Feicui Long traveled somewhat uncomfortably in the carriage they had been assigned, especially because the woman named Gloria was sitting in front of him, staring at him with a hostile look. As for Annie, the poor girl was trembling like a newborn pup at his side. Sometimes, he wondered if she was really an orc woman.
At some point, Feicui Long got tired of it and spoke: "Hey, I get that you don't like the way I act, but this is the real world. If I hadn't killed them, I could have been at risk next time, or worse, they could have done this to someone else. Besides, didn't you see it? They all had very obvious experience doing this. How many innocent people do you think they have harmed?"
Gloria sighed and said, "It's not because of that. I don't care about that. It's because you're with Isabella. What do you want from her? Her money? Her position? Her beauty? I'm worried that you want to use her as..."
Gloria stopped, realizing she had almost said something she wasn't supposed to talk about.
Then, Gloria added, "The point is, my suspicion isn't because of that. Until you earn my trust, I won't stop looking at you this way."
Feicui Long sighed in resignation. Sometimes, he wondered what he had done in all his lives to have such bad karma with women.
…
After a three-day journey, they finally arrived in Feldbach. It had small walls, but they were sturdy enough for defense. At the entrance, they were asked for identification, and everyone showed theirs, including the carriage driver.
Inside the city, they followed the directions they had been given, which led them to what seemed to be a small ranch within the city. Although it was a bit unusual to see one inside a city, he was not surprised. After all, it was normal for important things to be protected as much as possible. For example, Vienna also had some ranches and farms within its walls. They could not rely entirely on food from the outside.
The driver left them there and said his goodbyes, as he had been sent to take care of other matters in the city. After this, Feicui Long approached the door of a building that served as the entrance to the ranch. Above the door, he saw a sign that read Robert Schulz's Stable, a simple name, but it did not matter.
Feicui Long knocked on the door, and the one who answered was a well-dressed man who asked, "Good afternoon. What do you need?"
Feicui Long said, "Good afternoon. I have come looking for Mr. Robert. I want to buy some things, like spatial boxes and a cargo carriage, along with some good draft horses. I was recommended by Johan Lindberg."
…
The elegant man was about to let him pass into the sales area when he heard the name Johan Lindberg. At that moment, he behaved much more politely than usual. "Oh, young sir, you come recommended by Mr. Johan. Please follow me. I will guide you to Mr. Robert's office."
Feicui Long and the two women followed the elegant man to a door with a bell. The man rang the bell and waited for a moment.
Then, a slightly tired voice said, "You can let them in, Carlos. Johan had already informed me that they would be arriving. You can tell Lisa to take the two girls to their rooms in my house."
A few minutes had passed since Feicui Long entered the room. The man named Robert seemed refined and elegant, clearly well-educated. According to Gloria's words, he was a kind and friendly person, even if he did not seem like it, but so far, he had not spoken a single word to him. Feicui Long had been reading Johan's letter several times and had not been paying attention.
It was then that Robert put the letter down and said, "I understand why you have come here. It is just that I did not expect my elder brother, Johan, and elder sister, Cecilia, to once again allow little Isabella to be engaged."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "I am not like my elder sister, Cecilia, or Gabriela, but as part of the group of five sworn siblings and as Isabella's godfather, someone who watched her grow up, I ask you, please, be good to her. Treat her with kindness and have patience with her. I know she is clumsy and not very feminine, but she truly tries. But above all, do not toy with her feelings. My poor girl has already suffered something that a sweet young woman like her should never have to endure..."
Feicui Long, taken aback a bit, said with some surprise, "Do not worry, sir. I, Feicui Long, will never abandon a promise of my own will. I have decided to take her as my woman, and so it shall be."
Then he added, "Rather, here, this gift is from me to you. I know it may not be much, but it might help you a little."
Feicui Long then handed him a box containing 10 bottles of grade 5 healing potion.
Robert accepted them, somewhat grateful, and said, "This is a pleasant surprise. Now, let us talk business."
Robert happily led Feicui Long around the ranch, showing him his best horses and animals. He even offered him others, like cows and such, but Feicui Long could not buy them. Not because of the money. At this moment, he still had seventy-five platinum coins and about seventy-five gold coins from what he had sold three months ago, but because he could not take so many animals with so few people. Even if he wanted to tame them and sign a contract like he did with the horses of his first carriage, it was not worth it.
But even so, the walk was useful for Feicui Long, as he was able to notice an interesting formation. He even asked, "Uncle Robert, this formation is a growth acceleration formation, right? Where did you get it?"
Robert, a little hesitant, replied, "I found it in some ruins with my wife while we were still adventurers. I learned it and also found some energy crystals with which I set it up. It turned out there was a mine of these right next to it."
Feicui Long nodded politely. "Could you tell me where the mine is?"
He decided to ask only about the mine instead of the formation, especially since he had already deciphered it a while ago.
Robert said, "I can, but it is too dangerous, even for me. We barely made it out alive, as there are many enemies. But even so, I will tell you. It is right next to the Clouded Crystal Mountain."
Feicui Long nodded and thanked him. "Thank you very much, Uncle."
…
In the end, the two reached an agreement. Feicui Long bought five horses. Four were animals of the highest breeding, and one was an energy beast, only one Wild Wind Mare. He also bought a total of 45 spatial boxes and a rather good cargo carriage, capable of holding the boxes in a distribution of three boxes wide, three long, and five high, with a little extra space. All of it for a modest price of 15 gold coins. The high price was primarily due to the boxes.
These, just like spatial bags, serve to store large quantities of items at a level inferior to normal storage devices. In this case, only mortal things or not very strong energy materials. But if they serve the same function, why buy them?
The reason is simple. The bags have a decent space, but he realized that what he could store in 15 bags barely fit a few things. If he wanted to build something big in the future, he would have to make several trips. With the boxes, he could ensure he had materials for a long time, especially since he wanted to build a kind of castle at his home.
Feicui Long made the payment, but he was taken by surprise by Robert, who gave him something. "Look, Feicui Long, this is my gift to you, to make sure you treat Isabella well. It is just 25 elemental energy crystals, but I believe they will be more useful to you as an alchemist than to me."
Feicui Long wanted to refuse them, but when he saw that there were five wood elemental energy crystals, he did not hesitate to accept them.
After that, Feicui Long was taken to his room in Robert's house.
Gloria saw Feicui Long and called him to a secluded corner, saying, "Feicui Long, I heard from Uncle that you bought quite a few spatial boxes. What do you need so many for?"
Feicui Long looked at her. Honestly, he did not want to answer, but he also did not want to be rude and make a worse impression on her, so he explained, "I plan to build a small fortress at my home. I need to ensure that everything inside it is safe, including my nieces and my girls."
Gloria, confused, asked, "You already have daughters? How old are they?"
Feicui Long replied, "The eldest is eleven and a half years old, and the youngest is barely two and a half."
Gloria was very surprised. "You are so young. You are barely twenty-eight years old, and you already have two daughters?"
Feicui Long corrected her, "Actually, it's five."
Gloria grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him, saying, "I knew you were a bad guy! How can you have five girls with you at such a young age? Where is their mother?"
Feicui Long shook his head and said, "It is not what you think. They are adopted. Also, forgive me for what I am about to say, Gloria, but even if they were biologically mine, that would not be your problem but Isabella's. And she is not against the girls. On the contrary, she gets along well with them. So you can let go of me, or you will have me floating in the air the whole time."
Gloria, exasperated, said, "I do not understand why Isabella follows you. Not only are you extremely cruel and cold, but you also seem to have no feelings. You do not even get angry or react with rage. Are you even human, Feicui Long? No, I should rephrase the question. Are you even a person, a sentient being, or are you just a soulless machine?"
Feicui Long replied, "Because those feelings get in the way. To achieve your goals, you must be able to keep a cool head. That way, I can continue pursuing my objectives. If I allowed anger, rage, and other emotions to take over, I would not be able to move forward, because you do not understand everything I have been through, everything I have lived. If you knew, you would not be saying this."
Upon hearing this, Gloria set Feicui Long down, but this time she did not look at him with anger or rage. Instead, she looked at him with a mix of pity and sorrow before turning her back to him and saying, "Feelings are never a hindrance. Thinking like that only shows how broken you are, Feicui Long. Before, I was afraid that you would hurt Isabella. Now I fear the day you can no longer bear the pressure and because of your rigidity, you break."
Feicui Long remained standing and silent. His heart, his mind... there was never a hint of anger, nor rage or fury, almost as if he were missing something to be complete, something important that he had forgotten a long time ago.
Feicui Long went to sleep.
...
The next day, Feicui Long, Gloria, and Annie returned in Feicui Long's carriage, unaware that a shocking piece of news was spreading throughout the barony and the nearby territories...