Better Safe Than Sorry

Sheila jogged after Klaus as they exited the director's office.

He hurriedly walked down the hallway as if time were catching up with him. After learning that his cousin hadn't really gotten the exclusive rights, he was only thinking of how to get them back.

Behind him, his secretary silently sighed, trying to keep up with his pace.

"Boss, are you going to take his advice?" asked Sheila, her breathing a little labored.  "I don't think we should make any hasty decisions."

"Then, do you have any other suggestions?" Klaus asked back, and the secretary gave no answer. "If you don't, then we'll do as he suggests."

Director Logan told Klaus that the Awakener Association did not fully trust Noah. They suspected that his cousin was building an affiliation with Vincent Gaspar because half of his guild members were ex-Morning Star, but at the same time, they needed a strong ally for Manhattan.

Thus, the Awakener Association would investigate Noah's movements for the next three months.

And Director Logan advised Klaus to strengthen his guild by recruiting high-class awakeners. He had to attract the attention of the Awakener Association, making them think that there were other options besides the Sons of Thor.

"But boss," Sheila said. "Recruiting B-class awakeners is not as easy as recruiting low-class awakeners. They usually have a lot of demands, and—"

Sheila bumped his back as Klaus stopped suddenly in front of the elevator.

Klaus turned around and looked his secretary in the eye. "I know Sheila. You don't have to worry about it; I already have a plan. And I have tasks for you."

Sheila opened her eyes wide. "Eh?"

Taking off the spatial ring on his finger, Klaus tossed it to Sheila, and she frowned as she caught it.

"I need you to find someone who wants to buy arcana in large quantities."

The secretary pursed her lips. "You can sell them at auction. They're usually willing to buy if you sell them cheaply."

Looking left and right, Klaus checked to see if anyone was around. "Do they want to buy stolen arcana?" He asked rhetorically.

Instantly, Sheila understood what he meant.

Klaus wanted to sell the arcana he had looted from the Black Bulls' vault. But since they were classified as stolen goods, he had to sell them to a dealer. He would use its money to recruit awakeners.

His secretary was a former CIA data manager, so this should be an easy job for her.

"I know someone in the Bronx," Sheila replied. "I've been friends with him for a while. Maybe he could help us."

"Good. And I have another request."

Then, Klaus brought his lips to her ear, and the secretary opened her eyes wide as she heard a whisper. 

"What do you need those two things for?"

"One is so I can enter the dungeon, and the other is for unexpected situations."

Sheila just nodded.

Not long after, the elevator doors opened, and then they went inside.

...

Sitting on the soft couch in the office, Klaus was glued to the screen of his tablet. His eyes traced each post on the website as he swiped the screen with his finger. Occasionally, he mumbled and clicked his tongue.

"Why do they display those lousy awakeners on the 'transfer market'?"

Currently, Klaus is browsing the "transfer market" to recruit awakeners for his guild.

There were two ways to increase members to the guild. The first was by opening recruitment, where guilds would post vacancy information and the awakeners who met the criteria could apply.

This method was the most commonly used by guilds because it was not much different from recruiting company employees. However, the disadvantage of this method was that it didn't guarantee the quality of the awakener candidates.

The second way was to recruit awakeners through the transfer market.

Transfer markets were sites or places where guilds could buy and sell their members in order to strengthen their power. Besides transactions, they also loan out awakeners or even terminate contracts.

Only B-class awakeners and above were traded in the transfer market. The price and transfer fee of an awakener could reach millions or even tens of millions of dollars depending on class, annual performance, remaining contract, and even popularity.

From these transactions, guilds made their profits apart from raiding dungeons.

The big guilds, especially the Five Pillars, took center stage because they had a lot of resources to buy star awakeners; they were usually S- or Top-Class.

However, small guilds could also utilize the transfer market to simply gain profits or improve performance in dungeon raiding.

"By selling the looted arcana, I would at least get 30 or 40 million dollars, and I can buy a dozen B-Class and a few A-Class awakeners."

Klaus had entrusted his arcana to Sheila to sell them, so he had plenty of money now. He was just waiting to hear the news.

Actually, Klaus did not like recruiting awakeners from the transfer market. Most of them had a bad attitude and lacked a work ethic because they overestimated themselves. Besides, he preferred to recruit people with zero experience and train them until they were strong, in the hope that the members would have loyalty to the guild.

While Klaus was busy with his tablet, the door knocked, and a woman in a white blouse walked into the room.

"How was it?" asked Klaus curiously.

Sheila didn't answer right away, only biting her lip as worry was written on her face. "They agreed, but they couldn't give you the money right away."

"Why?"  Klaus furrowed his brows.

"Uh, they said the situation is quite difficult after the gangster group in Queens was destroyed and their arcana were stolen. They need to find the right buyer to avoid conflict."

Klaus sighed, realizing that the gangster group they were referring to was the Black Bulls. "So how long did they sell it for?"

"At least 5 or 6 months. Three months at the earliest."

Klaus sighed in disappointment and dropped his body onto the chair. He could not wait that long.

"So, what should we do, boss?" Sheila bit her lips.

Klaus didn't answer; he just lifted his head and closed his eyes, while Sheila just looked at him with a worried look.

He had one solution, but he hated doing it.

"Laplace," Klaus muttered. "Show me the future."

<Sorry, my liege. I do not advise you to look ahead because it will make you addicted. Besides, there are thousands of alternative futures for every second that passes. But the decision remains in your hands.>

"Just show me an alternative future where I solve this problem."

<Yes, my liege.>

When he took a deep breath, thousands of events he had never seen spun in his head like a movie.

Before long, he opened his eyes wide and frowned.

"Are you okay, boss?" Sheila asked worriedly.

"I'm okay, Sheila. I found a solution, but... never mind. Get back to work."

Sheila was curious about what Klaus had to say, but she eventually left. 

Klaus returned to his tablet.

Indeed, he got a solution after he peeked into the future. But in his vision, Klaus saw the naked woman he met in the gymnasium locker room a few months ago.