"Good afternoon, Mr. Marnie."
Li Fei had come to the goblin laboratory once again.
"Afternoon to you too, Miss Philanthropist."
The green-skinned goblin, sporting a flashy, outrageous Mohawk, waved at her with great enthusiasm. "Your goods have arrived. Seventeen thousand tons of white gunpowder, not one gram more or less."
"The professionalism of goblins is admirable."
Li Fei praised him.
"Honestly, the delivery window you gave us was a bit tight... but!"
Marnie spread his arms wide, his voice rising, his face taking on a look of devotion.
"To meet the deadline our honored guest set, we dispatched a goblin airship, a magnificent creation that can load and haul even Behemoths and Titans! Praise goblin technology!"
"Praise goblin technology."
Li Fei clapped lightly, though inwardly she felt a twinge of disappointment.
Seventeen thousand tons of white gunpowder was no small order. Even with portals to reach some of the other goblin laboratories quickly, he might well have failed to scrape it all together.
But the goblins had simply loaded it onto an airship and combined that with the transport network the portals formed. The delivery came even earlier than expected. Since there was no breach of contract, Miss Philanthropist naturally had no grounds to profiteer... er, to demand a penalty payment.
"So, is Miss Philanthropist interested in goblin airships? As you know, in certain backwater regions there are no powerful Transcendents standing guard, and every time a disaster strikes, an earthquake, a plague, a flood, countless lives are lost. Even in prosperous areas, if some high-Sequence powerhouse fights in a busy city, the casualties are heavy and the ground is left scorched. Imagine if your foundation owned one airship, or even several swift and mighty flying leviathans. You could rush supplies and personnel to disaster-stricken areas in no time."
Marnie seized the chance to pitch. "I have a ready-made one you can inspect..."
"Next time."
Li Fei refused without a second thought.
A "private aircraft" was a gold-devouring beast, and not something a low-Sequence little mage girl could afford. Given the mountain of debt she was carrying, even if they gave her an airship for free, she would have to weigh the costs of maintenance, repairs, hiring a crew, and so on.
"Then please, come with me to look over the goods."
Marnie led his client along with a regretful air.
"Mm."
Li Fei followed behind him, quietly sizing up their surroundings.
As everyone knew, a goblin laboratory was a high-risk zone: flammable, explosive, and toxic.
And now there were seventeen thousand tons of white gunpowder in here...
Li Fei kept some distance from Marnie. She looked calm, but the three syllables "Bai Mengtian" were already sitting at the back of her throat like a chambered round.
Shouting those three syllables in time was the only way she could think of to survive inside a mushroom cloud.
And Nicole Elune?
Sorry, too long. Miss Top Courtesan was afraid she wouldn't make it in time.
After a few nerve-racking steps, gunpowder crates came into view, stacked in rows upon rows like a small mountain.
Seventeen thousand tons was already an enormous quantity. Converted to volume, it came to ten thousand cubic meters, enough to fill a cubic room about twenty-two meters on each side. That height towered over most Cyclopes and reached the waists of Behemoths and Hydras.
For a tiny human, seeing that much cargo stacked neatly before her was a real visual shock, and the pressure of it was palpable.
"Please, inspect the goods."
Marnie rubbed his hands together. "Also, we can provide in-city delivery, at a modest fee..."
"No need."
Li Fei waved a hand, strode forward, and opened a crate on the spot.
The crate was exceptionally large, like an oversized coffin laid on its side, with a standard capacity of a full ten tons. Its surface had a metallic sheen, and the inside held specially made partitions to guarantee safe storage and transport.
She reached out and touched it lightly. As the System Panel verified the quality of the goods, the gunpowder inside vanished as if by sleight of hand, transferred into her spatial ring.
Clearly, there was no better place to store gunpowder than a spatial ring. In a space where time was frozen, she had no need to worry about heat, friction, impact, static, dampness, or anything of the sort.
For convenience, Li Fei did not plan to haul away the crates as well. She would store only the gunpowder in the spatial ring. Later, with one flick of her little hand, tens of thousands of tons of gleaming white powder could pour out. Wasn't that far more useful than Dragon's Strength?
Of course, given how dangerous the powder was, Li Fei didn't even dare let her summons help. She opened the crates one by one with her own hands and took in the powder.
"She's planning to haul it away in batches?"
Marnie watched this scene and silently classified Miss Philanthropist as a "price-sensitive customer."
She'd rather run ten trips herself than spend money to solve the problem. No businessman likes a client like that.
So this goblin merchant, who loved money more than good looks, put on a smile and announced in a ringing voice:
"Miss Philanthropist, I have a small matter to attend to and must step away for a moment, but another employee will stay here. If you run into any problems collecting your goods, just ask him."
"Go on, then."
Li Fei didn't even look back. She waved her right hand lazily.
But on those slender, snow-tender fingers, a set of multicolored rings had somehow appeared.
Five fingers, five rings. From an aesthetic standpoint, it was a devastating look.
Marnie's keen business instinct told him something was up. He held his breath for a moment, bent his back low, and asked, rubbing his hands:
"May I ask, how many batches do you plan to take this gunpowder away in?"
"Batches?"
Li Fei looked puzzled. "Why would I split up what I can carry in one trip? Is there some tradition I don't know about?"
"In one trip?"
Marnie gave a few awkward chuckles, but his back bent even lower and his tone grew ever more deferential.
"Don't tell me... you can carry off more than ten thousand cubic meters of gunpowder in one go with spatial rings alone?"
"Mm-hmm."
Li Fei lifted her left hand, which also wore five rings, and tucked her short hair behind her ear. "I have plenty of spatial rings at home, and none of them see any use. Since I finally have cargo to move today, I brought them along."
"Hiss..."
In an instant, Marnie's eyes were glued to Li Fei's left hand, as though it were more dazzling than Miss Philanthropist's profile itself. It shone with a brilliant glow, like a keychain strung with a pile of luxury car keys, and the slightest shake would set off the sweet clink of gold coins.
Does charity pay that well?
The shocked thought flashed by. Marnie quickly estimated the value of those rings, then promptly overturned his earlier appraisal and upgraded Li Fei's customer tier to the highest level!
That was over ten thousand cubic meters of storage space. Your run-of-the-mill high-Sequence powerhouse wouldn't dare be so lavish.
"To have such wealth and still haul cargo in person, your diligence is admirable."
Marnie flattered her in a tone like a poetry recital. "Perhaps that's exactly why you've been able to gather so many spatial rings."
"You flatter me."
Li Fei sighed, sounding rather troubled. "Actually, having so many of these is a headache. Even a dozen square meters of house can be rented out for some bread to help the poor, yet I, chairwoman of a charitable foundation, have a huge amount of space sitting idle. It's a real waste."
"I think many people would be glad to shoulder that burden for you, madam."
Marnie rubbed his hands again and stepped forward to help her open the crates himself.
The hunched little greenskin was surprisingly nimble. In three quick hops he was on top of the gunpowder mountain, shoving the tall, heavy empty crates aside to make it easier for Li Fei to collect her goods.
As for that earlier line about "something to attend to," it had long since been cast aside. A distinguished client naturally deserved distinguished service.
Li Fei's base Agility was nearly two hundred points, and her hands were exquisitely deft. She moved like a dancing butterfly, opening crates and taking in powder at a dizzying speed, spending less than a second per crate on average.
In under an hour, the handover was done. Li Fei stroked the pure white [Angel's Perch] and felt a flicker of dread.
After all, this ring also held ten other storage items, so a full seventeen thousand tons of white gunpowder were tucked inside a tiny ring in nesting-doll fashion. If it ever went off, the consequences would be unthinkable. She wasn't even sure whether Tingbao could resurrect Top Courtesan-chan as a whole person.
Incidentally, Li Fei had a method to how she planned and used her storage space. She had eleven storage items in total, with capacities between 1,000 and 1,234 cubic meters. Nine of them were more than enough to hold the gunpowder. One was set aside for personal belongings. And the last was Miss Grace's [Ember], kept hidden and not shown lightly.
Li Fei trusted Miss Grace well enough, and later, during pillow talk, she'd learned that the spatial ring had come from the Land of Inheritance rather than being bought. That meant it was nearly impossible for anyone to trace Li Fei's identity through [Ember], so she could save it for Miss Kaname Madoka to use on things that couldn't see the light of day.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Li Fei offered her courteous thanks and took out a can of cola to hand over.
"Serving the customer is my sacred duty."
Marnie looked flattered. He accepted the cola with both hands and ventured, "Miss Philanthropist, you don't look so well, if I may say..."
"An old complaint. It's nothing. Just the aftereffects of soul damage."
Li Fei waved it off, the bronze Honorary Citizen medal on her chest gleaming brightly.
"As expected of Miss Philanthropist. Your virtue is more precious than gold."
Marnie was deeply moved with reverence, then pressed his advantage. "Actually, you might consider our potions..."
"Maybe next time."
Li Fei's smile didn't waver, and she turned him down without the slightest hesitation.
The hallmark of greenskin technology was explosions. They produced not just a dizzying variety of explosives and fuels, but even their potions were Frenzy and instability, mostly drastic brews that burn through potential. After a brief burst of power came a long period of weakness, sometimes with aftereffects that even Transcendents could hardly bear, such as permanently lowered attributes or a shortened lifespan.
Thus only one kind of Transcendent being truly loved goblin potions: the goblin sappers. Before going up in flames together with their enemies, or even their allies, they would down a bottle of goblin-made potion to dull the pain, banish fear, and quicken their charge, then unleash the most dazzling blaze in a fanatical state.
And apart from goblin sappers, only the barbarians of the Might faction favored goblin potions, especially the Troll Bat Warriors, known as "flying goblin sappers." As they swung unstable compounds into their enemies, they also loved to knock back a bottle of goblin potion to add Acceleration to their suicide charge.
In short, any intelligent creature whose amygdala worked properly would politely decline goblin potions. Li Fei would never voice that opinion in public, though. It would likely anger the Might faction and get her slapped with the label of faction discrimination.
"Well, all right."
Marnie sighed.
"Oh right, I have another deal to discuss with you."
The moment Li Fei finished speaking, the dejected greenskin perked up.
His whole body radiated eager energy as he fired off guesses one after another.
"Honored guest, let me guess! You want to rent a goblin airship? Or perhaps order a case of [God-Slayer] Transcendent gunpowder?"
Li Fei smiled bashfully and pointed at the empty crates lying scattered in every direction.
"These gunpowder crates are a free bonus with the deal, right? Do you buy them back?"
Marnie: ...
They were big crates made entirely of explosion-proof metal, with specially made partitions inside, and each held ten tons of gunpowder at a time. Naturally they were worth something. After an amicable negotiation, Marnie bought back 1,700 gunpowder crates at 5,100 gold coins.
Li Fei gladly took the goldsmith's draft. Marnie slumped in dejection.
He had bustled around after this super-client for so long, and not only had he failed to sell a single copper's worth of merchandise, he'd actually paid out money. For a goblin who loved wealth like life itself, that was undoubtedly torture.
"Then I won't trouble you any further. Time is money."
Li Fei turned to take her leave. "I think we'll have chances to work together in the future, Mr. Marnie."
"Safe travels."
Marnie said listlessly.
Ting~
A pleasant metallic ring came from a distance and drew near.
His green pointed ears twitched, and Marnie instinctively reached out to catch the golden glint Li Fei had tossed over her shoulder.
He opened his palm. There lay something worthy of every compliment in the world: cute, beautiful, enchanting.
It was called a gold coin.
"Thank you for helping me move the crates, Mr. Marnie."
Miss Philanthropist's laughter faded into the distance. "This is the service fee you've earned."
Marnie stared blankly at the gold coin. It was only a trifling sweetener, yet it wiped away all his helplessness, grievance, and resentment, leaving nothing but spontaneous joy.
In that moment, he suddenly recalled his father's teaching: there is a special kind of person who possesses an incredible magic, able to exploit others while leaving them happy about it, even grateful.
"A born aristocrat, truly."
Marnie sighed and tucked the gold coin away.
...
After returning home, the Young Madam dug out her notebook and, for the first time in her life, made sweeping revisions to its contents.
Mainly she reshuffled the priorities of items like helping Lady Wuya take human form and rescuing Lady Diana.
Then, while Lady Zhihua had not yet come home, she went to make a humble apology to the bunny maid sisters.
Li Fei had meant to use carrots in place of the bundle of thorns, but she'd never liked tools. Worried that the bunny-tailed ladies might put the carrots to use on the spot, the Young Madam simply juiced them ahead of time, and once inside the room, poured the juice down her snow-white neck.
A figure that could catch half a pot of carrot juice made the bunnies' ears stand straight up.
"Two little bunnies, hop, hop, hop, they only giggle and meow like cats~"
The sky was darkening. Li Fei hummed a nursery rhyme and seemed to be in an especially good mood.
Only her complexion looked more haggard, giving her a frail, sickly, pitiable look.
Tap, tap, tap...
Suddenly, a bird the color of orange-red flames fluttered down to the window and tapped on it softly with the envelope-bearing beak.
The bird was strikingly beautiful. Clear eyes full of intelligence, and feathers like shimmering fireworks, dazzling to behold.
The Spell Encyclopedia Lady recognized it at a glance: the little phoenix the Dean kept. It was still very young, and its owner wasn't exactly responsible, so it was mostly left to roam free. Even Li Fei had seen it only once, in the Dean's office.
Considering that this young lady carried the noble blood of a mythical creature and was bound to become a high-Sequence existence if she simply grew up safely, Li Fei smoothed her messy hair with a casual hand before opening the window with a gentle smile.
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