"Ten thousand low-grade mana crystals and one million gold coins," The governor repeated, his voice cracking slightly as he realized the sheer magnitude of the demand.
"That's, That's an enormous sum of wealth." He said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his trembling hands.
"I don't have that kind of wealth," He stuttered, his overwhelming panic clear in his voice as he continued. "I can not generate that much wealth, even if I sold everything I own and borrowed from my friends," he said, and seeing Draven's cold, emotionless look, he swallowed hard as he spoke once more.
"Maybe I can raise the funds, but it will take time, weeks, maybe months, to raise that much," The governor spoke, his voice trembling convulsively.
"I could pay a third of mana crystals and two hundred thousand gold in just two days and work on gathering the rest," The governor quickly expressed with a forced smile, hoping to get a response, but all he received was a cold look.
"Governor, You have twenty-four hours to arrange the money, or this opportunity I am offering will disappear, and so will you," Draven said before he turned around and left the room.
The governor's face paled, as he swallowed hard, the gravity of the ultimatum slamming into him, his thoughts raced as he considered all the possibilities.
"Great Sir, SIR, PLEASE SIR," The Governor broke out of his thoughts and rushed toward the balcony, roaring at the top of his lungs. When he reached the balcony, all he found was the cold wind and pale moonlight.
The Governor turned motionless after looking around for a few seconds, clenching his fist until his nails began to dig into his palms and blood dripped on the floor.
He knew that if it was not the bandits trying to extort money from him or his trusted servant whom he had known for years, then he was pretty much F**ked, a dead man counting his days before the executioner came for his head.
The amount that was asked of him was tremendous but not something he could not pay, but the one thing that ate away at his sanity was that if his hunch was true, which it was very likely, then the unknown figure was his executioner, who was just trying to check how much wealth he had hidden.
He realized that it did not matter whether he took the deal or not, his fate was likely already sealed, but giving up the money could earn him a quicker death, maybe even spare his children.
"FU** MY DAMMM GREED, JENS YOU MISERABLE SON OF A WHO**, I WILL KILL YOU," The Governor roared at the top of his lungs, as he slammed his fist on the iron railing, destroying it and a part of the balcony to pieces.
While the governor cursed his luck and greed, Draven vanished into the dark of the night, reaching his hotel room mere minutes later before surrendering control of the body.
As there was nothing else to do but wait for the twenty-four hours to pass, Nero spent the night watching the night sky before going to sleep.
He woke up the next day, and since the meeting with the Governor was at night, he had all day to roam around and explore the city, and that's precisely what he decided to do.
While he did not share, Nero was shaken after the events of the night, not only because of the amount Draven demanded but also because he needed such money to kill a Void Ascendent Rank creature, a Sixth Rank entity who was only a step away from reaching the peak of the known power system.
He realized that his life had truly changed. A few days ago, he was just a village boy with big dreams he knew he might never achieve. But then one thing led to another, and now he was stuck with his older self, who had lived a grand life.
While he was mostly in the back seat, with Draven doing all the work and planning, barely giving him any information before he did the deed, he understood that he was going to be one to benefit from all his work.
As much as his new reality excited him, it also made him fearful of whether he would have his free will left in some time, whether or not he could do things he wanted, or if he would just turn into a puppet of Draven, doing his bidding or watching him do as he pleases.
It was a scary thought, but for the time being, he decided not to create any fuss, go with the flow, and see how things panned out, hoping for the best.
All his worries were understandable since Nero was just an eighteen-year-old boy who had spent a large part of his life running away from his past and saw everything with an eye of suspicion.
Nero spent the day roaming the city and even visited the adventurers guild once more, paying an F Rank adventurer three silvers to learn about the strong creature ruling the Elder woods surrounding the city.
He did ask Draven nicely but directed him to the adventurer guild, so he also did not hold back. He spent three hours and twelve silver in total to learn everything he could about the magical creatures ruling the surrounding land.
Nero was just curious about their target since Draven confirmed that their target was one of the forest rulers, and after learning everything about the creatures, he was equally anxious and eager to begin the hunt.
The sheer thought of hunting a Sixth Rank creature with their strength was insanity, but so was having an old monster sharing your body, so Nero was not really worried about their success but just curious how Draven would achieve it.
Especially with creatures like Pyroscythe, the Magma Serpent, Gravemaw Crocodile, The Mountain and Crysindora Arachna roaming the lands, two of which were even rumored to be chosen by powerful systems.
---------------
'Do you think he would have arranged the money,' Nero asked as he watched Draven make his way to the Governor's mansion.
'In my timeline, The governor was caught three weeks from today and executed publicly with his entire family being branded with the mark of slaves,'
'The punishment was not surprising as thieves are dealt with in such merciless ways throughout the empire, but the surprising thing was that the one to deliver his punishment in person was a High Arbiter of the Mortharos clan,' Draven said, and knowing Nero knew little of the hierarchy of the Empire, he explained further.
'The Mortharos clan is responsible for Law, Justice, and Internal Security of the Empire, and a High Arbiter is a position of power that no one below the Noble Rank of a Count could command,'
'So, while the Mardatis Ore Mine is rare, it's nothing more than a sand hill in the eyes of such a powerful individual. For a High Arbiter to be sent, either someone in power has a personal vendetta against the governor, or there's something else at play,' Draven said thoughtfully. Nero, intrigued by the notion, was quick to raise another question.
'If someone powerful is coming for the governor, how do you plan to make him a Baron?' Nero asked, forgetting his question about money.
'If he pays us great, and if he doesn't, it is still not an issue because in either case, we are going to take the Ore Mine from him and use it to get the things we need for my plans, and maybe something more of value.'
'As for making him Noble Baron, I will make him one, and what happens next is not my problem,' Dravenn added, already having everything planned to achieve his goals.
Nero quickly realized that Draven believed the mine held something special, which led someone in power to silence the governor and take control of it. This time, he wanted to acquire it for himself.
Draven reached the mansion's entrance in a few minutes, spotting the Governor standing at his door, accompanied by a cloaked figure.
As he left the shadow of a house, the Governor quickly saw him and moved to meet him halfway, greeting him with a smile.
"Great Sir, it is a pleasure to see you," The Governor said with a bright smile, trying to mask his anxiety and fear.
"So, do you have the funds," Draven asked as he extended his palm in silence, making his intentions unmistakably clear.
"I have secured the funds, but before we conclude our deal, can you please show me some proof of authority?" The governor said, making a reasonable request, but the response he got was not what he expected.
"You are a fake, impersonating the Governor, and I could give a rat ass about what that idiot thinks, but if I wanted the governor dead, he would be dead by now,"
"So, you either hand me the money, and we have a deal, or you don't, and I take my leave," Draven said, compelling the fake Governor to glance at the cloaked figure. After a moment of contemplation, the figure took out a silver ring and placed it in Draven's open palm.