Chapter 211 Sephora means business.
The nurse broke off, holding back a weak sob in her throat that was threatening to come rushing out of her forcefully. "I should not be like this," she shook her head and ripped her hands out of Scarlet's hands gently. "Sorry, I should not have said all that, if the patients see me like this then they will become even more afraid than they are."
Scarlet looked at the nurse and felt both pity and understanding for her. She worked in the hospital so she could see first hand the effects of winter in injuries and sickness which led to death.?This was why mecha warriors were not treated from ordinary hospitals in winter, if the people saw the extent of their injuries, the veil of safety which had been carefully woven over their eyes would be torn.
"It is natural to be afraid of danger and death, it's what makes us all human." Scarlet told the nurse. "I get scared too sometimes especially in such turbulent times when nothing is assured. We are all living as if their axe hanging over our heads that could slice them off at any moment, it would be crazier if we were not scared. So, don't ridicule yourself, by choosing to be at work and save lives in such times rather than hiding behind closed doors and waiting for the sun to come out you are already as strong as a mecha warrior."
The nurse laughed softy, "Mecha warrior is too much." she said. Her face however held a small smile of delight in being compared to the great mecha warriors.
The elevator had stopped, and it would not move again unless the occupants stepped out. "You have arrived at your destination." the voice of the hospital's central operating system AI told them, just in case they were not aware. The doors opened and three people stepped out, Scarlet, the nurse and Tion.
The corridors of this private ward floor were empty, devoid of humans and sound. It was so quiet that that all three people could hear the sounds of their own steps clearly. There was no influx of patients, hospital robot butlers leading people to different treatment areas, patients shouting about the urgency of their situation over others, it was calm here, as if there was not a single living soul.
"Where is everyone?" she asked the nurse.
"Most of the patients on this floor with the chill checked out in the morning when the health monitoring bracelets declared them healthy. Only the hunter is left, regrowing his arm will take at least ten more hours according to the doctor. Maybe his fellow hunters stepped out."
The nurse again placed her wrist on an unmarked black lock one of the rooms and the door slid open, allowing them to enter the room.
It was occupied by two hunters, three if you counted the obviously unconscious one inside the med bed which was rotating slowly. One of the two was none other than the woman, Sephora, herself.
"Hello, pardon us for intruding, the governor was passing by and she wanted to check on your injured friend." the nurse spoke in a soft voice.
Privacy of a patient being one of the top most requirements of hospital wards meant that if they did not want Scarlet here, she could be asked to leave.
Sephora was standing by a window, she had been looking outside for a while. The other hunter was sitting on a sofa, his legs were crossed and he was watching television. Both of them abandoned what they were doing and came towards, standing in front of her and bowing slightly in a polite manner.
"Greetings, governor," Sephora spoke. "We were not expecting you."
"It is I that has showed up with no forewarning, I was very surprised when I heard about the extent to which your friend was injured, as the governor it's only natural that I stop by and check in. How is your friend's condition?"?She looked at the man in the med bed.
"He will recover, this does not even crack top ten on the list of life threatening injuries on members of the shadow guild in the cold season." she smiled awkwardly. "I hope we have not made a nuisance of ourselves on your planet."
"No way," Scarlet replied, "You brought me a lot of money and you are hunting mutated beasts, what possible nuisance could you be? I actually hope to see you again next winter."
Sephora smiled, genuinely this time, appreciative of Scarlet's candidness. "Then I will pay for a hunting license in advance, however I would like to pay for one that allows us to hunt all through the year."
"I think I was expecting that, I did get two requests from your guild before winter which I turned down. My problem is not with the hunting, it's that you guild hunters hunt to kill or sell while I on the other hand aim to domesticate and breed as many edible animals or beasts as possible."
While Scarlet wanted the money selling hunting licenses would bring in, she had many hesitations about them which she was not shy to share with Sephora.
"Then we can work our way around that by bringing all of our catch to your identification centers before sending it off planet. If what we catch can be domesticated then we will give up half to you at a reasonably agreed upon fee. We can charge you only half the price, I think that's a fair deal considering the fact that we are willing to enter depths of forests and waters that local hunters are not willing to." Sephora gave Scarlet a look of determination, producing a small terminal from which she showed her a number of statistics. "This is your blue forest and your hunters have only covered about one percent on their own, they seem to be sticking to the outskirts and edges, they are frightened and untrained. It will take you twenty years to cover even half of the forest at this rate." She put the terminal away and said, "Why don't you bet on us? We can get you there in half that time?"
Scarlet looked into Sephora's eager still blue eyes and she twisted her lips from side to side while she weighed the pros and cons of Sephora's proposal.
"You propose a good deal which can benefit us both but you know, this same deal can be offered by ten other guilds, why should I choose yours?" she walked around Sephora, and sat down in the lone black armchair in corner of the room. There was a soft pillow in the chair which she held in her arms and crossed her legs.
This was business, she must exude the aura of a businesswoman in such moments so that the blue star is not put at a disadvantage.
"Convince me." she told Sephora.
Sephora, not deterred for a single second sat down too, in a plain foldable chair and nodded. 'Okay, let's do this.' her body language seemed to say.
"We are the top guild in the empire." she said casually.
"I have been using amateur hunters, even the worst guild in the empire will be a step up from them." Scarlet answered.
"We have the best weapons."
"Again," Scarlet said, "Same answer as before."
"We have the best hunters, the most fierce, the bravest_"
Scarlet raised her hand, stopping Sephora from talking, "My answer remains the same, miss Sephora."
No amount of praising their guild would get her to give that stamp of approval.?So, Sephora thought to herself, what did the governor of the blue star want more than anything? What could she offer that would make this woman satisfied? After exactly twenty seconds of perfect silence, Sephora said, "We will open a permanent branch of the Shadow guild here on the blue star, we will recruit new members also from here, and if we can be the only guild operating on the blue star for fifty years, we will only charge you, the governor, thirty percent the normal market price for half of whatever we catch. You will also have the first pick of everything we hunt before it's sent to the capital."
"Miss Sephora!!" the other hunter exclaimed in shock.
"Deal." Scarlet said
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