It was a story Noah had never heard of before. If Muell was next to her, she would have asked with her eyes, but there was no way to confirm it because she had sent him to find Kyle.
Donalian’s words continued on. “Well, why, did the dragon egg go missing in Tezeba? I heard Laurent’s witch is the master of the dragon, and the dragon… I heard it trampled on the Imperial Palace.”
“Ah, yes…” Noah let out an awkward laugh. Little did he know, that very dragon had just been at his office and its master was right in front of him, scouring information.
“Anyway, the timing of the hatching of the dragon egg and the beginning of the mass disappearance of the slaves, I believe, is related.”
“Yes, but…” Strangely enough, the two events, when linked together, made sense. It was also possible that the hatching of the dragon’s egg affected the mountain range, which was once a cradle of dragons, during the times of antiquity. Furthermore, it had been a month since the bizarre disappearance that happened in the mine, and in the meantime, the Mane Ore was being unearthed steadily.
“Even though the investigators from the capital have already visited there several times, we haven’t had much income. Fortunately, it’s alright if you don’t go deep into the mine. Since last week, we’ve kept the area adjacent to the lake completely off-limits, and mining was continued only in the upper workshop. Since then, no incident has ever occurred. You can count on it.”
“Well, I see.”
“Yes. So, Madame, would you like to buy it? What do you think the purchase price is?” Donalian looked at Noah with his eyes full of anticipation. She rubbed her hands against each other, about to enter into a bargain. With her legs crossed, Noah assessed Donalian’s face.
If the rumor that there lived a monster at the bottom of the mine, it was natural to be frightened and sell the mine in haste; however, there existed an ambiguity. Donalian had mentioned that it was fine not to descend and only mine from the top.
A mine that extracts Mane Ore was also rare throughout the continent, which meant that no matter how high a price it is sold, it does not reach the value of the mine itself. Even though strange occurrences had been happening, ordinary people would not even think of throwing it away, but why did Donalian seem so impatient? It was as if he was trying to get his hands off it and run away…
When Noah looked alternately at his face and the collection of the Maobiana mineral distribution channels he handed over, Donalian quibbled nervously. “The price… will be as much as you like. But in terms of its size and future value, it’s still ten million pounds…”
“Oh, it’s cheap.”
“Right? Every year, the cash from the Mane Ore transaction with Laurent’s Ministry of Magic is enormous, Madame. There have been unpleasant things going on, but as I said, there’s nothing wrong with the mine. It would be almost impossible to buy such a rare mine at this price.”
It was strange, too. Noah mumbled with her mouth covered behind the archives. “If it’s so good, just keep it. Why…”
“Yes?”
“No, I’ll talk to my husband a little bit more. Thank you for your kind explanation, Mr. Culton.”
Upon hearing Noah’s words, Donalian seemed to think it was the beginning of a bargain.
“How about eight million pounds, Madame?” Across his face, there was a determined will that he could not miss the great capitalist, Leonard. Noah laughed sweetly and said without hesitation, “Four million.”
“Pardon?”
“I can’t do more than that.”
A price of four million pounds for the mine was not certainly not worth it. Even if one was not a smart businessman, he knows the price is simply ridiculous.
“…Seven million pounds.”
“Well, four million pounds is too little, too. Then 4.5 million pounds. I can’t do anything more than that. It’s too risky. Apparently, there aren’t a lot of miners out there trying to get underneath Maobiana, so you have to consider the shortage of manpower.”
Agony flashed across Donalian’s face. He bit his lips and seemed to bounce the abacus into his head. “Okay… 4.5 million pounds.” Just like that, he sold his mine as if it was dirt. Surely, there was something there, Noah concluded. It was evident that he was desperate to escape from the mine.
“4.5 million. That’s a good deal.” Noah smiled brightly at Donalian after she had fixed her thoughts. Then, she removed her hat that covered half of her face. “Shall we sign a contract?” I’m sorry, but I need you to stay dead for a while
It took less than half an hour to sign the contract, and of course, Donalian had gone white at the reveal of her face, and then he screamed as soon as he saw a blank check and an identification card with the amount written down.
“You’re Eleonora… Ugh!”
“Shh, shh, shh. People outside will hear.”
The moment he discovered her identity, a magical rope, and a blanket that she had secretly let loose on the floor hit Donalian.