Tarry Port.
The great artery of the Sea Land Duchy, a commercial metropolis built with Golden Suns and an iron fist upon the ruins of a pirate den.
Three scents perpetually hung in the air here: the salty stench of sea fish, the sweet cloyingness of rum, and the stink of money from Copper Leaves, Silver Moons, and Golden Suns.
Cohen leaped from his carriage. Without pausing to straighten his wrinkled coat, he clutched the report in his arms and plunged headfirst into the white behemoth that dominated the center of the port district—the Golden Sail Commerce Association headquarters.
It was a five-story structure carved entirely from Sea Cliff Rock. At its peak, a flag woven with Golden Thread snapped in the sea breeze, proclaiming the authority of its owner.
Cohen passed through the bustling main doors.
As soon as he entered the grand hall, the idle chatter of two clerks resting by the door drifted into his ears.
Cohen's mercantile instincts made him prick up his ears subconsciously.
"Did you hear? The liquidation report for Baron Hongye's assets is going to be on the Vice President's desk today," a young clerk said to his companion in a hushed voice.
"Tsk. That noble was just bragging about his new wine at a banquet last month, and now he's just more fuel for this massive machine." His companion sighed, then his tone shifted, taking on a hint of awe. "The Vice President is… truly ruthless. But it's no wonder. She has to be."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. She's the only daughter of the most powerful man in the province, the Silver Lion Count, yet she herself is a 'bloodless one.'"
"I heard the Count has been pressuring her again recently, wanting her to hurry up and marry a noble to produce an heir. But her? She's hell-bent on using the Golden Sail Commerce Association to prove she can be stronger than anyone, even without a bloodline."
"Oh… No wonder she ruined Baron Hongye so thoroughly. He was just an incompetent noble, wasn't he!"
The two of them snickered as if mocking a few nobles could make their own lives seem a little better.
He didn't listen any longer, striding quickly up the stairs and heading straight for the fifth floor.
Unlike the clamor downstairs, the fifth floor was so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat.
Cohen walked down the long corridor and gently knocked on the door at the very end.
After receiving permission, Cohen entered the room, stopped before the massive Obsidian desk, and knelt on one knee to pay his respects to the woman there.
Behind her was a floor-to-ceiling window that took up the entire wall, offering a complete view of Tarry Port and the distant, azure sea. Sunlight filtered through her long, silver-white hair, making the pair of sapphire earrings on her earlobes sparkle and refract a deep, profound light.
The "Silver-Haired Witch," Caroline Channing.
The treasured daughter of Count Channing, the Vice President of the Golden Sail Commerce Association, and the true helmsman of this vast commercial machine.
She wore a tea dress, its fine tailoring outlining her slender waist. The A-line skirt was daringly split at the front, all the way up to the top of her thigh.
Beneath the desk, her legs were crossed one in front of the other, revealing a long, snow-white thigh without any concealment. The muscles were taut, gleaming with an alluring luster in the light.
At that moment, she was staring at a financial report, flipping through it quickly.
"Cohen," Caroline said without looking up. "I recall your project's return cycle is six months. Give me one good reason why you're here five months early."
Cohen scrambled to his feet. "Honorable Vice President, events have taken an unimaginable turn."
In the most concise language possible, he described what he had seen and heard in Newly Town: from the black city walls that had sprung up from the ground, to the seamlessly formed vine structures, and finally, to the immense power Velin displayed by effortlessly producing materials from three Level 3 Magical Beasts.
Caroline's fingers, which had been nonchalantly twirling a quill, stopped.
She finally looked up, her emerald-green eyes locking onto Cohen, all traces of languor gone.
"Stone Skin Soft Vine?" she repeated. "A plant that can build the prototype of a town in just over ten days. Interesting."
"Yes, Vice President! Its value is immeasurable!" Cohen's voice was filled with excitement. "I… I took the liberty of asking that Knight, Velin, about the possibility of a technology transfer. He made an offer."
"Oh?" Caroline's interest was piqued. A smile touched the corners of her lips. "How much does he want?"
Cohen swallowed hard and held up three fingers.
"Three thousand Golden Suns for a one-meter-long sample of the vine."
A brief silence fell over the room.
The smile on Caroline's face slowly faded, replaced by a scrutinizing gaze.
"Three thousand Golden Suns?" she repeated softly. "Is he trying to gild his own name with that Pioneer Knight title? Or does he think the Klein name itself is worth that much?"
Cohen's back was instantly drenched in a cold sweat. He could hear the displeasure in Caroline's voice.
He hurriedly explained, "Vice President, you don't understand. That Lord Velin is no ordinary Pioneer Knight!"
"He activated his bloodline talent, 'Spring Messenger,' at a young age, allowing him to make plants grow at incredible speeds. The power behind him is unfathomable! For him to produce three Level 3 Magical Beasts so easily, I suspect he has the clandestine support of Count Laine of Flower Province! This is very likely a secret gambit by the Klein Clan!"
When Cohen uttered the words "bloodline talent," the diamond-encrusted quill in Caroline's hand paused on the parchment, etching a faint scratch.
"Bloodline?"
She repeated the word, her voice devoid of any emotion, yet it made Cohen's throat tighten.
"Cohen, your judgment has slipped. Since when did you start believing in this sort of thing that sounds nice but can't be broken apart and used like Golden Suns?"
Caroline stood up, stepping barefoot onto the soft carpet. The hem of her skirt billowed back with the movement, revealing a wide expanse of snow-white skin.
She walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window and clasped her hands behind her back, looking down at the port bustling below like an ant colony. Countless fortunes converged here, only to flow out to all corners of the world at her command.
"You've made two fatal errors in your judgment of this matter." Her voice, reflecting off the glass, sounded even colder.
"First, you were deceived by appearances. That's no 'miracle'; it's just a bloodline ability or an ancient relic that we haven't analyzed yet. Anything that can be analyzed can be replicated, and therefore, it can be priced. We decide its value, not some Pioneer Knight in a remote swamp."
"Second, and most foolishly, you treated him as an equal trading partner. Would a noble who truly has the backing of his clan need to do this kind of 'small-time business' with the Golden Sail Commerce Association?"
She walked back to her desk and picked up the report on Velin without even looking at it.
"He is nothing but a rootless duckweed, dreaming of making waves on the great sea."
Cohen didn't dare to breathe.
"The sea does not bargain with duckweed."
Caroline casually tossed the report into the fireplace, where orange-red flames immediately devoured the paper.
She picked up another document, not even bothering to look up.
"Go. Get me a detailed report on all of Count Laine's recent fund allocations and personnel movements."
"I want to know if this so-called 'Stone Skin Soft Vine' is the Klein Clan's trump card, or… if some lucky bastard just struck gold."
She paused, a smirk once again gracing her lips.
"As for that Pioneer Knight, let him wait."
"He will soon understand that the value of a rare commodity doesn't depend on how miraculous it is, but on who gets to set the price."