He already knows her name, but he hasn't heard it from her own lips, so he decides to introduce himself. She politely reveals her name.
"Frozen Lake."
That’s why this woman is so quiet, she only speaks when necessary.
She stops in front of a door and then opens it. Lawrence looks around, but seeing no issues, follows her inside. In the private room, there are two comfortable sofas separated by a glass table, facing each other. The windows reflect the beautiful capital, and it’s Frozen Lake who sits with her back to them.
She pulls out a document from her storage ring and starts the negotiation.
“I’ll be direct, we have 20 Green Wolf pups in our possession and, considering the previous ones auctioned for 8 million gold, 5 million gold is a fair price to sell them for.”
It’s true that they sold for 8 million gold, but the auction house takes a 30% cut, which means they are only reducing the price by 600,000 gold. This is a large number for Lawrence, but not for a big shot like Reigning Myrias.
Because of this, he tries to lower the price once more.
“That value was only achieved because many bidders were after them. If you sold a second set, the price would drop by at least 500,000 gold.”
Similar to what happened with his three fertility pills, the first pill sold for a high price, while the rest decreased in value. Because he gave bidders three chances, those who needed it most fought over the first one. Reigning Myrias obtained that price for the pups only because she sold just one batch of them.
That they are now offering 20 pups to Lawrence means they could have auctioned them, but chose not to. They didn't want to decrease their value.
“You’re right, but we are not at an auction. We won’t go below 5 million gold.”
Lawrence grits his teeth without showing it outwardly. The more you acquire, the less you want to yield. Reigning Myrias is a clear example of this.
“Is there no way to make you change your mind?”
Frozen Lake knows this is the critical moment of the negotiation and then shakes her head. “My lady does not live off charity, she will handle the transfer of the goods and that costs money. If you want a lower price, we can reach an agreement, but that would mean you take care of transporting the demonic beasts.”
She emphasizes
“Mr. Lawrence, for us the value of the transport is much less than what you could achieve by your own means, we have many contracts that reduce the final cost. I won’t stop you if you really want to do that.”
Lawrence snorts inwardly, ‘I can’t argue because it’s still a lower value than getting them through the auction, but by accepting her terms, we'll need to agree on a destination. And I can’t let them know about me!’
It may just be a place to drop off mail, but everyone wants to know the identity of the master refiner. Would they really let him pick up the package and leave without issues?
Because he knows nothing about them, he can’t do that.
“We can meet halfway.”
Then Lawrence thinks of something. “While you transport the pups to the auction house, I’ll handle the rest. Your lady shouldn’t have any problems finding a temporary storage place.”
If it’s about the Violet Twilight auction house, there should be no issues inside, not if they want to maintain their reputation. Outside is a different story though.
Frozen Lake remains silent for a few seconds and then nods.
“If that's the case, then 4 million 500 thousand gold.”
What's important is to get rid of the burden without raising suspicions, and he already has an idea on how to do it. The final contract is successfully concluded and in just three days the 20 Green Wolf pups will be waiting for him in a warehouse for his retrieval.
After saying goodbye to Frozen Lake, Lawrence's expression changes.
It's time to leave this auction house.
+++
A lizard woman looks through the window, she seems distracted, unable to find what she's looking for, but also relaxed, knowing what she seeks is somewhere nearby.
“It's a pity that the intermediary is so cautious. Ha! Does he fear losing his job or…?”
Is he hiding something?
She is Reigning Myrias, the leader of her own faction, and behind her stands Frozen Lake, who silently listens. All the subordinates under her have a close relationship with the slavery business, Frozen Lake for example, look at her there, very quiet, but she is dedicated to freezing living beings to transport them between the cities of the Heavenly Path Kingdom.
No matter what living being it concerns, to her, only the money matters.
“Hah... He doesn't seem to understand the importance of his refiner.”
Reigning Myrias moves away from the window and sits comfortably opposite Frozen Lake, “Creating an epic-grade medicinal pill is something none of my pill refiners has been able to achieve. Because of this, I have to sell my merchandise for less, tsk.”
Frozen Lake remains standing and silent, knowing her place, she wouldn't dare sit in front of her lady, much less interrupt her. She has done her duty by narrating everything that happened with the intermediary Lawrence, that's enough.
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“If that intermediary knew the value of his refiner, he would have used his name to gain an advantage in the negotiation.”
Although there are times when Frozen Lake considers it necessary to intervene.
“My lady, I remind you that he is a user of sacred magic, perhaps that’s why…”
“Oh, I see.”
That his sacred magic is pure implies he still maintains some purity in his heart. That refiner has poor taste in choosing their intermediaries, perhaps they aren’t interested in money? That’s very strange. They need large amounts of resources to develop their pills, their love for spiritual herbs is on the same level as money, because without the latter, they cannot obtain the former.
“Well, no matter. There will be more opportunities to interact with that intermediary. Having an interest in my products will give me a chance to find that refiner in the future.”
Reigning Myrias smiles, her lizard smile is far from harmless. “If pills of level 800 are their limit, who knows, maybe I’ll make them mine.”
Behind her remains the appearance of a businesswoman, that image is only revealed to the public, to those who deserve to be treated as equals. Business is based on power, it's naive to think she seeks mutual benefit.
That she is after the refiner Bearer of Light is just a whim, she's not even making a real effort, for her this is just about giving some orders to her subordinates and reaping the profits, after all, she has nothing to lose.
If her orders cause trouble for a small hunter below level 600, it’s his fault for being too weak.
After leaving that topic behind, Reigning Myrias frowns.
“I’m not surprised that that fox approached the intermediary, but, why did that lion stretch his paws towards him? There shouldn’t be anything linking him to a refiner, what is he thinking?”
She is much more interested in what's happening in other factions, especially if it involves their leaders, but no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't find an answer.
Before Frozen Lake leaves the room, she asks: “My lady, should I follow him?”
Reigning Myrias understands her intention and shakes her head. “Do something with those pups instead, there are greater chances of finding something.”
“Understood, with your permission.”
+++
“They’re experts.”
Lawrence leaves the auction house via a carriage, inside which he can very faintly feel the presence of his pursuers. “I won’t be able to escape from them on my own.”
The streets are still filled with people, holding onto the hope of a fateful encounter, staying out late into the night. But compared to before, now carriages can move through the streets. It’s the movements of this crowd that allow Lawrence to feel the changes and be able to differentiate those who are following him.
“Now.”
He exits the carriage and runs toward an alley, his pursuers quickly catching up, but there’s a flaw in their calculations. Because they put distance between themselves and Lawrence, they gave him the chance to lose sight of him for a second. Perhaps for another hunter, this time would not be enough to escape from them, but not for him.
Through a Dimensional Rift Lawrence disappears without a trace.
‘Where is he?’
One of them arrives at the spot and then becomes aware of the presence of another pursuer. ‘Tsk, who are they?’
They are not just one or two, at least 10 pursuers each following the orders of a different master. They know that fighting among themselves will not lead to anything good, so they decide to overlook this encounter and focus on their main task.
Follow the intermediary and find information about the refiner Bearer of Light.
None of them would believe that the moment Lawrence disappears, is the same moment he meets with that refiner.
“So, you only need me?”
Sky Petal has no objection to following Lawrence, the problem is whether wife one and three will agree with his opinion.
“I’m not satisfied with having disappeared before their eyes. If it stays like this, they’ll think I can teleport and it will be harder to escape from them next time. Only if I leave some traces, will they complete the puzzle themselves.”
Nothing is more absurd than one's own imagination, if he appeared and disappeared before their eyes, explanations would abound.
He was willing to add Serene Will and Coldness Divine to the escape plan if they insisted on doing so, but he finds it strange that both agreed to only take Sky Petal with him. He doesn’t have time to ask about it, so he simply creates a Dimensional Rift and together with her they return to the same alley from which he disappeared.
“They’re not far from here…”
After asking the plants, Sky Petal opens her eyes. “I know where we can meet some without them being able to follow us. Don’t resist.”
She surrounds Lawrence with her mana and then starts running through the city’s alleys. They soon meet up with a man of ordinary appearance, but as soon as his eyes meet Lawrence’s, his look changes completely.
Unfortunately for him, Sky Petal may not be a ranker of level 700, but among Lawrence's wives, she is the closest to being so.
“What the hell…? Where did he go?!”
From start to finish, he does not notice Sky Petal and only sees Lawrence disappear just seconds after having found him.
This situation is repeated two more times, with different pursuers, until he decides that this should be enough to surround himself with mystery. Hours pass until the pursuers understand that Lawrence has disappeared from the map.