Everybody's selfish, Fiona. You are naive, delusional, or arrogant if you think that you or your people are different from me just because you run a pro-half-blood organization."
Eren said to Fiona in a cold voice. She opened her mouth in response to Eren's words. But nothing came from it. She was tongue-tied by Eren's blatant admissions and criticisms.
Eren stirred his Merlot in his glass and aired the wine a bit. When the concoction released another wave of aroma, he brought it to his lips before gulping down the remaining content.
Eren closed his eyes as he felt the Adept-ranked wine's influence on him. It's been ages since he had tasted alcohol. However, his advancement to Adept rank convinced him to indulge himself in this activity.
'That sure hit the spot.'
Eren slapped the table with both his hands as he enjoyed the feeling of being slightly hazy before opening his eyes. His emerald eyes shone brightly as he fixed them on Fiona before speaking up.
"The point I want to make here is really simple, Fiona.
I looked after Agatha when there was nobody to do it for her. I may have done it for my personal gain. And I may have employed her to further my own goals. But that doesn't change the fact that I provided her with the roof she desperately needed at that time.
Agatha belongs to me. All of her. If anybody sees that as me being a selfish prick, so be it."
Fiona met Eren's gaze for a while before breaking eye contact with him. She looked at Agatha and asked.
"Won't you try to convince him into letting you go? There's so much you could know and see if you could just…"
Agatha shook her head and smiled before looking at Eren.
"What Eren says is true, Fiona. Hehe. This is his way of saying he needs me. And it's nice to feel needed. I don't know much about the half-blood Haven you are talking about. And I don't understand what's going on between you guys and the forces of Anfang.
But as he said, I'm safe here. Most of all, I have poured my efforts into raising this city from the ground up. I'll not abandon it just because someone comes to me with better prospects. I'll find my prospects and make them better for myself."
Fiona sighed when she heard Agatha's response. She pondered a bit before speaking to Eren.
"Adept Eren, you are one of the rare half-bloods that have some semblance of influence over the kingdom. Thus, I don't want to antagonize you. It would be stupid of me to create a conflict with such a prominent half-blood just because our views differ on certain things.
My persistence in ensuring Miss Agatha's safety may have sounded like I wanted to separate you guys for my own benefit. I'm really sorry for that. Rest assured, I'll not bring up that subject again.
I'm also sorry for spying on your fight earlier while I was trying to approach this city discreetly. We don't care who you kill as long as it's not half-bloods.
However, would you be open to discussing cooperation with the half-bloods by meeting one of my seniors? As you said, we can be each other's allies in these times. Especially when there are signs of war on the horizon for the kingdom of Edinburgh."
Eren was impressed with the way Fiona changed her gears. She seemed to have experience dealing with a wide variety of people. Eren continued to eat his venison once again. And the rest followed his cue.
"What kind of cooperation are you talking about? I'll not get myself involved in your fights if that's what you are looking for. But I'm open to possible business deals.
What can you give me? And what do you expect from me?"
Fiona wasn't ready to meet someone like Eren, to be honest. He wasn't someone who she could bully with her half-blood background. And her attempt to rescue Agatha and lead her to Last-Blood Bastion had failed.
So the last thing she could do was to ensure she and her organization didn't come across as someone Eren needed to fight with. Thus, she came up with the business proposition on the spot.
"Information related to Anfang's history and half-blood-specific resources. My side can offer you these two things. I can see from your line of questioning that you are more interested in the information aspect. So you'd have to forgive me if I'm using it as leverage to get a few additional benefits from you."
Eren looked at Alephee when Fiona finished speaking. She had indicated that she had come to realize that they couldn't extract her memories beyond a certain point. The butcher and Alephee both chuckled looking at each other before the former speaking up.
Eren nodded at Fiona, prompting her to continue.
"As for what my organization can expect from you. I'll be honest Adept Eren, I don't know much about you or your guild.
I was just trying to find Agatha using my own means. I discovered that she was in White Raven city. Thus, I only performed basic information gathering before heading here. Cooperating with your guild was not on my agenda.
So you'd have to guide me in this case. What should I tell my seniors when I meet them?"
Eren scratched his chin. He looked at Agatha and asked her a few questions through voice communication. After getting a few pertinent updates from Miss Manager, Eren made up his mind before asking another question to Fiona.
"Your organization, how big is it, Fiona?"
Fiona straightened herself and took pride in saying her words.
"We run the cultist organization known as the Ancients, Adept Eren. The Beast Bloods that Agatha had worked for have been controlled for the most part by the Ancients as well.
We couldn't expect there to be a real half-blood among a bunch of therianthropes– or half-blood wannabes as I'd like to call them. And the Beast-Bloods weren't exactly forthcoming with the Ancients regarding who they hire either. So Agatha couldn't be on our radar even when she was technically working for us.
However, The Last-Blood Bastion still possesses significant trade influence and resources. We also have contacts in other parts of Anfang. Plus, we can reach distant places quickly. That too, without having to cross the borders observed between the establishments."
Eren smiled when he realized the potential gains he could get from pairing up with the half-bloods.
'Heh! More contacts in other parts of Anfang! Secure access. And more markets to sell my products! Now we are talking.'
