The Transaction

Altair was still shaking his head at the low grade of the Beyonder materials available at the gathering when a door deep inside the building creaked open, and a Hooded Man stepped out.

With an air of superiority, he casually began sizing up the people who had come to attend the gathering.

When he spotted Altair, the corners of his mouth lifted noticeably. He summoned an Attendant beside him, handed him a note, and pointed at Altair.

Altair was still looking at the "blackboard" when the approaching Attendant interrupted him. He took the note, and the Attendant said, "This is from Mr. A."

At the Attendant's words, Altair casually unfolded the note and glanced at it. It read:

"The goods are ready. Come to the Inner Room to make the transaction."

Altair turned to look toward the back of the hall and saw Mr. A waiting by the doorway.

Following the Attendant's directions, Altair made his way to the door without being stopped. He opened it and saw Mr. A sitting alone on a Single Sofa, with several Sealed Boxes on the Coffee Table.

Altair entered, casually closed the door, and walked over to sit opposite Mr. A.

In a low voice, Mr. A asked, "The items you ordered last time are in these boxes. Would you like to take a look?"

Mr. A's words immediately drew Altair's attention to the boxes. He picked up two and set them in front of himself, then said, "We've always had great confidence in your abilities, Mr. A. But I'm sorry for the trouble; I'll still need to inspect them. That way, we can make sure everything is correct."

Mr. A showed not the slightest displeasure at Altair's actions. He simply watched him inspect the goods.

After using the Silver Dagger to break the "seal" and open the two boxes, Altair looked inside each one.

One contained "a heart tinted pale blue and turned crystalline. Dreamlike colors shimmered across it, like a diamond catching the light."

The other contained a fist-sized, scarlet sphere resembling a heart. It gently expanded and contracted, its surface translucent, with liquid faintly flowing within.

After confirming the items, Altair casually closed the boxes.

Altair smiled at Mr. A and said:

"You and your people work pretty quickly, Mr. A. It's been less than six days since we told you we wanted to buy these materials, and you've already gathered them all."

Mr. A didn't react to Altair's flattery. He merely said flatly, "The Vampire Beyonder Characteristic costs 1,700 pounds. We sacrificed some members to get it, and its special nature warrants the higher price."

"The Sequence Seven Psychiatrist Beyonder Characteristic costs 1,200 pounds."

"The Sequence Seven Witch Beyonder Characteristic costs 1,200 pounds."

"The Sequence Seven Appraiser Beyonder Characteristic costs 1,100 pounds."

"The Sequence Seven Pyromaniac Beyonder Characteristic costs 1,200 pounds."

"Five Sequence Seven Beyonder Characteristics, 7,000 pounds in total."

Mr. A's words left Altair inwardly astonished, though not because of the price. It was because a Sequence Five was so desperate for money. With no other choice, he opened his wallet, took out a thick wad of cash, and handed it over to pay the balance.

He couldn't help shaking his head at the situation, thinking, No wonder the Aurora Society went from being a True God organization in the Fourth Era to an Evil God organization in the Fifth Epoch.

So all their current reputation was built through killing.

Mr. A took the remaining payment and began checking it right there.

As Altair watched him start counting, he sighed helplessly and thought:

These days, no organization can get by without operating funds.

Especially a secretive organization like the Aurora Society. As an Evil God organization, it can't do what the True God churches do and collect donations from a large congregation of followers.

The Pathways they control don't offer any special way to make money, either. Investments take too long to pay off, and there's no guarantee they'll turn a profit.

So the organization's operating funds can only come from High Sequence members taking jobs—assassinations and the like—to keep it afloat.

When Altair first saw the contact Uncle Leif had given him, he'd been unable to calm down for a long time. So the On-Demand Assassination business was already being run by all sorts of organizations.

After finishing his count, Mr. A picked up the excess money and asked, "What else do you need?"

Since counting money was such a bother, Altair had given him 10,000 pounds. After deducting the balance for this transaction, 5,000 pounds remained.

Altair glanced at the money left and said to Mr. A, "I still need three more Witch Beyonder Characteristics, and I'll need higher Sequence ones later on, too."

"Keep buying Hunter Pathway Characteristics and materials, from low to high Sequence."

"For the Apothecary Pathway, I only want Sequence Six or higher Characteristics."

"For the Spectator Pathway, I only want Sequence Six or higher Characteristics as well."

"I urgently need a Traveler or Secrets Sorcerer Beyonder Characteristic."

"Knowledge of how to make Extraordinary Items is also something I urgently need."

"The extra money is a deposit. Once I no longer need materials from a particular Pathway, I'll let you know to stop buying them."

Mr. A looked at Altair, who was still speaking, and said in a hoarse voice, "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now and run off with the money?"

Altair didn't believe he would do that. Most members of the Aurora Society were Lunatics, but it depended on the circumstances.

People who went mad for no reason were "lunatics" in the ordinary sense. They weren't the same as fanatics like these people, driven to madness by their faith.

Altair looked at him and smiled.

"I don't believe you'd dare do that without good reason. You should know what channel I used to contact you."

"If anything happens to me, I'm sure the Loen Army will launch an all-out attack on the Aurora Society."

"You'd become the Aurora Society's Sinner. When the others found out that this happened simply because you got greedy over 5,000 pounds, I think they'd skin you alive."

Altair's threat didn't make the atmosphere in the room awkward. Mr. A smiled too and said, "You're right. The way you carry yourself makes me want to guide you into joining the Aurora Society. You're even more 'mad' than I am."

The simplest way to deal with a Lunatic was to be even "madder" than him, until he was the one who got scared.

Altair stood up and picked up the boxes containing the Beyonder Characteristics. "There's no conflict of interest between us. Cooperation is the best option, isn't it?"

"You need money, and we have money. We need your Beyonder Characteristics, and you have them. A direct transaction serves both our interests."

"I'm leaving. I hope you'll bring me more Beyonder Characteristics next time we meet."

Altair didn't wait for Mr. A to see him off. He left the nondescript detached house alone.

He didn't feel at ease until he climbed into the carriage waiting at the street corner to pick him up. Only after the carriage had traveled some distance did the "fully armed" people lying in wait near the house begin to withdraw one by one.

How could Altair have come to Mr. A's gathering without taking precautions? He wasn't stupid enough to walk straight into a trap when he knew it was there.

Before going in, Altair had instructed Simon and the others that if he didn't come out within a certain amount of time, they were to storm the gathering.