Weapon seller in the world of magic

Lucian hesitated for a brief moment before answering.

"Minister Silver arranged his marriage with House Drake’s Jennifer Drake. She is the younger sister of the House lord and is more than fifteen years older than Lucian."

For the first time since morning, genuine surprise crossed Kiara’s face.

Just earlier, she had been discussing House Drake’s marriage tactics with Serestia, and now another proposal had already appeared elsewhere.

A faint, uncomfortable feeling rose within her chest.

She honestly felt a little bad for Arceus Silver. How could Arceus, who is only in his early 20s, marry a woman in her late 30s? That’s barbaric...

Still, marriage alliances between noble houses were common political tools, and unless the victim themselves resisted strongly, outsiders usually had little room to interfere.

Moreover, in political marriages, age was never a factor, whether the woman is older or the man is older. Sometimes, even young princesses get betrothed to a little child of a Noble House.

After thinking briefly, Kiara asked carefully, "This is between House Storm and House Drake. Why did you come here, instead of approaching the Emperor?"

Lucian quickly answered, "The problem is that Arceus is against the marriage, but his father insists on forcing it to strengthen House Silver’s ties with House Drake and improve their political standing. I visited Silver Manor earlier and discovered he is practically under house arrest until the marriage takes place."

As Lucian spoke, frustration slowly crept into his voice.

"I wanted to seek help from the Imperial Palace," he admitted, "but my father strictly warned me not to interfere because he does not want tension between our houses. So, I can only approach you... You are the only one in this entire city who has the guts and the strength to help Lucian."

Kiara fell silent afterward.

For several seconds, she simply stared at Lucian without replying.

The atmosphere inside the store became strangely still once more, broken only by the distant scratching of Noah’s brush and the soft rustling of papers.

Lucian himself gradually grew nervous beneath her silence.

The last time he visited Nexus Store, Kiara had treated him rather coldly, and truthfully, he had never held a particularly positive impression of her either. As the heir of House Storm, Lucian had grown up surrounded by nobles and merchants who constantly wore fake smiles before him, hiding greed and calculations behind polished manners.

To him, Kiara originally seemed exactly the same.

She smiled too easily.

She cared too much about money.

She always acted like a merchant measuring profit and loss behind every word.

Meanwhile, Zion never bothered pretending or trying to impress him, which ironically left Lucian with a better opinion of the young man.

Unfortunately, Zion lacked the freedom to make decisions independently.

Everything still depended on Kiara.

That was why Lucian eventually swallowed his pride and came personally to ask for help, because right now, he believed only Kiara and Zion possessed the ability to intervene.

And because he understood that Kiara valued profit, he quickly added another offer when her silence stretched too long.

"If you help me resolve this matter," Lucian said firmly, "I will purchase twenty thousand gold coins’ worth of weapons from Nexus Store."

Even Serestia’s eyes shifted slightly after hearing that amount.

"I do not currently possess that much gold," Lucian admitted honestly, "but I can pay with high-quality ether crystals instead."

The moment those words were spoken, even Kiara’s expression changed subtly.

High-quality ether crystals were treasures valuable enough to tempt almost anyone.

Even she could not casually reject such a payment.

Still, accepting the request also meant stepping into dangerous political waters.

One wrong move could create enemies powerful enough to cause irreversible damage, and strangely enough, the system had not issued any quest notification regarding this matter despite its significance.

That alone made Kiara cautious.

For a fleeting second, suspicion even crossed her mind.

What if this was a trap?

What if House Storm wanted to drag her into conflict intentionally?

Yet before she could fully settle upon caution, another image suddenly surfaced inside her mind.

Arceus Silver was in deep trouble, and whether Arceus thought of her good or bad, Kiara knew that she indirectly profited from associating with Arceus while Arceus only suffered misfortune because of her.

Her chest felt tight when she imagined this helpless guy, the one with godly handsome looks.

Finally, after a long silence, Kiara spoke.

"What kind of help," she asked slowly while fixing her gaze upon Lucian, "are you expecting from me exactly?"

"The marriage ceremony will happen in three days," Lucian Storm answered slowly, and although he tried to keep his voice calm, the strain hidden underneath it was still impossible to miss. "And right now, I do not even have a proper plan. If we fail to stop the marriage by normal means, then as a last resort, we will help Arceus escape from Silver Manor and hide him somewhere safe.

As he spoke those words, his fingers unconsciously tightened against the edge of his sleeve, betraying the pressure weighing upon his mind.

"In that case," he continued after taking a small breath, "your store is probably the safest place in the entire Imperial City. I heard a Beast King with an 8-star rank is staying here. Hence, even the Supreme Commander would not dare enter this place without your permission."

There was a brief pause in his talk.

"In the meantime," Lucian then added carefully, "I will send word to Arceus’s great-grandfather. He currently lives in the countryside, away from court affairs, but neither Minister Silver nor Commander Xander would dare disobey him openly. Once he intervenes, everything should settle down peacefully."

Although his tone sounded sincere, every sentence was also carefully constructed to reassure Kiara that the risks involved were low while the rewards remained high.

It was the kind of persuasion nobles often used during court debates, where no sword was drawn, yet every word still sought victory.

Kiara remained silent.

At first glance, the matter indeed seemed manageable.

After all, she was not being asked to storm Silver Manor, slaughter guards, or openly challenge House Silver, declaring a war against them or something. If things progressed smoothly, the situation could be handled quietly without bloodshed.

Yet that very simplicity made her cautious.

Because in politics, traps were often wrapped inside easy opportunities.

Inside her mind, calculations began forming one after another.

The Emperor currently held a favorable opinion of her, and Kiara intended to use that advantage fully. Her long-term plan had already begun moving piece by piece ever since firearms became officially recognized within the Griffin Empire.

First, she would make the Imperial Army increasingly dependent on Nexus weapons.

Then, once their reliance became absolute and ordinary procurement costs turned unbearable, she would introduce installment systems and debt agreements, slowly tightening invisible chains around the Empire itself.

An army addicted to firearms could no longer return to old weapons easily.

And an Empire buried beneath debt would eventually kneel before the one controlling its supply.

At the end of that road, Kiara intended to replace Emperor Alexander Phoenix with a puppet ruler loyal to her.

That was the path she had chosen.

And because such ambitions carried enormous danger, Kiara had also prepared a second option long ago.

If control failed, then chaos would rise instead.

Civil war.

Unrest.

Fragmentation.

The Empire tearing itself apart from within.

Still, despite all these cold calculations, Kiara no longer wished to handle matters through outright massacres the way she once did against House Silver and House Dawn. Bloodshed solved problems quickly, but it also left stains that attracted too many eyes.

Which meant this situation required certainty first.

Not impulse.

After a long silence, Kiara finally spoke. "Alright," she said calmly. "I will see what I can do."

The wording itself remained deliberately vague.

She did not promise to help.

Nor did she refuse.

Because there was still too much uncertainty hidden beneath the surface, and if she eventually decided to intervene, then the operation would require careful precision.

Recklessly charging forward and crushing enemies beneath overwhelming force required no planning, but secretly helping someone disappear without leaving evidence behind was entirely different.

That kind of task demanded patience.

Lucian immediately understood the meaning hidden beneath her answer, and although he tried to hide it, disappointment still surfaced across his face.

He had arrived at Nexus Store carrying considerable expectations.

Part of him believed Kiara would accept instantly for the sake of profit.

Another part believed her hostility toward House Silver and House Drake would naturally make her willing to interfere.

But neither happened.

For a brief moment, Lucian even wondered whether Kiara had simply grown less interested in money now that Nexus Store earned enormous profits daily. Or perhaps the offer of ether crystals still was not enough.

Should he increase the amount?

The thought crossed his mind briefly before he forcibly discarded it.

Because if he raised the reward now, it would imply Kiara hesitated only due to insufficient payment, and somehow, that possibility irritated him deeply.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed faintly.

He wondered whether Kiara had begun fearing noble houses now that she possessed wealth, influence, and something valuable to lose.

The thought left bitterness inside his chest.

Since it no longer seemed guaranteed that Kiara would help, Lucian silently decided he would handle the matter himself if necessary, regardless of consequences.

Without speaking further, he turned and walked away.

The faint rustle of his robes echoed through the quiet hall while Zion silently followed him outside, and moments later, the sound of carriage wheels gradually faded into the distance beyond the streets of the Business District.

Only after Lucian’s carriage disappeared completely did Serestia Phoenix finally step out openly from deeper inside the store.

Kiara had already returned to her seat by then.

The kitten remained sleeping peacefully in her lap, entirely unaware of the storm surrounding human affairs.

"Are you planning to help Brother Ark?" Serestia asked softly.