Chapter 29 - Hide?

"..are you always this insolent?" The Duke was really amazed by what he heard.. wasn't he afraid of him at all?

"I'm just telling the truth, your majesty."

"Well, you have fully captured my attention. You say I can't take make a move on you, but at the same time, you need me to *balance the stakes* against your family, how are you planning to do that?

I won't sit you in my lap, give you a 200 coins allowance per month, and even put myself in an awkward situation with the Duchy of Alton for nothing! I can just kill you or hand you to the Altons in exchange for benefits"

"That's what I want to hear, now we can talk" Robin smiled and leaned hopefully, "I've got something you want."

"Haha, what do you, a 13-year-old, have and this duke doesn't?"

"Don't forget that you are here to get my the White candle Technique, please don't underestimate me, it has its consequences," Robin said seriously

"you are not funny at all, are you? just tell me what else you have then." Galan was very annoyed, from the start of the conversation until now he couldn't win.

"I have this." Robin took out a palm-sized beast hide from his pocket, it was completely ordinary and blank, except for a simple flame drawing with the number 6 in the middle of the flame.

"What is this?" The duke quickly examined this piece of beast hide, soon realizing that it isn't as simple as it looks.. the piece of skin was exuding a clear fiery power, "What kind of a beast is this?"

"Oh, that skin is just a red rabbit, this species can be found with large Quantity in any beast zone," Robin replied casually

"How is it possible that just a red rabbit's skin has such strength? Boy, I advise you not to try playing tricks on me!"

"Haha, this is not the time to be surprised yet. lady Mila, do you have a large space here? A training ground for example or something similar.."

Mila was surprised by the question and replied, "Yes, I have."

"Excellent, let's go then!" Then Robin stood up and looked at the Duke, waiting for his reply

"Heh~ alright let's see what you got." The Duke rose and led the way toward the training ground.

This training ground was meant for bodyguards, or more precisely.. the personal troops of Mila Bradley.

the training ground was attached to Mila's house so they quickly arrived, an area of about 100 square meters, backed with about 500 fighters whose strength ranged from 6 to 10.

This force is actually very good for an elite troop, normal armies are usually made up of people at levels between 3~5.

"clear the area at once," Mila shouted, in complete silence the 500 soldiers left whatever they were doing and lined up in two parallel rows to one side within moments, causing Robin to whistle, "Good discipline,"

"Hmph, just do what you want to do quickly."

"Haha, well, well, mister Duke, I advice you to keep your eyes on this piece of hide."

Robin passed some energy into it, this made the soft piece of hide become so hard that it can be used as a knife, then threw it to the middle of the field...

Everyone had their eyes on the piece of hide, both Galan and Milla, uncle brown, and the soldiers... Even Caesar didn't know what this was!

suddenly Robin made a hand gesture.

*Boooooom*

A huge explosion took place in the middle of the field.

Some soldiers took a step back, while everyone opened their eyes to the extreme, even Mila covered her mouth with her hands.

"What was this? How could such energy be stored within just a piece of rabbit hide!?"

"The explosion can be compared to a full attack from a person at the sixth level…."

" but those of the sixth level can't use the laws to attack!"

"you are right, and the damaged area is much bigger than what a sixth-level fighter can achieve."

"Right, a single piece of skin can seriously kill or seriously injure more than twenty soldiers at the same time!"

Uncle Brown, and even senior officials and elite army commanders roared in the training area

"Whatever we have just seen is something new to the world, you are right, boy... It looks like that you really are the creator of that white candle.

But..why do you think that piece of skin can compensate me for claiming the White candle technique? It is really strange and new, but the explosion is barely equal to the full attack power of a sixth-level person," said the Duke as he tried to suppress his excitement as much as possible.. Whatever the outcome of today's meeting.. he found himself a gold mine!

At this moment he felt like he was hit by a thunderbolt, "Unless...."

"Looks like you've figured it out already, I see you're not a duke out of the blue.. Indeed, I can mass-produce this kind of hide. You can sell them to the sons of countless nobles or you can use them to strengthen your army and expand your lands.. Whatever you do with it, it will reward you with much MUCH more than getting a single White Candle technique from me."

The Duke's eyes were starting to shine with stars, this is far better than he expected!! Indeed, the sons of the nobles are large in number, and their fathers will not be stingy in buying something like this for them.

And if his army was equipped with enough quantity of these hides.. What would they look like in the battle? If 50 of them were thrown at an 18th-level cultivator, what would happen? He saw Robin makes a gesture with his hand before the hide detonated, does that mean it could be used in ambushes? The endless possibilities of using this new weapon began to accelerate in the Duke's head and with it the blood flowing through his body. even his body hair began to stand up.. He saw a brilliant future waiting for his duchy.

"How many can you supply me per month and how much does it cost to produce?"

"I can sell you a 100 of these hides per month, the price will be 20 gold coins per one."

"That's a lot! I can buy a few good slaves for that amount," the Duke shouted

"you can buy a 20 coins slave that can kill this many enemy soldiers? haha please tell me where can I get those! just listen to me, the land you gain from your campaigns using my weapon will be more than enough to make up for your expenses...You can even sell some to cover costs while keeping the rest for your army. however you look at it, You won't lose out on this exchange"

"...How do I explain the sudden appearance of these skins when the royal family asks me?"

"Just sell them some hides then, and tell them you've met an independent mad scientist that doesn't want to be known, and that you'll serve as his middleman in the mortal world."

"But... what are you, really?"

"Haha, you won't lie, I'm just a crazy scientist."

"...I have one last question, you could have told me that you had a powerful teacher who passed you the technique and even these hides, and I would have believed you and tried to use you to make a relationship with him… Why did you directly admit that you are the inventor?" this question was in everyone's head and they all turned to him waiting for his answer, all but Caesar who just smiled and shook his head.. he knew quite well what his father would say

"Why the hell would I attribute my hard work to a fictional character? If you are that stupid and decided to make a move against me despite all of what you saw, then I will just die. this is your loss and the loss of the whole world, not mine." Robin shrugged and gave a loud laugh

The place was silent for a while, then they too burst out laughing.. This kid's arrogance knew no bounds, but he was actually right!

"Okay well...what's the name of your invention? We won't keep calling them weird hides, are we?" asked Mila

"Hmm, let's call it.... talisman."