"Master, Fairy has detected that your heart rate is rising sharply. For the sake of your physical and mental health, please maintain your normal breathing rhythm and calm down."
Fairy's voice came through Wise's earpiece. After hearing what Fairy said, Wise also tried hard to calm himself down.
"I understand how you feel. You don't need to be nervous. I only came here because I have a commission I need you to handle."
Huojin leaned back in his chair, looking down at the nervous siblings as he spoke. He raised a hand toward Butler beside him and continued:
"I'll skip introducing myself. I can't be bothered to repeat myself.
The man beside me is my personal butler. He has no name, so you can call him Butler or whatever else you like."
With that, the elegantly mannered Butler bowed to Wise and Belle and said:
"It's a pleasure to meet all three of you, the esteemed Phaethon and Fairy."
Wise and Belle looked a little shocked to hear Butler say that, because they actually knew about Fairy... Right, Nicole and his people seemed to know about Fairy too, so there was nothing to be shocked about.
Huojin: "No need to be so surprised. I've investigated your backgrounds very thoroughly, including that artificial intelligence of yours."
Wise and Belle were briefly embarrassed, then replied to Butler:
"It's a pleasure to meet you too... Mr. Butler."
Belle: "Same here!"
With the brief introductions over, it was time to get down to business.
Wise: "Mr. Huojin, you mentioned just now that there was something you wanted to commission us to do?"
"Yes. I came to see you because there's a long-term commission that requires someone who meets certain criteria, and you happen to fit.
But I'll discuss the specifics later. Right now, I'd like to show you my sincerity first."
As Huojin spoke, he gestured to Butler beside him. Butler raised the rather large briefcase he had brought to chest height and slowly opened it toward Wise and Belle.
The dazzling golden light spilling through the gap as it opened made Wise and Belle instinctively close and shield their eyes. Only after the case was fully open and its opening-flash mechanism had automatically switched off did they look inside.
Inside were rows of trapezoidal gold bars as wide as an adult's wrist, with a purity of 99.99%. A black metal business card was also attached inside the lid. The siblings stared, transfixed.
"These gold bars are your deposit."
As he spoke, Huojin reached out, removed the business card, and held it up in front of him.
"As for this business card, you'll need your artificial intelligence to scan the invisible barcode on it.
It contains my contact information, along with membership in the security company I own. If anything unexpected happens, such as your personal safety being threatened, you can use this to call for backup. Available around the clock, whenever you call."
After saying that, he gave the business card a hard flick with his finger. Only after hearing it ring did he set it on the front counter, but neither Wise nor Belle was paying attention to it.
Looking at the glittering gold bars, Belle asked in shock and curiosity:
"Th-this much gold, and it's only the deposit?!"
Wise: "It's really hard to imagine how many Denny these would convert into... But on that note, Master Huojin, could you tell us the specifics of your commission now?"
If he was paying this much just as a deposit, what he wanted them to do was probably far from simple. They needed to understand everything before deciding.
Huojin: "Certainly. My commission is actually very simple. Butler, give them a brief explanation."
With that, the desk and chair Huojin was seated at moved silently. First, they turned 180 degrees, then smoothly slid to the right side of the front counter.
"Yes, Master. If you would both please direct your attention here..."
As Butler spoke, he took a mechanical device out of his clothes. The device then projected a holographic screen the size of a blackboard.
Wise and Belle paid close attention to what Butler was about to explain, to see what perilous commission required coming all the way here specifically to seek out legends of the Proxy world like them.
Butler: "First, an explanation of the level of danger. As for the commission Master wishes to entrust to you, we can guarantee with one hundred percent certainty that neither of you will face any harm or risk whatsoever during its execution."
Wise and Belle nodded as they watched the vertical column of numbers after the words "Danger level:" on the holographic screen roll for a while before settling on a green zero.
Butler: "The commission is as follows: approach the target and, without them suspecting a thing, draw the information Master wants out of them.
And guarantee for the rest of your lives that neither the target nor anyone else will ever learn of this commission or the client's commissioning process."
On the screen were pixel figures representing Wise and Belle. Pixel Wise shook hands with a question-mark pixel figure representing the target and obtained information. When pixel Belle faced another pixel figure, a white X sealed her mouth. The meaning was obvious.
Belle: "Approach the target... So you're asking us to be spies or something?"
Butler: "If that is how you see it, Miss Belle, then yes."
Wise expressed his difficulty: "But we're Proxies, not spies. Getting information out of someone without them noticing, like you said, really isn't something we can do."
Belle: "Yeah, haven't you come to the wrong people?"
Butler put away the projection and replied:
"No, we have not. The reason Master wishes to entrust this commission to you is that you are the most capable of completing it, with the highest chance of success."
Wise, Belle: ???
Before Wise and Belle could finish making sense of Butler's words, Huojin spoke up from his seat to the side:
"I have my own reasons for coming specifically to you, of course. Otherwise, I'd have just posted it on the Inter-Knot and waited.
Enough pointless talk. You'll understand once you see a photo of the target."
Wanting to keep them in suspense, Huojin took a photograph out of his coat and handed it to Belle, who was closest to him.
Wise and Belle looked at it. It showed a beautiful, lavishly dressed young lady with pink hair and an elegant, gentle air, but they didn't know her.
Huojin: "Well? Are you taking the commission?"
Belle narrowed her eyes in thought. "Uh... Mr. Huojin, could you tell us about the person in the photo?"
Huojin turned toward them in confusion and said, "Hm? Don't you know her?"
Wise pointed at the person in the photograph and told Huojin, "No, we don't. We've never met this young lady. If we had, we'd definitely have some impression of her."
"...Ah, this one. I took out the wrong photo. That was taken at home several years ago."
As Huojin spoke, he took another photograph out of his pocket and handed it over. "This is the one. You'll definitely recognize her."
Wise and Belle took it and looked again. Was that Nicole?
Belle said in surprise, "So the target you were talking about is... Nicole? Then are both these photos..."
Huojin nodded. "Yes. That's my daughter."
Wise found it a little hard to believe the difference between the photographs, but he also asked with concern, "Then... may I ask if something's happened to Nicole?"
From the moment they walked in until now, they had offered so much and made everything so serious that the siblings had thought they were preparing to do something major.
Then they suddenly said the target was Nicole, which left the siblings at a loss.
Huojin: "She's fine. It's just... a bit of family business. I need your help."
After hearing that, Wise and Belle exchanged a glance. It seemed... it wasn't anything urgent?