"Say that again?”
“You heard me the first time Greja. The boy is a damn Infernal.”
“…Yamaal…the thing in the shop…could it be?”
“Probably. Those metal bastards probably did their elemental test again, trying to find someone that had some type of metal synergy. Instead, they found a Infernal. No one really knows how it works, but an Infernal high up the food chain probably noticed and someone came by with the item in the shop.”
At this point Greja was busy massaging her temples from the stress that came with this big reveal. It was late into the night, and she was relaxing in her shop when Jrino showed up with the young man she wanted to build a relationship with, in his arms. Of course, she knew something was amiss, as the Outposts residents were not required to help anyone in the Tutorial, in fact it was actually frowned upon to do so and could incur penalties from the system if they helped too much.
Also knowing what type of man Jrino was, he definitely would not be helping for no reason, so she rushed out to meet him. After placing the young man on a cot in the house he rented, they both flew back Jrino’s office to discuss what was going on and Jrino told her everything he saw.
Of course she would be stressed, it was a damn Infernal they were dealing with.
“…Wait, didn’t you make that item in the shop that came for him, cost 1 Gold coin? Take it out and give it to him! What are you going to do if whatever Infernal Elder showed up, found out about this?!”
“Greja calm down.”
“This is not the time to be calm Jrino! We are just Nascent Realm cultivators! The Clan won’t hesitate to cut us off if we pissed of a damn Infernal!
“Greja.”
“Take the item out of the damn shop!”
“Greja!” This time as Jrino spoke he slammed his fist down on the table.
“Calm down. The situation is not as bad as you think. Let me finish before you speak. Alright?”
“…Alright.”
“Good. Now the boy is an Infernal, but he himself doesn’t know what that means yet, and it is not our place to tell him. The Infernal Elder or whoever they send will. Our place is to secure a partnership with him. The only reason The Clan bids on Tutorial Outpost rights and sends us here is to secure a footing in the new Universe. This is our chance to do that and more. I fucked up with the price of the item but I’m not such an idiot that I don’t see how this can be a blessing for us.
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We will do our best to support him within reason and earn his trust for after the Tutorial.
If we do this correctly, The Clan will not only have a presence in the new universe, but It will also have a presence in the lands of an Infernal.
Now going back to the item in the shop. I will not take it out and hand it to him. I do not believe in handouts, and it seems the presumed Infernal Elder agrees with me, as Yamaal instructed me to put it in the shop, not to hand it to him. So instead, I will lower it to a more reasonable price, but one that he will still have to work for.
Greja, that’s everything I had to say. Tell me your thoughts.”
As Nascent Realm cultivators, the speed in which their mind could process new information and take action on it, far outstripped the ability of even the fastest regular human, yet despite that processing speed it took Greja a full hour of just staring at Jrino and thinking before she responded. Jrino of course sat there silently as he watched Greja form her own conclusions.
“…I understand. He is an Infernal, we will help to an extent so that we can maintain a significant presence in this Universe, more specifically on the planet this Tutorial is for. So, let’s plan our next steps. We need to help him, but not too much, and based on what you said about his fighting earlier, I don’t think he needs that much help.
The Clan also sent another team to control Outpost S. Will we be looping them into this as well? I don’t think we should.”
Jrino responded with a smirk on his face. After hearing the calm response from Greja.
“You are usually cautious, but I know how decisive you are once you make a decision.
That’s how we were able to rise in The Clan. Anyway, I agree, we don’t need to loop Outpost S in. The Clan is one body, but we were all a part of different factions, no need to help theirs. Now for the boy, like I said before I don’t like handouts, and the system won’t let us help him too much anyway. The only thing I think we should do is train him. According to the Tutorial each of us are allowed to train a certain number of individuals. You, Kritch, and that lazy bastard Oras can train up to 5 people each in being a merchant, blacksmith or alchemist respectively.
Eriog can train up to 30 people in general combat, which is the most. While I as an Outpost Leader, can only train 1 singular person. He will be that one person if he accepts. Other than that, we should just answer the questions he asks within reason. How does that sound?”
“I think it’s fine, we should probably tell the other three. They might not be in the Nascent realm, but they are smart enough to notice something is up. Plus, there is a good chance Eriog saw you fly in and out of the Outpost tonight.”
“That’s true, but I didn’t plan on leaving them in the dark in the first place. We’ll fill them in come morning. And with that I think we’ve covered everything.”
“Fine, and are you sure we didn’t need to apply some healing to him? You mentioned he had serious injuries.”
“I’m sure, I’m not far enough up the totem pole to know how it works, but it’s said that Infernals can heal from almost anything. We’ll help him but we won’t baby him.”
“Of course, I should’ve expected that type of answer from you, and I know this is a very good option for us, to jump on his coattails and run with him, but are we really ready for everything that means? Anyone that’s been alive long enough will have heard of at least one war started by or against Infernals. They have enough enemies to fill more than a couple universes.”
“And they have enough blood on their hands to paint the void red. Everyone knows where their main universe is, but it’s never once been attacked. If I had to put my life into the hands of a power I'd choose those insane people over some overly cautious group."
"I guess I should've expected that too. Alright I'm going back to bed. Hopefully this all works out like you hope."
Jrino gave Greja a slight smirk before responding.
"It will."