REFDL 98

A few days passed without any results.

The Ilba Archipelago’s hospitality was extreme. They provided three lavish meals a day, and everything from the bedding to the service was flawless. It was excellent enough, even if it served as surveillance too.

But that was all. There wasn’t any progress in the most important negotiation. The Ilba family’s head hadn’t visited us once since he bluntly demanded a dragon’s egg.

I grew anxious. I tried placing my claws in my temples and shouting, “Appear, unfertilized egg!” I even tried to tempt Kaelus by suggesting we should just raid the archipelago’s second-ranking family, steal their artifact, and return home.

Kaelus hesitated on the first day, but he must’ve felt things couldn’t continue like this after three days of being luxuriously ignored. He began to overtly browse artifact shops. However, we couldn’t find a paternity testing artifact with over 50% accuracy. We wasted over half a day.

Then…

“…80%?”

“Yes. Isn’t it amazing?”

We heard good news at a shop we entered with the thought that it would be our last try. An artifact existed that the Ilba family had made but discarded because it broke. The shop owner boasted that the accuracy would exceed 80% if it was repaired. Kaelus paid the owner’s price without haggling once.

“Odan will fix it if I throw it to him,” he made such scary remarks. I prayed for the mage Odan’s soul in advance. He’s a good person at heart, even if he’s a bit peculiar, so he’ll probably do his best on his own if he knows a child’s life is at stake.

However, the situation changed abruptly the day after Kaelus bought the artifact. The head sent word early in the morning.

“I’d like to make a new proposal.”

I exchanged glances with Kaelus. Kaelus’s purchase news regarding a used artifact must’ve reached the head’s ears. A broken artifact was merely the minimum requirement to earn the right to renegotiate with Tortan. It’d be better to take the Ilba family’s artifact as originally planned if we could get it.

Furthermore, the upper hand had shifted to us. Kaelus remained wary in case the head played dirty (for example, a trick to smash the artifact we found into pieces) but he said he’d listen for now.

“…There’s a task that requires the Kremlis’s power. I’ll accept the Empire’s proposal if you promise to lend me the dragon.”

“I’ll have to hear exactly what you plan to use him for.”

“Of course.”

The head nodded and calmly explained.

“Discarded ships?”

“Yes. In the Ilba Archipelago, the rule is to gather unusable vessels at the central island’s disposal site. We dismantle simple damage cases and salvage as many parts as possible. The problem lies with the old and worn-out ships. These are discarded entirely. They’re essentially pieces of trash larger than a mansion. At least ten such pieces of junk appear in the archipelago every year. We burn them all at once every few years.”

“…You burn them? Instead of sinking them?”

“I know what you’re trying to say. Yes, we could just throw them in the water. I’m aware of that. But there’s a problem. A superstition exists in the archipelago that ships become the Sea of Trees’ monsters if they’re sunk intentionally.”

Kaelus looked incredulous. The head nodded once to confirm Kaelus’s guess.

“I pushed ahead and ignored all opposition, but something happened about a dozen years ago. Those ignorant, foolish, and insignificant worms raided the disposal site [unauthorized copy]and stole every ship. They took that trash!”

For a moment, the head looked like a completely different person. A glass-like murderous aura flickered in the old man’s eyes, which had been cloudy until then.

“Those bastards even raided the Ilba family’s mansion. This historic family’s heritage was completely burned down back then. But the riot was suppressed, and the mansion was rebuilt. To be precise, it was built anew. It burned so thoroughly that it couldn’t even be restored.”

…This building was built recently?

I recalled the exterior’s timeless beauty. I thought of the polished surface that gave off an antique feel, worn down by rain and wind. All that aging was artificially created if the head’s words were true. I had an impression that he valued tradition and principles, but I didn’t know his obsession reached this level.

…Something is wrong.

It bothered me. It was annoying. But I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

“I’ve shown you an embarrassing side of myself.”

The old man returned to the state he was in when I first saw him. He was calm and lacked energy. A listless air enveloped his body, unauthorized copyas if everything had suddenly become bothersome.

“A man of your stature should know. Those who live at the bottom are so ignorant.”

“…”

Kaelus remained silent. The old man paused and then smiled benevolently. It might’ve been my imagination, but it looked like he was mocking him.

“Anyway, it’s no small feat to dispose of discarded ships by fire. They’re unusable, but they’re still ships. We drag them out one by one with tugboats, gather them on the sea, pour enough oil to burn them all, set them on fire… and then there’s the labor cost for the people who handle the remaining waste that doesn’t sink.”

“…”

“The point is that the cost and labor are more than excessive; they’re unreasonable for mere waste disposal.”

“So, the head’s point is…”

“We’ll handle gathering them on the sea. I’ll lend you the item you want for a month on the condition that you burn them [visit our site]all and help with the cleanup.”

“…”

We didn’t even need to look at each other. Kaelus and I shared the exact same thought. It seemed like he had an ulterior motive. It’d be weirder if he didn’t.

The head’s eyes sparkled rarely as he tapped the table with his finger.

“Ah, the cleanup here refers to moving the nets filled with burnt fragments from the port to the inland landfill. I’ll add this part to the contract separately. Also, in the event that a problem arises, the fault ratio—”

“…”

He just looked like a cheapskate who wanted to save his budget. Kaelus raised his hand.

“Give us a moment to think.”

The head readily agreed. Kaelus spoke once we were alone.

“There’s something more to this.”

Yes, I thought so too.

[But it’s also true that this is an opportunity.]

“…”

Tortan might claim the mission failed and try to kill Odan if we returned with a broken artifact. It was the worst-case scenario, but it was also a likely situation, as Tortan’s hatred ran bone deep.

Kaelus fell silent, lost in thought. This was a problem he couldn’t easily answer either.

We put our heads together and racked our brains all night. Kaelus might say I’m immature if I told him, but I felt like things would work out somehow. I was with him, after all. A task I did with Kaelus couldn’t fail. It was like that in the very distant past, too. There was nothing we couldn’t do, and nothing we couldn’t achieve.

The next day.

We decided to accept the head’s proposal.

“However, there’s an additional condition. I’d like to see the actual artifact before we start the work.”

“…Are you doubting the Ilba family?”

“Yes.”

Kaelus honestly answered the head, who looked displeased. The old man’s fingertips tightened on his cane, this probably wasn’t the response he expected.

“Isn’t it obvious? What reason do I have to trust the Ilba family?”

“…You’re absolutely right.”

The old man laughed. He had smiled exactly like that when Kaelus remained silent at the ignorant masses’ mention. I was certain after seeing it twice. He definitely looked down on Kaelus and mocked him for being foolish.

Grrrr.

“Yuram.”

Kaelus stroked my forehead when I growled. I turned my head away and burrowed into his chest. I didn’t even want to hear the old man’s comment about me being a spoiled dragon.

The head snapped his fingers.

A servant politely set out the prepared contract. Kaelus ignored the quill that was given to him. He signed only after he read the entire text.

The head and Kaelus shook hands.

That’s how our cooperation’s exchange for the paternity testing artifact was established.