Chapter 1410 (2/2)

After a few more messy compliments for the risotto from a full-mouthed Delilah, the meal proceeded in peace. Each person asked for seconds. Which was fine until Delilah noticed that Randidly was filling his plate for the third time and announced that she could eat more. Watching her struggle through the third plate was slightly amusing, but Randidly didn’t bother serving himself a fourth plate from the pot despite the fact that he was still a bit peckish; he just stored it away in his interspatial ring for later.

Our physical baseline is just too different, Randidly thought with amusement. Even in terms of hunger, you aren’t my match Delilah. Hehe, I’ll eat you under the table anytime you want.

Derek looked over at Randidly hesitantly as he cleared the plates and rinsed them off in the sink. “So, Mr. Ghosthound. You said you were over here for business…?”

“Yea, I am. I was hoping… I could ask for your son’s help, Mr. Moss.” Randidly said slowly. Tim twitched and looked up with wide eyes. “There is a project that I plan on working on in the upcoming weeks… and I want an assistant. Someone who would learn to perform that task for Kharon after I’m gone. Tim was the candidate I had in mind.”

Derek rubbed his chin as he sat down again at the table. Then he stood back up to return the to the cabinet and poured himself another scotch. When he sat down at the table again, he looked at Randidly with serious eyes. “This is just a request?”

Randidly heard the tension in Derek Moss’s voice. Some part of him winced at the helpless feeling in Derek’s voice, but Randidly didn’t flinch. “Just a request. I do come as the leader of Kharon… but I come to speak to you as Tim’s father. And to Tim, individually. I won’t force you to accept my offer. I want someone… who assists me of their own free will.”

While he was speaking to Derek, Randidly’s attention wandered to the two children sitting at the other end of the table. He looked at Tim to gauge his reaction, but he also kept a little bit of focus on Delilah because of her antagonistic earlier statements. But to his surprise, both children looked contemplatively at Randidly as he spoke. Huh, looks like there is more depth to her than I expected, too…

...although maybe she just has a stomach ache from eating too much…

“What’s the job?” Derek asked into the serious silence.

“Engraving,” Randidly responded. “A specific type of Engraving. Most people can manage it well enough already to make floating platforms, but I want someone to help me make more floating pieces of land, like my island. At that scale, the requirements for uniformity and shape are much higher.”

Derek Moss hummed to himself. Then he looked at Tim. “...and he’s uniquely suited for it because of his relationship with the moss spirits, right? Well, what do you think, Tim? Do you want to help Mr. Ghosthound to make floating islands?”

Tim opened his mouth to speak, but Delilah interrupted. “Heh, that? Even I can do that. And if you beg me, maybe-”

“I don’t want a floating platform that needs to be renewed every 24 hours,” Randidly rolled his eyes. When Delilah abruptly went white, Randidly couldn’t help but chuckle. “I mean, I truthfully haven’t been able to find out how you do it by looking at the remains. But did you really think that I didn’t understand the limitation of the methods you were using…?”

With Delilah silenced, Randidly focused on Tim. “This will help a lot of people. But I want to say upfront that learning this Skill will be a lot of responsibility. And responsibility is hard. When people learn you can do this, people will want you to give them special treatment. You will need to be able to know when to use this Skill for the good of Kharon.”

Randidly felt somewhat awkward, speaking about responsibility. It was only in the battle against Kaan that he suddenly realized the scope of consequences that surrounded each of his actions. But perhaps for that reason, he felt compelled to stress those factors to Tim. So he spoke, even if Randidly wasn’t sure that Tim would understand.

Tim stared at the table for a long time. But finally, he raised his head and nodded. “I want to help, Mr. Ghosthound. I want… I want to learn the Engraving Skill.”

“It will be a lot of work, Tim,” Derek said softly.

Tim nodded again. “But it will help people, right? I can help people.”

Randidly and Derek shared a glance. Randidly could see the hesitation in his eyes, but Derek Moss ultimately nodded slowly. “...alright then. But you can’t let it interfere with your grades, alright?”

“Ugh, dad,” Tim rolled his eyes. “You know that school here is super easy. It won’t be a problem, I promise.”

And to that, Randidly couldn’t help but reveal a predatory smile. “To be honest, I haven’t heard many first-hand accounts about how Kharon handles education right now. Since we are on the subject, can you give me some of the details of what is expected of you…?”