Glenn left his Dark-Gold suite, yawning loudly. Some passersby addressed him with a strange glance, but he gave them no care. Milena and Liara were still busy doing...whatever, and he wasn't in the mood to wait forever.
"Let's go see Reginald, then..." Glenn muttered, rubbing the corner of his eyes. The gentlemen-like Cleaner will probably be very happy to hear that Redan has been successfully rescued, and he can help him with his monster-grinding problem. Glenn did remember asking his "assistant", the squeaky guy what's his name...?
"Kevin. He was named Kevin," Nelg recalled. Glenn groaned. Right, Kevin.
Where should he even ask for him? At the reception, or the private Dark-Gold room?
Let's first try with the reception. The path to the private rooms was in the Main Hall anyway, so he could hit two birds with one stone doing that. On these wise thoughts, Glenn went to the Main Hall, still thinking back to everything he needed to do to power level as much as he could. Spells, swordsmanship, Nelg, Diamanes...There were so many things he had to think of and not forget.
'One thing at a time, Glenn. One thing at a time,' Diamanes cackled as he calmed down his host's passion.
Getting stronger, besides being necessary to survive, was also quite pleasant a pleasant experience. It wasn't worth spending his whole life chasing after it, though. It was fun, the progress, the world-changing powers, but it was also a little scary. The main reason for his fear was when he saw Laurence, an Earthling at the peak of humanity, well, who was at the peak of humanity before becoming a monster. Apparently, from what he told him, he had lived for half a thousand years. And if there was one thing that Glenn didn't want, it was to become so insane and so crazed for power he would resort to sacrifices and weird cultists shit.
'Drawing a line is great. Until you die,' Diamanes warned mockingly. Nelg remained silent, pondering along his host.
'What's the worst, then? Dying a man, or living as a monster?' Glenn questioned Diamanes, who suddenly didn't know what to say. The young man shook his head and arrived at the Main Hall. He directly went to the counter, ignoring the queues to speak with one of the creepy, beautiful receptionists.
"Hey, is Reginald around?" He asked with a faked smile, still feeling unease when speaking to the pretty but robotic creature. The receptionist smiled sadly and shook her head.
"I apologize, Sir Glenn. Sir Reginald won't be back until next week, at the very least. I can call your assistant if you wish?"
Glenn moistened his lips and nodded.
"Sure, please call him in."
The receptionist bowed her head slightly and drew a scroll from a drawer under the counter. She placed her hand on the scroll, and a flash of white energy devoured it. She dusted her hands off and looked back at Glenn.
"Your assistant Kevin will be here shortly," she said with a polite smile. Glenn thanked her and turned back, choosing a random seat in the waiting room and crossing his arms. Hopefully, that mouse-faced guy will be as efficient as Reginald. He'd rather not waste time if he could. The first item on his agenda he needed to take care of was planning the monster grinding plan, something like Rift-clearing four or five times a day. It should be pretty fast, and he'll be able to get as many souls as he wanted for Nelg.
'How many do you think you're going to need to get to the First Circle, Nelg?' Glenn questioned as he relaxed and leaned in his seat. Nelg groaned and estimated the number.
"...Shit, that's some complicated maths...My Dark Sun, as I've chosen to call my Mana Heart, has a diameter of approximately ten meters. One soul means a growth of a centimeter, more or less. Hmm..."
Nelg kept on calculating, before gasping in shock. Glenn frowned, worried.
'What? How much is it?'
Nelg drew a deep breath and replied with a shaky voice, "...Three thousand and one hundred souls, as well as three weeks of digestion for the Circle to reach the necessary size."
Glenn blinked. Three thousand? Three THOUSAND?!? He suddenly stood up and grabbed at his hair, his eyes bulging out. Other Fixers waiting in the room looked at him like he was crazy, but no, he wasn't crazy, Nelg was!
Shit, that was a lot. That meant three thousand kills, in the worst case. After all, some souls were worth more than others. Well, he was certainly going to need a lot of help from Reginald or...or Kevin. There was no way he would get this done quickly if he had to do it manually. The best way to go would probably be to rush from one Rift to another, and maybe try and cull the Scarecrows of the Fields. That could work if the bastards had a soul. He doubted that.
Working on a spell that killed monsters quickly without costing a lot of Mana would also be a good idea. Shooting Star did exactly that, coupled with the Pebble. Glenn's eyelids twitched. When did the not-sentient-at-all pebble he did not create using Divine Blessing on a rock become the Pebble? Probably when he used it to wound Laurence. Damn, that was another thing on the list he had to take care of; study the weird case of the not-sentient pebble.
'...Just admit it at this point,' Diamanes grumbled, provoking a categorical denial from his host.
'Nope! Pebble—the piece of stone/jade in my breast pocket is NOT alive, alright? I did NOT create a sentient life accidentally!'
Nelg suddenly laughed as realization dawned upon him.
"Are you so stressed about that because you don't want to be a father?"
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Glenn's eyes widened and he plopped back on his seat, trying to contain himself and avoid any more strange glares from the other Fixers. He already has a weird reputation, he should probably try to not make it worse.
'Yes, I mean no—how is a pebble my child, anyway?' Glenn bit down on his lower lip and patted his breast pocket, finding Pebble at the same spot it usually was. Somehow, Pebble's behavior reminded him of Javier; silent, but efficient and always here when we needed him. Glenn discarded the thoughts, hiding his worries about ethics and whatnot deeply, and resolved himself to take care of this issue later.
Just in time, Kevin suddenly appeared in the waiting room, heaving frantically as he pushed his glasses up his nose. His notepad under his right arm, he hurriedly looked through the room, his eyes lighting up with both relief and worry when he found Glenn. He walked up to him, already opening his notepad to the first page.
"Hello, sir Glenn. SincesirReginaldisn'there, I'llbetakingcareofyou, sodon'thesitatetoaskmequestions! I'vealreadypreparedwhatyouaskedofmelasttime—" spoke Kevin at full speed, until Glenn lifted his hand and stopped him, his eyebrows creased.
"Kevin, I appreciate your passion and desire to work with me, but, please, speak slower. I couldn't understand a single thing," he asked slowly, trying to calm the frantic assistant. Kevin froze and drew a deep breath, before looking down at the ground. After a few seconds, he regained his composure and looked back up at Glenn, pushing his glasses back on his nose. His squeaky eyes, who were darting on his notepad since earlier had finally calmed down as well.
"I apologize, Sir Glenn—" Kevin quickly apologized, but Glenn patted him on the shoulder and stopped him again.
"Hey, it's fine. Just repeat to me what you were saying, but slower this time, please," He asked with a reassuring tone. Kevin nodded slowly and drew another deep breath before looking down at his notepad.
"As I was saying earlier, Sir Reginald isn't here for the foreseeable future, and so, I'll be handling most if not all of your dealings with the Cleaner's Workshop, including any reports. Also, last time we spoke, you asked me to prepare a list of monsters to kill and Rifts to take care of, so that's exactly what I've been doing these past few days..." Kevin breathed out, a weight off his heart. Glenn mentally congratulated the assistant, impressed with his efficiency. At least he'll be able to go to work quickly. Now, what was that about reports...?
"Excellent, but what do you mean about "reports"?" Glenn asked, confused. Kevin pushed his glasses up his nose, the pair continually slipping down despite how many times he adjusted it.
"The higher-ups have heard from Cleaner Loran that you had some dealings in the Eastern Town. They need a detailed report to plan accordingly, if needed, your protection, or possible reinforcements for the Eastern Town."
Glenn's ears perked up. Reinforcements for the Eastern Town? He could help with that? The young man's eyes lit up.
"Alright, let's just go to a more discreet place, Kevin," Without giving his assistant any time to reply, he pulled him toward the Dark-Gold secret meeting area. There were many places to talk privately there. As they walked, Glenn grinned widely, almost wickedly. It would probably be fine to exaggerate things slightly, right? Assuring some support for Sahro and Loran, who were struggling all alone over there, was the least he could do.
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Kevin winced as he finally let go of his pen, his fingers in pain. Glenn drank out of a crystal glass some fine wine, finding it not to his taste. Now that he knew he could have coke, he wanted that again. He looked left and right before pulling his mini-fridge out of his dimensional pouch. Kevin was too busy massaging his hands from writing so much to care about the strange item on the table.
"Did you get everything, Kevin?" Glenn asked as he shoved the bottle of wine in the mini-fridge. Kevin nodded weakly, before picking up his notepad and flipping it back to the beginning. Then, he began to read everything over, to make sure he hadn't made any mistakes. Glenn infused some Mana into the mini-fridge, waiting for the reaction to happen. Once the process was done, Glenn opened the door and pulled an iced wine bottle filled with all but wine.
The young man chuckled in excitement as he poured himself a drink, sneakily pouring one for Kevin too. The divine taste of Coca-Cola had to be shared with the world! He closed his eyes and drank from the glass, almost spitting it out when the taste was nothing like Coca-Cola. No, instead it was...iced tea? He could make iced tea from wine. Wait, no, did that mean he had multiple recipes possible with the mini-fridge?
"Shit, I'm falling even more in love with this thing..." Glenn muttered in awe. Kevin looked up puzzledly.
"Did you say something, Sir?"
Glenn dismissed him with a wave of his hand, pushing the mini-fridge back into his dimensional pouch. That was probably the most precious item he owned, besides the dimensional pouch itself. And the Exan-Egg.
"Hey, if you had to choose, which one would you part with?" Nelg asked curiously. Glenn rubbed his chin, seriously considering the question. He was tempted to say the dimensional pouch, but he knew it was the most useful item among the three. The mini-fridge was a great help for his issues of being homesick, while the Exan-Egg was a watch, with more personal implications than anything...
'I'd part with the fridge, even though it'd make me extremely sad. I can't afford to give up the dimensional pouch, after all,' Glenn replied after a moment. Nelg laughed while Diamanes grunted with surprise.
'Why not the Exan-Egg? I can understand the dimensional pouch, but the mini-fridge seems to help much more than the Exan-Egg!'
Glenn pulled said item out of his pouch, looking at the arrows ticking with each passing second. After a whole minute, he shook his head and drew it back, refusing to answer. Diamanes sighed and sank into Glenn's memories, searching for the answer by himself. Nelg was sharing silent understanding, for Glenn was him, and he was Glenn.
"Okay, I'm done..." Kevin sighed as he closed his notepad and stored it in one of his pockets, taking another one out. Glenn blinked at that but thought nothing of it. Having a notepad was rare, but too of them was even rarer. But then, Kevin was an assistant, so it was kind of his job to have notepads filled with information.
"If you'd like, we can begin your Culling, Sir Glenn," The assistant stated as he pushed his glasses up his nose. Glenn tilted his head to the side.
"My "Culling"? What's that?"
Kevin gasped and rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, of course. It's a technical term we use when Fixers or Cleaners go on a grand Cleaning of the city, getting rid of as many monsters and Rifts as possible. It happens more often than you might think, hence the need to class this type of event with a precise word."
Glenn grunted in acknowledgment. He pushed himself up and finished his drink, inviting Kevin to do the same. The assistant flinched and hurriedly gulped down the iced tea, frowning when the taste wasn't what he expected.
"What's this sweet...Sir, did you do something to my drink?" Kevin asked with doubt. Glenn stretched and picked up the not-wine bottle, drinking more iced tea out of it. That felt good.
"Let's get going, Kevin. We—well, I have a ton of monsters to kill!" He exclaimed, ignoring the assistant's previous question. Kevin looked at his glass for a few seconds, before sighing and shaking his head. He flipped his notepad open and read its contents.
"Of course, Sir. The first target on the list is a Flesh Hive that developed in a butcher's trash heap, controlling at least three Flesh Corpses. The butcher who commissioned us said there might be more, but he couldn't verify himself..." Kevin kept on explaining the situation as they left the Cleaner's Workshop, heading for Butcher's Street.
Glenn grinned, a warm feeling in his chest as he walked.
Was that how it felt to have a job suited to his passions?