Chapter 21: Expensive Commodities
After settling in Thallaeria, the next thing Theo went to do was buy a new phone, so he could properly log all his information back in and do some research.
For some reason, he had not been announced dead. His records were all still intact, everything from his bank to his school to his old mobile account, because it had all been safely stored in the cloud. He’d half-expected to find the accounts wiped clean. Instead, everything was exactly where he’d left it.
Which meant the Elevation Hero Agency had done their research on him, and decided that, based on what they found, covering up his death simply wasn’t worth the effort. No one would care.
Even though Theo’s mother had been the daughter of some Hero Agency, he didn’t know which one, or whether she was even still alive. His father had erased every trace connecting them.
So after his father died, he’d been pretty much alone.
’But I am not anymore.’
Theo stared at the new phone in his hand, at the picture of Jupiter Lady, the wallpaper that had carried over from the cloud, the same one he’d kept on his old phone. For a moment, his thumb hovered over it. Then he opened the cloud, selected every image of her, and deleted them one after another, before he logged on to the Hero Website. The wallpaper reset to a plain default, and the screen went bare.
Since the post-apocalyptic era and the rise of the Tower, Heroes had become less a calling and more of an Agency. Saving lives was more convenient now, and far more expensive. Only those with enough money deserved to demand that their life be saved.
So there was this Hero Website, launched about thirty years ago, where Civilians could hire heroes through their agencies for a certain amount of money.
Even the esteemed Elevation Agency had a few of their Heroes listed on the site. Of course, the higher-ranked ones, Heroes like Jupiter Lady, were rarer and far more expensive, available only to the people beyond the website. The ones who sat at the top of it all.
Theo combed through the listings, looking for someone capable.
___
Hero Walker
Affiliation: Southpaw Agency
Rank: D
Ability: Walking on Wall
Hire Price per Hour: 300$
___
Hero Dash
Affiliation: Stratham Agency
Rank: D
Ability: Super Burst of sprint that can cover ten meters in one second.
Hire Price Per Hour: 300$
___
Hero Hulk
Affiliation: Elevation Agency
Rank: C
Ability: Super Strength
Hire Price Per Hour: 900$
___
Hero Uthedaisis
Affiliation: None
Rank: D
Ability: Claims to be very good with the sword
Hire Price Per Hour: 75$
___
Hero Iron Man
Affiliation: Skyline Agency
Rank: B
Hire Price Per Hour: 3,000$
___
Theo kept scrolling, the terror on his face deepening with each listing, barely watching the sidewalk in front of him.
’How are they so expensive?!’
He’d never imagined hiring heroes would be this expensive. The system was kind of brutal, when he thought about it. Someone could be in extreme danger, scramble to hire a hero, and still have to pay three hundred dollars for a single hour? And that was only the bottom of the market. The B-rank in the metal suit was asking three thousand an hour, and he wasn’t even close to the top of the list.
’Well, in another sense, it was designed like this so Heroes wouldn’t be hired for long hours. But I need them for long hours, at least until I can find a big enough house, buy the equipment, and move her home, so I can have people tend to her there instead of leaving her at the hospital. It’s too dangerous there.’
Theo sighed.
’And I can’t leave Sesan and Ethea alone either. Aside from the fact that they need my care, their lives could be targeted too.’
He scrolled out of the browser and dialed the number Billy had given him. After a few rings, a voice came on.
"This is Theolyne."
{Oh Lord Theo!}
"Please sir, drop the title, it makes me uncomfortable..."
’What is wrong with these people?’
{Ahem, I’m sorry sir. You called quite unexpectedly early.}
"Yes, the Director mentioned that you’ll be able to assist me with finding good private houses?"
{Indeed, he put me on the project. I actually scheduled a meeting with a Real Estate Agency I know. I’ll meet them first and get back to you. Do you have a lawyer? You might wanna get a good lawyer too. Do you want me to search for one on your behalf?}
"Uhm, no. I think I’ll take care of that. I just want to mention, I’d appreciate it if the house has a large underground space."
Billy paused, but not for long.
{An underground space? Uh, alright, I’ll look into that!}
Theo nodded.
"Thank you, Lord Billy."
Before Billy could refute, Theo hung up and chuckled to himself, then sighed.
He slotted his phone into his pocket. Ahead of him stood an enormous market hall, as large as an entire street, its sign reading: Dumphrey Market Hall.
He bought almost everything he could lay eyes on, and all it took was a swipe of his card. Staples first: rice, flour, beans, cornmeal, sweet potatoes, dried noodles, oats. Then the meat and proteins: fresh beef, pork, chicken, eggs, cheese. After that, vegetables, fruits, dairy, cooking supplies, a few drinks, household supplies, medical supplies, and finally some comfort food that had been made inside the Tower, the kind that sat on the more expensive end of the shelf.
Theo tried to track down the ingredients for the bone broth, too. He needed the leg bone of a Flame Wolf, an Evea flower, and lukewarm water, and the seasonings were all secreted from rare, otherworldly vegetables that couldn’t survive outside the Tower.
The only thing he managed to find, though, was the bones of a Flame Wolf. The rest simply wasn’t sold outside. He turned the single wrapped bone over in his hand. It was a start, and not much more than that. Eventually, he’d have to venture into the Tower himself. The first and foremost reason was to find a way to cure Thalleria. The second was to learn how these unique foods were made, since they might help both Ethea and Sesan.
[A New Hidden-grade Investment Has Been Detected]