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Chapter 128
An Exchange
“Chirp chirp chiiirp!”
Birdie seemed to answer Ann’s plea for help, but sadly, Ann couldn’t figure out what Birdie wanted to tell her…
As a modern person who underwent formal education for so many years, one of the skills I learned was negotiation. So, the modern mini Ann, the master of negotiation, how should we deal with this situation?
What can I offer to the Imparie tribe?
My soul… definitely not.
My body? Gasp! Allen, I am so sorry—Ahem!
Knowledge, probably? But which knowledge would they deem as valuable and an equal trade—
Just as Ann was thinking of what she could do or offer in order to get the Imparie tribe’s leader to agree to lend a hand on the ritual, Rakiasha suddenly spoke.
”However—“
Rakiasha’s voice surprised Ann so much she immediately jerked her head to look at Rakiasha with her eyes glared at Rakiasha. Her body’s antagonistic look should have made her look like villainess with a slight glare, but oddly enough, she looked foolish instead since Ann glared with her mouth slightly open in surprise.
Still, Ann’s sudden glare and jerking around caused Rakiasha to flinch a bit due to it catching her off guard. But after making sure Ann didn’t mean any harm, Rakiasha just decided to ignore Ann as she branded Ann as a weirdo in her mind.
”We can assist you with the ritual as well, as long as we receive your promise to assist us with something in return.”
Hearing Rakiasha come up with a solution that Ann was thinking of, yet not knowing what she could offer back to the Imparie tribe, Ann reflexively answered.
”Eh? What can I do to assist you and your tribe, though?”
What came back to her was the surprised stares from her allies, with a look full of disbelief, and the Elder Priest Matthias even had a look that seemed to say, ‘You fool!’
Only then had Ann realized the mistake she made.
Yes, she just let it out that she didn’t feel like she had anything to bargain with, and that was definitely a sign of weakness and a bad trait to have in negotiations.
But she couldn’t turn back time, so she just cleared her throat in embarrassment and could only wait for the other party’s response.
“…your head,” Rakiasha mumbled several inaudible words, and Ann could only catch the last two words.
“M-m-m-my headddd?! E-excuse me, your excellency the sun of the tribe, b-but… wouldn’t asking for my head defeat the whole purpose of helping us with the ritual?!” Ann reflexively moved further away from Rakiasha…
Before Rakiasha could utter another word, Ann gasped audibly, seemingly grasping something, and Rakiasha thought Ann finally understood what she meant, so she waited for Ann to continue.
Just as she guessed, Ann finally opened her mouth again.
“C-could you mean… another kind of head?!” Ann slowly turned her head to look at Rakiasha with a horrible expression.
Despite not understanding what Ann meant by that, Rakiasha could tell that what Ann was referring to was probably not in line with what she had meant.
“Gasp! ANN!! NO WAY!” Laura was the first and the only person to catch Ann’s meaning, as she screamed reflexively to scold Ann.
The prince gently smacked her head and cleared his throat as he said, “Apologies…”
Thankfully, the prince reacted in time, for the sharp and murderous look that Nymnienna had towards Laura quickly disappeared, leaving only a hint of annoyance.
“…Let me repeat. While it is true that there is no item you can offer to our tribe, but it seems that you possess a dangerous treasure in your head,” Rakiasha slowly repeat her words, in a clearer tone and volume.
“Dangerous treasure?” Ann still didn’t quite catch the meaning behind Rakiasha’s words.
“You are a Pure Water magician. But you are very strong. What makes you different from the rest of the Pure Water magicians? You just told me that it’s just a matter of knowledge. A knowledge that can turn a pure water magic into something that strong… is a dangerous treasure,” Rakiasha explained.
“…! You want me to tell you about the knowledge that I have, that can turn the ‘weak’ pure water magic everyone knows into… something that’s so powerful it can be dangerous?!” Ann felt like she was going crazy.
At this time, she had forgotten about what was unfolding, who was the person she was talking to, everything, as she raised her voice, “Didn’t I just tell you that I am not sure if I could reveal it to the world since who knows what it will bring?!”
At this point, she was concerned about how wrong her knowledge could be used down the road. What if someone were to recreate a tsunami and flood the entire world? The consequences would be far too big for her to bear.
“Presumptuous!” Nymnienna was enraged at Ann’s rude attitude, but Rakiasha held her back.
“Your concern towards the greater good is commendable. I won’t say that it’s wrong. I do understand where you’re coming from, and I won’t ask too much from you. Just one person… would it be possible for you to take in a disciple and pass down your knowledge to that person?” Rakiasha said, without any hint of being offended.
“…!” Nymnienna seemed to understand something from Rakiasha’s words, as she no longer held that fierce look and aura, and could only stare down, deep in thoughts.
“A succeeding disciple… of my knowledge…?” Ann hadn’t thought about it before.
“Although I know that such knowledge can be dangerous, but I feel like it’d be a waste for it to disappear from this world once you have to return to the universe. And although right now you might not know how to utilize the knowledge in a way it can only be beneficial and get rid of the risks, maybe the generations after us will have an idea. But that can’t happen if the knowledge isn’t passed down in any form at all.”
The more Rakiasha explained, the more it made sense to Ann.
Indeed, Ann was concerned about the fate of the Pure Water magicians, especially if they were females, due to how people of this world seemed to say that they were only furnaces–and that also brought lots of danger towards the poor women. But on the other hand, she couldn’t guarantee that spreading this knowledge would lead to greater good.
Drastic changes might lead to ruin, but gradual changes could help.
At this point, it seemed like a win-win solution for Ann, but…
“If I may ask, do you already have someone in mind? I believe that Pure Water magicians are very rare in this world, so…,” Ann asked.
“Yes. My daughter,” Rakiasha smiled sheepishly.
“Your daughter…,” Ann was surprised to hear Rakiasha’s answer.
No wonder Rakiasha asked this favor from her. Nobody would want their daughter to be seen as a furnace.
She must really love her daughter, that is great.
“Actually, I have tried to come up with ways to make sure she became stronger. In places with water, sure, she would be able to beat her enemies as long as their power wasn’t that strong. But in places with little to no water, she’d still be an easy prey. When I heard that your magic was the same as her, Pure Water, I felt as if my prayers were answered.”
“I will do my best to help,” Ann nodded, readily agreeing.
“Thanks. As for the ritual… Since this case is unique in a way that it involves two souls and the soul that we’re trying to drive away is the original owner of the body, we need to exercise caution. Rather than teaching you how to hold the ritual, we shall help you conduct the ritual here. It’d increase the success rate and if anything were to happen, we can help,” Rakiasha explained.
“…!” Allen and Prince Kiehl were so surprised to hear this offer that they leapt from their seats.
“That… it’d be my pleasure! Thank you, really!” Ann certainly didn’t expect this level of assistance from the Imparie tribe who were originally on the opposite of even being cooperative.
Rakiasha really treasures her daughter. That is for sure.
“When can the ritual be held?” Laura asked, half excited, half worried.
“Don’t be impatient!” Elder Priest Matthias scolded Laura.
“Yes, yes, I apologize…”
“If there is anything that you require that we can help with, by all means, please tell us,” Prince Kiehl added.
“There is no need. We have everything ready,” Nymnienna was the one to respond.
Rakiasha said nothing, tacitly agreeing with what Nymnienna just said.
But then, as if remembering something, Rakiasha suddenly opened her mouth, “However, there is indeed one thing we require from you. I am not sure if you can provide this, but…”
Ann tensed hearing this. And so did Allen and Laura.
W-what if the requirement is hard or something that we can’t really provide?!
Hearing Rakiasha’s remarks, all of them had the same worry…
Just what is the thing that Rakiasha required us to provide, yet she is unsure if we can do that?
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