The dragon's harem

Chapter 2153: Letters and Costs

After registering Alcott’s card in the shop’s register, she can now always contact him through the guild. In this world, people still used letters all the time. Some are sent with carrier pigeons, and some are sent by tamed monsters, which are much faster, but a letter could take months if not years to find its target. That is why large networks like the adventurers’ guild are quite convenient. Higher-ranked adventurers, mainly B-rankers and above, are allowed to access the guild’s magical telecommunication, which is an expansive web of wizards sending messages through magic.

B-rankers are allowed one page a day, unless for official business or quests, while A-rankers and S-rankers have no limit and can work those poor wizards to the bones. But since most S-rankers are solo adventurers who rarely care to write back home, that system ends up almost never used by them. There were times when an S-ranker disappeared for forty-six years before showing up again in the guild, wounded. They later found out that he took a deadly quest to track and kill a demigod, only to return defeated.

But the part the shop cared about wasn’t that system; it was that they got Alcott’s contact for free. Nobles and royalties can pay tens of thousands of gold coins just to get to speak with an S-ranker or get their contact, because such a thing meant it was possible to call on their power. If Alcott, for example, is going to slay a Steel Dragon, they could buy the scales from him beforehand, or even put a request for something that he would usually ignore, like dragon excrement, which can be used to create a titanic furnace capable of even melting adamantium.

”How come... you came to our humble shop... with the king no less.” She asked, but then quickly closed her mouth. The answer was clear. The King was probably the one dragging Alcott around as his bodyguard... she probably shouldn’t ask about something that could get her silenced.

”I just wanted to check the weapons in this city. I usually buy any weapon that I think can be useful in the future.” Alcott replied, and Gojo smiled. ”He is my dad, so I’m taking him around on a tour. I’ve heard this shop has quite the consistent quality... so I brought him here.”

She had to take a long moment to let that sink in. The King of the Kingdom, the king of the Arctic North, is Alcott Demorian’s son? No, they don’t look alike at all. One was tall, muscular, and had a lot of hair on their face, while the other had a smooth, clean face like that of a woman, and even had silky white hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a gentle, cold aura.

She gave Alcott a second look, and she almost fell back. Both he and Gojo were well built, but Alcott was thick and wide; he had arms almost as thick as her thighs, and his legs put hers to shame. He looked as young as thirty, even though his guild card said he was 51 years old. She had heard that the stronger someone gets, the longer they will live, but to see it in front of her like this.

Gojo was 1.85 meters tall, Alcott was 1.95 meters tall, and to her, they already looked like giants, especially Alcott, who was the biggest man she had ever seen around here. If only she could see Arad standing beside those two at his 5 meters in height.

”So... he is your father. I didn’t know that... no, I believe no one in the entire kingdom knew it.” She gave Alcott a smile. ”Please feel free to pick anything you want. I can’t reject a request from the King’s esteemed father.”

With a smile on his face, Alcott turned toward the weapons like a kid in a toy store, checking each one of them with a curious smile. While he was a dragon slayer by profession, he was still a weapon enthusiast, and that was also the reason he kept such a massive collection of them. Ginger had even once called him a hoarder, for how many trash weapons he kept just in case he needed them some time in the future.

Gojo sat on the desk and grabbed the woman by the hand. ”What’s your name? You haven’t told me yet.” She looked at him with a smile and slowly crawled to sit on his lap. ”Lise Worthsmith, daughter of Alfred Worthsmith.” She reached toward the side of the table and pulled a large tray that she kept some fruit in.

”Nice to meet you.” He smiled, eating from her hand. ”Gojo Orion, your current King, at your service.” He let her lean on him as he looked at the weapons around them. ”If you want, I can prepare a larger forge in the castle, as well as an entire tower for you to practice enchanting. Of course, I’ll foot the whole bill.”

”The whole thing? It’s going to cost a lot in magic stones.” She finally felt like she was getting somewhere. If he can pay for all the magic stones she wants, she could finally train and master her enchanting skills a bit more.

”Money isn’t an issue, and I got a literal mountain of magic stones. You can spend the rest of your life playing with them and they’ll never run dry.” He brushed her hair with his fingers, and she threw a worried look toward Alcott. Before she could speak, Gojo already guessed.

”Queen Gug won’t give you any trouble, in fact, she had been nagging on my head for only having two wives. She says that the stronger and better a man is, the more women flocks around them.” He sighed, ”Which I understand, even from a barbarian perspective. So your only real problem is Liliana, she won’t let anywhere close to me unless you’re kissing her feet and begging everyday.”

She licked her lips. ”I’ll be honest with you, just from a wealth and opportunity perspective, you’re worth more than that. I’ll handle Queen Liliana, I’m quite confident in my convincing skills.”

Gojo then blinked, ”I might’ve misspoken, Liliana isn’t your biggest problem... Your real folly might be Lucy, you know her, the goddess.”

Lise blinked a few times. ”Isn’t she a kid? She is one of the Queens, I never heard of that.”

”Of course not, she is my students, and more like an adopted daughter. She dislikes strangers a lot.” While convincing Liliana was possible, getting a literal god-child on her side could prove tricky.

She waved her hand with a smile. ”Many married men comes with baggage. I can handle a child or two... As long as they aren’t too aggressive.”

”Lucy bites, literally.”

As they talked, Lise looked back to see her father glaring at them with a burning-red, furious face.