179: Willful Eve

Willful Eve

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"Anyway, thank you for your help," Bloed said again. Regardless of Eve's intentions, the truth was that she had helped him.

Eve nodded without changing her expression. She then seemed to think about something and took out a golden badge from A storage ring in her finger.

"Take this." She gave it to Bloed.

The badge was a beautiful art piece. It showed a beautiful fox howling to the moon.

Bloed had seen this kind of badge before.

In Diadel City, Madeline had given one of these to Bloed, Regina, and Liu Ying each.

But the ones Madeline gave them were silver instead of golden.

Bloed raised an eyebrow. "This is…?"

"... The report from Diadel City said that you received a silver badge, right?" Eve asked with a blank face. "Unfortunately, a silver badge is not enough to justify my interference tonight. So, you need to receive this golden badge. With this, you will be a member in name of Moonlight Glow."

Bloed grabbed the golden badge and held it with a troubled expression.

"Miss Eve, I'm thankful for your help, but I hope you understand we are not planning to be tied down to any organization.

Eve nodded. "I know. As I told you, you are like me, so I understand your position. Plus, I know my help tonight is far from enough to get the loyalty of a demigod, and the prince of the Kingdom of Alterna."

Bloed smiled wryly. "So you know even about that, huh."

"... Sorry." Eve apologized with her usual deadpan expression. "I investigated you after I met you yesterday, and coincidentally, I found a lot of information about you in Diadel Duchy's report."

Bloed was not surprised about that. He expected something like that after the events of Diadel City.

He could only hope that this information is not spread to the rest of the continent too quickly. He did not want to be bothered by people interested in making use of his status as a prince (exiled).

"... I hope you consider this badge a symbol of Moonlight Glow's goodwill," Eve continued saying. "To be honest, Mr. Bloed, even without your identity as a prince, just your ability to craft the strange constructs you call robots makes you eligible to receive this badge... Plus I have the feeling your abilities are not limited to that."

"You have a high evaluation of me, huh." Bloed smiled wryly, but Eve nodded with a serious expression. "I do. It's the same for Miss Regina and Miss Liu Ying though."

Bloed nodded. After playing for a while with the golden badge, he sighed and passed it to Regina.

Regina understood and put it inside one of the black jewels on her bracelet.

"Thank you again, Miss Eve."

The fox girl nodded with her usual blank expression. "I know I told you I did not help you to recruit you, but if one day you decide to seek the support of an organization, I hope you consider Moonlight Glow first."

Bloed did not hesitate to nod.

To be honest, he had a very favorable impression of this organization. Until now, Moonlight Glow had helped Bloed's group on several occasions while asking for nothing in exchange.

Of course, Bloed knew that part of the reason behind Moonlight Glow's goodwill was his abilities and the fact Regina was a demigod. But even so, Moonlight Glow had not hesitated to stand up for them on two different occasions. Bloed could not just ignore something like that.

"... I guess I will have to put a bit more effort into that fox, huh."

Eve's eyes lit up, her expression changing for the first time. "… That is a good idea. Make sure it's cute enough."

"Yeah, yeah, I will."

"By the way, you three seemed interested in the words of the king, right?" Eve asked. "Do you want to know what is happening?"

Bloed and the girls looked at each other and nodded. they were certainly curious.

"It's rather simple, really." Eve sighed. "You see, The Great Savannah, the elves' Boerner Forest, and the Sun Kingdom share a border. That border is a very disputed mountainous territory. For years, the three countries have disputed the right of that territory. Mainly the Sun Kingdom and The Great Savannah, though. The elves never showed too much interest.

"However, these mountains were very lacking in resources, so although none of the countries wanted to give it up, they were not interested in making a fuss for it either. For years, the situation remained like that."

"… But something changed recently, right?" Liu Ying opined.

Eve nodded. "Yes. A few months ago, someone from the sun kingdom discovered a deposit of mana ores in these mountains. A very valuable deposit, with enough high-quality ores to mine for several decades. As for the rest, I think you can imagine it."

Realization appeared in the faces of Bloed's group. So that was the reason.

Mana stones were a very valuable resource. They were literally crystalized mana. Their uses ranged from training and alchemy to war.

It was a pure source of energy that almost any country coveted.

Bloed could now understand why the three countries were about to go to war.

But–

"… How strange. I thought Elves did not use mana stones." Liu Ying muttered.

Bloed nodded. Certainly, Elves usually don't like things that can damage nature.

And few things are more damaging to nature than mining. Why are they so interested in this mine then?

"I don't know either." Eve sighed while shaking her head. "The only thing I know is that the elves have shown an unusual interest in this."

Bloed fell deep in thought. A few seconds later, though, he shook his head.

There was no point in continuing to think about this topic.

"Tomorrow, King Arlen Firstmane, Priestess Elwha Aerin, and General Edward Stell will sit to negotiate about this topic," Eve said. "I will participate too, by the way… Although to be honest, I would have preferred to use my time in something more productive."

Bloed smiled wryly in understanding. Yeah, that sounded like something boring.

Looking at the disheartened expression of the fox across him, Bloed could not help but shake his head.

But suddenly, he saw Eve's expression freezing.

Then, as though she got an incredible idea, she moved her face closer to Bloed's group.

"Mister Bloed, Miss Regina, Miss Liu Ying, are you busy tomorrow? Do you want to go with me?"

Without hesitation, Bloed, Regina, and Liu Ying shook their heads. "Of course not. Besides, I don't think it's alright if we participate in something like that."

"… Why?" Eve tilted her head inexpressively. "You have a golden badge, so you are also members of Moonlight Glow now. You can participate."

"... Miss Eve, I thought we were members just in name, right?"

Eve paused. But then, she stared at Bloed fixedly.

"Don't you think you owe me a favor after I helped you today?"

Bloed's expression twitched. Miss, what happened with your words of before.

"… Miss Eve, I'm sure Moonlight Glow has already sent people for this meeting, right? They are surely more suitable than us." Bloed suppressed a sigh and tried to convince Eve, but it was useless.

"... They are just boring old men, I will bore at death if I go with them." Eve said as a little child. "It's decided, one of you must accompany me tomorrow."0

Bloed and the girls looked at each other. Judging by Eve's serious expression, she did not seem as though she was ready to give up on her idea.

"... Well, I'll be busy training tomorrow, so I don't think I can." Liu Ying forced a smile and said. "But Bloed is pretty free! He can go!"

Bloed's was stunned. He could not believe Liu Ying sold him.

Looking at Eve, he could see her gaze was fixed in him.

With a sigh, he shook his head and changed his evaluation of Eve again.

She was definitively a willful woman.

...

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