Insect Tamer's Ascension Chapter 533. A ridiculous price and a ridiculous demand

Theo thought about the offer.

’13 blue coins... That does sound good.’

But he was not that gullible. Theo knew that igniting the fury of a duke was not something he should do, but the one he had told everyone was supporting him was none other than the founder of the Vaelmont Merchant Group.

The duke, even though he had more power, knew the influence of that merchant group too, as there was no noble family that did not trade with them.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart, my lord. I will never forget that you tried to support a fledgling like me."

Theo bowed after saying that, making the duke’s eye twitch.

"But I can’t betray the one who showed me goodwill first. My deepest apologies."

Theo spoke with his head lowered.

The atmosphere in the room worsened instantly, and everyone looked at Theo as if he were a madman.

The old man, the lady, and the headmaster all looked at Theo in a new light.

"I commend you for your loyalty, Theo Merrick. And don’t worry, I do not get offended by such trivial matters."

The duke spoke, making Theo bow even deeper.

"Thank y—"

"Fifteen blue coins."

The duke spoke before Theo could finish.

Theo didn’t lift his head but pursed his lips to show that he was having a difficult time.

And he really was.

A single blue coin could fund an enormous amount of evolutionary materials, if not get him his own place to work from in the royal capital.

"My apo—"

"Fifteen blue coins, of which I will give two blue coins to you in advance."

"Right now."

The duke spoke with his hands clasped together.

Things had become too serious and Theo looked up in utter surprise.

’Was my speech really this effective? It seems all those classes really helped me grow, huh?’ Theo thought to himself.

"I will be as respectful as I can," the old man at the side spoke.

"But you have gone mad, my lord."

The duke looked at the old man with a frown before smiling confidently.

He did not seem offended, not even a little.

"Tell me, Sir Seredin. If we don’t bet on the future generation and what they can do for us, then what should we do instead?"

The question made the old man purse his lips and frown before looking at Theo.

"Young Theo, would you like to show your beast to Sir Seredin up close? It might help convince him," the headmaster spoke.

"It won’t help anything, but I am curious about the beast and how it looks from up close," Seredin spoke.

His frown had eased considerably.

’I don’t want to entertain this guy,’ Theo thought.

But then the thought of the previous deal came to mind.

’But I do need to find some bees finally... ugh.’

Theo bowed slightly and smiled.

"My beast has a suppression ability. If no one has a problem with that, I will summon it, sir."

The old man smirked.

"No one here will be suppressed by some minor ability, Theo Merrick. Just do it."

Theo looked at him thoughtfully.

Either the old man was being smug again, or he genuinely had enough experience to handle the suppression.

The headmaster looked at the old man with a knowing smile before nodding toward Theo.

Theo summoned the mantis immediately.

When the silhouette appeared, the old man leaned forward to examine it closely.

After seeing it up close, even the duke was frowning.

When the light vanished completely, all of them froze.

Theo couldn’t tell whether they had frozen because of the suppression or because they simply remained seated.

He wanted to sigh in relief, but then he saw Sir Seredin’s lips trembling slightly, making him smile inwardly.

"If possible, please avoid looking directly into its eyes. If you do, you will fall under the suppression," Theo explained.

The duke took a deep breath and looked toward Theo instead.

The lady was next. She turned her gaze away, and Theo could already see sweat forming on her face.

The headmaster, on the other hand, looked completely unaffected from the very beginning.

He casually picked up a small snack from the table and ate it, just to show how comfortable he was.

Theo almost wanted to chuckle.

Lastly came the old man.

Though slower than the others, he eventually gritted his teeth and forced himself to look away from the beast.

"I believe no one can inspect the beast more than they already have, Young Theo," the headmaster spoke. "You may return it to the beast space. Thank you."

"Yes, Headmaster."

Theo gave the command.

Before any emotion could appear on the mantis’s face, it had already returned to the beast space.

According to the mantis, the room was the most boring place imaginable and it had no interest in remaining there.

Theo could only shrug inwardly at that.

With the mantis gone, all of them looked at Theo again.

All except the duke, who had already been looking at him.

"I can’t believe my will was suppressed by a beast of the insect type," the lady spoke.

"Tell me, Theo Merrick. Was it you and your affinity that helped your beast change this much?"

Theo nodded.

"I cannot reveal the details, my lady, but yes. You are correct."

The lady nodded and allowed the others to continue.

Theo looked at the duke again.

"I appreciate your offer, my lord. But I truly cannot make a deal right now."

Even as he said it, Theo knew he was treading on dangerous ground.

Which was why he immediately took the next step.

"But since you were willing to place such a large bet on me, I would like to send you the first insect beast I bring to the market as a gift, my lord."

"Will you accept?"

The duke looked at Theo for several seconds before sighing for the first time during the entire conversation.

"I commend your loyalty once again."

"And I am willing to pay for the beast when it reaches the market."

"I will be waiting for that day, Theo Merrick."