"Why did you summon me to the city of New Beginnings instead of the city of Arangar? Don't tell me it was just to show me your products' market presence?"
Levine asked while sounding suspicious. The duo had moved to a quiet restaurant in the noble district of the city. Eren had ordered ranker-specific food for himself and Levine.
Eren stopped eating his steak and looked at Levine before responding.
"Master Levine, as your student, do you trust me?"
Levine didn't even take a moment to answer. And she did it with a very serious face.
"Not even a bit."
Eren had blank expressions on his face when he heard Levine's answer. But before he could object he heard Levine's laughter.
"Hehehe! I was just kidding, Eren. I trust you. Tell me what else you are planning?"
Eren smiled mirthlessly before resuming his serious stance.
"Master Levine, I want you to invest in me. I want a suitable plot in the city of New Beginnings that would serve as my guild's branch. It would also be used as a destination and a storage facility for all my potions.
I know what I'm asking is a lot. But getting a place in the city of New Beginnings is not only not cheap but also a near-impossible task for low-level rankers like me."
"And that's where I come in," Levine replied promptly, smiling at Eren.
Levine didn't have an appetite so she only ate a bit. She swirled her ranked wine inside the wine glass she was holding as she kept on pondering over Eren's proposal. She took a while to reply.
"You are right, Eren. The city of New Beginnings is used as a chess board by one of the biggest players this kingdom has. A guy like you owning a property here would only invite more trouble for you.
But…"
Levine sighed and took a sip from her wine glass before speaking up.
"I'm not as rich as you think I am. At least not anymore. I don't completely control my clan's finances. I can only influence it to a certain extent because of a few people backing me.
If only Ottoman wasn't in the picture…"
A faint killing intent emanated from Levine, which made Eren's forehead wet with beads of sweat. He was glad there wasn't anyone on the rooftop of the restaurant where they were sitting. Otherwise, people would have known that there was a Master ranker in their midst.
Levine was trying to hide her whereabouts from Ottoman, lest he ambush her again. The potion makers were never so easy to kill. Especially a high-ranked potioner like Levine.
Eren was confident that Levine would at least be able to get away if and when that happens. But he could not say the same thing about himself.
Eren heard Levine's explanation and sighed. He then took out a book from his storage space before presenting it to Levine.
The B-Rank potioner took the book from Eren's hand and started reading from it. The more she read, the more curious she got. That's because she found the contents of the book fascinating.
This was a copy of the book Eren had received from Purgatory. It contained a few lost recipes as well as techniques that were termed extinct. Of course, Eren hadn't completely copied the book down. Just some essentials that would get Levine interested.
The book didn't contain anything related to B-Rank. But that's beside the point. Levine was intrigued by the methods that had been used in the recipes.
These methods were completely different from what the current potioners used to do. Levine was already planning to introduce a few changes in some of her concoction processes after getting inspired by her fast reading when she heard her student's words.
"This is a portion of the book I've copied. Let's just say I discovered it while searching for something else.
I can share all the contents of the original book with you. That's all I can offer for now anyway. Won't you tap into your winter fund for me? I know what I'm offering won't be worth the efforts you'd have to put in. But that's a start, right?"
Eren used some more sophistry to convince Levine to use her investment to buy a piece of land for him in New Beginnings. They both knew that sooner or later, Ottoman would find out about such a big purchase. But they both didn't care.
Levine assured Eren that she would get the piece of land in the city of New Beginnings as expected. Of course, the butcher would have to compensate her for her investment, which he agreed to instantly.
Only then did Eren breathe a sigh of relief. For his plans, he needed a place in the city of New Beginnings. But there was only so much he could do when the problem wasn't limited by his financial situation alone.
The city of New Beginnings was one of the biggest cities in the kingdom of Edinburgh. It was up to 30 times larger than Arangar City. It also saw huge traffic related to rankers' activities due to its geographical position.
The city of New Beginnings was a city located near the entrance to a place called Monster Canyon. It was not only big in terms of its size or population density. But it was also home to various guilds and adventurer parties.
This city-state had its own Duke. It had various districts. Each district had its own city lord.
Getting a place in the city of New beginnings was next to impossible for Eren. He also didn't want a bull's eye on his back. That's why he asked Levine to do his bidding for him.
Fortunately, the butcher had succeeded in his plan. Now he only needed to wait and see things fall into place for him.
After all, the city would never stop attracting more traffic. It was the most famous city close to Monster Canyon till now. The city served as a one-stop-shop for rankers on expeditions to Monster Canyon. Therefore, it was always lively, always churning money.
Unbeknownst to the citizens of New Beginnings, the foundation of a new city that was not too far from the Monster Canyon had just been established. A city that had the potential to compete with New Beginnings.
