Novel Bin Chapter Volume 4 27
Elves’ Books
Lucilia cheerfully sat next to Veirya. In her hand was a cup of strong wine that Angelina poured her. Veirya seemed to want the drink. Nevertheless, she didn\'t take the initiative to ask for it, as she seemed to mind my opinion. I didn\'t know if it was a habit she picked up after I left or if she was fond of strong wine but just didn\'t dare to drink it due to my presence. I didn\'t dislike drinking by any means; I just couldn\'t drink.
Lucia had a drink then narrowed her eyes due to the burn. However, she seemed to enjoy it. She passed the cup to Veirya: "Veirya, you want a drink?"
"Uhm." Veirya took the cup, but then looked at me with a tinge of concern.
I nodded. Only then did Veirya have a drink, and then place it down on the table. Lucia narrowed her eyes as she scanned Veirya and me. She then softly chuckled: "How rare. To tame this beast is an impressive feat. Veirya has never obeyed anyone other than her Queen. You\'re not that strong, yet you\'re able to make her care about you, which is very rare. In the past, Veirya never listened to any plans or tactics I suggested. She just went off and did as she pleased, leaving us in a miserable state every time."
"I. Did not." Veirya gave a seemingly shy response. She was expressionless as per usual, so I couldn\'t see any difference.
Lucia giggled. She must\'ve started to feel tipsy. Elves didn\'t seem to be able to hold their liquor when they drank humanity\'s alcohol. She picked up the cup for another drink. Her body jolted, and then she let out a soothing sigh: "The reason for my visit this time is to get some more money from you. We elves may have to fight a war soon, which is why we need to purchase weapons. Hence, I came to discuss it with Travor. I want to see if we can sell some new stuff."
"That\'ll depend on what it is. Also, Achilles\' goods are on their way now, aren\'t they?"
"That money is being used for something else."
To be honest, I was rich. I had the money from the last time Achilles smuggled flavouring. While Queen Sisi never rewarded me with anything, I did bring back nearly a thousand gold coins from the imperial capital. I could afford to privately purchase the goods from Lucia if she offered to sell me some elven treasure - provided the volume wasn\'t outlandish. Though the money should\'ve been considered the North\'s, it was fine for me to spend it as everything here in the North belonged to Veirya.
"So, what do you plan to sell me?" I asked
Since Lucia was drunk, it was a good opportunity for me. A tipsy individual wouldn\'t have the rationality to discuss a business deal with me. Lucia squinted. She pinched her chin and answered, "Do you need a few elves? Females. You can open a brothel or something. I may not have anything else, but I have plenty of female elves."
"No, no, no, I don\'t want to run a brothel. Moreover, that sort of business is useless in the North. Hardly anyone has the money to spend at one."
"What do you want to buy, then?"
It was clear that Lucia was very candid. She waited for me to reply; however, the problem was that I didn\'t know what the elves had. How, then, was I supposed to ask for something? Nonetheless, I did have something that I wanted to buy. I went silent for a short moment then replied, "Lucia, I want your books. It\'d be best if you could get me more. There should be lots of books at the diplomat\'s place. Sell me those books."
"Books…?" Although the elves showed no signs of cherishing their flavouring or gold, when I mentioned books, Lucia\'s expression changed for the worst. She pinched her chin and dryly chuckled: "How about something else? That\'s not too appropriate. We don\'t like to give our books to others. We value knowledge; we won\'t give our elven books to other races."
I froze. I never expected elves to treasure knowledge on top of loving battle. Their values equipped them with the knowledge and skills to be a threat on and off the battlefield. A race that loved battle, fought ruthlessly and respected knowledge was one you didn\'t make to make an enemy out of.
As Lucia didn\'t completely reject me, it meant that there was a chance. The elves were currently in dire need of money. I needed to convince the elves to give me the books, the more the better.
"Oh, right, Queen Sisi will soon arrive here. Lucia, due to the current situation between humans and elves, should you not avoid meeting her?" I threw something totally unrelated to our topic of conversation at hand to see Lucia\'s reaction.
Lucia\'s reaction was confusion: "Queen Sisi? What\'s she coming here for?"
"Didn\'t I tell you already? Queen Sisi has an agenda for elves. She might be here this time for that. She probably wants to call Veirya to join her campaign. That said, I\'ve already come up with a plan to have Veirya turn down Queen Sisi. But, Lucia, are you ready?"
Lucia clenched her teeth: "Despicable witch! We made such big sacrifices in the war; we gave our very best for the so-called alliance, but that human wants to betray us?!! I can\'t possibly accept her betrayal! If she has the guts to come here, I\'ll ambush her, and pierce her with an arrow!"
"Don\'t." I quickly stopped Lucia. I explained, "If you shoot Queen Sisi down when she attacks you, it\'s not an issue. Queen Sisi has yet to attack you, however. For now, she\'s merely visiting her territory; there\'s nothing wrong with doing so. If you kill humanity\'s Queen in humanity\'s lands, it\'ll be you elves who betrayed the alliance."
Despite being slightly muddle-headed, Lucia could still hear me speak. After hearing what I said, she furiously placed her cup down on the table. She grabbed hair with an infuriated expression. the time to be ripe, I said, "Now, let\'s talk about what I\'m going to buy from you. What can you sell me?"
"Mm… what books do you want? I\'ll get you some. Remember, though, Travor, I\'m selling you the books, as I consider you a friend. Under normal circumstances, we would never sell our books to other races. All that said, I want the same thing; I want gold coins."
Lucia picked up her cup of wine and finished it in one drink as if she was trying to drink her woes away. I touched her long ears and softly laughed: "That\'s great, then. You do your best to get me those books; I won\'t give them to anyone else. They\'re all for Leah. I might even have Leah go to your land to study abroad in the future."
"That\'d be fantastic. If she does… then, I\'ll take care of her…"
Lucia\'s eyelids slowly started to fall. She fell onto Veirya with a heavy thud. Veirya hugged Lucia. Veirya softly remarked, "She\'s. The same as in the past. She. Likes to drink. But. Can\'t drink much."
"Was she always so naive?"
I couldn\'t really say that Lucia was actually somewhat stupid.