208 Making a deal with the Cold Moon Palace

Arrora wanted to follow Don but looking at his gaze, she understood that he wanted to go alone as she stayed behind and looked for Yi Shu in the crowd.

When Don stepped into the tent, he saw fancy sofas, tables filled with food and drinks. Baxter and Lara took the seats behind the long oak table while Don stood there with the old mage.

"I heard you got yourself a purple restoration pill"

Baxter said.

"Where did you get that? How come you still have it since everyone was robbed by those thieves?"

Aster shouted at Don but he calmly shook his head.

"Miss Aster, I got this pill as a reward for completing the wave two in the arena"

"Give me your ring"

Aster rushed at him and grabbed his ring without even asking his permission because of the anger and the grief of losing her friend, Chase.

"Be my guest"

Rosaline couldn't find any signs of him lying because Don was trained to lie professionally and an amateur like her couldn't catch him.

"There are some herbs I found in the forest and the dagger was another reward"

Don said while Aster was searching through his ring and waited for her to give the ring back to him.

"Did you see Chase by any chance?"

Rosaline asked Don

"No, Miss Rosaline, when I reached the scroll building, I barely escaped that two golems, I only saw some injured people and I didn't see Miss Chase"

"Aster, give it back"

Rosaline grabbed the ring from Aster's hand and tossed it towards Don.

"Fabian, take Rosaline and Aster outside, we need to talk to him alone"

Rosaline didn't wait for the Old mage as she bowed towards Lara and Baxter and dragged Aster outside the tent with her.

"What's your name?"

Lara asked Don

"I'm James Steiner, my lady"

Don bowed towards the two of them like Rosaline

"I was born in Bracidia but I basically grew up on the roads because my family owns a little merchant company "

Don knew they would only care if he's from any major sects or a powerful kingdom. Since he told them that he's from a merchant family that travels a lot, they would ask fewer questions about his background because a major power like the Cold Moon Palace wouldn't care about small-time merchants but still treat them cautiously. After all, the traveling merchants tend to have connections and they often deal with the rogue cultivators to earn their favors.

"Alright James, let me get straight to the point, do you have any intention to sell the pill in your ring?"

Now that the fish took the bait, Don had to carefully reel them in to help him.

Don quickly shook his head and apologetically lowered his head 

"Forgive me, my lord, my lady, the pill isn't mine to give you. It belongs to the king of Agoria and Emir"

"How come?"

Lara frowned and asked him

Lara and Baxter heard little of Don after the gathering but they didn't care much about a king of a rank four kingdom.

"But my lord, my lady, if you don't mind, can I suggest something?"

He said in a very polite and respectful voice because he knew that powerful people like them have short fuses as even some little things would make them angry.

"What is it?"

Lara asked

"He was looking to trade the pill with a mercenary guild for their protection"

"Protection from what?"

Baxter was slightly surprised to hear that he's going to trade this precious treasure with the mercenary guild

"Protection during the ritual my lord, he's going to root the water spirit in Emir"

"Where did he get a water spirit?"

Don was glad to see Lara is not shocked the water spirit didn't shock them as much as Knight said and by looking at their expression, he could tell that they do not need a water spirit.

"That I don't know, my lady, but if respectful leaders like you send someone saying that Cold Moon Palace would protect the water spirit, I'm sure he would give you the pill, to be honest, if I can trade this pill for your word, I might even get some rewards from him because no mercenary guild in this world can be compared to the legendary Cold Moon Palace "

Don smiled and sprinkled them with compliments that were neither too much nor too little.

Lara and Baxter nodded with a proud grin when they heard him.

"Are you sure that you can speak for him, James?"

"I've never been so sure in my life, my lord, he even asked me to stay during the ritual to protect the water spirit, so I know that he would give you the pill for your protection, forgive me for my rudeness my lord but one must be retarded to refuse the help of Cold Moon Palace elders such yourselves, I know some kings and nobles who would kill to get help from you. King Don knows this very well, my lord"

The proud grin on his face grew bigger while Don was speaking so highly of the Cold Moon Palace and him.

"Alright, tell him, I, Baxter Franz is giving my word that I would protect the water spirit during the ritual and whoever tried to intervene with the ritual must face the wrath of the Cold Moon Palace"

Don smiled and bowed towards Baxter and Lara.

"The next full moon would be an ideal time for the ritual, tell him to start the ritual on that day so the ritual would end quickly, we'd be there to collect the pill afterward, and James makes sure that he gives us the pill or you both would pay the price for"

"My lord, I promise that he will give you the pill, I bet my life on it"

Don quickly said before Baxter could finish his sentence as Baxter and Lara nodded.

"What are you getting out of this deal, James?"

Lara asked.

"A business opportunity, my lady, after rooting the water spirit, merchants would come like a flood looking for new business opportunities in Emir and my family would get the bigger piece of the pie"

Don talked like a greedy merchant and Lara knew that merchants like James would prefer spending their time doing profitable businesses rather than cultivating.

Plus, besides the pill, there was nothing special inside his ring which showed that James didn't take many risks but played safe, got a pill by luck, and survived the dungeon.

"Here, give this to Don and tell him to break this before the ritual"

Baxter retrieved a silver moon-shaped crescent and tossed it towards James.

"Now go"

Lara and Bastard waved their hands as Don bowed again and walked out of the tent with a relaxed sigh.

When Don stepped out he saw Arrora was waiting for him with a nervous look on her face but as she saw him, she sighed and loosened.

"Come on, let's go"

Don noticed that the barrier had disappeared and the survivors being treated approached by several people in various uniforms.

"How did it go back there?"

After walking away from the main tent, Arrora asked him in a low pitched voice

"Better than I expected"

"Why are you peasants still here? Are you expecting the champions to join your pathetic sect?"

While Don was walking towards the exit, he noticed a squabble between a few rich looking youths and youths in normal ragged clothes.

The booth where they were standing looked nothing fancy but seemed like a poor man's hut. The youths in ragged clothes wore the crest that matched the flag flying above the tent.

"Clear Lake Sect"

Don read the name of the sect on the flag and did not intervene because it was none of his business and he would get nothing by intervening in this kind of squabble between students.

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"Is the salad ready?! What happened to the roast there?! Someone bring me those milk apples!"

At the moment in Everlight, Amaryll was shouting and running around the kitchen. Every single one of the cooks and the helpers in the kitchen was busy with preparing food as Arwen entered the kitchen.

"Relax, Amaryll, I'm sure everything will be prepared on time"

Arwen had almost finished decorating the streets and the buildings with flowers, colorful stones, and banners for Don's return from the dungeon.

"No, it will not, we still need to prepare salads for Don, Knight's favorite the stir-fried white boar, snow chicken pastries for Arrora and I want everything to be perfect, who knows what they ate for the last thirty days"

"It's only seven days for them, you know"

Arwen smiled and took a bite from the milk apple on the tray 

"I don't care, its a month for us, now pass me that fish "

Amaryll had neither the time nor the mood to argue with Arwen as she had her hands full with the cooking.

"What are you two looking at? If I don't see the fire catfish inside the oven, I'll put you two bony buggers into the oven instead and roast you with thyme and rosemaries "

The two goblins of her squealed as they shouted in their language and ran away as fast as they could from Amaryll to prepare the catfish.

"Poor bastards"

Arwen smiled looking at the goblins and amused himself by watching the chaos in the kitchen while eating his milk apple.