88. The Compensation Plan to Minerva
88. The Compensation Plan to Minerva
What was a blacksmith in the modern era?
One might think of the typical village smithy, but here at NTR Academy, the meaning of blacksmith changed.
In the past, those who sought to contain the world with hammer and anvil.
Now, humanity created another kind of hammer and anvil—
"Dog-like! Fuck! Shiiit...!"
"Stopping equipment. Huh? That's not okay? No, noooooo!!!"
"...Why is this working? It shouldn't work?"
'Oof...'
The blacksmiths of old
were now called "developers" in the modern age.
I passed by them, giving silent applause in my heart at the continuous scenery I could not bear to watch without tears.
"So this is the headquarters of the 'Hephaestus Guild'..."
Minerva, who accompanied me, also looked around with her mouth half-open.
The staff member who guided us pointed to the inner office and said,
"Please wait here."
"Yeees."
Hephaestus Guild, Quality Control Team 2.
Minerva and I sat inside the office and waited for the person in charge.
"...Hey, Chrono. By the way, what business did you come here for?"
"Nothing special, really."
Since the bracelet malfunctioned and I almost died, I came to receive compensation for that.
I took a snack from the refreshment table in front of me and put it in my mouth.
'It's delicious'
The thought that Mai might like it if I brought it to her later—seeing that, it seemed that having Mars glued to my side was making me diligently manage my intelligence in a Wise-Mother-and-Good-Wife-style way.
Checking my stats through the bracelet, my Intelligence was indeed lowered by 1.
I rinsed my mouth by drinking water, and only then did Minerva answer me.
".....Isn't that something special?"
"Right? That's why I came to get compensation."
I didn't know how much I could squeeze out, but wouldn't they at least give me an inventory or something?
I kept waiting for the person in charge, and after about 3 minutes, the person in charge opened the door and entered.
"I'm very sorry for being late, haha. There's been so much work..."
...
..
.
The final compensation plan was as follows.
1. Damage compensation funds
There were quite a lot of zeros attached.
2. Equipment
Compensation for equipment below a certain price
3. Free after-sales service for a set period
On the premise of data sharing, they said they would not charge repair fees for about 5 years.
'...Is this a good deal?'
There had been no such event when I played the game, and since nothing like this happened in my past life either, I wasn't sure if this was correct.
As I silently and steadily stared at the contract, Minerva, who sat next to me, opened her mouth toward the person in charge.
"By any chance... do you think of us as pushovers?"
"No, why would we ever think that? If you have any complaints, please let me know which points—"
"—From the beginning to the end, then."
"....Excuse me?"
Minerva reached a hand toward the contract.
She slowly read the contract items again and began to take the person in charge to task, point by point.
"Right now, this incident is a matter related to the Hephaestus Guild's reliability. Especially the fact that an error occurred in the 'BSS,' which is responsible for the safety of student cadets... if it were merely a decrease in the durability of the barrier, there would be some room to consider it a case of normal wear and tear, but I believe a case where the activation itself does not occur is an extremely serious problem."
"...That means..."
"Wouldn't it make sense to at least add about two more zeros at the end?"
"Huh... into the hundreds of millions...! Well... we already provided support like hospital expenses and so on, so on this part, a little—"
"—Isn't that something you should naturally do?"
"That... I mean, we have something called 'regulations' too..."
"Oh...!"
Me.
Minerva suddenly started looking awesome.
Minerva pointed to other items in the contract and continued.
"Regarding the equipment as well, you proposed items of sub-standard quality across the board as compensation. At least change them to 'Unique Grade.'"
"That kind of..."
"Furthermore, regarding the information sharing part, you should have proposed an additional compensation amount for that—no matter how much of a pushover your counterpart looks, isn't this trying to fleece them too much?"
"That's why we'll provide free A/S—"
"—'Will provide' is not it, it's something you must do naturally. At least when it comes to this compensation plan."
".............."
The person in charge was completely dried up.
"Please rewrite the compensation plan. And if the next compensation plan you bring is also like this..."
Subsequently, Minerva took out a business card from her pocket and showed it to the person in charge.
"Future collaborations with the Athena Guild may experience some setbacks."
"Huh...? What do you mean... u-uhm... ah, ah...!!"
Upon seeing the business card, his eyes gradually widened.
"If it's Minerva, the Athena Guild's...!"
"Mr. Person in Charge."
Toward the stammering person in charge, Minerva spoke.
"Can you do me this favor?"
"................"
*******************
At first, I just brought her along without much thought.
Since we're in the same party, it's convenient to gear up all at once anyway.
To that extent, I didn't bring her expecting anything major—
"...Is this for real?"
"It's simply receiving compensation commensurate with the incident."
—Bringing Minerva was truly a divine move.
As a result, the damage compensation funds increased to the hundreds of millions,
the equipment compensation became 3 Unique Grade items plus free A/S,
and additionally, I even squeezed out a 10% DC (discount) for purchasing equipment at the Hephaestus Guild.
'Are you kidding me...'
When I said that, they asked whether they should handle it sloppily and let the problem grow, or give certain compensation so that even if it were discovered, trust would be maintained in reverse.
Later, even the person above the person in charge came and bowed deeply before leaving.
Was this a heroine?
If it were Mars, she would have just physically destroyed everything because she didn't like it, but Minerva mentally threshed their mentality to tatters.
"Well, it's good for me either way."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"I'm glad you're my party member."
"...I simply did not wish to see my colleague being treated as a pushover."
"That's what I'm glad about. If it weren't for you, I would have been treated as a pushover, you know?"
It was the same principle as a miracle general store where the buying price is 100 gold but the selling price is 10 gold.
I complimented Minerva and looked around the first-floor shop for useful items.
"We can choose 3 Unique Grade items here... right?"
Now, what should I choose if I'm choosing?
I looked around and moved my steps.
'Well... there's no need to agonize over it, actually.'
3 Unique Grade items.
If so, it was right to pick 3 based on top priority.
"Then, first, one 'Advanced Inventory'"
Weight reduction and a staggering volume of 100x100x100.
With just one of these, there would be no more inventory worries.
"One Shadow Veil"
A miraculous item with a stealth rating of +80%.
On top of that, if you unlock a few more skill passives, you can produce a situation with 200% stealth where monsters become blind even if you pass right beside them with their eyes open.
"And one pair of glasses."
Glasses imprinted with 'Appraisal.'
Unlike other 'Appraisal Artifacts,' you can use these indefinitely.
"These 3 should be enough."
"Are you not purchasing weapons or armor?"
"I already have a good weapon, and for armor, it's fine to buy cheap stuff roughly."
"..........."
"...Don't look at me with those eyes?"
In the first place, all things require selection and focus,
so if you possess overwhelming firepower that can annihilate enemies all at once, armor was practically meaningless.
Even if my HP were halved in a single battle, I could just refill it with holy magic,
so in reality, unless you planned to do boss battles or tanker work, there was no need to pay much attention to protective gear.
"On top of that, I have the 'Bracelet,' so would I even die?"
"Did you not almost actually die?"
".....That's what I meant theoretically."
"It's no use after all."
Minerva bought a nearby arm guard and handed it to me.
"In my opinion, Chrono, you tend to use your body too recklessly. Please remember that if you get hurt, many people will be sad."
"For example?"
"For example... wouldn't your parents exist?"
"I'm an orphan, though?"
".............."
Minerva's expression hardened.
Yes, that's exactly what I was aiming for.
"Telling an orphan their parents would worry—nice personality, that."
"Tha... ah, that, I'm sorry! I absolutely, absolutely did not mean it in that sense!"
"It's fine. Anyway, if the parents who abandoned me knew I had become a 'student cadet,' they'd probably self-appoint themselves as parents."
"That's why... I absolutely did not mean it in that sense...!!"
She flailed her arms, not knowing what to do.
It would be fun to keep teasing her like this, but since she bought me the arm guard and there was also the compensation plan matter, I decided to stop at an appropriate point.
"I was just joking, so relax your face."
"...I feel like Chrono's jokes are gradually becoming more mischievous."
"It's probably your imagination."
"Is it my imagination?"
Minerva looked slightly pouty.
Did she know that Minerva, who said I was becoming mischievous, was also showing more and more emotion in front of me?
I glanced around and found one accessory to purchase.
"It's an earring... Chrono, did you wear earrings too?"
"No. I bought it for you to use."
"Eh..."
It was a special grade artifact, and the effect itself was nothing special.
"It's an earring that... increases Divinity?"
"Right."
An earring that raised the Divinity stat by 5.
"You can fly as long as your Divinity is filled."
Whether it was heal,
or DPS,
or tank,
if you wished, she was a character who could be used anywhere.
However, because her MP consumption was so severe that she chronically suffered from MP problems, each earring like this would be a very necessary item for Minerva.
"............"
Minerva looked back and forth between me and the earring.
"....As much as you've given me your sincerity, I will use it gratefully."
"I'll also use the arm guard you gave me well."
"............"
She stopped talking again and looked at me silently.
"You aren't doing this on purpose, are you?"
"???"
What was she talking about?
I asked Minerva what she meant.
"No. If you don't know, then that's fine."
She said I wasn't doing it on purpose...
...I think that's rather more vicious, actually.
"....What?"
"It's nothing."
"............"
Minerva said those incomprehensible words and turned around.
She really did that when I asked what the problem was.
Ah, as a side note—
─Ttiring♬ Ttiring♬ Ttiring♬ Ttiring♬
'...What is it?'
The phone sound that had been ringing continuously from earlier.
Wondering what it was, I opened the phone, and suddenly numerous payment histories and... things floated up.
[Fukada Mami, Beastly Idol Debut ♬]
[Nishimura Amy, Homeless Sexual Service Committee]
[Hoshizora Yuki, Forbidden Encounter Between Mother and Child]
[Yuna Ayumi, Trapped in a Room You Can't Leave Without 100 Forced Climaxes]
...And so on.
".......Fuck?"
I burned through 300,000 won in a day?
"This is......"
".........."
And Minerva saw that?
"....It's natural for a healthy male, but reducing the frequency a little might be beneficial."
"No."
I'm wronged.