Mice that wanted to go to the seabed

Normally, no matter how much he cried and pleaded, Rob would not have wavered in the slightest.

But this involved an important figure-the Northern Territory Envoy-and Vast Sea Commandery, where Reef Island lay, was part of the Northern Territory.

A local noble lord would probably have had to rein himself in and worry about whether the man might come knocking.

The man presumably already held a very high office. Who knew what affairs he had come here to oversee temporarily? He might even be carrying an imperial decree.

As a former noble, Rob knew perfectly well that such men enjoyed the emperor's particular favor. Otherwise, they would never have been given such a position.

They truly held immense power and authority.

Now his son had taken a liking to the sunflower seeds. No wonder Sai Liu had rushed over in such desperation. Killing a merchant would probably not even require the man to lift a finger.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with Rob's lord.

Kroya was a mage, an innate transcendent who belonged to the Mage Association. He had little connection to the kingdom's administrative apparatus.

Or rather, their relationship was not particularly good.

Mages placed great value on their status above worldly affairs. If the other party truly tried to use his power to bully Kroya, the Mage Association in the Royal Capital would certainly intervene-even though Kroya had been exiled, he was still one of their members, not someone a kingdom official could order around at will.

When dealing with outsiders, the Mage Association was very protective of its own.

With that backing, they did not need to worry about the man coming straight to their door to exert pressure, even if he discovered who was behind this.

Of course, business was business. What the other party could offer in exchange for these sunflower seeds was what really mattered.

At that thought, Rob cast a discreet glance at the motionless Woodstar Curving Vine King and continued, "Since he wanted to buy them, what price did you charge?

"Surely you weren't planning to give them away for free as a favor?"

His tone was teasing. He knew full well that petty merchants like this practically wanted to lick a great noble's boots when they met one. There was a very real chance Sai Liu would give them away just to curry favor.

"No!"

Sai Liu hurriedly shook his head. It was not that he had not wanted to, but the other party had simply disdained having any connection with him and paid him immediately.

Without these miraculous sunflower seeds, he would never have had a chance to meet Young Master Carl at all.

That was why he was so eager to make this deal happen.

He immediately signaled to a guard, who placed a package on the table and slowly opened it.

Inside were eleven tier-one magic crystals. Nor were they ordinary, non-elemental magic crystals, but clear, sparkling blue ones.

Water-attribute magic crystals.

"Young Master Carl bought them at one magic crystal per seed. Since I ate one, there are eleven crystals," he explained.

One magic crystal per seed was honestly a very high price. Even fully grown tier-one magic plant fruits could not fetch a magic crystal apiece.

And these... were only tiny seeds.

Rob keenly sensed that something was off. Out of caution, he continued, "What did he buy these sunflower seeds for?"

If they were simply for him to eat, that would be fine. But if he intended to use them as spellcasting materials to harm someone, there might well be trouble.

"I found out that Lady Vanessa hasn't been well. Apparently, they're for her to eat."

Hasn't been well?

Kroya, who had been watching from his laboratory all along, felt a stir of interest. He ordered the Woodstar Curving Vine King to touch Rob and convey his instructions in an extremely quiet voice.

Rob understood and replied, "Very well. My lord has agreed to sell thirty seeds, and there is also a potion you may take with you."

"A potion?" Sai Liu's eyes widened. "The mage can brew potions as well? May I ask what kind of potion it is?"

Potion-making, a branch of alchemy, was not easy to learn. Those who could brew potions were generally exceptionally capable. He had never expected Mage Kroya to possess that skill as well.

"Naturally, it is a potion with healing effects on the body." Rob smiled. "Once you take the potion and the sunflower seeds, how you sell them is your own affair, Mr. Sai Liu. You must not involve our mage in any way.

"As for the proceeds, we take eighty percent, and you take twenty.

"If you agree, we'll sign a contract."

"Of course. I can provide a contract-a contract of the God of Order."

Sai Liu understood what Rob meant and immediately agreed. He only needed to say that he had obtained them from a powerful mage, and the other party would most likely ask no further questions.

During their previous transaction, Young Master Carl had only asked in passing, without digging into the details.

With an unknown potion, he would certainly have an alchemist test it. To be honest, he was actually quite hopeful that it would work.

Since Mage Kroya could produce such miraculous sunflowers, surely his potion would be useful too?

If it truly worked, then even if Sai Liu only received twenty percent of the proceeds after all his hard work, establishing a connection with that young master and building a good relationship with Mage Kroya would make it well worth his while.

In fact, he had already considered this possibility, so he carried a contract of the God of Order with him-these contracts cost one gold coin each and were sold by the Order Temple.

They were more than willing to spread the radiance of the God of Order throughout the world, so the supply was essentially unlimited.

When he produced the contract, Rob teased him again. "You certainly came well prepared."

"Because I came in good faith." Sai Liu smiled back, then eagerly signed the contract.

The person signing the contract with him was not Kroya-he did not have enough standing to bring Kroya out in person-so Rob signed it instead.

Once the contract was signed, Rob handed him thirty sunflower seeds and a bottle of Sea Spirit Coconut Potion that a servant had brought over.

After seeing Sai Liu out of the castle, Rob carried the cage of Burrowing Mice and the package to Kroya's laboratory.

Creeeak~

The Woodstar Curving Vine King pushed open the laboratory door.

Kroya looked at Rob with a smile, his gaze flicking over the cage Rob carried-as expected, a prompt indicating that spells could be inscribed on these Burrowing Mice had appeared.

When he had looked at the two little mice earlier, he had already sensed that something was unusual about them. It had felt like a sudden flash of intuition, allowing him to faintly perceive that they longed for something.

He felt that if he could gain complete control over this sense, he would no longer need prompts. A single glance would tell him whether these magical beasts or magic plants could receive inscriptions.

Kroya narrowed his eyes and looked at Rob, giving the Woodstar Curving Vine King a pat as he did so.

"Thank you for your hard work. The next time Sai Liu comes, you can receive him yourself, Rob.

"If he wants more potions or sunflower seeds, see what price he offers."

Following his wishes, the Woodstar Curving Vine King extended its vines, took the cage and package from Rob, and set them on a nearby workbench.

"Understood!"

Rob bowed, then turned and left.

Kroya's attention shifted to the two little mice in the cage. As he activated the Astral Body Inscription Technique, two exceptionally clear thoughts rang out-

"I want to live on the seabed..."

"Somewhere far from people. I don't want to dance..."

Their thoughts were unusually clear, even accompanied by sighs. But as for what they wanted...

Hmm, wanting to live in seclusion is fine, but going to the seabed? Aren't you earth-attribute magical beasts?

Kroya fell into thought for a moment.