"Arendelle is a trade kingdom where merchant ships come and go almost all year round. It could also serve as a platform for you to grow yourself by doing trades with others…."
King Triton calmly listened to the several beneficial things Lioro mentioned. They did pique his interest, but none were that important for him and his kingdom. Unlike humans, their race didn't take much fancy to gold or money. The only gold they had was from human ships which had drowned in the sea due to various terrible storms.
And as they didn't care about the monetary resources created by humans, those gold coins had been silently rotting away inside their treasury for countless years.
There were, however, two things King Triton was very interested in.
The first one was, of course, establishing a safe connection with the human race. They had been living in hiding for so long that he felt it was time to let the world acknowledge their existence.
And the second one was mainly due to Lioro.
This wizard… he was incredibly powerful.
Triton touched his big wavy beard before asking in a careful tone.
"Hm, Master Wizard, if let's say we get into an alliance, then what will happen if any of our kingdoms were to face a threat from a foreign entity…?"
Lioro smiled at the question and replied matter-of-factly.
"If we get into an alliance, then your enemies will be our enemies, King Triton, and the vice versa is also true."
"I will personally destroy anything that brings harm to the prosperity of our two kingdoms."
A smile appeared on King Triton's face after he heard Lioro's declaration. Since the powerful wizard had spoken, he felt assured.
"Then… I agree to your alliance proposal on behalf of my kingdom."
"That's great. You can come with me to Arendelle and we can discuss it in greater detail with our king and queen after I have talked with them…"
"Daddy, is it decided? We're going to be friends with humans?!" Ariel asked in an excited tone, jumping up from her seat.
This was like a dream come true for her, considering how much she liked humans.
Alana was more calm. Still, she couldn't help but smile while thinking of the bright future.
With the work part done, Alana and Ariel grabbed his hands and took him around for sightseeing in the underwater kingdom.
"Look, that's a human…"
"I can't believe it, a human underwater…"
"He's with the princess…"
The mermaids around him stared with surprise and curiosity, wondering how a human managed to come so deep underwater and appear to be perfectly fine.
Lioro also curiously looked at the unique architecture of the palace. Since mermaids could swim, everything was made in a more open manner, with hardly any doors to speak of.
After going around for half a day, Lioro bade the reluctant sisters farewell and teleported away.
"Sigh… he's gone…"
"But we can meet again! Especially after we form a deal with the human kingdom!"
"That's true!"
----
On the backside of the Arendelle kingdom.
The space trembled before Lioro appeared in place.
As soon as he set foot on the rocky soil, his gaze landed on the fellow sitting quietly by the fireplace.
Walking up to him in silence, Lioro sat on a rock opposite him and asked in a casual tone.
"So how much did you take?"
"Hm? What are you talking about, best friend?" Cid asked with an innocent look on his face, as if he didn't know anything.
"Don't play with me, you bastard. I want half of whatever you've taken! You understand??" Lioro stood up and pressed his finger against Cid's forehead.
"Okay, okay, back off, I get it. Here's your share…"
Cid's slime suit moved as a small mountain of gold appeared before them.
Holy shit!
Lioro cried out in his mind before hurriedly waving his hand and putting it away in his inventory.
Cid looked at the scene with longing eyes. He also wanted a personal storage.
But before he could even say anything, Lioro went forward, grabbed his collar, and said in an almost shouting voice.
"You… you didn't empty their whole treasury, did you??!?"
"No, of course not!" Cid replied with a righteous look on his face.
Seeing his serious expression, Lioro relaxed a bit.
Yes, although he is a piece of shit, he wouldn't go that far—
"I only took 70%!"
"..."
"Hey, no one was looking after that place, okay? I bet they don't even care about the gold. It was just lying around in a big open room. Plus, I left them 30%—"
"You didn't take the rest because you ran out of space in your slime suit, didn't you?"
"…..Yes."
Lioro let go of his collar and scratched his chin before asking.
"You find anything interesting there? Or just gold?"
"Nope! I only found gold!" Cid said with a straight face.
"Oh? Really?… Hm, by the way, best friend, I made this ring for you…"
Lioro took out an ordinary-looking ring from his inventory.
Cid's eyes were instantly attracted to it.
Could it be? His best friend had listened to his wishes and finally made a powerful ring just for him???
Fake tears started flowing out of Cid's eyes as he instantly snatched the ring from Lioro's hands before he could even say anything.
"Thank you! You're really my friend!"
Lioro looked on with calm eyes as Cid put the ring on his finger.
"Hm? It doesn't seem that powerful…" Cid muttered as he tried to use its function.
Just as he was sensing its magic, Lioro's voice reached his ears.
"So, Cid… you really didn't find anything else except gold?"
"Hm? Didn't I tell you already? Gold is the only thing I found there—"
The ring turned red.
"….."
Lioro and Cid fell silent.
Just like that, a few seconds passed.
Finally, Cid calmly took off the ring from his finger and gave it back to Lioro before turning around and walking away.
But before he could take even a single step, a hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Hm? Oh! I was going for an evening walk!"
"...You lying piece of shit, have some shame."
"Sorry..."