Chapter 301: An Uninvited Guest [2.]

Kael was momentarily taken aback by Vice President Jonas’s words.

"Looking for me?"

However, before Jonas could respond, Kael noticed something rather uncomfortable.

The entire living room had gone unusually quiet.

Conversations that had been going strong just moments earlier gradually died down, and almost everyone was now looking in their direction.

More specifically, their gazes kept shifting between Kael and Vice President Jonas.

It wasn’t hard to guess what they were thinking, given that Vice President Jonas wasn’t an ordinary person. Naturally, everyone was curious how the two had come to know each other.

Kael glanced around the room before shaking his head slightly.

This wasn’t exactly the sort of attention he wanted during his housewarming party.

"Vice President Jonas, why don’t we talk somewhere more private?" he suggested. "Please, come this way."

Jonas glanced at the surrounding guests and seemed to understand what Kael meant.

"Sure."

With that, Kael turned and led him farther into the house.

The two made their way upstairs, leaving the curious gazes of the guests behind. Although Kael could still hear conversations gradually resuming downstairs, he had a feeling that his unexpected visitor would remain a popular topic of discussion for the rest of the evening.

A short while later, they arrived at his study.

Kael opened the door and stepped inside, with Jonas following closely behind.

The room was relatively quiet compared to the lively atmosphere downstairs. After entering, Kael walked toward his desk and took his seat before gesturing toward one of the chairs opposite him.

"Please, have a seat."

Jonas looked at the chair, then at Kael.

Rather than sitting immediately, he gave him a rather exaggerated look of disappointment.

"Hey, what’s with the official treatment?"

Kael blinked.

Jonas shook his head before finally taking his seat.

"Seriously, Kael. It already hurts enough that you didn’t even invite me to your housewarming party. And now that I’ve gone out of my way to show up, you’re treating me like we’ve come here for some kind of business meeting."

He sighed dramatically.

"Is this really how you treat your guests?"

Kael remained silent.

Of course, he had his reasons for not inviting Jonas.

And those reasons had nothing to do with whether he considered the man worthy of an invitation.

The problem was his current situation with the Hunter Association.

Following the incident involving the Dark Viper Guild, Kael was still technically under investigation. Although he had already submitted evidence detailing the Guild’s crimes and explaining his actions, the Association had yet to complete its review.

Until that happened, the matter couldn’t be considered officially resolved.

Under normal circumstances, Kael wouldn’t have been particularly concerned about it. However, considering the scale of what had happened, he believed it was better to avoid unnecessary complications.

That included maintaining a certain distance from high-ranking Association officials.

Vice President Jonas was one of them.

Branch Manager Ferris was another.

In fact, Ferris was directly responsible for handling the investigation, which made inviting him even more inappropriate.

If Kael suddenly began associating closely with the very officials who held influence over his case, there was a good chance someone would start questioning whether the investigation was being conducted fairly.

Even if nothing improper was happening, rumors of favoritism or foul play could still cause unnecessary trouble.

And Kael had no intention of giving anyone an excuse to create more problems for him.

He was also fairly certain Jonas understood all of this.

Which was why Kael didn’t take his complaints too seriously.

The Vice President was clearly exaggerating his disappointment, and Kael suspected the man hadn’t come all this way simply because he felt left out of a housewarming party.

There was probably something important he wanted to discuss.

Seeing that Kael had no intention of responding to his complaints, Jonas let out another sigh.

"What was I even expecting from you?"

He shook his head.

"Heartless as ever."

Kael couldn’t help chuckling awkwardly.

"Well, Vice President Jonas, can I ask why you’ve come to visit?"

"Straight to business, huh?" Jonas muttered.

However, the playful expression on his face gradually faded.

"Well, I actually came here for two things."

Kael nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"But before we get into those, there’s something I’d like to ask you first."

"Oh?"

Kael furrowed his brows slightly.

The sudden change in Jonas’s demeanor hadn’t escaped his notice.

Whatever the Vice President wanted to ask, it seemed to be something he considered rather important.

"Sure. Go ahead."

Jonas didn’t speak immediately.

Instead, he studied Kael for a few moments, seemingly considering how best to phrase his question.

Then he finally opened his mouth.

"Kael, can you tell me what difficulty you’re currently running in the Tower?"

Kael paused.

Of all the questions he had expected, that certainly wasn’t one of them.

He looked at Jonas for a moment, trying to understand why the man would suddenly bring up his Tower difficulty.

After all, this wasn’t exactly information he went around sharing with people.

"Can I ask why you want to know?" Kael replied instead.

Jonas sighed.

"Well, I suppose there’s no point keeping this from you. You’ll probably find out about it sooner or later anyway."

He adjusted his sitting position before continuing.

"The Association is currently dealing with a bit of a problem."

"A problem?"

"Yes. Although calling it a crisis might be a little dramatic, it’s something we’ve been growing increasingly concerned about."

Kael’s brows furrowed.

"What kind of problem?"

"A shortage of high-quality resources."

Kael looked at him with mild surprise.

A shortage of resources?

That wasn’t something he had expected to hear from someone in Jonas’s position.

After all, the Hunter Association the most influential organizations in the entire safe zone. With its resources, connections, and authority, obtaining valuable materials shouldn’t have been particularly difficult.

At least, that was what Kael had always assumed.

Jonas seemed to notice his confusion.

"Let me explain."

He leaned back slightly in his chair.

"As you probably know, truly high-quality resources don’t appear on the market very often. I’m not talking about ordinary materials pulled from low-ranking Rifts or bought through regular suppliers."

He paused briefly.

"I’m talking about resources capable of significantly boosting a powerful Hunter’s strength, rare materials with exceptional properties, items that are difficult to obtain even for the strongest organizations."

Kael nodded. He understood what Jonas meant.

"Whenever something of that level appears on the market," Jonas continued, "there’s almost always fierce competition over who gets to buy it. And unfortunately, over the past couple of years, the Association hasn’t been doing particularly well in those competitions."

Kael raised an eyebrow.

Jonas gave a helpless smile.

"We’ve lost most of the major bidding wars to top Guilds and other powerful organizations."

Hearing that, Kael began to understand the situation a little better.

Although the Hunter Association possessed considerable influence, that didn’t necessarily mean it could outspend every major Guild or organization whenever a valuable item appeared.

Some of those organizations had enormous financial resources, and unlike the Association, they could afford to concentrate their spending on strengthening a relatively small number of people.

The Association, on the other hand, had far more responsibilities to consider.

Jonas continued.

"Of course, this doesn’t mean the Association is in any immediate danger. We’re still functioning perfectly well, and our current reserves are more than sufficient to maintain our operations."

He paused before adding, "But the problem is what happens if this continues."

Kael listened quietly.

"If we keep losing access to the best resources while the major Guilds continue accumulating them, the difference in strength between the Association and those organizations will gradually increase."

Jonas’s expression became more serious.

"It might not matter much now, or even a few years from now. But give it a few decades, and we could find ourselves in a rather uncomfortable position."

Kael nodded thoughtfully.

That was indeed a reasonable concern.

In a world where individual strength could determine the influence of an entire organization, falling behind in the acquisition of valuable resources wasn’t something that could be ignored.

Even if the consequences weren’t immediate, allowing the situation to continue indefinitely would eventually create problems.

"So we’ve been looking for ways to address it," Jonas explained.

"And that’s where I come in?" Kael asked.

Jonas smiled.

"Precisely."

He leaned forward slightly.

"Recently, I heard some rather interesting rumors about an auction your guild is planning to hold."

Kael’s expression remained calm, but he immediately understood where the conversation was heading.

Although the auction itself hadn’t started yet, he’d already told Joy to begin releasing rumors about some of the items expected to appear had started circulating. Given the quality of those items, it wasn’t surprising they’d drawn attention.

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