A silver carriage stopped in front of a vast forest, and Mathias Helflick stepped out of it.
Looking around, he found a tent set up nearby. He walked towards it, and the sound of people arguing echoed. Mathias frowned when he heard the heated voices. "These guys… they are at it again." Shaking his head, he parted the entrance of the tent and went inside.
There, he saw four individuals wearing expensive clothing around a table: one wearing a black hanfu with intricate white patterns, an old woman in a white dress that reached her ankles, and another in a black suit with simple designs, though one could easily tell that the fabric used was very expensive.
Three of them were arguing while the last person, wearing a butler suit and a monocle on his left eye, was sitting away from them with a cup of tea in his hands.
Mathias knew all of them but paid particular attention to the person in the butler attire.
Holst put down the cup and stood up upon seeing the newcomer. He put his hand on his stomach and bowed. "My apologies. Welcome, Sir Mathias."
"You don't have to do that," Mathias waved his hand before he focused on the trio who were still arguing with each other.
The one wearing the black hanfu was a middle-aged man just like Mathias but older by a few years. He was the family head of the Kleinford family, a man known for his contribution to the Border Wars decades ago, Nathan Kleinford. Black-haired and dark-eyed, he came from a commoner family and made his way to his current position. He was also a cultivation fanatic.
However, his talent made it hard for him to advance beyond the 3rd-Step Qi Condensation. That's why he focused on training his family.
"Like I said, three of the tails will be ours! I've had my Elite Cultivators sent for this mission!" Nathan said, his nose flaring up.
"Respect the old, shall we?" the old woman in the white dress said. "Three tails? You are taking it too far. The Alchemy House will benefit greatly with that number. Besides, there are five of us here, and there are only nine tails that we can share!"
The old woman was the branch manager of the Alchemy House in Klown City and was known as Helen. Not many people knew about her as she was always inside the Alchemy Building and only met with people of status, but the Alchemy House was very famous as it had many branches in the Empire. The one in Klown was only one among hundreds of branches.
"Respect? I only give respect to those who deserve it! And I will never give it to someone who can't even grant a request for making a Talent Boost Supplement!" Nathan said, scoffing at the Alchemy House manager.
"Ah wow! So you're still holding a grudge because of that?" Helen shook her head with a frown. "You are acting like a child."
"What did you say?!" Nathan stood up, pointing his finger at Helen. "I dare you to say it again!"
"I said!" Helen stood up, the temperature increasing exponentially. The air started to boil, producing a heat haze. "You are acting like a child!"
"You!" Nathan's face turned red with anger. Suddenly, his black hanfu became darker and moved chaotically while his hair started going up, although there was no wind inside the tent.
"Ehem!" Mathias coughed, attracting their attention just in time before the two heated cultivators began fighting. "Let's calm down."
"Calm down? Tell this old fogey to stop being a jerk. I've given her the ingredients for the supplements, but she confiscated them instead!" Nathan said angrily, his robe letting out black shadows.
"And how many times have I told you that we can't create those supplements, and the ingredients you gave are of too low a quality!" Helen explained, the hot temperature remaining unchanged.
"You can't? Or you won't?! And why didn't you hand back the ingredients?!"
"Why don't we just fight?!" Helen had, of course, already used the ingredients to make a pill. Although she said the ingredients Nathan gave were of low quality, that only applied to making the Talent Boost Supplements. Using those ingredients, she created top-tier pills that were sold at a high price. But she would never admit this!
Mathias could only let out a heavy sigh and smile bitterly. I guess I don't have a choice. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, a terrifying glint appeared within his eyes and a strong light erupted from them.
"Calm down," Mathias said. His voice wasn't loud, but the sound thundered within their minds. While his eyes glowed intensely, he walked up to the empty seat and sat down. "Take your seats."
Nathan and Helen nodded their heads as the temperature returned to normal along with Nathan's clothes. Without looking at each other, they took their seats.
The butler of Klown also returned to his seat. Although Mathias was emitting intense pressure, Holst's eyes remained the same, and a smile stayed on his face.
Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Mathias' eyes returned to normal. Then he turned to the person who hadn't spoken since he arrived, the man in the simple but expensive suit. He was the youngest among them, probably around 25 or 26, with dark hair and brown eyes, and a delicate, straight nose.
"Theo… You must be eyeing the whole body," Mathias said.
"If you guys allow me to have it, then I wouldn't mind, though I only need the meat. My Skyline will need it for the upcoming banquet. We can't disappoint the visitors, right?" Theo turned to Holst, who nodded.
"I see," Mathias then turned to Helen and Nathan. "You two, let go of the past from now on. We can discuss what we're going to do with the body of the alpha after we defeat it. Let's talk about what we're going to do for now."
Nathan and Helen glared at each other but didn't make another scene. Instead, Nathan cleared his throat. "Ahem, as I was just saying, I'm mobilizing my elite Cultivators, whom I personally trained. This will greatly increase our chances of killing that monster."
"That's good," Mathias nodded, turning to Helen. "Have you managed to concoct enough poison to immobilize the Alphadusk?"
"Yes, but what I'm doing is against the conduct of the Alchemy House. I will have to write them a letter and explain the situation. I will need all of your statements later on, including the mayor's," Helen said, glancing at the butler who bowed his head slightly towards her. "You guys don't want to lose an Alchemy House within your city, right?"
"I don't see a problem with that," Mathias agreed. He then stared at the butler. "Did the mayor say anything else?"
Holst nodded. "Yes, we have to keep the noise down. He is currently entertaining the visitors as we speak, and he doesn't want them to be uncomfortable."
Cowards, Helen, Nathan, and Mathias thought at the same time.