Priorities

"Politics appear to be more important than the quality of human lives… Those are some wise words, I will give you that." Putting his fingers on his chin, the prince fell into the river of his own thoughts for a moment. Then, his face tensed up as he brought his eyes back on Layn's expression.

"What are those two things? Given all the returns you have promised, surely it has to be something considerably challenging, isn't it?" Attempting to sound off the archmage's intentions, the prince put a small smile on his lips.

"Whether they are troublesome or not, I will leave that to you, prince." Nodding his head in a relaxed manner, the archmage approached one of the windows within the corridor, casting a longing look towards the academy.

"Your highness, the academy was originally supposed to groom new talents, to grant people with the capability the possibility to reach greater heights. But is this still the same academy we know today?"

Asking this rhetorical question, Layn suddenly turned around at such a speed that even startled the prince's handmaidens. But before they could even pull out their weapons, the archmage simply stared at the prince with a focused expression.

"No, it is not. What used to be a place for growing the youth, now turned into another field for political play." Stating quite a huge statement, Layn didn't even allow the possibility of stopping here. "Those at the top use their strength to oppress those at the bottom. And that means, we need your guarantee, Your highness, that once the treasure will be deployed, no one will have the guts to claim it for himself."

That was one of the major worries of the archmage. While he certainly had quite a lot of tricks up his sleeve, Layn didn't wish to spread war and terror whenever he went. Given how he was only a temporary guest at this time, he didn't really want to change the history all that much. Because of that, by making an influential figure donate the treasure under specific terms, Layn could prevent the incursions from the inner academy that he was already warned about.

"There are people who are not happy to see such a great opportunity remain in the hands of outer sect, am I right?" Catching on the bait, the prince deducted the rest of the story manufactured by the archmage. And given how what the prince 'figured out' and what Layn wanted him to think off was roughly the same, the archmage could celebrate yet another small success of the negotiations.

"That's roughly the problem. Unless it will be you, your highness, to propose the deal, I'm worried no good would come out of the situation at all. That's why I hope it can be your highness, that will propose to rent this to the treasure to the academy…" Nodding his head low, Layn took a moment for the tension to build up, before bringing his face up and revealing a wide, charming smile on his lips. "As long as they will pay the daily fee of operating it amounting to what we discussed before, on the terms we discussed before."

There was a reason for every single part of Layn's plan. He was slashing the price of this kind of service by half because he wanted the business to quickly gain popularity. He was directing it towards the beginner cultivators because they were the most interested in finding a cheap way to learn whether they have talent or not.

Just like there were people who would prefer to pay half a grade one stone to just sit for an hour under the influence of Layn's treasure rather than wasting several months if not years of their life to achieve it the normal way, there were many uses of the treasure of the people with a greater level of strength at income…

The problem was, for them, such a treasure could be handly only by being their personal one. As great as it could be in terms of enriching the air with energy, for people on the higher stages of cultivation, the quantity of said energy was simply too small.

Every Layn's reason behind the specific terms he came up with could be explained both in simple words and by elaborating on its intricate influence on the city. But there was no need for that, as the prince appeared to be smart enough to see through those reasons as well. Meaning, this entire scheme and just how intricate it was, was nothing else but the rambling of the narrator unsure how to glue the two scenes together.

"Either way," Shaking his head, Layn got rid of this weird feeling that randomly popped up in his head. Only once this strange echo of some godly voice etched with endless might and power disappeared from his thoughts did the archmage manage to focus on the topic again.

"The other matter that we will need your help with, Prince, is the split of the profits. And what I suggest, is fifty-fifty, paid each week." Stepping forward, Layn nodded his head to the prince with respect. "Outside of the first seven days when we will claim our part daily, we would like the prince to manage the financial side of the project."

Stepping backwards as if to emphasise how he preferred the prince managing the purely profitable part of the entire scheme, Layn smiled.

'Even though I don't plan to stay in this place that long… At least I will be able to pay those ancient hunters back for helping me all this time!'

For Layn, both the local academy and the city were of no value or importance. For him, those places could exist or not and it would make no difference to him. But that didn't mean he didn't care about the business he was setting.

And what was a better way to thank someone for help if not set up an endless source of extreme riches for them?