As it turned out, sometimes people get swept up in the atmosphere. Before he arrived, Isaac hadn’t been looking forward to the discussions here, but after wandering around the square for a bit, he still slipped into a small group and started talking.

He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t that Isaac wanted to, but how could he resist when they were discussing how to trade with dormant Outer Gods...

Although Isaac’s way of "trading" with Outer Gods was different from that of the other Mad Witches, some of the underlying principles were the same and worth taking note of.

Unfortunately, after just a few moments of conversation, the others scowled and drove Isaac away for some reason. Left with no alternative, he could only continue to wander the square before joining another small group to participate in their discussion.

They were also discussing methods for trading with sleeping Outer Gods. Unfortunately, just like before, he was run off after saying only a few words...

’He just didn’t get it. So what if you forcibly awaken an Outer God? What was there to be so afraid of!’

’Why insist on trading with It while It’s asleep? A proper trade is hardly worth any money!’

Shaking his head and sighing, Isaac continued to wander around the square, occasionally joining in on other people’s discussions. The topics were no longer the same as before, but a jumbled assortment of things. While many of the ideas were spur-of-the-moment, most of them were utterly absurd.

But that wasn’t to say there weren’t any brilliant flashes of inspiration. They could still be of some help to Isaac’s experiments and studies.

Still, this was a gathering for the Mad Witch Association, so naturally, the most popular topics were related to the Outer Gods. There were other discussions, but none as frequent. The pity was, these Mad Witches were all too timid; the moment he voiced his own opinions, they all shooed him away.

’Seriously... With guts that small, what right do you have to call yourself a Mad Witch?’

’And what really pissed me off was, fine, ostracize me all you want, but why the hell did they have to come up with stupid nicknames?’

’And if you’re going to give me a nickname, at least come up with a decent one. What’s the deal with calling me "the madman"?’

’How am I mad? I’ve been this way for years. How can they tell such bald-faced lies?’

’They should look at themselves first...’

Although he wasn’t very pleased with this new nickname, he couldn’t stop people from talking. He had no control over what they said, so he just let them be.

After all, as long as the topic wasn’t related to Outer Gods, no one stopped him from joining in. And when it was, there were no problems as long as he kept his mouth shut.

This went on until the trade Isaac had posted on a stone pillar was accepted. Only then did he rise and head to the designated meeting spot.

"I knew it was you." A short while later, Isaac arrived at his destination. Seeing the other party, he couldn’t help but break into a knowing smile.

The accepted offer was for the Divine Spirit Rat. Across the entire Mad Witch Association, the only one likely to want such a thing was Princess Philo. After all, while Divine Species were rare, the rat variety was a bit... underwhelming.

It was a bit lackluster, after all. Shushu had only achieved what it had today by eating Divine Spirit Rats like snacks. Who else had access to such a luxury?

Of course, he couldn’t rule out that someone genuinely interested in Divine Species actually wanted to trade for one, but Isaac’s asking price was Golems and Golem-related technology.

In the Wizarding World, Golems were a luxury only the rich and powerful could afford to dabble in. The average Wizard simply didn’t have the means.

Taking all these factors into account, the only person who could really make a deal with him was, for all intents and purposes, Princess Philo.

And upon arriving at the meeting spot, it was, just as Isaac had expected, Princess Philo.

"Greetings, Eldest Princess. Have you been well?" Isaac said, bowing with a beaming smile.

"Hmph~" Philo let out a cold snort, her expression one of extreme displeasure. She was clearly fed up with Isaac. After all, the fact that she was still forced to trade with him despite everything spoke volumes about how necessary the Divine Spirit Rat was for her. These days, wild Divine Species were not easy to find.

"Out with it. What do you want?"

Isaac grinned. ’Wouldn’t it have been so much better to be like this from the start? We’re all Wizards here. Can’t we just trade for what we want? Why insist on freeloading?’

’Some people... they’re just gluttons for punishment!’

"Ten Obsidian Golems!"

"Impossible!" Philo refused without a second thought. Although the Obsidian Golem was a basic model, its value was far from low. For context, even the Solomon Territory only possessed three hundred, and her own eldest sister’s workshop could only produce three per month.

Ten Obsidian Golems were worth at least a million Gold Coins!

’She had the modification procedure for the Divine Spirit Rat, so she knew what the costs were. Demanding a million Gold Coins right off the bat... he might as well be a highway robber!’

Seeing Philo’s furious expression, Isaac just grinned. "Don’t even think about it for less than ten Obsidian Golems! I can live without this deal. We can just see who blinks first."

Philo’s face darkened, and she found Isaac’s smug expression incredibly grating. But...

Just as Isaac had said, he could afford not to be in the Divine Spirit Rat business. After all, the only thing the creature had going for it was its rarity. Its market prospects were mediocre, and the profits were nothing special.

But she was different!

The success rate for the Divine Network modification surgery was appallingly low!

All this time had passed, and she still hadn’t succeeded. Not even once!

She had even enlisted the help of a Grand Arcanist, but it had still ended in failure!

At this point, Philo understood. Either the technique itself was incomplete, or it required a certain condition that only Isaac could fulfill.

The former was unlikely. Although Philo and Isaac were constantly at odds, she knew his character well precisely because of it. He wasn’t the type to engage in petty tricks.

So, the only other possibility was that there was some kind of condition that only Isaac could meet.

This wasn’t surprising, especially for a Legendary Mage.

After all, the path of every Legendary Mage is unique. Oftentimes, Legendary Mages themselves might not even realize that some of their techniques can only be performed by them alone.

This, however, put Philo in a difficult position...

Her current research was primarily stalled on the issue of Divine Species. The simplest, most efficient solution was to trade with Isaac.

After all, experiments were prone to failure. And once an experiment failed, the Divine Species would be a goner. How many of them could she possibly catch...?

So, after such a long standoff, Philo finally chose to yield.

She had thought it through quite clearly. While this was tantamount to indirectly funding Isaac—a grave act of aiding the enemy—it ultimately didn’t matter. As long as she grew stronger faster than Isaac, or even at roughly the same pace, it would have no real impact!

It’s just that...

Ten Obsidian Golems was just too damn many!

Taking two deep breaths, to Isaac’s surprise, Philo nodded. "Fine! Ten Obsidian Golems, is it? I’ll take ten Divine Spirit Rats!"

The surprise on Isaac’s face slowly faded as he looked at Philo. He regarded her seriously, then nodded. "That confident, are you? As expected of the Eldest Princess. In that case, just send over the one hundred Obsidian Golems. I’ll give you the Divine Spirit Rats once I’ve received the Golems."

"Fine!"

Philo’s reply was crisp and clean. With that, she turned and left.

Isaac watched her retreating figure for a long moment, then smiled and turned to leave as well.

’Now *this* is getting interesting~’