At least that was what Leonel thought… But when the old timers actually came to their station, he began to question himself all over again.
"Hello Kaela." Jac smiled amiably. "How have you been?"
Kaela's face was a bit stiff, but she still managed to squeeze out a smile.
"I've been good, Elder Beinala."
"Ai, what a distant form of address. What happened to the little girl who would always cutely call me master? Is there a need to be like this?"
Kaela's face still remained somewhat stiff. Every fiber of her being wanted to stick a middle finger up and tell this old fart to go to hell, but she knew that despite the amiable personality of this old man, he wielded quite a bit of power in Valiant Heart. She didn't want to risk her path being cut off for no reason.
She had already managed to separate from this old man without incurring too much of a penalty. She didn't want to risk anymore.
"Alright, Jac. Stop teasing the poor girl. If you had lightened up the workload on those poor little kids like I told you, she would have never left."
"Ai, I was just trying to get her full potential out!"
"Alright, alright. You've said this many times already. It seems your favorite disciple is doing quite well for herself, even ready to submit some new designs for the Exchange List. How about we give her the stage."
Who Leonel thought were Beinala's two wives mediatated the situation, finally letting them get down to business.
Leonel realized at that moment that he might have misread the looks the old timers had been given their station. He forgot to consider the fact they might just be looking because they recognized Kaela.
From their talk, it seemed that these old timers were closer to Kaela than he thought. At the very least, though Kaela was unsatisfied with their relationship, the three of them didn't dislike the young girl. They even seemed to somewhat understand her decision.
If this was the case… Was there really no trump card coming? Was there no table flip? No sudden evil plot?
Leonel couldn't wrap his head around it at all.
Kaela took a deep breath and began to introduce the products.
"We have four products total split into two categories. We have a consumable product and a defensive product.
"Starting with the consumable, we call them the Polished Grenade and Elite Polished Grenade. They make use of our Faction's signature ore, the Polished Glass Ore."
"Oh?" One of Beinala's wives perked up.
She was a great Crafter in her own right, being Tier 8. So, she was obviously aware of the difficulty there was in handling Polished Glass.
Kaela nodded, growing more relaxed.
"Both the common and Elite version work on the same principle. We make use of …"
When Kaela regained her wits, her words became more confident. Soon, her presentation became somewhat of a performance. Leonel couldn't help but think that she'd be a good saleswoman.
"You say that the Polished Grenade can kill anyone below Tier 4 and severely injure someone at Tier 4? And the Elite version can kill anyone below Tier 6?"
Kaela beamed. "Yes."
She had never actually tested the grenades, but she was confident in Leonel's assessment. If there was anyone whose calculations could be trusted without a doubt, it was his.
And, of course, Leonel used the standard of Valiant Heart, not Earth.
"And the price?" Jac asked the final question.
Kaela's smile grew brighter. "The common version will cost just 5 merit points. The Elite version will cost 10."
The old timers blinked, looking at each other in shock. The only reason they hadn't been too shocked by the strength of these grenades was because they expected it to be expensive. This was usually the case with the inventions of youths.
They would have good ideas, powerful, even. But they would be much to expensive to manufacture on any large scale.
However, 1 merit point was just 10 kilograms of Fourth Dimensional Urbe Ore. To buy something that could kill a Tier 6 existence with just 100 kilograms of Urbe… That was cheaper than even the price of a Tier 3 weapon! Even money grubbers might jump at this chance!
"Are you sure that this is the price you want to sell it at?" Beinala looked toward the youths deeply.
"Certain." Kaela said confidently.
Beinala's wizened eyes narrowed, but he eventually turned his gaze toward the defensive product they had brought forward.
"And this?"
Kaela smiled. "This is our Mending Armor and Elite Mending Armor.
"As you might guess from the name, the main function of this armor is in stitching and cauterizing wounds. The Mending Armor has the ability to defend against weapons at and below Tier 4. The Elite Mending Armor has the ability to defend against weapons at and below Tier 6.
"However, in the cause that their durability fails or a location is overloaded and pierced through, its main function will kick in. The armor will not only self-mend, but it will do the same for the skin beneath, constricting any wounds below until medical attention can be sought.
"It's the perfect flexible armor for many."
Beinala took a deep breath. Even if this armor was too expensive, it would still be worth the buy for many if it worked as advertised.
"And the price?"
Kaela sent a glance toward Leonel, grinning.
"The Mending Armor will be sold for 50 merit points. The Elite Mending Armor for 100."
The old timers were stunned once again.
"… If everything is as you say and the final tests show the accuracy of your words and sustainability of the designs… I can take responsibility to place your four products on the Golden Exchange List!" Jac said with an amiable smile.
Kaela was stunned before her expression became ecstatic. This was more than she ever even dreamed of!
Leonel watched all of this silently, not knowing what to think. Everything seemed so genuine.
Was this really not a plot?