Markus was slowly sipping his beverage in a small inconspicuous coffee shop.
A small distance away, there were a few waiters and waitresses about to hyperventilate from the excitement. Markus, THE Markus was in their shop! How had this even happened?!
He looked so composed and noble seen from up close. He did, but not the man at his side. Josh was casually devouring cakes, not minding his manners one bit. The clash was so big that it made one wince.
"Are you here for the cakes or the meeting?" Markus chuckled as he watched him pilfer the sugary delights.
"Hey, one has to enjoy life whenever possible. Plus, we even booked the entire place, so no need to mind about appearances." He shrugged. "In any case, this should be fun." Josh chuckled.
"I'm surprised you asked me for this. Normally I'd expect you to solve your own problems. I've actually got a few reports about a few shady activities on your part." Markus dropped a bomb trying to fish a reaction.
"Is that so?" Josh shrugged while stuffing his face. "Anyway, he should be there any minute now."
They waited in silence, one that was broken by the clear sound of a bell as the door opened.
— Ding!—
A man entered, one that appeared extremely calm and confident. He noticed Markus and headed straight for him with assurance. But as he saw Josh, his calm demeanor completely disappeared.
"W-wha—" a low exclamation even escaped him.
His face turned white, and he began to sweat heavily. His thoughts were evident: he was fucked. Wasn't this the guy he had just turned away? What was he doing here?!
At that moment, he seemed to consider just turning heels and leaving. Was there even a point for him to be here if Josh was involved? But ultimately, he decided to remain as his gaze locked unto Markus.
Josh chuckled to himself. This guy was probably planning to focus on Markus for whatever request he had while hoping for the best. Quite optimistic, but not totally wrong either.
"Welcome, take a seat. I heard that you requested a meeting to talk about your auction house? What do you have to say?" Markus interrogated, politely but to the point.
"Actually, I would rather there is only us inside before I say…just for security reasons. Would it be possible?" The man tentatively asked, worried about being refused.
Markus waved with the employees taking the hint as they began leaving.
But a second later, Josh also waved them…to come back!
The helpless employees were torn between the two. They were better off listening to the leader of the MTA here, right?
"Don't just stand there and bring me more cakes before you go," Josh ordered, clicking his tongue.
The employees glanced at Markus but seeing that he wasn't objecting, they got to work. This little interlude wasn't a big deal for them, but it made the auction house owner shiver. This guy dared contest an order from Markus without any retribution?!
<script>ChapterMid();</script>
Then again, this was probably because of Markus's benevolence, right? There was no way that the two of them could be of equal standing!
"Now we're talking. This tastes heavenly! Anyway, you were saying?" Josh nonchalantly said. Once again, Markus didn't object.
"Here's the thing. I have a friend that has acquired an item through many coincidences only to realize after the fact that it might not be 100% legal for him to do so…."
"Spare us the "I know a friend" bullshit. Just go straight to the point. We aren't two years old." Josh complained.
"He's right. Just speak." Markus chimed in.
The auction owner loudly gulped before he began his tale about an otherworldly material he had managed to obtain. The more he enumerated, and the more interested Josh became:
- Incredibly hard metal
- Extremely old
- Seemingly alive
- Reacts to external stimulus.
- Changes temperature randomly
Josh raised a brow at the owner:
"So, pretty much you found a very peculiar meteorite? What's illegal about that?" He asked, perplexed.
There were stories of people having a meteorite fall on their roof only to become rich by selling it to the highest bidder. Why was he acting so sneakily? That's when Markus explained:
"As a Fallen, you probably don't know this, but there have been a few instances where alien lifeforms almost wiped humanity." He sighed.
"Wait, are you talking about aliens you guys traded knowledge in exchange for—"
"No, we're talking about deadlier life forms that were way more insidious. I can't say much about them because it's all classified information, but you get the gist. There's a law that any living outer space object requires to be turned in." Markus added.
"Wait, don't you guys give a reward for finding one?"
"There is one, but it's not relevant in the new Credit economy. It's been on the back burner for a while. To be frank, we're not sure that it's even needed anymore. After all, superhumans walk the world." Markus explained.
So this whole thing wasn't a big deal?! Josh looked once more at the auction house owner. Why was he sweating so much? Sure, he might have broken an archaic law, but who cared?
Then again, given that the auction house had been attacked for it, it probably meant that it had some value. Someone out there knew what it was used for and was determined to put his hands on it.
"There is just one thing I don't understand. Why didn't the attacker try and buy it from you directly instead? Wouldn't it have been far easier?" Josh asked, confused.
The man turned red with shame as he awkwardly twirled his fingers:
"I actually received a few offers from the same guy. He wanted to buy it for 800 000 Credits. That's when I figured out that it had value…."
"Don't tell me you tried to find new customers to create a price war?!"
"Y-yes…."
Josh couldn't help but stare at the man in stupefaction. How the hell did this guy have a successful auction house?! Then again, he sold materials, probably not what most wanted to steal.
It probably was a case of the guy being prepared, just not enough. At least his tower was mostly intact….besides hole across multiple floors made with lava.
"You wish to turn it in to make sure that you do not have any legal problems?" Markus raised a brow as he asked.
"Y-yes…"
"Fine, I'll have to record it and—"
But just as Markus was about to continue, he twitched as the nearby Josh vehemently gestured him.
"What now? Just say it…." He asked in an exasperated tone.
"So you need to do a risk assessment for this meteorite, right? How about I take of that? I know a great blacksmith that could take care of it!" Josh shamelessly proposed.
"You mean the one I introduced you to?! The one that I am related by blood to?!" Markus thundered.
"Yes, yes. That one!" Josh happily nodded.
"That would be going against the law of the—"
"You said it yourself. It's been on the back-burner for a while. It's clearly not that important." Josh scoffed.
"It still doesn't mean that one can just do ignore it! I know that you want to craft a new weapon, but there are things to consider that can—"
"An extra batch of D-23 entry tickets for your people." Josh proposed akin to a sly weasel.
"Fine."
"Great!"
The actual owner of the meteorite could only watch the two of them deciding the fate of his item without even consulting him. He watched this happen with incredible nervousness.
The Markus he "knew" was incredibly righteous. For a second, he wondered if this one was fake. But the message telling him about this meeting had been a verified one. The only thing that he could do was hope for the best.
That's when the Josh toward him:
"There you have it. I'll need the rock for research purposes. But, I'll also need plenty of other materials. You won't mind, will you?" He playfully asked.
Seeing Markus staying out of it, the owner bit the bullet and nodded. "Of course not…." How much would he lose on this single event? This was such a pain!
"Awesome, let's go, shall we!" Josh rose and led the way.
Josh, his blacksmith, and the owner returned to the Infinite Treasures tower. The whole place was closed, and they were the only ones in there, along with employees trying their best to repair the damage.
They had only stepped inside when a man came charging at the owner, dragging a young lady by the arm. She seemed to have been crying as long streaks of eyeliner covered her face.
"Owner! This girl here witnessed the launch of the attack. She brought invaders to the top floors. They had a fake VIP token, it seems. What should we do with her? Also, here's a sketch of the culprits!"
The man quickly handed a piece of paper to his boss only to freeze a second later. He had only been looking at his boss before, but he had now just seen Josh and company.
"Y-you, you're… it's him!"
Josh approached, grabbed the newly made wanted poster as he observed it carefully.
"It's not that bad. It does depict well my handsome features. But you should check your info before you flap your mouth. The dark smoke was an accident, and I'm the one that made them flee. Oh yeah, and the token is real." He slowly enunciated.
The blacksmith took out the VIP token. At this moment, the owner finally realized the identity of the young crafter who had been extremely low-key.
"Y-you! You're that man's apprentice?!"
"Eh….yes?" He replied shyly. "But can we check materials now?"
"S-sure, follow me…."
What would come out of this? Josh was already grinning…
Comments