[Brynhildr Fort: Guild Building]

The lounge on the second floor of the Guild Building was one of the many places for guild members to relax. The decoration of the place was quite nice with a constant temperature. From the window, a view of the city from a good angle could be seen.

There are lots of sofa chairs and square tables enough for 40 people to sit at the same time. There are also 3 large screens installed in a triangular formation in the middle of the room which display TV channels that can be changed at will.

Shortly after Astrid arrived, she sat on the sofa opposite where Rena and Hecate were sitting.

"Ya, A-cchi-senpai." (Rena-cchi) | "Good afternoon, Astrid-san." (Emilia)

"Good day Hecate-chan, Rena-san, Emilia-san. But, please wait a moment." (Astrid)

Because there were a lot of people coming in and out, the lounge was not an ideal place for private conversations. However, this problem was solved easily when Astrid took out a plate and activated it.

The other three did not say anything about this, as this item wasn't something new.

The moment the plate was activated, all surrounding sounds became isolated. Now, there was no need to worry that their conversation will be heard by other people.

After making sure the plate was working properly, Astrid started the conversation.

"This should be enough... So, Hecate, how was your trip?" (Astrid)

"Overall, it was very good, I had fun on the trip." (Hecate)

Hecate whose head was busy being petted by Rena answered calmly.

It was hard to see from Hecate's expression, but from her attitude, it seemed like she didn't mind being petted. On the contrary, she seemed to really enjoy it. Astrid thought, maybe she should pet Hecate's head more often.

Unaware of what Astrid was thinking, Hecate continued her words.

"I've written a report about my quest and posted it on the management forum, have you read it?" (Hecate)

"The one you got buff from an Ancient Mastersmith for 2 hours?" (Astrid)

Of course Astrid had read the report Hecate posted.

It was said in the report that after Hecate personally delivered a letter from her Blacksmith mentor to the principal of Soltreus Magic Academy, she triggered a chain quest (lie) and obtained the identity of the special staff there.

Then, she spent some time to upgrade her badge status from Silver to Diamond. Hecate didn't go into too much detail about this, but considering it only took her a day, most likely the process wasn't that difficult.

After that, with the privilege of her Diamond Badge, Hecate obtained a relic which was an old hammer that triggered another quest. It was this quest that sent her to the instance dungeon, where she accessed the Ancient Mastersmith's memories and had to defeat several demonic boss monsters that were his enemies when he was alive. (lie)

And one of the rewards that comes after completing the dungeon was this buff. A buff from the soul of an Ancient Mastersmith that greatly increases Hecate's overall Blacksmithing skill by 2 levels! (lie)

Not only was the metal smelting and forging time shortened, but the success chance of upgrading equipment was also greatly increased. Unfortunately, the buff wasn't permanent and the duration wasn't long, so she can't do much to utilize this buff except just for upgrading her equipment. (lie).

"Ah, that one? Shuna-cchi and the Blacksmith department have been discussing it since this morning." (Rena-cchi)

"Perhaps they want to search similar relics to get the same instance dungeon." (Emilia)

What Emilia said made sense.

It was natural that their motivation was ignited, after seeing Hecate successfully upgrade several pieces of equipment to +10 in a row. Note that most people only dare to upgrade their equipment to +4. More than that, the success rate would decrease for each upgrade level, and at +9 to +10, the success rate would be infinitely small, no more than 1%.

Although Hecate's mission was a unique mission exclusive to her, finding and collecting relics was not a problem. In fact, there were many relics that had been collected by the guild left unsorted.

They only need to sort the relics related to Blacksmithing from the collection of relics that the guild has collected.

The so-called relics here referred to items or belongings of Natives (or monsters) that absorbed a great deal of their owner's obsession. This obsession was so great that it forms an instance dungeon where people can experience events centered on the owner's obsession.

...Or so it says in the game lore.

In short, they are items that can create instance dungeons, which people can conquer without having to worry about being disturbed by others outside the party. There was a limit to the number of times a relic could be used, and once that limit was up, the relic would turn into a normal item.

Unfortunately, the relic that Hecate used has run out of use and has become trash, otherwise Shuna and her Blacksmith department could borrow the relic themselves from her.

For some reason, after hearing Rena and Emilia's words, Hecate's expression became strange.

“So, did you call me to ask about this? But as I said in the report, I only got the hammer and nothing else.” (Hecate)

"Of course not, actually I called you here to talk about another matter." (Astrid)

Astrid quickly sorted out her previous conversation with Rena and Emilia.

About recruiting Rena and Emilia to Tenz Corporation, moving their residence to Tokyo, booking seats at Tokyo University... And also, the talk about Hecate's sickness in the real world, and their intention to invite her to move to Tokyo together.

Hearing Astrid's explanation, Hecate's expression became even more strange.

"Did you investigate my situation in the real life?" (Hecate)

"Wait, this is not what you think! Hecate-cchi, we never had any malicious intentions towards you!" (Rena-cchi)

Noticing the change in Hecate's expression, Rena frantically started looking for an excuse.

But Hecate didn't seem to care about the excuse. She just looked up and her gaze met Rena's eyes, and then she said with a dissatisfied expression.

"Why did you stop your hand? Continue..." (Hecate)

"Ah, yes... Okay, hehehe..." (Rena-cchi)

"Rena, can you restrain your expression?" (Emilia)

With Hecate's reminder, Rena, who had stopped her hand, now continued stroking Hecate's head. Emilia initially wanted to say something, but decided to keep quiet after realizing Hecate wasn't that angry.

But she could only sigh when she saw Rena's face.

Hecate ignored Rena's creepy expression and once again looked at Astrid's gaze.

"I'm sorry if this made you feel uncomfortable." (Astrid)

"It's okay, it's not like I had set my information at the school private." (Hecate)

"I see, that's good." (Astrid)

After making sure Hecate wasn't offended, Astrid breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed that the words she had prepared to persuade Hecate were no longer needed.

"So, what do you think about my offer?" (Astrid)

Job at Tenz Corp, place to stay at Tokyo, admission to Tokyo U...

The offer was the same as Rena and Emilia, but apart from that, there was also access to the best hospital and the best treatment to treat her leukemia. These offers should be able to entice Hecate's heart.

And as Astrid had expected, Hecate immediately accepted the offers.

"There is no reason to refuse. Coincidentally, I plan to move after the exams are over." (Hecate)

"Yay, I knew you would accept! We'll be together forever!" (Rena-cchi)

However, Hecate's next words took them by surprise.

"But I need to tell you, you don't need to worry about my health. The information in my health report is wrong, I am very healthy and do not have leukemia." (Hecate)

"Eh? Don't tell me, did you falsify your health records, Hecate-cchi? Why?" (Rena-cchi)

"But wait, that shouldn't be possible, because the academy will definitely check and confirm the information before inputting the data." (Emilia)

Rena and Emilia expressing their doubt.

Their doubts are justified, because usually if a school finds that one of its students is experiencing health problems, the school will check the truth through health records in the citizen database to consider further decisions.

If it turns out that the information is correct, then the school will make a decision such as providing health insurance funds for the student's hospital treatment costs, allowing absences, or adjusting the special curriculum for the student.

Therefore, if the school finds any evidence of students falsifying their health records, they will be subject to heavy sanctions. However, such a situation was basically impossible in this day and age, as most data collection is done automatically with AI.

Unless, there are "insider" in the school.

But Hecate simply shook her head.

"That's just outdated information. My illness was true, but it's cured now. It's just that I didn't bother updating the information. Also Rena, your hand stopped again." (Hecate)

"Ah, okay..." (Rena-cchi)

Rena, who stopped her hands again because of surprise just now, continued stroking Hecate's head once again.

It seemed Hecate really liked having her head stroked.

"I see... Were you cured by an illegal doctor?" (Astrid)

"Well, sort of..." (Hecate)

Astrid can only speculate.

If Hecate's leukemia was cured at any formal hospital, her health record in the citizen database would be updated automatically. But since it turned out not to be the case, this means that her illness was cured by an illegal doctor!

But with this a new question arises, why does Hecate have to deal with illegal doctors?

Of course, this question seemed impossible to ask.

"My family situation is a bit, special. I would be grateful if you don't ask this again." (Hecate)

"Uh... Okay, I understand." (Astrid)

Astrid couldn't help but be stunned.

Even though Hecate refused to discuss the details, but her response and awkward expression alone answered Astrid's suspicions.

This loli really seemed to be involved with the underworld!

Looking around, Rena and Emilia seemed to have come to the same conclusion as well. The surprise on their expression was genuine, indicating that they had really just discovered the fact that their friend was connected to the dark side.

Rena even stopped her hand from stroking Hecate again, but this time Hecate didn't bother reminding her anymore.

"And also, can I ask for another favor?" (Hecate)

"Oh, what is it? Of course, I will help you if it is within my capabilities." (Astrid)

Astrid quickly recovered her composure.

Regarding the underworld, she had a tacit understanding not to talk about this anymore. It was somewhat an open secret that many large families or companies had ties to that side, including Tenz and Genesis Guild.

Speaking of which, Astrid remembered that Hecate's family name in the real world seemed to be Yasaka...

"Actually, I have some... bad habits that make me inconvenient living with other people. So I planned to buy a private residence in my name. Can you help me with that?" (Hecate)

"No problem, coincidentally we also have a real estate subsidiary and I guarantee the quality of each estate we manage. Of course, with our relationship, I can give you a good price. So, what kind of house do you want to buy?" (Astrid)

Initially, Astrid planned to give them a place to live in one of the apartments she managed.

This apartment has adequate facilities, including an elevator and public bath, and its location is quite strategic, close to the Tokyo University and the Tenz company building.

But if Hecate wanted to buy a house and live separately, that would be fine too. There are many houses available for sale under the management of Tenz Company's real estate subsidiary. And since Hecate wasn't a stranger, Astrid would of course give her a big discount.

Unexpectedly, what Hecate ordered was not an ordinary house.

"I want a big house with solar panels and a rainwater filtration system, at least three floors with elevators, an indoor greenhouse room with artificial sunlight, an indoor swimming pool room, a basement for a workshop, and a garage that can fit many cars." (Hecate)

"Hecate-cchi, that's..." (Rena-cchi)

"Uh, that's quite... a big order..." (Emilia)

Not only Astrid, even Rena and Emilia were shocked by Hecate's ridiculous order.

Such a configuration was a bit excessive for a house that a loli would live in alone. Moreover, the existence of solar panels, greenhouses and rainwater filtration systems has really shown her desire for self-sufficiency.

Has she watched too many apocalypse-themed movies and started preparing for such a situation?

"Well, all of that can be arranged. There are some houses that have the right layout and can be arranged according to your wishes, but they will definitely be expensive. Are you sure?" (Astrid)

"The price is not a problem at all. But for payment, do you accept gold bars?" (Hecate)

"Huh? Gold bars?" (Astrid)

"Yeah, my bank account is closely monitored by my family, so it's quite troublesome to transfer large amounts of money." (Hecate)

Hecate's words aroused Astrid's curiosity.

The current society has fully implemented a cashless economy and cash has become a collectible item. Therefore, the bank, which has long been owned by the government will always be involved in each transaction, and they are naturally leave traces that can be monitored.

But, that doesn't mean there are no ways to make transactions without involving the bank. After all, they couldn't prohibit people from bartering. And gold has always been a highly valued commodity in any country on Earth.

Still, Astrid was curious about what really happened to Hecate's family to force her to go this far.

"You can send your gold bars first and I will appraise them according to the current gold price. You don't need to worry if their value are not enough, we can always talk about it later." (Astrid)

"It's okay, I'll send you a total of 10 kg first, I think that's about 200 million yen right now. If that's not enough, just consider it a down payment. I can send more later." (Hecate)

"...120 million!?" (Rena-cchi)

Rena and Emilia received another shock.

Their mind could only blank after hearing such amount of money. Even though Rena's family was rich, this was the first time they had witnessed a transaction involving that much money with their own eyes.

Meanwhile, Astrid didn't expect that Hecate had that much gold stash.

This loli is the real whale!

"Okay then, I'll send you a link address to the site of the real estate. You should check out all the available houses in the VR-Space yourself and choose which house you want to live in. Contact me again when you have made your choice." (Astrid)

"Right now?" (Hecate)

"Yeah, it's better to finish this as soon as possible." (Astrid)

"Then, I'll go and take a look first. See you later everyone." (Hecate)

Hecate nodded with satisfaction and then logged out.

Astrid, Rena and Emilia could only watch as Hecate turned into light and disappeared. There was a strange silence between them. The deal was completed smoothly and Hecate agreed to move to Tokyo as they wished.

But for some reason, the atmosphere became awkward.