Chapter 417: Strictly Business

[Ruvian’s POV]

At the moment, Ruvian was walking beside Silvena through one of the long corridors of their new headquarters.

[You have received 10,000 Plot Points!]

Ruvian stared at the notification that had suddenly appeared before him.

’Haa... that doesn’t sound good.’

By now, he had become rather familiar with the System’s habit of rewarding him whenever something troublesome was brewing behind the scenes.

That generous amount of Plot Points out of nowhere... it usually meant that something bad was already in motion.

’Can’t I have a little break?’

Ruvian sighed inwardly, tiredly too as there was little he could do about what it was. Besides, he had more immediate matters to attend to.

"Hmm, I must say, that’s a rather generous offer from Lord Evrard."

Silvena brought a hand to her chin, as she considered the details of the agreement Ruvian had just explained to her.

"Alright, I must admit... you’ve surprised me this time, Ruvian. I wasn’t expecting you to negotiate a place for us in the northern market at all."

Her smile grew a little wider as she added.

"I guess leaving the negotiations to you was the right choice after all."

Ruvian let out a pleased smile.

"Well, I simply saw an opportunity and thought it would be a shame to let it go to waste. Oh, besides, I figured my dear business partner deserved a little present after working so hard."

"A present, you say?"

Silvena repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"How thoughtful of you, although I seem to recall that your last present involved me sending my people into a battlefield."

"...Hey, must you bring that up again?" Ruvian asked, his smile turning somewhat stiff. "Honestly, even my mother doesn’t scold me this much."

"Oh? Perhaps your mother and I should have a little talk then. I’m sure we’d find plenty of things to agree on when it comes to your habit of attracting trouble."

Ruvian suddenly frowned.

"Erm... please, anything but that."

"Oh, speaking of that~ Calyra visited your home before, didn’t she? So, I wonder, did you take that opportunity to introduce her to your mother as well?"

"...."

Seeing his helpless expression, Silvena couldn’t help but laugh.

"Pff. Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you. There’s no need for you to blush though."

’Huh? When did I— HUHH!?’

With a soft chuckle, she finally took pity on him and returned to the subject at hand. "Haa... anyway, jokes aside, you’ve genuinely done something impressive here."

She looked ahead as they continued walking, her voice growing a little more serious.

"You see, Valcavein is one of the most important cities in the north, and House Arcanis holds considerable influence over the surrounding territories," she explained.

"Having the chance to establish a branch there is already a wonderful opportunity, but securing some of their rebuilding contracts could be even more valuable. If we do this right, we might gain the trust of other noble families in the north too.

"Yeah, that’s the plan," Ruvian said, nodding in satisfaction. "Although I should remind you that Lord Evrard only agreed in principle, so there’s still a chance his advisors might object to some of it."

He shrugged before continuing.

"But I figured that if anyone could turn that opportunity into something profitable, it would be you. So, I’ll leave the rest to you."

Silvena glanced at him, seemingly amused by his confidence in her. "Ho~ aren’t you getting rather good at saying exactly what a merchant wants to hear?"

"No, I think you’re only just starting to realize it. Remember... I’ve always been rather good with my words."

"Haha. Really? I’ll be sure to remember that then."

"As a business partner, that’s the least you should do."

The two kept up their lighthearted remarks until at last they came to a large wooden door at the end of the corridor.

*****

[Guild Master’s Office]

Silvena walked into the office, gestured to the sofa and walked toward the big desk by the window.

"Have a seat."

"There’s something I want you to look over."

She opened one of the drawers and retrieved a rather thick file, then placed it on the table in front of him.

"What’s this?"

"This is the report Seraphine prepared regarding the Natoris Craftsmen Guild and the organizations connected to it."

Silvena explained as she took a seat across from him.

"It contains everything she managed to gather so far and several matters that still need further investigation. I believe this is what you asked me to look into before you left for Frostgrave, correct?"

"Ah, so it’s finally ready."

Ruvian looked at the thick file before him, then reached forward, opened its cover, and flipped through a few pages.

"Yup, it’s ready. Though, I suggest you read everything carefully first before we discuss it any further. Still, I should give you a brief idea about what we found."

Ruvian nodded curiously as Silvena began to explain.

She said that Seraphine’s investigation had uncovered several odd connections between the Natoris Craftsmen’s Guild and a number of smaller guilds and merchant groups.

Some of these groups appear to have been run by the same people under different names.

They also found several payments that didn’t reconcile with their business records, and money moving through several groups before arriving at its destination.

Unfortunately, Seraphine hadn’t found out who was actually paying the money.

Still, she had checked off a few names and organizations to dig into, as well as some unanswered questions to investigate.

"Anyway, once again, I’d rather you go through them yourself before I start sharing my own guesses."

"Fair enough. I wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions myself."

Ruvian closed the file and laid his hand on the cover. "Then I’ll take this and read through everything tonight."

"Yeah. That’s for you to work out for now."

Ruvian nodded before storing the file inside his dimensional storage ring.

"Also, the items that you requested had already arrived as well."

"I see, that’s great to know. And while we’re at that topic, are they all here already?"

"Hm? Who?"

Silvena raised an eyebrow, looking slightly confused before finally understanding who he meant.

"Ah, sorry... you mean Rosalin and the others?"

Ruvian nodded.

"Yes, Rosalin and Corwin arrived a few days ago, while Julian and Vanessa have been staying here since the academy break began."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"They’ve been settling in quite well, actually. I haven’t heard any complaints from them so far. Rosalin has been spending most of her time sparring with Julian and Violet seems to be keeping herself busy with her own matters. As for Corwin... well, I think he’s having a better time here than anybody."

"Is that so?"

Ruvian’s lips twisted into a small smile.

It was good to know they were all doing well.

"So, what’s Corwin been up to lately?"

"That guy has been spending most of his time in our alchemy workshop," Silvena replied with a smile. "As you know, we have our own team of alchemists who handle potion-making and other related work for the corporation."

She crossed her arms before continuing.

"I introduced him to a few of our senior alchemists, thinking he might enjoy learning from them. He was apparently very keen to get going; he has been practicing alchemy with them almost daily since he got here."

Ruvian, hearing this, couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Sounds like him," he said, grinning. "Well, since he’s already here, I suppose I should pay him a visit. Would you mind taking me to the workshop?"

"Sure, I don’t see why not."

Silvena rose from her seat.

"Oh, and could you have someone bring Zian and Lovia along too? I’d like them to come with us."

"Them as well?"

Silvena repeated, giving him a curious look.

"Yes."

"Hmm, alright, I’ll tell Irene to pick them up."

Now that Ruvian knew Zian possessed that System, an interesting idea had occurred to him. And he already had a few thoughts on how he could put it to good use.

*****

Previously, Ruvian had asked Corwin to come to stay with him at the Golden Fortune Corporation over the holiday break from the academy.

He wanted to give him a chance to learn more about alchemy under experienced alchemists. After all, he knew how passionate Corwin was about the subject.

Of course, there was also Corwin’s family situation to consider. Knowing how much his parents had sacrificed to send him to Velthia, Ruvian had asked Silvena to arrange some part-time work for him.

That way, Corwin could earn some money to support his family while improving his alchemy skills.

With that in mind, he followed Silvena through another section of the headquarters.

A faint smell of medicinal herbs filled the corridor as several employees passed by carrying boxes of ingredients.

After a short walk, Silvena stopped before a large wooden door banded with metal on its edges.

[Alchemy Workshop]

"Okay, here we are," Silvena said. A second later she opened the door and a rush of warm air with the smell of herbs greeted them.

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[Chapter 417: Strictly Business]

Plot Points = 289,500