Ball of Nothing

The next few days in U.N.U. were spent discussing business deals and sleeping. Zero spent most of his time catching up on rest that he missed for the busy week. Jynx had many questions about Baku and Sylvia but she was swamped with work as the new Queen of U.N.U.

Truen managed the business side of the deal on Zero's behalf. He focussed more on the slave abolishment practices and Jynx promised to stop backing Duke Zurich. Instead, she put most of her efforts into improving U.N.U.'s economy so that the civil war will end. If they had enough resources, nobody here would have to kill to earn the right to live.

"As a token of our sincerity for this alliance and an apology for our necromancers harming the villagers of New Moon Village, we prepared a little something for Zero to share with everyone," Jynx told Truen and Bob.

They were led to Sylvia's private lab where Jynx activated a secret magic circle to reveal a hidden collection.

"These are the magic devices that Sylvia invented on the side while she was doing organic transmutation research. They are specially made for those without mana and can be charged using the right gemstones."

Truen took a look at some of the inventions and noted that they would be truly revolutionising. Why was Jynx showing it to them?

"It was Sylvia's last wish to offer assistance to Half Moon Village with her inventions. She heard that the village has six gnomes and the lost son of her fellow keyholder. U.N.U. might not have a lot of resources but our greatest asset would be people. Despite the crappy living conditions and political status, U.N.U. has the best magic school on this planet. Sylvia made sure of it. Grey Legion's magicians are all graduates of Sylvia's school. We control over seventy percent of magicians and have connections in every lawless town."

Truen looked through the collection. They had things that would make creating fires very easy. Flint and steel would be obsolete if this lighter was mass-produced. The fall protection device using air elemental mana gemstones would be a fantastic addition for the construction team. The intruder sensor system that used darkness mana gemstones was a game-changer. If New Moon Village had these, they wouldn't need to fear getting ambushed and attacked.

"What kind of resources does U.N.U. require other than spider silk? I'm sure the body part trading can be done without the need for murder, right?"

Jynx grinned. "Of course! Take a look at this lab. Sylvia's research about cloning is more than advanced. We can create our own parts without the need to kidnap others if we have cell samples. However, what we do need would be food. Food has always been lacking here thanks to the barren landscape. The supernatural creatures and undead don't need regular food but the human magicians often suffer here. Also, beauty products, medicine, architecture... we need everything we can get to rebuild this war-torn country."

Truen nodded. "Half Moon Village doesn't have a lot to spare but if you support King Brice, I'm sure he could work something out seeing as Half Moon Trading has been established in Smargdas. We have recently secured exclusive trading deals with Rocket Mountain and Magnus Hilda if you get what I mean."

Jynx grinned. "Please give me the best price, I look forward to our future cooperation. Is it alright if I send a pre-order list for priority shipment?"

Truen didn't mind. "That'll be good for both of us. Schaf needs time to prepare large quantities. I know that U.N.U. doesn't have a lot of cash flow but Half Moon Village is willing to negotiate. Zero is working on bringing in demons and I think some of them can be attached to U.N.U. At the same time, if you give us the right to replicate some of the technology in this lab for internal uses, we can extend repayment periods."

The banshee was overjoyed to hear the generous deal. There was no need to overthink or consider, she quickly agreed to it. With the magicians from Grey Legion and extra hands from the other factions in U.N.U. who have their individual strengths, they discussed at lengths about what they could offer.

"I would love to travel to Half Moon Village to have a look at the extraordinarily handsome zombies and their necromancer. Also, it would be nice to meet the Night Terror Penelope to thank her for the beautiful silk. At the same time, I think I can deliver the souvenirs properly and get to meet important people. Lady Death is someone I wish to get to know in person if possible since we would be working very closely together in the future as I rebuild this wasteland."

Truen grinned. "I think that can be arranged. If you visit Half Moon Village, be sure to stay for the food. Zoe, the village's guardian ghost, cooks really great dishes. Zero always eats three times more when he returns to the village."

Getting along well, Jynx and Truen started to talk about the more trivial but entertaining stories that happen in their territories. Jynx couldn't help but think of Half Moon Village as a lovely place with all the craziness that the villagers embraced. It was hard to be a banshee with the sparkly fashion sense. Jynx couldn't remember how many times she was criticised for being herself until Sylvia came along.

Now that Sylvia was gone, Jynx didn't know if she would be alright facing the onslaught of criticism. However, hearing about the bunch of misfits in Half Moon Village made the banshee feel more reassured. With such allies, she felt better about working with them. The banshee had a feeling that she might be able to make a few friends there if she visited the wonderful village in person. Sending souvenirs would merely be an excuse for her to swing by and Jynx made herself a promise to do so more often in the future after her queenly duties were taken care of.