"This is not going to be a discussion. I'm not the man that likes to haggle,

" Layn said, looking directly into the wolf's eyes.

"For every stone that you guys will provide us with, I will bring a single coin in return,

" Layn said before shaking his head and smiling.

"I'm the only one in this world capable of creating those coins. And I can promise that all of them will be made as well as I will be capable of making them,

" Layn added, waiting for the wolf's reaction.

"That's...

" For a moment, the wolf hesitated. Or rather, the being that was controlling it as its medium.

"I think that we can agree on that. But we will only provide you with tier...

" the monster started its explanation, only to be stopped by Layn suddenly raising his hand.

"I know it goes against the common sense of this world, but it doesn't matter what grade the stones are. Rather than their grade, I'm more interested in their size,

" he said, confusing everyone around him.

Given how the wolf seemingly only transferred its words directly into Layn's brain, everyone around him had to be pretty confused about the entire situation. But with Irea still unconscious and in fever, barely anyone had the time to bother with the matters that didn't involve them.

After all, they were all aware of what would happen if Irea didn't wake up soon.

"What goes against common sense is you revealing all this information so easily,

" the wolf replied before shaking its head in a strangely humane fashion.

"But I'm not someone unable to accept the honesty of others. We will bring you the first batch soon. Just wait for a moment.

"

Layn looked at the wolf for a moment before shaking his head and moving his attention back to Irea. While striking a deal with a neighboring Overlord was something that was so great he didn't actually believe it could happen, he couldn't feel any bit of joy if Irea wouldn't be there to enjoy it with him.

"You don't need to worry about the girl either,

" the wolf added once it saw Layn rushing to the place where Irea was sleeping.

"Her body needs some time to adjust to its new form... But still, for using such complex magic... You have my praises,

" the wolf added, strangely unbothered by the number of weird magics that Layn was capable of using.

"I'm not really sure how to understand that,' Layn moved his eyes towards the wolf after placing his hand on Irea's forehead to check her temperature.

"Aren't Overlord supposed to be greedy beings only caring about their land and magic they can get out of it?

" Layn asked, looking directly into the wolf's eyes.

"Dear...

" Before the wolf could reply, Irea finally opened her eyes once again. This time, there was no anguish visible in her pupils, indicating that she was slowly getting rid of the negative effects of Layn's operation.

"Are you okay, love?

" Layn's attention instantly switched fully to Irea. He caught her hand between his palms while looking intently at the girl below.

"Did I do a good job?

" she asked with a small, shy smile, seemingly unbothered by what Layn did to her.

"You did great,

" Layn replied, closing his eyes as tears threatened to appear in them.

"I'm sorry for putting you in such a dangerous situation,

" he added, revealing the sea of grief and regret that his soul was bathing in.

"Oh, dear,

" Irea said in a weak voice, raising her other hand to Layn's cheek and wiping off a stray tear that somehow made it out of his eye.

"I'm just happy I could be useful to you,

" she said, closing her eyes for a moment.

Tears appeared in her eyes a moment later. Startled by this sight, Layn instantly rushed to investigate if there was nothing else wrong with her body, only to arrive at a conclusion that she was actually okay.

The different kinds of flesh seemingly managed to assimilate. While her natural body parts couldn't suck the magic out of the air on their own, they became capable of absorbing the energy provided by the new flesh bestowed upon her by Layn.

What her body was working on right now was nothing more but a simple clean-up of all the residual magic that couldn't be absorbed earlier on.

"Didn't I tell you?

" The wolf spoke out once again, gently wagging its tail.

"She will be okay,

" it added before turning its head towards the forest in the distance.

"The stones will be here in a moment,

" it added before turning silent once again.

Layn looked towards the forest, curious as to what he was supposed to see there. But rather than seeing some humanoid carrying a small pouch or maybe dragging a cart, he saw a small swarm of weak monsters all marching towards them at a uniform pace.

'Is this some sort of sneak attack?' Layn suddenly thought, alerted by the sight that he didn't expect at all. He even went as far as to steal a quick glance of the wolf, only to shake his head a moment later. 'No, if it wanted to fight us, it should be more than aware that those small fries can be defeated by even the weakest of us,' Layn thought, calming down a little.

But what happened later, when the swarm of monsters arrived, was simply baffling.

The group stopped roughly ten steps away from Layn's group. All the monsters sat themselves down on the ground... And then they all just died.

"What?

" Layn couldn't help but voice his surprise at the sight. Nevertheless, he wasn't the only one to do that.

"Here, the stones you wanted,

" the wolf swung its head as if in an attempt to point at the mass of monster corpses right beside it.

"So you can't produce the stones on your own?

" Layn asked out loud, although in a silent voice.

"Well, that doesn't matter,

" he added after a moment before raising his eyes at the wolf.

"Still, I didn't expect you to kill your own underlings to make this trade.

"

"I don't think the method of obtaining the stones is of any concern for you,

" the wolf replied, leaning its head to the side.

"That's true,

" Layn nodded his head, admitting the right to the Overlord's medium. Then, he turned his eyes towards his mercenaries.

"Guys, I think you know what to do now.

"

"Yes, boss!

" the men replied without even a hint of hesitation. With Layn at Irea's resting place, they didn't need to worry about her health any longer. Free to do what they were trained to do, they all went towards the scene of carnage with small knives and axes before getting themselves all bloody while extracting the stones from the monsters' corpses.

"When can we expect the coins for this trade?

" the wolf asked while yawning.

"Processing the stones would take me one to two days, turning them into coins two more days,

" Layn pretended to count out loud even though he knew the answer right away. 'I need it to understand that I can't just do the trick with a swing of my hand,' he thought before shaking his head.

"How about a week?

" Layn proposed before shaking his head again.

"No, that's the wrong way to put it. How about we do the exchange once a week?

" he fixed his earlier statement.

"And where would it take place?

" the wolf asked, seemingly unbothered by Layn's small mishap.

"I already told my people that we will need to build an embassy of sorts. But since our camp is going to expand soon, I need to ask one thing,

" Layn stated before moving up from Irea's makeshift bed and looking at the wolf.

"Do you think it's possible for you to come up with human-looking monsters? It would be of great help if you could use them to bring the stones to my lands and get the coins back to the forest,

" Layn proposed, already picturing all sorts of problems that would arise if there would be a caravan of monsters frequenting the city he wanted to create.

"That won't be a problem at all,

" the wolf nodded its head before raising it and looking directly into Layn's eyes.

"Is that all for today?

" it asked.

"Just one more thing,

" Layn smiled wryly before moving his head in the opposite direction than the forest was.

"Do you know the outline of this place?

" he asked before turning silent for a moment.

'Should I ask about this?' he thought, calculating the cons and pros of asking a simple yet important question.

"No, I need to ask this. You see, originally, I intended to turn the border between our lands into a frontier, where hunters would hunt your underlings for those stones and meat,

" Layn said, openly admitting to having plans of conquering the lands of neighboring overlord.

"I assume those plans are no longer, given how you share them with me,

" the wolf replied, slightly baring its teeth as it did.

"Yes, that's exactly the case,

" Layn nodded his head as he admitted. But then, his disposition changed. His face turned serious as all the remaining energy that he had infused itself into his aura.

"But that doesn't mean I can't give up on the idea itself. That's why I want you to tell me one thing.

"

"Speak your mind,

" the wolf replied, encouraging Layn.

"Do you know what kind of Overlord borders my lands in the opposite direction?

" Layn asked before putting a wide smile on his lips.

"Because just like I guess you can guess, I'm going to change the target of my hunters to his lands!

"