Arc | Chapter. 71: Bindings & Contracts (Patreon)

Chapter. 71: Bindings & Contracts

Ceylon had been nervous throughout the whole negotiation, from where it started to the middle to now. However, things were… weird. Alderman, the Grand Duke of Draliz, was… actually negotiating with her? For some reason, he hadn’t actually completely tried to lowball her? In fact, the agreed price was something that Ceylon found reasonable.

But now, she was more nervous than ever and only because of a single reason; the terms of use or resale came, because it was a sale in bulk; it was silently agreed that with such a rare item such stipulations would be made. Any sale was like that. And finally, it had finally gotten to that point.

Alderman smiled at her, his bandaged face slightly wrinkling as his black hair hung upon his dark purple eyes.

“Well now, Miss Ceylon, what kind of distribution terms do you have for me? Or special demands?” he asked softly.

Here it came…

Ceylon had thought about it as soon as the bulk order had been made. Theoretically, Arc had made enough ice to supply half of the entire country. It was a whole warehouse. With such quantity, the business would automatically be oversaturated if Alderman chose to sell his ice; at least that’s how Ceylon felt. Of course, it was a venture that was a one time thing, but if she could make it so the business wouldn’t be impacted it would be amazing.

The problem was denying distribution rights.

And wording it reasonably.

Or rather, even saying it; the wording didn’t need to be sugar coated because in the end, it meant what it meant. It was just the nervousness that stopped her.

“So?” Alderman laid back. “You can write them down if they are too hard to say.”

Ceylon did not feel the slightest pressure from the man, which weirded her out and in fact⁠— it made her even more nervous. But, she couldn’t back out from things. It took her perhaps a couple of seconds but she finally recollected herself.

“There is a single term, but it’s not easy.”

“Shoot.” The man before her smiled.

Ceylon’s heart skipped a beat but she remained steady by taking a breath. And a moment later she spoke.

“The everlasting ice cannot be resold within Draliz’s territory.” She breathed, the world suddenly felt slower⁠— was she being too greedy?! No, but if Alderman found it unreasonable he could renegotiate⁠—

“Sure.” He grinned. “The everlasting ice shan’t be distributed or sold within the territory of Draliz.”

Ceylon blinked. “What will you do with it then…?”

“I’m sure there are a few territories incredibly interested in it,” he said confidently. “Though, not something that you are entitled to know. Our business here is close to done.”

She took a moment to gather herself, but Ceylon nodded. “Indeed it is.”

“Very well, then one-thousand-four-hundred mythril for the entire warehouse plus our agreed terms?”

“Yes, that is the case.” Ceylon’s heart was rushing⁠— it was really unbelievable.

One-thousand-four-hundred mythril⁠— that was more than the entirety of Arlow’s net worth. The entire family was worth around six-hundred mythril, and now their net worth was about to triple. It was certainly enough for their status to rise to the heights of a Duke, and Ceylon was certain that it was scraping the upper limit of it, with the next rank being Archduke, and finally…

Grand Duke.

Just mere two noble ranks away from being able to compete for the crown thanks to a single deal. But⁠ the deal had yet to seal⁠—

“Alright, then let us draft the contract right now.” Alderman said taking out a ring. “I should have enough on my person.”

Ceylon paused, and a moment later seven coin pouches appeared on the table, all glistening with white coins.

“Two-hundred coins in each pouch.”

Her eyes widened for a moment. Already? However, Ceylon recovered herself as she grabbed a piece of paper to begin writing down the agreement. Alderman chuckled at the sight. There was no doubt about it, Ceylon knew deep down that the Grand Duke before her didn’t intend to scam her or do anything.

For some reason or another the man needed the everlasting ice. Ceylon didn’t know why, but it wasn’t something that concerned her, instead she focused on what was most important to her now.

Signing the contract and kickstarting a new business with the funds.

* * * * *

We found a town not too long after, it took at most an hour of flying before we landed close by. If I was honest, I expected it to be slightly faster, but I also wasn’t too worried about being spotted riding yet another dragon.

Though, I had to say, it was quite nice to experience flights from different mythical creatures, it… admittedly stroked my ego. Even if all of them were dragons, their speed was slightly different amongst them; Regis’karr being the fastest while the Dragon of Water was the most comfortable to ride on. I didn’t have an opinion of Malz yet. And asking her would probably be awkward.

Nonetheless it was nice.

We dropped down onto the scarlet sands of the vast desert of the Miri-Sunre republic, the bright sun shone down on us with a searing heat that distorted the air. On the horizon, the sand dunes moved like waves from the scorching temperatures. And yet, I didn’t feel any discomfort in my winter clothes, which well being fair wasn’t unexpected. I had been traveling with the exact same outfit since coming to this territory.

I stretched as the Dragon of Water turned back to his human form, then shortly after we set off towards the town. The walk there was uneventful, except for a random gigantic scorpion that appeared, but with a flick of his finger the Dragon of Water made it die without any of us doing anything.

If I was honest, I was glad he was enslaved. The water element seemed rather terrifying after all. Though, if I ever let him go, I was certain that I could still kill him given the understanding that I currently had.

That said…

“Dragon of Water, what about the Hero of Water?” I asked.

“It’s a heroine,” he corrected. “And she’s alive.”

“Who would win between you two, can she control the blood of beings too?” I asked, raising my brow.

“I don’t know, I’ve never met her. Based on rumors she is probably stronger than me, she fought the Hero of Flames in the past but they avoid each other now.” He shook his head. “As for being able to control blood, she should be able to, though any magic power that goes above the skill will automatically negate it, that’s why you⁠—”

“Okay I see,” I interrupted. “Is there a way to guarantee my skills will always be the strongest in terms of magic power?”

“No, it’s an intrinsic part of the skill.” The Dragon of Earth responded instead. “Unfortunately, the most common method is to simply learn a new skill ⁠— since they scale according to level at which they are learned; though unreliable. And the other method is to modify an existing skill into a stronger variant which is…” He shook his head.

I nodded. “I see that doesn’t sound too bad, I’ll think about it.”

There was no reply to what I said, but I could tell the Dragon of Earth had a hard time believing what I had just said. Malz on the other hand simply nodded, Regis’karr did so reluctantly and Faral just briefly stared.

Which was… fair from her. Thinking about it she had agreed to be my servant, but I had asked nothing of her. In fact, she had been silently tagging along this entire time. Though I wasn’t going to change any of that, not for as long as the Dragon of Water was around⁠. At the same time, I didn’t know what I could use Faral for either.

Minutes after we reached the entrance of the town, and entered without problem, the guards nodded at the Dragon of Water, Regiskarr, and the Dragon of Earth in acknowledgement while we were ignored. I didn’t mind it, though I knew that if we continued to stay in the republic I’d eventually get angry.

Finally, we wandered around for a few minutes before finding ourselves in a restaurant. And menus were given. I smiled looking at the meat filled menu and I knew that I was going to enjoy this to the fullest before we headed home.

And I fully intended to make the Dragon of Water pay for it.

I met his gaze and he immediately nodded reluctantly knowing what I expected of him.

Enslaving him had truly been one of the greatest deals of all time.

* * * * *

Faral didn’t know what to feel right now, she had agreed to essentially let go of her dignity but so far she had been nothing more than a bystander; an observer who had nothing to input. She just watched as Arc handled things and did her own things, all while the dragons did so too.

And well, she too was one of the dragon elders, but Faral wasn’t used to… this. Whatever it was.

Malz was excitedly telling Arc about heroes, Regis’karr was conversing with the Dragon of Earth and the Dragon of Water was just sitting there⁠— just like her. It was odd. Faral wasn’t used to being the outsider, there were hardly any meetings across the elders so the distance of their kinship never really settled on her either.

So, here she was feeling like a stranger. Sure, she was aware that the dragons generally slept their time away, but she was different ⁠— for the most part ⁠— aside from a decade long nap every three decades, she was active in the world⁠.

She closed her eyes and pictures a beautiful forest, where she had met the elves, a race with high magic affinity and an eternally long lifespan. Their territory was very small, that’s why she acted as their guardian but now…

Faral looked up watching Arc stuff herself with food, and Malz did the same. The Dragon of Earth watched, though this time the Dragon of Water was eating too, just in a reserved manner. She had helped herself earlier so she didn’t feel hungry.

A quiet sigh left her.

What was she even doing?

The Dragon of Earth turned to her. “So, how long do you think you will be in this position?”

“I hope that it’s not more than five years… hopefully less than three…” Faral shook her head. “I have a place to return.”

“That forest?” The Dragon of Earth raised his brow. “I thought it was empty.”

“It is…” Faral trailed off. “I just left some things that cannot be stumbled upon.”

“Maybe you could request Arc for permission to go there, or accompany you,” he suggested casually. “Our… queen is quite reasonable even if eccentric.”

“I heard you,” Arc said flatly. “But I don’t disagree given my actions.”

With that she continued eating. Faral paused and shook her head.

“I think it's best to leave it for now…”

The elves were secretive all things considered, few people knew of their existence, and she herself acted as the elusive dragon that defended the territory from them being discovered. Not to say the race couldn’t fend for themselves, but Faral was worried.

Just how was she going to get back?

* * * * *

I enjoyed the food, and was left with a satisfied smile. Soon after a waiter came and the Dragon of Water paid for us. It was… nice. Though we immediately left town, I had no intention of staying around.

We walked in silence for minutes before finally, we stopped in the middle of the desert. The sun slightly less radiant, the shadows of the sand dunes casting in a much taller and prominent way, and the atmosphere; rather tense. And it was clear as to why it was like this. The Dragon of Earth was the first one to speak.

“I shall return to the Maw of Dragons, who is coming?” He glanced past Faral and the Dragon of Water, for their destinies were with me for now.

“I… intend to stay around if Arc allows it,” Malz said awkwardly. “Otherwise I shall return.” She turned to me. “Remember what you said about thinking about it?”

I paused for a moment but ultimately nodded. It… really wasn’t that hard to think about it. The answer was obvious.

“Yeah, you can accompany me on my journey.”

Malz smiled deeply but didn’t say anything as she just nodded. Then the Dragon of Earth turned to Regis’karr who flinched slightly.

“I don’t… I guess I’d like to stay around Arc for a little longer…” he said second-guessing himself.

“Very well,” the Dragon of Earth said simply. “Then I shall return alone.”

With those words he transformed into a dragon, the sand dunes shifting to stand taller for more coverage of our presences. He regarded everyone for a moment before finally stopping on me, and with a nod he spoke.

“We shall meet again, Dragon Queen of Frost.”

He flapped his wings, and immediately took flight, leaving us alone.

I turned to the rest of the group. “We are returning to Draliz, and only one dragon will be flying. It attracts too much attention otherwise.”

There was a pause, and the Dragon of Water reluctantly nodded, but Regis’karr spoke up.

“Perhaps I could be of use, they are probably familiar with my presence around there so if I get seen it shouldn’t cause much trouble⁠—”

“I could do it covertly, no one would see us if I use my SS Tier skills,” Malz said with a weird tone.

The Dragon of Water stayed silent, but Faral stepped forward, hesitation on her face evident.

“I can make the trip last a couple hours rather than more than a day,” she said, closing her eyes. “I think that’s probably for the best, if necessary we can switch to Malz or Regis’karr when we are about to enter the continent of Draliz in order to be more inconspicuous.”

I blinked. “That is… just because you’re my⁠—”

“I know it doesn’t mean I have to force myself to do things.” She sighed. “But I want to help rather than stand around as I’ve been doing.”

“Right, then I think it’s best we ride you.”

Malz held off a sneer while everyone else nodded. I wondered if it was a mistake to keep Malz around, but… I wasn’t sure yet.

The Dragon of Wind transformed and soon we set off, taking to the skies as the air around us essentially disappeared, and then the world began to blur as something was muttered by Faral as we set off at extraordinary speeds.

I didn’t know if bringing Malz was a mistake or not.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to think about it as we reached our destination in just a few hours.

* * * * *

Ceylon let out a sigh of relief as Alderman stepped out of the room. The deal had been finalized. It was done. After numerous hours of drafting the contract they were done…

She plopped down on her seat, tired, however it didn’t last long before the door was knocked on just moments later. A bad feeling crept upon Ceylon; was Alderman back? She tensed and immediately spoke up.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Ceylon watched a young and tall man of orange hair and red eyes, his suit intricate and his aura emanating with strength. And yet as soon as she laid eyes on him she tensed, her whole body shivered in alarm; she had done her research after that night with Arc, she recognized the appearance based on illustration and even a picture, it was none other than⁠…

“Greetings, Ceylon Arlow,” He lightly bowed as she shivered. “I’m here for one simple reason, and that is for information about your companion, Arc.”

The Hero of Flames…

And Ceylon couldn’t help but gulp in fear at the unexpected visitor.