"Know thyself, Master Jiana.
Tell me, do you believe yourself to be a capable leader or administrator? Or do we talk business for real?"
Eren's question made Jiana look deep into her psyche. As harsh as Eren's words were, they were unapologetically honest. And something like this was bound to strike a chord in her mind.
Jiana shook her head frantically as if to get rid of all the negative emotions. She then looked at Eren and Nina standing together and narrowed her eyes at both of them before commenting.
"You know, Eren. There's one more thing I haven't told you or Master Nina. I didn't want to sour Master Nina's mood or create unnecessary friction between her and the rest of the guild members because of her connections with you.
This is perhaps the biggest reason why I am hesitating to assimilate my guild into yours. Even when I know you would probably offer me the most generous offer out of all the upcoming ones."
Eren's interest was piqued when he heard Jiana's careful statement. His silence was the green signal for Jiana to continue forward.
"Do you know what the cultists used to destroy my guild's lands? The explosives they used to wreak havoc in the city of Curar and my guild are the same kind you launched some time ago."
"RDX!"
Eren exclaimed in surprise. He cursed his channels for only doing what they were asked to do. They should have dug deeper than what he had told them to do and informed him about the product profile of the explosive used in the attack. That way, he would have been better prepared to handle Jiana.
Eren and Jiana had a mini stare-down at this point.
'Well, well, well. If it isn't the consequences of my actions?'
A butcher thought to himself as he swallowed an empty breath. Still, he maintained a stoic face, inviting Jiana to explain further.
"These cultists had stocked a lot of RDX in Delva Gorge before the army launched a preemptive strike on them. This was why the army was only supposed to look after the seized properties and items from the cultists.
These cultists were researching RDX in their hideout. The Kingdom's research team told me their research didn't yield them any results because they found out that the products couldn't be counterfeited."
Eren couldn't help but smile when he heard that. He then quickly covered his smile by pressing his lips against each other. RDX couldn't be counterfeited by the cultists because it was based on Lensa's Ability. The synthesizing process for RDX was also very complex, making it impossible for anyone to even come remotely close to counterfeiting his products.
'Heh! The elusive monopoly of the market! No wonder my profits have skyrocketed these days.'
Jiana wasn't aware that Eren was thinking about his profits at the time when he had such a grim face to show to his audience. She looked at him intently before continuing.
"However, the cultists didn't lose much in their research either. They were tipped off by some unknown source and managed to take lots of RDX with them before the strike even took place.
Their counterfeiting project had failed. But they had gained something else from that research. They created a highly unstable fire-element array to enhance the explosive effects of RDX.
There were many defensive arrays and security precautions in place in the city of Curar. My guild lands were even more heavily fortified. But the combination of your RDX and the fire-element array developed by the cultists was enough to blast away all those precautions."
Nina was worried that the deal wouldn't come through because Eren's products had such a big hand to play in the attack. She looked at Eren with a concerned face. However, she wasn't aware of how thick-skinned he had gotten.
"I am sorry to hear that, Master Jiana. But what does that have to do with my guild? I fail to see why you would hesitate to let me take over your guild just because the cultists had used RDX in their attacks."
Jiana looked at Eren scornfully when she heard Eren's blatant refusal to take responsibility. Amory was also not aware of this. He too looked at Eren as if the butcher had personally attacked his guild.
The latter raised his free hand and gestured for everyone to keep calm so that he could explain what he wanted to say.
"I mean… with or without my products, the cultists would have attacked your guild, all the same, Master Jiana."
He then looked at Amory before asking him.
"You have lived a long life by now, Master Amory. Did the cultists' attacks not take place in the past before my product, my guild, or even I came to be? Did the cultists not achieve similar success in the past over a lot of other organizations they attacked?
My products were not available at the time. Then how did they manage to do that?"
Amory tried to come up with an answer. In a short time, however, he couldn't think of any. The butcher smirked at him before adding further.
"The intentions to cause mayhem are cultivated by the cultists themselves. My products can only make their job a bit easier. You can't hold that against me.
I neither invented potion bombs nor introduced them to rankers' markets. Weren't they around even before my guild came into existence? If anything, my products are relatively safer to sell since they can't be counterfeited.
There are a lot of ways to achieve the same results the cultists achieved during their attack even without the use of RDX. Would you have hated the established players on the market if it wasn't RDX but something else?
I am not telling you to see me as a saint here. But you can't accuse me of something others did with my products. No business would run on the lang of Anfang if it was like this."
Amory opened his mouth to speak but no words came from his mouth when he listened to Eren's logic. Jiana was in a similar condition. All the things the butcher had said were right. Potion bombs in general were not his invention. He had just revolutionized the market with his explosives that had a wider blast radius and were relatively affordable.
'Eren, you might want to dial down the mention of potion bombs...'
Nina looked at Jiana wearily as she suggested Eren. The butcher, on the other hand, had a different opinion.
'Sometimes honesty is the best policy, Aunt Nina. Just trust me on this. I'll handle this.'
