Talulah looked at the manor before her, her expression hesitant.
Russell.
A legend in the financial circles of Ursus.
His name was known by everyone from the upper echelons of Chernobog society to the minor officials in the northern villages.
Even her own subordinates had heard of him.
In her spare time, she had once tried to calculate Russell’s debt, and the result had left her utterly aghast.
—The debt this man owed was comparable to the entire annual harvest of Koschei’s domain.
“If this man were to jump from Chernobog’s city walls, the government officials and the presidents of every major bank would stack life-saving cushions higher than the walls themselves.”
She was convinced of this, which in turn gave rise to a few ideas.
For example—could she purchase some grain, cloth, and edible salt at a low price?
In the past, acquiring enough supplies to sustain the Reunion Movement often required traveling between a dozen or more villages.
It wasn’t that Talulah’s disguises were poor and she was recognized as Infected and driven away by the villagers.
The main issue was that the Ursus nobles’ method of governing their territories hovered somewhere between human and inhuman.
For them, “sustainably draining the pond to get all the fish” would probably be a compliment.
They usually preferred to drain the pond dry immediately, and wouldn’t even mind digging three feet deeper into the mud afterward.
Under the rule of these nobles, who could have become sworn brothers with any number of petty tyrants, the villagers had nothing left to trade.
Sometimes, just to get a little salt, Talulah might have to travel for dozens of miles.
This state of affairs sometimes made Talulah think that if only they had a fixed trading point, things would be much better.
If they had a stable place to exchange for resources, the lives of the Reunion members would probably improve drastically.
At the very least, they wouldn’t have to run around for miles just for some salt.
However—anyone capable of providing a stable supply of resources to the Reunion Movement would certainly not be a commoner.
Only a noble would have that kind of capacity.
Unfortunately, in Ursus, discriminating against the Infected was a matter of political correctness; it was practically national policy.
The Ursus nobility believed that the Infected should spend their entire lives in the mines, have every last drop of value squeezed from them, and die a miserable death.
How could these self-important nobles possibly trade with the Infected, who were considered lower than even serfs?
Just as she was about to give up on the idea, Russell appeared in her sights.
A noble at the end of his rope surely couldn’t be as arrogant as he once was.
Talulah took a reasonably full coin purse from her pocket.
This was all the cash the Reunion Movement currently possessed.
Then, she glanced helplessly at the companions who had followed her.
For a grain transaction, a dozen people would have been more than enough.
But the utter depravity of the Ursus nobility was deeply ingrained in everyone’s minds.
First, it was just Yelena who, not feeling at ease, decided to come along.
Then Patriot came.
And then, a squad of Shieldguards followed.
“Talulah, even though we’ve come this far, I still hope you will turn back,” the rabbit girl beside her said very seriously, looking at the clearly aristocratic architecture ahead.
Nobles were despicable and cunning, shameless and cruel.
Trading with a noble was undoubtedly extremely dangerous.
Talulah: “…”
She looked at the long line of people behind her, her expression complicated.
“I hope we don’t frighten him,” the dragoness said, took a deep breath, and walked to the gate of the small manor.
In the dim twilight, the decaying gate forged from black iron exuded a heavy aura. The source of this chapter is g.com.
The manor, seen through the gaps in the fence, was completely dark.
Without a single light on at sunset, it looked exceptionally desolate and dilapidated.
She motioned for a subordinate to ring the doorbell.
Unexpectedly, the gate swung open with a bang.
A dazzling light burst forth from behind it, immediately followed by the deafening roar of ceremonial cannons.
Even the mighty red dragoness couldn’t help but have her vision completely captured by the scene before her, as if the world had turned to color.
This wasn’t a metaphor.
Colorful confetti had literally been plastered all over her face!!
Talulah wiped her face vigorously.
She had rehearsed her first meeting with the fallen noble countless times.
In the best-case scenario, she would complete the transaction smoothly, perhaps even form a friendship for future dealings.
In the worst-case scenario, she would be met with severe discrimination, part on bad terms, or even be reported to the Ursus military.
But in all her calculations, there was absolutely no scenario where she ended up with a face full of party confetti!
What on earth is that Russell fellow up to?
Talulah took a deep breath, pushing her senses to their absolute limit in an attempt to locate Russell.
Then, she saw a little girl dressed like a wizard from a storybook and a young boy with blond hair and fox-like whiskers waving a strange banner.
The words “Warm Welcome” fluttered in the wind.
To the side, a tall-looking girl was covering her face, and an even taller silver-haired beauty was holding a watermelon, intently enjoying the chilled fruit.
What is going on?
The dragoness felt her brain approaching a critical shutdown.
No, she wasn’t the only one.
FrostNova, standing at the gate, and Patriot and the Shieldguards further back were all equally dumbfounded.
They had prepared for a smooth transaction, ready to carry away grain.
They had also prepared for the noble to be hostile, ready for a full-scale assault.
But they had never, ever imagined how to respond to a scene like this.
“Oh, my dear God, have you finally deigned to grace the mortal realm?” a slick, dubbed-movie voice called out, dripping with a merchant’s greasy charm.
In the time it took the Reunion members to wonder if they had stumbled into some kind of bizarre performance art movement by mistake, a handsome-looking man strode forward and enthusiastically shook Talulah’s hand.
“Come, come, have a seat!!” The young man hurriedly pulled out a chair from who-knows-where, then called for Naruto to have a shadow clone serve tea.
The fervent display left Talulah utterly bewildered.
Is this an Ursus noble?
Are you sure he isn’t a crooked merchant from Victoria?
Talulah’s thoughts were in chaos.
“…Old stubborn one…
what is that Russell fellow trying to pull?” At the gate, FrostNova looked at her adoptive father with a complex expression.
She had grown up on the ice fields and had never seen Ursus high society.
In contrast, her adoptive father was the finest field commander in all of Ursus and a descendant of the royal court.
His experience was far broader than hers.
Perhaps he could make sense of the situation…?
In response, the colossal man remained silent.
What could he say? The source of this chapter is g.com.
He had never seen anything like this either!
Confusion, bewilderment, all sorts of strange feelings made Talulah’s hand, holding the teacup, tremble slightly.
Though she didn’t know what was happening, it seemed Russell had found out she was here to buy cheap grain.
She had lost the initiative and felt as if she had fallen into a trap.
Thinking this way, she could almost understand why the man before her was so enthusiastic.
After all—a fat sheep.
Who doesn’t love one?
At this thought, Talulah instantly became vigilant.
The Reunion Movement was extremely poor; they couldn’t afford to be fleeced by a crooked merchant.
“Mr.
Russell, I still have some matters to attend to…” she said sternly and immediately stood up, just like Megumin who had been preparing to flee earlier.
No, wait.
Megumin was, after all, a mage with no physical strength.
This woman was a red dragon.
Her escape speed was far greater than Megumin’s!
In the blink of an eye, she had nearly shot out of the main gate.
Watching that rapidly retreating figure, Russell was a bit shocked.
How can she run so fast?
Does learning fire magic come with a bonus proficiency in the art of running away?
[Stop daydreaming!
Catch her!
Don’t let her get away!!]
In his vision, the detector flashed frantically, like a desperate eunuch watching the emperor refuse to visit his concubine.
“You don’t need to remind me!
Even if it’s just for the gacha pull, I’m not letting her escape!!”
Gripping a staff inlaid with Originium, Russell unhesitatingly activated his Originium Arts on Talulah.
Distortion of Common Sense.
Through mental interference, it twists the target’s language, actions, and intent.
It can turn a strike into a push, forward into backward, an escape into a charge…
a truly insidious and bizarre Originium Art.
Its only flaw was its absurdly high energy consumption, making its duration incredibly short.
But sometimes, a one or two-second cognitive lapse is all it takes to change the situation.
For example—the red dragoness slammed headfirst into Russell’s chest.
She looked up at his handsome face, her own filled with utter disbelief.
“You are truly passionate.”
“However, it is best for an unmarried lady not to embrace a strange man so suddenly.
It could affect your reputation,” he said like a perfect gentleman, a hint of troubled concern in his expression, as the dragoness stared in disbelief.
“But—a passionate lady is always a delight.”
“Seeing as you are so enthusiastic, I would be more than happy to provide you with any and all goods you may require.”
The young man elegantly handed her a glass of champagne and a product list, smiling softly.
“Any and all goods.”
—o—