The group finds themselves in a beautiful, highly luxurious office, with leather couches probably worth more than an entire house in the labor district of Glam Gas Land.
Gas... profitable industry, it seems. No wonder with all those airships around.
Auren looks at Jasoof and speaks his mind directly. “To tell you the truth, we were expecting missions against armed saboteurs, wanted criminals, scavengers, and others messing with production. Honestly, I’m not sure I want to accept a mission if we’re up against Nen users.”
“I see,” Jasoof says, as if he expected that answer.
“I can sense it,” Auren says, staring at him. “You’re a Nen user yourself. These three here are my students. You should understand what that means.” He gestures toward Konrad, Vanessa, and Eren. “They aren’t ready to face experienced Nen users. We came here to work because the difficulty seemed appropriate in my book. So it all depends on your task—but if skilled Nen users are involved, I don’t think we’re interested.”
“Understandable,” Jasoof replies, stroking his long beard. “That’s fine. You’re here for the missions we requested through the Association. Let’s discuss them… but I’m not ready to give up yet. While this mission might be risky for your team, how about just you, Floor Master Auren? A few low-skilled Nen users, fighting here in the red-hell for gas reserves on behalf of their employers, are surely no match for a Floor Master? Don’t think I don’t know about you. It only took my assistants thirty seconds to convince me of your strength.”
He laughs and crosses his arms. “I can guarantee you this: when it comes to Nen users here, you won’t find a single genius or truly strong opponent. Anyone smart would have taken more profitable and safer jobs. Anyone strong would be in places like Heaven’s Arena, getting showered with money and opportunities to cash in on their fame. No, these people are the lowest form of Nen users you’ll find. People who were forcefully initiated, some seriously wounded. They know the basics—maybe they have a weak Hatsu with no real potential, but that’s it. Some don’t even know their affinities and just got lucky with whatever technique they managed to come up with. Advanced techniques? No way. They’ll have nothing aside from Ren and maybe a hastily constructed, probably unsuited Hatsu.”
Auren smiles. “Well, if you are just asking me, I’ll hear you out. As for my students... maybe. I’ll think about it. My main reason for coming here is to train and to take on a few missions for myself, my partner, and, of course, my students. If your mission with hostile Nen users isn’t too tedious and the reward is acceptable, I’m not ruling out giving you a hand.”
“I have quite a few special missions for you… I just mentioned one, so as not to overwhelm you. As for the reward? Whatever you desire! Land, property, Jenny, status, women—name your wish.” Jasoof grins widely.
“Women? Do you know how old he is?” Vanessa snaps, clearly irritated by the clan representative’s words. “You’re lucky Neffi isn’t here, you old f—”
“Shut up!” Konrad says quickly, clamping a hand over her mouth and holding her back.
These silly siblings… look at those expressions… wait a minute!
Auren glances briefly at Konrad, who is now wearing glasses.
I see... his Hatsu… this is a great idea! This guy is useful. Not exactly on Pakunoda’s level, but still very helpful. He’s also naturally smart and well-informed. I need to get used to having someone like him around.
“Your customs are strange, and I can’t follow them,” Jasoof continues. “In our clan, once you reach the age of twelve, you are considered an adult. Isn’t it true that you can even take the equally famous and lethal Hunter Exam at that age?”
Auren sighs. “That may be true, but it’s not a conversation I’m interested in. Anyway, forgive her—she’s a little sensitive. I am interested in all of your missions. Tell us the details.”
“Are you aware of the general situation in Glam Gas Land? Especially the recent changes in resource rights?” Jasoof asks directly.
“Yes... Corporations are now allowed access to some resource sites, right? Non-desirable ones, and they are also forced to pay heavily for them, as far as I know,” Auren responds, with Konrad nodding along. “It doesn’t sound too bad,” he notes.
“That was supposed to be the case,” Jasoof says, slamming his fist on the table in front of him, his entire face twitching in anger.
“Some corporations are ignoring the actual claims designated to them! They are expanding into sites that are first-grade sites, but too far away from our city. These sites would have been targets for us to slowly exploit over the next decades! Do you understand how this works? If we extract too many resources, especially gas, it drives down global prices! At some point, we actually earn less by extracting more gas! Labor costs money as well! Gas needs to be rare to have value! We need to carefully release just enough to meet global supply, but not enough to drive down prices too far.”
“I see,” Auren says in realization.
“However, the corporations don’t care about your long-term plans,” Konrad points out. “On the contrary... I’d say with the best resource sites you have here, it will always be extremely beneficial for them when more resources, especially gas, are extracted. There might even be governments willing to do a few unethical things to see that happen. Granting corporations contracts might be just the start.”
“It’s our future that is at risk,” Jasoof says, his eyes full of fury. “Once the gas runs out, our clan is doomed! If we act slowly and responsibly, and then use our income to invest in other industries, our people can thrive even after our gas reserves run dry! Quickly extracting all easily available resources is like taking drugs! It’s just a temporary high, and once you run out, you realize your entire life and future are destroyed! In the end, dumping all our resources onto the market will only earn us a fraction of their true worth. This can never be allowed! They are leeches, parasites. Our clan wants them all gone! They can have their second-rate resource sites, but what they are sucking out of the earth elsewhere is not gas! It’s our lifeblood, our heritage!”
“So they are extracting resources beyond their original claims... and I assume you can’t just drive them off?” Auren asks.
“No!” Jasoof yells, clearly annoyed. “The help we requested from the Association is meant to address these things. It’s the same case for the special request I asked of you, Auren. Most corporations are just hiring thugs, criminals, mercenaries, and desperate people in need of money. But a few of them, the ones who have stolen the top-grade resource sites, are earning so much that they’ve hired local Nen users for protection. We have sent our own people along with many soldiers, but as long as these experts are there, they slowly kill our men. Nen users, wearing special gear, can’t be killed that easily. One of them got shot at least five times, but still walked away without serious injuries. I can’t risk losing any more soldiers—it’s too costly, and we won’t send our own kind into a hopeless fight. We are not fighters.”
Who is... we? It looks like he’s only concerned about his clan...
“Why isn’t the government interfering?” Goreinu asks, looking puzzled.
“It’s simple,” Konrad says. “The United States of Saherta, along with the rest of the V5 and the world, actually condones and welcomes the actions of the corporations. Cheaper resource prices are exactly what they want. They would never help the Glam Clan if it meant higher prices for themselves.”
“...Exactly,” Jasoof confirms, looking defeated. “We are on our own... they have betrayed us!”
“Okay,” Auren says. “It feels a little better that you’re actually caring about your clan, and your cause seems justified. Let’s just say for now, I’m on your side. As I said, we’re intending to work on your missions.”
“This is all I can hope for,” Jasoof says, walking toward a desk. As he reaches it, he calmly opens a drawer and pulls out a stack of documents, along with a few cards.
“These are all the current information related to your missions... along with a few cards that grant you access to every service in our city and in the neighboring outposts under our control. Even beyond what your Hunter License provides... we don’t care too much about that here,” Jasoof explains.
“Also—here.” Jasoof hands Auren a card. “My personal number. Call anytime, even in the middle of the night. If you need help, I’ll help out... for our clan.”
“Not bad,” Auren says. “As for my reward... besides Jenny... I’m interested in weapons, special items, tools—anything—as long as they share one characteristic.”
Jasoof’s eyes widen. “Which is?”
“Residual Aura,” Auren says, taking out his favorite Ben’s Knife, his first one. “How about you take a look?”
“A look? I guess it can’t hurt.” A flicker of understanding crosses Jasoof’s face.
He uses Gyo and inspects the knife before nodding, now understanding his request. “I never paid much attention to these things, but I’ll do my best to find whatever we have in our warehouses. Our clan’s collections are... quite something. You don’t know what desperate gamblers pawn or bet away in our casinos. If you take care of our problems, I’ll make it worth your while—probably more than you can imagine.”
“We’ll talk soon.” Auren stands; Jasoof does the same and leads them outside, the others following close behind.
Back in the SUV, instead of driving off, Auren gestures for Vanessa to stop.
“What’s wrong, Auren? Let’s get out of here!” she says, clearly annoyed. “I really hate that guy.”
“Konrad... that little story. How much of it was actually true?” Auren asks.
“Hehe, curious aren’t you?” Konrad snickers.
“Out with it!” Vanessa says, glaring at her brother.
“Fine!” Konrad replies, glaring at his sister.