The Arrival of Shiwa

"It's been a while, Mr. Millard. I'm glad to meet you again," said the woman leading the group as they arrived.

She approached Cien and extended her hand. Cien was momentarily taken aback before shaking her hand with a faint smile.

"I didn't expect you to come here personally, Lady Amary," Cien replied.

"Hahaha, I've been wanting to visit for a long time. But... recent events kept delaying my plans. However, now, with your extensive order, I have a reason to come," Shiwa explained.

"Thank you for accepting my order," Cien responded.

"Oh, no problem. It's just business."

"Mother!"

Suddenly, a girl ran out from the nearby woods.

Veronica, who usually practiced there, now rushed into her mother's embrace.

"Veronica! How are you, dear?"

"I'm good! This place is the best! Delicious food, lots of monsters to train with..."

"Okay, stop. We can talk about that later, honey," Shiwa then turned to Cien, "So, Mr. Millard, shall we finalize the transaction now?"

"Don't you want to rest first?"

Offer Cien, unexpectedly, the new guest house might be used immediately.

"Hmm, no. As for Calming Moongrass' order it is better to be finalized now. As for discussions about our long-term collaboration, we can take our time."

Shiwa then instructed Veronica to wait outside and entered the shop with only one of her attendants.

Cien didn't have a dedicated office space in his shop for discussing major business matters with guests. Therefore, he had to take Shiwa to the upper floor. To the kitchen table!

Cien asked Shiwa to take a seat while he had Sella bring some light snacks and tea.

While waiting for the tea to be served, Shiwa started by reporting that she brought one and a half tons of Calming Moongrass. This was the amount she could acquire in this short period of time.

If Cien wanted more, Shiwa mentioned that he would have to wait for about two or three more months until the Calming Moongrass stocks arrived from the mountains.

Even then, she wasn't sure if she could obtain ten tons. It might be around three to five tons at most.

Cien expressed his gratitude for what Shiwa had managed to secure.

He just wasn't sure now, how much antidote Mandora needed.

If Mandora could stop the consumption of the toxic water before it spread throughout the city, perhaps they wouldn't need a large quantity of the antidote.

Cien only hoped that the current amount would be enough to help them.

Of course, since this was business, Cien wouldn't provide it for free. He planned to discuss this matter with Niles when the man arrived.

"One and a half tons. I'm glad to get that amount," Cien said appreciatively.

"Alright then. I'm not sure the reason you need so much Calming Moongrass for, but it is a big business, especially when you hear about the Mana Core," said Shiwa with a faint smile.

Cien smiled awkwardly. As promised, Shiwa could choose a Mana Core as the method of payment.

If the price of Calming Moongrass exceeded the value of the Mana Core, Cien would add money to the payment.

"So, how much do I have to pay?" Cien asked.

"One Mana Core and five thousand Tia," replied Shiwa.

Cien fell silent. He had imagined the price to be much higher than that. He didn't know the market price of Calming Moongrass very well.

This material was not rare or unique. Its distribution was just a bit limited because it was produced only in Huntara.

Even in Huntara, Calming Moongrass was not considered a rare commodity; people tended to use it to add flavor to their dishes or brewed it as tea for relaxation.

"Well, maybe the price is higher in other kingdoms, especially those further south."

Without the need for haggling, Cien accepted the price given by Shiwa, surprising her a bit, but she then smiled warmly.

"Wait a moment," said Cien as he went to his storage room to fetch the required money and a Mana Core.

While he was away, Sella served some snacks like biscuits and bread, along with warm tea.

"Please enjoy, Lady Amary."

"Oh, interesting, did you make these?"

"No, these are from Yelina's restaurant just across the street," Sella blushed and admitted, "My skills aren't enough to create something like this."

Seeing this reaction made a smile bloom on Shiva's face.

Somehow, even though this place was the most cursed place in Kastia, after spending just a few moments inside, Shiwa felt a tranquility she couldn't experience in the city.

Shortly after, Cien returned with a wooden box and a leather pouch containing coins.

"One Mana Core and five thousand Tia. You can check the amount yourself, Lady Amary," Cien said.

Shiwa put down her tea cup and reached for the wooden box on the table. Opening it, she found a Mana Core that was quite large, larger than she had imagined.

Surprised, Shiwa turned to Cien and said, "Mr. Millard, with a Mana Core this size, I don't think I need the five thousand Tia. In fact, I feel like I owe you."

"Hm?"

Cien looked a bit confused. Then he realized that the standard size of one Mana Core in his mind came from the mobile phone, and it was much larger than the standard size of one Mana Core in Kastia.

'Ahh, what a blunder. No wonder the price of Mana Cores in the auction exceeded my estimates.'

Cien thought for a moment and said, "Ah, there's no need to return it. Consider it as an initial token of appreciation for our future collaboration."

Upon hearing this, Shiwa's face brightened up. She felt like she had just hit the jackpot by coming to Cien's place.

"In that case, I sincerely thank you for your kindness. Shall we move on to the next topic then?" Shiwa asked.

The next topic that Shiwa discussed was the cooperation between Cien or his village and Shiwa's trading company.

Cien felt that the discussion about this matter would take quite some time, so he suggested doing it tomorrow.

For now, he invited Shiwa to rest in the guesthouse he had just built and enjoy the atmosphere of Death Valley.

Shiwa accepted the proposal, and Cien guided her to the temporary residence in Death Valley—a large guesthouse with two floors.

The ground floor had six rooms, a dining area, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

The upper floor consisted of three bedrooms, a central lounge area, a bathroom, and a balcony.

"Ooh~ this looks comfortable."

Shiwa praised as she looked at the guesthouse provided by Cien.

The Shop Owner also informed her that there is an inn, but currently the place is fully occupied by Mia's knights.

After instructing her servants to bring in her belongings, Shiwa then asked her guards from the Amary Knights to start moving the Calming Moongrass to Cien's place.

The amount of Calming Moongrass was too much for Cien to store in his shop. So, he went to Balmut and Grandpa Sid to rent a storage building owned by the villagers.

Balmut, of course, welcomed Cien's request, but Cien refused his offer to use the storage space for free.

Cien built the building for the villagers, it wouldn't be right to use it for himself.

Cien will pay and the money could be used by the villagers for their needs. Cien remained firm in his stance, and Balmut could only accept it.

As a result, Cien instructed the Amary Knights to move one ton of Calming Moongrass to the upper floor of the storage building, while the remaining five hundred kilograms were stored in his own shop.

Once everything was arranged, Cien noticed that Shiwa had entered the guesthouse with Veronica.

He smiled briefly before returning to his shop. He instructed Sella to supervise the knights.

Cien then returned to his workshop, continuing to craft some magical arrows before planning to start making a large batch of Lusting antidotes.

'One and a half tons. Wow, how much time will it take to process all of this?'

Cien imagined that he would be very busy in the alchemy room for the next few days.

***

Meanwhile, in another place, in Marina City, within the Kingdom of Farnodt, the atmosphere was quite different.

Tension filled the air, and people didn't exchange jokes and laughter in the streets as before the Blackwinter War happened.

Everyone looked serious and grim-faced, as if they knew that this was the calm before the storm.

New factions had started to cause trouble throughout Farnodt.

Including Marina, where currently a faction of veteran adventurers had been formed.

This faction didn't seek to become rulers; instead, they were willing to ally with anyone who shared their ideology.

Their goal was to create a safe haven for everyone, regardless of nationality. They strongly opposed slavery and one-sided persecution.

With this mindset, the new faction was vehemently against the current ruling government.

So right now, in Marina, there were now two conflicting factions.

The Royal Family's faction, led by the local rulers and military, and the new faction consisting of powerful and retirees adventurers.

The citizens of Marina who were caught in the middle of the conflict felt that the streets were increasingly dangerous.

During this time, two women from Westya had just arrived in Marina—Kirana and Legia.

"Everywhere feels so restless. Can't the government see this?" Legia murmured, looking around at the gloomy atmosphere.

"The Farnodt government is practically falling apart. For peace to be restored, they'll have to wait for the civil war to end," Kirana replied.

"How long until that happens?"

"I'm not sure. But if this situation continues, Abyss won't miss the golden opportunity. Farnodt needs to be cautious."

Hearing this, Legia looked grim. She felt that the current situation in Farnodt was idiotic. Instead of uniting to fight against the enemy from Abyss, they were busy with internal conflicts.

"Is it here?"

Kirana asked, looking at an old bar with a name sign that was half destroyed. It took her a few seconds to decipher the faded letters and read the name.

Legia looked up, trying to read it too. "Yes, Reiss mentioned in his letter that he would be here."

Kirana nodded, and they both entered the dilapidated bar to meet their only friend in Marina.