Chapter 75: [75] Scammer

Eliron sighed in an elaborate manner to draw the elder’s attention to himself, then he walked up to the rune block and picked it up.

’I can’t wait any longer…’

“Do you want to take a look at—”

“Give that to m—”

Eliron spoke and the elder spoke simultaneously, both statements crashing into each other.

Zenith’s face remained stoic. “You can go first.”

He nodded and raised the rune block.

If runes were the programming language, then rune blocks were the chipset on which more complex runes were laid.

That was why he was certain that it would pique her interest.

“I found myself invested in runes these past few days, so I made this during my free time out of curiosity.” He lied.

“Who would have known an adept runecrafter such as yourse—”

“You mean MASTER runecrafter.” She cut in, before Eliron could finish, her eyes narrowed.

Eliron resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Yes, what I meant to say was that I never expected a master such as yourself to come by.”

“Do you mind teaching me a little about runes?”

“I see…” Zenith stretched her hands towards him and he placed the rune block on it.

“You said you made this during your free time?” Just like her face, voice was devoid of any form of emotion.

Eliron nodded.

Silence…

“That explains why it is so poorly built. This is just a little level above common trash.”

That was what she said out loud, but internally, Zenith was thinking an entirely different thing.

’This is perfectly made! How did he even come up with the design when he is a complete novice??’

Zenith wasn’t sure if he was a hidden genius, or if it was just sheer dumb luck.

She was practically drooling over the rune block.

’This will be perfect for what I am working on, I can’t let it go!’

Eliron had not said a single word after the elder’s shocking statement.

’A little above common trash??’ He thought, feeling his jaw tighten.

He had spent hours with countless failed designs before he finally got something remotely usable.

And yet, it wasn’t even enough to catch her eye.

“Anyways…” Zenith said, giving him an impassive look.

She pulled out a bag from God knows where, and dumped the block inside it.

“I’ll help you throw it on the way out. Have fun with your building kid.”

She turned to leave, and walked a few steps when she suddenly stopped, unable to move further.

When she turned around, she realised that Eliron had held her by the wrist.

She frowned lightly, then raised her gaze to meet his own, since he was taller than her. “What?”

Eliron smiled. “Hand it over, I’ll toss it out myself, there is no need for an elder like you to bother yourself.”

“W-what?” She nearly stuttered.

“I mean… It’s trash isn’t it? Might as well be rid of it.”

Sweat began to form at the side of Zenith’s face.

“You’re far too busy with your project. You should learn to accept the good deeds of elders. Now let go of my arm.”

She tried flailing her arms, but Eliron’s grip was like an iron vice.

“For you to be this insistent…” Eliron leaned a little closer, and frowned as he stared into her aloof eyes.

“Is this rune block actually of value to you?”

Zenith’s impassive face faltered for a fraction of a second when she realised she had been caught red handed.

’I knew it!’ Eliron screamed internally.

’This woman is actually a scammer isn’t she??’

Initially, he actually believed what she had said about the block being garbage. It was only when she was about to leave that he finally put two and two together.

In Artaris, Zenith was the epitome of laziness!

The only thing she ever focused on was her ceaseless experimentation with runes. She never even wore clothes when in her own hut.

Someone like that was actually offering to do work? Impossible!

Zenith stared at him for a few seconds, her violet eyes darkening. Then she bit the tip of her finger and sighed.

“Take it.” She said, placing the bag in Eliron’s hands. “Like I said, it is trash.”

Eliron blinked.

’What the hell is this woman’s game?’

She had clearly shown interest in the rune, but now she was acting like it was nothing.

Zenith folded her arms across her chest, then turned to leave.

’Heh.’ She laughed in her mind. ’Fool, all I have to do is come back later and dig through your trash!’

That way, she would get the block without having to do any wor—

“I guess I’ll just have to burn it then.”

?!?!?!

Zenith froze in her steps, turning around to see that Eliron had already sparked up a fire.

She ran before she even realized it.

Eliron tossed the block right at the fire, but before the wood could even be kissed by the heat, Zenith leaped, grabbing the block, and hugging it to her chest as she landed on the dirt, away from the fire.

“My baby, did the fire hurt you? Did it touch you anywhere?!”

She frantically inspected the block.

“Uhum—!”

Zenith raised her gaze to see the young lord with a mischievous smile on his face.

“Shit!”

She had blown her cover.

“Ah ah, an elder such as yourself shouldn’t curse.” Eliron cooed.

“Say what, I’ll let you have that rune block and I’ll even make more for you if you wish.”

Zenith’s gaze darkened, and she let out a heavy breath. “On what condition?”

“Nothing serious… all you have to do is teach me runecraft.”

It looked like Zenith was on the verge of tears, knowing that starting soon, she would have to do actual work.

•••

The next day, Eliron went to meet Zenith at the agreed upon location, the river that ran past the elven camp.

When he arrived, he was met by quite the sight.

Nom Nom Nom…

Yennefer was sitting next to Zenith, the two women stuffing their faces with more monster meat than he could even fathom.

’I invited her because I felt the class would be useful to her.’

Never in his wildest dreams did he think she would corrupt his instructor with the spirit of gluttony.

’Or was she gluttonous from the start?’

Strangely, the laziest people tend to eat the most…

A few elves who came to the river to fetch water seemed very surprised when they saw her.

There was a little fear, mixed with admiration in their eyes when they hurriedly walked by, bowing several times to greet her.

Zenith ignored them and turned to face him.

“What are you staring at? Come over here, let’s start our lecture!” Zenith said while nibbling on a juicy piece of meat.

Somehow, she looked far less intimidating than she previously did.

He walked up to the women and took his seat on the lush grass, but the moment he did, Zenith’s violet eyes flared, and suddenly—

The world around him changed.

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