"The way they categorized our 'request,'" Seraphina said, using air quotes on the word, "was that it counted as an exploration request."
Bastion immediately understood what Seraphina was trying to say. Explorers were a subset of Adventurers who primarily ventured into unknown lands to uncover dungeons, ruins, rare resources, unique species of creatures, or anything of significant monetary value before reporting their findings to the appropriate higher authority, whether an empire or any of the guilds, for formal investigation. Any resources discovered as a result of an explorer's tip would entitle them to a 10% payout of all treasures and benefits found in the area as a finder's fee.
Basically, of the 10,000 magic crystals evaluated value of the Rank 4 tortoise corpse's remains, they would only receive 10% as their finder's fee instead of their original plan to claim ownership and sell it under a retrieval contract, which would have netted them at least 80% of its value on average.
"So… 1,000 magic crystals?" Bastion asked. "That's still pretty good."
"Unfortunately," Aurelia cut in. "As the current duke of the Diamondhart Dukedom, you are required to pay 80% of it as taxes to the kingdom before it's forwarded to the Central Empire. Of course, we, the crown, would also receive 20% of that as our cut before sending the rest to the Central Empire as reparations for your debt."
"So… 200 magic crystals plus a reduction of 640 magic crystals from the Diamondhart debt?" Bastion asked.
"Correct."
That brought Bastion's total personal funds to 310 magic crystals, with 100 for his role in defeating the Demon Lord, 10 as a reward for consistently quadrupling his income over a decade, and 200 from the tortoise corpse.
As for expenses, everything had been covered by the dukedom's income rather than his own pocket, leaving them with a substantial sum for a party of Rank 1s. Even if they advanced to Rank 2, they would still have a significant amount of savings. By the time they reached Rank 3, however, that sum would barely qualify them as well off, though they were still centuries away from achieving that level of power.
"That's still pretty good. I was honestly expecting far less," Bastion said, before suddenly realizing why he wasn't particularly bothered by the amount. "Why was the evaluation 10,000 magic crystals in the first place? I assumed the remains wouldn't be worth more than 1,000 magic crystals, given that all that was left were its bones and shell."
"Apparently, we didn't dig deep enough to uncover the additional chambers below, where its blood and other fluids had seeped for centuries. They found multiple chambers filled with Rank 1 to Rank 3 materials that, in total, brought the valuation up to 10,000 magic crystals. They even discovered entire ecosystems that had developed as a result, providing the retrieval team with plenty of rare flora and fauna that are uncommon on the current market."
"Ah… is that the actual bad news?" Bastion asked.
"Yes, we basically missed out on a significant amount of materials," Seraphina said with a heavy sigh.
Bastion had to admit that stung. Their inexperience had led to missing out on 9,000 magic crystals' worth of resources. It seemed they would just have to swallow this lesson and use it as a learning experience for when they encountered another Rank 4 corpse in the future. Apparently, they were worth far more than simply their materials.
"Lesson learned," Bastion said with a sigh. "We'd better step up our studies so we can take advantage of things like this in the future to avoid missing out."
"Yeah," Seraphina agreed with a passion that burned in her veins, heating up the surroundings.
Checking for secret areas was Gaming 101. She should have known better than to stop at what was visible on the surface. The obvious rewards had distracted her, and instead of probing deeper, checking for hidden chambers, or testing the terrain for concealed paths, she had called it done. Now it felt like realizing she had cleared a dungeon while missing the secret room tucked behind a breakable wall, the kind that held the real treasure.
"At least you still managed to get 200 magic crystals," Aurelia said, trying to console them.
"Yeah," Seraphina replied with a sigh.
"More importantly," Aurelia said with a mischievous smile, "when are you going to start trying for children? You have so much money now that you could easily send a hundred children out into the world and still ensure they had amazing futures."
Seraphina sighed again, having been asked this question what felt like a hundred times since she began staying in the castle with Aurelia two weeks ago. The former commoner had an insatiable curiosity for every bit of gossip, and Seraphina was amazed by how deeply she pried into everyone's personal affairs. Fortunately, she could now deflect the question to her husband, who had finally returned to pick her up.
"Yeah, when are we going to start trying for children?" Seraphina asked Bastion with a smile that said save me.
To her absolute surprise, Bastion wore an uncomfortable expression and looked away, his face filled with guilt and pain.
"Bastion?" Seraphina asked with clear concern.
They had never once discussed the topic of children over the past decade. Time slipped by when their routine focused entirely on their arts, skills, levels, builds, and production jobs. As a result, they only ever talked about their progress or how to relax whenever they were together. Not once had the topic of children come up, before, during, or even after sex. Using the contraception spell had simply become a normal part of their routine at this point.
Hence, she was completely blindsided when Bastion wore an uncharacteristically pained expression, even though all she had wanted was to deflect the topic onto him.
"I… I don't know if I'm ready to have children," Bastion finally admitted with difficulty.
"Oh… that's okay," Aurelia said, sensing the awkwardness. "Toby and I haven't started either. I mean… we have plenty of sex, but we're still using the contraception spell. It's not like we're planning on leaving the kingdom anytime soon, since my talks with the Goddess have set me up to stay as queen for a very long time. Not that I'm complaining or anything…"
Aurelia continued to ramble in an effort to change the subject while Seraphina's mind raced.
Was Bastion still in love with his ex? Was there something wrong with her? Were they planning to stay in the kingdom longer than it would take her to reach the Scribe Class? Maybe it was because their children together would turn out like the Secret Boss, the original Seraphina Phoenixhart. Had she ever told him about that? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that this was starting to feel like her fault.
Questions came and went, swirling through her mind while Bastion held a private conversation with Elyra, who had been aware of this issue for some time.
'Just tell her the truth, Master,' Elyra said through telepathy. 'I'm sure she'll understand.'
'I know, Ely. It's just that… I remember Seraphina being so excited to have my children, and I don't want to break her heart when I refuse.'
'Just let her know and let her decide for herself,' Elyra replied. 'It's not as big of an issue as you're imagining.'
'Are you sure? She looks pretty distraught to me.'
'That's because she doesn't understand why. She'll keep worrying as long as you keep your reasoning to yourself.'
'Alright. Thanks, Ely.'
'It's my pleasure, Master.'
Bastion took a moment to steady himself as he studied Seraphina's expression. She was worried, her eyes darting around, avoiding his gaze.
Elyra had been right. She was distraught from not knowing his sudden reason.
Summoning all his courage and bracing his heart, he finally blurted out.
"I'm not ready for children," Bastion said, cutting off Aurelia's rambling. "I'm terrified of leaving them behind, like I did before. I remember finally feeling free when I filed for divorce, happy for the first time in years. And then… I died, and I never saw them again."
He lowered his head, his eyes falling to the floor, each word spoken with pain in a lowered tone.
"The year after, I drowned in guilt and sorrow before I accepted that I'd never see them again. The thought of having children now… and losing them while we chase our adventures… it breaks me all over again, just like it did when I was ripped from that world."
Bastion looked up, meeting Seraphina's beautiful golden eyes as he poured his heart out.
"I'm sorry, Seraphina. I don't think I'm ready to have children with you yet, at least not under these circumstances. Not when I know for certain we would eventually part with them, most likely never to see them again," Bastion finished, noticing Seraphina's relief as it slowly shifted into a comforting smile.
"Here I thought you didn't want to have children with me because we'd end up with an absolute bitch of a daughter," she said with a smile. "I don't really care if we have children, Bastion. I admit I was ready to take on the responsibility, but that doesn't mean I'm a slave to my biology. I'll wait for your child, even if it takes forever. I can promise you that much."
Bastion smiled, genuinely touched by Seraphina's words, while quietly tucking away his fear that their child might turn out evil in a hidden corner of his mind, saving it for careful consideration later.
"Thank you, Sera," Bastion said lovingly as he approached her, leaned down, and pressed a deep, intimate kiss to her lips.
Aurelia, sitting opposite them, watched with giddy joy at her best friend's successful love life before a question popped into her mind as a result of their decision.
She waited until they pulled away before asking, "If you're not planning on officially having children to inherit your title, are you planning to stay in this kingdom until you pay off the debt?"
Bastion turned to Aurelia with a mischievous smile and said, "I've already made preparations for that. We'll be able to leave the kingdom in good hands when the time comes."
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