Because they were already running late, they immediately drove to their client who had been waiting for them impatiently.
Each of the three youths was uncomfortable meeting the noble who treated soulbonds as objects and their expressions made it pretty clear as well.
Gabriella had to remind them to at least maintain a calm or neutral facial expression in order to not upset them as they were one of the overlords of Jiro city.
After a 30 minute drive through the city, they arrived in front of a huge wall with many guards and automatic mana turrets all over the walls.
At least 20 guards manned a gigantic gate, and Jason activated his mana eyes to inspect their mana cores.
They seemed to be stronger than Malia but weaker than Mark and Gabriella which could already be considered relatively strong.
To Jason everyone was strong so he didn't even try to compare himself.
But, he still wondered why there were so many high-defense measures put in place.
'What are they scared about and who did they offend or did they just build the wall and hire these guards as precautionary measures to save themselves once a Beast tide attacked the large wall?'
Jason wasn't sure but there was no answer he could think of right off the bat.
While their hovering truck neared the wall, a notification popped up on the truck's mainboard and Mark had to share his name and purpose of visit which included the verification of his ID. This was a standard security protocol followed at most places with restrictive access to unknown visitors.
The procedure took less than a few minutes after which they were allowed entry and they drove through the gate unhindered.
Upon entry, the first thing to greet them was a massive garden that easily spanned through the length of multiple football fields, along with many different buildings that dotted the landscape.
There were stables, a building that resembled a Colosseum, a small pagoda that constantly attracted large amounts of mana, many luxurious houses surrounding a magnificent, large mansion that stood next to a large sea with a beautiful landscape.
"Is that a Village or what?!?" Greg exclaimed and even Mark and Gabriella were astonished to witness the grandeur.
As they neared the magnificent villa, they could even see some fields with crops that swayed lightly with the winds.
It did make them feel as if they were inside a village.
Why?
Nobody would be able to answer it, except their client.
There were two people waiting for them in front of the villa; a fat middle-aged man and a slightly younger version of the fat man.
Both saw the truck driving towards them and somehow waited patiently while the young man looked slightly anxious.
The young man was probably Mark and Gabriella's Client and the youths had to calm themselves down as anger raged within them, that reflected in their eyes.
After Mark killed the ignition, everyone stepped out and the middle-aged man greeted their guests.
"Hello my esteemed quests, my name is Rodriquez Olier and I had contacted you with regards to the greater storm eagle mission. I'm afraid we are running short of time. Kindly excuse me for being so direct, but may we skip the pleasantries and directly talk business?"
Mark and Gabriella were well informed of their Client's time crunch, hence they readily agreed to his request.
The greater storm eagle's cage, which was placed last into the trailer, was taken out with the help of a large metallic arm.
While the middle-aged man kept talking to the Fler couple, the young boy who had been standing next to Olier ran to the greater storm eagle, viewing it with a weird smile.
The chubby youth was probably 18 years old or maybe even older but his odd and childish behavior could put six-year-olds to shame, causing the visitors to look at him with contempt.
Greg, Malia, and Jason were thoroughly disgusted by him, and their last ray of hope that the noble was regretful about turning the greater storm eagle into a sacrificial scapegoat, dissolved to dust.
When the chubby youth looked into the trailer, Jason had a premonition and right at the worst timing the fox cubs woke up and squeaked in hunger.
They struggled their way to the automatic feeding machine and began to drink milk.
This could be seen by the fat youth and he looked at them with interest as he mumbled, "Lesser elemental fox cubs?"
Jason's breath suddenly hitched and he wasn't alone as the Fler siblings also sensed that something was amiss.
The fat youth turned away from the eagle and his eyes were fixated on the fox cubs.
Averting his gaze, he nearly screamed and his loud voice reached his father.
"Dad, you asked me to search for an awakened beast because my soul fits 4 larger beasts and a weaker one, right? I think I found a suitable beast for this spot.
There are lesser elemental fox cubs inside the trailer."
'F**k' was the word that resonated in everyone's mind.
While the middle-aged man's attention was drawn to the trailer, Gabriella looked slightly worried though Mark was still relatively calm.
"That's true. We have lesser elemental fox cubs in the trailer, but I've already signed a contract with the seller of these cubs, and another one with the purchasers...so there is not a single one left to sell. ..I'm sorry."
Mark explained everything calmly while adding some made-up story to the truth to serve as another layer of protection.
Having made two contracts was not worth the effort to pay the remuneration as the breach of a single contract resulted in a fine that was normally 5 to 10 times the price of the beast.
For two contracts, the price would be 10 to 20 times more expensive.
If Mark wanted to sell them for 200,000 each, he would have to pay 2 to 4 million which normally wasn't worth the effort.
Adding another fact with a gentle reminder, Mark drew the attention to a different subject.
"May we go back to our business? The soulbond needs time to consolidate, otherwise, your opponent might notice that something is wrong and we don't want that to happen, right mister?"
Rodriquez turned back to Mark and said with a slight frown.
"Oh. Yes...Normally I wouldn't back off against a measly contract breach, but it's certainly true that we are in a hurry...Let's finish our business and part our ways.."
Everyone sighed in their minds while the young chubby boy was a little sad, but he didn't mind that he couldn't get a fox cub as his father would probably give him something even better later.
Pouting a bit, he was still noisy, and Jason decided to close the trailer to prevent any fox cub sounds from reaching outside, which could attract the attention of the fat youth and his father once again.
Rodriquez asked once again about the contract and the breach's penalty because he wanted to give his son another beast with a good elemental ability. He knew that lesser elemental foxes were relatively good for their mana core rank but Mark was firm with his rejection.
"The contract with our salesperson was slightly special so it should be almost impossible to cancel it."
Jason was beginning to grow fond of Mark. The fact that Mark wasn't willing to break his contract with Jason despite being greedy, astonished him a little bit.
He would probably be able to earn a few million from him just through the sale of a single fox cub only because of the remuneration…..
If Jason had to be honest, he saw the remuneration fee for the fox cubs but thought it was enough...
5 times the price… That would only be one point three million credits for a single cub and Rodriquez tried to purchase the fox cub even if he knew that he had to pay a remuneration of 2 to 4 million at the least...
After their deal was over, the Fler´s and Jason hurriedly bid goodbye and left the slightly dejected plump middle-aged man with the chubby youth next to him, while the greater storm eagle stood behind.
Everyone sighed in relief and a thick sweat bead could be seen running down Mark´s temples.
While they were on their way out, a red armored pickup drove by, and Jason could see a young man sitting in the driver's seat.
His eyes were blood-red and Jason felt weird looking at him.
The youth couldn't see him but there was an eerie vibe to him when Jason saw him for a very short moment.