The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 81: Marriage Proposal

Not only did the Ring of Permafrost have a powerful spell on it, but the runes were open for everybody to see. Reynard was sure that if he studied them for long enough, he would be able to create similar artifacts. Or at least cheap imitations—but even those were valuable!

Amelia smiled.

"I only wish you to get well soon. And... Alright, I will admit it—I would like to requisit more of your explosive powder when you can make it. But I’m sure you would have sold it even without any gifts from me."

Looking into her bewitching eyes, Reynard could not disagree. But reality still could.

"The ingredients for Boom Powder are hard to find lately. But... I guess if it’s explosives you want, I have a replacement that might be just that. Assuming you plan to blow up more buildings."

Reynard remembered his failed experiment, White Powder. It wasn’t fit to use in hand weapons, but he could fashion grenades or actual bombs from it.

"I have already prepared more ingredients for you to use, Mister Faust, rest assured. But I will be happy to hear about your other inventions. Right now, I have time—and my person made sure other servants won’t disturb us in the next hour. Everything we do right now will remain a secret..."

The way Amelia leaned forward and breathed out her last words made Reynard feel hot under the blanket that was covering him below the waist.

He cleared his dry throat and explained about the great explosive power of the White Powder, its great instability, and how he circumvented it with separate-chamber designs.

"Interesting, very interesting. Yes, I would like some of that. And more... I want your largest, most terrible explosive. Something that could have really leveled the Snow Trade Emissary building with the ground, as the rumors claimed. How much would that cost? Would two thousand gold be enough? I can pay with favors, too..."

At the last words, Amelia’s voice lowered to a purr. Her implication of sexual favors was clear in the way she was looking Reynard over.

’This outrageous woman just doesn’t stop. Well. We will see who can out-outrage whom! I bet she’s bluffing, anyway!’

With feigned thoughtfulness, Reynard looked away, folded his hands over his chest, and hummed.

"Well, I don’t like the local magi, but I don’t condone terrorism, either. It would be wrong of me to sell something so dangerous to random people. I already did enough, don’t you agree? Now, it would be another thing if you weren’t a random person. I would have a reason to trust that all your acts of terrorism are for a truly good cause. You understand, right?"

"Oh, but I thought we weren’t strangers by now," Amelia said in exaggerated sadness. With a playful smile, she asked: "And what do you need to trust me more, Johan?.."

Reynard lowered his eyes and put a hand over his heart.

"I’m afraid, nothing less than a marriage will suffice, Miss Amelia!"

She didn’t make a sound, but through his eyelashes, Reynard saw her being taken aback for a moment. She recovered quickly, but Reynard still smirked.

He felt that he knew her type of woman. She would flirt outrageously all she wanted, but she had too much pride to actually sleep with someone for profit. Much less marry him.

But if Reynard just propositioned her with sex, Amelia could feign offense and get the upper hand in this conversation. She could even demand reparations.

A marriage proposal was much more tame, as strange as that sounded. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

But after the moment of hesitation, Amelia seemed to return to her known ground. She probably had to rebuke a lot of admirers.

"You are asking for so much, but you don’t even know that I don’t have a husband already, Mister Faust. Please, think about something else. A marriage between us... Well, I don’t blame you for such thoughts, but it’s clearly not to be. You have a lady in your heart already, anyway, and she has you. If you marry, I will gladly be a guest at your wedding. Let’s be friends instead... I have a lot of gifts for friends."

Reynard sighed.

"I expected you to say something like this, Miss Amelia. It’s a pity. You truly take my breath away whenever you are near, and my thoughts often return to you when you are far. Of course, I have M... My Julia, but I always knew that my heart is too much for one person. If I were to focus all my love on Julia alone, I would just smother her free spirit. And I’m going to be honest with you, Miss Amelia—you are also rich and an heir to the Gelum dynasty. Many people would want to marry an heiress who is also as beautiful, powerful, and smart as you, and I’m one of them. When all this is put together, it doesn’t even matter that you are a cutthroat terrorist spymaster. So if you ever change your opinion on marriage, I will be here. But, yes, let’s talk about gifts."

Amelia opened her mouth and closed it. Then, she chuckled and shook her head with a wry smile.

"You... are a very interesting person, Johan. I don’t think I ever heard the word ’cutthroat’ being said with as much admiration as you have just done... I will keep your admission in mind. But yes, gifts."

After that, the conversation moved to a much more mundane business talk. Reynard requested some rare literature on magical theory that Amelia could provide, and they talked more about gold for Reynard’s future work.

By the time Amelia left, Reynard’s untouched lunch grew cold. He began eating it anyway.

’I should come up with a food-warming spell. The development of utility magic in the region is terrible. All that the locals have are food-freezing spells and items sold by the Order of Frost. I might get a lot of cash selling food-warming cups and plates to nobles. If I ever need more gold, that is... If I get rich enough, would Amelia look at me with more love? Oh, I doubt it...’