Chương 96: [2.22] Rained on Parade (Part 5/5)

Ah, crap. Angelica always knew this was a possibility. If she kept affiliating with Zenmoon, or any other Summoners, odds were someone might want to meet the master she was Bound to. She just didn't expect it to come up so soon. Fioso had been understandably patient, but it sounded like Zenmoon was about to be more insistent.

"Sorry, but she's busy for a bit." Gelic led with that, cutting off the idea that anyone could meet her human identity anytime soon. The same conundrum existed as with her mother. As long as she could be scried and the truth revealed, her alter ego couldn't introduce herself. Now what else should she reveal…? The name should be fine.

"Her name is Merlina." She'd already confirmed thanks to Fioso that no other Merlinas presently existed, and they wouldn't be able to see her listed in whatever book displayed the names if they had a copy too.

"And she is currently unaffiliated with any groups."

"I see, as Pathos expected then." Vystal pondered for a moment.

"We were worried she might be a Rogue, since… well things can be tumultuous in that case. But it sounds more like she just hasn't found a Sect to join yet, or hasn't committed to the Rogue path. Does that sound about right?"

"Err, I guess." Angelica couldn't really argue, since she'd never put much thought into it.

"Can I ask why your mentor wants to meet with her?"

"Well, umm, I'm probably not the best to—""To try to recruit her, Buggy," Sperado interrupted, sitting up once more, getting right to the point.

"They want to recruit her because of you."

"Uhh, because of me? Did I do something weird?" Gelic had her guesses, but figured it was better to keep playing dumb.

"Well, you are a bit… different…" Vystal took back over.

"As an Imp, you knew Transfiguration, and were generally of much higher intelligence than other Imps, enough so that you were able to deduce that Malignant's weakness and then deal most of the damage yourself. While it could be just that your abilities were a natural counter, the level of power and ability displayed was something closer to a Ghoul or even a Daemon. So now, naturally, we would be interested in meeting the Summoner who helped you attain such feats and proficiency."

Gelic honestly didn't know whether to be happy about the praise or anxious because of how much she'd stood out. Perhaps she had gone a bit too far with her antics and should have acted the fool a bit more. But she'd just wanted to help and had been abiding by her Order, so she shouldn't feel bad about that, right?

"And we're not the only ones, I'm sure." Rastille jumped in.

"After the battle, there was a lot of interest in you, and your master by extension. We got a lot of questions, but Vystal only shared what was certain, that you were basically on loan to us by another Summoner not part of our Sect, and we didn't even give them your Alias since officially it was unregistered. But once Summoners are curious about something, they're often stubborn until they find out the answers. So don't be surprised if you or Merlina are approached by others.

They may even send some to spy on you to determine the accuracy of your capabilities and gauge your master before making themselves known."

"Ahh…" The realization of the earlier strange Demon that had been deterred now made a lot more sense. And honestly, made her feel a lot better about the whole thing. Being spied on sucked, but thanks to the Deterring Field, they at least couldn't barge into her apartment without serious repercussions. And it sounded like the spy from earlier had more innocent intentions than her mind had assumed.

"I think I ran into one already."

"Well, that could be more motivation for her to meet with Pathos." Vystal clung to the point, almost as if she was eager to sell the idea.

"If she finds that she's a good fit, the Sect would offer her full protection, meaning all the intrusions from others would cease. She may even be offered to come live here with us depending on her situation and her Rank. Would it be alright to ask what Rank she's at currently? Well, she may not be certain if she's unaffiliated."

"She's a Novice." After some internal debate, Gelic decided it was fine to share. They'd find out regardless if she got quizzed on Summoner spells and other things, so it was best to set their expectations low. Or… apparently raise them even more.

"Wow, she must be a prodigy then." Rastille was stunned while the eyes of all three Summoners in the room lit up.

"Yes, that's definitely a bit lower than I expected," Vystal murmured.

"I wonder who trained her. It must have been someone very experienced."

"Sorry, don't know." Gelic cut off that question as soon as she was hit with expectant gazes.

"Well, I say we adopt her and make her part of the team!" Sperado was suddenly a lot more jazzed about the idea.

"We could use a fourth, and I miss having a younger sister who looks up to me! Vystal used to treat me with such reverence when she joined us as a Novice, but now she acts like I'm beneath her, even though I have a higher Rank!"

"Not for long." The woman glared at him.

"If she did join us, we'd have to make sure Sperado has no influence on her training. But yes, that is likely the main reason Pathos wishes to meet with her. Though, I imagine there is more to it even if she has no interest in joining, so if you could pass along the message. Anyways, sorry about all that, it's not why you're here. We need to close out the Contract." Ah, finally, getting to the good stuff! Ever since arriving, a part of her had wanted to hold out her grubby little claws and demand "Payment please!"

It would also be the moment of truth. Since they hadn't negotiated the terms at the start, there wasn't a lot preventing them from shafting her on the payout. But she doubted they would, just based on past experiences, and since they apparently wanted to recruit her master, then it'd make no sense to rob her now. Ultimately, joining Zenmoon or another Sect wasn't an idea she was completely against, either. It would at the very least be worth hearing out the offer.

If she could join just for the protections and still have the freedom to do art and Demony things in secret on the side, then it could definitely be the right move. Of course, there was still the issue of her Soulbound circle at her apartment, but maybe that was something she could ask about when meeting with this Pathos lady. Either way, it sounded like they'd pressure her for a meeting regardless until she caved, whether she was actually interested or not.

"So, it took some convincing with the higher ups, but your contribution to helping us with the Malignant Geyser can't be understated. Thanks to you, we were able to secure 80% of the Runestone mining rights. Normally, we would just pay Essence out of our own reserves for this, but we've had it tweaked a bit for you. Hopefully, it will suffice. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Since you also want money, they've approved a transfer of $50, 000, that we could even pay right now. And also, as an extra bonus, we're planning to give you the first Runestone mined. Rastille, if you'll go grab it." She paused a moment for the big man to nod and lumber away.

"As for the Essence… well that's a bit trickier. Unfortunately, all three of us are a bit low at the moment from paying our own Demons for their work yesterday. Combined, we'd barely be able to scrape together a thousand to pay you with, and that's just not enough." Frankly, Gelic wanted to interject and absolutely say it was enough since it hit her immediate goal. But, uhh, if more was on the table, she'd keep her proboscis sealed and let the Summoner keep talking. Maybe it would even be two thousand!

"So we got Pathos to negotiate for us, really leaning into how much of an asset you were. And she got the Sect to agree to pay you a total of ten thousand Essence." Puwah, ten thousand?! Angelica's mind almost fried a little bit after hearing that, wondering if she needed to get her ears cleaned. Well, except she didn't have ears. She did her best to keep her composure, else the eyes on her mask likely would have glowed to an insane brightness from the greed welling up in her.

That would probably be enough to cover the cost of Identity Fraud and then some. Auto-Color could be saved!

"But it will have to be Pathos who pays you. Frankly, our bodies would struggle to contain that much Essence at once. And I don't think the Sect would be comfortable handing it over to us either. So when she returns from the Middle-West, we could arrange for her to meet you, assuming you are willing to let her take on the debt of the Contract. Maybe you and your master could even meet with her at the same time for convenience's sake."

Ah, so that was definitely part of the payout: a bribe to put Zenmoon in a good light for Merlina. And, well, she was absolutely willing to be bribed, especially if no legally-binding strings came with it. The double meeting was a no-go, but she could make up excuses, surely.

"I would be fine with transferring the debt. When do you think she'll be back?"

"Hmm, it's still up in the air." Vystal seemed annoyed by that for some reason.

"Really depends on how the talks go, and it hasn't been proceeding smoothly from what I've heard. I would expect roughly another week, but no more than two. And when she does get back, it may be a few additional days for her to obtain the Essence, since even she wouldn't have that much in reserve." Ugh, roughly two weeks? Damn. Her parade had been sufficiently rained upon. Angelica's own patience wasn't the problem.

She'd be fine waiting a long time for the promise of such remuneration, especially if it was specified in the Contract. The issue was her mother's patience. No way could she hold the woman off for that long. Even getting a delay of a few days was more than she'd expected. Hell, she wouldn't doubt that the woman would be texting her again tonight or tomorrow to see if they could schedule something yet. Should she request that the three of them go ahead and pay her the thousand they had?

Would that be too demanding or possibly mess with the Contract? Ngh, it was probably best to let it lie and keep things simple, not wanting anything to interfere with those juicy terms. She'd just have to work hard and gain the gap of Essence quickly in the meantime, something she was certainly capable of as long as she could keep herself mentally healthy. And with a deadline, that usually helped as well.

"Okay, I agree." [Contract updated | Reward: $50, 000, one Runestone, 10, 000 Essence | Debtor changed to Pathos | Rough deadline for payment: 2. 5 Weeks] Hmm, what would happen at the end of that deadline? Would it force them to negotiate a new one, or would Gelic be able to place a Curse on Pathos? Not that she would, especially since the only Curse she currently had available was Soul Suck, and she doubted that would amount to even as close of a payout. Owo, shiny!

Apparently her Demon brain still had some immaturity in it, because as soon as she saw the giant rock that Rastille lugged into the room, she couldn't help but be dazzled. It was more than twice the size of the Runestone she'd been gifted by Diamen, and incomparably more lustrous. Yes, if what she'd gotten before was low grade, this must be the tippy top grade, because she couldn't imagine anything more stunning.

Fortunately, she had enough room in Second Stomach to swallow it whole, because honestly she wasn't confident otherwise that she'd be able to even pick it up with her claws and wings long enough to teleport back to her apartment. With the rock secured, she pulled out her phone so that they could pay her, having to swap back to Puffball mode to properly press the buttons.. The little beep it made was nice, when the card completed the transfer.

But looking at the receipt of confirmation honestly didn't feel as great as Angelica expected. She should be ecstatic. That roughly doubled her current cash, bringing her close to the six figure goal where she could start investing. But something about it felt hollow. Maybe it was her lingering depression souring the mood, or perhaps it didn't feel rightfully earned. Well, she had definitely earned it.

Killing the damned eel Malignant definitely should have a high price tag, and honestly, getting them the mining rights could even be argued to be worth more than she got. Could it be that the sheer amount of money didn't feel real? No, it likely wasn't that either. The idea that she'd be set for a good while wasn't lost on her. Hmm, maybe it wasn't so much what she'd earned, but how she'd earned it.

The $50, 000 was great, but she was honestly more excited about the $500 she'd be getting from future book cover commissions. Yes, Demon work had gotten her out of a desperate situation, but it wasn't her dream. It was still good to leverage, earn plenty from it so she didn't need to worry about cost of living. However, making it as an artist was still her ultimate goal, something that had been put a bit to the wayside. But with this boon of wealth, she could hopefully focus on it more.

Plus, honestly money didn't really compare to Essence now. It made sense why Demons didn't desire cash. Sure it could buy them human material things if they wanted any, but Essence could also buy them products they'd more likely desire as well as make them stronger. Maybe going forward she needed to tweak her reward distribution for jobs, or only ask for cash from Summoners she was closer with.

Having to explain the errant request to each new one had honestly become tiring anyways, since many struggled to grasp the concept of why she'd want it. And then that would put a bit more pressure on her to rely on her passions and keep improving them, else they might get lost in Demon desires. She'd still definitely look into investments, though, because it felt foolish not to.

Flexing her actuarial brain would make her degree feel like less of a waste as well, something that she could brag to her mother about and make the woman feel better about the cost of tuition if she wasn't fully on board with the whole art thing. While Gelic still had her phone out, Vystal requested, "Would you mind giving us Merlina's contact information? That way we can organize with her properly once Pathos has a more concrete date." A reasonable request, but how to go about it, since she only had the one phone?

"Sure, but Merlina and I share a phone number, so we'll both see the messages." Not really a lie, and it got no raised eyebrows. But speaking of contacts, that made Gelic turn to her fellow Demon who was hovering above his vacant plinth that he'd previously perched upon.

"Would you like to be my Accomplice, Xinder? That way we can connect too if needed."

"No thank you." He refused, but somewhat politely at least.

"Do it, Xinder," his master directed, though it didn't sound like an Order, rather a strongly-worded suggestion. [Xinder has been registered as an Accomplice] Gelic didn't imagine they'd stay up all night gabbing to each other like a couple of besties, but it was still good to have in case of emergency. After that, she departed with a Return spell, since her Summoner friends had their own things going on, and she didn't want to impose, and also didn't want to be interrogated much more about Merlina.

Besides, she had her own Essence-grinding objective now. It was time to get to work.