Besides that, it was far too valuable to be worn around by a child, so Sheyne would probably have to hold on to it for a while. The silver had also started to tarnish after being left underground for so long, so I wanted to polish it up for her a bit first.
But once Aina had grown, it would no doubt look stunning on her...though I couldn’t say whether I’d ever get to witness it for myself.
Without a word, I patted Aina on the head, dodging the question.
✦ ✦ ✦
“So an order for potato seedlings, moss, and mushrooms from the kingdom of the dwarves, and a ship to send them to the Ancient Gold Empire. Understood.”
On our way back to Ludoria, while preparing the business arrangements for the caravan, I wrote down a number of things on a list and gave it to Airena. I was making arrangements to send some goods to Wanggui Xuannu in Black Snow Province as I had promised.
“Yeah, and I’ll have the instructions for growing them written down to send along with them by the time we reach Ludoria. Oh, right. I also want to send one more thing.”
The land in Black Snow Province was covered in volcanic ash, preventing most plants from growing. Even if they were able to put roots down in the ash, the young plants would be buried by newly fallen ash before they could grow. So my plan was to have Xuannu raise potatoes, mosses, and mushrooms that grew underground in the dwarven kingdom under her own castle. Black Snow Province had limited access to water, but the well I had dug for them should have handled most of that issue for them.
“I have to admit, all this talk of a country ruled by mystics and a dragon, and it being the largest nation in the Far East of the continent...it sounds like something right out of a storybook. If you weren’t the one telling me, I likely wouldn’t have believed it was real,” Airena said with a laugh. I had to laugh along with her. If I hadn’t seen it all with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe most of it either. Thinking of it that way, I was really impressed Airena could accept all of it just based on my testimony.
There were two letters I wanted sent along with the goods. One was addressed to Xuannu, containing details on how to raise the plants I was sending. The second was to another mystic I had grown close to in my time there: the governor of White River Province, Baimao Laojun. The contents included the information I had gleaned from analyzing the relics taken from the assassins Odine had sent after me. It was a record of what I had learned about the rituals they used and the craftsmanship of the tools they inscribed them on, both from the perspective of a mage and a blacksmith. Just as Kawshman had been my partner in creating relics, Laojun was also a friend working in the same field.
Of course, a ship sent from Vilestorika or Dolbogarde would land in Blue Sea Province, so neither would be delivered directly to their intended recipients. So instead, I had addressed them to the governor of Blue Sea Province, Zhang Shegong. He was another mystic, so he should have been willing to pass the goods along to their proper destinations.
But, thinking about it now, sending my analysis of the relics taken from Odine’s military abroad was exactly what Odine’s government had been afraid of. Of course, they were more likely thinking of said information leaking to Zieden, Ludoria, or Vilestorika. That same information traveling to the Ancient Gold Empire in the Far East would have little impact on them. Still, I guess you could say that the military had made the right choice in trying to chase me down...not counting the actual results they ended up with.
“Fusou was equally incredible. There were the oni, a race descended from what were probably human demons that we thought extinct, and a tree that reached up above the clouds. The ones who protected the demons there and planted that enormous tree were the giants who lived in the sky.”
My next destination after the Ancient Gold Empire had been Fusou, and though it was much smaller, it had just as many mysteries about it. The land of Fusou, where humans, merfolk, and skyfolk banded together and warred against the oni. But none of that was important to Airena.
“Basically, that means the world in the clouds where the giants were said to live is real. I have no doubt that the white lake you asked me to find is up there.”
For a brief moment, I could see her start to shake as she closed her eyes, as if overcome by something. Was it the thought of the white lake she had yet to witness? Or was it the memory of her two companions, who had hoped to see it together with her? Of course, I had no intention of intruding on that moment, so I quietly waited for her to finish.
Her curiosity as an adventurer and her love for her departed companions were an integral part of who she was. But now that she was the head of the elven caravan, she no longer had the freedom of an adventurer. That was all the more reason I wanted to take her to see the white lake above the clouds.
Thanks to her work with the elven caravan, the presence of the elves was being felt more strongly here in the center of the continent. The problem with Zieden was only starting on the path toward a solution, but even that would have been impossible without the caravan. I was really grateful for her, so it was only natural that I wanted to grant a wish or two she might have. And luckily for me, her wish was one that I was perhaps uniquely capable of fulfilling.
After a long pause, Airena finally spoke again. “I’m sorry. I really asked something quite unreasonable of you. But thank you, Lord Acer.”
When she finally wiped her eyes and opened them, her face was beaming.