Tribal Sign-In: Immortal At The Start

"I want to make a deal with you," Bael stated flatly while looking into Brent’s eyes.

Brent stared at the ether core, examined it in his head, then focused on Bael and asked, "Do you want to sell it?"

Bael shook his head. "No."

Brent frowned and shifted his gaze towards Jareb and Henry, who wore nervous expressions. "Young masters, I believe you came here to introduce this man to me?"

They nodded.

Brent nodded as well and spoke with a smile, "Then you can wait at the store." He looked at Bael and added, "It seems we have a lot to talk about."

"We do," Bael agreed and turned his head towards the two. "Don’t worry about me."

They glanced at him and screamed in their heads, ’We are worried about Uncle Brent, not you!’

They gave everyone a last look and turned around as they left the place.

Just as they left, Brent moved the side of his sofa and pointed at the other side. "Have a seat."

Bael looked at the sofa, which was probably the most expensive one he could find, and stepped towards it.

After sitting down on it, he looked at Brent and said, "Let’s begin the talk."

"Yes, yes," Brent rubbed his chin and asked, "If you don’t want to sell them, what is it that you want me to do?"

Bael raised his hand towards the ether core and pulled it towards himself using Ruler’s Hand.

The core zipped to his hand, and Brent’s breath hitched for a moment as he realised that the man before him wasn’t simple.

Beads of sweat rolled down his face. He placed a hand on his loudly beating heart and said wryly, "I-I don’t think there was any need for that."

Bael smiled. "It was needed for the deal I have for you."

’What kind of absurd thing do you want me to do?’ Brent said as he displayed a sheepish smile, and asked, "Can you please tell me what you want from me?"

Bael placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke as if they’d been friends for years, "I want you to sell my ether cores."

"T-That’s all?" Brent stuttered.

Bael shook his head and placed his arm around his shoulders as he added, "I want you to hire more merchants, and then I want them to sell ether cores to the kingdom."

Confusion spread across Brent’s face, and he mumbled, "To the kingdom?"

"Yes, the kingdom," Bael repeated. "I know that cities as important as this one haven’t been made a part of the war under an equal distribution treaty, but it never stopped the merchants from selling something to a specific party."

Sensing the danger, Brent stammered, "B-But—"

"Listen," Bael whispered. "I want you to do this, and I will take care of anything that may trouble you."

Still suspicious, Brent heaved a sigh and said, "But if we do that, the kingdom’s treasury would be emptied."

"Then sell them at a cheap price," Bael suggested.

Brent shook his head and explained, "Then the kingdom won’t buy it because to them it would be no different than a trap."

"That’s true..." Bael moved his hand off his shoulder and rubbed his chin in thought.

Brent stared at him and thought, ’So he is a royalist who wants to help the kingdom... but the crown is too weak for such a thing, the only reason why others haven’t attacked us is because of the nebulae we have.’

Unable to come to an answer, Bael shook his head and asked, "What do you suggest we should do?"

’I thought he wouldn’t ask,’ Brent remarked inwardly and said, "We can instead buy something else in return."

"Hmm?" Bael tilted his head. "Elaborate."

Brent took a deep breath and explained, "The kingdom lacks treasure and gold because of the three decades of civil war, but it doesn’t lack other resources such as ether arts, land, and much more, which we can buy for now, and once everything is over, we can either return it or allow them to buy them back from us."

"This way they won’t feel threatened by us, and we’d be able to sell them ether cores without any problem."

"Huh..." Bael looked at him with an impressed expression and said, "Now I see why they call you the merchant blessed by the gods."

"I-It wasn’t much," Brent muttered with an embarrassed expression, and Bael said, "So I leave it to you, Brent."

"Alright," Brent agreed.

Bael smiled and walked towards the corner, where there were empty crates. He opened them and filled them with ether cores. "Make sure the kingdom gets all of them."

Brent nodded, and Bael smiled at him before he left the place.

Just as Bael left, Brent leaned back on his sofa and heaved a relieved sigh. "It felt worse than the meeting with the king."

He turned his gaze towards the crates full of ether cores and mumbled tiredly, already feeling the weight of the work he had to do. "I’ve got a lot more trouble on my hands."

"Wait!" All of a sudden, a realization came to his mind. "When did I agree to this...?"

He shot up to his feet and mumbled, "I should tell him to take these back."

But just as he was about to take a step, he remembered how Bael had pulled the core towards him and how he was able to fill the crates without having the cores in hand.

The sofa squeaked as he fell back on it and mumbled, "I must’ve agreed. I have only forgotten when."

The corners of Bael’s lips arched upwards, and as Jareb and Henry entered his vision, he said, "Let’s go."

They nodded, and the storekeeper bowed as they left the place. Jareb and Henry asked impatiently, "How did it go?"

Bael gave them a smug look and said, "It went great, of course. Who do you think suggested the deal?"

They stared at him with deadpan faces, and Bael mumbled, "We have to meet two more merchants. Then we will return."

Jareb and Henry nodded.