“Very well. We are in agreement.” The councilman held out his hand and I took it.

  My back was sticky with sweat, and I felt like I had just run a marathon, but we had finally come to an agreement. It was probably the first proper negotiation I had since coming to this world.

  “It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”

  “Mm…” He nodded, putting a bag on the table. “This should cover the down payment. As for the rest, it will come with the first delivery of supplies.”

  Of course, I couldn’t pull out everything I had. I only gave him a few samples of what I could sell, promising to deliver the rest after the down payment. If I was able to pull out all of the supplies the city requested immediately, it would look extremely suspicious. Even with my digitizer being known, I could only theoretically carry so much. Thus, I had fabricated the need to send the delivery once I returned.

  It was for the best anyway. Some of the requests the councilman made were things I might have looked for. I was confident I could find most of them using the auction house or Mizuki. I had a feeling that the councilman was testing me too. I had decided to deliberately not be able to find certain things. I wouldn’t want the councilman to get any ideas and I needed to establish limits. It might not be the best way to maximize money currently, but I felt it would maximize my profits in the long run.

  “I’ll need people,” I added as I got up.

  He let out a dry laugh. “Yes, I’ve heard you were interested in some of our debtors. I will have someone escort you to the collection’s agency.”

  True to his word, when I reached the door, there was another guard escort waiting for me. He bowed to me a bit more respectfully than the last escort had.

  “Would you like to be shown to your residence?” he asked.

  One of the other agreements we made was to provide a place in the city. Such a thing couldn’t be easily obtained, but the councilman offered it to me in a show of solidarity. He was shockingly generous, and it left me wondering what the catch was. Perhaps he could merely see the value of a long-term relationship. Either way, I was surprised that the residence was already prepared. I hesitated for a moment, and the guard continued to speak.

  “The collection’s agency will be available for contracts in the afternoon.” He stated.

  Another agreement we had made was for those three skilled workers. Even with 10% and the money I had gained from my dealings with the merchant, I didn’t have the money to buy all three workers. I had to cut them into the deal. In essence, I had incurred their debts. This would be paid off in my first supply shipment, but if the supplies didn’t arrive, then I’d be a debtor myself. I knew why he was willing to forward me their debt without me paying up front. As long as they wore the indentured servant collars, he could track them down, and me as well. Of course, with my Perco, I could easily reprogram the collars to admit false locations, but he wouldn’t know about my master code.

  I had distinctly avoided revealing any information about my Perco to the councilman, lest he decides to send me on some outrageous errand. I met him purely for business and left much the same. Of course, tracking down rare items could be considered an errand, but since I planned to get it all in my world, I didn’t think there would be any dangerous missions to deal with.

  “Then, please bring me to my house.”

  He nodded and started to escort me. I had been expecting to leave the isolated rich district, I was shocked to see them stopping at a small house. It wasn’t one of the big mansions, but a smaller place that likely functioned as a servant quarter or a mother-in-law suite to the larger house. I was still impressed that they offered me such prime real estate. I had seen the envious looks of many nearby spectators when I was brought passed the gate.

  This district was not only the wealthiest and the best protected, but it also came with a certain degree of status. It was no wonder that the guards were all treating me with more respect. I was not officially a high-ranking citizen of Twin Elms. The councilman seemed a bit odd, but he had gone all out to reel me in. I supposed someone in his position had to be a good judge of when a good business opportunity appeared. Of course, I also knew that this was a threat in some ways. Everything he had given me could just as easily be taken back.

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  Our deal was completely tangent on me following through with my promises. If I turned out to be a swindler, the slaves would be reclaimed, the house would be confiscated, my access to Twin Elms would be prohibited and I would become the most wanted man in Argos city. What seemed like a generous welcome could also be seen as chains around my neck, binding me to Twin Elms. However, this was the cost of doing business. You got back what you gave. If I didn’t follow through with my side of the deal, I had no right to anything.

  I bid the guard farewell and then sat down in my new room. It was just a room. It had a small kitchenette area as well as a bathroom. It was surprisingly clean and well maintained. Although the decorations felt dated and the place gave off a motel feel, the materials appeared clean and manufactured. There was almost no sense of the apocalyptic world outside. This must have been a result of the city’s factories. They had a textile mill that could produce fabric, as well as a metal working factory, a distillery, and several farms. I had inquired about such things, as knowing what they could provide helped me understand what I should trade.

  In general, they weren’t as interested in meat or vegetables as the other communities, nor were they interested in fabric. Weapons and ammunition were also off the list, as were most mechanical things. They had no shortage of compositors, after all. They were able to make fabric from mutated animals called Bunnyhides, and they got their meat from several mutated livestock. While such creatures were irradiated, the distillery was able to create Rad-Z. By law, a bit of it was mixed into the food, so any radiation earned from eating it was just as quickly removed.

  While their food production was enough to maintain their population, they didn’t have extra to sell to other communities. Some claimed they unfairly hoarded their surplus, while others suggested it was necessary to keep reserves in case something happened to their food supply. I wasn’t one to complain about it, because it only suited my food-heavy business model.

  However, since Twin Elms seemed to be able to keep themselves supplied with most of the things I had been selling, what agreement had we made? Naturally, it was to gather commodities that they didn’t have a regular supply of. The distillery only made two kinds of alcohol, and the rest of it was dedicated to RadZ and RegenX. I could provide a much greater variety of alcohols. Although, the thing that really interested him was access to various spices. Salt was considered an extremely rare commodity in the wasteland. They also didn’t have a ready supply of various chemicals, the kind that took factories to make.

  Since I could find just about any common item they asked for, I was quickly able to set a deal on a supply of several different types of chemicals and detergents.

  Although the room was clean, I didn’t feel particularly comfortable there. I had Cecelia do a scan and she didn’t detect any surveillance devices, so I wasn’t being watched, but this place didn’t feel very homey to me either. Since I had a good amount of crystals back in my digitizer, I thought about returning to my world for a bit, but I eventually decided against wasting the crystals. Instead, I wasted the time checking through my Perco.

  After a few hours of waiting, I heard a knock on the door, and when I answered it, it was my previous escort. “Are you ready to head to the collections?”

  I gave a nod of affirmation, and he immediately lead me outside of the gated community. As we passed the turret and guard station, I was surprised to see a familiar head poke out from a nearby ally.

  “Didn’t I tell you to go home?” I told.

  Misty looked embarrassed, twisting her feet like a child who had just gotten in trouble. “There is no point in going home, and I was worried.”

  “I see… then, I suppose you can join me.”

  “Hmm? Wh-where are you going?”

  “I’m going to go see your mom.” I declared.