Deal

Velo arrives at the side of the city wall. He looks up in awe at how gigantic it is up close. It's not as tall as the Dumo tower but it is wider.

"tch.. typical slum kid."

The driver comments while leading Velo into a wall. An inside is a spacious place where there are a lot of hallways. Velo walk through a disinfection room and arrive at a metal lift. He walks in along with the driver while the driver just stays as far from him as possible.

After arriving at the floor 30 Velo has been led to a luxurious room. The brown wall and red decoration with a gold outline seem luxurious to him. But the architecture inside seems cruder than the one in the Dumo tower.

"Sit there and wait."

The driver said that and left the room. Velo sits on the red couch and observes his surroundings, thinking about how much of a difference living here would be. There's no window in this room, only a yellow light coming from a lamb wall.

There's an atmosphere of an old-world house. The sliding door opens. Entering the room is a tall woman with silver hair. She is in a red dress with some golden accessories matching the room color. Her every movement seems elegant with an air of confidence to accompany it.

Velo is not familiar with this feeling. It is an authoritative feeling of a gang leader but more refined and confident. She looks at Velo with mischievous eyes. Calculating something behind her red eyes.

Velo gets more nervous as she sits on the opposite couch as her 2 bodyguards stare at him with a lot of killing intent.

"Hello, my name is Celine Owner of the Raffains auction house. Nice to meet you."

"M..my name is Velo, nice to meet you too"

"That's enough. Cut it out."

The guard stops staring him down and Velo sigh in relief it's like removing a boulder that crushes him.

"Sorry about that. We have to access our partner. We hope you didn't mind a little antics."

She says that with a big smile.

"N..no problem"

"Any way we would like to ask you some questions is that ok with you?"

"...Yes"

"Wonderful, boys, bring that here."

The guard reaches into his pocket and places a rectangular device on the table.

"We would like to ask for permission to use a lie detector. It'll flash red if you say a lie. We use this in a normal negotiation to make both parties comfortable. Do you agree?"

"Yes..."

"Great! now let's move on to the deal. Do you have more nutrient packs?"

"Yes"

"How many?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Getting a little mysterious now, huh? Name your price for them. I'll buy all of it."

Celine threw a playful smile at him. This lady seems to never stop smiling. She gestures to him, putting pressure on the price. Velo thinks that if he set it too high, they wouldn't buy it, but if he set it too low, he would sell himself short.

"500,000 per pack"

Celine's smile never changes as she stares at him.

"We will give you 900,000 tels per pack on one condition. You would have to sell your future relics with me. How about that?"

That's a good deal in Velo's mind, but he knew this lady wouldn't make this if it wasn't profitable, so he need to ask for more information first.

"Is there any contract to this deal?"

"Nope, it's a verbal agreement."

"What if I just sell it to the hunter's guild?"

"Well, Let's just say that it'll not end well for you."

This time Celine radiates a frightening aura while smiling. Velo gets goosebumps from the sight of her. But he believes he can get more out of this deal.

"I'll accept this deal if you can get me into the inner walls."

"??"

"Oi! You're reaching too far here!"

One of her guard shouts in dis drain. The idea of a slum kid walking around the inner walls doesn't sit right with him. Celine holds back the guard and asks for Velo.

"Why do you want to get in?"

"I can get more relics for you."

Celine is puzzled that the lie detector doesn't go off. This thing doesn't have the best lie-detecting software installed, but a mere slum kid wouldn't be able to fool it. So this leads to one answer: this kid can get more relics if he got access to the inner walls.

"I can get you in but your profile has to be clean. If not, there's nothing I can help you with. Is there any more problem?"

"Can you get me an escort to Dumo ruin?"

"You have to put more on the table. My men aren't cheap enough to be babysitters for a random slum kid. And the situation at the Dumo isn't good either."

".....I can get you more expensive relics for you."

This surprised Celine again, prompting the guard to check if the lie detector is broken. Its condition is fine, making Celine more curious.

"Getting a little more Mysterious now hm?... OK, we can get you 4 of a veteran hunter for an escort. I don't want to risk my men dying to a ruin tracker and you'd get what you want. Deal?"

"Yes"

"Great! Your inner wall citizen card will be ready tomorrow and when do you want an escort to Dumo ruin?"

"Uhmmmm.... around three days later."

"Alright, we will notify you when it's ready. For today you may take a rest inside the wall hotel. Boys up this kid class to a V.I.P guest and show him the room."

The guard escorts him to a room reluctantly. While Celine stays in the room and contemplates. A kid that makes the deal this time is quite unique.

/////////

"Madam, why would you go so far for him? We should have just captured him."

"Well, you don't really see a slum kid that every day. A little mysterious one. And I have a hunch that if we were to do that, it wouldn't end well."

"But I still think it's..."

Celine looks at the guard and smiles at him.

"This is my final decision. Even if I'm wrong"