Leon

"It's pretty obvious that you don't want to do this," Aidan says to me as we walk to my manor on the newly constructed road.

"I know, but I still have to..." I start before hearing rushed footsteps behind us, causing me to turn around to find Kat quickly catching up with a curious look on her face.

"Have to what?" She asks, obviously having overheard our conversation.

I sigh before telling her, "I am having another meeting with Lady Fox."

Kat grimaces at the name.

She really doesn't like her.

Although that's understandable.

"What did you talk to her about last time anyways?" Kat asks me as we continue walking down the road.

I briefly glance at her before facing forwards again and saying, "She wanted to make a personal deal with me for some reason."

Kat stops walking and turns to me with obvious surprise on her face.

"She what?" She asks in confusion.

I stop and turn to her, "She wanted to make a deal just between me and her."

My answer only serves to confuse her even further as she asks, "Why?"

"Don't ask me," I say with a shrug before continuing down the road after Aidan.

I have no idea why she wanted to make a deal with me.

That woman makes absolutely no sense to me.

The only thing I can tell about her is that she is obsessively protective of her family and loves messing with people.

Kind of like a fox now that I think about it.

That wasn't much of a deal though.

It was more like a favor or an offer than a deal.

About three weeks ago in Leon's office

I stiffly watch the woman in front of me as she sits down in the chair with a smile on her face.

Why is she here anyways?

She reaches over the desk and offers me her hand.

I glance at her hand before looking at her face again.

What is she doing?

She raises an eyebrow and says, "You're supposed to kiss my hand."

"Oh," I say before awkwardly grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it.

I was only ever taught Elven manners and traditions in court, so Human politics are alien to me.

Elves would never do anything like that.

A few seconds of silence pass before her smile widens and she says, "You looked so adorable when you did that."

I gape at her in silent surprise.

What the hell?

Did she just call me adorable?

I clear my throat and try to ignore what I am assuming is an attempt to throw me off guard.

"What is this trade agreement that you were wanting to make?" I ask Lady Fox, getting straight down to business.

Lady Fox pouts and says, "Aww, business already?"

I simply stare at her without saying anything.

She sighs as her smile is replaced with...

Is that disappointment?

Why would she be disappointed?

She suddenly turns serious and says, "Alright then, I would like to make a deal with you."

I get right to the point and ask, "You mentioned that before, but what could you possibly need from Wolfdenn?"

No point beating around the bush anymore.

She looks me directly in the eyes and says, "I never said that I wanted to make a deal with Wolfdenn. Only that I wanted to make a deal with you."

With... me?

Why would she want to make a deal with me?

She smiles again, obviously noticing my surprise.

"So, how about it Leon? Would you like to make a deal with me?" Lady Fox politely asks me.

"That would depend on what you want," I counter her question with one of my own.

What could she possibly want from a Tier 1?

Her smile grows even larger after hearing my counter.

"I would like to sell you cultivation materials at a fifty percent discount," she says, giving me the biggest surprise of the day.

My head jerks back a little bit in surprise.

"A fifty percent discount?!" I momentarily forget who she is and shout.

Why on Midgard would she offer that?!

Wait, I shouldn't lose my head in front of a Tier 5 cultivator.

I take a deep breath and ask, "Why?"

She simply raises an eyebrow and says, "Let's just call it a whim."

A whim?

She wants to help me on a whim?

This terrifying woman?

As if I would believe that.

I slowly shake my head before saying, "I'm sorry, but I can't accept your offer."

Lady Fox doesn't look surprised at all and instead seems a little saddened by my answer as she lowers her head a little bit.

What's with that reaction?

I really don't understand this woman at all.

"Leon," I suddenly hear Aidan shout my name, breaking me from my thoughts.

I turn to him and ask, "What?"

"Finally! That was the third time I called your name!" Aidan complains before looking down at his clipboard.

"We have gotten another wave of reports about thefts from the adventurers camped around the dungeon entrance," he says before looking up and asking, "what should we do about it?"

"Seriously? Another round of thefts?" I ask him.

I look down at the ground as I consider it.

For some reason, several random items including potions, weapons, and even several types of poisons have been vanishing from people's tents around the dungeon entrance.

I have tried to hire several people to investigate it, but nothing ever comes up.

The stolen items are different each time and don't seem to have much of anything in common; meanwhile the thefts themselves come in waves with no constant amount of time in-between them.

"Maybe we could have your Orc subordinates handle it?" Aidan suggests.

The Orcs?

As per our agreement, several dozen Orcs arrived yesterday to work under me.

They might be able to help with their enhanced senses of smell.

"We could try taking a few Orcs away from the walls to patrol the tents," I answer Aidan.

I have had most of them working on the walls ever since they arrived but taking a few of them away probably won't hurt the construction progress very much.

After all, it's thanks to the Orcs that we are ahead of schedule in the construction.

I glance up at the partially built walls behind my manor.

"Hey Leon!" I hear a familiar shout from behind us.

I turn from my manor to find Rose and Kat climbing the hill towards us.

Rose suddenly waves at us like a madwoman and shouts, "We should go into the dungeon again!"

Huh?