Chapter 257: An Unexpected Offer

Stepping out of the store, Iron's first stop was a small street stall right across from "Shemis," which was wafting the pleasant aroma of freshly baked goods.

​He walked up to the glass display case, scanned the rows of desserts, and pointed at a single-serving cake topped with a bright red cherry.

​"Can I get this one?"

​The vendor behind the counter took out the cake, carefully transferred it to a simple disposable plate, and said:

​"That will be four silver coins."

​Iron pulled a Uni coin from his pocket and, with a light flick, tossed it straight to the merchant. At that exact moment, he grabbed the plate with the cake and calmly walked away, not even bothering to ask for a spoon.

​Startled by the sudden move, the vendor practically jumped in place, catching the tossed coin at the very last moment right above the counter. Opening his palm and glancing at the coin, he literally froze in shock.

He turned the coin over and over, inspecting the incredibly fine engraving, unable to believe his eyes. The man leaned forward to call out to Iron and return the money, but he was already gone.

"Maybe it's a mistake...?" the vendor muttered to himself, stunned. "Yeah, definitely a mistake. He clearly didn't mean to pay an absolute fortune for a dessert... Alright, I'll wait until tomorrow. If he doesn't come back for it—then he really did leave it for me..." The mere thought made his breath catch.

​Meanwhile, Iron had moved to a wooden bench not far from "Shemis" and sat down. Leaning back, he started breaking off pieces of the cake with his bare hands and popping them into his mouth.

​Yeah... he thought, licking the sweet cherry frosting off his fingers. If I keep tossing these coins around, I'm going to crash the entire local economy.

​He took another bite, swallowed, settled more comfortably against the wooden backrest, and mentally added:

​Whatever, I don't care. It works out better for me anyway: first I'll crash it, and then I'll rebuild it to suit myself.

​About six hours passed. The street in front of the store buzzed with its usual activity, while inside "Shemis," the work was in full swing.

At that moment, Liana was helping another customer—a tall man looking for clothes.

​"I think this option would suit your build perfectly," the girl said politely, pointing to a rack in the corner.

​"Yes, it really does, thank you!" the man smiled. "Could you tell me where you keep your simpler outerwear?"

​"Ah, yes, of course, please follow me," Liana led him deeper into the store. "Here, everything in this section is exactly your size."

​"Excellent, thank you so much!"

​"You're very welcome!"

​Just then, the senior manager walked out of the staff room. Spotting Liana, she called out to her:

​"Liana, come here for a second."

​The girl immediately excused herself from the customer and walked over to the manager:

​"Yes? Did something happen, Elizaveta?"

​"Your shift is over, you can go home," the woman said calmly.

​Liana was noticeably upset by these words:

​"Already...? Why was it so short? Can I please work just a little bit longer?"

​"No," Elizaveta shook her head. "That's a direct order from your mother. I'm sorry."

​"Right... you don't need to apologize," Liana sighed, struggling to hide her frustration.

​She walked behind the checkout counter, went through the staff door marked with a hanger icon, changed back into her usual clothes, and headed for the store's exit.

​For all those six hours, Iron had remained sitting on the bench. Outwardly, it looked as if he was simply taking a relaxed nap, leaning his head back with his eyes closed. But in reality, Iron was running full-scale mental simulations and physical experiments.

​Inside his head, 3D models of articulations spun around, while material yield strengths and vector loads on the power frame were actively calculated.

​He played through hypothetical scenarios: What would happen to the crystal during a sudden load spike? How would the magical channels in the soil behave when the anti-resonance frequency was triggered? Iron simulated the potential consequences of errors—from the denaturation of internal conductors to a catastrophic core breach. He calculated possible failures, adjusted component clearances, finalized tolerances, and baked a double safety margin into the blueprint.

​Iron had Lumon measure and visualize the mathematical probability of every single junction.

​Basically, it's completely ready. The tolerances are set, and the core shielding neutralizes any resonant fluctuations and then some, Iron finally concluded.

​Deep in his consciousness, Lumon let out a barely perceptible hum. Iron instantly knew it was time to open his eyes.

​He scanned the square, fixing his gaze on the store, and at that exact moment, he saw Liana walking out the doors. The girl paused on the porch and began looking around, clearly searching for him.

​Iron got up from the bench and casually strolled over to her:

​"Looking for me?"

​Liana turned her head, looked him up and down in his new dark clothes, and let out a relieved breath:

​"Well... actually, yes."

​"Alright then, shall we?" Iron smiled.

​"Yes, of course!" the girl nodded.

​They walked leisurely through the streets of Avers. The capital was buzzing with daytime bustle, pedestrians hurrying about their business, while Liana kept stealing glances at Iron.

​"I take it you like the color black?" she asked, eyeing his dark hoodie and pants.

​Iron turned to her and gave a slight shrug:

​"Wouldn't say I love it, but I don't hate it either."

​And to himself he added: It just doesn't show blood.

​He reached into his pocket, pulled out another coin, twirled it between his fingers, and asked aloud:

"So, where can I get all these coins exchanged around here?"

"Oh, it's right nearby!" Liana perked up, pointing the way.

Iron pocketed the coin again and, taking a few steps beside her, decided to strike up a conversation:

"Listen, why did you go to work at that store anyway?"

​Liana lowered her head slightly, a distinct sadness instantly washing over her. Seeing her reaction and remembering how she behaved back at "Shemis," Iron gently clarified:

​"You two have a complicated relationship, don't you?"

​"Well... I suppose so," Liana admitted in a quiet voice.

​"Want to talk about it?" Iron asked.

​If she opens up and tells me—that means she trusts me, he reasoned to himself. And if she trusts me, she'll be far more willing to listen to my offer later.

​Liana sighed and nervously toyed with a strand of hair:

​"My mom is way too overprotective... Oh, no, no, no, I don't mean that it's a bad thing! But I'm an adult now. I want to be independent..."

"And that's exactly why you got a job at that store?" Iron nodded.

​"Mm-hmm. I just don't want to depend on my mom for absolutely everything. She tells me every single day not to work and not to do anything. But I don't get it... If I just sit at home, I'll never learn anything in life, right?"

​"Yeah, that's right," Iron agreed.

​"Exactly! And I only volunteered at 'Shemis' today because my mom was swamped with work and they were short-handed. I barely managed to talk her into letting me help out just a little bit. But in the end, I only got to work until noon... I think this was my first and last time."

​Iron, watching how genuinely upset she was over not being allowed to work, said with a faint smile:

​"We need people like that."

​"What?" Liana asked in surprise, turning her head toward him.

​"Ah, it's nothing," Iron waved it off.

​"Oh, here we are!" Liana stopped in front of a stone building with a massive wooden door. "This is where I got the coin exchanged."

​"Let's head in," Iron nodded.

​They climbed the steps and went inside. The interior featured stone walls, dim lighting, and a massive oak counter. Behind it sat a robust, middle-aged man.

​"Hello!" Liana greeted him politely.

​The man looked up and smiled.

"Oh, hey, Liana! How are you doing?"

​"I'm doing well, thank you!"

​The man shifted his gaze from Liana to Iron.

​"And who might you be?"

​Iron stepped up to the counter and calmly placed a single Uni coin in front of him:

​"I'm Iron Everfall. Can I get this coin exchanged?"

​The man's eyes bugged out in astonishment:

​"Whoa! You have one of these coins too?!"

​"Actually, he's the one who gave it to me," Liana smiled sheepishly. "I told you about him. Remember?"

​The man immediately jumped up from his seat, rushed out from behind the counter, and grabbed Iron's hand, shaking it vigorously:

​"Oh, man! Gotcha, gotcha! Name's Narek."

​"A pleasure," Iron replied calmly, giving a reserved nod.

​"Right, I'll get this exchanged for you right now!" Narek quickly returned behind the counter and bent down.

​He pulled a wooden handle, opening a drawer. It was completely empty inside, but Narek reached deeper, pressed a hidden mechanism, and flipped open a false bottom. From the stash, he began pulling out gold coins and packing them into small pouches.

​A minute later, he placed three hefty bags on the table:

"Here are the two hundred gold coins."

​Iron looked at the three pouches and thought:

I figured there'd be more... Well, whatever.

​"Thanks," Iron grabbed the bags off the counter.

​"If you ever need help or want to exchange more coins like this—you can always count on me!" Narek waved his hands enthusiastically.

​"Yeah, for sure," Iron replied with a slight smirk, mentally saying:

Yeah, right.

​"Goodbye, Narek!" Liana called out.

​"See ya, Liana! Take care!"

​They stepped out into the fresh air. Barely had Iron taken his first step off the porch when all three pouches silently vanished right out of his hands, teleporting straight into the drawer of his desk at the Main Building.

​Liana, stepping down right behind him, stared in shock at his empty hands:

​"W... where did the bags go?!"

​"Ah, they're in a very safe and secure place," Iron replied calmly. "Come on, let's walk a bit more."

​"Right... of course," Liana agreed, still in a mild state of shock.

​They walked down the street, and Iron, staring straight ahead, asked curiously:

​"Listen, I just thought of something... Why didn't you just exchange that coin at the Hunters' Guild in the first place?"

​"Oh... I didn't even think about the guild at first," Liana answered, a bit embarrassed. "Mister Narek is a good friend of my mom's and our family, and I've known what he does since I was a kid. So I figured it would be safer through him. And I wasn't wrong! He told me himself later: if I had just shown up at the guild with a Uni coin, they would have just assumed I stole it from somewhere."

​"Makes sense," Iron nodded.

​They walked another block, and Iron turned to her:

​"Want to grab something to eat?"

​"Well... I wouldn't say no," Liana admitted, pressing a hand to her stomach.

​"Come on, I found a great spot while I was waiting for you."

​"Oh," Liana hesitated, lowering her voice. "But I can't do that... You've already done too much for me."

​"Don't worry about it, it's my treat," Iron waved her off, then, looking her in the eyes, asked more seriously: "Tell me honestly: do you really want to work that badly?"

​"Yes!" Liana straightened up without hesitation. "I really do! I'm absolutely sure that through hard, honest work you can bring real value to people!"

​"Got it," the corner of Iron's mouth twitched upward slightly. "Listen... How would you like to come work for my kingdom?"

​Liana froze instantly, staring at him in astonishment.

​Iron cleared his throat and slightly corrected himself:

​"Well... it's a bit early to call it a full-fledged kingdom, but you could call it a village. Long story short, I'm sort of the ruler there. So..."

​Liana couldn't help it and giggled quietly, taking his words as just another piece of his weird humor:

​"A ruler? Seriously?"

​"Yes," Iron replied calmly. "Right now, we need people who genuinely love to work, who give it a hundred percent and do quality work. People like you are a rare find. For our settlement, you would be irreplaceable."

​The smile on Liana's face gradually faded, giving way to confusion.

​"That... that all sounds wonderful, of course," she said quietly. "And if you aren't lying to me... it still wouldn't work out. My mom won't let me go anywhere. From what you're saying, I'd have to leave far away and for a long time. And mom wouldn't even listen to any of it—she'd just tell you to stay away from me."

​"Don't worry about your mom," Iron smirked. "I already have a ready-made plan on how to solve that problem."

​Liana looked at his confident face, took a step forward, and shrugged:

​"Well... If you really can solve it... then why not?"

​Iron turned toward the cozy restaurant they had stopped in front of and mentally said:

Perfect, it worked.

​"Awesome!" he said aloud. "But first, let's get a good meal in us."

​"Mm-hmm!" Liana nodded with a smile and stepped inside after him.