two. The fairy lady was full of excitement, spinning around in the air: “I should have thought of it! Ever since the late King Eke built this city, the Erluin nobles have held the secrets of this harbor for thousands of years. How could you not know about Ampere Seale’s every action?”
“Grifian, why didn’t you tell me in advance?” Tanyia suddenly turned her head, almost knocking her glasses off her nose, and quickly reached up to support them.
“Aunt Tanyia, well… Mr. Brendel, you…” The princess truly had no words. She didn’t mean to hoard the Azure Spear, but the legend of the Holy Lance was too significant. No one could imagine the stir that would occur if that lance, reminiscent of the heavens’ azure, reappeared in this world.
Whether it was the Temple of Fire, the Temple of Wind, or the Hallowed Temple of Earth of the dwarves and the Golden Mane clan, none could give up the struggle for this legendary sacred object.
At that point, how would the Erluin Kingdom cope?
But Brendel thought otherwise. He shook his head, saying, “Your Highness, there are no secrets that can be kept in this world. Aunt Tanyia has given me an idea; just leave it to me.”
The princess glanced at him, sighed, and could only nod.
Brendel then lifted his head to address the fairy lady in the sky: “Aunt Tanyia, you still haven’t answered my question.”
“Of course I want to. This has been my lifelong wish.” The fairy lady flew to the platform beside Brendel. She sat on the edge of the platform, one thin leg crossed over the other, hands resting on her knees, and looked up at Brendel: “Tell me, little one of the Cardilosso family, son of the Sword Saint Darus, what do you want from me?”
“That is my grandfather.” Brendel replied irritably.
“Close enough. I don’t know your father. I can’t just say, ‘Hey, the son of so-and-so,’ right?”
Not quite right, but Brendel thought that if he tried to reason with a fairy, he would be the one with problems. He pretended not to hear that remark, turning back to take a page from the princess’s hand, then asked, “Will the People of Silver know about this transaction?”
“Huh? Why do you ask that?” Tanyia was momentarily taken aback.
“You know why, Aunt Tanyia,” Brendel had long suspected that this fairy lady was very likely Bud’s representative in the mortal realm. Besides, who besides Bud’s scholars would study ancient texts? He gently pointed at the manuscript: “This is important because it is the premise of our transaction.”
“Premise? I understand.” Tanyia adjusted her glasses, her eyes sparkling with a peculiar excitement: “Of course they will know; not only that, but I also plan to send it back to the Sacred Grand Library, and the entire Silver Society will be proud of me. Just think about it, the Silver Alliance hasn’t been this buzzing for at least sixty years.”
Hearing this, Grifian on the side wanted to interject several times but ultimately furrowed her brows and held back.
Brendel noticed the princess’s concern and decided to quickly get to the point; otherwise, this half-elf maiden would surely begin to worry. He said, “But there’s one thing: what if this spear has an owner?”
“It certainly has an owner; its owner is… Wait,” Tanyia turned her head back, frowning. Her eyes, shining a gray-blue, looked like light blue gemstones: “Has the Erluin royal family obtained the Azure Spear? Or does it have a new master?”
“You wouldn’t not know, would you, Ms. Tanyia? Those ancient relics appearing in vast star-like legends, when they come back to this world, do so with their own missions. Each symbolizes the beginning or the end of an era, so if the Azure Spear appears in Ampere Seale or Erluin, it proves it has chosen someone.” Brendel looked at the tiny fairy lady, thinking that she surely wouldn’t be unaware of this legend.
Tanyia knew, but it just dawned on her. She poked her delicate chin with a finger: “I see. So, the Azure Spear was not discovered by the previous royal family of Erluin?”
“In fact, it was discovered by Mr. Brendel, Aunt Tanyia, just in that recent war.” Princess Grifian finally spoke up.
“Oh, I know that. Those annoying demons, I heard they unearthed the Titan statue and have no plans to return it to the Silver Society,” Tanyia nodded: “But it turns out the time is so close, that makes it easier. Just as you said, treasures all have their will, and if it was the little one of the Cardilosso family who discovered it first, then its choice range is those people connected to you; if not, it means it has long foreseen the meeting between you and me today; I hope you understand—”
Of course, Brendel understood. The fairy lady’s implication was: if the people around Brendel couldn’t claim it as theirs, then it had long anticipated Tanyia bringing it back to the Silver Alliance. He thought for a moment and found this solution quite good; if the Holy Lance didn’t belong to Erluin, leaving it in this small kingdom would only bring disaster to Erluin.
However, giving it to the Silver Alliance would be different; who would dare to covet Bud the Wizard’s interests? Furthermore, the Bud people would owe Erluin a favor concerning this matter.
This was undoubtedly a win-win solution.
Even the princess caught on to the underlying implications, but she still had some doubts about Brendel and Tanyia’s conversation. Although it was the legendary Azure Spear, it was still just an object; could it really be that potent?
“But whether the Holy Lance stays in Erluin, the Silver Society will get news through you, right?” Brendel asked again.
Tanyia thought for a moment and nodded: “Hmm, for such an important matter, I cannot fail to report.” She glanced at Brendel again, frowning: “How do you seem to know our procedures so well?”
Brendel smiled faintly: “You’ve forgotten, I also studied the original runes, right?”
The fairy lady realized. Ordinary people had no chance to access the knowledge of the Silver. If Brendel had learned from those mortal wizards, all he would have learned was some crude magic. Thus, she naturally assumed that Brendel’s knowledge came from Bud, and couldn’t help but ask, “Little one, who was your mentor?”
“I am a Highland Knight; do you forget? According to the rules, I cannot say.” Brendel replied.
“You’re a Highland Knight?” Tanyia was completely wrapped around Brendel’s words; her tiny brows straightened and then furrowed again: “Oh right, that idiot Darus is also a Highland Knight, I almost forgot. Forget it, let’s skip this question.”
Brendel chuckled internally. The split between the Black Tower Wizards and the Silver Society was a blemish on the Silver Alliance. Although the timeline was very long ago, both sides had forgotten their past hatred and formed different traditions. Normally, to avoid disputes, neither party would delve deeply into each other’s history, and Tanyia, who accepted Bud’s tradition, was no exception.
This allowed him to negotiate smoothly, so he continued, “So, Ms. Tanyia, you should acknowledge that if word spreads about the Azure Spear existing in Erluin, what kind of situation would arise.”
Hearing this, Grifian also perked up her pointed elven ears, clearly, this was the part the princess was most concerned about.
Tanyia placed one leg down and stood up from the platform. She crossed her arms, resting her chin on her fingers, lost in thought. Clearly, she understood what Brendel was about to say; once the news about the Azure Spear existing in Erluin spread, it would surely attract covetous eyes.
Of course, if it were just those small-time crooks, she could easily handle them. But the situation was far from that; neither the Temple of Fire nor the Temple of Wind would likely let this opportunity pass.
She shot Brendel a glance, calmly asking, “You must have thought this through, right?”
“This is precisely the content of our transaction.” Brendel had indeed been scheming since he discovered this fairy lady’s identity; otherwise, he wouldn’t have revealed these things.
“Go on.”
“If it’s the first situation, if the Azure Spear is sent to Bud, naturally, there’s no problem. But you must declare that the Azure Spear is indeed in your hands and cannot bring trouble to Erluin; is that acceptable?” Brendel asked.
He glanced at the princess, who nodded in support.
“Of course, that’s fair.” Tanyia thought for a moment: “And as an elder, there’s no reason for me to take advantage of you; I will also provide compensation.”
Brendel smiled and didn’t refute, “Then what about the second situation: how about I rent the Azure Spear to you?”
“Ah.” He immediately heard the princess softly exclaim.
And Tanyia’s eyes brightened instantly.
“You’re quite cunning!” The fairy lady couldn’t help but praise, then turned to the half-elf maiden: “Grifian, where did you find this guy? In my opinion, you should hurry up and secure him.”
“Aunt Tanyia…” Princess Grifian felt a bit helpless but also curious: “What exactly about him deserves your praise?”
“I’m not praising him,” Tanyia replied irritably. “The Silver Society’s interest in the Azure Spear is only for research. You know, the People of Silver gradually lose interest in mortal objects throughout their long lives; only those ancient secrets can captivate our minds. So, we won’t possess this long spear; that guy is counting on this point to rent it to us. Saying it’s renting is just letting Bud take the blame for Erluin—”
“And speaking of renting,” Tanyia suddenly fixed her gaze on Brendel: “You’re not planning to charge us rent, are you?”
“Isn’t that a matter of course?” Brendel asked. “And this is just one part of the transaction. Before that, we agreed to take you to find the Azure Spear; Aunt Tanyia, shouldn’t you pay for that as well?” he replied.
The fairy lady suddenly felt she had encountered the most unscrupulous merchant in history. Of course, she didn’t know such merchants were called players. She glared at Brendel, but heard Princess Grifian laughing: “Brendel has a point, don’t you think, Aunt Tanyia?”
“You certainly think he’s right,” the fairy lady huffed, “but it doesn’t matter; overall, I’m still the one benefiting. Now, tell me, what do you want?” (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)
