Aier sat in her study, dealing with an even larger stack of documents than before. The temperature in her room was now so low that she had two large red gems on her table, which provided heat. Her breath was visible in the cold room.

As the pile of crumbled pieces of paper grew behind her larger and larger, she could only sigh. Next to her was a smaller table on which three large plates were left, with nothing but bare bones. A smaller piece of bone was even in her mouth as she was reading. As she was discarding the papers suddenly she heard a knock on her door.

"Enter!"

Once again, a lizard maid stepped in. She bowed and then stepped closer. She had her hands behind her back, and her tail was slightly moving from side to side.

"Lady Aier... Your daughter... Linyer has returned and would like to have an audience with you!"

"Send her in..."

"As you wish!"

The maid nodded and left. For a few long minutes, the room was quiet as Aier stopped working and just gazed at the door. She was excited to finally meet the individual whom she had heard about. As she kept looking at the door, she seemed to have remembered the taste of the peppers she had eaten previously. It was enough to make her mouth water, but she managed to regain her composure.

Soon, she noticed the maid at the door once again. She held two crystal cups in her hand and carefully put them on the side table as she grabbed the empty dishes. She looked at Aier as to whether she should take the bone in her mouth, but Aier sucked the piece of bone back into her mouth, and chewed it, then swallowed it without a problem.

The maid left, but as soon as she stepped out, Linyer stepped in. She had something behind her back that Aier couldn't see. The girl had a saddened expression on her face.

"Where is that individual? Don't tell me that they died!"

Aier bursted out instantly as she glared at her own daughter.

"N...No... He is alive... I.. I just screwed up and couldn't teleport him with me... But I was given a second chance... Also, look at this mother!"

She said as she slammed a bucket onto Aier's main desk, pushing off some of her documents. The air slowly peaked into the bucket, and then her eyes widened.

"Are these from them?!"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Yes, mother... These are from Foin... I traded him for a couple of pelts... Though he seemed benevolent, I fear he is more cunning than meets the eye... Also... I will need another teleporting crystal as I needed to use the one you gave me; otherwise, I would have screwed up even more..."

"What are you talking about? What did you screw up?"

Linyer growled as she heard her mother's question. The question did not contain any content. Instead, she felt as if each word were daggers aimed at her.

"I made a terrible first impression..."

"Linyer! What did you do?"

"Erm... I... I barged in on Foin while he was taking a bath and saw his naked body..."

At first, Aier seemed puzzled as she couldn't connect the name to anything, and this was not the first time Linyer had mentioned that name.

"Who is Foin?"

"He is... He is the one who grew these plants... the individual you sent me to teleport here..."

Aier sighed and covered her head with her palms.

"Continue..."

"He said that I should go meet him in a week... And he gave me an indirect suggestion that... He needs spices... Also... I think next time maybe we should get ready to bring some extra itmes so that we can trade with him..."

"Hm... I see..."

Aier's voice was still as cold as the weather outside.

"Also... He has a plant girl serving him..."

"What did you just say?! They went extinct a long time ago... Even if they were still alive, they would never serve anyone other than their own race!"

"I am telling the truth. I was just as stunned as you, and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it..."

"What kind of monster is that Foin?"

"I don't believe he said the truth, but then again, why would he lie about his race... He said he is a slave... a lowly, weak, pathetic human being."

"I need to meet this man... My interest is even more piqued than before."

"Also, mother... Foin said that the liquid was to keep me warm... So I was thinking maybe we could taste it together..."

Linyer said as she grabbed the bottle made by Foin and carefully opened it. As soon as she opened it, her and Aier's eyes widened. The smell of the liquid inside was so dense in energy that they couldn't believe it.

Linyer slowly, shaking hands, poured out two cups of the liquid. She paid extra attention as the liquid flowed to make sure that not even a single drop was wasted. And then instantly put the cap back in; once the bottle was once again sealed, Linyer put the container back into the bucket.

They each grabbed a cup and just stared at the red liquid. They hadn't the courage to drink it. Suddenly, Linyer laughed nervously.

"I foolishly thought that it was just some simple alcohol for the road... Who would have known Foin wanted to show off his goods..."

"That I can agree with. I have seen many highly quality beverages containing a considerable amount of energy, but this is by far the best and purest one I have ever seen."

Aier replied as she slightly and carefully spun the liquid around. She remembered that when energy was infused into any liquid, it turned much denser and syrupy and tasted terrible, but the one she had in her hand was as smooth and light as water and had a magnificent scent.

"We need to get him here no matter what! After enjoying this beverage, tell me more about him and his area!"

Aier added as she took a tiny sip from the drink.