The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 627: An employee so talented they create they nail the next negotiation unconsciously

Chapter 627: An employee so talented they create they nail the next negotiation unconsciously

I was right; Heraz did not come alone, but with Tsalinade. I had no idea how he could bring her to this place this fast, but...good job!

"Oh!" Zarfa slammed the table in excitement. "Three stealth and a teleportation machine!"

"Excuse me?" Tsalinade frowned, but I glanced at her and she lowered her gaze again.

That being said, I still explained what had transpired and what our plan was to them, and Heraz nodded in agreement. "Yes, I will feel much better if I can escort you, Young Master."

As a bonus, I could feel Jin’s jealousy when Renna visibly perked up at the thought of doing the mission with our master spy. I wondered how she would react if she met Opti, who essentially wore a disguise daily that not even the other vassal knew how he originally looked like. Even Natha had only seen Opti in his original form three times--one of them during the shapeshifter pledge of servitude.

"But what do you mean by teleportation machine?" Renna asked curiously, glancing at Tsalinade who was once again glaring--at the floor this time.

"We don’t know what might happen to the ruin once we take the relic--there might be changes and everything," Zarga raised her finger. "Just in case, the stealth team will carry a teleportation scroll to be used after they take the bead."

"Oh, then...how do we inform you after we obtain it?"

"Hmm..."

We went into deep contemplation for a while, but the one coming up with an answer was Ignis. "I’ll go with the other team and place my shadowflame with Valen."

"Oh, you’ll do that?"

It was rather surprising because Ignis was pretty protective these days, but the Salamander glanced at Heraz. "Well, I can at least trust this one."

"It’s an honor," Heraz lowered his head further, which made Ignis scoff in a good mood.

"That’s settled then!" Zarfa clapped her hands. "But we have to wait for our group to make contact and form an agreement with the church’s side, so let’s wait while preparing our disguise."

She said that, but since I would go in stealth, I didn’t necessarily need a disguise. Still, in case something went wrong, we clad ourselves in a mercenary garb. A magician for me, since a magician’s clothes were the most comfortable. And I had two assassins with me, hehe...

Shiny almost jumped in surprise when Jade was going poof and turned into a little bird. With them being the same size now, they faced each other and for a while, the room was filled with loud chirps and chiis as they were talking with each other even more comfortably.

And so, I had to have a short course to make sure they stayed silent once we were inside the ruin.

Since we didn’t know when we could move, we decided to refresh ourselves with lunch and shower afterward. Zarfa gave me an odorless soap, telling me to be careful about having any fragrance latched on me. How saddening it was that I couldn’t wash my hair with the oil Arta packed me, but what could I do? I’d just wash myself thoroughly before going back to the Castle.

Didn’t want my husband to catch me dirty and pitiful, you know?

Afterward, I finally received Tsalinade properly.

It had been...what? Before I got Shwa, wasn’t it? So...ten, eleven months? No idea. I had been delivering the drops of Amrita through Heraz, so I guessed they had their own method of meeting and communication that allowed the shapeshifter to bring Tsalinade to this place quickly.

I didn’t need to know all of that.

"I haven’t managed to get anything," Tsalinade started with a deep bow. "Forgive me, Master."

Actually, since the last delivery was before Shwa’s naming ceremony, it was reasonable for her to not have anything yet. It wasn’t like I expected my inheritance to just show up in a street vendor somewhere. Still, I couldn’t let her know that it was acceptable, or she might start getting lazy.

At least, that was what my boss of a husband taught me.

"I guess it’s fine for now," I sighed heavily, making sure I looked as disappointed as possible. Natha would be proud. I waved my hand like an exasperated boss--or so I hope I looked like one--and pointed at the slightly trembling shapeshifter in the back. "Heraz will give you a list of noble houses to be checked."

"I...understand," Tsalinade replied quietly. Good. It means she understood that I wanted results faster after this. Right?

Anyway...

"About that teleportation scroll," I tapped on the armchair in contemplation while stroking the drowsy bird and mole on my lap. "Make three of them."

"Three..."

I raised my brow sharply. "What?"

Tsalinade bit her lips and looked at me with a pitiful face. "Can...can I at least receive one more drop, Master?" her fingers met on her lap, as if she wanted to clasp them in plea but was also too proud to do so. "I promise to finish it in three--two hours top!"

"Hmm..."

I tapped my finger slowly, and those fingers started to intertwine; each passing second seemed to melt her pride. I waited until her hands clasped fully and her head lowered more before finally answering.

"Fine, a drop is alright," I clicked my tongue--again, as a bonus--and stroked the curling Shiny on my lap. "Don’t forget to include this little guy. It hasn’t been contracted to me, so it needs its own space."

"Yes, I understand!"

She answered energetically now after I allowed her a bonus drop of Amrita.

"One of them would be for the other team, so...you do the math," I continued. "The point would be..."

"It can’t be inside a building, Master," she said quickly when my eyes darted to the hotel corridor. "Too many risk factors."

Tsk--I had wanted to make sure we teleported somewhere hidden from prying eyes, but I also learned enough magic to know she was telling the truth. The only teleportation able to do that was through a very precise method like my tokens, or if the teleportation was an innate ability like Natha and D’Ara.

Actually, Natha might learn it from D’Ara.

Oh, I digress.

"Ugh--fine," I sighed again, and turned toward the window. Thankfully, the bedroom was facing the right part; the inner yard of the hotel. Probably so we could minimize spying attempts--if there were any. "There; let’s set it on the hotel’s inner yard."

There was a garden there, but...they would understand, right? I’d just fix the garden if it got damaged during the teleportation.

"I understand."

With that obedient look, I gave her another drop of Amrita so she could work her ass off for the next two hours under Heraz’s supervision while I talked to my friends. Since I let Tsalinade use my bedroom to work, I brought my sleeping little companions to the girls’ room, waiting for more information while Zarfa and Aina played board games to work on their nerves.

As expected of an impromptu plan, it couldn’t happen fast enough. In the first place, a prominent group rarely wanted others to join them. Our best leverage is using Midas’s position as a prominent merchant to sponsor the exploration--meaning we would supply the logistics. We were mainly betted on the fact that they only wanted the Goddess’ relic, and probably made a condition that they had one chance to pick anything they wanted at the end of the exploration.

Still...that kind of negotiation didn’t typically conclude in a few hours.

Phew...let’s calm down. Unlike before, there was no need to hurry. We had a trusted--or rather, magical--nose locked on the bead, and it was our sixth. At most, even with all kinds of dramas, I expect the bead to be in our hand within six days--that was the worst-case scenario. In that case, we would still have sixty more days to look for the last bead.

Plenty of time even if we had to attack the church and awaken a religious revolution...or something.

I’d request for help from Natha if I had to.

Yeah...let’s keep calm. It was only a few hours, it wasn’t like--

"Miss," a knock was heard from the door, and we were all perked up. "Your afternoon tea is ready."

Despite the seemingly disappointing message, Zarfa shot up to the door and opened the door, letting the manager enter. There was a trolley in his hand, which he pushed inside. Calmly, he placed the tea sets and cakes on the table as we sat around it eagerly.

The last thing he placed on the table was an envelope.

"Thank you, Caleb. Please send the others here."

The manager bowed gracefully and left the room, but we didn’t wait for the others before opening the envelope carefully--why? Because the message was in the envelope.

"Okay...okay--we got the date," Zarfa raised her finger to shut us up while reading more. "It’s tomorrow at ten--oh, standard time."

"Oh...not now?"

Zarfa squeezed my cheeks and glared at me. "This is already fast, girl--shut up," she harrumphed. "It was hard getting them to agree this fast. It is said here that...huh--my team investigated and it seems like they were lacking funds currently."

"Oh?"

"Wait--hmm...mm...oh!" she arched her brow. "It seems like most of the funding is getting pulled toward...Dailamy?" Zarfa raised her head to look at me.

I, being smart for once, snapped my fingers. "To take care of that noble’s house and the missing relic?"

Zarfa wiggled her brows and, after we looked at each other again for a few seconds, giggled at the unintended effect of my subordinate’s vandalism.

Oh, I really need to raise his pay.