FFF-Tier System, SSS-Rank Wife-Chapter 65: Convienient timing

"You better not be here to tell me you’ve failed!"

Even now, I could hear anger in Greg’s voice.

And honestly, it would be weirder if he somehow managed to calm down by now.

It’s been a minute, maybe two, since that merchant left. If my gut feeling was correct, it also meant that Greg’s supply of coal – something he needed for his smithy to operate to begin with – was now gone.

Or maybe not gone, but greatly limited to what he could obtain from other sources. In the worst-case scenario, when accounting for what that merchant said, Greg would have to resort to buying coal from other smithies. And what other pick would he have to choose from if not the other smithy that merchant openly alluded to sell all of his wares instead?

’Well, there’s always the chance that I simply misunderstood the entire thing...’ I thought, trying to keep my thoughts fresh and objective—

But with Greg’s welcoming sentence, it was really hard for me to pretend this whole ordeal could be about anything other than coal. Why else would my little experiment be the very thing Greg asked about from the moment we entered?

For all that he knew, it was perfectly possible for us to be here just to get more tools to even prepare the experiment, let alone actually run it.

Which is likely why, before we could even reach the smithy’s counter, Greg’s face was already turning all possible shades of dark.

And surprise surprise, that alone was enough to make Selia slightly... worried? Anxious?

No, that wasn’t it.

Concerned.

I took a breath—

And opened up my eyes as wide as I could.

’How the hell do I get to sense her faint emotions like that?’ I thought, staring at the girl to the side only to gently shake my head and look back over to the dwarf.

It was a question all the more valid, given how Greg – who supposedly knew Saintess for much, much longer than I did – didn’t appear to notice anything!

’I guess it’s only normal, with how agitated he is?’ I thought, trying to find a rational justification of what I’ve just noticed.

Before I could give it any deeper thought, though, Greg pulled out another bottle out of nowhere, only to grab the wax seal on its top with his teeth, bite it off with one clench of his jaws and then spit the cork away before taking a long, deep gulp of the reddish drink inside.

"Those Lacra bastards tried to ask for an even higher price on the coal than before," he muttered after allowing the drink to flow down his throat and then breathing out a worryingly hot breath. "They tried to make up something about the increasing dangers of transport to the town..."

Greg shook his head.

There was clearly more to the story. He simply didn’t feel like sharing it.

And in all honesty, was there even a need for him to do so? He already said enough for us to grasp the weight of the situation. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"BUT THE DANGER IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE PAYING ALL THEIR PREMIUMS FOR, ALREADY!" Greg then, contrary to how he appeared just now, screamed out, only to take another gulp...

And threw the half-emptied out bottle directly into the corner.

It was only by some miracle that the glass didn’t shatter, acting as if its sole purpose of existence wasn’t to serve as a booze container, but Greg’s source of liquid relief.

On the outside, I put on a concerned look, trying my best to sympathize with the man. Yet, as someone who originally had yet to fully step out of my parents’ shadow and enter the world and struggle of adulthood, I couldn’t really find any experience that would allow me to directly relate.

On the inside, however, I was stuck between this weird feeling of worry over the insanely timely manner in which this crash-out between Greg and his supplier occurred. Yet, once my thoughts moved beyond that?

I couldn’t be happier! Because as much as it sucked to be in Greg’s shoes right now, it put me in a much, MUCH better negotiation position regarding the very thing I came here to sell!

Then, as if I didn’t have enough things to think about, I felt Selia pin her eyes on me with the clear sense of pleading in her entire self.

Once again, an emotion that I shouldn’t be able to figure out just from her posture and facial expression alone.

But since Selia was asking, who was I to refuse?

"As it turns out..." I started in a low, slightly downtrodden voice. Then, I pressed my lips and shook my head. "While my experiment was a success, I’m afraid we didn’t produce anywhere near enough charcoal to satisfy the needs of your smithy.

Hearing this, Greg shook his head, acting as if he already knew the answer and now only waited to hear me confirm his low expectations.

"Just like I thought," he muttered, his hand already searching underneath the counter in a bid to find another stashed-out bottle.

Then, his entire frame froze, as the actual meaning of my words finally reached his ears and passed through the processing in his brain, feeding the dwarf just the lone piece of information he most wanted to hear right now.

"You did what?" Greg asked, raising his suspicion-filled eyes up to my face.

"We’ve succeeded with the experiment," I spread my arms out to the sides before shrugging them. Before saying or doing anything else, though, I gave Selia a quick look followed up by a quick look around and then followed by a jerk of my head in the direction of the doors we’ve entered through just a moment ago.

And just like I didn’t need her to speak up to sense her emotions, Saintess appeared to understand my intention without having me spell them out for her.

Selia didn’t say a single word. Instead, she merely nodded her head and took in a breath...

Before the entire interior of the smithy suddenly filled up with one hell of an oppressive energy.

’Wha...!’

I nearly freaked out when I sensed some sort of force pressing heavily down on me, as if even something as simple as taking a proper breath suddenly became a challenge.

"Everyone," Selia took a few steps to the side, before calling out to all the customers who were still in the room, currently getting serviced at the smaller, side-counters scattered along the left and back wall of the reception room of the smithy.

And the moment everyone looked over, Selia merely pointed with her hand at the door.

"Out, now."