Chapter 116: *Partnership*
Axel smiled at him, shaking his head helplessly, and he kissed him tenderly before turning to Tony and saying to him, "Thanks for your offer, Tony, but Kevin was unconscious for a day and a half due to severe mental fatigue, so if your offer still stands the next time we come to sell our loot to you, it will be with pleasure."
Tony said eagerly to them, after all, his goal was to please Axel, and he seemed to finally let his guard down a bit, "Sure, you can try it whenever you want."
Tony then asked them curiously, "What did you do on Sunday to make Kevin lose consciousness for a day and a half?"
Axel looked questioningly at Kevin, and Kevin winked at him and said to Tony, looking a little embarrassed, "We were looting a purple dungeon in the Wildlands with two of our friends, and we all barely escaped... Axel also remained unconscious for almost 20 hours. We are just recovering here, but we couldn’t wait any longer; the sooner I can get this information, the sooner I will be able to plan everything to save the Queen."
Tony had opened his eyes wide when he heard Kevin mention a purple dungeon, "Fuck, Axel, what the hell were you thinking? You could all have been killed in there!"
Tony showed them the huge table that was in the middle of the meeting room and immediately said to them, "What are you waiting for? Sit down and rest!"
When Axel and Kevin sat down, he came to sit in front of them, not knowing if he was more furious that they were stupid enough to put their lives in danger just to loot a dungeon, or more curious to know what kind of monsters they had encountered. Finally, his curiosity won, and he said, "A purple dungeon... What kind of monsters were inside?"
Kevin smiled at him and then pretended to take something out of his magic bag, while instead, he made a large bloodstone appear in his hand directly from his inventory, which he tossed at Tony, saying: "That kind of monsters."
Tony reflexively grabbed what Kevin was throwing at him, and when he saw what it was, he whispered, not believing his own eyes, "A Vampire nest... Impossible... Did you really manage to survive a Vampire nest being only the four of you?"
Kevin smiled at him but didn’t say anything, and Tony had to admit that it was a stupid question. Of course, they had survived, or they wouldn’t be here in front of him, but there was no way they could have beaten the boss of such a dungeon with only four people; they must have managed to escape; that was the only rational explanation.
Tony showed them the bloodstone that was in his hand and asked them, "You’re not going to sell it to me, are you?"
Kevin then said to him something that surprised him and obviously Axel too, "Indeed, we aren’t going to sell it to you. It’s a gift to thank you for giving us an opportunity to use your network and for your trust."
Tony shook his head and said, "This is too much; I can’t accept it. This bloodstone doesn’t even have a market price because it’s too rare."
Tony was about to give it back to them when what Kevin said next stopped him dead in his tracks, "Such an organization must need a lot of funds, and with only one glance, I can tell you that the weapons in the armory need to be changed."
Kevin added; after all, he and Axel would be part of this organization sooner or later. It was only a matter of time before they found out that he was the bearer of the Pentagram Mark, "I might still need you in the future. I guess the dungeons we have looted with Axel have helped you recently. I don’t know how much of the profit from your shop is given to the organization, but we are ready to give you 20% more of our share to support you financially."
Axel was surprised, but Kevin knew what he was doing, so he said to Tony, "I agree with Kevin; plus, we will probably loot more dungeons on weekends as we will be four in the future. Next time, I will introduce you to Alan and Erik. Alan is Kevin’s tutor; he is an exceptional mage, and I’m Erik’s tutor; he is a future great fighter."
Tony was speechless; he had brought Axel and Kevin here with the goal of trying to create a partnership between them and the organization, but in the end, it was them who offered him a partnership, and their offer was more than generous.
As Kevin had pointed out, such an organization required a lot of funds, and they were sorely lacking money at the moment. This offer was completely unexpected, and only a fool would refuse it.
Tony looked at the bloodstone he still had in his hand and said, after making his decision, "In that case, I accept; it’s an honor to be able to work with you guys. Don’t hesitate to ask me if you need anything."
Kevin smiled and said, "We will."
He knew that his offer was too good to be refused, and with Axel, they already had enough money; donating 20% of their future loot didn’t matter much. After that, the atmosphere was finally back to normal between them, and they talked about their daily life while waiting for Ellis to return.
Just as he told them before leaving, Ellis came back right an hour later with his uncle, who didn’t seem much older than him. But Kevin knew that in this world it was better not to be fooled by appearances. If an Elixir of Long Life potion existed, there had to be some that could help you to stay young and healthy, no?
Ellis’ uncle was the same height as him; he had sun-tanned skin, dark eyes, and short black hair. He was neither handsome nor ugly. It was this kind of face he had had in his past life—a face that everyone quickly forgot. He was dressed casually like anyone, the cliché of the perfect assassin.
He was scrutinizing them both, and he finally paused on him. He said to him, "I’m Caleb, Ellis’ uncle, and I’m the head of this organization. Some information that you want is going to be hard to come by, but before I put my men’s lives in danger, I would like to be sure it won’t be for nothing."
