"Master Diviner Fu, look, they're here."
At Jing Yuan's words, Fu Xuan shed her earlier anxious demeanor, her face turning solemn as she followed his gaze.
Two young women who looked completely harmless were slowly following behind a Foxian lady, making their way toward Jing Yuan.
The Foxian lady then said something to the two, bowed, and departed alone.
Once she was gone, the two girls' attention turned to Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan.
Clara walked up to Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan, offering a smile.
"Might I ask what business the great General Jing Yuan has with a first-class, law-abiding citizen of the cosmos like me?"
"Hahaha, nothing particularly special," Jing Yuan laughed heartily before continuing. "Miss Clara, as a celebrity known across the stars, a figure who draws all eyes wherever you go... your arrival at the Luofu, one of the Xianzhou ships, naturally calls for me, as the Luofu's Arbiter-General, to step forward and properly welcome you both!"
Jing Yuan wore a sincere, smiling expression, seeming genuinely pleased to welcome Clara and Firefly.
"Oh? If this is a welcome, then surely the Arbiter-General, representing the very face of the Xianzhou Luofu, wouldn't offer only empty words?"
Clara crossed her arms, seemingly hinting at something.
A seasoned fox like Jing Yuan naturally picked up on her implication. Unhurriedly, he produced a small card, as if he had come prepared for this very moment.
Handing the card to Clara, Jing Yuan said, "If we're talking about what's unique to the Xianzhou Alliance, it would have to be our own special currency: the Strale. It's been quite some time since Strale went digital. Digital Strale has now become commonplace across all the Xianzhou ships. Since this is your first time here, you've likely been troubled by the fact that Credits aren't usable on the Luofu," he explained with a chuckle.
Although, on Jing Yuan's orders, the Divination Commission had helped Clara and Firefly obtain temporary identification and exchange some Credits for Strale at a bank, the amount they had converted was not much—only five hundred thousand.
(1 Strale = 100 Credits = 1 Chinese Yuan)
Thus, Jing Yuan chose the simplest, most direct method to solve the "welcoming gift" problem.
"After the digitalization of Strale became widespread, the Xianzhou banks, following the example of the Interastral Peace Corporation, began issuing bank cards. What I just gave you is one such card. It holds one hundred million Strale. Consider it a token of my appreciation, from me as the Arbiter-General, representing the Luofu," Jing Yuan said sincerely, placing a hand over his heart.
"H-how much?!" Clara's eyes widened instantly at his words.
"Well then... I won't stand on ceremony," Clara said upon hearing "one hundred million Strale." In a flash—snap—she had plucked the bank card from Jing Yuan's hand into her own.
If Clara wasn't mistaken, the exchange rate between Xianzhou Strale and the IPC's Credits was 1:100, right?...
Didn't that mean she just got ten billion Credits deposited?
Speaking of which, just how much money did she have now?
To be honest, Clara had lost track of her own wealth. Asta's money, the Xianzhou's money, and later she'd go squeeze some more out of the Corporation...
Clara felt her future was blindingly bright!
Noticing the little calculations flickering behind Clara's eyes, Firefly couldn't help but smile.
But that smile froze a second later.
If she remembered correctly... she still owed Clara fifty million, didn't she?
Just thinking about that debt made Firefly fret, unsure where she could possibly earn that much money...
Even though Clara had said she didn't need to pay it back, Firefly just couldn't feel right about it.
This makes it seem... seem like Clara is keeping me...
E-even if someone's getting kept... it should be me keeping Clara...
As these thoughts tumbled in her head, a faint blush spread across Firefly's cheeks, leaving the other three watching her, slightly bewildered.
Even Jing Yuan, with his formidable intellect, couldn't fathom why Firefly was blushing.
But it probably wasn't important.
Jing Yuan glanced at Firefly, filing the observation away mentally.
The Xianzhou Alliance had never paid much attention to the Stellaron Hunters, so Jing Yuan was unaware that Firefly was the pilot of SAM. He simply assumed she was a very close friend of Clara's.
"So, General Jing Yuan, was there anything else you wished to say?" Having accepted the bank card, Clara's overall attitude toward Jing Yuan had improved noticeably.
Not that Clara lacked money, but who would ever complain about having more?
So, anyone who directly stuffed money into Clara's pockets earned a boost in her favor~
After all, money was omnipotent~
"There is one more matter on which I'd appreciate Miss Clara's insight," Jing Yuan said leisurely, first casting a glance at Fu Xuan.
Fu Xuan: ...
She shot Jing Yuan a somewhat concerned look, but ultimately left the Seat of Divine Foresight.
"Go ahead~" Clara was in a good mood. Even though she likely knew what Jing Yuan was going to ask, she was willing to sit and listen.
"Regarding the Stellaron... I wonder if Miss Clara might have any clues?" Jing Yuan asked with a smile, his tone casual, as if it were just an ordinary inquiry.
The Stellaron itself wasn't a major concern for the Xianzhou, but its ability to catalyze the rebirth of the Ambrosial Arbor... now that was a serious problem.
"The Stellaron was brought to the Luofu by a man and a woman. Beyond that, I don't know anything. I only just arrived at the Xianzhou today, after all," Clara shrugged, giving an "honest" reply.
"Oh, I do know one more thing. The man had golden hair."
Luocha: Impressive.
...
2 Chapters Per Day. For more chapters/fics, goto ErbiumTL on Patreon.