Ning earned nearly 2000 pearls from the match he had just had. That was a good amount considering people would also bet on him quite a bit in this match where it wasn't well known who the winner would be.
Once done, he went to meet up with Saphandra to have some lunch.
She was getting harder to meet now that he had a job and she was off doing her own thing.
They sat down by the cafeteria to eat some food.
"How's your tutoring going?" she asked.
"Fine, I would say. It's annoying that I have to teach a 6-year-old kid, but I'm having fun too I guess," Ning said. "How about you? How are your studies going? You don't with the book?"
"Oh yeah, that history book, I'm done with it. I need some other book, but maybe not right now. I want to finish learning the language first," She said.
"Sure, that works too," Ning said.
"Oh right, I've come across some problems," Saphandra said.
"What's up?" Ning asked.
"So, I've been keeping my pearls in my storage right, but it keeps leaking energy," she said.
"Yeah, sorry I can't help you with that. Unless I can make the time stop, it will continue leaking," Ning said.
"No, no, I'm fine with it leaking. The problem is that now that it has leaked, the value of my pearls has halved," she said. "I need to get them recharged.
"Oh, yeah you can do it by handing the pearls over to the groups that handle this business," Ning said. "You should get fully charged pearls back in just a day or two."
"Yeah, well I know that, and I tried it, but there's a problem with that too. Two problems actually," she said.
"What's wrong?" Ning asked.
"Well, first of all, I'm too rich," she said. "I have nearly 50,000 pearls from my two matches and the ones that I bet on you. So, If I were to just give it over to the groups, they could just take it and run away."
"Right, 50 thousand is enough for them to start a new life somewhere, and if they distribute it, it would be annoying to go get it," Ning said.
"Right? But that's less of a problem compared to the next one. Apparently, for recharging pearls they charge quite a bit," she said.
"Oh, how much?" Ning was curious to hear about the cost as he hadn't interacted with such groups yet.
"They take exactly 1% of what you want to be recharged," She said.
"So, they want…"
"500 pearls, yes," she said.
"Sheesh, that's enough to buy your own small boat and drag yourself through the ocean overnight," Ning said.
"Yeah, so do you have any idea? Maybe you can just, I don't know, poof and have it be recharged?" she asked.
Ning chuckled a bit. "It doesn't work like that. If it did, I wouldn't just make dull pearls, now would I?"
"I guess? Then do you have any suggestions? I don't mind having dull pearls, I would really like it if I had ones with double the value," she said.
Ning thought for a moment. "I might have some way," he said. "Give me your storage ring."
"Huh? Here," she handed it over to him.
"I will try and see if my idea works," Ning said. "Damn, Janice is going to be super happy about this."
"Who's Janice?" Saphandra gave a quizzing look.
"Why do you want to know? Jealous?" Ning asked with a smile.
"Of course not," Saphandra said.
"Well, you shouldn't be. It's the princess's name. She's been bothering me to go to the ocean for a while, so she's going to get her to wish today. I just need to ask the king for permission," Ning said.
After finishing their meal, Saphandra returned back to her room, while Ning went over to the palace.
By now, the guards were already familiar with Ning as the princess' tutor, so they simply let him walk in without much checking.
Once inside, Ning went over to the servants to try and get an audience with the king or someone who could approve of something.
"I'll see what I can do," the servant said and walked away.
Ning waited for a while for the servant to return. After a while, the servant returned back and asked him to follow him.
Ning nodded and walked with him to the back of the palace. There were a few ladies standing by a porch with a head full of orange and blonde hair.
In the center was a woman in a chair. She had strong facial features, while also looking delicate at the same time
There was a subtle smile on her face the entire time that only widened more when she saw Ning approaching.
Ning saw her face fully and realized that she looked similar to Janice. The head full of green hair gave away her identity immediately.
The servant that took him here walked away, leaving Ning alone. Ning walked over to the woman in the chair and bowed a little.
"I'm glad to finally meet you, your highness," he said.
"You know me? I'm surprised," the queen couldn't help but say.
"Your daughter speaks of you quite a lot," Ning said.
"I hear she does do that. So, tell me. Why are you here when you should be teaching my daughter?" she asked.
"Well, I was hoping to ask your permission for something," Ning said. "I wish to take your daughter for a ride around the ocean again. I caused quite a commotion last time, so I want permission to do so this time."
"You wish to take my daughter on a ride along the ocean? In what, may I ask?" she asked.
"Any sea beast I can summon," Ning said. "There's nothing particular in my mind yet."
"Hmm," the queen thought for a bit. "Sure, why not. But under one condition."
"Oh, what condition might that be?" Ning got curious.
The queen gave a genuine smile. "I get to come with you too."
