As the group entered Michael's quarters, they all took a moment to look around the room. It was dimly lit, with a few candles flickering on the walls. There were bookshelves lining the walls, filled with books dedicated to the study of alchemy.
Lina looked around, clearly underwhelmed at the state of the servants quarters. The only redeeming factor could be said to be the droves of books. "Whose books are these?" she inquired.
Elena raised her hand slightly, "They're my personal collection" she said with an embarrassed smile.
Lina nodded in appreciation. She had always been interested in the alchemy profession, however was always driven by her parents to study martial arts and cultivation.
Michael stood at the center of the room, looking at the group with a warm smile. "Welcome," he said, "I'm Jason's brother, Michael and this is Elena. We're both alchemy servants at the moment."
Jason stepped forward and gestured to his side, "Michael, these are my friends Lina, and Shen."
Michael turned to the others and greeted them with a short bow. "It's nice to meet all of you. I hope you can continue to take care of my brother in the future."
Shen smirked and bowed slightly. "I'm Shen," he said. "I'm just here for the ride. Don't worry about Jason, he can take care of himself" his face breaking out into a smile.
Elena blushed at the sight of his easy-going and natural smile. She found Shen's temperament and natural disposition to be attractive.
Lina saw the blush creep onto Elena's face and did her best not to roll her eyes. After spending a lot of time with Shen, she knew he was popular with the ladies. Not to say that he pursued anyone, just that he received a lot of attention.
Reading the room Michael coughed lightly, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "Before I continue, Jason do you trust these fellows?" he said, silently gauging his brothers face. If he showed an ounce of hesitation, he would ask them to leave.
"They're as trustworthy as any." Jason said confidently. Having spent a month living together, Jason believed he had built enough of a relationship with them that there was some mutual trust.
Shen and Lina looked at each other, questioningly. Lina had followed Jason purely to see the alchemy division and satisfy her curiosity, whereas Shen tagged along because he had nothing better to do. After hearing Michael's words they began to think this wasn't just a routine visit.
Michael nodded succinctly, "Good, what I'm about to say can't be distributed to others." He said gravely.
Jason's face turned a bit more serious. He hadn't seen his brother serious like this since the night he was saved from Rigante Village. "Don't worry brother, you can trust us." He said reassuringly.
His eyes roaming over Shen and Lina's faces deftly, he spoke "I will trust you both, however should you betray us…" his eyes turned serious as he left the looming threat in the air.
Shen and Lina felt it was ridiculous, the servant in front of them harboured no cultivation, nor was he physically imposing. However at his words, they felt a kind of mental pressure threatening to crush them if they did not comply.
Puzzled, they looked at each other once more in confusion before turning to Michael. "I assure you that we are trustworthy Michael." Shen said with a small smile.
"You have my word." Lina said seriously.
Getting his reassurance, Michael's earlier heavy atmosphere seemed to disappear. He smiled from ear to ear and said "Good good, we're all friends here. Then let's cut to the chase."
"Jason I need you to sell some things for me and buy a pill furnace and Earth-fire stone with the proceeds. I'll also need a Golden Lotus." He said plainly.
"What?" Lina blinked a few times, almost not believing her ears. As she knew a bit about alchemy, she knew that Pill furnaces were at least 3000 low-tier spirit stones, and the Earth-fire stone was worth 1000. Not to mention the Golden Lotus which was almost the same price.
Shen saw Lina's expression and could guess that these items must be expensive. 'What could he possibly sell that could afford all these expensive things?' he thought.
"Sorry, Michael did I hear you correctly?" Lina piped up. "Did you say you wanted to purchase a pill furnace and Earth-fire stone?" she questioned.
Michael showed a look of annoyance, "Are you hard of hearing? Yes, that's what I said." It seemed like every time he opened his mouth he would have to repeat his words. First with Elena and now with Lina, 'Do all women have trouble hearing?' he thought to himself.
Archie did his best to hold back his laughter. Hearing his master brutally stereotype all women like that had touched his funny bone.
Lina froze momentarily, not expecting the verbal lashing from Michael. 'Most men will fawn over and try to win my affection, yet here you are being rude to me' she said in her heart, her face beginning to turn red from anger.
"Ahem, sorry Michael. What I meant to say was how could you possibly afford those items? Altogether they must be around 5000 low-tier spirit stones." She said after composing herself.
Shen perked his ears up, waiting to hear the expert plan that Michael had come up with to amass that many low-tier spirit stones.
'Is she dumb?' Michael asked Archie. He was sincerely beginning to think this beauty had something wrong with her brain.
'Haha, don't blame her master. Some people have trouble keeping up with our noble plans. A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood' he snickered.
"I just told you." He motioned with his hands and dumbed down his speech, hoping to explain it to her in a manner of which she could understand. "I give Jason items to sell. He sells them. Then buys pill furnace and Earth-fire stone. Simple."
Archie was now howling in laughter, fighting back the tears escaping from his eyes.
"Pfft." Shen quickly covered his mouth before a laugh escaped.