Interspecies Trader

There was no need to deliberate too much. These conditions were extremely favorable to me.

“I accept.”

“Good. Tell us if you need anything and we’ll help you as best as we can.”

“I’ll need as much information about the disease as possible.”

“That’s not a problem. Crali.”

The daughter reluctantly took some documents from the pile that was on her desk and handed them to me.

“This is the list of symptoms that we found so far. This one has some notes from herbalists and that one from life mages.”@@novelbin@@

“Thank you. As I said, I can’t promise anything but I’ll try my best to help.”

The mother nodded while the daughter snickered disdainfully. I greeted both one last time and exited the tent. My destination was obvious. As soon as I was out of sight and felt no one was paying me any attention, I teleported to 82.

**********

A few moments after Tila left the tent, Crali looked at her mother with an exasperated expression.

“Mom! Why did you give such generous conditions to that greedy buffoon?”

Angin returned a gaze full of pity at her offspring.

“Fortunately, I’m still alive or my baby would’ve sent Geola to hell multiple times over.”

“Stop calling me like that! I’m 29, by sel!”

“29 and you still can’t see anything about who you’re facing.”

This made the younger one pause.

“…What do you mean? There was nothing special about him, right? Or maybe… No way, is he hiding his rank like you?”

“It took you long enough to realize. That’s right. The one you call a buffoon is probably the person I would least want to become my enemy in this region. Or maybe even in the world.”

“T-that strong? High-ranked? Or… Transcendent?”

“No, not strong like this. My instinct told me he hasn’t crossed the wall of rank 7 yet.”

“Ah… You scared me. But then, what’s the problem with him? It’s impressive that he’s able to hide his rank but that’s all there is to it, right? Isn’t he just a nobody?”

This made Angin sigh.

“Silly girl. As far as I could tell, he’s much younger than you. And he’s also stronger than you. Also… I’m not even sure I could have killed him even if I wanted to.”

“W-wait! Younger than me, rank 6 or less, and you can’t kill him? What are you talking about, Mom?”

“Hopeless girl. Why don’t you ever use your head? Why do you think I asked for his help specifically?”

“How can I know that?”

“Think. What was special about him?”

“Nothing except that he was handling new technology.”

“And where did he get that technology?”

“I also tried to guess that but there’s not enough clues. It could come from anywhere.”

“Wrong. Something that no one here has seen before? That no one can even reproduce? If there was something like that in the world, we would have at least heard rumors about it. We’re the largest trading city in Bankil.”

“But then… where? If it’s not from this world then… Huh, you don’t mean…? From inside the domes?”

Angin nodded while enjoying her daughter’s shocked expression.

“That’s right. To think you’d never reach the correct answer if I didn’t guide you that much. Geola’s doomed in your hands.”

“Argh! Stop making fun of me! You’re the one who told me to manage the city in your place!”

“My poor city, ruled by a moronic girl… Sigh. She can’t have inherited this from me. Is it the father? It must be. Sigh.”

“Mom!”

“All right, back to the topic. Do you understand what this means?”

“It means… It means… He’s a human who comes from inside the domes?”

“Oh my sel… Can’t you do anything but spout the obvious?”

“Argh! It’s because you don’t give me enough time to think!”

“Oh, really? Then take your time and tell me.”

Crali closed her eyes and focused all her mental power on the task. If the man was coming from inside the domes, that meant he was a human. If he was a human, that meant… He was from a species unseen for centuries. And he had access to the superior technology that apparently existed there. Since he’s been selling it regularly, that meant… he had the means to go in and out of the domes!

“I know! He’s able to go in and out of the domes!”

“How?”

“How…? W-wait a bit more.”

Crali ignored the sigh that her mother purposely released to annoy her and went back to her thought process. Tila could come in and out of the domes at will. That meant he had found a way to cross the otherwise impenetrable domes. It was something even transcendent couldn’t destroy but he hadn’t even become high-ranked. An idea came to her mind.

“Did the humans there develop a technology that allow them to escape the domes?”

“That doesn’t make any sense. If that was the case, they would have come out as a group, even if only for protection. And they wouldn’t recklessly sell their technology here. Try again.”

If it wasn’t technology, then the only thing left was affinity. And if talking about an affinity that could escape physical restriction and move as they pleased, there was only one.

“He’s a spatial mage!”

“I almost died waiting. Do you understand now why we shouldn’t antagonize him?”

“Spatial mages are thought to be extinct. No one has seen anyone with space affinity since humans secluded themselves In their domes. He’s a unique person in this world.”

“Yes. What’s more, he’s probably acting alone, without letting other humans know. Both his abilities and knowledge are extremely invaluable. He also understood this and chose to become a trader since the profession is very suitable with spatial spells.”

“But then, that means… You want him to find a cure from the humans inside the domes!”

“That’s correct. And if he succeeds, we’ll use that opportunity to shower him with rewards and make him our ally.”

Crali finally looked like she had seen the light, her expression of amazement making her mother smile.

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