Chapter 394: Time for Business (P-3)

Ryan listened to him repeat that excuse to encourage himself.

’It seems he’s understanding it well,’ he thought, analyzing the man’s tone and eyes. ’But he’s still not convinced.’

It was noticeable in that half-smile and the way he kept seeking approval at the end of each sentence. Understanding that a deal might work out in theory didn’t take away the fear of being the first to stick one’s neck out if things went wrong.

For Edwin, knowing the adventurers would side with him wasn’t enough.

He needed a bigger guarantee.

Luckily for both of them, Ryan already had the ultimate argument ready to tip the scales.

He raised a finger to make one more point, regaining Edwin’s full attention before doubt could dampen his enthusiasm again.

"Exactly," Ryan conceded, first proving him right to secure the high ground. "You are just a merchant doing your job. Besides, there is something else you must take into account."

He took a brief pause, ensuring Edwin wouldn’t miss a single detail of what was coming next.

"Do not forget that you, as well as your family and workers, will all have my protection from now on if you accept our deal."

He said it without raising his voice, with total certainty, knowing that no one else could offer him backing of that magnitude.

If Edwin’s problem was the fear of reprisals, there was the direct solution.

The effect was immediate. At those words, Edwin stood up abruptly.

All the prudence of a guild leader he had tried to maintain during the conversation vanished in a second. He stood there, eyes wide open and his breath caught, looking at Ryan to check if he hadn’t misheard.

"Are... are you serious?" Edwin asked, his voice noticeably higher than what he had used so far. "The demon king will protect us if we have any problems?"

He could hardly believe it.

It was one thing to talk about commercial interests and the support of adventurers, and quite another to have the word of the demon king himself covering his back, his family, and all his people.

Ryan didn’t hesitate for even half a second before answering. Leaving room for uncertainty at that point would have ruined the entire effect.

"Naturally," he affirmed firmly, looking at him from his seat. "A threatened partner is of no use to me. I will protect you if anyone, be it demon or human in the service of the church, tries to harm you."

He didn’t leave either side out.

For a human in Edwin’s position, danger could come from both the Church’s zealots and demons themselves. Ryan wanted to make it clear that his protection covered both sides without exception.

Edwin remained silent for a few seconds, assimilating the weight of that promise.

He swallowed hard, his throat moving visibly as he clenched his fists at his sides before speaking again.

The fear he had at the beginning was no longer what kept him quiet; now he had the face of a man about to play a delicate card.

"In that case, Your Majesty..." Edwin began, carefully weighing his words again, "if we truly have your word... there is something I would like to ask of you..."

Ryan’s expression didn’t change. In fact, he would have found it strange if Edwin hadn’t tried to get something else out of the deal.

’I figured he would ask for something in return,’ he thought calmly.

After all, he was dealing with the leader of the Kallistia Nation’s merchant guild. No one reached that high in business without stepping on a few toes along the way.

’Someone like him must have many enemies,’ Ryan calculated, observing the tension in Edwin’s shoulders. ’Let’s see what he will ask of me now that he knows what I offer. Maybe he wants me to kill someone in particular.’

The truth was that it wouldn’t have been too much trouble to take out some annoying rival if that closed the weapons deal today.

Whoever the target was, it was better to hear it once and for all and clear up any doubts.

"Go ahead, tell me," Ryan conceded simply.

He didn’t set any conditions or ask him to keep it brief. He left the floor open for him to drop the name or the favor he had caught in his throat.

Edwin nodded once and took a breath before speaking.

"The problem, Your Majesty, concerns one of my best merchants..." he started to explain, his voice tensing a bit more upon adding the detail that truly weighed on him. "He is my son-in-law."

Ryan listened in silence. So it was a family matter.

"He was arrested for trading with the assassin’s guild," Edwin continued bitterly.

He took a short pause, clenching his jaw at the helplessness provoked by remembering his own failed attempts to resolve it.

"I tried to make a move, Your Majesty, but on my own, I couldn’t do anything to get him released," he admitted, without hiding his frustration. "And it is all because of that guild."

He took a deep breath before explaining why not even his position in Kallistia had been of any use this time.

"Very important aristocrats and nobles from the Blooming Wing nation have been assassinated," Edwin said, his face somber. "And now they are making my son-in-law the one responsible for those deaths."

His voice barely trembled on the last sentence.

"As things stand... it is possible he will be executed..."

Ryan processed the data in a couple of seconds.

No business rivals to quietly eliminate. The matter involved the assassin’s guild, dead aristocrats and nobles in the Blooming Wing nation, and an execution that could happen at any moment.

That was why Edwin had reacted so strongly when he heard that his family would have the demon king’s protection. He wasn’t thinking about some future danger; he already had one of his own with a noose around their neck.

"So..." Ryan said, connecting the pieces out loud, "what you are asking of me is...?"

Edwin looked him straight in the eyes, without a trace of the caution with which he had started the conversation.

"Yes, Your Majesty, to help me get my son-in-law out of that prison."