When Miriam and Timothy turned around, they wasted no time and immediately continued their petty squabbling.

From what Severin could understand, the two argued about the performance of their favorite fighters and the upcoming events they were most looking forward to.

At the same time, Severin knew that they didn’t actually need any reason to butt heads. To it had simply become a habit; one that even he, as an outsider, was quite used to by now. As such, he was also used to their preferred way of resolving those disagreements.

Not, however, when currently on a largely wooden ship, sailing in a sea of clouds.

Involuntarily, Severin began fidgeting with his ring again and wondered whether the damage resulting from a fall from this height would exceed five hundred or not.

The answer he came up with made him sweat profusely, and only Samuel’s somewhat annoyed, but otherwise unperturbed expression prevented him from having a small breakdown.

Still, any kind of distraction would be more than welcome to him, and so Severin decided that now was the perfect time for him to approach the half-giant and to ask for his help.

This, of course, required Severin to first reveal and explain the specifics regarding the purpose of his trip-just like he had planned to do anyway right before he had been so rudely interrupted by the two fighting maniacs.

Samuel’s reaction wasn’t nearly as pronounced as Bandur’s had been, but the shock was still visible on his face. And yet, unlike the dwarf, Samuel at no point seemed to dismiss the words as some kind of bizarre joke or a straight up lie.

Perhaps the difference between the two was due to Samuel's lifetime of experience as a seasoned adventurer. Or maybe it was these last couple of months of him witnessing Severin produce one miraculous item after the other, that the half-giant was finally so desensitized that he didn’t even question Severin’s outlandish claims anymore.

“You were right to come and talk to me first.”

After saying these words, Samuel didn’t immediately elaborate, but judging by the gravitas in his voice and the serious expression on his face, Severin knew there was more to come. He kept quiet and waited for the [Berserker] to collect his thoughts.

But with each passing second he had to wait, the [Shopkeeper’s] nervousness also increased.

In his mind, the whole thing wasn’t that big of a deal, so why did it suddenly sound like it was?

Soon he understood.

“It’s one thing for you to not be aware of those things, but given his status, it’s a whole different matter for Bandur. One would think that dwarf would be more well versed in politics than this. To give you this kind of advice; of encouragement.” Samuel paused a few seconds, simply for effect.

“You cannot simply purchase or rent a piece of property and establish one of those magic pathways you’ve talked about. Not right in the middle of Hanvia. Or anywhere in Malcos, for that matter.

Well, I’m sure you could. But you really shouldn’t. Not if you don’t want relations with Malcos to turn hostile, that is. And hostile might still be putting it mildly.”

Severin wanted to object but wasn’t given the opportunity to do so, as Samuel kept assuring him that establishing a portal such as he had planned might not be met with as much appreciation as he had imagined.

“Even if you were to implement some kind of vetting process, there is no way a portal that leads right into the hearth of the kingdom could ever be allowed to exist.” Samuel repeated himself with emphasis.

”Not if it was to be under the control of a merchant who many would claim, just by virtue of their profession, would only be interested in their own profits and nothing else.”

After a moment of silence Samuel hastily added a quick ‘no offense’, realizing that his last few words could easily be misunderstood by the [Shopkeeper].

But the latter didn’t seem to notice.

Severin stood there deep in thought, finally realizing how naïve he had been.

Subconsciously, he began to verbalize his thought.

“Of course, that’s how it is! I focused too much on the positives, but a portal like this would also provide criminal elements with a means to enter the country unchecked. And also a way to escape prosecution.”

“And not just that,” Samuel chimed in from the side. “Don’t forget foreign military.”

No matter how much he might have had underestimated the potential consequences and dangers attached to his project, the idea that some kind of military would use his portals to invade another country seemed more than farfetched to Severin, but no matter how much he wanted to scoff at the words, no sound came out.

By now he was starting to regret having already built and, more importantly, paid for the other end of the magic portal.

Severin’s mood turned sour. Visibly so apparently, judging by the fact that the old man felt compelled to offer some words of encouragement.

“That all being said, I don’t actually think your plan is impossible to achieve. Quite the contrary, I’d say. Even I can see its obvious merits.”

Hearing this, Severin immediately perked up.

He didn’t think Samuel was the kind of person to say things like this without actually meaning them, simply to cheer him up. So if Samuel, despite the seriousness of the situation, claimed that not all hope was lost, there was no reason for Severin not to believe him.

But his regained enthusiasm was short-lived.

“It’s just that… You will most certainly have to cede at least some degree of control. Both in terms of choosing a suitable location, but also in regards to, let’s call it, access control; meaning not everyone might be able allowed to use this service of yours.

As for whether Bandur is right, and you at least get to charge for the portal’s construction or if you’re the one to pay taxes for it instead is not something I can answer. Not really my specialty. Not that any of that other stuff is.”

The thought of how he would’ve embarrassed himself if it wasn’t for Samuel’s honesty made Severin physically cringe. The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how unfeasible his basically non-existent plan going into this had been.

How stupid he had been.

He hated the feeling very much. Almost as much as he hated the thought of having to cede control of his business.

That was if he even could do it. After all, everything was ultimately controlled by the System.

Which reminded him of something else.

‘Pah. So what if I simply don’t get permission? What are they gonna do about it? As long as it’s recognized as part of the Emporium, the System should be able to protect it from any harm.’