Chapter 968: Looking For Information
I looked up at the big guy, "What do you need from me?"
He looked at me up and down, "You really went to Xetarva and cleared two bug nests?"
I raised an eyebrow at him, "That’s what I said, wasn’t it? Do you need something?"
He nodded and was just about to open his mouth to speak before he got shoved aside hard enough for him to fall onto the ground comically.
Standing behind him was some cloaked guy wearing a rather intimidating looking mask and it took me a moment to remember that I’ve seen people dressed like this before back during the first Pirate Lord raid I participated in.
If I remember correctly... These guys are--
"The Reapers..." Someone whispered behind me. "I didn’t know they were here too..."
"This job is too good to pass up... Of course they would be here..."
"Are they also here to recruit people?"
"I doubt it... They work alone..."
"Then what are they..."
The person with the mask stepped up to me but paused when the terminator guy let out a dissatisfied shout.
"Hey?! What’s the big idea?!! You bastard!"
He pushed himself back on his feet and turned to face the hooded guy, only to freeze in place when he saw the mask.
"A... Ah... Diamond Rank... Edge ’Double Demon’ Kale..."
Err... I assume this was this masked guy’s name but how the heck did he even know who he was with the mask on his face?
Ah... The mask does have a unique design and markings on it so I assume that the members of this Reaper group have different types of masks to identify themselves or something.
The terminator guy quickly gestured towards me, "Ah! Please don’t mind me! Go right ahead!!"
He then turned and walked off at a speed that was not quite a run but also not quite a walk either like he was trying to run away without drawing too much attention.
Was this guy really that scary or something?
Hmm... I guess seeing that he was a Diamond rank Merc, he must at least have done some stuff to get to that rank. After all, that’s one rank higher than me right now.
The masked guy turned back to me and I could sense his gaze looking up and down at me before settling on Freyja that was still beside me.
Interestingly enough, even that terminator guy maintained his distance from me because of Freyja but this guy showed no reservation in getting closer to me even with my dog right here.
The masked guy shifted his gaze back to me as though he had determined the dog not to be a threat to him.
"Tera of the Teran Mercenary Company. You have been to planet Xetarva."
He did not say that as a question but more like a statement of fact.
I nodded to confirm it, "Yes. What do you want?"
"Information," He replied simply before gesturing off to the side where the elevators that led to the upper floors of the Guild were.
I understood he wanted me to follow him so I stepped behind him as he turned around, leading the way to the lifts.
Freyja followed along of course, causing most of the other Merc around to slink back when they saw my dog.
We stepped into the lift, the masked guy pressing one of the buttons to prompt the lift to ascend.
As the doors closed to lock us inside, he spoke again, "You can call me Kale. As you might have heard, I am from the Reapers. I believe you might have met some of my brethren during the Pirate Lord raid?"
"I’m surprised you even know about that," I commented, giving him a side eye.
He did not turn to me, "You have been making quite a name for yourself despite being new around here. Those who know what to look out for will know."
"I’m guessing you are one of them?"
"Our group is one of them, yes."
The lift let out a ding as we reached our floor and I realised this was a space filled with what looked like meeting rooms, probably for Mercs to discuss deals or something without being listened in on.
He tapped on his personal terminal and one of the rooms flashed green before the door unlocked itself, allowing us to step inside before it shut to seal us in.
There was a large table and a few chairs and he gestured for me to sit.
I didn’t and remained standing, especially since he also made no move to sit as well.
I could feel he found my action amusing as he moved over to the other side of the room, clearly to put distance between me and himself and using the table as some kind of shield from Freyja.
He nodded at me, "You might have guessed by now, but we Reapers are also interested in taking part in that bug extermination mission. And since you are the only one around here who has been there and is still alive..."
I blinked at him, "There have already been others who tried and died?"
"I thought you’d been to the planet? Were you not also fighting alongside other Mercs to clear out a nest?"
I shook my head "We soloed a nest and didn’t work with anyone else. I saw multiple Merc ships in orbit but I didn’t know they had already started to try clearing the nests. I thought they were still scouting the planet."
There was a pause before he tapped on his personal terminal, prompting a screen to be projected on one of the walls to display a video.
It took me a moment to realise that it was a first person recording of me slaughtering the bugs alongside the dogs with my shotgun and halberd in the first nest.
The video was basically a montage of clips that have been edited together to make the video and I have to say just watching a few seconds of it was enough to get my blood pumping.
It’s really well done, I’m going to have to give Vier some headpats later.
"That is you," He spoke up after a while, once again phrasing it as a statement instead of a question.
I didn’t try to deny it and just shrugged at him.
He cut off the video and dismissed the screen to turn back to me, "As I said, we intend to challenge one of the nests as well and seeing that you are the only one around here who is alive and has information about the planet and the bugs, we’re willing to buy information from you."
I suppose that isn’t surprising.
I nodded at him, "What do you want to know? And what are you paying to know?"
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a data chip which he placed on the table, though his hand never left the chip itself.
"We believe that if the video showcases your real skills, we would like to formally welcome you as one of the Reapers. Under normal circumstances, you would have to start at the bottom of the hierarchy and work your way up, but we are willing to let you skip a few ranks if the information you provide us is good enough."
I raised an eyebrow at him, "You’re inviting my entire group to join?"
"No. Just you. You will have to leave your current Mercenary group."
"What makes you think I even want to join your group to begin with?"
There was a pause as though he never thought I would actually reject this offer.
"You don’t want to join us?"
"Not really? I’m happy where I am. And I definitely wouldn’t want to leave my own group just to join another Mercenary party. I’m the leader of my current party after all."
He straightened slightly, "You do realise... We are one of the only few Mercenary groups around that have members that are of Prisma rank, right?"
I shrugged, "I’m not in the Merc business for the fame or even the fortune. I mean... The fortune’s definitely nice but it’s just a means to an end, not my actual goal."
"What is your actual goal then?"
I grinned at him, "To find Earth."
There was another pause and this time I’m pretty sure he thought I was crazy.
Honestly, I really just said that to make him give up on me because I don’t want him or his group thinking I was trying to work against them or something.
Surprisingly, the guy nodded in understanding and slid the data chip back into his cloak, "I see... I understand. In that case, we are willing to offer an upfront payment of fifty million Credits and an additional one percent of the bounty that we might receive from clearing the nests on the planet."
"Ten percent."
"Three percent."
"Five."
"Done."
I crossed my arms, "Very well. Ask your questions and I will answer to the best of my ability."
Nice. That means we can even get money without doing any clearing~