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When Santon ntioned The Steward’s Guild, I held back from striking him when he extended his hand for a handshake, but I kept my spells at the ready.
Prior to this eting, Professor Sageira had given a brief rundown of The Steward’s Guild. On the surface, it was an association of advisors and administrators that manages the estates of the rich and powerful, but just under such an innocuous na, they “manage” more than estates.
For those in the know and who have enough coin, their services extended to people who are in need of highly skilled individuals, who, above all, could keep things private and discreet. As for how I got on this list of highly skilled individuals, it was mainly due to Professor Sageira vouching for my skill and tight lips.
Not wanting to be rude to my potential employer, I accepted the handshake and felt an almost imperceptible sliver of mana enter my body. Not knowing what it was, I obliterated the foreign mana with my own, and with just mana infusion, I put more strength into my handshake, letting feel the creak of Santon’s tacarpal bones before I felt his aura snap into place to resist my crushing grip.
“That was rather rude of you, Santon, is infiltrating other people’s bodies with mana how the Steward’s Guild greet others?” I said, while giving him a deadpan glare.
Santon just gave a business smile and replied, “My apologies, Sir Ironcrest, rely a small test, that's all. A test that you passed with flying colors.”
I was not buying that for a second, but I will let it pass for now. We soon released our handshake, and the mont we did, Santon put his suitcase on the table and got to business.
As it turns out, unlike other rcenaries who sign up with them, my information was well known, and most of the paperwork had already been done. All I had to do was double-check it and sign off on it.
After that was done, the only thing left to sign was my employnt contract and this word’s version of an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreent) which reeked of soul magic. I should know, after the whole Soul Weapon thing that Professor Sageira told about, she brought so artifacts related to soul magic, so I could get a feel for the vibes or wavelengths they gave off.
And unlike the employnt contract that was mundane and made of fine and clean parchnt, the soul magic NDA was made out of so kind of skin, I just hope it is not the skin of anything sentient, or even worse, human skin. And instead of signing it with ink, the NDA will need my bloody thumbprint to seal the deal.
If they took things to this extent, I knew they ant serious business. It took so ti, but I went over the employnt and NDA contract twice. The employnt contract was nothing special. It just said I was a contract staff and would only be paid for jobs taken and successfully accomplished, I was not eligible or any leave or ti off while on a job, and as for the benefits, there were a number of esteblishnts that would accommodate or service for free or a heavily discounted price. When I looked at the list of establishnts, I saw that they were mid to high-end establishnts with outlets in all major cities. This employnt package was sweet!
As for the NDA, not so much. To summarize it, it was a whole list of “Do Not”. All it boiled down to was the sa as the first and second rule of fight club: you do not talk about fight club. At the end of the NDA were the consequences, which were just what I was expecting for such an organization… Death… to be more accurate, death by mana rupture, and with the amount of mana sohow packed into this sheet of skin, I did not doubt it would kill any man… I just wonder if my tempered mana pathways could withstand the contract trying to rupture my mana pathways.
Eventually, I signed the employnt contract and pricked my thumb to print it on the NDA. The mont I put my bloody thumbprint to the NDA, I felt a surge of mana seep into , and I felt like there was a layer of film coating my mana pathways. It felt disgusting, making shiver on the spot.
Seeing my obvious and uncontrollable short shiver, Santon asked, “Are you okay, Sir Ironcrest?” with a worried look on his face.
Did others who thumbprint the magical NDA not react the sa way? From Santon’s expression, I think not. Interesting… maybe my tempering of my mana pathways made sensitive to its state. I will need to ask Professor Sageira about this later.
“Nothing to worry about, Mister Santon, just a little under the weather today, it's chilly nowadays.” I replied
When all my paper (and skin) work was done, Santon neatly put my paperwork back into his suitcase as he said, “Congratulations on becoming an associate of The Steward’s Guild, Sir Ironcrest.”
He then pulled out a small flat box from his suitcase and slid it over to . “Inside is a mask that is only to be used on your jobs, and a mbership card to identify yourself at ours or any associated establishnts.”
I opened the box to see a face mask without any eyeholes and a stained black tal card with the design of a fancy ornantal gate one would see in front of an expensive estate.
I reached into the box to hold the mask, wondering how I was going to use a mask I could not see out of, but Santon reached over to place his hand on top of the box. “Please inspect those in a more private setting.”
After I nodded, he continued, “Now that you are an associate of The Steward’s Guild, I, as the manager in charge of this region, can offer you so jobs. Would you like to take a look at what is available?”
Hell yeah, I would! “Yes, please.”
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