Fifth floor, demon hunter guild. Inside an office space.

Tap! Tap!

The rhythmical tapping sound of my fingers echoed across the office space.

Opposite to me was Edward Stern's holographic image. Neither one of us spoke.

"What you proposed is 15% on all profits with no shares, am I correct?"

He was the first to break the silence.

"Mhm, that's my initial proposal"

I nodded my head in confirmation.

"Isn't that a bit too low?"

"I believe fifteen percent is extremely fair. Given that we're just borrowing your name for protection"

Throughout the exchange, neither mine nor Edward's expression changed.

To be a good negotiator one needed to be a good actor. That was what I had learned throughout my life.

If the other party knew about what you were aiming for, things became much easier for them.

Only through deception and indifference could one make a great negotiator.

"That's true, but we'd also be the ones facing the backlash from this situation"

Edward Stern calmly rebutted.

"What might you be referring to?"

Hearing his response, my brows knit for a split second. I then proceeded to feign ignorance. The slight twitch in my brows did not go unnoticed. Edward caught that.

Whether he thought I was acting or not, I did not know.

"Let's not play dumb. We can all tell the potential of this magic card system of yours. However, despite its perks, it also comes with its downsides"

"Like?"

"...Like for example making an enemy of all lower-tiered mages"

"Wouldn't the money you make up for the hate you accumulate?"

I quickly rebutted.

With enough money, what did it matter if the lower-ranked mages left? They could easily replace them.

"We are a guild. We can't just screw over our own members like that. Plus, we also need to talk long-term, what if a competitor pops up on the market? Or what if the cards don't function as well as you presented them to be..."

Edward Stern shook his head at my response. With no emotions on my face, I calmly nodded my head.

"Yes, but I've also offered a discount just for your guild members on all magic cards. Even if you're hated by the lower-tiered mages, you'd make up for it with the cheaper prices for the cards"

"What's the discount? selling at market price?"

In a pinching motion, a small gap appeared between my thumb and index finger.

"Just a tad bit above market price. You know that's already fair. Given the high demand coming from you guys, if we go market price we might make a loss since you'd be taking most of the production"

Edward Stern shook his head.

"That's not good enough. Raise the profit to seventeen percent and we've got a deal"

"Seventeen percent?"

I instantly shook my head.

"No, that's too much"

"I believe it's fair given all the backlash we will receive from this deal."

Adjusting the hologram angle, Edward Stern proceeded to explain.

"Despite being ranked number one amongst the other guilds, if we suddenly come up with such a revolutionary product, the other diamond-graded guilds won't hesitate to band together to stop us. You of all people should know how the world works. Everyone is full of jealousy. Once we cement ourselves as the number one guild, I don't doubt that the other diamond-graded guilds would sit still and do nothing..."

Hearing Edward's analysis, a 'troubled' look appeared on my face. Glancing at Edward Stern for a short moment, I massaged my forehead.

"I understand your troubles, but the highest I can do is sixteen percent"

Edward Stern frowned in response.

This was merely acting though.

In reality, he was already fine with fifteen percent. He originally wanted to test the waters to see if he could increase the profit.

It looks like he succeeded.

'He's still a little bit wet in the ears'

Not that it was bad. He was sixteen after all.

"Sixteen percent? Is that all?"

I shook my head.

"No, there's another condition"

"Another condition, what is it?"

Edward Stern this time frowned for real. Another condition?

"...I want you to protect a couple of people"

After a short pause, I went straight to the point.

"Protect?"

"Yes, I want you to use your guild resources to protect my parents. 24/7, at all times. With the best possible security available"

I made sure to emphasize the words 'best possible security available'. Couldn't be having useless bodyguards protecting my parents.

That aside, this was my main objective in this negotiation.

From the very beginning, I was prepared to concede one percent for this.

Despite Angelica being with my parents at the moment, she couldn't stay with them all the time.

I needed her.

With Everblood and Matthew still at large, I knew that my parents weren't safe. Even worse, now that the Monolith was also targeting me, I knew that my parents were walking on thin ice.

This deal was crucial, and I knew it.

"So you want the guild to protect your parents?"

"Yes"

Hearing my blunt reply, on the hologram opposite to me, Edward Stern suddenly smiled. He instantly understood everything.

'So he purposely baited me, not bad...'

To think that he purposely enticed him to ask for more profit. It seems like the flow of the conversation was not on his side...

Not bad at all. In fact, he was impressed.

"Sixteen percent plus protection? that can be done"

I smiled.

"Then we've got a deal"

*

"Well, that worked out somehow..."

Ten minutes after coming to an agreement on the terms of the deal, Melissa and I got out of the office.

"Can't believe it you pulled it off, I guess you're not as useless as you seem"

She murmured in a soft voice. She was legitimately surprised. She didn't know that I was quite talented at negotiating.

'That's because I was never useless, to begin with', I softly muttered. I didn't say it too loud as I wasn't really too keen on arguing with her.

Fortunately for me, she didn't hear.

Ding!

Stopping at the elevator, I pressed the button that led to the first floor. Suddenly, a thought struck me. I quickly turned to Melissa.

"By the way, how long do you estimate you'd finish the product by?"

Melissa mused a little bit as she stared at me.

"If nothing goes wrong by the end of the second year. If there are complications, I'd say beginning or end of the third year"

"I see..."

This seemed to be within my estimation.

Given her current rate of improvement, I'd say I would still have to wait around a year or two before the card would officially be commercially usable for the market.

As long as she could solve the efficiency loss problem, the rest was a breeze. Unfortunately for her, I didn't know this, hence why she was on her own.

Fortunately, thanks to today's deal, Melissa was able to procure enough funds to push the project forward.

It was sort of a bonus that she got to increase the pace of the development of the product.

Ding!

Exiting the elevator, Melissa and I quickly got out of the building. Waiting for us outside was the same limousine as before.

We quickly got on it and headed back to the academy.

Like that, the negotiations came to an end.

...

Demon hunter guild, top floor. Guild master office.

Amanda sat on her father's office chair. Before her, stood her father's holographic image.

"You sure have some peculiar classmates"

"mhm"

In response to her father's words, Amanda nodded her head slightly. He wasn't wrong.

"Are you not going to say goodbye to them?"

"No"

She shook her head.

She would meet them tomorrow, there was no point.

"That's fair...I'm sorry I can't be there with you again"

After Amanda's reply, for a brief moment, there was an awkward silence between the two. In response, Edward Stern quickly changed the topic.

"You know, with a new S ranked dungeon appearing in one of our areas, we have no choice but to keep guard of it"

"It's okay, I understand. I'm used to it"

A bitter smile appeared on Edward's face as he heard his daughter's response.

'If only I had more time...'

"Good daughter, I will sort out the situation by the end of the month. When I came let's have some father-daughter bonding time okay?"

"mhm"

"Great, that's great...huh? The gate is showing signs of opening?...Amanda, baby. Daddy has to leave, I'll contact you soon...yes, I'm coming, Love you"

"Lov-"

Clink!

Before she could reply, her father hung up.

Silence descended the office space. Neatly putting her phone to the side, Amanda slumped on her chair and blankly stared at the ceiling.

How many days was it that she had last seen her father?

Fifty? One hundred? Two hundred? A year?

No matter how much Amanda thought about it, she didn't know.

She had already lost count.

...

Undisclosed location, far from Ashton city.

WUAAAA! WUAAA! WUAAA!

Waves of magic energy spread across a flat field.

Not minding the pressure one bit, standing not so far from the enormous gate that seemed to be the size of a large house, was Edward Stern. Guild Master of the Demon Hunter guild.

Holding onto his phone carefully, he spoke in a soft tone.

"....When I came let's have some father-daughter bonding time okay?"

"Sir, there seem to be fluctuations coming from the gate! It's spiking up repeatedly!"

Mid-call, an urgent voice called for him in the distance.

"Great, that's great...huh? The fluctuations coming from the gate are spiking up repeatedly?"

Edward quickly put his hand on the speaker of the phone.

He did not want to worry his daughter.

Turning around he looked at the worker who had just spoken.

"What's the situation now?"

With a tablet in his hand, the worker's pupils dilated.

"Yes sir. The measurement seems to be rising again! Oh my god, it's getting worse!"

Sensing the urgency of the matter, Edward Stern knew that he had to step in. Removing his hand from the phone, he bid Amanda farewell.

"...Amanda, baby. Daddy has to leave, I'll contact you soon"

"Sir it has risen once again! This time more than double!"

Once again the worker spoke. This time his whole body was shaking.

WUAAA! WUAAA!

The magical energy that was being emitted from the portal quickly spread within the vicinity.

"...yes, I'm coming"

Sensing the changes within the environment, Edward Stern knew that he had to act fast.

If the energy of the gate became too high, then the environment around them would become impossible to live in.

The magical energy alone in the area would be too strong for anyone to live in, and the area would soon be turned into a no man's land.

"Love you"

Clink!

Left with no choice, Edward had to cut the conversation with his daughter quickly. He quickly hung up.

"Show me the data now!"

Without wasting any seconds, he quickly appeared before the worker who was startled by his sudden appearance.

"Shit, this is a lot worse than expected..."

Staring at the data on the tablet, Edward knew that he had to act fast. He quickly put on his suit and moved to the entrance of the dungeon.

He was going to dive in.