"So, do you accept the reward, or would you like to change it?" Gaia asked with a smile that made it clear she already knew what they would choose. Her expression carried a hint of amusement, as though she had offered the question merely to give the assembled family heads the courtesy of making their decision themselves. After all, the reward she had presented was far too valuable for any sensible person to reject simply because it came with certain expenses. As expected, none of the trade family leaders showed any genuine interest in turning down the opportunity she had given them.
"I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we accept the reward," Fabian Bingen replied, speaking on behalf of the gathered patriarchs and matriarchs. He glanced around the room as he spoke, confirming that the others agreed with his assessment, and he was met with a series of nods rather than objections. "However, I would like to ask you to delay sending us back to our bodies, as I have a few matters to discuss with my friends regarding these rewards." The request was a practical one, since they needed time to consider what they had learned and decide how best to use the opportunity Gaia had given them. With so many important decisions ahead, it would have been foolish to leave without first consulting the other families.
"Of course, that is no problem at all," Gaia replied pleasantly. "I am happy to see that you are being so proactive." Having received their answer, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving the family heads to discuss the matter among themselves. Although she already knew what was happening inside and could follow their discussion if she wished, she understood that people often found it easier to speak freely when they believed they were alone. Her departure was therefore less about needing to give them privacy and more about allowing them to experience it without the constant awareness of her presence.
In fact, Gaia made sure that she disappeared from every form of sight, including the keen observation of the trained assassins and the members of the Sonnenberg family. Their ability to notice details that ordinary people would overlook was genuinely impressive, and she did not underestimate their skills merely because she was dealing with mortals. Nevertheless, this was her own private space, and within it, she could regulate her power and presence with a degree of precision that would have been impossible elsewhere. By adjusting her aura and suppressing every trace of her presence, she could ensure that nobody sensed her watching them, even if their instincts and training would ordinarily have made such concealment difficult.
Outside this private space, Gaia did not possess the same level of control. Her power naturally radiated outward, and no matter how carefully she behaved, some portion of her aura inevitably leaked into her surroundings. For ordinary mortals, standing in the presence of a being like her was not a simple matter of enduring an intimidating person or a powerful cultivator. Gaia was the personification of a planet, and her existence carried a weight that humans were simply not equipped to withstand comfortably. This was one of the reasons she rarely appeared directly before people unless there was a good reason to do so, since even her mere presence could become an ordeal for those who were not prepared to experience it.
Once Gaia had disappeared, Fabian turned his attention back to the others, his expression becoming serious as he considered the implications of their reward. "As you all know, this is not something we can simply keep to ourselves," he began, making sure that everyone understood the danger before they started discussing the benefits. "If we try to hold this knowledge exclusively for our own families, we will be eaten alive." The value of genuine mana veins was simply too great for the rest of the world to ignore, especially once governments and powerful organisations understood what they could provide. Even if the trade families possessed the knowledge necessary to create them, they would not automatically possess the strength to protect that knowledge against every interested party.
"It falls into the same category as the tome Karl sold to us three years ago," Fabian continued, drawing a comparison that the others immediately understood. Their previous experience had already demonstrated that valuable knowledge could become a source of both profit and unwanted attention, particularly when it offered advantages that other groups could not easily obtain. This time, however, the stakes were even higher, because mana veins would affect the long-term development of entire factions and nations rather than simply providing a useful collection of techniques. If they handled the situation properly, the families could earn considerable sums by selling the knowledge contained in the new tome, while also avoiding the mistake of making themselves the sole targets of everyone who wanted access to it.
"Selling the knowledge would be in everyone's best interests, provided that we approach it carefully," Fabian said, his voice firm as he explained his reasoning. "More importantly, we need to make sure that we can defend our mana veins, because once the world realises how important they are, thousands of organisations will want to take the easy route and obtain them for themselves." The problem was not simply that other groups might attempt to purchase the knowledge, since some would inevitably decide that stealing it was cheaper than negotiating with the families. Once mana veins became a major source of power and influence, the trade families would need to prepare for the possibility that their rivals might use money, political pressure, or even force to acquire what they possessed.
"I agree with you there, Fabian," Vernik Roth interrupted, cutting off the remainder of his speech before the Bingen patriarch could continue. His agreement was immediate, since he had reached much the same conclusion while listening to Fabian outline the situation. However, agreeing with the general strategy was one thing, while deciding when and how to put it into practice was another. "When are you planning to reveal the information? My family needs time to research what kind of mana vein would suit us best, and then we will have to acquire the mana stones needed to create it."
Vernik's expression remained stern as he considered the practical difficulties that stood between the families and their reward. They could not simply announce that they wanted a mana vein and expect one to appear the following morning, especially when the process required ten thousand mana stones and roughly a month for the vein to be created. Each family would first need to decide which type of mana best suited its members, long-term plans, and existing strengths. Only after making that decision could they begin collecting the resources needed to create a vein tailored to their requirements.
The other family heads showed their support for Vernik's concerns, with several of them nodding as he spoke. They were all interested in obtaining mana veins, but the opportunity also presented a logistical challenge that none of them could afford to overlook. Mana stones had only been available on the market for approximately two months, if their calculations were correct, meaning that the supply had not yet had much time to develop. Even if the families possessed enough money to purchase large quantities, they could not assume that the necessary stones would be available in the required numbers, especially if other organisations had already begun stockpiling them.
"That's a fair point," Fabian acknowledged, considering the question before turning towards Karl. "Karl, your family helped discover the mana stone mine, so how much have you managed to mine so far?" His question was a natural one, since the Sonnenbergs had been involved in the discovery from the beginning and should therefore have a better understanding of the mine's actual production. If the family had already extracted a substantial quantity, its experience might help the others estimate how long it would take to obtain enough mana stones for their own projects. At the same time, Karl's answer would reveal whether the current supply situation was as promising as they had hoped.
"That is a difficult question," Karl replied, pausing briefly as he considered how best to explain the situation. "We have known the location of the mine for about eight months now, but it took another six months before they managed to build a proper road to it." His expression darkened as he recalled the officials who had accompanied his family to the site. "The government officials who came with us thought we were a bunch of crazy country folk whom the military had hired to guide them because we knew the forest and lived in the surrounding area."
Karl's distaste for those officials was evident, and he made little effort to hide it as he continued. "Apparently, they assumed that knowing the forest meant we had no idea how to build a road or carry out any serious work." The implication still irritated him, particularly because the Sonnenbergs had never claimed to be experts in road construction in the first place. Their knowledge of the forest was what had made them useful during the discovery, and they had understood the surrounding environment far better than the bureaucrats who had arrived with their official authority and assumptions. Unfortunately, that expertise had not stopped the officials from treating the family as though they were incapable of understanding anything beyond the trees around them.
The other family heads could easily imagine the situation Karl described, and their expressions grew increasingly displeased as they considered it. They all knew that the Sonnenbergs had a complicated relationship with authority, but that did not mean the other families were particularly fond of government officials who used their positions to force their preferred solutions on everyone else. None of them had much interest in pursuing political power for its own sake, unlike many politicians who devoted their lives to acquiring influence and authority. However, preferring to stay out of politics did not mean they would tolerate someone abusing government power to disregard their expertise or impose unnecessary burdens on their businesses.
The families were particularly concerned because they understood how easily a project like the mine's road could become entangled in bureaucratic competition. A road was not merely a path connecting two locations; in this case, it was the lifeline that allowed workers and supplies to reach a valuable resource. Any unnecessary delay could reduce the number of mana stones extracted, raise operating costs, and interfere with the families' plans to establish their own mana veins. They also suspected that the officials involved might eventually learn just how valuable the mine was and begin competing to gain credit for its development. If that happened, the families could find themselves dealing with people who cared more about political recognition than the practical needs of the operation.
"The road took longer to build than we expected," Karl continued, bringing the discussion back to the immediate problem. "And we still have to see whether they will try to optimise the route we have already constructed." He had read the report Arin had placed on his desk, so he knew precisely how inefficient the existing road appeared when judged by conventional standards. It was approximately five times longer than a route built in a straight line, a detail that would undoubtedly attract criticism from anyone examining it without understanding why it had been designed that way. From the perspective of someone concerned only with distance and construction costs, the road might look like a wasteful solution that needed to be corrected as quickly as possible.
However, the longer route had been chosen for very specific reasons. Rather than cutting directly through the forest, it avoided disturbing the surrounding environment and reduced the risk of wildlife attacking the workers who travelled along it. The Black Forest was not an ordinary woodland where a construction crew could simply clear a path and expect the surroundings to remain unchanged. It was a dangerous environment, and a road that ignored its conditions could easily become unusable once the local wildlife began treating it as an intrusion into its territory. The Sonnenbergs had taken those dangers into account, designing the route to reduce the chances of the forest reclaiming the road or turning it into a constant source of trouble for the miners.
"Wait, sorry to interrupt you, Karl," Fabian said, his expression shifting as the implications finally became clear to him. "Are you telling me that mining could be delayed because some hotshot bureaucrat decides to use an 'optimised' route to earn merit?" There was a note of despair in his voice, because the possibility was so absurd that he almost struggled to believe it. They were discussing a project involving scarce resources that could shape the future of their families, yet the entire operation might be disrupted because someone wanted to claim credit for reducing the length of a road. Fabian could already imagine the reports celebrating the supposedly improved route, written by people who had never bothered to understand the dangers that had shaped the original design.
"Yes, is that not obvious?" Karl replied with a shrug, apparently seeing little reason to be surprised. "Look at the route we built. Do you really think someone who has no idea why it was designed that way will respect it?" He shook his head before continuing, his tone carrying the weary certainty of someone who had seen this sort of mistake coming from the beginning. "No, they will bulldoze their own path through the forest because it looks more efficient on a map." The problem, as Karl saw it, was that the officials would judge their decision by the numbers they could present to their superiors rather than by the conditions the miners would face once the construction work was finished.
"They might manage to use that route for a week or two," Karl explained, treating the outcome as though it were already inevitable. "They will lose a few carts along the way, but they will probably consider that an acceptable expense if the road looks shorter and cheaper on paper." His expression remained remarkably calm as he described the consequences, since the possibility of losing equipment was hardly the greatest danger involved. "Then a wolf pack will come through and realise that the miners travelling along that road are easy prey." For Karl, that was the real difference between the two routes: one had been designed by people who understood the forest, while the other would be designed by people who believed that a shorter line on a map automatically meant a better road.
Karl did not appear particularly troubled by the possibility that a bureaucrat might suffer the consequences of such a decision. If someone deliberately ignored the Sonnenbergs' advice and disregarded the dangers of the Black Forest, then the responsibility for what followed would rest with the person who had chosen to take that risk. The family had already done its part by helping locate the mine and establish a route that respected the forest's conditions. Unless the government punished the responsible official severely enough to prevent others from repeating the same mistake, Karl saw little reason to believe that the lesson would be learned. Given what he knew about bureaucratic incentives, he was not especially optimistic that such a punishment would ever happen. So they would make sure it got handed out, since it was their forest now, after all.