This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 44

Interests

"Ellie, I truly apologize for what happened before. The Setter family has made a public disgrace that you had to witness," Steven said. In fact, he wanted to kneel down and apologize to her. Given Ellie’s status as the Mage, if she chose to reveal her capabilities to others, many allies might wish to destroy the Setter family just to please her.

A single Tezetrons flower could already be transformed into over 100 bottles of high-level life force restorative potion that equivalent to the treasures of the family. Or, without turning it into a potion, she could offer it to the palace for safeguarding the family’s strong members.

How could the Setter family, which had always begged for the palace’s mercy, afford to displease her? Steven felt like he wanted to open the ancestral court right now. Unfortunately, if he did, Sherrel’s descendants would perish simply because of his severe misdeeds against the family. Thus, Steven could only suppress his feelings and do everything to satisfy Ellie instead.

The petite girl from another world didn’t think much of it. She simply nodded in response to Steven, satisfied to see Sherrel looking as pitiful as a downtrodden dog. If she made a bigger deal out of it, it might unnecessarily create enemies. Although Sherrel might not like her now, he had promised to stay within the limits he could manage. If Ellie pushed further, it could end in disaster.

"Alright, as I said before, as long as you can provide useful information, I will make sure you are handsomely rewarded. How about this? After you disclose the information and we can seize that city, the Setter family will give you 10 out of every 100 parts of the resources forever. What do you think?"

As Steven proposed this, Sherrel’s eyes rolled. Although 10 parts seemed like a lot, it was akin to deceiving the other party.

They didn’t know when they would be able to conquer the city, but the location of the city would be kept by the Setter family indefinitely until they were capable enough. By the time that happened, this scholarship student might be dead, meaning they wouldn’t have to give up anything.

Sherrel looked at the girl who had dismissed his offer of 30 gold coins, sure that she would never accept this deal. However, before he could speak, Ellie had already agreed!

"I am satisfied with this offer." In truth, she wanted privileges like visiting the 6th floor city without any cost, but she hadn’t expected Steven to offer her an even better opportunity.

If they truly gave Ellie special privilege to access the 6th floor city, she could come here to harvest some items. But now, she wouldn’t even need to come here herself and would immediately receive 10% compensation. The difference was night and day!

"Are you stupid!" Sherrel couldn’t help but complain. He couldn’t believe that the girl would give up 30 gold coins for nothing. Of course, many people who thought like Sherrel understood that she was too greedy and therefore did not reconsider this properly.

"Lord of the House, now that I have agreed to this, after I share the information with you, if something happens—for example, this rake that once it is in my hands, I can use it to its full potential, but it ends up causing dissatisfaction among many—will this not happen with the 6th floor city?"

"I apologize for asking, but it is to protect my interests. I never imagined that a major family would have so many tricks. Therefore, I now feel frightened that the agreement might change after you actually take over the 6th floor city."

Ellie asked with a clear gaze as if she was an innocent girl unaware of how her words affected others. Many of the older members felt as though they had been slapped.

What Ellie said was true. Previously, the rake wasn’t interesting, but after seeing how well Ellie used it, everyone became dissatisfied and wanted the rake back. They thought it wasn’t worth the original 100 gold coins set price. But thinking about it carefully, they seemed like real double-dealers. No wonder Ellie became more cautious.

"I promise that such an incident will definitely not occur. Or if anyone thinks it’s inappropriate, speak up right here," Steven looked around, but who would dare raise their hand?

Furthermore, they thought like Sherrel that this girl wouldn’t get a single coin, while many others were continually intimidated by the family head. The threat to meet at the ancestral court seemed harsher than what their kind-hearted family head would normally say. Therefore, many were still in a state where they could not bring themselves back to reality.

"Ellie, no one here objects anymore. Please tell us the information."

Steven gave Ellie a flattering smile as if wanting to appease her. Not to mention others who thought that the Setter family was not yet ready to conquer another city on the 6th floor because their forces had suffered a lot of damage in the past few years. They were currently in a recovery phase, and using their forces for further loss would not be wise. But even so, Steven did not want to appear indifferent to the words of the Mage.

Ellie looked at the family head and others, then drew a small map on the ground. It included the positions of the two battling monsters and the cave where she was, making it easy to understand.

"Are you saying that the city-controlling stone is only this close?"

"Yes, sir."

"Could that be possible? We didn’t see any city on the way here," Sherrel seemed incredulous. If the city was in their vicinity, why didn’t they see any city barrier?

There was only one scenario if there was a city-controlling stone but no barrier; it meant...

"Yes, because it’s a city that has never been conquered before."

Upon hearing this, everyone was immediately stunned. The faces of the senior members and hunters in the Setter family were all alike, with some almost dropping their jaws to the floor. Fortunately, it wasn’t that unsightly.

"What are you joking about? A city that has never been conquered isn’t just found easily," one hunter expressed in disbelief.

How many creatures had existed in this Tower of Eternity, and how could there be a city that had never been conquered before? Many said finding such a scenario was like a godsend, a highly improbable event!

Otherwise, instead of having to fight and lose many lives to conquer their first city on the 6th floor, wouldn’t it have been better to spend that time searching for an unconquered city? That’s because everyone knew how rare such opportunities were!

"At this moment, I believe the monsters that were previously living around have probably fled. They might not even have encountered the city-controlling stone because its location is under a water stream on the cliffside. If not for the giant tortoise’s earth magic blocking the water path, I wouldn’t have seen that there was a stone hidden there. Of course, I must also thank Lord Aman for allowing me to ride on his back all the way here, which made me feel safe and gave me time to observe my surroundings,"

Ellie concluded for everyone. In fact, at that time, who would have the time to notice such things? Even though she was always on guard. If it hadn’t been for a moment of rest earlier, she wouldn’t have used her little spores to observe and discover this significant hidden feature.

"It’s too coincidental."

"If what she says is true, then isn’t this a great fortune for the Setter family?"

"If we really can conquer here..." People’s voices buzzed with excitement.

Steven looked at Ellie as if he wanted to thank her profoundly for this help. Acquiring a city without losing any of the family’s forces would be the greatest profit.

"If we take the city now, does it mean we will have a barrier to protect us from dangers?" Suddenly, one hunter spoke up as if he had just thought of it. Instead of watching over the injured, they could conquer the city and then connect with other cities on lower floors. After that, they could send the wounded back immediately, couldn’t they?

Many people felt a surge of excitement at the thought. Instead of facing such dangers, they could return to their cities on other floors. Their injured friends could receive timely treatment. Wouldn’t that mean they wouldn’t lose anyone else?

Even if the city couldn’t be defended later, it still represented the best chance for escape!

Steven’s eyes sparkled. He looked around before nodding to gather everyone. The Setter family members came together to hear the leaders discuss the plan. Actually, they had invited Ellie to join as well, but the girl said she was just an outsider and didn’t want to get involved in this part, so everyone else let it go.

Ellie pretended to need rest, but in fact, she was using her powers to observe the ongoing battle outside, which seemed to be lessening in intensity. The Quaternary Giant Ape struggled to fight effectively while also protecting its child, and the young ape was severely injured. Fernandina had an advantage with its hard shell, resisting attacks well, but even its physical strength was waning, especially as its eyes were initially injured, leading to an equally exhausted state.

As the two giants battled, no small creatures lingered around, suggesting that if the Setter family attacked now, they would likely be victorious. Ellie wasn’t worried about their success; rather, she found the intelligence of this tortoise intriguing.

"Ellie, stay here with me. We will hide near the exit. As soon as my father secures the city and releases the barrier, we will rush in," Aman told the girl after everyone had finished their meeting.

This operation was straightforward. Steven went out with Sherrel and just 2 others, trying to minimize their movements to avoid attracting attention, while thousands waited for the signal to quickly retreat inside the barrier, including those tasked with carrying stretchers.

It’s unfortunate that this world lacked a dimension that could temporarily harbor humans; otherwise, the injured could have been sent there first. It turned out that they needed many manpower and speed to get the wounded into the city.

Ellie had no specific role; she just needed to run into the barrier with Aman as fast as possible. She simply nodded. Aman sneaked glances at the fearless girl’s face with interest.

When they first met, this girl seemed like someone who couldn’t be of any real benefit, lacking any significant aura or brightness. Compared to her friend, she was just an ordinary person and only made her friend from the same village stand out.

Aman couldn’t believe that his brother had sensed the deep-seated power within her. He was truly his brother after all!

"If my brother recovers, I would like you to be his fiancée," Aman said casually, but it made Ellie glare at him angrily.

She thought of the man with intense, stern eyes and shook her head. She couldn’t imagine that a man who looked at others as if they were dead could have a lover.

Ellie didn’t care about such matters of romance or engagement. Let the heroine play those roles. She preferred to watch those dramas rather than waste her life on any man!

Of course, these were just Ellie’s thoughts for now. How long she could withstand her own feelings remained to be seen....

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