"So you came! Nice to meet you again, Elayne! You've become quite famous now."
"Rose… Why did you call us so early in the morning?"
As I yawned, a cute red-haired Dhampir girl greeted us, I had hastily gathered Rita and Lily and brought them with me and Mark after she called me to have a very "important meeting" in the nearby coffee shop.
While Rita and Lily ate donuts and Mark drank coffee, Rose smiled, explaining slowly why she had called us here. Aside from easily guessing that the masked hunters were us, she had other things to talk about.
She explained that they had placed most of their personnel dealing with a Dungeon Breaks that had happened at the same time as we went inside the Dream Dungeon! We had no idea of that one either, it was covered up so no media had any idea it ever happened.
It was seemed synchronized with the Dream Dungeon too, as it kept popping out Undead Monsters without having any interior whatsoever, and it closed only after the Dream Dungeon was destroyed.
It seemed that it was a plan from the Dungeon Boss to distract us with that while she kept expanding her own Dream Dungeon, but it didn't end up working properly, thankfully with the agents of SWORD here, we were able to do our work without worrying about that.
However, that wasn't all, she explained that still, because no government agents were seen in the place where the Dream Dungeon appeared… they'll get some backlash from the government itself because they weren't doing their job properly, and instead left it to some masked anonymous heroes.
Not only would they risk getting their entire agency changed or their boss replaced, but they could even risk losing a lot of their backers, which keep everything going.
So for that… they needed to pretend we were part of their organization, or partially working for them, just saying we were mercenaries worked.
"Eh?! So you want us to say that publicly?" Rita asked. "No way!"
"N-No, it's not like that. You don't have to say a word, we're pretty much asking you guys permission to say that to our backers and the government officers." Rose sighed. "O-Of course, in exchange, we'll give you something equally good."
"I guess as long as it is just saying we were temporary mercenaries or something… And as long as you don't spread our contact information, it's alright." I nodded. "But what are you offering in return?"
"Well, aside from a few paychecks so our boss doesn't feel so guilty about having been relieved of his duties by anonymous heroes, we'll offer you a great opportunity to keep your identities a secret from the public." Rose said. "You know that Hunters must be registered and all, right?
It is a government campaign so we keep tabs with all superpowered people, so if they ever get dangerous, we can track them down and catch them. Making them public figures also puts a sort of pressure on them to not try to do anything funny, as even if they're masked, their abilities will easily gave away who they are."
"I-I see, I guessed it was something like that." I drank some coffee.
"So… In a few more months there'll be a law that will make it illegal for people to use supernatural abilities without being registered as hunters. And you guessed it, you're going to be the government's first targets when that happens." Rose sighed.
"Yikes…" Rita gasped.
"Seriously?!" Mark asked.
"Ugh… Those words made the donuts taste bitter…" Lily sighed.
"Yep, that's where we, SWORD, enters! We'll tell the government you guys are just incognito agents! And done! You can be masked superheroes with secret public identities, and only SWORD will know who you truly are, well, we already know." Rose nodded. "How about it?"
"I-It would be a big relief." I sighed. "But is it really that good? You won't pull any tricks on us?"
"Nah, there's a few documents you need to sign, just read them carefully." Rose said. "It is no binding contract or anything either. It is so you agree to become "allies" and you also sign a contract saying you'll never make us your enemies." Rose said.
"Well… From what I've learned, you guys are not anything corrupt, and Reagan seems like a good man." I sighed. "I'll trust you for now… But if you try anything funny."
"O-Of course, the contract also says that we cannot target you as an enemy… And that you will be generally protected by us. You and all allies you decide to add to your little group." Rose said.
"It just feels too good to be true, but if you'll get a lot of benefits out of just saying we were working for you, even as just mercenaries, then I guess it does seems a bit fair." Mark read the papers carefully one after another. "I think we should sign this, yeah. It is an opportunity we won't get anywhere else."
"I guess… Are you girls fine with it?" I asked Rita and Lily.
"A-Anything to not become a criminal…" Rita sighed.
After doing things as carefully as possible, we signed the documents and sealed a deal. Rose also deposited our "pay" not long after, our bank accounts now were bursting with millions of Canadian dollars…
"The usual pay for what you did is around twenty-five big ones." Said Rose. "So we've given you that. If you want to purchase magical items in the Magic Market later, you'll see how easily money goes away too, so be careful."
"E-Eh? I-I'm rich too?" Mark was trying to process what had happened.
"Uwaaaah!" Rita screamed.
"T-This is… T-This… T-That… T-The…" Lily was trembling.
"They're not taking it easily, huh?" Laughed Rose. "It honestly not that much compared to the big magnates and companies out there, some big bosses of supernatural agencies have hundreds of billions. Much richer than that dude that bought Tweeter, I dont know what his name was..."
"I-I see…" I sighed. "A-Ah, before you go, I was wondering if the government has any plans on setting up some sort of Hunter Academy or something?"
"Oh! How did you guessed it?" Rose was surprised.