I reached into my bag, produced my handmade scroll and laid it on the table. The orc peered at it. His nostrils twitched greedily; his hand jerked mechanically as if to grab it.

"Hm. Are you sure you want to waste a unique item like that? Why not sell it to me? I'd pay you two hundred thousand in gold. You don't really need it to deactivate the dome. Just hire an extra hundred wizards and they'll do it for you, for less money too. What do you say to that?"

Yeah, right. I'd give it to him, and then the scroll would resurface at the worst possible moment, probably under my own castle walls. Not mentioning the fact that the spell cost at least a million. The merc wizards would take at least half an hour to break through the shield. As if I had that kind of time! I probably could just about handle the guards with their 15-min respawn times, but regular players could step in, too, and they respawned instantly.

No, giving matches to children wasn't a good idea. "With your permission, I prefer to act fast and be sure. So how much do I owe you for hiring three hundred top warriors for a five-minute coup?"

With a disapproving shake of his head, the orc began talking up his prices. "The minimal hire is twenty-four hours. It would take me about two hours to gather the force you need. Five hundred each, that's a hundred and fifty thousand in total."

"That's a lot," I tut-tutted. "No wholesale discount?"

He gave me an encouraging smile, like, there would be if you wait a bit. "I haven't finished yet. As the proposed op has a more political rather than military character which may potentially affect the Guild's relationship with some of AlterWorld's top factions, a risk ratio comes into play, doubling the price. That's in case I give you my permission to proceed. Which I won't because under these conditions, the money is of less interest and can't serve as a means of payment."

"Then what will?"

He gave an indifferent shrug. "Possibly, the return service of a comparable caliber or," he pointed his eyebrows at the parchment, "a unique item of similar value."

Wasn't he cornering me, the bastard? No, Sir, I don't think so! The higher his interest in the scroll, the less I wanted to satisfy it. I just didn't happen to like shady types with unclear agendas.

Under his sour stare I put the parchment back into the bag. I felt for a Tear of a Phantom Dragon and placed it onto the table. The orc's eyes glistened. Tilting his head, he read the stats and beamed. Gingerly he picked up the stone, his sensitive fingers stroking it.

"Very well, dear Laith. The Tear is valuable. I think I know what we can do with it," his eyes stealing toward an enormous scimitar on an expensive mahogany stand. "But... I'm afraid it's not enough."

Looking into his gleaming yellow eyes, I slowly reached for the second tear. The Coordinator leaned forward, his cheek twitching. "Still not enough!"

Oh, well. Their combined value was between a hundred and two hundred grand. True, not quite enough, but considering their scarcity... Very well, Sir, take and choke on it. My Lena was probably standing up to her waist in baby Dragons' tears now...

I lay the third tear onto the table.

"Not enough."

Wasn't he a bit too greedy for a senior manager? He could use a lesson. Fuck the whole hire thing—if it failed, I'd just have to try something else. I could always turn to the Vets: I could ask them to give me Lt. Singe's men to cast the Minor Power Dome on top of the 30-sec immunity I got from the Shield of Faith. I just might make it.

Again I reached into my bag and started pulling my hand slowly out. The orc leaned forward till he lay on the table, his clawed hands twitching. Then his stare froze, uncomprehending, first on me, then on the protruding middle finger that I'd produced from the depths of my bag.

"W-what do you sug-gest?" he stuttered.

"What do you think? All finished! No more stones! And those that you have already may just have all run out, too. Some people should keep their greed on a short leash. Now. Three Tears against a proper three hundred squad, fully equipped and buffed to the teeth. Deal?"

I was about to offer him my hand but reconsidered. This dashing armchair warrior made me question his combat past. His brutal looks, his tapestries with his own image lovingly portrayed in the foreground, his scimitar on the mantelpiece... He could just be a militarized office rat—I'd seen his type in real life. They love wearing camos and cropped hair, have a house collection of a dozen knives and burn the night oil at all the relevant forums. Never mind they never did army service. Or if they did, they were on kitchen duty.

But this character didn't quite fit the mold. Too smart, the bastard. A millionaire daddy's spoiled nerd with Harvard behind his belt, casting jealous glances at pumped-up movie hulks? Could be.

In the meantime, the orc was combatting his own inner greedy pig. After a minute's thought, he scooped up the crystals and recapped,

"Three hundred sentients. Average level, one-fifty. Plus the buffs, catalog price forty grand. Combat time: ten minutes, after which the warriors are ported back and the contract is considered closed."

"I thought you said the contract was for twenty-four hours?" I asked. I could always find ways to use all that manpower. I could send them to farm a dungeon or find other ways to keep them busy.

He shrugged. "That's as may be. Still, the conditions remain the same. You've just said it was a five-minute job. That's why you got this price. I can recalculate it for twenty-four hours, if you prefer. Fancy that?"

Scumbag. Never mind. Every dog has his day, especially when the dog has absolute memory. A thousand years later, I'd still remember this day and the way he pulled my strings. Actually, the same applied to me, too. I should really watch my tongue and go easy on making new enemies. This wasn't Kansas anymore. Time wasn't going to heal anything here.

I gritted my teeth and shook my head. "Not really."

"Excellent. I'll PM you the contract template shortly. I'm going to summon my junior coordinator to accompany you for the duration of the contract. This is a compulsory condition in case of hiring fifty personnel and over. Now you'll go to assembly hall six. No, it's not a factory floor but a large hangar-like depot. That's where raid parties are formed, briefed and buffed. You are the raid leader. Choose the teams' leaders as your officers. Try not to split existing groups unnecessarily as it may lower the efficacy of the whole force. The junior will tell you. That's it, then! Thank you for thinking about us. It's your money for our swords. Have a nice day!"

He shouted the last of his speech at my back as he ushered me out of his office and gestured at me to a solemn-looking Barbarian warrior who was waiting in the reception area.

I swung round, sending caution to the wind, about to tell him everything I had boiling inside me, when his office door was promptly closed in front of my very nose. I recoiled. "You piece of-"

"Yes, Sir!" the voice barked behind my back.

I turned around to face the Barbarian. He offered me his hand. "Allorienar, which stands for Widow Breeder, or Widowmaker as our guys here call me. But for you, I'm Alexis."

He gave me an open smile. I enjoyed shaking his strong hand callused by sword use.

"That one," he nodded at the door, "just forget him. It's the management's protégé, some top dog's son. Lots of attitude and an enormous artifact collection. He lays his hands on everything that's not bolted down. Half our guys dream of busting his stashes. Right then, let's go to the assembly room. I've got the contract details already. Looks like it's going to be fun. It's been a while since we gave the Lighties a rocket. Actually, what would you say to a bit on the side? I'd like to invite a couple of reporters to join the group. They pay quality money for an invitation to a good scuffle. Mind you, it's always better to milk them ourselves because the information will leak, anyway, even if only seconds before we jump. Someone always talks. Happened lots of times. Keeping a large raid secret is not easy, and those hacks will pay anything for a tip.