18 A Pleasure Doing Business

Three days after meeting with Astur, Taurion and the others have finally arranged a meeting between them and their fathers.

In a small meeting room within the main house of Count Urvostrion, the father of Taurion, the three young men, Taurion, Lester, and Heinrich sit opposite to their fathers with a mixed expression of both seriousness and nervousness.

"It's not every day the three of you ask for all of us to meet, especially with such a serious face," Viscount Dresuar says before making eye contact with his son, Lester, "even more so for you, brat."

"I expect there to be a good reason for this," Count Gausier says.

"So, who will explain?" Count Urvostrion asks.

At Count Urvostrion question, both Lester and Heinrich turn their heads to Taurion.

"Why me? You were there too?" Taurion asks.

"Because you have the bottle, so you should explain," Lester says.

"This also concerns your personal relationship with that girl as well, so you should be the one to take the initiative," Heinrich says.

Immediately after hearing what Heinrich said, Count Urvostrion's mouth curls up into a slight smile. This only lasts an instant before he moves back to his previous stoic facial expression, but he is naturally happy to hear his son might have a girlfriend.

Seeing how his friends have no intention to explain and nor wanting to waste time, Taurion sighs as he takes out the glass bottle he received from Astur and places the improved version of what they call a strengthening potion on the table between them.

Looking at the strange liquid that's continuously shifting its colour, Viscount Dresuar creases his brow and asks, "and this is?"

"I think out of the three of you, you should be the most familiar with it, old man," Lester says.

"It appears my assumptions were right, but it's very different from the one I know," Viscount Dresuar says.

"I believe you are going to give us an explanation, isn't that right, Taurion?" Count Urvostrion asks.

"It's just as Lord Dresuar said, inside this bottle is a strengthening potion, but it's an improved version of it and can supposedly be overlapped with the ones we've already consumed," Taurion explains.

"Seeing how you still have the potion and from the looks of it, you haven't drunk it for yourself, how do you know it works as you've said," Count Gausier asks.

"Father, both Lester and I have appraised it with various means and from what we know of the original strengthening potion, the ingredients match," Heinrich says, placing a list of ingredients they found through their appraisal on the table.

Being the only one in the room who is familiar with every ingredient used to make the strengthening potion, Viscount Dresuar picks up the note.

"Hmm… everything is nearly the same as the strengthening potion I know, but there is a couple of additions. I assume these are what make it special, but what's this unknown liquid you've listed?" Viscount Dresuar asks.

"From what its creator told us, they had diluted their blood and used it as an ingredient when making this. Based on my own observations when speaking with her, I believe the creator is of the Mystic races," Taurion explains.

"If the creator is one of the Mystic races then it isn't too surprising that their blood is usable as an ingredient, do you know what race they are?" Viscount Dresuar asks.

"We never asked," Taurion says.

"What is your impression of the creator? Can they be trusted?" Count Gausier asks.

Unlike his compatriots, Count Urvostrion asks something a little off-topic, "you said 'she', is this person perhaps the woman I recently heard you had an interest in?"

The two family heads beside him look at Count Urvostrion with a slightly disapproving look while Taurion is caught speechless as his friends snicker to his side.

Letting out a light cough, with a slightly embarrassed look, Taurion says, "no, she's the guardian of the girl I like. But is now really the time for this?"

"Of course, this is important!" Suddenly jumping up from his seat, "you're the only one left who shows no signs of interest in a relationship! I tried to be a good parent and avoided pushing any political marriages onto you and your siblings, and it seemed to work out fine for your elder brother, and your sister just got married a few months ago. Hearing you showing interest in a woman gives me hope of seeing more grandchildren," Count Urvostrion says, going off on a tangent.

*Cough*

"How about we get back to the previous topic, Lord Urvostrion. You talk about your eldest son's children later," Count Gausier asks.

"Your right, I apologise for my outburst," Count Urvostrion says as she sits back down.

"No, I do understand your desire for seeing your grandchildren, especially at your age," Count Gausier says, glancing at Heinrich, who turns his head away in response. Count Gausier then sighs and says, "but there is a time and place for everything. Moving back to my previous question, your three, what is your impression of the creator of this potion? And can they be trusted?"

"To put it simply, I think she's insane," Heinrich says.

"I also think she definitely has some screws loose, and she seems to greatly indulge in things like alcohol and other intoxicating substances," Taurion says.

"She is very beautiful and well endowed. I've already given her my personal number and I hope she calls it soon," Lester says.

Count Urvostrion and Count Gausier both frown in disapproval after hearing little good about her, but Viscount Dresuar only shakes his head after hearing his son's impression as he thinks, "where in the world did I go wrong with this brat."

But just before the three lords can say anything the three young men continue.

"But, the feeling I get from her is unfathomable and it's as if I was looking into the abyss. She seems to have a myriad of strange abilities. While Miss Elizabeth, the girl Taurion has taken a liking to, was telling us about the appearance of her, we all collectively forgot and couldn't remember any details about her and even Miss Elizabeth wasn't able to remember her caretaker's appearance. And while we were talking the sofa we had been sitting on along with the drinks we had been given both disappeared into thin air as if they were never there to begin with," Heinrich says.

"The has also shown to be quite intelligent, being able to reverse engineer and improve the strengthening potion in just a day after receiving it. Not only that, but apparently she made an additional twenty-two different variants, each with different effects and made with substitutes for the potion's main ingredients," Taurion says.

"I feel like Miss Astur and I have somewhat similar personalities, she seems to take great joy in messing with others for a reaction," Lester says.

However, everyone simply ignores what Lester says since most of the time he isn't providing much to the conversation, but the three Lords do take note that he was the only one to mention the name of this potion's creator.

"Aside from her personality and abilities, is there anything else we should take note of regarding this Astur person?" Count Urvostrion asks.

"Yes. She lives in Bounded Area 0, inside of the house in the Sea of Trees. From what I could tell, Miss Astur is capable of freely manipulating the barrier at will. And she gave us an offer," Taurion says.

Hearing that Astur lives inside the house of Bounded Area 0, Count Urvostrion instantly straightens his back, "are you absolutely certain about this? That she lives inside of the barrier."

"Yes, we were all able to pass through when we arrived, but after as we were leaving, I tried to test and see if I could still pass through the barrier but I couldn't get back in," Taurion says.

Count Urvostrion had already been interested in Astur after having heard that she was the guardian of the woman that his son has shown interest in while also being someone who can create a strengthening potion, but after hearing about Astur's residence in the Sea of Trees, he feels as if he really needs to look into this woman.

But putting these thoughts to the side for the moment, Count Urvostrion, asks, "and what is this offer?"

Taurion goes on to explain how in return for either gathering the individual materials she needs or giving her potions she can reverse engineer, she will sell her goods at a reduced price to them as well as allow them to buy the items she hadn't chosen to sell publicly. In addition, Astur would allow the Taurion, Lester, and Heinrich to choose one of two options, one being a full set of the improved strengthening potion or a single bottle of her special twenty-two potions.

"Other than the ingredients, is there anything else she wants?" Viscount Dresuar asks.

"I'm not actually sure, Miss Astur didn't say," Taurion says.

*Vrzz*

Before the conversation could progress, they're interrupted by the sound of Lester's phone buzzing earning him a few disapproving looks from the others in the room, especially his father, Viscount Dresuar.

"Sorry, sorry," Lester says, waving his hand as he checks his phone to find a text message from an unknown number.

But just as Lester is about to dismiss the notification, he glances at a portion of the text and decides to read the entire message, granting him even more disapproving stares from the others.

"Before you say anything, I think this is a message from Miss Astur," Lester says, causing the formerly disapproving looks to shift to one of intrigue.

Opening his messaging app, Lester reads the text out loud, "In addition to the ingredients, I want you all to provide a channel for me to sell the potions I make and provide a licence for the stall I'm making Liz run. P.S. Feel free to take your time on deciding whether or not to accept my offer, I just… borrowed some materials from the Town, so I'm good for now."

Everyone is confused as they think about how well times the text was and as they are all pondering the meaning behind her last sentence, they hear someone knocking on the door.

Count Urvostrion isn't sure why but he suddenly has a bad feeling as he says, "enter."

"Pardon my intrusion my Lord, but there has been an urgent report from the Town of Dawn," says the grey-haired butler.

"Go ahead," Count Urvostrion nods.

"I report has just been received saying that all the potions in every potion shop within the Town of Dawn have suddenly disappeared. All the shops are saying the same thing, at the same time all the potions vanished into nothing as if they were nothing but an illusion," the butler says, concluding his report.

"I knew I wouldn't want to hear this…" Count Urvostrion mumbles, "I'll deal with it, your dismissed."

The butler bows in response and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

After a few seconds of silence, Lester says, "raise your hand if you think you know the culprit," promptly raising his hand.

Following him, the other five in the room also raise their hand as Viscount Dresuar says, "you said she was similar to you, brat, but I'd say she's a hundred times worse."

"There wouldn't be a problem with arresting her, right?" Count Urvostrion asks.

"Why are you the one asking that? You're the Lord of this territory," Taurion says.

"I'm only asking because I'm considering your feelings regarding that new love interest of yours, this Astur is her guardian after all," Count Urvostrion says.

"Even if I put my personal feelings aside, I still don't think it would be a good idea to provoke her," Taurion says.

"I agree. Out of everyone in this room, I think the only one with more combat experience than me is Lord Gausier, so I'd say I'm qualified to say that Miss Astur isn't someone we should be trying to provoke. While she didn't explicitly show any combat abilities, the pressure she applied on us was as if she was looking down at lesser beings," Lester says in an unusually serious tone.

"I also think it's better to let this incident slide. During our conversation she mentioned something that piqued my interest, it was about Authorities," Heinrich says.

The others aren't sure what Heinrich means, but his father Count Gausier raises his brow as he says, "I'll look into this. But if this really is the case, I would agree with the children's assessment and leave her be. I also think agreeing to her offer would also be a good idea, as a way to prevent a similar incident from occurring while also having some way to keep an eye on her."

Both Viscount Dresuar and Count Urvostrion try to pry some information out of Count Gausier but they soon give up after seeing he has no intention to say anything else on the matter only stating that this is a matter that concerns the Church.

"Very well, I won't pursue the matter and feel free to accept her deal, I don't want to hear about another incident like this," Count Urvostrion says with a sigh as he leans back in his seat.

But just before he can dismiss the three youths, Lester's phone buzzes again and goes to read the new text aloud again, "a pleasure doing business."