Chapter 69 - 68: Lysandra’s Offer
Other world —★★★
"How did you know about this?" he asked, his voice low but steady.
Lysandra didn’t answer right away. She simply smiled, resting her chin lightly against her gloved knuckles. There was no smugness in her expression—only quiet curiosity, as if she were speaking not as a politician, but as someone who enjoyed putting puzzles together.
"I just assumed," she said at last, her tone gentle, almost conversational. "You came to Ginip from a faraway country—a place so distant no one here knows its name. But when you arrived, you didn’t bring a wagon. No merchant tag from any known guild. No guards. No retinue. And yet... a few days later, you began selling foreign goods. Soap, metal tools, spices, coils that give off scented smoke. Strange papers with even stranger markings. Your little shop carries items no one here has ever seen."
She leaned back against the cushioned seat and crossed one leg over the other. "And somehow, you restock without shipments. No guards reported a caravan arriving for you. It’s not difficult to do the math."
Kael looked out the window for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly. The dirt road ahead was quiet, trees bowing in the breeze on either side like silent witnesses.
"So... you think I have some kind of magical storage?" he asked slowly.
Lysandra gave a short nod. "It makes sense. A storage artifact. One that lets you carry large amounts of goods in a small space. Am I wrong?"
Kael didn’t answer immediately. He didn’t panic either. Instead, he studied her expression. Calm. Inquisitive. Not threatening. There was no greed in her tone, no trace of manipulation. Just... interest.
"I’ve never seen you use mana," she went on. "Or heard of you casting a spell. So if you do have such a thing, it’s likely not a spell-based ability. That means artifact. Possibly a rare one—likely bound to you."
Kael folded his arms. "You’ve thought this through."