The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 148 - Actions Taken Under Duress Of Scalpel Must Be Held Liable By... When Did I Sign This Clause?!

Chapter 148: Chapter 148 - Actions Taken Under Duress Of Scalpel Must Be Held Liable By... When Did I Sign This Clause?!

The Silversky merchant’s private office smelled of expensive tea - and anxiety. The latter ’scent’ was particularly strong as Elua er Goltbred settled into the chair across from his desk. The emotion had started ’exuding’ when she pulled a certain box out of her satchel with a ’sweet’ smile that was not at all in her mint eyes.

The heiress carefully placed the Negavigor tools on the desk between them, flipping the latch on it so that the sudden sound would make him flinch.

"I must thank you for your wedding gift. Such a specific choice of tools, out of you. One might wonder what inspired it."

He shifted in his seat and let his hand start to reach for a drink, but left the tea cup clinking against its saucer.

"Young miss, I merely thought that someone with your fame in the area would appreciate it. Though you might focus on sigils now, most of your peers still remember the ’medical fairy’."

He himself thought she was more of a contracted demon, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud. The merchant also wasn’t going to sit there in his head at that thought or else she would somehow know what he was thinking!

"Have you-"

"Oh, don’t worry. I’ve already had them properly registered."

She leaned forward slightly while answering *exactly* where he was going with his next thought. Elua knew how much that troubled him... and she truly wanted him to feel troubled right now. The day had been filled with too much happiness.

’Evening things out with a little terror in my life should help. Inflicting it... should count?’

"I’ve also been studying their applications quite thoroughly. My mother owns quite a few mortal and cultivator anatomy books and charts that she was happy to let me peruse."

Her small fingers lifted the lid of the box and snaked inside while keeping eye contact with the man. Though *his* eyes kept flicking down to what she was doing. And then stayed stuck on the gleaming dark scalpel that was pulled out of the box.

"I’ve even had the chance to practice a little. This one cuts rather smoothly. Would you like me to demonstrate? Perhaps we could start with..."

The reincarnator’s gaze drifted rather meaningfully down his torso while brandishing the bladed instrument. A shiver crept up the merchant’s spine at the severity that lay behind her sugary tones.

"...a rather small sample?"

Her technical ’boss’ paled as he regretfully understood what she meant. His hands instinctively moved to cover his lap. With the success of her threat delivered, she rapidly tossed the Negavigor laced item back in the safety of its box before slamming it closed and latching it.

"M-maybe I should have consulted you first-"

He stuttered to apologize to the young girl who had helped rocket and diversify his business ventures. With her role as his ’secretary’, she had seen essentially all of his written secrets as she organized his office. The merchant was under no misunderstandings over her ability to absolutely *ruin* him even if he didn’t feel he owed her.

All pretense of sweetness vanished. She looked at him and spoke with the coolness she usually reserved for the Wing & Talon elder.

"Yes, you should have. Presenting politically volatile items at a public event, without any warning? That’s really not the careful businessman I’ve come to know."

A form of relief flooded his body at her shift to business-like talk, even if the pressure behind her presence hadn’t changed. Any man would gladly change the subject away from losing the slightest piece of their ’important’ goods.

"My deepest apologies. I will ensure any future items are not such a surprise."

Her ’usual’ smile returned in full force.

"Well, good. I have another matter to discuss. You were not the only one who decided to ’bless’ me with their gifts. Look at this rather interesting tree I’ve acquired."

She produced a sketch of the miniature tree, along with detailed notes about its essence hungry properties. The merchant studied it with professional interest despite his lingering unease. She might be smiling like ’normal’, but there was something about it that let him know she was still incredibly upset.

"This... it’s quite remarkable. It must have been very expensive. The craftsmanship on the receptacle for this plant suggests that it may have come from outside the continent."

The heiress already figured as much herself. It was why she was as much at a dead end on sourcing the gifter as she was at finding traces of spirit for who might have interacted with the tree.

"I’d like you to make discreet inquiries about similar items. Look for where this kind of container was made first, then look into who with ties to this city handles items from there. I want to trace the potential origins of this ’gift’."

She paused her orders and stuffed the box of surgical tools back into her satchel before leveling a warning stare at him.

"Consider it a chance to redeem your recent lapse in judgment."

Her voice was chilly enough to make it clear there would not be many more, if any, second chances. Yet his shoulders relaxed slightly. Awaiting punishment was worse than knowing the exact thing to do to avoid it.

’Of course, there is no guarantee I can obtain the knowledge she seeks...’

"Such information may take time to gather. Do you want me to send it as it comes along or wait until I’ve gathered enough evidence to... implicate a different merchant?"

"Oh, the latter is fine. I’ll be quite busy anyway, setting up the new Coiled Serpent branch."

She watched his expression shift from confusion, to startled, to gleaming.

"Well of course, no one but you and my family know... yet. It seems I’ll be taking on a bit more of a public role in our city’s Guild community."

The brunette ’giggled’ finally showing a bit less harshness in her eyes.

"I plan to study things like the strange jewelry with healing properties that have been released by some enterprising individual. I’m sure that sort of research will take up a lot of my time, don’t you? Maybe even years to figure it out."

The merchant processed this information, clearly calculating its implications for their arrangement. As well as how to turn a profit from being the first merchant to know such a plan for their city.

"A new building will be in the works, then? Perhaps we should discuss furnishings and - oh, but first there are the materials for construction."

The heiress laughed at him again. She knew he would want to get involved, even if the margins available to his business were slim due to his desire not to infuriate her further.

"I’m sure the construction will be done in a flash with your help. In fact, you can do something for me now and prepare a few contracts to that effect. I’ll detail them to you quite carefully."

The merchant pulled fresh paper toward him to take notes while dipping his pen in a pot of ink.

"How many parties will be signing these?"

"Myself, my mother, a representative of the Coiled Serpent. Oh, and my ’husband’ of course."

She spoke of each person slowly so that he could write the full names down. The pen stilled before the final name even started to drip any ink.

"The... Yecine name will be going on these?"

’Of course the next hero is going to have her name on as many documents showing she is a keystone in this city as possible.’

She looked at him blankly for a second, deciding on the best way to convince him without stating *anything* like that. Her plans for Qat weren’t something to involve someone so... ’helpful’ in. He’d already made too many mistakes.

"What better way to establish a new branch in this city than to have it backed by two of the region’s most prominent families? Besides, it’s not as though you will be writing the contract language in a way that my precious partner will *ever* incur any theoretically detrimental results of their signing."

The tone and look she gave was a threat every bit as much as the scalpel... and made the instantaneous shift back to her ’bright’ smile all the more terrifying. The Silversky owner couldn’t stop his hand from trembling as he began to write out the details she required.

He’d known the girl was a force on her own - it was why he was so willing to ally with her years ago - but now she was deliberately mixing Yecine family politics with Goltbred influence. A part of him very, very carefully had a thought and discarded it quickly so that she didn’t notice.

’Perhaps I should have cut ties after I made all that money, when she still talked to me like a sweet young medical fairy.’