Making a Deal with Hibiki Lates

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Onibus.

July 2, x786.

The next morning, Alfonzo woke up in a familiar situation. With three soft bodies clinging on to him, he could not help but smile. Unfortunately, because of how wild he, Erza, Mirajane, and Sun were last night, he woke up a bit later than usual.

So, he had to quickly free his arms from Erza and Mirajane's grasps. Then, he carefully picked up Sun, who was sleeping on top of him, trying his best not to wake her up. After that, he climbed out of bed before stretching.

"Damn, I just wanna stay in bed." Alfonzo muttered while looking at the three beautiful women sleeping in the bed. "I fucking hate work."

"Mmm... Then come back to bed." Mirajane said without opening her eyes. "Taking one day off won't kill you, will it."

In response, Alfonzo could not help but shake his head.

"Although you're not wrong, I haven't even started the job yet." Alfonzo said as he walked over to his luggage. "You should pitch that idea again after a couple weeks."

"Okay, I will." Mirajane replied as she wrapped her arms around Sun, treating her like a body pillow.

Once again, Alfonzo shook his head. Then, after getting out a change of clothes, he entered the bathroom to get ready for the day.

About an hour later, Alfonzo, driving the Escalade, parked outside the Blue Pegasus guild hall, right next to the trailer with all the materials needed for the job.

After that, without even entering the guild hall, Alfonzo floated the materials along as he circled around the building.

Meanwhile, inside the guild hall, all the Blue Pegasus wizards were just finishing breakfast before starting their training or taking quests. However, some of them were surprised when they saw large metal pieces floating past the windows.

"Well, that's not something you see every day." Sorano muttered from in front of the quest board. "Unless you live with someone who controls metals, that is."

"Men~~~!" Ichiya said with snot dripping from his nose while watching the parade of metal through the guilds windows. Then, after regaining his senses, Ichiya put on what he considered his most charming smile. "That's the way a man should handle his work."

"Yes, you're right, Ichiya." The Trimens replied.

"Anyway, let us begin our training." Ichiya said while striking the most manly pose he could think of.

"Yes, Ichiya!" Most of the wizards of Blue Pegasus shouted enthusiastically.

With that, the wizards of Blue Pegasus went about their business and the guild hall fell quiet. Meanwhile, Bob watched his wizards go with a smile.

"*Sigh* My wizards are so motivated." Bob said happily. "And when those training chambers are completed, they'll get stronger."

A moment later, Bob started biting his thumbnail with a frustrated expression on his face.

"Now, I just have to think of a way to make that boy and his wife come to my guild." bob muttered to himself. "They're too good looking to be in any guild other than Blue Pegasus."

While Bob made and discarded ideas to poach Alfonzo and Elicia, knowing that Alfonzo's other girls would follow him were he to switch guilds, the rest of the guild trained and took quests. And eventually, the afternoon came, and the training ended.

As the Blue Pegasus wizards cleaned up after their training, Alfonzo entered the guild hall from the back door. Then, he made his way over to the bar to order something for lunch. After placing his order, Alfonzo scanned the guild hall to find a seat. And when he did, he saw Sorano sitting by herself. So, he made his way to her table.

"Yo, what's up?" Alfonzo asked as he approached Sorano's table.

"Oh, not much." Sorano replied after looking towards Alfonzo. "How about you? How's the work coming along?"

"Just the way I thought it would." Alfonzo replied before taking a seat. "Honestly, doing these jobs for Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Quatro Cerberus are a thousand times easier than building our guild hall. And I had help with that."

"Yeah, makes sense." Sorano replied with a nod. "I mean that tower of you yours was huge."

"That's what she said." Alfonzo said casually.

In response, Sorano smiled wryly while shaking her head.

"Lici said something about you feeling physical pain if you don't say stuff like that." Sorano said in an interested tone. "Is that really true?"

"It is." Alfonzo replied. "Lici and Cana forced me to not say something like that once, and my stomach started twisting in knots. It hurt almost as bad as that time I lost my arm."

While she was interested to know how a condition like Alfonzo's was possible, Sorano was instantly more interested in hearing about how Alfonzo lost an arm. Even more so, about how he got it back.

So, Alfonzo told Sorano about Elicia and Erza's first S-Class quest, how he created an Automail arm for himself, about the quest in Resenbool he took to knock the rust off after so much down time, and the metal he found while on that quest.

Meanwhile, as Alfonzo told his story, the wizards from Blue Pegasus filed into the guild hall. And those who were interested, gathered around the table where Alfonzo and Sorano sat to hear Alfonzo's story, the most interested being Jenny, who wanted Alfonzo to build some weaponized Automail for her [Take Over: machina Soul Magic].

When Alfonzo's story ended, Ichiya, the Trimens, and even Karen, were gathered to listen. And the one who reacted the most was Ichiya.

"Men~~~!" Ichiya shouted emotionally while shedding manly tears as he lunged at Alfonzo to wrap him in a hug. "To think you've suffered through so much. Truly, you are a man to be respected."

Unfortunately for Ichiya , Alfonzo was not in the mood to be hugged by such a manly man as himself. So, before he could get closer than an arm's length, Alfonzo's right arm shot out at high speed. Then, his hand clamped down on Ichiya's face.

"I appreciate the sentiment." Alfonzo said while smiling wryly at the sight of Ichiya flailing his arms and legs. "But I'd rather not have you hugging me while your face is covered in snot and tears."

After saying that, Alfonzo handed Ichiya over to the Trimens. Then, he dispelled the metal he coated his palm with, causing the tears and snot that had come in contact with it to fall to the floor.

"There's no need to be shy." Ichiya said while pulling a handkerchief from his suit's pocket. Then, he blew his nose before continuing. "*Honk* In fact, we should sit down for a cup of tea. That way, we could patch up our relationship that got off on the wrong foot."

"Ichiya!" All of Ichiya's followers shouted emotionally at Ichiya's magnanimity.

"Uh... I guess." Alfonzo replied while scratching the back of his head. "But we'll have to do that later. For now, I need to talk to Hibiki."

With that, everyone turned their attention to Hibiki, who wore a confused expression, unsure of what Alfonzo would need to talk about with him. Still, he bowed slightly before gesturing towards an empty table in the corner of the guild hall.

"If you'll follow me, then." Hibiki said in a gentlemanly tone.

Nodding his head, Alfonzo stood from his seat before stepping towards the table Hibiki gestured to.

"Hey, where are Mira and the girls?" Sorano asked curiously. "I thought they'd be here waiting for you to finish your work."

"Oh, they decided to go shopping today." Alfonzo said without turning around. "They'll probably go back to the hotel after that."

"They didn't even invite me." Sorano said in a frustrated tone. "A shopping trip would have been a great way to spend time this afternoon."

Shrugging his shoulders, Alfonzo continued walking. A moment later, he took a seat at the table Hibiki pointed out. Shortly afterwards, Hibiki also took a seat.

"So, what is it you wished to speak about?" Hibiki asked in a curious tone.

"Well, I had a proposal for you." Alfonzo replied with a smile.

Tilting his head in curiosity, Hibiki waited for Alfonzo to continue.

"Actually, I had an idea to make a lot of money." Alfonzo continued as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and supporting his chin with his interlocked fingers. "And it needs [Archive Magic] to make it work. But when it's ready, we would both be rich. Well... you'd end up rich. I, on the other hand, would just be adding numbers to a total I can't be bothered to count at this point."

Hearing Alfonzo brag about his wealth, Hibiki could not help but twitch an eyebrow. However, there are not many people who are against making more money, and Hibiki is no exception. So, he leaned forward and gestured for Alfonzo to continue.

Smiling in response to Hibiki's gesture, Alfonzo created a screen with his [Archive Magic], surprising Hibiki in the process. However, Alfonzo did not let that bother him.

"Well, just like when I created the new magic vehicles, I wanna change the way communications work, too." Alfonzo said while gesturing towards the image on the [Archive Screen]. "Right now, there are only two ways to communicate over long distances. Either by writing letters or by using a communications lacrima."

Nodding in agreement, Hibiki once again gestured for Alfonzo to continue.

"Unfortunately, letters take a long time to reach their destination." Alfonzo said. "And if there's an accident, it won't' get there at all. And then there are communications lacrima. As you know, these lacrima only allow you to connect to someone with the paired lacrima."

Once again, Hibiki nodded, signifying that he understood.

"But this is where my idea comes in." Alfonzo said, once again gesturing towards the screen. "With one device, a person could have access to three modes of communication."

"Three?" Hibiki asked in a confused tone. "But you only mentioned two just now."

"That's right." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Letters, or text, and communications lacrima, or video, as I like to call it."

"And what's the third?" Hibiki asked.

"Audio." Alfonzo replied. "Or simply speech."

Seeing how Hibiki was interested, Alfonzo went on to explain how the device would work. With the use of [Archive Magic], to connect the two devices, sigils that convert ethernano into magic power to power them, and all the other necessary parts to make magical smartphones that he would take care of.

"This sounds like an incredible idea." Hibiki said, his tone filled with genuine praise. "But I don't see why you would need my help with this. I mean, you're quite capable of using [Archive Magic] on your own."

"Although you're not wrong, the first time I ever cast it was a little more than three weeks ago." Alfonzo replied. "You, on the other hand, have been using it for years. And with your experience, we would be able to cut down on the time needed for experimentation."

"I see." Hibiki replied in an understanding tone. "Well, I must say that I'm quite interested."

"Good." Alfonzo replied with a smile.

"And how will profits from this venture be distributed?" Hibiki asked while narrowing his eyes.

With that, a lengthy negotiation started. To make a long story short, Alfonzo and Hibiki both decided to bring their guilds in on this venture as investors. In the end, should Ur and Bob agree, each guild would get eight percent of the profits, Hibiki would receive thirty-five percent of the shares, and Sixth Sense Holdings would receive forty-nine percent of the shares.

As for the reason behind the breakdown, Alfonzo provided the idea and would be creating the hardware and software for the item. Hibiki would be vital in managing the [Archive Magic] network, and the guilds were only included because of Alfonzo and Hibiki's love for their guilds.

"*Sigh* This will revolutionize the way people keep in touch." Hibiki said with a smile. "It will also help people who are in danger ask for help much more quickly, too."

"On top of that, I'm sure dark wizards will end up buying... Uh... stealing them, too." Alfonzo said with a grin. "And they'll definitely use them to discuss their nefarious plans. But with the hot word protocols we'll be adding to the network, we'll be alerted whenever someone talks about doing something they shouldn't."

"Yeah, and that's probably the best part of all this." Hibiki replied with a smile of his own. "*Sigh* Unfortunately, we'll have to let the Magic Council know about this, too."

'Yeah, I guess we will.' Alfonzo thought to himself, having completely forgotten about the magic council. 'Just as long as they don't try to get a piece of the pie, everything will be fine. But still, I guess we can't go all NSA and DHS without talking to the governing bodies on the continent first.'

["On the other hand, you'll be able to do like

Batman did when he needed to find the Joker in Dark Knight."] Bedlam said with a grin.

["Yeah, that was super bad ass!"] Riot shouted excitedly.

'And the biggest breach of privacy ever.' Alfonzo replied while rolling his eyes.

["And?"] Bedlam and Riot asked simultaneously.

Unfortunately, Alfonzo could not say anything in his defense. Because if he could use it to bring down Junko or any of the upcoming threats to the continent, he would do it in a heartbeat.

"Anyway, it will take a few days for me to get the first prototype magic item ready." Alfonzo said. "After that, we can work together to get it to interact with the [Archive Magic]. And if we're lucky, we'll be finished by the time I'm done upgrading your training facilities."

"Yeah, I hope so." Hibiki replied with a nod. Then, he extended his right hand for a handshake. "Here's to a fruitful cooperation."

"Yeah, let's hope everything goes well." Alfonzo replied as he accepted Hibiki's handshake.

After that, the two continued discussing any issues they may have to face with connecting the devices to the [Archive Magic] network until Erza, Mirajane, and Sun arrived at the guild hall to spend time with Alfonzo.