Since we arrived in the Dark Continent I have been feeling very good in the short time I've been out of the Dungeon, I thought that a place with miasma spread throughout the environment would be more aggressive for me as a Human.
But to my surprise it was very comfortable, I felt the same thing even stronger when we entered the land full of undead, that place felt as pleasant to me as being on the beach, and it made me start to wonder what was wrong with me.
When I went to talk to the doctor, Dr. Alan was a Demon that we saved during the battle in Makari, he was a very kind man, he spent his day helping the townspeople with their health problems or just walking around in a carefree way.
He still had many tools that he brought with him when he was rescued, unlike what others might think, he didn't mind being forced to become a Demon, in fact, it brought sharper senses to him that he used during his medical appointments.
After going through some checks of his gadgets and spells, he said there's nothing wrong with me, he said he probably knew the reason I was so used to places Humans should avoid.
He said few magic books explain this but contract with some Familiars who become very attached to their master, at a very deep level they can change the master or the Familiar, maybe even both.
This explanation made sense, Yomi was a Cursed Crow, he lived in environments full of miasma, besides that his race is always in places where cursed energy is concentrated, like that land of the undead.
I understood why, so I was relieved not to be sick again, plus this was good news for me as the doctor said that it was much better suited to staying in miasma places like Demons and had greater resistance to curses.
I had a lot of jobs in every city we passed but I was also having fun, finding difficult materials or trading with merchants was a cunning contest that I always found fun.
When the master gave me permission to trade a large volume of things with Queen Melissa, the ruler of the greatest nation on this continent, I was very excited at the thought of the amount of things I would be able to trade.
When I arrived at the government building that was half finished, because of the monster's attack, I was taken directly to the room where Queens Melissa was, it seems that as her castle is very damaged and the reconstruction reforms haven't even started yet, she is using this place to work for now.
As soon as we enter the room where she is in a meeting with several officers on her duty, we have to wait for her to finish which takes about 10 minutes, once the officers have left she looks at us with a frown.
"Nice to meet you, her majesty." (I)
"My name is Nira, I am here in the service of Zenos." (I)
"You work for that..." (Queen Melissa)
"Your Majesty, I advise you to avoid expressing your thoughts so openly, some people may misinterpret her words." (Ivan)
"(Ivan and I don't mind her saying these things, that's because we understand that master Zenos doesn't care about these things.)" (I)
"(But Nix in my shadow is letting some of her bloodlust out, that sure is a warning to Queen Melissa.)" (I)
"..." (Queen Melissa)
"I imagine you're curious about our presence here today, right?" (I)
Queen Melissa spent a few seconds looking at my shadow, she should be worried but she doesn't need to, Nix might scare her a little but she would never do anything without asking permission first.
If I were her I would worry about Layla and Sakura who are much more direct in doing the things they think about.
"You seem like a smart person by that shrewd glint in your eyes and that trained smile on your face." (Queen Melissa)
"You are close to the truth, commerce is a big part of my job, the one next to me is Ivan, he will be working alongside me today." (I)
"What's the deal this time?" (Queen Melissa)
"I would like to negotiate with you some things that would be useful to you and to us." (I)
She keeps an eye on me and Ivan, she's analyzing us while she's trying to scare us away with his presence, which won't do any good.
We spent a few hours talking about the cost of copying various books and materials, as well as their prices.
She tried to sell only common items for a price I gladly accepted as she formed a contract based on that before handing the contract over to the God of Commerce to make sure it was fulfilled.
After that, we started the real part of the trading, rare items.
I started with books that the public normally doesn't have access to, after a long discussion, I showed her that we're not interested in Empire secrets, but we want the truly important books from the various areas of creation.
We also deal in various metals and other materials at fair prices.
The books could always be copied, so the negotiation was easier as they wouldn't lose anything, but the materials were different, they are also going through a lot of reconstruction in the Empire and will need materials, so I didn't get much, but I think that I can not complain.
We signed another contract knowing that the worst part of the negotiation would be after that, before continuing we went to a restaurant close by, it would be good to go out and refresh our heads.
In the middle of the afternoon, we resumed our negotiations, this time I had my eye on items from the treasure room and forbidden books.
"I already told you that the Cursed Night Blood Books are out of the question." (Queen Melissa)
"You've been saying the same thing about all the forbidden books." (I)
"There's a reason these books are banned!" (Queen Melissa)
"Yes, but there are not only these ways to use these spells, a scholar in the field of magic can use these spells as a reference to create others or alter those same spells." (I)
"The answer is still no!" (Queen Melissa)
"Then I don't think we will be able to enter into other agreements." (I)
"Fine by me..." (Queen Melissa)
"Just now I was thinking of placing the location of a base for Gregory Roux and his Kimera soldiers." (I)
"That's extortion!" (Queen Melissa)