Chapter 46 - Brothers
"The contract is ready, sir. The total sum came to five hundred and twenty thousand dollars. There will be a deduction of twenty thousand dollars because of the repairs that the SMD needed to make to the roads leading to the General Hospital a few days ago. So, the net sum will be five hundred thousand dollars minus taxes."
Jason just became half a million dollars richer from a single Red Gate. He felt a small chuckle escape from his lips as he simply nodded to Rachael. Jason didn't say anything about the repairs because he knew that he had caused a lot of damage to the city when he was trying to get to his mother.
He didn't regret it either, since it concerned his mother, and if there was ever a situation where he suspected his mother was in trouble, then he would do it all over again if he had to.
Rachael put the contract down in front of Jason, and he began to read through it. As Jason read, he brought up another topic.
"I also have this artifact here. I'd like to know how much it's worth."
Jason put the dagger-like tooth down in front of Rachael, and she picked it up and looked over the artifact with a critical gaze. She picked up the microscope and looked closer at it before she tested it with the Magicule reader and nodded when she saw that it had 100 Magicules inside.
"This is from a Boss, right? You can either sell it to another guild that wants it through the SMD, or you can use it yourself and create a dagger."
Jason hummed curiously. He already knew that the tooth could be used as a dagger, so he wasn't surprised that it would be made into one. But right now, he was weighing the benefits of either selling it or making it into a weapon.
If he sold it, he could probably make a few hundred thousand dollars. But was it really necessary? Jason already made a lot of money from the Magic Crystals, and since he was going to be entering a Gate soon, the better choice was to get a weapon that he could use to protect himself.
Jason remembered how useful the dagger he had used before was, and he knew that having a stronger weapon would allow him to protect himself even better. The Legion was there to help him, but he could never be too careful when dealing with monsters of mass destruction.
"Make it into a weapon, please. How much would it cost and how long?"
Rachael quickly answered.
"It shouldn't take more than an hour. We have a good artisan here in the building. It'll cost ten thousand dollars if you don't want to make any major changes to the weapon structure."
Jason smiled and nodded. That was perfect. If it only took that long, then he could even collect the weapon before he headed for the Orange Gate.
Jason felt a little stab in his heart when he heard that it would cost ten thousand dollars. Jason had never spent that much money in one go in his entire life before. Even his bike was only a second-hand Kawasaki that cost a couple thousand dollars.
But he didn't allow it to bother him. He was going to be making half a million dollars, so what was ten thousand dollars to him now?
"Please take the cost out of the payment for the Magic Crystals and send the difference to me."
Rachael nodded in agreement, and Jason went back to signing the document.
Ka-cha!
The door to the room suddenly opened while Jason was in the middle of signing the contract, and Jason turned to see who it was.
The person who entered was Liam James, the head of Superhuman Correspondence. The moment he came in, Keith snapped a quick salute toward him, and Liam gave Keith a small smile and a greeting before turning to Jason again.
"Mr. Jason. Pardon my intrusion. I heard you were in the building, and I decided to come and make sure everything was to your liking. Please excuse us."
The last part was directed towards Rachael, and she quickly stood with a respectful greeting before walking out of the room. Rachael was shocked the moment she saw Liam entering the room! She was only a new worker, so seeing Liam was like a lowly clerk seeing the president of the company on their first day! It was enough to terrify anyone!
So the moment Liam told her to leave, she didn't even bother to take anything with her as she just walked out.
Once she was gone, Keith walked into the room with his smile still in place.
"I hope my brother didn't cause you too much trouble. He can be difficult to deal with, but he has a good heart."
"Brother... please."
Keith spoke up from behind Liam with an exasperated look on his face, and Jason looked between them curiously. They didn't have a similar appearance, so he was wondering why Liam would say they were brothers. Liam had dark hair and a longer face, while Keith had white hair and an angular squarish face.
Liam smiled at Jason's confusion and clarified. It was normal for people not to notice that he was related to Keith.
"My mother remarried after my father died. We're half-brothers. I told him to look after you while you were here because I knew he was the best at ensuring things went smoothly. I don't know a better Enforcer in the force."
"Don't say unnecessary things, sir. There are many enforcers with far more power in the force."
"But none of them have your integrity."
Liam shot back easily, and Keith clamped up immediately, making sure not to look at either Liam or Jason. It was embarrassing to hear his brother praise him in such a way, but Keith refused to show a reaction to Liam's words.
Jason just gave Liam a small nod before he went back and finished signing the document. Once he was done, he spoke up.
"Keith has been a great help, thank you. Was there a reason why you wanted to speak to me? There's somewhere I have to be soon."
Jason still planned to head towards the Orange Gate that day, so he didn't want to spend more time than necessary in the SMD building. Liam saw that Jason was in a hurry, and he decided to get right to business.
"Yes, I was wondering if you had a few minutes to spare. There is someone who wishes to speak to you. My superior, Madam Millicent."
Behind Liam, Keith's face squeezed into a small frown before relaxing again, but Jackson's enhanced sense allowed him to notice it easily. It was obvious that Keith did not like the woman for some reason.
Jason wondered what the woman wanted with him, but he decided not to make things difficult as he simply nodded before standing to follow Liam out the door. Keith gathered the documents they left behind, and as he followed them, he handed them to Rachael with a silent warning for her to be careful about handling things from now on.
Jason walked down the hall calmly while ignoring the occasional SMD agent or worker who would pass by and stare at him for longer than necessary. Jason knew that the only reason why he was getting this much attention from both the higher-ups and the other members of the SMD was because of his Awakening as an A Rank.
Even now, Liam was probably trying to make Jason meet his superiors so they could try and recruit him again. Jason would be really pissed if this entire thing turned out to be a waste of his time.
They arrived at a door at the end of the hallway, and Liam knocked on it twice before a voice called out.
"Enter."
They entered, and Jason laid his eyes on a woman that he could only describe as a sexy office lady. The woman was standing at the end of the office, looking out from a large window at the vast sky. She had on a professional, well-fitted skirt-suit that hugged her body in a way that was both extremely attractive but still modest. Her hair was black and fell down her shoulder in a curtain of ebony waves, and she had deep brown eyes that squinted when she smiled at them.
This was Madam Millicent, the Director of the Superhuman Management Department in Riverdale and Liam's direct superior.