Chapter 709: Collecting a Debt

Ezra walked out of the Club Building calmly.

Leofirc Hawthorne was waiting outside.

He stood a short distance from the entrance, holding a suitcase in his right hand.

His gaze moved towards Ezra as soon as he appeared.

Ezra looked at him.

He noticed that Leofirc had come alone.

There was no sign of the group of friends who had accompanied him the last time they met, when Leofirc had confronted him about moving around with Vera during the club tournament.

It was a rather noticeable difference.

Leofirc followed Ezra’s gaze and understood what he was looking for.

"I came alone, obviously because of privacy. I know my friends would act out of character again, especially since many of them don’t like you that much."

He said with a helpless shake of his head.

Ezra glanced at him for a moment.

"Okay, but can we please leave this open area? I don’t want too much attention."

He said calmly, gesturing towards a path leading away from the Club Building.

There were still students moving around the area. Some were heading towards different directions, while others were walking between the different buildings. A few club members could also be seen entering and leaving the Craft & Research Seekers Club.

It wasn’t a suitable place for a private conversation.

Leofirc followed Ezra without arguing.

The two walked away from the entrance and headed towards a park area where students rarely passed.

Most of the students were occupied with the activities around the main streets of the Mix Arena, leaving the quieter paths with fewer people.

Their footsteps sounded against the paved walkway.

Leofirc kept the suitcase in his hand as they walked.

He occasionally glanced at Ezra, who continued moving without showing much interest in starting a conversation.

He had been curious about the reason behind this meeting from the beginning.

And that curiosity had only grown after he remembered what Ezra had asked him to obtain.

Once they reached a quieter spot, Ezra stopped.

Leofirc also came to a halt.

"I seriously don’t know what you want to use this stuff for, especially when it’s not even useful to a Gun Alchemist like you."

Leofirc said in a low voice.

He looked at the suitcase in his hand.

Ever since Ezra had first asked him to obtain the material, he had wondered why a Gun Alchemist would need it.

The request itself wasn’t particularly difficult for someone like him to fulfil, but the purpose behind it remained unclear.

Even now, after bringing the requested materials, he still couldn’t get a proper read on Ezra.

It was especially difficult because Leofirc wasn’t someone who understood how firearms worked.

He knew enough about the subject to recognize that Ezra was a Gun Alchemist, but that didn’t mean he could understand the way Ezra approached weapon creation or the materials he might require.

There was no point in guessing.

Ezra didn’t reply to Leofirc’s words.

He simply looked at Leofirc, waiting for him to hand over the case.

Leofirc noticed Ezra’s indifferent expression.

"Ahh."

He sighed.

It seemed he wasn’t going to get an answer just yet.

"Here."

He extended his hand and handed the suitcase to Ezra.

Ezra gently collected it.

Click. Click.

The locks came undone.

He opened the case and looked inside.

Four manufactured bars of Resonite metallic mineral were arranged within it.

Their surfaces had been processed into regular shapes, making them easier to store and transport. Ezra’s gaze moved across the four bars as he inspected the material.

Apart from Umbrium...

Resonite possessed the ability to absorb and store vibrations.

It was one of the most widely used materials in the development of sound devices.

Its applications extended into the Phone Device industry, microphones, and many other sound-related industries.

The material’s ability to absorb and retain vibrations made it useful in devices where sound needed to be captured, handled, or controlled.

But apart from that...

Resonite was also the perfect material for creating an alloy with Umbrium and other metals that could provide durability.

Such an alloy could be used to create top-grade silencers and suppressors, specialized firearms, stealth aircraft, tanks, and bombs.

Even drones.

And his Nanobots.

Ezra looked at the four bars inside the suitcase.

There were several possibilities for the material, and he had no intention of limiting its use to a single type of equipment.

The first time Ezra had discovered the Hawthorne family’s history was through the Book of Andraver.

The Hawthorne family’s long history went back to the time when they were the first House to discover how to utilize Aether to create Space Alchemy Scrolls.

Their ancestor had even established the Alchemy Path of Space.

One of the Primordial Alchemy Paths.

However, that history had already faded into the past for more than three hundred years, long before Andraver was born.

Andraver had spoken about it while reminiscing about the Kingdom’s past history that he learnt during his journey as a young growing Alchemist.

After the only Space Alchemist vanished or died, the Royal Family of that time had restricted the use of Space Alchemy to only be used in Alchemy Systems.

The reason was simple.

There was no heir capable of mastering the Alchemy Path.

And without someone who could properly inherit the knowledge and continue its development, the Royal Family had little choice but to rely on what remained in the old records.

They could only use the knowledge obtained from the Manual on Space Alchemy to create Spatial Alchemy Circles.

Those Alchemy circles were used for short-range teleportation.

Even with the knowledge preserved in the manual, they couldn’t extend the range much further.

The Hawthornes had once been a Duke-class House during that ancestors’ time.

However, their status had gradually fallen, and they eventually became a Count-class House.

Later, they entered the Paths of Sound Alchemy, which became their major Alchemy Path.

That was why they possessed the rights to Resonite ore, just like the Evermonts Count House, who were also Sound Alchemy Path followers.

However, the Hawthorne family’s Alchemy Paths weren’t limited to Sound Alchemy.

Some of its members also followed the Flame Alchemy Path.

Others followed the Illusional Alchemy Path, while a few used the Forbidden Alchemy Path of Dark.

Ezra continued looking at the Resonite.

I need more of these ores.

His gaze moved across the four manufactured bars.

But the Ashenlocke House has no rights to obtain them.

And that was because the Ashenlockes had the monopolized right over the Umbrium ores, which is like a relative to the Resonite.

That arrangement had given them control over a valuable resource, but it also created a problem when they wanted to obtain materials controlled by other Houses.

Because we monopolize all the Umbrium ores, the other Houses with rights to Resonite wouldn’t even bat an eye if the Ashenlockes requested an exchange.

There was little reason for those Houses to accept such a request.

The Ashenlockes already controlled the supply of Umbrium, but that didn’t mean the other Houses needed to trade their own resources for it.

Especially when they had the ore that was more useful.

Ezra’s eyes remained on the material.

Umbrium is very useful to Illusional Alchemists, but the reason they don’t bother too much with obtaining the manufactured Umbrium bars is because of the stupid market handling by the Finance Corps of Ash and the developed products the Ashcraft could only manufacture with the use of Umbrium.

That was the problem.

The material had its uses, but the way the Finance Corps of Ash and the Ashcraft department of Ash had handled its market and manufacturing use had affected the demand.

That’s why those Alchemists, and even the industries, don’t request for Umbrium.

The Ashenlockes had a monopoly over the ore, yet that control hadn’t translated into the kind of market demand they could have achieved.

Meanwhile, the Evermonts and Hawthornes had managed to grow their businesses by showing how broad the applications of Resonite could be.

Its use wasn’t limited to one particular industry.

The material had found its way into music, communication devices, theatres, and other sound-related industries within the Kingdom.

Its demand had continued to grow because different industries had reasons to obtain it.

Do I have to release the knowledge of silencers to be able to get Umbrium back on the market?

Ezra considered the possibility.

If I do that, then the family should be able to gain an idea of how to broaden the use of the ore.

The knowledge of silencers could introduce another application for Umbrium.

It might encourage the family to look at the material from a different angle and consider other ways to make use of its properties.

And if that was done...

Ezra paused his thoughts.

His gaze shifted towards Leofirc, who remained standing silently in front of him.

The Count’s son had been waiting patiently while Ezra inspected the contents of the suitcase.

He hadn’t interrupted him, although his expression showed that he was still curious about what Ezra intended to do with the material.

I wonder what he’s thinking about.

Leofirc thought to himself.

He looked at Ezra, who continued holding the suitcase while observing the Resonite.

The silence had lasted longer than he expected.

He had already handed over the materials, but Ezra hadn’t said anything about what he intended to use them for.

Leofirc couldn’t tell whether the young Gun Alchemist was satisfied with what he had brought or whether he was considering something else.

He decided not to interrupt him.

Ezra’s thoughts continued.

Getting more Resonite through the family will become possible.

The material had many applications, and having a steady source of it would be highly beneficial.

However, simply introducing silencers wouldn’t be enough to achieve that.

The level at which Resonite aids different industries, like music, phones, theatres, and many others in the Kingdom, is already at a range that keeps its demand and stock levels high.

There was no shortage of industries that needed the material.

Resonite had already established its place in several markets. Its usefulness had given it a steady demand, and the Evermonts and Hawthornes had been able to benefit from that.

Umbrium was different.

While Umbrium still has its value as a rare ore, it is also used in foreign exchanges by the Ashenlockes with the Zenith of the Eastern Continent and Damguard of our own continent.

The material hadn’t become worthless.

Its rarity still gave it value, and the Ashenlockes continued to use it in foreign exchanges with the Zenith of the Eastern Continent and Damguard on their own continent.

The family had also managed to produce stealth military coats and use Umbrium in the construction of military bases.

But that wasn’t enough to keep its value growing.

I need to think more about this.

Ezra concluded his thoughts.

He lowered his gaze towards the suitcase and began closing it.

Thud.

A soft sound came from the case as the lid settled into place.

He secured the locks.

"Thank you, Senior."

Ezra thanked Leofirc in a calm tone.

"Humph."

Leofirc turned his face away.

He didn’t seem particularly interested in looking at Ezra.

He hadn’t forgotten what had caused him to end up in this situation in the first place.

The request had been made because Ezra had won fair and square, and Leofirc had agreed to fulfil it. That didn’t mean he had suddenly forgotten his earlier feelings towards him.

"I just did it because you won fair and square. And as someone who plays music as a hobby, I really enjoyed your piece. Sometimes, I can’t stop thinking about it. I even tried to replay the music, but I didn’t know how to."

Leofirc said honestly, speaking rather quickly.

His expression shifted slightly as he explained himself.

It seemed he wanted Ezra to understand that there was another reason he had fulfilled the request, beyond the fact that he had lost.

Ezra narrowed his plain black eyes at him.

"I can give you the keys if you want, but it won’t be free."

He said calmly.

"Wait, seriously?!"

Leofirc turned towards Ezra.

His eyes widened, and his earlier reluctance disappeared for a moment.

"No, no."

He quickly shook his head, changing his expression.

He seemed to remember something and immediately tried to pull himself together.

"I can’t let you off easily. You are my rival, Ezra Ashenlocke."

He pointed at Ezra.

His voice regained its earlier firmness.

"You are the man my Lady Vera has decided to follow for now, and I have no right to question you like I did that time. But I still don’t trust you, especially now that the article about you being a killer exists."

Leofirc’s gaze remained fixed on Ezra.

He hadn’t forgotten his concerns about the young Gun Alchemist, nor had he abandoned his opinion simply because Ezra had won their previous contest.

"I will continue to try my best to get Lady Vera away from you. So, until then..."

He paused.

His finger remained pointed towards Ezra for another moment.

"Don’t think it’s over."

Leofirc turned sharply and left.