The screen on the viewing crystal is completely taken up by the image of Alan and Jim frothing on the ground.

“Hold up!” Kairos said to the guard. For some reason, the guard that looked at them with disdain could not help but obey.

He did not recognise who these boys are, and naturally assumed them to be some fortunate heir, born in the right family. But facing this particular boy, he felt something akin to how he faced the Grand Elders of his family. No, it is more akin to when he faced his family leader.

He stopped the video before he realises, and since he already did it, he tried to find out what the boy wanted.

To his disbelief, Kairos started laughing.

“Hahaha, I must remember this picture. Is it possible to give me a copy of the recording?”

“No, the effects of our time runes will decay after a while and can no longer restore images… Hey, why should I answer you? Stop disturbing my job.”

The two had gone unconscious almost immediately after taking the Life Taker, and this is also their first time seeing what happened.

Jim’s face blanched at the thought of how dangerous it was, but Alan laughed just as hard as Kairos, “I looked really terrible… Fortunately, Jim is uglier.”

“Did you use the present tense!?”

“Well, you still are.”

“What?!”

“Silence!” the guard shouted once again, and this time, the boys covered their mouths. Satisfied, he turned his eyes back to the screen and looked in bewilderment as Kairos fed the two a black vial and then shortly afterwards they are cured of the poison.

The top ten ranked poisons are all deemed incurable, yet a boy had so easily resolved the number seven on the list.

And to his astonishment, the child had found the cure from talking to plants.

“There must be some explanation for this. The boy must be hiding something. He knew about the observation runes in the gorge and purposely gave such a ridiculous lie!

Hahaha… don’t worry. Watch what happens if you lie to me.”

“What is that liquid, and you said you could hear what these spirit herbs say? IS IT TRUE?” thinking about it, he cannot believe this result, though had he carefully observed the recording.

But, Kairos continued to be silent. He covered his mouth with his hands and shook his head, gesturing that he was ordered to be silent.

The boys all grinned mischievously.

“No … you can speak now.”

Kairos ignored him.

“You can! Just tell me,” the guard almost begged.

The moment passed, but there was no reply, and the guard became even more frantic than before. As long as the boy doesn’t talk, they won’t have enough evidence to prove anything – and Kairos knew that.

If he couldn’t find a suitable excuse, he cannot detain the two for too long. Not just that each of these kids have formidable background, he must answer to the academy as well but there is still one more hand to play before giving up.

“Don’t think you can hide the truth! I will get the Steel Rose elders to come. Let’s see how you stay silent at that time.”

“Heheh…,” Alan couldn’t help but laughed when he saw how agitated the guard appeared. That face… It truly is a martial art by itself.

“Haha, Alan spoke first, you lost!” Jim slapped his brother on his back.

“Aw, I only laughed. Ops. I mustn’t speak or else I’m afraid his face might cramp.”

The group laughed without reserve. From how much the guard is straining to keep his anger in check, it is highly possible. But it wasn’t the end.

As though Alan words were prophecy, the cheek muscles from both side of the custodian’s face tensed and straightened, causing the man to making the face of a puffer fish. Truly, even cultivators hardly exercise their face and unused muscles more easily cramp.

“AHEUEHEUEUEEHE,” the guard protested the best he could as another bout of laughter erupted from the group around him.

.

.

.

It took a while before he recovered.

He couldn’t understand how they dared to act this way. They were acting like mere commoners’ children!

Where is the grace that nobles are so proud of? Where are the etiquettes that they used to look down on the lowborn?

Even if he does not have a powerful position, others have to show respect to the Steel Rose house that he works for, yet these boys are incredibly bold and disrespectful.

“Heh, you think I can’t do anything to you? Just you wait!”

He crushed an alert bead and aroused the expert stationed in this place – a Steel Rose elder. A middle-aged man, who looked more suited in an office, rushed over shortly after.

“It’s you!” The man exclaimed the moment he saw Kairos.

“Do you know me?”

“Of course, you nearly bankrupted us!”

H…he… he did what?!” the guard lost his nerve for the first time. Such a young boy had nearly bankrupted them?

If not because the elder had said so, he would’ve never believed.

“Have we met before?” Kairos asked in return.

“You don’t know me…? Well… I guess you wouldn’t. I was in command of the Steel Rose businesses for a short time, until you undermined our efforts with your cheaper products. After that, I was sent here as my punishment.

“Ah… I see…,” said Kairos with a slightly apologetic tone.

“Nah, I understand. Business is war after all. The grand elder who was my successor had it worse than me. The timing was the problem, he took over when you nearly broke the market. At that time, most suppliers were on the verge of bankruptcy because they couldn’t meet your price.

I heard that the very next day, he was sent away to the desert.”

“That… that’s terrible,” the guard muttered shivering. Finding out who he was up against, and moreover, whose friends he had apprehended, he was truly shook to his core. He knew the elder and can’t imagine this shewed and vicious merchant speaking so respectfully to anyone, much less a person who nearly bankrupted them.

But, thinking about it again, wouldn’t that make Kairos their enemy? Why is someone as admirable as an elder nearly bowing and scraping towards the boy?”

“What is the problem here?” the elder turned to the guard and asked.

“Ha ha… Elder, you see…”

Towards the elder, the guard explained everything that happened in a meek tone, his attitude completely different from before.

“What? Is this true?” the elder exclaimed when he heard that one of the top ten poisons in the world had been cured.

The guard quickly plays through the video for him. When he noticed that Kairos was panicking to save his brothers, he went into deep thought.

“It doesn’t look like the earl had known the cure beforehand. I wonder what those black vials are.”

“Young lord, can you really talk to plants?” the elder asked carefully, but as he expected, he was replied with only a smile.

From the outset, Kairos had no intention of explaining and regardless of what people think, there are no way to test the truth. In fact, except his friends, even the elder, the guard, and all those present are certain that it was a cover-up lie.

Knowing this, the elder gave up almost instantly. He can send this report to his superior and let them handle the rest, but the guard did not want to just let things blow over. Even if the upper-levels are worried about what this boy can do, but the rules are there.

“No matter what, they need to pay for the things they took,” the guard insisted stubbornly.

“What are you talking about? If the young lord fancies those herb, then the Steel Rose house would be more than happy to offer it,” the elder hurriedly tried to conciliate the situation. He does not have the authority to give away spirit herbs, but even if he is made to fork out the cost himself, he is more than willing.

News of how Floretinus had backed down on fighting the Snowdrifts because of Emperor Galahad had been cycling among the higher-ups in the Steel Rose family.

For someone with enough talent to be assigned to command their family business in the past, the elder knows when to be soft with his words, and when to press the matters. And, right now, the latter is a foolish choice.

Kairos could also smell the scent of a merchant from the elder, and did not feel surprise at the offer. But, the guard did not relent, “Elder, the amount isn’t small. They took at least thirty White Gold worth of rare herbs. And, we didn’t even add in the value of the top ten ranked poison, Life Taker. It’s obvious that these two twerps had benefited much after being cured of the poison, so it is only fair we charge them at least a Platinum.”

A Platinum. That is a hundred White Gold – enough for a hundred families to spend extravagantly for a year. The elder’s face blanched from hearing such numbers.

“Just how much spirit herbs did these two eat?!”

He had only watched the last part of the video and did not see how the two had the uncanny ability to find cartloads of herbs everywhere they go.

Of course, it was partly because of Lugh who had encouraged Alan and Jim. Whichever herb they ate, he happily waited to see the effects and slowly jot it down in his notepad before saving them.

But, even so, thirty White Gold is still an enormous amount even for expensive spirit herbs. How could the two swallow such a huge amount?

In the first place, is it possible for anyone's stomach to stuff that much food?

He stared at the young lord’s friends like they are mysterious creatures.

“As expected of the Gold Earl. I was ludicrous to think that such a prodigy would have anyone normal around him.”

The way he views Jim, Alan, and Edward changed and the elder barked, “Twerps? You’re the twerp! Shut up…,” then he looked at Kairos sincerely, “Y... young lord, the… thirty White Gold, is a small gift from the Steel Rose family.”

Even as an elder, it is not a sum he could easily promise. But, he had a small stash saved up from taking care of the family business for a few years. Although it is a painful amount, he is willing to pay it himself. Such an opportunity to reform the relationship with the Snowdrifts is something he will never miss. Maybe, he could even return to his previous post.

But the guard stubbornly held on.

“Elder! You can’t give in and throw away our family’s reputation. And, you forget to mention the Life Taker. Such a potent tonic is not cheap on the market, seventy White Gold is already very cheap.”

“Do I need you to teach me?” the elder warned, “I dare to you speak out of line again.”

Instead, the guard suddenly started laughing, “Of course I dare! You might be an elder, but you have even less backbone than a guard like me. Don’t think that you can do what you like, I’ve already informed the young master Von. When he gets here, all of you will regret!”

He no longer bothered to act friendly with the elder. Once the young master arrives, even a grand elder must back down.

Before joining the Steel Rose noble house, he had stumbled into a hidden treasure vault. After surviving the countless trap within purely by luck, he made it out with only a single treasure. One that could store and supply great amounts of Ki.

For a low-rank practitioner without any backers like him, such an artefact is not a blessing, but an execution date. Without hesitation, he gave it to Von Cixton and befriended the young heir.

He gave them an arrogant sneer. He did not want to waste the favour owed of him, but finally, he could get back at the boys.