“What’s wrong?”
Red naturally heard the commotion outside as well.
He looked at Litt standing by the entrance and scratched his head.
“Is someone out there?”
“N-no… no one.”
Litt forced a smile on her face.
As she turned her back to Red, she silently locked the door behind her.
Before Litt could explain, Otto’s voice sounded again from outside.
“Miss Litt, after all, I’m still your Bishop. Isn’t this a bit too heartless?”
Even though Litt had locked the door, a lock could keep people out, but not sound.
Red eyed the door suspiciously.
“But I think I heard someone outside.”
“You’re imagining things.”
“Knock, knock, knock…”
The door was knocked again.
Otto, locked outside, wasn’t angry.
Instead, after hearing Red’s voice, he actually sounded pleased as he said,
“Miss Litt, turning away business that’s come knocking isn’t the mark of a competent merchant.”
“Tch…”
Litt clicked her tongue in annoyance.
With Red right in front of her, she couldn’t keep Otto out any longer.
She still had to play the gentle persona.
So, no matter how annoyed she was inside, she opened the door.
Outside, Otto gave Red and Litt a slight bow—a textbook noble’s greeting.
“Good day to you both. I’m Otto. At Miss Litt’s invitation, I’ve come to discuss a business deal with you.”
“Otto…”
Red pondered for a moment, “You’re Litt’s Bishop?”
“I didn’t expect Mr. Raider would still remember my name. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Miss Litt has told me that you are a very good person.”
Judging by Otto’s expression, he seemed to be speaking sincerely.
But Litt knew he was just spouting nonsense—she never said any such thing!
So, unable to watch the two banter any longer, Litt interjected.
“Standing around outside is pointless. Come in, let’s talk. I’ll go make tea.”
“How honored I am.”
Red and Otto sat down in the living room while Litt went off to make tea.
She hesitated, wondering if she should spike Otto’s teacup.
But after thinking it over, she decided against it.
In front of Red, it was better to hold back.
The two men sat facing each other in the living room.
Otto spoke up first.
“To tell the truth, Red, you might not believe me, but this is the first time I’ve seen Litt show such a genuine expression.”
Indeed, Letia—no, Litt—had always struck him as a dead fish, only flipping over when prodded, and never moving otherwise.
To see such a lively and gentle look on her face—this was truly a first for Otto.
“Oh? I always thought she was like this,” Raider replied, naturally taking it as a polite remark.
At the same time, Litt brought over the freshly brewed tea.
Otto took a sip and sighed sincerely.
“Excellent tea.”
Looking at Otto’s infuriating face, Litt couldn’t keep up her act and said,
“Get to the point.”
Red watched the two of them.
Though Litt was doing her best to stay calm, he could tell that this nun didn’t get along too well with her Bishop.
Yet their relationship wasn’t quite adversarial or hostile, either.
How to describe it… More like an awkward father-daughter dynamic?
“Tch, that impatient temper of yours hasn’t changed a bit,” Otto put down his teacup, the bottom clinking crisply against the saucer.
The teasing look on his face faded slightly as he turned to Red and said,
“Mr. Red, may I have a look at your creation? It will directly determine whether, and on what terms, we can cooperate.”
“Alright.”
Red gathered mana into his palm.
Silvery-white metal coiled around his hand, beginning to assemble.
In less than ten seconds, a palm-sized Silver Spider appeared before the three.
Otto stared at the Silver Spider in Red’s hand, momentarily astonished.
“This is your invention?”
“Of course.”
Red had never set foot in the Imperial Capital’s High Magic Academy, so all of his creations were developed through his own research.
“……”
Otto scrutinized the spider in Red’s hand for a long time without speaking.
As Otto remained silent, Red felt the pressure mount.
This golden-haired Bishop was clearly a man of the world.
Having never had any systematic training, Red couldn’t be sure if what he had was even worth showing off.
“Mr. Red, are you from the Dawnblade?”
“Ah, yes.”
Red was a bit puzzled as to why Otto suddenly brought this up.
After Red answered, Otto’s face lit up with a mischievous smile, like an old fox who’d just snatched some meat.
“This thing is quite impressive. Though it’s simple to make, and copies wouldn’t match the performance of the original, it’s still worth acquiring,”
“So now, let’s talk about profits,”
“Mr. Red, I can offer you ten thousand Luen coins to buy your Patent for one year,”
“Or you can take ten percent of the profits for the next quarter. After a trial period, we can discuss further cooperation.”
“The choice is yours.”
Though this was another world, the concept of Patents still existed.
After all, it was a matter of nobles and princes putting food on their tables.
Without Patents, their goods wouldn’t sell for such high prices, and fewer fools would buy them.
And besides, Patents only protected the rich and noble, not the poor.
So for Red, the safest choice was the first one.
He had no power or influence; even if he kept the Patent under his name, it wouldn’t stop endless piracy in the future.
Just as he was about to choose the first option, Litt, sitting next to him, quietly elbowed him in the waist.
Red turned to look, only to see the white-robed nun staring at him with a serious, solemn gaze, slowly raising two fingers.
Seeing this, Red understood what Litt meant.
Even if he didn’t know why, he decided to trust her.
“I’ll take the second option.”
Otto stood up and extended his hand to Red.
They shook hands, formally sealing their partnership.
“Then, may our cooperation be a success.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Otto left, and after Litt tidied up, she couldn’t shake off the strange, half-smiling expression Otto had worn as he departed.
She pondered for a long time, but still couldn’t figure out what Otto was thinking at that moment.
“Is there a trap in this somewhere?”
Based on what she knew of Otto, there was no way that guy had good intentions.
So she took out her communication crystal and dialed Otto’s number.
“What is it, my dear little nun?”
Litt could faintly hear the sound of a wine glass being swirled on the other end.
“Out with it—what are you hiding?”
“There are indeed some things I didn’t say,” Otto replied with a mocking laugh, “At the time, I was sighing to myself about one thing…”
“What thing?”
“Is your Dawnblade’s captain blind?”