RETURN OF THE SHADOW - Chapter 190

“Interesting,” said Bruce aloud during dinner as he was notified by the ShadowCard account of Balthazar’s searches. He was having dinner alongside his daughter and her husband. She was talking about reduction in their personnel available as quite a big chunk of their organization has taken leaves to pursue the surviving members of the Nirbaadh pirates. Most personnel in security companies and even law enforcement were trying to get a hold of the bounties being offered by the Khan and Malik families.

“What caught your eye?” asked his daughter. She had been rambling about the difficulty she and D.i.c.k were having at ther company for the past few minutes, but Bruce didn’t say a word. Usually, when he gets a message he would just reply and doesn’t talk about it or say anything aloud. So, she her curiosity was spooked.

“A couple of hours ago, D.i.c.k created an account for the kid, Balthazar and I have set the system to monitor and report any activity on his account,” said Bruce. “Just got the information that he had made a few searches using his account.”

“What did he want?” asked D.i.c.k looking up from his steak.

“The first search was expected by me. He wanted to look into this unknown man, Dave that he had been talking of since the attack on his station. No update on his name till now,” said Bruce. “The second was kind of unexpected and recently made. In a few moments after the incident with the pirates. So, I find it very interesting. He searched for Ryan Rowley.”

“Ryan Rowley? The brother of Raymond Rowley?” asked D.i.c.k. “What is the request for Ryan?”

“It is for his death. There have been three different bounties on it. Any idea on his situation? Looking at the timing of issue of the bounty and his relation to Raymond Rowley, I guess there was might have been something that happened in the family of those merchants,” said Bruce. “We got anyone in contact with them?”

“Evelyn has someone monitoring them, since Balthazar had reported on them. She didn’t believe the convenient way in which they had reported of the boys indiscretion and exiled out of the family,” said D.i.c.k as he put in a message to her and continued eating his steak.

“Wait, he put in a request for Ryan Rowley, but not a kill request. It was just for information or captured alive and in good health,” said Bruce.

“He wants Ryan Rowley too?” asked D.i.c.k surprised. “Ryan is the patriarch’s nephew. It will be a big scandal if he Rowleys are setting him up. I think we might have to contact the Blyths and I better contact Evelyn.”

“Evelyn just sent it to me,” said Bruce suddenly. “Ryan had recently left the family alone without any security detail. There seems to be a rumor that there was a meeting in the family on the day of the incident and someone was exiled after the meeting.”

“She thinks it is Ryan Rowley?” asked Barbara.

“Yes. It certainly seems so,” said Bruce as he received another message. “She is also surprised that we are asking for this information.”

“What are you going to tell her?” asked D.i.c.k.

“That someone has attempted an attack on him and reported that the mission is much more dangerous and requires an increase in the bounty to go ahead,” said Bruce.

“Is that even allowed? Wouldn’t the president know?” asked Barbara.

“You know I could be the president, right?” laughed Bruce.

“I don’t need to worry about those things. I am just updating it as a critical note vetted by me after one of my men took the assignment. Evelyn also accepted to vet it,” he continued as he updated the assignments posted for Ryan Rowley.

“Wouldn’t it make it hard for people to accept Balthazar’s request too?” asked D.i.c.k.

“Good way to prevent anyone from accepting it too. If killing the man was considered extremely dangerous, a bounty for him to be caught alive would be considered a lot more dangerous,” said Bruce. “What I am most concerned is about the fact, the kid already is looking for things that were only privy to Evelyn. She just informed me that I was the only one apart from her and her man at the Rowleys to know about this. Does he have a network that is on par with her?”

“He could have contacted Balthazar on his own,” said Barbara.

“Improbable. Balthazar was indirectly responsible for his brother’s death and seeing that Ryan was evicted on the day of the incident, I think he wouldn’t be too interested in contacting the person responsible for it,” said Bruce. “It doesn’t make sense, but the other alternative isn’t sensible either. What we have here is an enigma. I wan’t someone on his tail.”

“That might be hard. He managed to overcome the Nirbaadh pirates and knights whom the entire alliance including us failed to make a definite move all this time. He would probably realize it. It isn’t really the best option we have,” said Barbara. “Moreover, I suspect the Blyths would also be having him tailed.”

“That’s right,” said D.i.c.k agreeing with his wife.

“We will talk to Arthur tomorrow. I hope he has some information,” said Bruce. “Let us leave it for now.”

As they were discussing about Balthazar, their person of interest was done with the account for now and decided to return back to his family mansion. He was in dire need of money to go through with his plans and he had recently spent a lot of it in the game and development of guild training environment.

He needed another source for money. This was an issue which had been troubling him for quite some time. To employ services of Herschel and also for the bounty, he would need a lot of money. He planned to take out some money that he earned from the dungeon entrance he owned at Blackrock Town, but he knew that it wouldn’t be enough.

He had to find a better way and he knew that Robert would already be under scrutiny and currently Richard would allocate any funds for him. He didn’t want to ask Winston as he would have to explain to his grandfather, the need for those and also it would attract attention that he didn’t want.

So, he decided to call Bolena while travelling back to the mansion. After a couple of attempts, she responded to the call. “Hi brother, how are you?” asked Bolena looking tired and a bit disconcerted.

“I am fine. What is wrong with you?” he asked.

“Nothing. Just work problems. How is your career? I heard that your posting might be affected due to the latest incident with those pirates?!”

“I got no idea. Where did you hear that from?” he asked.

“That man Rodrigo. He came to watch the demonstration along with your replacement, Sophia Martinez. They had a lot of doubts which made me real tired. Both of them actually have a decent knowledge of technology and it had been a long night due to that. I expected them to talk about costs and materials and the like, but she was very interested in the effects and possible changes that might occur in her soldiers physiology and other concerns for her men,” said Bolen. “Took a long time to proper convince her.”

“Hmm,” said Balthazar nodding absentmindedly. He didn’t want to talk about his crush to his sister. He didn’t want to involve in any discussion that involved her.

“It wasn’t like she was wrong, but we need a lot more testing. We haven’t really tested the entire warframe with personnel to check the resiliency and other features. Moreover, to do that we need to have comprehensive medical facilities closeby for which we need to find proper location. These facilities should also be very advanced, and the equipment are to be very secure. Grandpa didn’t even agree to provide this equipment to me at my lab. He says it is too risky and that I would need medical personnel with more experience in case of emergencies. That guy Rodrigo also told the exact words that Winston said. I am sure that gramps had put those thoughts in the heads of those guys.,” she continued with her complaining.

“And the worst part was that he has suggested that we find a place in the Asklepian city close to home. He is even suggesting a place near to the hospital. There aren’t any decent ground or large spaces close to the city. He just wants me to get back. It would cost a lot of money and time for the company due to this setback. I didn’t think that he would go so low for something like this,” she said in anger. It was clear that she was furious by Winston’s attempts to relocate her to work close to home after she refused to leave BR-64 planet due to her work.

“Well, I guess so. He is the patriarch and he wouldn’t have been able to hold that position, if he wasn’t good at such schemes. He got you good,” mocked Balthazar.

“I didn’t tell you all this so that you can mock me.”

“What can I do apart from that?”

“You can help me!”

“What would you want?” asked Balthazar. He had initially called to her to request her help but the direction of their conversation was going in an entirely opposite manner to his intentions.

“I don’t know,” pouted Bolena. “You seem to have been quite successful in your attempts. I heard from grandpa that the recent defeat of those famous pirates also began due to your interference. It seems like you hold a good reputation. Can’t you try to convince him?”

“He really wants you to come back. He is afraid and he wouldn’ listen to me. I don’t feel like convincing him either,” replied Balthazar. “What if he puts in a notice to you that your company needs better medical facilities to proceed. He has that authority, you know.”

“Ah! Useless. He can’t actually do that as it is untrue. It is not a necessity for most of the preliminary tests and it is only required later. By that time, I am willing to relocate, and I will be able to setup something decent on Asklepian. He wants me to move as fast as possible,” said Bolena.

“Oh! So, you only want to convince Rodrigo and Sophia, then?”

“Yes. Those are the ones important right now.”

“You are not telling me this just so that I will put in a word for you, right?” asked Balthazar. “You were always good at fooling me. You are sure that Winston’s recommendations aren’t really necessary at this stage. If I end up finding it to the other way later, I wouldn’t mind ratting you out to Rodrigo.”

“Bleh! I care about my reputation as a researcher. I wouldn’t risk that,” said Bolena waving her hand. “You can deny my request. Don’t insult me.”

“Fine, but I need help from you too,” said Balthazar with a smile. “I need some funds to secure your interests.”

“You blackmailing me?” asked Bolena raising her eyebrows. “And what is with those words. You are talking like a thug.

“Secure our interests,” she said making air quotes. “How much do you want? A million enough?”

“About ten times that and I hope that I can depend on you for further funds. I will try to get money on my own, but I would be glad if I can depend on you,” said Balthazar.

“Fine. I am sending you the amount now, but this is from the funds of the company. So, Winston tends to have a look at them. I hope you wouldn’t need them much frequently. Just stay safe. I understand that you are asking me because you don’t want Winston to know. So, it isn’t something that he would accept to, but I understand that you will need to do somethings that you think is the right thing to do. Hope you that you will not risk your life like the incident at the citadel. OK!?” asked Bolena.

“Fine, I will make the calls. Also, hold on the payment. Send it to Rodrigo instead and put in some reason. I will talk it out with him,” said Balthazar as he cut the call. By the time, he reached the mansion, he had already talked to Rodrigo and messaged Sophia about the situation and he got ten million credits from Bolena through Rodrigo.

Having done with most of the preparation that he needed to have before his meeting with Ryan Rowley, he decided to go to his room and spend some time with the game. The game was the only thing he could currently predict using his memories from his previous life. Most of his life was progressing different and even the main events among the humans were quite different when compared to those of his past life. The only thing from his past life that he could use in real-life were the skills that he had learnt, his memories were of not much use. So, the game was the best way for him to earn some money which he clearly needed for his aims.

As he donned the helmet, the first person he contacted was Ellie. He had managed to gather some funds for the first trip, but to make the trips he needs to maintain a certain amount of personal safety for which a combat suit was very necessary. He chose to talk about this to Ellie because she has already been working for his guild and he also had received few of the devices which he asked her to make.

She already had plans to improve on those designs which she gave to him during his trial, but these wouldn’t be enough. Those were meant for everyday use when he was visiting people. As he couldn’t be wearing combat suits, he requested weapons that could be conceiled under his dress. Now, his requirements were different as he wanted a personalized combat suit.

“What do you want now?” she asked as soon as she took the call.

“How are you? How is the design of the training environment going on? Did you employ anyone?” he asked.

“Ya, that is going good,” she said. “You can get a few to come and experience it. Started a basic thing but would still appreciate if you get a few experts so that we could modify difficulty of the thing accordingly, else this would just be an execution ground rather than a training scenario.”

“Ya. Have been working on that. Meeting Leon’s old friend tomorrow during the party. You coming, right?”

“Of course. So, is this just a social call?”

“No. I need a combat suit.”

“Go and contact Leon. Winston had already given you permission to choose one for personal use. After recent events, there is a majority of elders who have decided to support your development as they consider you to be a capable asset. There are a wide variety of models available,” she said dismissively.

“I need a personalized one. I need you to do it.”

“What is it for? We have a variety and there is sure to be one which satisfies your needs,” she said.

“I need to be a bounty hunter.”

“That is the same as not saying anything. Are you intentionally being difficult?!” she yelled.

“No. I intend to be a bounty hunter,” said Balthazar.

“What do you want anyways?”

“It should have as many exploratory features and scanning tech as possible, an air support system, high mobility, stealth tech and one of those defensive fields which could be deployed. Preferable a pair of guns, penetrating rounds and frequency blades. Should look like an older model. At least a generation old,” said Balthazar repeating all the things that he had noted down.

“Do you need something else?”

“Nah, can you do it,” said Balthazar. “I would preferably need it by tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night, huh”

“Yes.”

“I am not doing it. Do you have a compulsive need to surprise people whenever you meet them? I don’t know what to think of you,” she said. She was fine till he told her that he needs it in a day’s time. That was the last straw for her. She was already quite busy, helping Elias and also working on his virtual environment.

“I am sending a mail to Elias and Winston specifying these things. Elias will look into it. I am not attempting to do it so fast,” said Ellie as she sent forward a mail.

“No. No. Don’t send it to Winston.”

“Sorry! I already sent it.”

“Damn, all my preparations have been wasted,” cursed Balthazar as he got a couple of calls immediately. One from Winston and another from Bolena.