Novel Full 217 Unsavory deal
“Worst part of the deal?” Carol said, repeating Mathew’s words while leaning her head to the side. “What exactly do you mean by that?” she then asked, squinting her eyes as a hint of suspicion appeared deep in her pupils.
‘I guess I managed to surprise her quite a bit,’ Mathew thought, a small smirk hanging at the edge of his lips. ‘Still, it’s astonishing how quickly I got to wipe that smug attitude of hers away,’ he then added before himself only to shake his head and refocus on the topic at hand.
“Every spear that you guys hold is worth a hundred cores,” Mathew said out loud, directing his words not to Carol alone but toward the entirety of the hunting squad. “I picked them because of a few reasons. They are easy to use for beginners. They are of pretty good quality… but most of all, they are all relatively cheap,” he said only to allow an open grin to appear on his lips. “But the fact that I call them cheap, means they are cheap in my eyes. And once we get out of the gate, you guys will understand that it’s not that easy to gather a hundred cores for a single spear, not to speak about six hundred I used to get one for all of you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Carol nodded her head as she rolled her eyes. “You used a lot of resources on us, resources that you don’t really have any to spare. Sail to the shore, sailor,” she added in a slightly condescending tone, clearly trying to build up her authority within the hunting squad at the cost of their respect toward Mathew. Yet, what she likely didn’t notice with her eyes, even if it was obvious to anyone involved, was the instant look of scorn that her words earned her from the rest of Mathew’s wives.
‘Should I call her out on this…?’ Mathew thought, taking a fraction of a second to analyze his situation. ‘I can’t allow her to uproot my own authority within the survivors,’ he thought, gritting his teeth only to take a quick breath as he ultimately opted to keep the topic aside for now. ‘There will be more than enough time to beat obedience into her once we get to real hunting.’
“I can see where you are coming from, but that wasn’t the reason why I’m speaking about all of this at all,” Mathew then repelled Carol’s accusations, pretending as if not a single word of hers rang true. “Getting a single spear for you guys cost me a hundred cores. Now, add the daily cost of about fifty cores that goes into food, water, and utilities within the school that support both you and the rest of the survivors…” Mathew left his sentence open, making it obvious that he could go on and on if that was his desire. “But I’m diverging from the point I want to make. What I really want you guys to understand is that those spears in your hands… are just the beginner’s set I got for you.”
“I hope that doesn’t mean they are going to have better weapons than us,” Nadia muttered from a single step behind Mathew’s back. “I mean, if we didn’t use all of our resources to set up the fortresses, we could afford much better arms, wouldn’t we?”
Mathew heard Nadia’s words and acknowledged them with a quick nod. Yet, he didn’t bother to reply to her words just yet.
“From now on, just like I told you before, I expect each and every one of you to obtain at least a hundred points worth of cores per day. What’s more, half of the cores that you gather beyond that will be taken as compensation for all the stuff my group provides you with.”
The instant Mathew finished his sentence, he could see a wave of discontent washing over everyone’s faces. No one liked the idea of taxes, after all, no matter how logical they were. And given how, save for Norbert silently tagging along, there wasn’t a single adult in the group, they had no prior experience of actually paying said taxes, something that the government of the old world made sure to make as a-transparent as possible to avoid upsetting the public.
“It sounds harsh, I know,” Mathew nodded his head, acknowledging the unrest that his words created. “I do believe that once you think about it, it will start to make sense. So rather than explaining it right now, let me move on to the sweeter parts of the deal,” he then proposed, despite having no intention of doing otherwise, even if requested.
“What good could come in such a skewed-up deal?” one of the hunters muttered just loud enough for Mathew to hear, instantly causing the entire group to shut up.
What was quite interesting, was how Carol instantly dropped her attitude towards Mathew, throwing the perpetrator an instant murderous look.
“With the cores that you guys will be left to your name, you will be able to request the purchase of better weapons,” Mathew then announced, only to rest his hand on the handle of his saber before pulling it out and taking a few swings around. “This baby costs me a quarter of a thousand cores. And after checking out those spears of yours…” Mathew said, only to allow a small smirk to the surface of his lips, impervious to the unsettling comment one of the hunters gave. “And no matter how much you look at it, it’s far better than just being two and a half times stronger than your spears.”
Mathew didn’t bother to continue the topic, for now, opting to approach the nearby corpses instead. He then beckoned at Frank to approach as well, only to pass him his very own blade before pointing his hand at the nearest head of the zombie.
“I saw you struggle to pull out the blade of your spear after piercing it through a zombie’s skull,” Mathew pointed out what he saw with his very own eyes. “Try to do the same with this blade,” he then ordered only to take a step back and cross his arms over his chest.
“Uhmm… sure?” Frank hesitated only for a second as his masculine side quickly took over, filling Mathew’s schoolmate with elation at holding a clearly powerful piece of a blade.
Frank then took a deep breath to calm himself down before opening up his eyes wide and sending his right leg forward, stepping up as he thrust the saber straight into the nearest skull.
Despite his movement being several grades below what Mathew himself was capable of, the saber still displayed no signs of struggle or effort as it pierced right through the thick bone at the front of the zombie’s skull, offering no resistance when Frank pulled the weapon back either.
“This is…” the man then stood in place, staring wide-eyed at the now bloodied blade. Only after a considerable moment of sheer admiration did Frank shake himself out of his daze. He then used the bottom of his shirt to clean the blood off the blade before respectfully passing it back to Mathew.
“This is the power of a weapon just a single grade above your spears,” Mathew said as he accepted the blade only to sheathe it right back to his side. “True, it was seasoned with zombie’s blood, but still,” he smiled, “it’s just a single grade better than your spears.”
Mathew heard a murmur of several voices washing over the group of hunters. This time, however, it had no hints of dissatisfaction in it. Yet, rather than rejoicing at how successful his persuasion appeared to be, Mathew took a quick glance towards the sun, only to bring his eyes right back on the hunting squad.
“But that’s it for the explanations. We are running out of time and I want you all to gain some real experience before the sun will set,” he announced only to turn around on the spot and march towards the gate of the school’s fence.
By the time Mathew traveled the short distance that separated him from the main entrance to the school grounds, all three of his wives already found themselves to be right by his side, ready to support him in whatever action he would endeavor at.
“We are going to clean up most of the zombies by the gate so that you can safely get out and join the hunt,” he said, not caring in the slightest for the possible fear and hesitation of the hunters. “And with that said,” he added, only to rest his leg against the wing of the gate, “I hope you guys are fucking ready,” he said, before kicking forth and inviting hell into the safety of the school fortress.