Chapter Twenty-Seven

Big Mona received the report of his men. After tailing Lark for two days, they did not see anything out of the ordinary. The same went for his servants and guards. On the contrary, the routine of the noble was so mediocre that they doubted it at first, thinking that the young man was faking it. After all, it was not frequent to see a man so absorbed in reading books that he sat inside the library for more than a dozen hours, unmoving.

After checking the contents of the books the young man read, they found out that it was nothing but history. The information inside were nothing special, probably something mandatorily taught to schools for the nobility.

"Books, huh?" mumbled Big Mona. "Are you sure that's all he did during these past two days?"

Even the fat merchant couldn't believe it. After all, the young noble gave off the impression of a shrewd fox. He could not understand why such person, who came from a faraway town, would spend two of his precious days in the city inside a library – reading history books.

"We're sure," said the leader of the group. "We've been watching him even as he slept. We've also watched over his men. Aside from the guards spending some money on brothels, they did nothing unusual."

If possible, Big Mona wanted his men to find out how the young noble made the kalranes absorb so much energy from the sun — how he made these light stones shine so bright for such a long period of time.

"Ah, also a messenger from the Lord of the city came here."

Big Mona raised a brow. "And?"

"He asked me to give you this."

The envelope was sealed with the crest of the Lion City. Big Mona ripped open the envelope and read the letter inside.

"It's the same request," said Big Mona. "I'll be needing a dozen beastmen. Women, children, it doesn't matter."

"It's that time of the year again, huh?" said the masked leader. "Understood. We'll deliver it to the Lord."

Every year, a month after winter ends, the Lord of the Lion City would request several beastmen from the Merchants Guild. Big Mona was well aware of the fate of those slaves, but he couldn't care less. Even though he knew that they would be eaten by Lord of the Lion City to satiate his carnal desires, he would gladly sell them to him in exchange of vast amounts of money.

Several of the bigwigs in the Merchants Guild knew of this, but they kept quiet. After all, although the Lord have this peculiar desire for the meat of beastmen, he was a competent ruler. In just a few years after he assumed the position of the Lord, the Lion City prospered and quickly became one of the major cities of the Kingdom.

Two knocks were heard outside the door. A servant spoke, "Sir, the son of Duke Drakas is here."

Big Mona consciously fixed his tie. "Same place. Bring him to the room on the second floor."

"As you wish."

After his men finished their reports, Big Mona climbed the flight of stairs and went towards the room on the second floor. Just like before, a young noble, probably in his middle teens, awaited him while sitting on the couch.

"How's it?" Lark smiled the moment Big Mona entered. After the door shut tight, he added, "It's more than a day, right? I've made sure those samples would light up for a long period of time."

"A day and seven hours to be exact." Big Mona sat on the couch, his body sinking several inches in. "I doubt any kalranes from Emerald City's capable of that." He placed the samples given by Lark onto the table. "Those symbols engraved on the kalrane crystal – it's the reason for that phenomenon, right?"

"That much is obvious." Lark took the smaller sample and played with it using his fingers. "A normal kalrane wouldn't function like that otherwise."

As expected, Big Mona's conjecture was spot on. He studied the young noble before him. Although the trick behind the kalranes was revealed, he remained unbaffled, as though he expected it.

"You do realize that I can simply copy those symbols, no?" Big Mona's voice was grim, almost threatening. "Even if you protest against it, I can simply shut your lips. Even your father wouldn't notice."

Lark looked at the fat merchant, his eyes filled with amusement. He chuckled, "Is that supposed to be a threat?" Lightning crackled on the fingertips of Lark. After it channeled through the kalrane stone, the gem lit up for a split second then burst into minute pieces. Lark felt the men hiding in the shadows immediately move after that.

"What are you doing?" Big Mona glared. He raised a hand, signaling his men to stop and stay hidden for now.

Lark did not shrink and simply looked at the fat merchant in the eyes. "There's no need to tell your men to keep hiding. I couldn't care less anyway even if they're here."

That statement baffled Big Mona. His pupils dilated for a moment, but he immediately regained his composure.

But how did this young noble know that there were assassins hiding in the shadows of this room? Those men were warriors capable of competing even with low ranking knights. There was no way a noble dubbed as 'incompetent' by everyone would be able to sense them.

But the lightning. It's clear that this brat knows a bit of magic. And silent magic at that.

Big Mona stormed his mind for possible explanations. For now, he decided to feign ignorance.

"Men? What are you talking about—"

Lightning shot from the fingertips of Lark and hit the wall next to the door. It was so sudden that Big Mona reflexively jumped up from his couch. After several seconds, coughing sounds were heard in the room as a figure clad in black emerged from the place the lightning hit. He wobbled for a moment but managed to remain standing.

"That's what I'm talking about," said Lark. "There are nine of you. Come out, little pups."

Big Mona did not like what was happening. He could feel his grip on the negotiation table slowly slipping away from him.

"Show yourselves," said Big Mona.

One after another, figures clad in black appeared next to the fat merchant. They grabbed the hilt of their swords as bloodlust seeped out of their bodies.

"Your orders, sir?" said the leader.

"Stand over there for now." Big Mona pointed at the wall.

"Understood." The leader lowered his head. The assassin group went towards the wall and remained standing there, unmoving, eyes fixated on Lark.

Big Mona sat again on the couch. He stared at Lark. "How?"

"They've been tailing me for two days now," said Lark. The black figures obviously flinched upon that statement. Big Mona bewilderedly looked over their direction. "Of course, I'll notice."

Lark sighed. "Hey, it'll be quite troublesome to make an enemy of a big wig like you, but listen – there's no way for you to copy those symbols and inscriptions on the Kalranes. I'm pretty sure of it. I'm here to make a fair deal with you. You're a merchant, right? It should be obvious by now that you'll make loads of money from this."

If Lark had said these moments ago, back when he had not yet shown his abilities, Mona would have easily brushed it off as a joke. But now, he had this impression that this young noble was telling the truth. If there was a special method known only to him, and that it would be impossible for others to copy the symbols on the kalranes, then it would explain why he willingly gifted these stones to the Merchants Guild.

Should he torture him and make him spit out information? Big Mona pondered for a while and eventually decided against it. The risk far outweighed the benefits. Furthermore, he was now unsure if the assassin group in this room would be capable of stopping him once he directly attacked the merchant. After all, this was the first time someone easily saw through his men hiding in the shadows.

Although he would be unable to gain full monopoly in this deal, it would still be a good business proposition.

Big Mona finally decided.

"Alright," sighed Big Mona. His predatory eyes turned cordial. "I'm sorry for the behavior of my men before," he brushed off the incident as though he never gave them the order at all, "Rest assured, they'll stop following you after this."

"And my men too," added Lark. "Stop following them."

Big Mona almost swallowed. "Of course." He looked at the larger sample of the kalrane stone. "I'll get straight to the point. Two golds and fifty silvers for large ones, a gold for the smaller stones. How's that sound?"

"Three gold." Lark raised three fingers. "A gold and fifteen silvers for the smaller ones."

The price was within Big Mona's set haggling limits. He pretended to ponder for a while before eventually bobbing his head. "Alright."

Lark smiled and offered his hand. "Then, it'll be a pleasure doing business with you from now on."

Big Mona shook his hand for a few seconds. "You said before that you plan on supplying kalranes to the entire Kingdom. I want to hear more of that plan."

"Of course," said Lark.