Chapter 3: Job Offer

Chapter 3: Job Offer

"lET Meh at em! Let me at em! No one calls me tiny and adorable and gets away with it!!! No one! Stop laughing at me old man!!! I'LL BITE YOUR ANKLES OFF!"

Hamilton paused as Lily's derange cries for bloodshed echoed through the leaky office building.

"Ah dear god above, what did I do to deserve this?" Hamilton murmured with a sigh, hiding around the corner of the office that led to the main foyer, regretting ever having rescued the deranged girl.

He took a moment, collecting himself before confronting the headache that awaited him.

Turning the corner, Hamilton frowned. What greeted him was the sight of Lily being held upside down by her ankles, her fists swinging widely with her mouth making chomping sounds as Vaz restrained her from assaulting a short gentile old man and his bodyguard who laughed jovially at the girl's antics.

But... why?

"Hammy! Hammy!!!" Lily begged upon noticing the gruff man, folding her arms in a pout as her upside down dress exposed her red underwear. "Tell Vaz to put me down so I can stab the old geezer! Give him a good ol shank!"

Like a shark drawn to blood, Hamilton ignored the girl, walking directly to the elderly man who was dressed in fresh designer wear.

Money signs were in Hamilton's pupils, from the freshly polished shoes, diamond inlayed handcrafted maple cane, and slick Livani suit and matching fedora, Hamilton had to consciously stop himself from drooling over the man's wear.

"Hi! Welcome to Special Services incorporated! How may we be of assistance today?" Hamilton said, gesturing to a nearby sofa and putting on his best smile as Vaz dangled Lily punching and clawing away into the backrooms.

"Bob Hamilton was it?" The blue-eyed man said, removing his fedora to reveal silver hair, a feat reserved only for the richest or the luckiest of citizens living in Violence City. "I am Hanssen Cassius. I've heard a lot about you and your crew's feats during the Hero’s Demon extermination, and was astonished to hear you were offering freelance services."

The man put a gloved hand out, a dated gesture that was frowned upon unless you wanted to get hacked. But fortunately Hamilton’s non-cybernetic arm was his dominant one, allowing him to ease his hesitancy and shake the old man’s hand.

"Pleasure! Pleasure! All good I hope?!" Hamilton laughed, trying to mask his nervousness at the prospect of a wealthy client and the guard whose jacket bulge slightly from whatever weapon he had hidden beneath his jacket.

"Good enough for my employer." The man brandished his teeth, signaling his guard away and making Hamilton unconsciously frown. Getting rid of one's guard in a seedy part of town like this wasn't a move he would have made, but he didn't say anything as the guard left."Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

"Oh! Yes, of course!" Hamilton quickly replied, leading the old man to his office and passing Officer Gibbs with the two bumping into each other.

They shared a knowing look, the police-woman shifting to the elderly man who flashed a smile in response.

Hamilton opened his office, the room now near immaculate with everything intact and clean.

The twonkie wrappers were gone, the desk was repaired, and Hamilton's office was completely organized.

Thanks Kate. Hamilton said to himself, walking behind the desk and gesturing for the old man to sit on a nearby stool as he sat down on his folding chair.

"So, what can we do for you sir?"

"Retrieval." The gentile man said, raising a brow as he declined to sit and placed a datapad on the table that was stamped with a symbol of a bag of money with silver coins falling out of it. "Sensitive materials, High reward, no questions asked Mr. Hamilton.”

Hamilton rubbed his stubble before grabbing the tablet, looking over the information and noticing the info provided was near non-existent.

A picture of a metal box in a damp cavern, that's all there was.

Hamilton looked it over, taking in every small detail of the lone photo including the fact there runes inscribed on the cavern walls. Meaning it was a dungeon, A, possibly S tier from the intricate inscriptions.

“Straight to business then… A box? What's it doing in a dungeon? If you want dungeon diving services why not contract a guilder? Our diving license is uh, how do you say, not quite up to date.”

“No questions.” Cassius smiled, “My employer appreciates discretion. And guilders aren’t known for being… Quiet.”

“Hmm. Ok, let me contact the Adventurer's office for the geological-”

“Discretion… Mr. Hamilton.” The old man reiterated, his eyes closed and producing a jovial smile. “No one. No one can know about this, its location, or existence, especially the guilders, which is why we have come to you."

We?

Immediately alarm bells rang in Hamilton’s head, telling him to decline. However what the elderly man did next made the grizzled war mage throw all caution to the wind.

Tapping on the top of the tablet, the screen suddenly flipped from an image of a sealed container, to a credit sign followed by a string of numbers that made Hamilton short circuit with his jaw agape.

“Discreetly retrieve the package,” Cassius said, brandishing a wolfish smile that held shiny and clean teeth. “And all this could be yours. If you accept the job, the rest of the information will be delivered to this datapad. If you don’t-"

Cassius pulled the tablet back, with Hamilton's hand quickly slamming down on its hardened edges.

"Ehem. Uh. Two.. two hundred… thousand is quite a bit of money for a retrieval job. At least tell me what the classification of the dungeon is." Hamilton insisted.

"SS."

Hamilton's breathing stopped.

Ah.

Maintaining his cool, Hamilton began to fidget with the papers on his desk as a means of distraction from the tingle on the back of his neck.

"I was under the impression most SS class dungeons went caput after the Demon Lord died."

Cassius narrowed his green - weren't they blue? Hamilton caught himself noticing - eyes and smiled "Not all of them."

Hamilton sighed, weighing his options with his cyber arm clenching. He didn't like this.

SS was the third highest tier dungeon behind SSS and EX, the latter being reserved for the literal Demon Lord's castle.

The dungeons served as domiciles for powerful demons, equipped with traps, minions, and long winding paths, making the place a nightmare for anyone that stumbled upon them.

But they weren't impossible, at least not to a War Mage like Hamilton and the fact that high-powered guns existed. Tools that would not have existed if not for The Hero who brought in the age of enlightenment.

The main problem with dungeons were that they were unpredictable, high concentration zones of mana, and deadly to anyone not a mage or contracted with a spirit.

Fortunately, the war had eradicated every one of the Demon Lord's generals, the magic using humanoids unable to withstand the advent of mankind's sudden explosion of new weaponry and tech brought on by The Hero.

"So what can my team expect if we accept? Is there an advance? An SS dungeon is doable, but I need to know what my people will be up against." Hamilton said, processing the expenses and who'd he'd need to bribe for a ride out and gear.

"Twenty grand up front. To cover travel expenses and incentivization." Cassius smiled, eyeing Hamilton's eyes ears perking up. "As for what to expect, you'll have to figure that out on your own." .

"Riiiight… of course.." Hamilton sighed, picking up the Intellipad.