Even though Christine had a very large budget to work with, she was a little intimidated by this price. Setting aside the issue of whether she would be able to gather so much money in a short time, even if she could, Fall Crystals were a material that she had never come into contact with, so she had to think carefully about this. If she were to put down a deposit of 125,000 Loonies, that would place quite a strain on the turnover of their business.

"I'm already offering you a very good price. Even we don't know exactly what kind of price something like this will climb to in the future. At the moment, the price of 250,000 is only taking into account the labor costs involved. You just so happened to ask me if I had any new and interesting stock that I could offer, and that's why I mentioned these Fall Crystals. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have raised the subject. These are still very early days, so the price is still quite reasonable. Who knows that this number could swell to in the future?" Lewen said with a genuine expression, trying to rule out any possibility of bartering.

"Truth be told, after hearing your description of these Fall Crystals, we are actually very interested," Christine said with a smile. "However, 250,000 Loonies is not a small sum, so I have to go back and think about this carefully with Brother Erwin before we make a decision."

Christine cast a glance toward Erwin as she spoke, and Erwin nodded in support of her decision.

"That's perfectly fine. It's very reasonable that you want some time to think about this," Lewen replied with a gracious smile. "I would actually be a little concerned if you treated this in a willy-nilly fashion and made a decision on the spot. We are a serious organization, and that's not how we do business. Having said that, I'd advise you to make a decision as quickly as possible. After all, there are countless nobles in the Effer Kingdom who are desperate to live for a few more years and have more than enough money to squander."

"We'll be sure to give you a response as soon as possible," Christine replied with a nod, then rose to her feet.

Erwin also stood up from the sofa before putting on a polite smile that mirrored the one on Lewen's face.

"You can remain seated, Elder Lewen. We'll see ourselves out," Christine hurriedly said as Lewen began to climb down from the sofa.

"No, no, I must fulfill my duties as a host. It's not every day that I get a visit from you, so I must not skip on the formalities." Lewen insisted on getting up from the sofa, then accompanied Erwin and Christine out of the room with a warm smile.

"Elder Lewen, is there really no way you can drop the price for the finished Fall Crystal products a little lower?" Christine asked with a smile as she turned around to look at Lewen prior to her departure, and she was going about it so casually that it was as if she were merely bidding him farewell.

Lewen raised his head to look up at her, then shook his head with his customary polite smile.

Erwin and Christine could see that Lewen wasn't going to budge, so they parted ways with him before going back the way they had come from.

As Erwin and Christine finally emerged from the secret door, Lanyon immediately heaved a faint sigh of relief.

The three of them emerged from the shop, then headed straight for the bustling market.

"What do you think, Christine?" Erwin asked as he turned to Christine.

"No matter how I look at it, there's an element of uncertainty involved, so this is not something that I'm willing to dabble in," Christine replied in a serious voice.

Erwin nodded in response. "In that case, why did you pretend like you were interested in the deal?"

"If we don't pretend like we're interested, he might hold a grudge against us," Christine explained.

Once again, Erwin couldn't help but be impressed with her business acumen. When it came to this field, she was far more experienced than he was.

"Speaking of that, your acting skills were brilliant, Brother Erwin. Lewen definitely thinks that we're really interested in Fall Crystals now," Christine continued with a smile.

"You did really well yourself, Christine. After he brought up the subject of Fall Crystals, you didn't ask about any other types of ore, and even as we were about to leave, you tried to barter and get the price lowered. I'm sure he thinks we're genuinely interested in purchasing Fall Crystals from him now," Erwin chuckled.

"That's business, it is what it is," Christine said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I couldn't just turn him down absolutely back there."

"That's true," Erwin replied with a nod.

"What do you think about all of this, Brother Erwin?" Christine asked with a meaningful look in her eyes.

"What do I think?" Erwin knew what Christine was trying to ask, and he replied, "No matter how I think about it, I'm certain that Governor Jenkins wouldn't have been content to abide by King Cameron's prohibition order. There's no way that he hasn't tried to mine Fall Crystals during all the years he spent as the governor of Fooz."

"I knew you'd arrive at that conclusion. You're probably going to 'approach' Gwen now, right?" Christine said with a smile, wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner as she uttered the word "approach".

"My goodness, do you hear what you're saying? And look at the expression on your face! Get your mind out of the gutter!" Erwin chuckled in an exasperated manner. "Kaiba risked his life to save Gwen from that battlefield, there's no way I could betray him by doing something like seducing Gwen. I'm just interested in those Fall Crystals."

"I didn't ask you to seduce her, I just wanted you to ask her if there are any Fall Crystals in the governor's manor. You're the one who needs to get your mind out of the gutter, Brother Erwin," Christine chuckled. "Besides, with Her Highness around, you wouldn't even dare to try and seduce Gwen, would you?"

"I didn't know you were such a cheeky little brat!" Erwin said as he feigned a menacing expression while rolling up his sleeves.

Meanwhile, Lanyon was very amused to see the two of them bickering with one another.

"By the way, Lanyon, have you heard of something called Fall Crystals?" Erwin asked as he turned to Lanyon.

"I heard you two mentioning it repeatedly just now, but I have no idea what it is," Lanyon replied.

"Alright, then let me ask you this: has Governor Jenkins sent people to mine for any types of ore on the southern side of the mountain ranges? Have you heard of such an occurrence before?"

"I'm afraid not, Master Erwin. Common folk like me aren't privy to information like what type of ore Governor Jenkins is mining for and where he sends people to mine for him," Lanyon replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"That's true," Erwin replied with a nod. "In that case, let's go back. I presume the meeting at the governor's manor is about to wrap up soon."

"Let's buy some food to take back with us. I've been having nothing but dry rations these past few days, and I feel like throwing up at the sight of them now," Christine complained with a displeased pout.

Thinking back, Erwin realized that it was indeed true that Christine hadn't had even a single good meal along their journey from Xeto to Sarus, then from Sarus to Tewadedan.

"That's my fault. You even came to visit me in Sarus, but I still get a chance to treat you to a meal," he sighed with a wry smile.

During the journey from Xeto to Saurs, Christine had already asked Kaiba about the details of the battle that had taken place on the Marrod Plain, so she was aware of the situation that Erwin was in. As such, she was naturally quite concerned for his safety, and she traveled to Sarus as quickly as she could on her airship. Thankfully, she was able to arrive just in time to save Erwin. After fleeing from Sarus, Christine knew that Erwin no longer had a home to return to, and she couldn't help but feel very sorry for him. The pity that she held toward him was exacerbated even further by the sight of his forlorn display, but she didn't know what to say to console him.

In fact, she was even feeling a little guilty as it was her complaints that had led to Erwin's recollection of all these painful memories.

"Why do you look so glum all of a sudden?" Erwin chuckled as he patted Christine on the shoulder. "Let's go get some food."

After that, he casually made their way toward a street that was lined with food stalls.

Christine faltered slightly at the sight of his departing figure, then hurriedly followed along.

Perhaps it was exactly this carefree demeanor of Erwin's that had Christine so enamored with him.

Lanyon had witnessed this sequence as a bystander, and he couldn't help but admire Erwin's ability to always be smiling, even in the most difficult of situations. Regardless of whether he was in great physical pain or suffering through severe psychological duress, he was always able to muster up a smile for those around him.

There was no point in complaining about the unpredictable nature of life. Only by constantly seeing the funny side of life could one weather the hardships thrown at them by life.

...

Shortly thereafter, Lanyon was enthusiastically introducing the local delicacies of Tewadedan to Erwin and Christine. Christine had been to Tewadedan on more than one occasion in the past, so she was already familiar with the cuisine here. As for Erwin, he was accustomed to fine dining, but he wasn't opposed to trying out the roast beef and lamb before him. Even though the cooking methods employed were rather crude, the aroma of the roast meat was still very alluring. 

"Around 50 kilometers north of Tewadedan is the Zam Highlands, and all of the beef and lamb consumed here is transported straight from those highlands, so they're a lot more delicious than the beef and lamb that comes from normal farms," Lanyon introduced.

"This really is quite delicious paired with some fresh cumin and black pepper." Erwin had already ordered a mug of beer from the open-air bar, and now that the roast beef had been brought out, he was ready to dig in.

Christine and Lanyon sat down on either side of him. One of the main attractions of these open-air seats was that they allowed the diners to watch the chef roasting the beef and lamb right in front of them.

Erwin quickly made short work of a plate of roast beef, and neither Christine nor Lanyon were able to have any of the beef before it was finished. Thus, Erwin raised three fingers toward the chef, who was sweating profusely while working at the grill, indicating that he wanted three more plates of roast beef.

Soon, an impressive pile of empty plates had been stacked up beside them, and it was clear that it had been a long time since the three of them had enjoyed a good meal. Even the manager working at the bar couldn't help but spare them an extra glance. The three of them didn't appear to be miners, so he couldn't help but wonder exactly what they had done to build up such a massive appetite.

After enjoying a delicious meal, Erwin thought of Onean, who had also had nothing but dry rations the past few days, and he ordered a few more plates of roast meat to take away with him.

The chef felt like he had spent most of the night satisfying the seemingly endless orders from Erwin's trio.

By the time Erwin's trio returned to the governor's manor from their hearty meal, the emergency meeting organized by Gwen had also concluded.

Erwin searched through the manor for Onean, but was unable to track her down. Thus, he could only return to the airship, and it was there that he found her, standing in front of the railing at the rear end of the airship, looking out at the night scenery with an absentminded expression.

"You were never the type of person to be swayed by those around you, were you?" Erwin said as he made his way over to her side and took a glance at her, then set down the wooden container that contained the roast meat on the railing next to her. "I presume you attended the meeting because you wanted to hear what Gwen's plan was and what all of the officials of Fooz had to say."