"I certainly don’t want to! But why don’t you co up with a useful solution? It’s already been the entire morning, and all you do is raise problems. The boss asks you to co and solve issues, but constantly raising problems is worthless!"
"Your mom..."
Even Balzac Hahn, coming from the traditional academic family of Schwali, could not hold back from cursing when he heard Philis’s words. If he were a bit stronger, he would have taught this damned illiterate lion-man what it feels like to be beaten.
Fisher knew that the two in the distance didn’t get along. He had gotten used to it during the ti he had been on the ship. At this mont, he just picked up the "Historical Annals of the Northern Realm" that was on the table beside him. This book contained much of the history and folklore of the Northern Realm, including the unique demi-human race of the Snow Fox, which allowed the foreign scholar from Nali to urgently supplent his knowledge of the local customs.
The appearance of the Snow Fox species was not recorded, but their most distinct trait was: their sharp noses.
It wasn’t that their noses were oddly shaped. As a demi-human race beloved by the Moon Princess among the Six Clans, their appearance was certainly not ugly. The ntion of their noses was because they could allegedly judge other’s emotions and character by scent. Any lies, concealnts, and malice would be inevitable exposed before their keen noses.
In ancient tis, when the Phoenix ruled the Northern Realm, the Snow Foxes were natural diplomats and the most formidable judges in the courts. In the absence of the Moon Princess, conflicts in the northern part of the Northern Realm were diated by them. But since the Phoenixes disappeared, no one listened to their advice anymore, and they began to hide, no longer communicating with other races filled with malice.
Because of the special abilities possessed by the Snow Foxes, Balzac wanted to make so advance preparations. Their abilities were extrely beneficial at the negotiating table, easily securing their bargaining chips for them.
"Mr. Balzac, let’s put aside the matter of the Snow Foxes for now. We already have the Seals of the Grey Bird, the Moon Rabbit, and the Cloud Cat in our hands. Besides the Snow Fox Seal, whose location we already know, are there just the Trolls and Sli Species Seals left?"
Balzac nodded in response to the distant Philis, who had nearly co to blows. He glanced at the ocean outside the SS Unicorn, its surface covered with ice. Beyond the sky, the majestic Sema Snow Mountain veiled in clouds, displaying its mystery and authority to outsiders.
"Yes, but these two Seals are not easy to obtain. So far, there’s not even a hint of a clue. The Sli Species is too dispersed; unlike other clans, they have no fixed settlent. Recently, I heard even more Slis have left the Northern Realm to do business in other places. I even suspect they might have sold their Seal already. As for the Trolls, we cannot see even a shred of credible information. They seem to have completely beco part of the myth along with the Phoenixes, but so say they are still living sowhere in the Sema Snow Mountain."
Fisher tapped the cover of the book, which indicated that none of the six clans were currently faring well. Not only had humans forgotten the contributions they made following the Phoenix Species, but it seems the curse of the Frost Snow Phoenix Tree was also accounting them. Why was this?
Emhardt, who usually didn’t partake in discussions, was yawning on Fisher’s shoulder, letting Fisher read the content on his own and only flipping through the stored knowledge in his belly when Fisher raised any questions. Fisher’s copying of knowledge from the Completion Manual had brought him severe, indescribable internal injuries. He needed rest, so he was particularly quiet today.
Just then, the big door behind Fisher suddenly opened. He turned to look and saw the white-haired young lady in a wheelchair at the doorway, dressed in a black Northern Realm Lady robe that made her look exceptionally elegant despite the wheelchair unable to conceal this.
She was like a butterfly unable to flap its wings, statically displaying the beauty of its wings.
"Boss."
"Miss Valentina."
Balzac and Philis both stood up to greet her, while Fisher did not move but politely greeted her, earning him an extra glance from Valentina, although she didn’t mind,
"Don’t worry too much. The fact that the Snow Foxes proactively contacted us indicates they have urgent matters needing our help. As the requested party, we naturally have the upper hand. As for the other two races... although the Sli Species is widely scattered, they seem to have so thod of contacting each other. When the ti cos, we just need to find one Sli and lure them with a large sum of money."
For so reason, while Valentina ntioned the infamous greedy behavior of Sli with "lure them with a large sum of money," it was Philis, the lion-man beside her, who unconsciously swallowed his saliva at that mont.
"Two more days until we reach Mia, and I’d like for you all to rest well during this ti," he said, "before we officially start working... But first, I’ll pay you the wages for hiring you."
"Hooray! Long live the boss!"
Upon hearing this, Philis jumped up with glee. Although Balzac appeared helpless, he didn’t rub his forehead with a headache this ti; he seed quite eager about the forthcoming wages.
Valentina smiled slightly and two maids, each carrying a tray covered with a red cloth, ca in respectfully and placed the trays in front of Philis and Balzac. Balzac thanked them but didn’t lift the red cloth imdiately to check the contents, while Philis didn’t care about such formalities and pulled off the red cloth directly, grabbing the bundles of Northern Realm banknotes and started counting.
Large transactions are common in the Northern Realm, so high-denomination banknotes are issued for convenience. One of these notes was worth twenty thousand silver coins of the Northern Realm, indicating the substantial amount of money casually placed on the tray.
The generosity of the Turand Family was fully displayed by the slender girl at this mont, but Mr. Fisher blinked his eyes, looked at the empty space before him, and then glanced back at Valentina with a smile.
Hmm?
Had his earlier refusal been taken seriously, so there was nothing for him now?
Mr. Fisher looked at Valentina; though he didn’t speak, his eyes probably conveyed the ssage. He didn’t expect that Valentina, who had just been smiling, would turn her head to look at him at the sa mont, eting his gaze.
It might have been an illusion, but when she saw this scene, her smile deepened at a very subtle angle, maintaining a profound calm. She looked up at the ceiling,
"Celti has been busy with the machinery overhead all this ti. I’ve given her the wages. We’ll need her help to enter Sema Snow Mountain later; otherwise, I won’t be able to get into Sema Snow Mountain in my current condition... Ah, I almost forgot, I also forgot to give Mr. Fisher his paynt. I really am sorry."
Only after finishing her sentence did Valentina "suddenly" realize sothing, then "belatedly" turned her gaze toward Mr. Fisher, who was sitting on a chair.
"..."
Mr. Fisher had no words. He didn’t interrupt her rough acting but just sat there watching her perform. However, Miss Valentina was clearly very conservative; this slight additional "move" was her limit of liveliness. She didn’t continue to tease Mr. Fisher but smiled and invited him instead,
"Based on your earlier request, I have already prepared your reward. Would you like to see it now?"
Hmm?
My earlier request?
That night, didn’t I just request... to study demi-human species?
Mr. Fisher slowly closed the book in his hands, reflecting on this.
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