CHAPTER 68: WHAT DID YOU DO?

I’ve breathed out a long sigh of relief.

After controlling as much of my expression as I could throughout the whole of the negotiations, to be able to just breathe in and out rather than pacing my breaths, to let my lips smile, sulk, open wide or press tightly together...

As small of a change as it was, it felt really liberating.

Just like any of the few dozen or so other aspects I used to precisely control, all for the sake of bringing the negotiations to their successful end.

Which I did.

And now, I was free to act like myself again.

"That really was something, wasn’t it?" I asked in a slightly smuggish and perfectly proud voice as I turned to Selia.

The Saintess only rolled her eyes but kept a small, content smile on her face.

While she wasn’t going to praise me for how I acted now, she just had to be impressed with what I did!

After all, I went from absolutely nobody, fully relying on her help and mercy, to someone who could potentially change the fate of this whole town to something better!

It wasn’t just about the money I would get from that deal, money that could easily put me just below the rank of a rich man but well within the range of those who could afford comfortable living.

And that kind of money was all the more impressive in a world without a developed financial system, where only those who built their own business, crafting or other professional empires could afford it!

In a place where you couldn’t just drop a bag on a bank’s doorstep to then go and live off the dividends, achieving full financial independence was quite the achievement!

Then again, this didn’t seem like the reason why Saintess was smiling. And while comforting, it was nowhere near the reason for my happiness.

No.

When it came to Selia, she was smiling... simply because I was happy. And just my ability to feel it only added to my own sense of happiness, creating a weird yet quite virtuous circle.

There was just one more aspect to our shared happiness, though. The very last thing I brought to the negotiating table, a part of the deal I sacrificed most of the money I could easily be making from that deal.

And it was my ability to get Greg and his men, a team he was now going to rapidly expand to cover for all the new work he had to do, to help me out with any future projects I had in mind!

An atmospheric steam engine as a proof of concept and into a proper, automatic steam engine?

It was a staple of every kingdom-building dream! This very item was exactly what kickstarted the first industrial revolution on Earth, after all!

But that wasn’t enough. In fact, it already felt a bit too ambitious for a first step in a world where charcoal could be a massive invention.

’Proper steel, water pumps, concrete...’

I shook my head as I allowed my thoughts to float away into the dream of pure dreams and imagination.

’There are so many things I could try to do! And each one of those could only make me, and all those around me, all the richer!’

And just like I could feel what feelings coursed through Selia’s mind, I could bet my ass she could do the same... Which, for some reason, only made her smile all the more, making her face, her smile, all the more tender.

Noticing my stare, Selia’s lips widened for a bit.

"So?" she asked, leaning her head off to the side while dropping her hands down on her hips, "now that you’ve got money and the backing of craftsmen," she straightened up while putting on a slightly more serious face.

Deep down inside, however, I could tell her mood hardly changed.

"What are you going to do next?"

I stared right into Selia’s eyes for a moment before finally dropping my celebration and taking a long breath to steady myself.

Even now, quite some time after we’ve left the smithy, I could still feel my heart beating hard from all the excitement.

Surprisingly enough, however, I had an answer to Selia’s question at the ready.

"Isn’t it obvious?" I asked while allowing a small grin to creep on my face. "Now that I have all that money, it’s time to spend it right away!" I revealed while allowing my grin to fully manifest on my lips.

Those were quite the bold words to speak out in the open of the town’s street.

But with Saintess right next to me and the clear intention to get all of my newly obtained fortune wasted away, what was there for me to fear?

"And it seems like we know of just the right place to spend all of that money at," I then quickly added while bringing my voice down into a hushed, almost conspiratorial manner.

"And that would be...?" Selia brought her eyebrows together, as keen as she was to just play along with my act as she was curious to hear the answer.

"What was she... a druid?" I pretended not to remember it all too well. "An alchemist?" I leaned my head to the side while holding my elbow with one hand while tapping my finger against my chin.

Then, my body suddenly grew still as my eyes opened wide and my free hand shot up in a perfect recreation of the ’light bulb turning on in a thought bubble’ moment.

"A herbalist!"

I didn’t forget about my promise and personal desire to do best by the few seeds of coffee I had on me.

If I could get it to grow, it would be the very last object from Earth that I could keep until I grew old in this world, contrary to all the other consumer goods that would either soon waste away or vanish in the pit of Selia’s snack-loving stomach.

Heck!

By now, save for my dirty clothes and those coffee seeds, there was hardly anything left of Earth’s origin in my possession! Which made my desire to somehow save and cultivate those few seeds burn all the stronger.

"Okay, the herbalist it is," Saintess’s smile only grew, her eyes escaping to the side and then up as she happily allowed the memory of that sweet, mellow drink to linger in her thoughts. A moment later, however, she shook her head before locking her lovely, pale-blue eyes on me again. "After that visit, though, what do you plan to do next?"

This time, I didn’t have an answer at the ready. Because I never really thought that far.

"Up until now, I only thought how to make the best out of that charcoal opportunity," I admitted before shaking my head. "Now that it paid off, though?" I pressed my lips into a thin line. "I would lie if I were to say I had stuff planned. I could excuse myself by claiming I wanted to retain the flexibility of thoughts and ability to grasp at any opportunity that would come my way, but..."

I shook my head again, only to then lock my eyes on Selia’s face.

"But you would instantly know it would be just a sorry excuse, an attempt to run from the shameful fact that right now, I don’t really know what to do with my life in this world next," I revealed.

Yet, even though I’ve just exposed quite the vulnerable side of me, I didn’t look away.

Nor did I look as meek as someone in my position would normally do.

"Which brings us to this next question," I mentioned before coming to a full stop and then waiting for Selia to do the same.

Saintess continued to walk for a little longer, pretending not to notice the sudden change in my mood.

This act couldn’t last for long, though. And before I knew it, she already turned back and now stood right before me, her eyes lowered and her frame unexpectedly... vulnerable?

"What is it?" Selia asked, her voice just as meek as mine should be, her fingers nervously twitching and playing with themselves.

"What did you do?" I asked plainly, seeing absolutely no point in jumping all around the issue without approaching it directly. "What did you do for me to be able to tell your feelings with such ease?"