“Rauchlim! Why did you bring outsiders here!” Ruzfol advanced toward us, unpleased, “The protocol says they should file for a request before they get to meet our Queen.”
Quite proud and patriotic, huh?
Akeniska stood from her throne and walked smiling toward our group. Upon seeing her actions, Ruzfol backed away while bowing his head out of embarrassment.
“He can be a pain in the ass sometimes, like most traditional Lizardfolk,” Rauchlim whispered from my side, “They’ll get around in time.”
I nodded, then turned to look at Akeniska once more. She walked with graceful steps, and silence pervaded the room as if everyone was put under a hypnotizing spell.
“Welcome back, Jason,” she stopped moving when she was a couple of meters away from us, and spoke, “It’s good to see you again, and I’m glad you still appreciate your relations with our settlement. Though, it’s a bit disappointing seeing you wearing this black cloak, instead of your old equipment. Everyone in the town knows you as the human with the crown and cape! I thought you liked them, no?”
She was giggling as if she enjoyed poking fun at me, but I knew that her words had some merit.
Maybe that’s why the guards didn’t recognize me when I claimed to be Jason Stubbs?
I knew that wearing the crown and the cape in the official meeting with Akeniska was over the top, but I wanted to do it for the laughs and to help Ratska with his anxiety a little. I didn’t expect it to be the only thing that Lizardfolk found remarkable about me.
“Oh, trust me, I would’ve had them on if I could! Their innate effects are amazing, but their endurance is too bad. An explosion happens nearby, and poof! They’d turn to dust,” I found this exchange to be entertaining, so I played with her for a bit, “It’d be amazing if someone can make me a Mythril version of the crown! And a cape that’s made out of colorful lizard skin; something similar to the patterns on Ruzfol’s scales!”
The royal advisor stood about thirty meters away from me at the other end of the room, but I noticed his head twitching and his eyes staring at me after I uttered those words.
“We’ll see what we can do about the crown, but I’m sorry to disappoint you about the cape. You’d need a written letter of consent signed by Ruzfol for that to happen, and I’m not sure he’d be cooperative!” she laughed while shaking her head slightly, “Anyway, your timing couldn’t have been better! I have some business ideas that I’d like to discuss with you over a cup of tea, and I’d like to know the reason behind this sudden visit.”
“As always, the pleasure’s mine when dealing with you,” I nodded with a grin, “By the way, did you like the potions that I gave you last time?”
“Their effects are amazing, and items of their quality are very hard to procure in a baby planet like this one,” she nodded as a potion appeared in her hand. It contained a dark green liquid, a sign that it was the variant that increased vitality, “I can’t wait to meet your friend, Ratska. Now that you’re back on Earth, I’m sure you saved him, right?”
“Truth be told, I’m not sure where he is,” I shook my head while looking at my feet, “I’ve come here searching for any clues that his kidnappers might’ve left before they took him. This also means that your brethren wouldn’t get access to these potions in case you agreed to join my guild, so I’d understand it if you changed your mind about joining my guild.”
Regardless of the presence of these permanent potions, my guild was still a very good option for these people.
However, I knew that Stella would offer them positions in her guild because of the Mythril they have. From what I could tell, they’ve already mined a great quantity, and they already have the infrastructure in place to get more.
I guess I’ll have to seize one of the other Mythril mines in case Ratska turned out to be dead or refused to join my guild again…
Akeniska kept her silence for more than a couple of seconds, playing with the potion in her hands. The bottle still contained about half of the initial dose, but I couldn’t tell whether she drank the other half or used it for other purposes.
“That changes things a bit,” Akeniska spoke in a restrained manner, unlike the way she did a couple of seconds ago, “In this case, there’s something I’d like to confess. Our alchemists tried to reverse-engineer samples of the potions that you gave us, for academic purposes, only to utterly fail. They couldn’t deduce the recipe, the required level of skill, and whether a special class was needed to make it.”
For academic purposes, huh?
As usual, like humans, the Lizardfolk had their own people’s best interests as the priority. They were willing to risk offending me in pursuit of the recipe for those potions. I didn’t believe that they attempted to do so purely for academic purposes, but it was better for her to frame it that way than to say they wanted to see whether they could gain leverage on me by being able to brew those potions.
I guess I’ll give her points for her honesty at least, even though she’s only revealing her hand because of the failure of her alchemists…
“Well, that’s a bummer,” I pretended to be bothered, “It would’ve been much easier if more members of the guild could make the potions; the profits would skyrocket! In the end, we still can’t cover for the absence of that tricky gnome.”
“Don’t worry about him, I’m pretty sure he’s still alive at the very least,” Rauchlim patted my right shoulder, “When I was fighting against the Warhoog that took him, I remembered one of his partners saying that the patron who sponsored their operation wanted him alive because of his immense value.”
Now, that’s a useful clue!
With this piece of information, I was nearly sure that Ratska was still alive, and Stella’s team took him in.
“Thanks for the information, Rauchlim,” I nodded at him, “Now, all I need to do is to locate him and get him back.”
“Umm, what if he changed his mind about joining your guild?” Vivian pointed out, “Maybe he likes what the other humans put on the table, what can you do in that case?”
“That’s true, but I don’t think Ratska would give in so easily,” I shook my head “He’s an honorable person, and because they took him away by force, he wouldn’t trust them at all.”
Besides, he had his family and tribe to think about…
Suddenly, I realized where I might find some clue about his whereabouts. If Stella wanted him to work for her impeccably, she’d need to give him a great incentive to counteract the way they treated him at first.
And for Ratska, his family was a great weak point. He was willing to join me, an unknown stranger, on a journey around the world because of my strength and the potential wealth I could offer him. He was that desperate to save his family from having to live in the gutters.
In this case, Stella could take one of two approaches. Either she offers great rewards and protection for his tribe if he agreed to work for her, or she could threaten him by keeping some of the people he cares about as hostages.
Her guild, Way of the Champion, definitely had the wealth needed to take the first approach, so I didn’t think she’d stoop so low as to try to hurt his family.
I should go back to Japan and try to look for members of his tribe; maybe they’d know something about what happened…
I didn’t have much time left before the meeting with the other rankers, and I had to visit Japan before the countdown was over. With that, I decided on my next destination.
Suddenly, a smaller Lizardman wearing leather armor and holding a miniature spear came running toward Akeniska and started whispering in her ear when he was close enough.
She nodded, then clasped her hands together and spoke.
“Something urgent came up. The leader of the human resources department wants my input on the new protocol for integrating immigrants,” She shook her head as if in disappointment, “I’ll make it up for you later, but for now, I have to go. If you need anything, just ask Rauchlim and he’ll do his best on my behalf.”
Rauchlim nodded upon hearing her words, then we bid her farewell as she left.
“She’s really busy these days,” Rauchlim spoke as he watched her departing back, “I hope she doesn’t overexert herself. She’s still twenty-two years old, and she’s got a lot of heavy pressure on her shoulders. She still got many years ahead of her, and she shouldn’t be wasting her best ones on serving others.”
“And how old are you, Rauchlim?” I was curious about this, especially since the signs of aging in humans were different from those in Lizardfolk.
“Forty-five, I’ll be forty-six in a month,” He looked away, as if a little embarrassed, “I still got the vigor of a twenty-year-old, so it doesn’t matter.”
I laughed and patted his back multiple times. Vivian also chuckled, but she turned away from us to prevent us from hearing her.
“You should’ve been the one leading this settlement, and Akeniska the one having fun. That way, you wouldn’t be so sad seeing her work,” I shook my head, “Tsk Tsk. Still, I know Akeniska would do a better job than you.”
He squinted his eyes and hissed slightly.
“Fuck you, man,” he tried to punch me, but I avoid his intentionally slow punches easily, “I’d like to see you handle all the paperwork needed. You’d fall ill as soon as you see what Akeniska has to pull off every single day.”
I smiled and shook my head. Rauchlim was for sure tricky to deal with, but he wasn’t a bad person.
“There’s a favor I’d like to ask of you,” I said, “Can you lead us to the closest system trading station?”
He nodded and said that it was close by and that we could get there on foot. He explained that they built Akeniska’s castle in this place because of the proximity to the trading station, to make it easier for people who work in the castle to get things done.
I wanted to see whether some of the more valuable items were still available for sale, even though I had a feeling that Stella’s group bought all the limited items that appeared only once across the trading stations.
I might end up facing them when I go to Japan, so a little preparation couldn’t hurt.
Still, I’ll do my best to help my guild get an edge over competitors, and prepare for dungeon outbreaks effectively…
