The Same Goal

It was almost six when I arrived at the Bloodhound Agency. The lounge was empty so I am guessing maybe all of them are carrying out some requests.

"Hello, Mr. Jack!" And of course, it's not Bloodhound Agency without the ever so energetic Adrian. That's my impression at least.

"Hello, Adrian! Where's everyone?"

"We're jam-packed with requests this morning and all of them took each. By the way, Mr. Alec is waiting for you at his office. Oh! Congratulations on your first job!"

I just smiled at him before turning towards where Mr. Alec's office is. Facing the familiar door which is slightly bigger than the rest of the doors in the agency, I knocked three times.

"Come in."

As I opened the door, what I saw was Mr. Alec polishing a weird-looking animal bone which is different from what I saw yesterday.

"Mr. Jack! Great job for completing your first request! Count Norman was so satisfied with your performance that he even gave you a tip." he said as he handed me a small brown money envelope with my name written at the back in cursive. Inside were one 50 demi note and one 20 demi note. So basically, I earned 70 demi for just babysitting. Not bad! I just single-handedly earned a whole week's minimum wage. Cool!

Receiving this, I felt that all the stress from earlier just vanished almost instantly. The wonders of money.

***

When I arrived at the apartment, I saw Ethan sitting at the table while eating a banana. When he saw me, his eyes were basically beaming with anticipation.

"Welcome back, Mr. Jack!" he then smiled at me ever so brightly which is in great contrast with how he usually acts towards me on a daily basis.

"Stop acting like that all of a sudden, it's creepy! Here," I said followed by me throwing one 5 demi coin and two 1 demi coins at him.

"That's your 10% share from my today's income."

He happily pocketed it just as he finished checking it. "You're more efficient than I thought."

"It would be more efficient if you work yourself."

"Nope! That can't happen."

"But will the 10% from my income be enough with your daily needs though?"

"Of course! You're providing me my meals and it's not as though I have a family to feed nor do I have a plan on having one in the future. But if you work hard and give me more then I'll happily accept."

For some reason, I feel cheated.

"So? What do you plan on doing from now on?" he asked while picking up the banana peels scattered on the floor.

What do I plan on doing? Of course, to get rich and stay out of trouble. And maybe learn some self-defense to protect myself from you if ever one day you decided to double-cross me and from the other weird creatures here. But there's no way I am telling you the last part.

"To earn money," I simply said.

"But you're already earning money."

"No, I want to earn more."

Hearing that, the way he looked at me instantly changed. It has become more intense than when we first met at the underground tunnel making me have a second thought about cooperating with him.

"I knew I wasn't wrong about you!" Excitedly he then asked, "How rich do you want to be then?"

Realizing that we now have the same goal, I grinned and said, "So rich that I won't have to have to work for the next ten years."

"Ho? Then good luck on your endeavor!"

"No! It's OUR endeavor. You're helping me with this. Besides, the richer I become, the bigger you get."

"Hmm… You have a point! Then, good luck on our endeavor!"

Yes, because this way, I won't have to worry about you turning your back on me for a while. So long as we have the same goal.

***

8:00 a.m., 21st July 1521, Bloodhound Agency.

"Good morning, Mr. Jack!"

"To you as well, Adrian," I greeted back.

"Will you be taking a request today as well?"

"I think so."

"Great! By the way, there's currently a client at Mr. Alec's office."

"Will it be rude if I go there now?"

"Nope! It's fine. You should know Mr. Alec by now. He doesn't like all those stuffy formalities."

"Now that you mention it." Though I already knew it the first time we met.

After excusing myself, I headed to Mr. Alec's office.

A woman with a waist-length blonde hair with deep, ocean blue eyes and had freckles across her cheeks was the first that I saw the moment I entered.

Both of them looked at me simultaneously. It seems that I interrupted a pretty serious conversation basing on the awkward atmosphere.

"You! You're perfect!" She suddenly exclaimed all while pointing her index finger at me.

Hey woman! I just got in. What nonsense is this?

"Mister, thank goodness! I don't know what am I supposed to do. Your build is exactly almost identical to Sam!"

"Uhh…" Exactly what is going on? Who the hell are you and who is this Sam you're talking about?