Elija waited with his wife and daughter as well as Alana for the nobles to return from the arena to welcome them with another lavish dinner. Unlike Tom and Ajax this visit was almost the perfect scenario that Elija could have wished for.

“How good has this been for you?” Aurora asked.

“Better than anything I have experienced before.” Elija answered. “In the past three days I have leveled each of my Skills at least once. I gained almost half a level!”

Unlike nobles Elija had gotten to the high end of level sixty purely through his work as a merchant, this left him with a lot of experience but lacking in stats to help push his Skills. With the main meeting taking place in the capital he wasn’t dealing with heads of noble Houses now but their heirs, people around his level but without his experience. This was the perfect situation to help him grow.

“Once the duchy is starting to settle I’m sure we can spare to send you to accompany the delvers that come to visit Gryndor.” Silvia teased her father. “Mother, Judy and I would hold down the fort.”

As both Alana and Elija focused on the running of the merchant trade rather than the identification of rare and valuable goods they had the most to gain from the last few days. The idea that this would be something they would be able to attend with some regularity meant a bright future for them as they would increase in levels quickly as long as they pushed themselves.

“Ajax doesn’t appear thrilled.” Alana pointed out.

“He’s happy to see his friends.” Silvia said with a sigh, knowing that Alana was right, Ajax very much did not like the large gatherings they were now hosting. “He’s also started focusing on a new project of his while trying to teach Fluffy to use Void Mana.”

“That’s a terrifying thought.” Theron who stood at their side as a bodyguard couldn’t help but shudder slightly as he thought about that.

Fluffy had been sparring with Theron with some regularity ever since he became one of House Hearthbound’s retainers. Fluffy had been outgrowing the powerful beastkin as of late already but Theron was slightly terrified of the ambush predator getting the ability to bypass armor.

It was then that the nobles entered the room, enjoying the change in temperature from the freezing air outside to the warm comforting light of the ball room. Silvia and Alana both moved to help welcome their guests while Elija and Aurora remained off to one side to give their guest the opportunity to approach them.

“This is something I wasn’t expecting.” Elija’s face and tone didn’t match his words but he was honest about the surprise. “Is there something you are looking to trade?”

Helmeth and Cal had both approached the old couple and Theron could help but tense as he knew the difference in power between the two nobles and himself. “We are here to talk about negotiating the wager our House lost during my duel with the Duke.” Helmeth said

Elija knew why it was that they had approached him. It had been obvious over the course of the two days that Ajax based deals more on how he was feeling rather than logic. Most deals didn’t interest him enough and he would send the noble towards Elija, Alana or his mother. The few that did interest him however were negotiated all over the place based on how Ajax felt about the House in question as well as how excited he was about what he was getting in return and giving away.

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“You wish to retain your slaves.” Elija said matter of factly. “Without them you will lose your lands, your House might even be demoted to Viscount.”

Elija worked hard to hide the glee he felt as he could see his words unbalanced the two brothers. “What do you have to offer?” In a situation like this where there was no scale to measure the value of something, being the first to offer a price would put you at a disadvantage, especially so if you were the side that couldn’t afford the other to walk away.

“We are willing to offer guarantee House Hearthbound a delve slot in every one of the Empire’s dungeons, this would extend to twenty people under level one hundred.” Helmeth started with their offer, one that Elija was about to dismiss as insulting and end the negotiation. “The slot is to repeat every five years for the next two centuries.”

The final sentence brought Elija up short. “You can make such a guarantee?” While it would normally be considered rude to question one side’s ability to come through on something they offered in this case it wasn’t. Dungeons were national resources, Ajax had barely gained three delves in exchange for his beekeeping knowledge and that was with House Goldmancer handling the deal.

“The value of a delve is becoming lower.” Cal said as he supported his brother. “The first three slots might cost us more than we would like but it should only get easier from there. This is also why we are offering such a repetitive agreement.”

All of this was something Elija was already aware of, the only reason he asked the question was to buy time for himself to consider the deal. There was a lot to consider about the deal, there were a lot of moving parts, most importantly however was the timeline, Elija had dealt with decade long contracts before but this was on the scale of centuries. Before his grandson’s rise to power he doubted he would live to see two hundred years of age and he was close to the halfway point already.

“That is not enough to even consider.” Elija’s words shocked not only Helmeth and Cal but even Aurora couldn’t hide her shock as Elija deemed the most valuable offer she had ever heard as almost insulting.

“You-” Cal looked ready to fly off the handle as Helmeth put his arm on his shoulder to restrain his outburst.

“How so?” Helmeth asked, his [Detect Meaning] Skill having picked up that not only was the merchant not lying but it wasn’t even a tacting, he truly believed the offer wasn’t worth considering.

“The slaves you stand to lose are mostly experienced miners.” Elija explained. “I am sure you have been informed of how cement works even if you haven’t yet managed to obtain the formula. While we would not keep them here as slaves they would be welcomed to find employment working to mine as we expand the trade of cement.”

Helmeth could already see where this was going but Elija continued anyway. “With such an increase to our workforce and us as the only suppliers we would be able to trade on the increased labor with nobles here in Gryndor as well as those of other nations.” Elija saw dread seep into Cal as he realized the implication. “Even if we would only be able to trade for a slot in the Empire’s dungeons every decade for only ten people under level one hundred we would also be getting the same deal with the Republic, Sylvanthal and most likely Brightstone as well.”

“We would be able to increase the number of people to thirty.” Helmeth said. “The frequency to every four years. We would also send five hundred slaves every year for the next fifty years.”

“That is an offer I can present to my grandson.” Elija could feel it as he gained a new Epic Skill as the words passed his mouth. “I will let you know his answer in two days at the longest.”

With that Elija and Aurora took their leave from the two members of House Septimus and headed for Ajax. “That was more than what you estimated we could afford.” Cal said as he looked towards Helmeth. “A lot more.”

“It is what was necessary.” Helmeth said as he worked to restrain the anger he felt towards himself for the situation he had backed his House in. “The next few decades will be harsh for our House, little brother.”

The worst part for Helmeth was that his Skill hadn’t worked on the old man at the end. [Detect Meaning] had remained silent.

Elija smirked as he read his new Skill [Hide Intent], it was as much an assassin’s skill as it was a merchants yet Elija found it funny that he had gained the skill because he had very much acted like the former rather than the latter when he gained it.

Helmeth and Cal had made a mistake when they approached Elija about getting out of their predicament. Elija’s greatest regret had been how he treated Silvia when he all but forced her to leave, because of that he had missed out on the childhood of his grandchildren but he was making up for all that he had missed with Jake.

Elija might have listened to House Septimus’s offer and would present it to Ajax, but his advice would be that he rejects it, better yet make the offer public as well. Use it as a statement of what happens to those who target House Hearthbound.