Volume 3, Chapter 6 – Trade Alliance with the City-State of Rekhilon. (Completed)
I stepped out of the tavern onto the sunny street with a new feeling. Perhaps if I were evil, I could have completed my "find a partner" task by threatening all of Rekhilon to make her mine.
I walked down the street, lost in thought, with Paladin and Aviana silently following behind.
The sun shone on me, warming my jacket shoulders and creeping under my red shirt. I felt calm, and in my hand I held two medals: for bravery and for defending the city.
It turned out the tavern Hostess was eighty years old. How strange... To see a long-lived person who looks like a woman. But all of this is unfamiliar to me — everything is new: magic, the world, people. They act normal, like people. But I haven't spoken to real people in so long. The last time before my death, I talked to ordinary people three years before I died. Regular people, not doctors — I talked to them too much...
"COMMAAANDER!" Lelik shouted from somewhere, very loudly.
I snapped out of my thoughts and flinched, frantically looking for him. Aviana silently, with a hint of annoyance, walked over and pointed a finger at the sky.
"Huh?!..."
There, in the sky, Lelik towered on a massive blue wyvern. He'd positioned himself so the sun was behind him, turning him into a legendary rider who'd come to save the world.
Lelik, accompanied by two wyvern-riding guards, landed on the road, blocking the street.
"How?" I ran up to him in surprise, unbuttoning my top buttons. "How did they let you do that?"
Lelik jumped off the wyvern, casually tossing a gold coin.
"Any whim for the Monarch's gold coin. Heh," he chuckled, walking around the wyvern. "Specs: seven hundred horsepower, can surge to twelve hundred. Weight — three tons. Payload — six hundred kilograms," he lifted the wings. "Cruising speed — one hundred thirty kilometers per hour. Zero to two-fifty in half a minute. Never crashed, never scratched."
(Wow... So beautiful. It doesn't look dangerous — though maybe that's because I haven't seen what it can do.)
"You're the only one using that coin, I see," I said with a smile, teasing Lelik.
He frowned and walked up to me.
"Don't look a gift wyvern in the mouth."
"You bought it?!"
"Rented it. So... COMMANDER, aboard!" Lelik shouted, jumping into the saddle and patting the space behind him.
I looked at sighing Aviana and silent Paladin.
(How hard is it for us to just leave a tavern and walk to the only black building in this city.)
"Heh!" I jumped into the saddle.
[Lelik]: Base. This is Lelik. Requesting takeoff on wyvern.
[CUB]: Lelik. Don't call here. Radio silence.
Lelik snorted and turned to me over his shoulder.
"No seatbelts. No parachutes either. Only... Speed!" — and the wyvern beat its wings, lifting off the ground, soaring into the sky at a seventy-degree angle.
I was pulled down sharply and instinctively wrapped my arms around Lelik's waist. The wind hit my eyes, making them water, as the houses slowly receded. This was a completely different experience. Much more pleasant than a helicopter. No constant engine roar or air-slicing noise, no whole-body vibration — just silence, the beat of wings, and the wind in my ears.
The wyvern's constant up-and-down motion made me motion-sick very quickly.
And the city from above was beautiful. White houses, greenery everywhere, and even from here I could see cats running on rooftops, hunting birds. My gaze was drawn to the Karik — black, the only one like it in the city, towering over both houses and people. It attracted everyone, and even the sun couldn't ignore it, soaking into it, creating waves of hot air around the roof.
"Let's go!" I shouted in Lelik's ear, pointing at the castle.
The wyvern stopped in the air, turning almost ninety degrees upward — I frantically held onto Lelik against the pull of gravity. The wyvern made a sharp turn and dove down, accelerating to two hundred fifty kilometers per hour, flying right over the rooftops, startling birds and cats. Then it sharply banked ninety degrees and coasted a hundred meters, stopping perfectly at the Karik's entrance.
I tumbled out onto the ground, trying to catch my breath from the ride. Lelik jumped off the tired wyvern and snorted.
"Yeah... Water and food consumption is massive. Better a helicopter or E-4B," he muttered, wiping his hands and heading inside.
Aviana and Paladin also approached, watching me lying on the ground with the wyvern, breathing heavily.
Hoo-oh! That was something else...
Wait!
"Hey! Who's watching Mary-Sue, Apache, Black Hawk, and Chinook?!" I got up indignantly.
"They're already flying with Pex on the E-4B," Aviana answered coldly. "And Lelik has extra cleaning duty."
(Good. They're flying business class to the Democracy of Silence. Probably feeling like owners of the whole plane.)
I adjusted my jacket and shirt, heading into the castle with Aviana and Paladin.
The Butler immediately ran out to us and bowed.
"Good day, Seraphim. The Monarch is expecting you. Please, follow me," he gestured for us to follow.
And after winding through corridors and climbing stairs, we entered Charles's office.
Today, he was already dressed in pants and a shirt, half-unbuttoned, with cats still crawling all around.
Charles looked mysteriously out the window, and as soon as he saw us, he returned to his chair behind the desk and greeted us.
"Good day. How do you like the city? Enjoying it?" Charles asked, pointing to the chairs next to his desk, avoiding the topic of the attack.
Aviana and I sat down, greeting the Monarch, while Paladin became a mountain by the door — the perfect scratching post and climbing tree for cats.
"The transport truly arouses sincere curiosity about your technologies," Charles began, stroking the orange cat that was rubbing its face against his hand. "And the liquid you provided... We have no use for it, but it greatly intrigues my elders."
A cat jumped onto my lap, then onto Aviana's legs, while Paladin was already covered in little balls of fluff.
"I can't help but note the quality of the ingots — they truly delighted me, and the blacksmiths were awestruck," Charles continued praising, sitting more comfortably and putting the orange cat down. "I agree to a trade alliance."
I exhaled and almost cheered.
"But," Charles said, deflating my joy. "I cannot recognize you on the world stage. I'm bound hand and foot."
I felt disappointed, and Aviana moved the cat back to me — it was digging its claws into her stockings and skirt.
"Alright. Then here's our proposal: ten tons of black soil weekly, ten dozen saplings and flowers, one hundred bags of food, industrial, feed, and decorative seeds," Aviana laid out the terms. "And from our side — four tons of ferrous metals, two tons of non-ferrous, one ton of rare metals, and one ton of alkaline."
Charles thought for a moment, starting to write something down. Aviana and I waited for him to finish.
"What are alkaline metals? And what about your transport technologies and pure alloy smelting?" Charles continued writing and drawing on the paper.
A cat jumped onto Aviana again.
"As for technologies," she put the cat on the table, "we are ready to teach and demonstrate only after a formal alliance is established and announced on the world stage."
"And alkaline metals..." Aviana paused, realizing it was no longer profitable to give them away. "It's chemistry."
Charles sighed, wiping his forehead and finishing his writing.
"I see... You showed the transport but didn't explain it. Alkaline metals also beyond our city..." he looked up at us. "Who are you people?!.. Well, fine... Question: how will deliveries be made? It takes us weeks to reach you."
Aviana adjusted her clothes, and I glanced between her and Charles, petting the cats.
"Five of our vehicles will come to you — two filled with ingots. You unload and fill them with resources. Please have everything ready at once," Aviana finished, crossing her legs.
Charles nodded.
"Good. This location will be designated for trade with you," he handed over a sheet with a drawing of Rekhilon, and twenty kilometers away, beyond a forest, a square was marked.
Aviana approved.
"Whose side will handle the paperwork?" he asked, stroking the orange cat.
"Ours. The documents will be sent for signing. Today is 25.04, Friday... How about 28.04? Will you have time to gather all the resources?"
Charles was stunned.
"You're going to gather seven tons of pure metal over the weekend??" he almost squeaked, but quickly recovered. "No. We won't make it. We need to deploy workers for extraction."
"Then 05.05. Works?" Aviana responded calmly.
Charles agreed, and after saying goodbye, we headed for the exit — but Aviana stopped, and I bumped into her.
"And I'd also like to request the dossiers of the people who attacked us," Aviana turned around and asked.
"Why? They're already in custody."
"Necessary for improving security — both for Seraphim and for our country."
Charles hesitated.
"Fine. I'll request the dossiers, but this information must not leave our states."
List:
— Get into sports. (In progress)
— Start some kind of business.
— Find a partner.
— Plant a tree.
— Learn a new craft.
— Ride a horse.
From this world:
— Learn the language. (In progress)
— Become independent and not rely on the officers. (In progress)
— Become proficient with weapons. (In progress)
— Master fencing at an excellent level. (In progress)
— Alliance/Trade Union with the City-State of Rekhilon. (Completed)
— Ride a wyvern. (Completed)