"Are you scared?

" Layn casually asked, turning his eyes to one of the mercenaries that Markus brought to the camp.

Right now, the archmage and a group of seven people, only two of which were with Layn since the very beginning of the camp, awaited the appearance of the monsters at the location they all agreed upon earlier.

"Sir?

" the youth muttered as he raised his eyes. While his hands didn't tremble, just by looking at how tense all his muscles were, one could fathom just how terrified this young mercenary was.

"There is no need to worry,

" Layn smiled, unable to keep teasing the man when he saw how strongly the man soaked in his words.

"They stand to lose far more by breaking the negotiations than they do by coping up with our requests,

" Layn said before pointing his hand at a massive bag filled to the brim with stone coins.

'If I recall correctly, we owe them only a tenth of that,' Layn thought, glancing over at the treasury of questionable worth.

In fact, if someone were to take a look inside the bag, they would be infinitely disappointed. If the bag was filled with gold and silver coins, one could use it to finance an establishment of some kind of major noble family that could easily shake parts of the continent.

But not a single coin within the bag was made out of precious metals. Yet, thanks to what it was actually made up with, every single stone coin was worth more than several times its weight in gold!

'Still, finding someone to trade those coins with is extremely beneficial,' Layn thought as he continued to await the appearance of the monster delegate. 'Even if we had some human settlements nearby, it would be too risky to give them those coins,' Layn analyzed the situation, already capable of foreseeing how those artifacts could easily spark a massive war.

Every single coin in the bag could produce a small amount of mana. On its own, this kind of quality wasn't that uncommon. As long as one tried hard enough, there was a wide variety of herbs, ores, and even stuff like art and masterpieces that could be beneficial to one's training.

But only those coins would continue to reliably suck more and more mana from the air only to provide it in an accessible form to anyone interested and in the area.

Those coins were the ultimate currency both for humans and for the monsters alike, as they allowed everyone to directly tap into the vast sea of mana that would be otherwise hidden away from them.

'Now that I recall how much of a turmoil a single artifact like that could cause... And in a prestigious academy at that!' Layn thought, resting his head down on the wet ground of the plateau.

"Sir, I can see movement in the distance!

" One of the mercenary escorts reported soon thereafter.

'Damn,' Layn thought, forcing his body up. 'I hoped to have a little more time to rest,' he whined in his thoughts before focusing his eyes on a distant cloud of dust gathering on the horizon.

"Yeah,

" he muttered.

"They are coming,

" he added a moment later.

The cloud of smoke approached their position pretty quickly. While its appearance on its own was already strange given how the land was relatively wet and dustless, Layn decided not to indulge in analyzing this phenomenon as well.

'This entire place has too many quirks to it for it to be just another piece of land,' Layn thought, putting this as the topic to think about later.

And soon enough, the source of the dust got close enough for people to be able to see the details of the approaching party.

As if expecting Layn's new position at the negotiations, the group of monsters arrived prepared.

Along with the wolf Layn was already familiar with, the group consisted of roughly twenty massive monsters, pretty similar in build to the modern horses' Layn was used to. The main difference laid in their size, as rarely any modern horse could have its ass at the heigh of Layn's head!

"Welcome to the camp,

" Layn said, stepping to the front of his group. The nervous, small movements of those mercenaries that saw sentient monsters for the first time didn't bode well for the prospect of leaving them to deal with the matter.

"I'm relieved to see you waiting here,

" the wolf replied directly to Layn's thoughts.

"Come on,

" the archmage shrugged.

"If you speak to me like that, everyone else will be bewildered,

" Layn said, pointing his hand at the rest of his temporary party.

"I see,

" the wolf opened its jaws, releasing a strangely gentle voice for its vicious build and many scars that covered it.

"It's a pleasure to learn that you didn't intend to cheat on us,

" the wolf reiterated its previous message, this time sharing it with everyone on the spot.

"A man's word measures up to the man himself,

" Layn said, using one of the few quotes he ever bothered to remember.

"That's quite a nice saying,

" the wolf grinned, as far as Layn could judge from its inhuman expression.

"But let's not waste each other's time. What is the meaning of this?

" the wolf pointed its nose at the massive bag. Yet, despite how hostile his words sounded out of a sudden, there wasn't even a hint of hostility or anger in those words of the monster.

"Well, let's say we were presented with an opportunity to expand the scope of our trade,

" Layn smiled, taking a step forward and cutting the cloth rope that held the opening of the bag together.

"On that note, I need to push one statement ahead,

" Layn said as soon as the sight of a mountain of stone coins revealed itself to the wolf's eyes.

"You didn't need to open the bag at all,

" the monster shook its head.

"I could sense the effects of those... coins for a while now,

" it added, turning its pupils at the archmage.

'Is it curious?' Layn thought before biting his bottom lip. 'No, this is no time to think about matters like that,' he forced all the useless thoughts aside, focusing on the deal right in front of him.

"First off, if any of the requests or suggestions I make during this meeting will be below your bottom line for whatever reason,

" Layn started, only to lower his head in an advance apology.

"Then I wish for you to understand that insulting you or your ways was never my objective, just an unfortunate accident caused by the lack of knowledge,

" Layn said, deeply lowering his head to the monster.

This act could be taken for cowardice. The looks that the batch of fresh mercenaries threw at Layn as he lowered himself down before a monster only signaled how little they thought of the archmage in this very moment.

"How cultured,

" the wolf grinned once again, revealing the long rows of its sharp teeth.

"Feel free to speak,

" it added a moment later before throwing a quick glance at the group of already hostile mercenaries.

"And don't pay any mind to those who are too weak to see the difference between the two of us,

" the wolf said, openly staring at the group of Markus' mercenaries,

"and the worms like them.

"