Chapter 357: Give Me The Magic Academy

Roderick let out a soft sigh. He knew he was completely cornered.

"Okay then," Roderick conceded. "We are here. You want us to negotiate, right? What exactly do you want? We need the Mana Crystal Mine for ourselves, and we are ready to pay you a lot for it."

Adrian looked at him and pretended to think for a moment.

"Fine. Well then, what can you offer?" Adrian asked. "You know the true value of that mine, right? Since you want it so bad, you’ll need to give me at least half of its total value upfront. At least half."

Roderick paused.

He slowly turned his head to look at Leo sitting across from him. Everything suddenly clicked into place in his mind.

He turned back to look at Adrian.

"We were successful in summoning a Hero just recently," Roderick stated, watching Adrian’s reaction closely.

"Yeah, I know," Adrian replied nonchalantly.

He turned to look at the Earthling sitting opposite of Roderick.

"What’s your name?" Adrian asked.

"My name is Leo, sir," the kid stammered, still shaking from the gunfire.

Adrian nodded. "Okay, fine. Are you going to give him to me or something?" he asked Roderick.

"Yes, I’ll give him to you," Roderick offered quickly. "Would that be enough? He is a summoned Hero."

Adrian just shook his head in amusement.

"No, that is not how it works," Adrian said, and he looked back at Leo. "What are you actually capable of? I’m not buying ’potential’ here. I’m buying what you can do right now. Who knows if you’re cursed and you’ll just end up dead tomorrow? I don’t know any of that."

Leo took a deep breath.

He looked at Roderick, the man who had just casually offered to sell him off like a piece of meat. Leo felt a sudden flash of anger, but it was quickly buried under a heavy, depressing sense of helplessness.

He looked back at Adrian.

"I can upgrade... or well, I can boost the capabilities of monsters," Leo admitted quietly.

Adrian looked at him for a few seconds before a small smile crept onto his face.

"But you can’t control them?" Adrian guessed. "Or can you?"

Leo clenched his fists under the table.

"I cannot control them," Leo admitted.

Adrian nodded in satisfaction. He looked back at Roderick.

"Well, I guess I can take him off your hands," Adrian said. "But all I see is a useless little kid sitting here. I don’t see how he’s Hero material either. Hmm... were your sacrifices too low during the ritual?"

Roderick’s body completely stiffened.

He stared at Adrian with wide eyes, completely shocked that Adrian knew about the blood sacrifices. But Roderick didn’t dare answer the question.

"So what else do you want?" Roderick asked instead, eager to change the subject.

Adrian thought for a while before casually pointing his finger toward the bleeding S-rank knight currently sitting on the ground, trying his best to keep the bleeding minimal..

Roderick took a deep breath. "Okay, he’s yours."

"Well, an S-rank knight isn’t really enough to cover the massive cost of the Mana Crystal Mine," Adrian pushed. "I need more."

Roderick felt a spike of deep frustration. "Okay, fine. What else do you need?"

"I have a few base conditions, and then I want a few other things too," Adrian explained smoothly. "The first condition is simple. All of the soldiers standing behind me right now? The ones I just officially recruited from the other nobles? I want all of their families delivered to Oresfall. Safe and sound."

He held up a finger.

"If they have any properties in the territories of the nobles, you must compensate them for those properties," Adrian continued. "Buy them out at market value. I want them all relocated to Oresfall after you’re done paying them out. And you have exactly three weeks to do everything."

Roderick nodded slowly.

"Apart from that, which is really just basic human courtesy and a sign of our new ’friendship’," Adrian said. "Let’s get to the meat of what I want in return for the mine."

Adrian took a deep breath. "I want one more S-rank knight."

Before Roderick could even process the demand, Maximilian stood up from his chair.

"We only have four S-rank knights in the entire empire!" Maximilian yelled, his face purple with rage. "How could you even ask us for more? Do you think they just grow on trees?"

Adrian just shrugged.

"Well, then the Mana Crystal Mine is mine," Adrian said playfully. "How could you ask me to give you something of such immense worth for just one measly S-rank knight? It doesn’t grow on a tree either."

Roderick shook his head in exhaustion. He didn’t even look at Maximilian as he spoke.

"Sit," Roderick commanded.

Maximilian instantly dropped back down into his chair like an obedient dog.

Roderick turned to look at Adrian.

"Okay, fine. I’ll send another S-rank knight to you," Roderick agreed.

"Good," Adrian nodded. "I want him to be completely freed from any contracts on your side, and they will need to sign a new contract directly with me. But aside from that, I still don’t think two S-rank knights are quite enough to balance the scales. I will need a little bit more from you."

Roderick took a deep breath and nodded. He knew the absurd value of the Mana Crystal Mine.

"I would love to take control over the Magic Academy in the capital," Adrian said. "But I’m pretty sure that it is a very important facility for you. If I asked you for that, I know you would reject it."

Adrian leaned forward.

"So why don’t we come to a middle ground?" Adrian suggested. "You guys will continue to take care of all the mages, handle their training, and pay for their facilities. But I will have the ultimate priority to offer them jobs upon graduation. They will need to go through me first before they go to anyone else."

"That is not possible," Roderick shook his head immediately.