Ronan was indeed a professional.
Even when Osian suddenly brought Grace Seeker with him, he didn't ask any questions about the reasons and immediately took his stance as a broker.
Of course, his heart was beating like crazy right now, and cold sweat was breaking out all over his body to the point where his pure white suit was getting damp.
But his outward appearance was so calm and natural that Grace's eyes sparkled with interest at the fact that he wasn't surprised even when looking at her.
"A broker who isn't surprised even when seeing me. Impressive."
"Heh heh heh. Well now. I'm grateful that you evaluate me so highly, but I'm currently doing my best not to be surprised."
"Oh my. You're good at jokes too."
It's not a joke, though. Ronan felt his throat going dry as he took a sip of black tea. Grace thought this behavior was rather one of leisure and composure.
Wasn't she the leader of a terrorist organization that had a red warrant issued in the city? To leisurely drink black tea with such a person right in front of you? Unless you had considerable courage, it would be impossible.
Just hearing the rumors about the Blood Brotherhood that spread in this city would make most people wet themselves.Of course, those were rumors filled with the Tirna city government's malicious propaganda and lies, but the truth of rumors didn't matter to people.
In that sense, Ronan was a very extraordinary man. Well, it made sense that someone of this caliber would make contracts with Basilio, who was called a legend in the industry, and recruit Osian as a fixer.
His excellent eye for recognizing outstanding talent was almost superhuman. The two fixers she saw on the first floor also seemed formidable.
"So, what kind of commission brought you to visit such a humble place directly?"
"I want to place a designated commission for this man here."
"I see. What are you thinking regarding the content of the commission and the compensation?"
Ronan was scared of Grace, but knowing she was a client who came for a commission, he changed his attitude.
Even if the other party was a fearsome existence, if it was work-related, he would immediately do his best. That was Ronan's attitude as a professional.
Grace said she wanted to hire Osian as a kind of bodyguard.
"As you know, Mr. Osian's asking price is very high right now. Especially placing a designated commission like this means you're valuing Mr. Osian highly."
Just listing the commissions Osian had solved so far, they were all considerable ones. Of course, compared to that, Osian's reputation hadn't risen much, because he handled such secretive matters.
Just like during the Mother Goose familiar's attack, and the fight at Battle Trench's secret laboratory. Since they were commissions not commonly known, his name rarely spread to the public. But those in the know already knew. Especially high-ranking officials with keen ears for rumors and information were watching Osian closely.
"As you know, bodyguard work without a clear purpose that could last for who knows how many days requires significant commission fees."
If a firm purpose and duration were decided, the commission fee could be adjusted accordingly. But Grace was hiring a bodyguard under that pretext, and she hadn't even set a deadline for how many days it would last.
"As you know, Ms. Grace Seeker is classified as a very dangerous person in this city. Protecting such a person inevitably comes with corresponding risks. This could develop into a serious problem."
Grace didn't particularly deny those words, accompanying them with a smile. Who would be crazy enough to accept a commission to guard a red terrorist?
No matter how money-crazed fixers were, they weren't so foolish as to not distinguish a place they were clearly going to die.
It wasn't just anything else—the moment this commission was chosen, the probability of becoming enemies with the city government was almost certain.
Even to protect his affiliated fixer, Ronan had to appeal as much as possible that this commission itself was impossible. But what bothered him inwardly was that it was Osian himself who had directly brought Grace.
And even now as he listened to the conversation, his expression remained unchanged. Ronan quickly caught that point and continued speaking.
"I have no intention of refusing the commission itself. However, the compensation will be considerable. This isn't simply to scare you. Without that much, I absolutely cannot move."
"Yes. I understand."
Grace also knew well what Ronan was worried about. She was the one who felt her situation more keenly than anyone.
Nevertheless, the reason she came this far was because she had her own conviction.
"This should be enough."
Grace said this as she held out a thick pouch.
Inside the wide-open pouch were gems of various colors. At first glance, they would just look like beautiful gems. But no one in this place was ignorant of the value of these items.
"My goodness. Magically crafted gems. Moreover, from quality to variety, each one is precious."
Ronan slowly picked up one gem that was placed at the top of the pouch. It was a crystal shining with pure white light. It resembled quartz, but looking closely, various complex magical circuits were carved on its surface.
It was called a dragon's crystal, a very small crystal that could only be obtained from the corpse of an ancient dragon. The material itself was rare, and since it was also crafted with delicate magic, its value would soar endlessly if put up at an auction house.
Similar dragon crystals and gems of comparable value were now contained in this pouch.
"...Seeing you put these forward, they must be items that won't leave a trail."
"That's right. They're all clean items."
"At this point, converting these to cash would be far more troublesome."
Osian was also inwardly surprised. Who would have thought Grace possessed such precious goods? Usually, wasn't it common for terrorist organizations like this to be poor and hide here and there?
In that sense, the value of the goods Grace possessed was considerable in itself.
'She might have attacked somewhere and stolen or robbed them, but usually such items are difficult to dispose of themselves. Since Grace said they were clean items, meaning there's no problem, this must mean they were originally hers.'
A wealthy terrorist. But at the same time, it made sense.
Grace Seeker was a vampire. Moreover, since she was presumed to be of mixed blood, her lifespan would be longer and her age greater than her actual appearance suggested.
Having lived long, even collecting precious items that had existed from long ago one by one could accumulate to a considerable amount.
One might wonder if expensive gems were really necessary for Osian, who already possessed enormous wealth, but that wasn't necessarily the case.
'I need those gems to enhance weapons.'
Even in the game, gems containing magic were representative high-grade materials for enhancing weapons. For Osian, it was rather fortunate that Grace put those forward.
"If you want to verify whether my words are false, you may call someone to appraise them."
At Grace's words, Ronan shook his head.
"No. There's no need to go that far. With such excellent items, anyone with that level of discernment can recognize them."
Ronan spoke humbly, but in fact, his discernment in immediately recognizing such magically crafted gems was quite extraordinary. Usually, such things were difficult to recognize unless experts related to gems or crafting examined them carefully.
Ronan had done it nonchalantly, and he didn't even seem particularly pleased about receiving part of these gems as commission.
The fact that the compensation was overflowing to this extent was directly connected to having to send Osian on a dangerous commission.
"Would you be alright with this, Mr. Osian?"
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have brought her this far."
"...I see you've already made up your mind. I understand. Then I won't say anything more. Instead, I'll help you with the best of my abilities."
Grace, who was listening nearby, asked.
"That's surprising. I heard that brokers usually don't care about fixers to this extent."
"Yes. Our industry is usually like that. But just because the industry is that way doesn't mean I have to be, does it? Heh heh heh. I cherish our people very much."
It was certainly very nice words, but his characteristic squinting eyes creating an eye-smile made him seem like a mastermind manipulating them from behind.
But Grace could feel some of the sincerity contained in that voice, so she nodded with a strange expression.
"The commission is established. Please, may it end safely."
As Ronan stamped his seal, Grace's commission was accepted.
"Are you really sure it's okay not to speak honestly?"
This was the question Grace threw at Osian as soon as they left Violet Fox. The content of the commission was just bodyguard work, but in reality, it was to hunt down the followers of the Outer Gods.
Naturally, its danger level was transcendental. Grace's opinion was that at least Ronan should be told the truth.
"If I had done that, I wouldn't have been able to accept this commission."
"So you'll deceive when necessary."
"And it's not a lie. My commission is ultimately your bodyguard work, so if you're in danger from the followers of the Outer Gods, I'll just fight for the commission."
Of course, it was sophistry. But such rough handling of commissions was more common than one might think. Cases where dangerous commissions were deliberately expressed with different, softened words to make them seem easier.
Of course, most were done by brokers blinded by compensation, and there were no cases where the fixer himself volunteered, but what did that matter? It worked out well in the end, so that was enough.
"...You have strangely simple aspects."
Grace muttered as if she had discovered an unexpected side of Osian. Osian was deep-thinking and quick-witted, but sometimes he would push forward in strangely simple ways.
"A knight sometimes needs to push forward straightforwardly."
"You weren't entirely straightforward though."
If he had been truly straightforward, he would have confessed the facts as they were to Ronan and demanded to take the commission.
"Sometimes being flexible is a virtue of a fixer."
"Which one should I match the pace of?"
"More importantly, what matters is from now on. I found out where those Eternal Cult guys are and what they're doing, but breaking into there won't be easy."
Even if she brought all the Blood Brotherhood members, she couldn't guarantee a proper fight. They would be thorough in security as much as they were secretive, and would have made full preparations against external attacks.
"I felt it while fighting that day. Clashing head-on with those guys isn't very good."
"Even if you mobilize the power of your siblings?"
"I acknowledge that we're strong for our numbers, but as you know, there's no absolute in this city. And especially the power that numbers possess can't be ignored. The reason we few can move this well is because we caught the other side off-guard unintentionally."
For example, in the case of the Tesla Arms that Daver was using, they had obtained information in advance and secretly raided at midnight to steal it.
If they had faced the military head-on, even the Blood Brotherhood would have been torn to shreds. They continued to hide and operate while avoiding the city government's attention for that reason.
"It's the same this time. A head-on fight against that Eternal Cult has no chance of victory. But a surprise attack isn't feasible either. If they also possess Dead Daggers, most of our attack methods will be blocked. And after the last fight, they'll be very conscious of us too."
"So do you have a method you've thought of separately?"
"What we can do at best is capture and interrogate someone from the high ranks related to the Eternal Cult to extract information."
"That won't be of any use."
It was a reasonably rational method, but Osian was confident it wouldn't work on them at least.
"They will never open their mouths. No, even if they do, we won't be able to get proper information."
They were merely followers who hadn't received proper blessings from the Red Eternity in the first place. What could be obtained from followers would be truly useless fragmentary pieces.
"Then it becomes quite difficult."
"That's why I have one thing I've thought of."
"Really?"
"Yeah. As you know, most of those who believe in the Eternal God religion in this city are wealthy high-ranking people."
They had money but no youth, so they coveted the Red Eternity's power even more. Of course, it wasn't that there were no young people at all.
"And from what I found out, they hold balls regularly."
"...Indeed. That's it."
Grace seemed to have caught on to what Osian was trying to do.
Osian showed an invitation he had prepared in advance and Grace answered with a deep smile.
"I'll need a gorgeous dress."
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!