MTL NOVEL Chapter 33: CH -33:)
I make a beeline for the bar to see that Bill has somehow missed my farewell declaration. He's hunched over the counter and talking in whispers with a figure shrouded from head to toe in a dark brown cloak.
"Well speak of the devil and he shall appear." Bill mutters in good humor as he catches sight of me and exits his hushed conversation. "That's him right there."
The hooded figure swivels around on his bar stool and stands to greet me. He pulls the hood back revealing white skin, black eyes, and brown frizzy hair that hides his ears.
Korka, Supply Officer, Lv. 33
'Hmm. That's an odd title.'
"Ah, there he is. The bounty hunter on the rise. It's a pleasure to meet you Jack." Korka the mystery man greets as he offers me his hand.
"How can I help you?" I politely reply as I complete the handshake.
"I'm going to go straight to the point. I would like to hire you for a job. 2.5 million Beri for four months of your time."
I could actually feel one eyebrow quirk upwards. Money isn't a concern for me at the moment. It probably won't be for a long time after the Blackjack payout. Hypothetically speaking, I had enough to last me years.
But two and a half million was still a serious amount of coin. Even if I could easily make more by doing the bounty hunter thing, my soon to come departure from Caeba has left me a bit directionless at the moment. As it stands, I don't see any harm in at least hearing the man out. "What's the job?"
Korka grinned and waved his hand airily. "Oh nothing too difficult. I just want you to sit on a trade ship all day and help protect it from pirates as it travels between point 'A' and point 'B' a few times."
My eyes narrowed just slightly. A simple protection gig? There had to be more to it than that. For the kind of cash he's offering you could just hire two dozen normal men to do the job. Hell, you could probably find half of them without ever leaving this bar. "What's the ship carrying?" "Oh the usual," The man dismissed casually. "Food, clothes, guns, nothing really out of the ordinary."
I paused a moment, mulling over his answer, before asking what obviously became the next most pertinent question. "Who's it for?"
Korka leaned in and whispered his next words directly into my ear.
"The Revolutionary Army."
"The Revolutionary Army."
The words left Korka's mouth and instantly my back straightened as every muscle in my body tensed. My eyes briefly darted behind him back to 'Bill' and watched as the bartender sliced a lime into eighths, seemingly haven gone back to his own business.
'Maybe...maybe he didn't hear?'
Oh who am I kidding? The man's a member of Cipher Pol. He definitely heard...probably...maybe... Fuck. There's no way to know for sure.
Korka seems to pick up on my discomfort -though not it's source-, and gestures towards an empty booth a little ways away. "How about we go talk in private?" he suggests with a friendly smile.
I manage to shake off my stupor enough to nod but the vocal agreement gets stuck in my throat.
"Excellent! This way then," The man speaks as he snatches two glasses and a bottle from the counter and heads off into the corner.
My feet are following a few paces behind him but my mind is still whirling with questions. Why would a CP5 agent be talking to a revolutionary? Did he even know? If he didn't know or perchance still doesn't, would he even care? Bill wasn't exactly a 'by-the-books' kind of guy seeing as how he's selling info in the first place. 'Ugh. I'm just going to argue myself into a circle at this rate.' I realize with a tiny scowl. 'First things first.' I think as I focus in on the back of the man ahead of me.
I need to know exactly who I'm dealing with. I refuse to be blindsided again like I was with Jorgen. In fact, lets make it a rule. 'New Survival rule #1: Always use [Observe] on anyone offering you a job.'
Korka, Supply Officer, Lv. 33
Korka is a member of the Revolutionary Army in South Blue as well as the user of the Bird-Bird Fruit Model: Ostrich. He joined the Revolutionary Army seven years ago in a desire to end the cruelty of the corrupt nobles who plague his homeland. Although he is decently strong, Korka doesn't particularly care for fighting and has settled into a role that keeps him far away from the front lines. Health: 750/750 STR: 82 VIT: 75 DEX: 112 INT: 89 WIS: 56 LUK: 7 I read over the description a second time and felt myself relax slightly. 'Alright. Nothing immediately jumps out as suspicious but I should still tread carefully.' This guy may pack less of a punch than some of the people I've encountered, but that DEX score combined with his possession of the Ostrich Fruit means he could probably run circles around me. Those birds could sprint..what? 40 miles per hour back on Earth? Higher? And that's before operating on cartoon physics. "You know..." I begin to whisper as we walk. "It's not usually the best idea to just up and tell people you work with the Revolutionaries. Aren't you afraid I might go alert someone?"
Korka smiles back at me knowingly. "I doubt anyone in this town would be able to catch me. I can be...pretty quick...when I want to be."
He probably thinks he's being cheeky right now, throwing out a teaser like that. Little does he know that my own reality breaking powers have already informed me about his. 'And might I say, mine are sooo much cooler.'
The two of us settle into the dark corner booth and Korka steeples his hands together, apparently waiting for me to start the conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you enjoy reading? Visit my Ko-fi! There you will find the advanced chapter in PDF format, ready for your convenience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://ko-fi.com/fictiontopia