Chapter 15 Business Expedition

While Pandora focused on cultivating her internal energy which represented the only barrier between herself and attaining sainthood, and Juvia focused her attention on going through the contracts and the information about the newly discovered energy ore mines, Leonardo left the inn for a bit of shopping down the market street while simultaneously investigating the economical situation of Valdmor personally.

…

"Today, you just stand back and watch how I do business. Remember two things, a statement and a question," Leonardo spoke to Juvia who was no longer cloaked, but had her charms on full display with a long silver ponytail, a set of clean rectangular reading glasses, and a white formal suit cut low to reveal a deep pale cleavage.

Other than her sharply pointed elven ears, there was nothing left to associate this beauty with the former haughty princess.

"Partners are nothing but temporary allies in business!" Juvia continued to speak for her lead, "As for the question… You asked me, why is it worth it to hoard that 1%" Juvia fixed the position of her glasses while talking, something she found herself addicted to for some reason.

Leonardo nodded. "I was wondering, is your royal family aware of the existence of these mines? I mean, according to the information, the high saint of the human domain, basically it's Sovereign and Emperor, sensed the usual energy fluctuations with his extensive consciousness, resulting in a contest between the three imperial heirs, two kings and the sole queen, as to who would monopolize the mines without external aid from their respective kingdoms."

"If my speculations are spot on, this might be an agreement between the three domains to determine who they should deposit in this land to expand the influence of their respective kingdoms. The question is, who will the beast domain and elven domain send to Valdmor? How many heirs are there? What method would they use? Are they going to split the domain equally between the three domains or contest for supremacy?"

"If you were to come face to face with one of your royal siblings, especially the current heir, the son of a former concubine, can you keep your emotions in check?" Leonardo paused in the streets and leveled a calm gaze at Juvia, who also stopped silently.

She never thought that far into the future, but now with this brought to her attention, what would she do if that happened? Leonardo could see the confusion and hesitation in his eyes so he snapped at her in a high, clear voice that reverberated throughout the street, "Winter Soldier!"

Leonardo's shout routed Juvia from her muddled state of mind as she reflexively answered, "Leader!"

Then, realization struck the confused princess. She was no longer a princess to speak of, and by extension, the affairs of the elven kingdom no longer held sway over her current life. Even if her family stood face to face with her in the same room, she doubted they'd recognize her new persona.

Leonardo's shout attracted a lot of attention, some of which was the negative kind of attention revolving around Juvia's mature body and ripe figure. At first glance, Leonardo and Juvia looked like a pair of siblings, but that obviously wasn't the case judging from their interactions.

"Leo my friend, why so agitated?" Jeffery stepped from within the crowd with a hearty laugh as he approached the pair with open arms, silently observing Juvia for any particular details. Winter Soldier? What was that supposed to mean? The fat man thought inwardly but the smile never left his face.

"You didn't have to come all the way here, we were on our way to the main gate to meet up with you, Jeff." Leonardo responded with a flat smile, acting as though he didn't notice Jeffery's gesture for a hug.

Jeffery noticed the tacit refusal and proceeded to clap his fat hands together with a grin, "I was on my way there too, that was until I heard you shout at this beautiful lady…"

"She's my business secretary— aide; Winter Soldier. You can call her Winter, that works as well." Leonardo introduced before turning over to look at Juvia, "This gentleman is my business partner and at the same time, the recipient of my long-term investment, Jeffery."

Juvia fixed her flashy glasses with her right index and middle fingers before giving Jeffery a slight nod, but other than that, she remained silent.

In the world of business, words are one's protective plates and ammunition. One may just call them a double edged sword; if you don't know what to say, say nothing at all.

Jeffery served directly under the sole female leader to one of the three human kingdoms; Queen Adeline of House Sylvia. Because of his investment, Jeffery didn't mind providing Leonardo with some basic information about how things work in the human domain.

At the top of the food chain was the Sovereign, and no one knows how high his or her cultivation is. Below the Sovereign are the three Kings, supposedly the three ancient lineages since the establishment of the human, elven, and beast domains.

These lineages are House Sylvia, House Venus, and House Exodia. Since the capacity for high saints on the level of Sovereignty on planet Arcadia is limited to three individuals, the quota was split evenly between the three domains, and the quota for the human domain was up for grabs to each of the three kingdoms under the guise of a fair competition.

Of course, the Sovereign is forbidden from involving themselves in the secular world, so as to not break the balance of power between the three houses. Furthermore, the competition to elect a new Sovereign is always ever-changing and unpredictable because the current Sovereign sets the rules.

Since the Sovereign could sense the usual fluctuations of the birth of an energy ore mine, they decided that the house that could start from scratch in the forbidden domain and successfully monopolize the mines will regain the rights to elect a Sovereign candidate from their house.

Of course, Leonardo concealed this information from Juvia. Although he was positive that she's aware of the entire Sovereignty succession rituals, she most likely remains oblivious as to how the human domain handles their successions, much like how the human domain remains oblivious to the elven and beast domains' civil affairs.

From Juvia's perspective, this is merely a profitable business venture that caught the eye of three great figures back in the human domain. As to who exactly those figures are? She couldn't bother to ask, not like Leonardo would divulge this type of sensitive information either. However, she could gleam hints that this business is conspicuous enough to grab attention from royalty class patrons.

Jeffery smiled at Juvia after the introduction, complimenting her temperament on the way, "How lucky to have such a beautiful assistant, and an elf nonetheless!"

"Well, I did say I will have my elf subordinate take to the front of scouting for menial candidates and future negotiations with the elven and beastkin." Leonardo responded to Jeffery's obvious attempt to bait for information.

Seeing that his attempts of probing failed miserably, Jeffery laughed awkwardly before taking the lead to a stable of horses in the distance. In his opinion, both he and Leonardo were ordinary humans, thus they'd require the assistance of a steed to travel across the surrounding territory without much of an inconvenience.

Leonardo had no intentions of revealing his cultivation to the world and he made that clear to both Juvia and Pandora. Since this trip will take a while, probably till the end of the month, Leonardo left some instructions in the form of paper notes on the desk in the inn for Pandora the moment she finished her cultivation and ascension to sainthood.

Thus Jeffery, Leonardo, two bodyguards, and Juvia took off on horses as they departed from Valdmor's gates on a business expedition that would bring pleasant surprises to the young businessman.