"What for?" Evanol replied back, bewildered.
"Yes" Ezra nodded. "What for? I will decide when I’m free enough to initiate the trade and contact you. Or is it that you think I have nothing else of importance to be doing?"
Evanol FUD within, but his tone stayed ek.
"No, no. I understand" Evanol acquiesced, but still stayed stationary.
Truth be told, the option of attacking was at the forefront of Evanol’s mind.
After all, Ezra had just battled an astral beast, no matter what, he wasn’t in a condition to take on the four of them.
But his spatial abilities changed things, as he’d likely needed very little ti to escape, seeing as sothing as large as the astral beast was teleported away in less than ten seconds.
Then, there was his peculiar trait of him talking down to them. In fact, from Evanol’s perspective, his way of speaking mirrored that of his patron, which was very disconcerting.
Not to ntion the cleverness and shrewdness that caused Evanol to now be on the back foot of their negotiation.
Indeed, today seed to be his most unlucky day in many years.
One he wouldn’t forget any ti soon.
Ezra’s voice rang out.
"You are free to leave"
"Ah yes" replied Evanol, his eyes going towards soone else. "But what about him?"
He was referring to the head officer who remained mute whilst witnessing the entire exchange.
Ezra waved his hands dismissively. "Don’t worry about him, he’s not going to do anything. You can trust on that"
Evanol simply nodded before getting onto another topic. "What about the recording?"
"Oh that? I’ll dispose of it once we conclude our trade"
Lightly nodding, Evanol signalled to the rest of his comrades to withdraw and get back into their spaceship, before leaving through hyper drive.
Only then did Ezra calm down his nerves, as they could’ve attacked him with the ship’s weapons.
He let out a relieving breath, glad that things had not turned for the worst.
Once he affird that they were truly gone, Ezra turned to the head officer, whose face was full of weariness.
Forcefully holding down his nervousness, he watched as Ezra approached him, wondering all sorts of things when suddenly, Ezra lowered his head.
"I apologize"
The situation was so out of the head officer’s prediction that he scrambled for words.
"W-W-What are you apologizing for?"
"I’m apologizing for putting the life of my helper in danger. Had things gone wrong, you would have certainly been killed"
"No" the head officer shook his head, having gained his bearings. Though he wasn’t sure of Ezra’s intentions.
"It’s the fault of those people trying to snatch your spoils"
"I’m thankful that you think that way" Ezra replied. "But I have to shalessly ask that you keep the events that occurred here private"
"Ah...but I still to need report that you were one who killed the astral beast"
"Apart from that part. You can also tell them that the corpse is in my possession" Ezra clarified.
"Of course. Who would believe this old man anyway?" the head officer chuckled, much relieved that Ezra was still the person he knew.
"Anyways, I should get back to report, aren’t you going to stay around for a bit to collect your reward?"
"I will" Ezra nodded. "In fact, would you mind if I accompanied you back? I need to rest"
"Sure, sure"
Like so, they got into the head officers’ spaceship and swiftly arrived in front of Cretin hub.
Alighting, Ezra asked the head officer for a good hotel, and swiftly had an officer assigned to lead him there.
Thanks to the head officer’s connections, he was assigned a high quality room. Moreover, his fee was waived.
In no ti, Ezra lay sprawled across the bed.
He hadn’t been lying to the head officer when he said he needed rest.
While his physical body easily recovered from fatigue, the sa could not be said for ntal fatigue.
Light ntal fatigue was easily resolved, but battling an astral beast and then having to deal with those red dragon idiots had tired him out considerably.
The best way to do that was to sleep, and that was exactly what he did.
******
After an unknown amount of ti, Ezra was awoken by the sounds of knocking on his door.
"Who is it?" he asked, rising from his bed.
"Sir, the head officer is here to see you" a maid answered.
"I’ll be right there"
Putting on his clothes, Ezra spotted a cupboard that just happened to have clothes of his size, probably forgotten by previous occupants and exchanged his clothes for another pair from amongst them, leaving the rest.
There was little rit in stealing the rest of the clothes, as that could lead to troubleso things.
Soon, he was down on the first floor, where he found the head officer waiting, but this ti accompanied by another.
"Ah, Head officer, why are you standing, let us sit"
To which they found themselves a round table to sit at.
"Head officer. Who is he?" Ezra imdiately inquired about the second person.
With a slim physique, blue reptilian eyes, white scaly skin, and of course, a tail, he was a lizardman.
Garbed in a white suit alongside purple-tinted luxurious spectacles, no matter how one looked at it, this fellow gave off the vibe of a luxury rchant.
"Ah, apologies" the fellow cut in. "My na is Sidal, branch head of AlphaNova trading association. I’m here to thank you on behalf of the Rosveller Foundation for saving Cretin hub from utter destruction"
Sure enough, he was a rchant.
"What is the Rosveller foundation?" Ezra inquired.
"It is the organization that owns and governs planet Cretin"
Ezra nodded. "No problem. But I hope this doesn’t an you won’t pay in so way"
"No, no" Sidal addressed his concerns, making an awkward smile. "Rather, I’m sure you’ll be appropriately compensated for your help"
"That’s good to hear" he replied. "This must also an you’re not going to say anything about taking the astral beast’s corpse right?"
"No, not at all. You killed it, so of course it belongs to you"
Ezra finally let his guard down and smiled. "That’s really good to hear"
"Instead, I’d like to ask. Do you already have sowhere to process it?" Sidal asked slowly.
...
Ezra stayed silent for a brief mont, connecting the dots whilst staring straight at Sidal.
’He’s a rchant and probably wants to process the corpse through him for so benefits, maybe fa, money or both. Moreover, since he ca here with the head officer, he probably has so information about . I don’t know how much the head officer told him, but since the head officer likely thinks I have so extraordinary background, I’ll just have to that to my advantage’
Upon realisation, he placed his hands on his chin to portray contemplation. "Hmm, now that you ntion it, I do have a few places, but they are quite the distance away? Why do you ask?"
Getting his answer, Sidal clapped. "As you already know, to make the best elixirs and weapons out of the astral beast’s corpse. It is best to use the services of master artisans"
"And you will provide these services?" says Ezra, raising a brow.
"Precisely" Sidal replied without blinking. "We will trade with you at a fair price, you need not worry"
’Nice! This is really good. Honestly, I was wondering how I was going to process them into elixirs to sell to that red dragon patron. But now, it seems I won’t have to worry! Still, I can’t just accept it right away’
"Hmm...head officer, can you vouch for him?" Ezra questioned.
Exchanging glances, the head officer cleared his throat before speaking.
"I’ve never had dealing with Mr. Sidal before, but I trust that he would not sully his reputation and the na of Rosveller foundation by trying to cheat you"
Stretching out his palm, Ezra was amazed at how easily he had finessed his way into making a connection with a rchant branch manager.
Even didn’t know he could finesse this easily! It almost seed effortless!
But he dropped the notion soon after, smiling ruefully within.
’No, he only ca to et because he thought highly of my strength and potential. Besides, you can’t really call killing an astral beast finesse’
It then occurred to him.
’This feat is already enough to attract a branch manager, if I achieve greater things as I grow stronger, won’t I beco famous easily? Even in the universe, as long I continue to grow stronger, I’ll be able to beco a very influential figure’
’No’ Ezra reverted the notion again. ’Being too high profile isn’t sothing I want, but being too low profile is also not too good, I just have to make sure I don’t stand out too much’
On Orion, he didn’t have this problem because he was a prince, you basically couldn’t get much more high profile than that.
But because he stayed in the castle most of the ti, he didn’t have any feats that would cause his na to resound beyond Niton, thus keeping his fa at average.
Well, that was until was denounced as a demon and imprisoned in Arcadia, but anyway.
"I see" Ezra nodded, holding his chin in contemplation. "Alright. Mr. Sidal, it’ll be a pleasure to work with you"
Sidal shook Ezra’s hand, smiling all the way. "Likewise. Let’s have a wonderful working relationship"
Upon releasing the handshake, Ezra coughed lightly, addressing a concern.
"But doesn’t it cost money to hire master artisans? Due to certain circumstances, I’m quite in a difficult position regarding financial matters"
"Well, you could bargain with other parts of the beasts remains, but I can suggest you wait to receive your remuneration from the Rosveller Foundation before making that decision"
’Ah, that’s right’ Ezra nodded, his opinion of Sidal also rose. ’Seems this fellow is not just a money-grubber. That’s good’
"Then, let’s continue our talk after I receive my remuneration" Ezra answered.
"That’s fine by " Sidal nodded. "But might I ask where the corpse is? It’s just for assurance"
Sidal spoke, adding small laughter to offset the awkwardness.
"Do you have a warehouse big enough to hold the astral beast corpse nearby?" Ezra asked in tow, not offended in the slightest.
It was only natural that he proved his credibility to ensure a smooth trade.
"We do"
"Lead there"
Sidal pulled back his sleeve to reveal a sleek bracelet with a screen in the middle that lit up with blue light, projecting a triangular tab similar to the system’s interface.
Tapping with fast fingers, Sidal spoke to Ezra.
"Alright, I’ve notified my workers. The warehouse should be emptied out by the ti we arrive. Let’s go"
Like so, the trio exited the hotel, got in Sidal’s vehicle and made way to the storage.
Whilst the head officer had nothing to do with the business deal, Ezra implored that he be brought along and Sidal agreed.
Getting to their destination, Ezra alights to see a large tallic base that rises to the sky with smaller bases attached to its side, all guarded by a tall tal fence with multiple vehicles driven by personnel moving packages of all kinds into those bases.
It was a comndable display, but Ezra’s eyes only widened for a bit before his expression reverted back to neutral.
"Follow " said Sidal as the security approached them to offer greetings.
With the boss in front, all clearances were completed smoothly and they soon arrived at the entrance of the largest storage unit Ezra had first laid eyes upon.
As Sidal had stated, the base had been emptied out.
"Is this big enough? Mr....that’s right, you haven’t told your na" Sidal inquired.
Fitted with advanced technology, the insides were more than expansive enough to contain the astral beast’s corpse.
"It is" Ezra replied. "And you call Sylvester"
After deliberating beforehand, he had chosen Sylvester because of how similar it sounded to Silver Star.
"Okay. Mr. Sylvester"
Raising his head in the direction of the base, he spoke without turning his head.
"Now, everyone should step back a bit"
Sidal looked at the head officer, who silently nodded, before signalling his security to step back.
Using his wits, Sidal had intercepted the head officer before he could report, else soone far more powerful and richer would’ve approached Ezra instead, snatching away the opportunity.
So, whilst the top-echelons had detected and announced the disappearance of the astral beast-which is why the barriers were taken down-they weren’t sure of what exactly had happened.
Once it was known that one person killed the beast alone, all the news outlets would start reporting it at headline news all over the star cluster.
By then, Sidal would probably have no chance to even et Sylvester.
Naturally, before approaching Ezra, Sidal had gotten information about his character from the head officer, since whilst they never interacted, the head officer’s character was known to most rchants on cretin.
His moral compass was straight as an arrow, which made him clash with officials quite often when they tried to flaunt the rules every now and then.
Therefore, he trusted the head officer’s judgent, which was why he was surprised when the head officer spoke of this person in good light and told him even though Ezra had single handedly killed the astral beast, was easy going and not arrogant at all.
Sidal beca ecstatic, his rchant sense tingling.
This ant negotiating with him would not be too much trouble.
If he auctioned off just one astral elixir, the fa of his rchant group would skyrocket!
Moreover, from the head officer’s words, this Silver Star fellow was definitely soone with a powerful background, aning creating connections with him could probably lead to many more opportunities.
While he had doubts as to why soone with powerful status would be working as a rcenary and even guard a stargate, he decided to trust the head officer and of course, his intuition.
This was also why he was willing to bring Ezra to one their main bases despite having just t him.
Otherwise, if Ezra decided to cause havoc in their base, they would incur losses in the millions and he would lose his job at the very least.
Worst case scenario, he could even lose his life.
So it was not incorrect to say he was putting his life on the line making such a risky move.
Just as he was thinking up the worst case scenario, Ezra activated
Actually, Ezra got it wrong as its correct na is , but the system read his intention, so it worked anyway.
A large area of space swirled, scaring Sidal and the security team who subconsciously stepped further backwards.
Suddenly, the astral beast’s massive body appeared on the floor of the base, shocking everyone.
Even though they’d all been part of the frenzied evacuation earlier, except for the officials and upper echelons, the reality of what had almost happened was oblivious to most of those on Cretin.
Which was why things went back to normal so quickly. After all, it hadn’t even been six hours since the astral beast attack.
Moreover, the Rosveller foundation governing the place downplayed the danger so as not to cause mass-hysteria.
Fear causes people to do very stupid things.
The fear of normal people towards astral beasts were mostly out of panic from hearsay rather than knowing how horrible astral beasts truly were, as very few people below transcendent had ever seen an astral beast.
Of those who did, only five percent of them live to tell the tale.
Sidal now knew why.
Reviews
All reviews (0)