Chapter 232
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 232
Chapter Title: What Price Do You Desire?
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Grace demands repayment.
Grudges demand revenge.
Lives demand lives.
It was a virtue extolled in countless cultures since time immemorial.
In the past, it wasn't uncommon for people to devote their entire lives to repaying a lifesaver or to risk everything to slay an enemy.
But as times changed, virtues turned to vices, and now few staked their lives on personal favors or vendettas.
...With rare exceptions.
One princess who not only upheld that dusty virtue for nearly a millennium but even enforced repayment when necessary.
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[...A life for a life?]
'That's right.'
[So, you're saying that in exchange for saving one person's life, you force someone else to spend their entire life as a slave to repay the debt?]
'More precisely, it's paying an equivalent life debt.'
[That's the same thing!]
Yuna Kyung was aghast.
But Rimon himself showed no sign of disturbance, nor did Li Chingwei, who was conversing with Maia.
She merely asked calmly, as if confirming.
"Paying with something else wouldn't work, would it?"
"Do you think it would?"
Maia sneered coldly.
Li Chingwei gave a wry smile.
If money, treasures, or something similar could settle the cost of treatment, the Green Dragon Princess wouldn't be so reviled.
In that sense, gazing at this princess more fitting of the title than any before her, Li Chingwei murmured softly.
"...Repay favors without fail, never forget grudges, and only a life equals a life?"
"Exactly."
Maia affirmed the Green Dragon Clan's long-standing maxim without hesitation.
Then, with a cynical expression, she continued in a low voice.
"In a world where many proclaim they'll repay a lifesaving favor, but forget it or even repay it with enmity when the time comes."
Show mercy once by healing for free, and next time they curse you as shameless just for asking payment.
Those who groveled, offering their fortunes at death's door, play dumb once recovered.
Some even steal your money and flee after being saved, or try to kill you to silence you.
It's not because they're evil.
It's simply human nature.
As a princess of the Green Dragon Clan, Maia knew this well and pressed on with a cold sneer.
"For favors that might be exploited anytime, isn't it natural to collect upfront?"
That was the law of the Green Dragon Clan.
No exceptions, even for fellow princesses of the Seven Dragon Society.
Maia mocked her, her gaze sharp as a blade.
"Above all, that man's treatment comes at a steep price."
Hermann was being forcibly sustained by the Holy Lord's skill on a body that should have died long ago.
He looked healthy on the outside, but the disabilities themselves proved the illness lingered.
Curing such a Hermann was something even she couldn't guarantee, and enslaving one or two ordinary people wouldn't balance the life debt.
Speaking in a tone utterly unlike a healer, Maia stated flatly.
"A Grand Master for life, or a Branch Master for ten years of unpaid service. I won't treat without at least that promise."
"That's certainly expensive."
Li Chingwei smiled wryly.
A Branch Master of the Seven Dragon Society was a powerhouse rivaling Grand Dukes, often family heads or elders running key affiliates.
Their unpaid service rivaled acquiring a major corporation.
The same for Grand Masters.
They had potential to become Branch Masters depending on training, after all.
Only geniuses achieved mastery in the Seventy-Two Martial Arts and led units.
Using such lives as treatment fees.
No gouging like it.
"Well? Still want to beg me to treat him?"
Maia smirked.
She knew the fallen Black Dragon Clan couldn't pay such a price.
Let alone for an unrelated sculptor.
"Of course."
That was why.
Maia's eyebrow arched at the unexpected reply.
But Li Chingwei, far from troubled or hesitant, continued with a beaming smile.
"Don't worry about the fee. I've prepared something you'll find more than satisfactory, Maia."
"Quite confident, are we?"
"Yes. I plan to pay with my body."
At that moment.
Silence blanketed the banquet hall once more.
Yuna Kyung looked ready to drop her eyeballs, Hermann's jaw hung slack.
The musicians froze mid-note, Barbara blinked in daze.
In that space where all but three froze at the bombshell, Maia broke the brief silence.
"...Spare me the boring jokes, Li Chingwei."
"I'm dead serious."
"So you'd be my slave in earnest? You, the Black Dragon Princess?"
"If so, what would you value my life at?"
"... ."
From paperwork to survival cooking, she could do it all, so her worth was high.
Maia's eyebrow shot up at the shameless response no one saw coming, while Yuna Kyung gaped like her soul had fled.
"Rest easy. Serving you for a few months might be fun, but I don't have that much free time."
She giggled as if she'd consider it with enough time.
Then Li Chingwei lowered her hand from her mouth.
Gazing at Maia with obsidian-deep eyes, she continued.
"So instead of slavery, I'll pay another way."
"Another way..."
Maia narrowed her eyes.
She drummed her fingers on the table, lost in thought.
"Life for life" was a catch-all, but repayment wasn't limited to slavery.
The key was equivalent value.
Precedents existed like marriage alliances or organ donations.
Excluding impossibilities due to status or gender for Li Chingwei left one option.
"Don't tell me you're offering your body for clinical trials?"
"P-Princess?"
"I told you. I'd pay with my body."
"Black Dragon Princess...!"
Barbara was horrified.
Even for a fallen Black Dragon Clan, it was absurd for one Seven Dragon Society princess to suggest to another.
But Maia didn't flinch further.
She merely glared with gloomy green eyes.
"Have you forgotten? Volunteers for our clan's experiments aren't guaranteed survival?"
"That's only for ordinary people."
Survival rates varied by experiment, but for Green Dragon Clan volunteers, it was under fifty percent.
But that was for normals. She could endure most trials.
Utterly unlike a trial volunteer risking death, Li Chingwei spoke breezily with a smile.
"Even you, Maia, never had the chance to experiment on a princess. That should suffice as payment, don't you think?"
"... ."
"Oh, but go easy on the dissections. Not married yet—flashing my insides would be awkward."
Shameless or mad?
After staring at the beaming, absurdly speaking Li Chingwei,
Maia slowly nodded.
"Indeed, your volunteering would allow intriguing experiments."
"...!"
"But I refuse the offer."
Barbara, on the verge of fainting at first, sighed in relief at Maia's rejection.
Li Chingwei tilted her head.
"Not enough value in my body?"
"The value suffices. But we need disposable test subjects, not treasures to preserve."
Maia snorted coldly.
Trouble during Li Chingwei's trials meant all-out war with the Black Dragon Clan.
Caution to avoid issues would make it a mere checkup.
In short, a hollow shell of a proposal.
A scam worthy of a Black Dragon princess.
"You don't have to handle me gently."
"Enough nonsense. No matter what you say, I won't accept."
Other princesses aside,
She'd pass on accepting from Li Chingwei and getting backstabbed.
A model choice for dealing with Black Dragons, Maia twisted her pale lips into an odd smile.
She pointed beside Li Chingwei and added.
"But if he pays the fee, I'll gladly take him as slave or subject."
[Eek!]
Yuna Kyung yelped.
Fearing Maia meant her, the bluebird, as a lab rat.
But thankfully, the finger pointed past her.
To the black-haired youth silently watching with Yuna Kyung on his shoulder: Rimon.
Of course, that was terrifying in its own way for Yuna Kyung.
Li Chingwei wasn't surprised.
As if expected, she smiled to refuse.
"What are the terms?"
Li Chingwei froze.
Yuna Kyung nearly snapped her neck turning.
"What terms?"
"The duration for service as a slave, and conditions for volunteering as a test subject."
But Rimon, who froze them, ignored it.
He merely asked Maia politely, as if needing terms to decide payment.
Yes.
Very politely.
Even using honorifics.
Shocking to the point of confusion for Li Chingwei and Yuna Kyung—was that really Rimon?
Maia, unaware of his identity, had no reason to be shocked and narrowed her eyes.
After a brief silence, she spoke.
"One year as slave, life guaranteed for trials."
"Ten days service, same for trials: dosing and pulse checks within."
"...Trying to haggle with me?"
Maia arched her brow in disbelief.
Her already fierce eyes sharpened, the pressure immense.
But naturally, Rimon met her gaze unmoved.
He just smiled brightly, terrifying Yuna Kyung, making Li Chingwei swallow dryly, and replied sweetly.
"Decline if you don't like it."
"...One month, plus pulse, meds I provide, and full scans concurrent."
"I said decline."
"... ."
No compromise.
After glaring at Rimon's expectantly smiling face for a while,
Maia closed her eyes tightly.
Drumming fingers on the table in thought, she opened them, speaking displeased.
"Slave or subject—I choose which?"
"I'll yield that much."
"No thanks needed."
Seeing Rimon act like he yielded for her face despite no need, Maia snorted coldly.
"So, what price do you desire?"
Ten days as slave.
Ten days as subject.
Either fine.
Gazing at the brazenly smiling Rimon with gloomy green eyes, Maia spoke lowly.
"The price I desire is......"