Chapter 157: Splitting the Money
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By the time they arrived at Xio and Fors' rented apartment, the Beyonder characteristics of the two cultists had already precipitated.
The Beyonder characteristic of the "Farmer" was a clump of thick green liquid, resembling a glob of seaweed-filled water.
The Beyonder characteristic of the "Prisoner" appeared as a grayish stone mixed with some crystals, capable of reflecting light under illumination.
Hobert carefully placed the Beyonder characteristics into prepared wooden boxes, and the three of them took turns resting.
At dawn the next day, the carriage Xio had hired appeared at the door once again.
This time, Hobert noticed that the coachman was a scruffy old man with a thin, disheveled beard and hair.
The three of them rode the carriage, bringing the corpses to the mercenary club's entrance. Hobert went inside alone and headed to the third-floor information wall room to find the attendant, asking them to notify the issuer of the cultist bounty.
While waiting in the reception hall on the first floor, Hobert had two cups of black tea and waited for over half an hour before a few people dressed in black formal attire sat across from him under the attendant's guidance.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, their superior finally said, "We need to verify that you've caught the right people."
"They put up a fierce resistance when we tried to capture them, and they attempted to flee, so..." Hobert smiled, "The bodies are in the carriage outside."
The superior nodded, not particularly concerned.
Hobert led them outside, allowing Xio and Fors to step out of the carriage first, while two men in black formal suits got inside to examine the bodies.
Queen's Avenue was mostly empty, with only a few passing carriages. Neither the nobles inside the carriages nor their drivers paid any attention to the three carriages parked on the wide street.
The black-suited superior started chatting with Hobert as they stood by the carriage. "So, it was you who broke into the Lobyto Textile Factory and killed someone last night?"
Both Xio and Fors tensed up. They hadn't expected last night's operation to be discovered so quickly.
"You could say that," Hobert replied with a smile, careful not to reveal anything incriminating.
"A merchant from the Feynapotter Kingdom also died at the scene," the superior said nonchalantly as he lit a cigarette.
"He was with the cultists at the time," Hobert explained. "But since he wasn't on the bounty list, we treated him as just another cultist."
At this moment, the inspectors finished their examination and nodded to the superior as they removed their gloves.
"Good job!" the superior said with a smile. "I never liked him anyway."
Taking a drag on his cigarette, he asked, "After keeping the bodies for a while, did anything unusual happen?"
Hobert smiled, "You're asking about the Beyonder characteristics."
The superior nodded. "Since you know, I won't need to explain. Believe me, both of those characteristics will be hard to sell. Let me buy them from you."
"I've sold cultist Beyonder characteristics once before at a mercenary club gathering," Hobert said, subtly indicating that he could attend such gatherings and that he knew the prices of Beyonder characteristics. "Name your price."
"How about 280 pounds for each?"
"Too cheap. 'Prisoner' should be 300, and 'Farmer' 350."
The superior was momentarily stunned, clearly surprised by Hobert's accurate knowledge of the prices. "Your asking price is a bit high..."
After some friendly negotiation, they settled on 290 for the "Prisoner" and 330 for the "Farmer."
Once the price was agreed upon, Hobert took the wooden box from Fors, climbed into the superior's carriage, and completed the transaction.
After counting the money and ensuring everything was in order, Hobert handed over the Beyonder characteristics and the corpses. With a simple nod of acknowledgment, both parties parted ways.
In the carriage, Xio and Fors watched as Hobert pulled out a stack of gold pounds. The sight of the large sum made both women's breathing grow slightly heavier.
They weren't strangers to large sums of money, but it was rare for them to see over a thousand pounds in one go.
Xio chuckled, "This is definitely the most profitable job I've ever taken!"
The earnings from this job were equivalent to what she usually made in a year.
Hobert smiled and said, "Now comes the most exciting part: splitting the profits."
He continued, "The bounty for the two cultists is 200 each, making a total of 400. The two Beyonder characteristics sold for 620, so our total income is 1,020 pounds.
"I introduced the job to Xio, so taking a 5% broker fee isn't unreasonable, right?"
"Not at all," Xio quickly replied. "That's a very fair fee."
For high-paying jobs like this, it was common for broker fees to reach 8% or even 10%.
Hobert took out 51 pounds for himself, and they began dividing the remaining 969. Xio took half, amounting to 484 pounds and 10 soli, while Hobert and Fors each took a quarter, earning 242 pounds and 5 soli apiece.
With that, the task was successfully concluded, and the carriage headed towards Blanca Street.
Fors asked Hobert, "Earlier, you mentioned having a lead on the main ingredient for 'Trickmaster'..."
Hobert smiled and replied, "I've already acquired it. If you're planning to advance soon, you'll only need to buy the supplementary materials."
Fors smiled back, "Great."
The earnings from this task, combined with her savings, were enough to pay for the main ingredient of "Trickmaster."
Hobert added, "Given the potential consequences of last night's operation, I suggest we stay together for a while, at least until the Feynapotter embassy's surveillance ends or we're sure they aren't monitoring us."
Fors nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. We can take turns keeping watch at night to prevent any ambushes."
Xio also agreed, so their planned move was postponed by a few days.
Back at 192 Blanca Street, since they hadn't rested well the previous night, Hobert and Fors went to sleep first, while Xio stayed in the living room reading a magazine and keeping an eye out for any potential surveillance.
Around noon, Hobert woke up after a couple of hours of sleep, feeling refreshed. When he went downstairs, he found Xio preparing lunch.
"Sorry, Hobert, I only know how to make pasta," Xio said as she served Hobert a plate.
The popular pasta in Loen was similar to what Hobert remembered as Italian pasta. The noodles were boiled, then mixed with salt and olive oil, mushrooms were added, and the dish was topped with either meat sauce or tomato sauce.
Hobert smiled. "When you're hungry, a big plate of pasta is perfect... though, I can't eat that much."
Xio, a bit embarrassed, said, "That's the portion I set aside for myself."
Hobert finally understood why Xio was so strong: she could eat!
After filling their stomachs, Hobert glanced at the clock, noticing it was already around one in the afternoon. "Fors hasn't woken up yet."
"Let her sleep a little longer," Xio said while cleaning up the dishes. "You should head to work. Once Fors wakes up, I'll take a nap."
Hobert didn't argue, helped wipe the table, then grabbed his briefcase and left for the law firm.
When he arrived at the office, Hobert received an official notice, and its contents surprised him: "The court date has been moved up!"