Free Web NovelChapter 43: 43: The Evaluation
The guards dragged her toward the stairs. She kept shouting until they disappeared down the staircase. Her voice echoed for a while, then faded as she was taken out of the building.
Lucard watched the whole thing quietly.
Celia had not fired the woman because of justice. She did it to impress him and show that House Marovain could correct mistakes quickly. It was a business move. Still, it was useful. Lucard preferred speaking with someone who understood value.
Celia turned back to him.
"Is that enough?"
Lucard looked at Galen.
Galen was standing stiffly, sweating.
Lucard said, "For now."
Celia smiled faintly. "Then please follow me."
They went to a VIP room on the same floor.
The room was large and comfortable. There was a round wooden table in the center, soft chairs around it, shelves along the walls, and a small fireplace even though it was not very cold. The windows looked down toward the merchant square. A tea set stood on a side table, and two servants entered quietly to prepare drinks. Celia ordered them to leave after placing the tea down. Her two female guards stayed near the door.
Lucard sat without waiting for permission.
Jenny sat beside Jake. Peter stood behind them at first, but Celia gestured to a chair.
"Your knight is injured. He can sit."
Peter hesitated.
Jenny nodded. "Sit, Peter."
Peter sat carefully, keeping his sword close.
Celia sat across from Lucard and placed the four pages on the table. She did not speak immediately. She read.
This time, she read properly.
She looked at the spell circle first, then the explanation pages, then the usage page. Her eyes moved carefully. Sometimes they paused at one symbol. Sometimes she traced a line in the air without touching the paper. She understood more than Galen. Not everything, but enough to know that the structure was real. The spell was not some copied children’s circle. It had logic, danger, and value.
Lucard watched her read.
He could tell she had some magical training, but she was not a true high rank mage. Her talent was probably more toward analysis and business, supported by the Silver Tongue Vein. Her eyes did not miss small details. Her breathing changed when she reached the killing point explanation. Her fingers paused when she read the method for hiding the trap under stone or wood.
Good.
She was greedy now.
After several minutes, Celia placed the pages down.
"This is very good," she said. "The structure is unusual, but it is not random. The circle uses surrounding mana instead of the caster’s mana after placement. That makes it valuable for traps. The explanation is incomplete in some old parts, but the core is usable. If tested successfully, it could be sold to defensive families, city guards, and noble estates."
Jenny listened carefully. She did not understand the spell, but she understood Celia’s tone. The lady from House Marovain was interested.
Celia looked at Lucard.
"I will buy it."
Jenny’s hands tightened under the table.
Jake leaned closer.
Peter’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Celia said, "One hundred thousand gold coins."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Jenny’s mind almost stopped.
One hundred thousand gold coins.
That was not a small amount. On good days, when House Vardros still had land income, taxes, trade, and farms, that amount was close to one year of their house’s income. After the fall of House Vardros, that number felt even larger. With one hundred thousand gold coins, they could buy food, guards, weapons, a small estate, travel papers, and maybe even enough influence to survive for some time.
Jake did not understand the full value, but he knew it was a lot because Jenny had gone pale.
He whispered, "Sister, is that many gold coins?"
Jenny whispered back, "Very many." freēwebnovel.com
Peter was also shocked. He looked at Lucard, expecting him to agree immediately. This was enough money to start rebuilding something. It was enough to escape. It was enough to hire men. For a fallen baron family, refusing such money felt foolish.
Lucard laughed.
It was not a loud laugh. It was soft, short, and full of disappointment.
Celia’s eyes sharpened.
Lucard leaned back slightly and said, "I am not impressed with your evaluation."
Jenny froze.
Peter froze.
Jake looked confused.
Celia looked at Lucard without blinking.
Inside, Celia’s thoughts moved quickly. She had already guessed a higher value for the spell. If tested properly and copied under Marovain control, it could earn far more than one hundred thousand gold coins. A Fifth Rank defensive trap spell was not common, especially one that used surrounding mana. Even if it had not been tested yet, its potential was clear.
But Celia was business minded.
The first offer should never be the true value. That was one of the earliest rules she had learned. Start low. Measure reaction. If the seller is desperate, accept the profit. If the seller knows value, raise the price slowly. From the look of Jenny, Peter, and the boy, the Vardros group was desperate. Their family had fallen. They had no power. They had just been humiliated by House Ravencroft. Celia expected them to take the one hundred thousand gold coins with shaking hands and grateful eyes.
Lucard did not.
He laughed at it.
That irritated her, but it also made her more interested.
Celia smiled politely.
"Perhaps I started too cautiously. After all, the spell has not been tested yet. House Marovain must carry risk too."
Lucard did not respond.
Celia continued, "Three hundred thousand gold coins."
Jenny almost stood up.
Peter’s hand tightened on his knee.
Jake’s eyes became round. freёwebnovel.com
"Three hundred thousand," Jake whispered. "Sister, is that even more many?"
Jenny could barely answer. "Yes."
Three hundred thousand gold coins.
That was enough to completely change their situation. They could buy safe passage to another region. They could hire a small army of mercenaries. They could rent a manor, purchase equipment, bribe officials, and keep House Vardros alive. For a fallen baron family with almost nothing left, this was not just money. It was survival.
