CHAPTER 50: WHY DON’T WE FIX THAT WITH A GAME?

"You must be Dorian Aurelian; it is an honor to meet you in person," Ishtar uttered as she slowly descended from the stairs.

The group waited for her to get to the last step, alongside her knight, whose face was hidden under a black leather mask.

Once she was in front of Dorian, Ishtar giggled.

"Are you surprised to see a lady attending to you?" she asked teasingly, her smile radiating warmth in front of Dorian.

"I confess, I was expecting the viscount," Dorian replied.

"Tee-hee~ That is understandable. Allow me to introduce myself." Ishtar slightly lowered her head. "My name is Ishtar Forane, the first daughter of the Viscount Embre Forane."

She then gestured to the knight behind her—

"And this here is my knight; he goes by the name Killa, and he is not much of a talker." Another smile graced her face.

After getting his introduction, Killa bowed his head to Dorian, showing his respect.

"You already know who I am, so I guess I don’t need an introduction." Dorian pointed at his two subordinates with his thumb. "That to the right is Maria Gordine, my knight. And to the left is Seraphina Monteli; she is my assistant."

Ishtar’s eyes quickly shifted to Seraphina, who was practically gawking at her.

"Monteli, uh, I heard your family rose to fame in less than a week. Seven wonders of the Lumberg kingdom—I assume this is due to your relationship with the Aurelian’s barony."

Seraphina, though she tried to mask it, replied with a bit of malice.

"I am sorry, but that is confidential," she huffed before averting her gaze to the side.

"Haha." Ishtar giggled. "Quite the feisty one, I see." She looked back on Dorian. "Please. Join me in the meeting room. Whatever you need to tell my father, I will be the one listening since he is not around currently."

Dorian narrowed his gaze at her words.

[The skill Analysis is now active.]

[The target is feeling pompous and deceptive.]

[Tip: Plan your steps wisely.]

"Right, please lead the way." Dorian smiled back at her.

As she walked, he followed right behind her, Maria and Seraphina doing the same.

At the very back was Killa, who was trailing so far behind them it was hard to tell whether he was planning to take another route or just watching them.

...

Dorian gently sat down on the small couch in front of the table, while Ishtar settled on the one opposite him, her legs crossed and a hand-held fan in her hand.

While Seraphina and Maria took their place standing behind Dorian, despite there being a lot of other chairs in the room, Killa did the same right behind his master.

On the table, wine and cake had been arranged for Dorian, a treat during what may be an important discussion.

With her eyes closed and a smile on her face, Ishtar gestured at the snacks. "Please eat to your heart’s content. I can have my maids bring more if this is not enough."

Dorian raised his hand in refusal.

"Sorry, but that won’t be necessary," he replied.

"I see. That’s too bad." A disappointed look played on Ishtar’s face for a while before giving way to a smile. "So tell me, what brings you here today?"

The more Ishtar smiled, the more irritated Seraphina got. Though she had no proof, she knew not to trust Ishtar one bit.

She had been showing her teeth every chance she got when speaking to Dorian; it was obvious she wanted to swoon him.

Of course, Maria felt the same way. Only she had her eyes on the knight, acknowledging the fact that Killa was strong and more or less likely to be a Master rank.

Dorian reached into a pocket and pulled out a paper, stretching it forward.

"We need your help with this."

Killa walked forward, grabbed the paper, and handed it to Ishtar, who then proceeded to open the paper and scan what was written inside it.

The more she read, the more confused she got.

Eventually, she raised her eye to look at Dorian beyond the paper she held.

"Are you being serious?" she asked, not a single smile on her face.

"Yes. It’s a good deal, no?" Dorian leaned against the chair, a warm smile on his face. "It’s of no use to you, so surely you won’t mind if we take them off your hands."

Ishtar didn’t say anything; instead, she moved her gaze to the paper, reading what was written there one more time just to be sure she wasn’t misunderstanding anything.

Dorian had written an appeal for assistance. Somewhere in Embre’s territory was a rather peculiar phenomenon that takes place in a barren land. It was said the land there was dry, and the sand was as dark as charcoal, but that wasn’t all; because of the harsh atmosphere, when rain falls, the burnt sand is often misted with a certain chemical, forming into what is known as volcanic rocks.

But these rocks were of no use to anyone. They were too brittle for heavy construction and too plain for decorative architecture. As such, these works were more like parasites for Embre, since no matter how he wanted to rid them, he couldn’t; they would always form back the moment there was any hint of rain.

And yet, written in the paper, which was a contract, Dorian was offering to help them clean the entire place monthly, for free. It also stated that it couldn’t be canceled for the next 100 years after the contract has been signed.

It was a good deal. The viscount had no use for such useless rocks anyway.

That said, something about the entire situation made it seem like Dorian was only a step away from scamming her.

"Why could you possibly want to help us? Last I checked, my father and yours have a bad reputation with one another."

"Eh?" Dorian stuck his pinky finger in his ear. "Do I need a reason to help? I just want to make sure I am on good terms with the viscount; this is as good a chance as any."

Maria sighed, already feeling pity for the woman, since she already knew Dorian was planning something after seeing the contract.

Ishtar tried to force a smile. "If that is what you truly want, then why don’t you give up ownership of the mining ground to my father? I am sure he will like you faster if that is your goal here."

Dorian glanced at her.

"Not possible. Even you can understand why my land needs such an asset. Why would we hand it over after years of suffering all by ourselves?"

Ishtar sighed, seeing that Dorian had no plan to agree.

"Very well." She placed the contract on the table. "It looks like you and I are at a misunderstanding. Why don’t we fix that... with a game?" she raised a finger, a devious smile on her face. "How about that? Aurelian."