Chapter 397 A Skill Capable of Destroying Mountains (P-1)

Ryan managed to finalize his deal with Edwin without any problems. Once he agreed to handle the prison rescue, the Kallistia merchant leader stopped doubting, and the tension weighing on the room quickly dissipated.

The only pending detail was the timing of the hit. Edwin had suggested doing it on the day of the tournament held in Geizan, the elven nation, taking advantage of the fact that the church would have all its attention focused there.

However, the merchant apologized to Ryan with some discomfort because, despite having proposed the idea, he didn’t actually know what day the event would take place. For someone accustomed to offering precise data in his dealings, arriving with half-baked information seemed to worry him quite a bit.

Ryan didn’t let him drown in that detail and calmed that concern on the spot by saying he already had an informant who would let him know the exact date. With a calm tone, he made him see that worrying about such things was a waste of time.

There was no point in complicating things over something that was already resolved.

Edwin let out a breath and nodded with relief. Hearing that response, he understood that Ryan had everything under control and that he only needed to take care of his part of the deal when he returned to Kallistia.

Once the chat ended, Ryan went out to the castle courtyard to reunite with the rest. Out there was Alicia along with the other women who had left them alone a while earlier so they could negotiate without interruptions.

Not all of them received him in good spirits. Ophelia, upon seeing Ryan come out to the courtyard, looked him up and down with disdain, pressed her lips together with a dry sound of complaint, and averted her gaze to the side without hiding her annoyance.

Ryan stopped a short distance away, puzzled by such an abrupt reaction, but she didn’t even give him a chance to ask what was wrong.

"I will return another time, Ryan," Ophelia said in a dry voice.

At that very instant, she used a teleportation stone she already had in her hand to leave without waiting for an answer. The flash faded quickly and left Ivis alone in the middle of the courtyard.

Ryan blinked, looking at the empty spot where she had been a second ago, and then turned his head toward her companion to seek some explanation.

"What’s wrong with Ophelia?" Ryan asked.

Ivis sighed through her nose without looking surprised by her master’s slight, already accustomed to that temper.

"It’s nothing, she’ll get over it," Ivis replied calmly, pulling a teleportation stone from her pocket and also leaving on the spot.

Ryan watched the second trace of magic disappear and shifted his gaze to the other side of the courtyard. William, Alina, and Delia were also there, waiting a few meters away from the rest of the group.

But the atmosphere in that corner wasn’t much friendlier either. Alina and Delia, upon seeing Ryan look in their direction, tensed up immediately and looked away at the same time.

It was obvious at a glance that they still couldn’t stand seeing him face to face due to those old memories of being victims of his debt system. That episode was still too fresh in both of their memories to fake sympathy.

Ryan decided to leave them be in their corner and searched for his own people with his gaze. Alicia was further withdrawn from the rest along with Chloe and Iris, and it seemed the three were talking to an elf who was listening to them very attentively.

It didn’t seem like a casual conversation.

When Alicia looked up and saw Ryan already free in the courtyard, she cut the chat short for a moment and headed toward him along with the elf. As soon as they arrived in front of his position, the elf made a formal bow, but Ryan calmly told him to rise.

The elf obeyed immediately, keeping his hands clasped and his shoulders straight out of respect, while Ryan looked at his companion, curious about the reason for the meeting.

"Is something the matter, Alicia?" he asked.

Alicia opened her mouth to explain the matter, but she didn’t get to utter a word. Before she could answer, the snow around them suddenly stirred with a sudden cold wind that kicked up a white whirlwind between them.

At that moment, Lise appeared, taking Ryan by the arms and clinging to his side without caring who was in front of them.

"Young master, I am very hungry... I feel like I am going to die, it’s been a long time since I fed on your energy..." she complained in a pitiful tone.

In front of them, Alicia chuckled a bit upon seeing the usual scene with Lise, and then grew serious again to bring Ryan up to speed on the work they were reviewing.

"It happens that Elric is the leader of the elves who are in charge of the constructions. And with the purpose of expanding the town and turning it into a megacity, they began to evaluate the terrain, but..." Alicia explained.

She stopped her words before finishing the thought so as not to steal the spotlight from the construction manager. She looked at Elric by her side and nodded softly so he could take the floor.

While the elf prepared to speak, Ryan assimilated that first report with quite some satisfaction. With so many matters piling up outside, knowing that internal work was advancing without them having to consult him on every step was a relief.

’I’ve had to deal with a lot of things recently, but I am glad to see they don’t need me giving instructions all the time to develop the nation. I wonder if it’s Alicia giving them orders.’

Before he could keep thinking about the subject, he felt an impatient tug on his sleeve.

"Young master, do not ignore me," Lise grumbled, furrowing her brow as she clung to his arm, upon seeing that he was ignoring her.

Ryan fixed his gaze on the builder so he could continue with the pending report. Noticing that his lord was paying attention, Elric swallowed hard, straightened his back, and immediately stood at attention.

"Y-Your Majesty, it’s just that that mountain over there is very much in the way, and we want permission to destroy it," Elric said while the elf pointed toward the outskirts of the land.

He finished speaking and slowly lowered his hand, waiting for the verdict with caution. After all, asking for authorization to demolish an entire mountain was no minor matter.