NOVEL NEXT Chapter 342: Time To Celebrate
Ursula smiled brilliantly at Zach's question before starting to give him examples of what to gift Rienne. Zach grew a little suspicious when she mentioned flowers and chocolate since it didn't seem quite like a compensatory gift, but who was he to judge?
Zach had Nora note down the things Ursula listed until the conversation drifted. And then, the conversation died down. Zach, Derot, and Ursula sipped their tea in silence until the palace alchemists returned with Jessecke and Alzara.
The alchemists' glowing faces and Alzara's cocky expression were enough to tell the ones at the table that it was a success. The nameless alchemist guild's potions were good enough to trade with the Imperial Palace.
As if that wasn't enough, the palace alchemist also wanted to start an exchange program. Some of the guild's alchemists would work and learn at the palace while some of the palace's alchemists would work and learn at the guild. That was how precious the information and recipes Alzara had introduced were.
Alzara's knowledge of ingredients and materials, especially, was extremely valuable since it was nothing like the palace alchemists had seen before. It was like it came from another world entirely. But even with the strange knowledge of materials that didn't exist within the Empire's borders, Alazara had fitted it for the ingredients that did exist and designed recipes using those ingredients.
It was a revolution within the world of alchemy. Combined with the Empire's knowledge of alchemy and the Empire's top alchemists, they could elevate the entire science of alchemy to a whole new level.
However, the alchemists' interests weren't the only ones they needed to take into account. So, before they could get started with the exchange of potions, money, and alchemists, they first had to draft a contract and get the details in writing. That meant Derot had to work hard again.
Fortunately, he much preferred negotiating with the palace's financiers and budget keepers over trying to stop other merchants from blowing up his warehouses. Comparing numbers, suggesting ratios, and proposing amounts was far more entertaining and enjoyable for a money nut like Derot.
While he did that, Ursula took the opportunity to learn more about Archons by inviting Zach and his familiars to her underground training room again to let Mandra show off a little. Since it was a training room beneath the Empress Dowager's palace, and it wasn't that vast, Mandra couldn't go all out, even if it was made with sturdy, magic-reinforced stone. But what she could show without risking the destruction of the palace was still enough to leave Zach and Ursula in awe and Nora and Yanael with gloom.
Mandra was capable. It was almost to the point where Yanael and Nora had trouble turning their feelings of inferiority into motivation to work harder. Almost. They had already worked through too much jealousy and mental weakness to let something as small as another source of strength for Zach to get to them.
Still, they had trouble treating Mandra with the same warmth they had started showing each other as fellow servants of Zach.
Zach noticed that the other familiars and Nora didn't receive Mandra with open arms. But it wasn't anything strange. The exact same thing happened when he summoned Alzara and brought back Soara. They would get over it in due time.
Yanael and Alzara started getting along better as soon as he summoned Soara, and the three of them learned to get along when fighting together. Based on those experiences, Zach just had to bring another familiar into the fold or find someone to fight.
Summoning another familiar would take time and a lot of effort. That left fighting. That was easy. He even knew where he would find opponents that could challenge his familiars and himself. Speaking of which, most of the break had already gone past in a flash.
The days passed as Derot finished negotiations, Zach trained with his familiars and looked for Rienne. Whatever had happened had made her unreachable. She had holed herself up in her room, which only made Zach feel more guilty.
It was because she was busy focusing on her life force and learning how to control it with her spirit magic. She was too focused on that to care about the outside world. It had nothing to do with Zach.
But Zach had no way of knowing, especially when Ursula lay subtle hints that Rienne simply wasn't feeling it.
In the end, the negotiations were finished before Zach could give Rienned a proper apology. That meant the guild and its business were ready to step into the capital's market and make a big splash.
They had been in the capital for a little while now, almost a year, technically. They had made a name for themselves in that time, but they had started in the capital. They didn't even a proper name for their guild. They could hardly be called a proper business.
That meant their first real introduction to the capital was after they successfully made a deal with the Imperial Palace. It was safe to say it was a new record.
Naturally, they had to celebrate with a big party.
Ursula was invited. She sent her regards but was not interested in attending a big party like that. It might also cause problems for Zach and Derot due to the attention they would get. Instead, she sent a congratulatory gift in the Palace's name.
Rienne was invited but hadn't responded. Tareeq was invited. The secret society merchants were invited. Kadricke was invited. The alchemists were invited. Zach also sent invites to his friends in case they were available and not still in the East or the Labyrinth.
Big and small merchants in the capital were invited. It was a big event. It had to be.
It was to celebrate and to announce the guild's name and shareholder slots.
Besides, the bigger the party, the more renown the guild would earn, and the bigger the space they could take up in the capital.