Chapter 83: Scoundrel and Crooked
Alex was surprised by Solomon's remark since people usually say they are similar. "What do you mean?"
"You are more of a scoundrel than your father," Solomon said with a laugh, making Alex's veins pop.
"Sir, that is slander, you know."
"Just call me Solomon. You call it slander? When you cannot win, you just destroy the board."
Alex cursed. He wanted to say, "You are the one cheating first!" But he knew better than to say it.
"That is because the board is old, Solomon," Alex said with a forced smile.
"Yeah, sorry, it's old, forgive me. I am quite old, too, so my memory is not good," Solomon said sarcastically.
'If the president of the association has a bad memory, what about the others!?' he asked in his mind.
Looking at Alex's expression, Solomon chuckled again. He could guess what Alex felt now.
"Don't take it in a bad way, Alex. A pure, honest man won't be able to lead a big organization. Only those crooked like you can."
Alex's veins popped again. He really wanted to leave the room quickly. "Is that an insult or praise, Solomon?" Alex asked.
"That depends on your own point of view," Solomon replied with a smirk.
'This damned geezer!'
It didn't take long for the secretary to come bringing the document. Alex read every single word carefully a few times.
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He even made sure to zoom in on it, just in case the sly geezer put some words in tiny size. And Alex indeed found one; it read, 'I applaud your diligence in looking for this. Now, who knows, there might be more like this.'
Reading it, Alex frowned and started to reread everything again. Solomon tried to hold his laughter; he knew by Alex's expression he had read those words.
The words were tiny and barely readable, not even in pure black ink. Alex could only find them after zooming in using the ERX chip.
Time passed, and after he finished rereading everything, Alex realized Solomon was just playing a trick. And it wasn't just for him.
He could find the words in random areas on every single paper, and some were even cut off. 'This fucking geezer freaking printed it on every white paper used here!'
But other than that harmless prank that wasted Alex's time, everything was as agreed. Both of them then signed the document, and Alex said goodbye to Solomon, wishing in his heart never to need to have anything to do with him ever again.
After he went out, Solomon laughed his ass off, "I have put those for years; he is the first one that fell for it."
The secretary looked at Solomon with judging eyes, "President, you should act more like your status."
"If not because of my status, I wouldn't act like this," Solomon replied with a chuckle, "Well, he is an interesting lad. I am sure we will meet again soon." The man said as he stroked his long beard.
"I am sure Alex wishes not to meet you ever again."
"Well, unfortunately, it's not up to him," Solomon replied, his expression then turned serious, "Did they already start?"
"Yes, they just arrived at the frontline. But I still doubt the plan is viable; flying in the red zone is very dangerous."
"I am not worried. The plan comes from her; she has probably already tested it many times over the years. Till now, she has never failed."
"Still, President, if she fails… This time, you sent all our best fighters with her," the secretary asked, feeling worried about the result. If all of them really die there, the whole hunters association's strength can be said to be cut in half.
"You should know our morale is very low now; we need a big win to motivate everyone. We humans are emotional creatures, Karen. Sometimes what we do doesn't make sense, but that is what we need."
Karen still disagreed, but she knew once Solomon made up his mind, he would never change it.
Solomon gazed toward the door, remembering his encounter with Alex, which made him chuckle again.
He felt like he became younger when he met Luca for the first time, causing trouble in the association. "He really acts like his mother," he mumbled.
Meanwhile, Alex had already gone down, reaching the lobby.
Seeing his upset face made Emily and the rest become worried. He spent an hour there and now came back in a bad mood.
"Did something happen? Did the deal not go through?" Emily asked.
"No, we have a deal."
"Why do you have that face then?" Olivia asked.
"Nothing important, big sis. You all must be hungry; let's have some lunch," Alex said, not wanting to share what happened since he was sure they would just laugh at him.
They then went to a nearby restaurant and ordered some lunch.
As they waited, Quartz asked directly, "I heard about the new system that you want to implement, Alex. Explain it to me so I can accept it."
Alex raised his eyebrow. He knew he couldn't just dismiss her concern. The Suzaku Guild was her family.
"It might look like it changes, but you will not feel any different. Yes, we will open mass recruitment, but they will enter the academy.
To finally join the Guild at the same position as you, it will take them years and many processes. Just believe me on this, Aunt Quartz. I may not go to the Guild alone, but I am not blind to how my dad managed it before."
Olivia chimed in, "I believe him. After all, I am the one teaching him all of it."
Quartz frowned, but since Olivia had spoken up for him, there was nothing she could say.
"Fine, I will believe you, Alex. But before that, you need to believe me, too. Just what is the deal with the Hunter Association? And how do you want to go to that place?
We've tried for years with no luck. It's not that I underestimated you, but I just cannot believe it."