Mutagen

Day 150 - 2:29 AM - Forest Area, Military Outpost, Santo Domingo Elementary School, Barangay Santo Domingo, Municipality of Virac, Catanduanes

Mark stared at the woman in front of him. The darkness of the night barely affected his sight, after all. And to say, she was a very peculiar woman. She was too different from when she was serving as the General's Secretary. Also different from her behavior just now.

This woman... This Val Flora...

She was a natural actress. No, rather than acting, it felt more like she had a switch inside her head that she could use to change her behavior.

Mark found it quite interesting. After all, the change in her behavior was not only outside. Her thoughts and emotions also went with the sudden change.

She did not change her hair or clothes. Mark had also seen her change her demeanor in front of him. And yet, it did not take away the feeling that he was currently speaking with a different person.

If Mark did not have the ability to sense a person's mental and emotional fluctuations, he might start thinking that Val Flora had split personalities.

"Is there something wrong?"

Val Flora raised her head and asked Mark. It was because he suddenly had a pause while in the middle of the conversation.

"I'm just thinking about the payment," Mark replied. "What kinds of payment do your organization accept?"

After hearing what Mark said, Val Flora smiled.

It was clear that Mark was a first-time customer of their services. Thus, before starting the transaction, the most suitable thing to ask first was the kind of payment they accept.

It was what Val Flora also hinted at when she replied with the phrase "at an equivalent price" to Mark's question.

After all, Val Flora had been in this business since she remembered. There were already countless times that it happened. Dumb clients that went directly to business details without knowing what to pay for the service.

"There's no restriction on anything. Whether it be human currencies or barter trade, we accept it." Val Flora replied. "However, at the current state of the world, the human currencies dropped its value to almost nothing."

From there, Val Flora explained how the direct transactions with the organization worked.

The organization had its own point system. It evaluates the value of things changes depending on the current affairs of the world. The economic system, supply and demand, stock exchange, foreign exchange, and many other things affect the point system directly. This system created a fair evaluation of transactions under the organization.

This kind of system gave the organization another level of trust from the sellers and buyers it had. It was because this system ensured fair prices on both sides. 

Of course, this system also made swindlers and scammers afraid of the unforgiving organization. Such kinds of people were "erased" after trying to conduct fraudulent acts. It became easier to discover such acts because of the point system.

Currently, the human currency fell to almost no value. The value of coins now depended on their material, while bills were worthless. In the apocalypse, paper money could not be recycled for another usage. It was unlike coins that could be melted to create new things.

Right now, weapons had the highest rise in value within this point system. After all, it was the most in-demand in the apocalypse.

"How do you guys determine the value of items?"

Mark asked after understanding how payment works.

At Mark's question, Val Flora replied with a smile.

Then, Val Flora touched the left side of her neck with her left hand while she stretched out her right arm forward. Afterward, she closed her eyes and lowered her face. She then began to mutter inaudible words.

It was when a mark appeared on her neck, at the area touched by her left hand.

Because of the darkness in the surroundings, the glowing mark could be seen clearly. Unfortunately, her hand was covering most of it.

Still, with what was exposed, Mark could make up what the mark was.

"Scales?"

Mark murmured.

That was right. The mark on Val Flora's neck was a scale. A measuring scale, to be precise. The very same symbol of the Libra Zodiac.

Of course, the mark was not just some roughly drawn scale. It was more or less appeared to be an art with intricate details. Furthermore, even though it was just a glowing mark, anyone would be able to tell that the scales were made of crystal.

It was the symbol of Crystallus Notitia Coetus, a symbol portraying balance and equivalent exchange.

Val Flora then opened her eyes. At the same time, a magic circle appeared in front of her outstretched arm.

And to say, Mark was a bit familiar with the magical aura emanating from that magic circle. Without a doubt, it was a summoning magic circle, a bit similar to what Berrak had.

However, Val Flora was not a magician. There was no way that she was a summoner either since she did not have an ounce of magical energy in her body. Instead, this summoning circle was created using the magic imbued in the mark on Val Flora's neck.

The magic circle flashed a bright light and a creature flew out of it. Circling once around the clearing, the creature then landed on Val Flora's right shoulder.

Mark stared at the creature. It was a large, black owl with golden glowing eyes. Then, Mark noticed. This owl was not a physical being. Its entire body was made of magical energy.

"A magical familiar?"

Mark asked Val Flora.

"Yes." Val Flora nodded, removing her hand from the mark on her neck. "This is my [Wise Owl] called Odessa. She is connected to our organization's point system and will evaluate things depending on the current exchange rate."

"What a convenient thing."

Mark's interest was surely piqued.

"All of us agents of the organization had our own magical familiars connected to the system. It is made so that we can conduct business anywhere and anytime."

Val Flora explained.

At the same time, while being introduced, the owl on Val Flora's shoulder bowed its head. Surely, it was showing a high level of intelligence.

"Well then, should we proceed to your request?" Val Flora asked. "Normally, we go to a suitable room or office when accepting requests. Unfortunately, we did not have such luxury this time."

"No, it's fine here," Mark replied. "We don't much time to change places anyway."

Val Flora agreed with that. This meeting was abrupt, after all. In the first place, she only wanted to observe Mark. She did not expect this to become a business opportunity either.

Then, Mark took out a small notebook from his pocket. This notebook was already old. It was the very same notebook he had for months, even before the outbreak started.

Mark then started to write in the notebook.

It took about five minutes after Mark finished. He then tore off the page that he wrote on and approached Val Flora to give it.

Unlike before, there was no tension between Mark and Val Flora. Even when the two were close to each other, none of them made any suspicious moves. There was nothing but a business atmosphere.

Val Flora then skimmed over the contents of the paper Mark gave her. She was quite surprised.

"What a peculiar request," Val Flora spoke. "The events six years ago. Even I knew of it. I never thought that you would be searching for the "victims" of that event."

"Are you going to accept this or not?"

Mark asked.

"There is no reason for me to decline it," Val Flora smiled. "However, the price for this information would be a hefty sum. It will be hard to determine the price right away."

"I don't mind the cost," Mark replied. "But since the price won't be determined, I'm sure you will be asking for a downpayment, right?"

"My apologies, but yes. In circumstances like this, we would only accept a deal with a downpayment. There is no way that we would be able to start to gather information without capital."

"Then, how much."

Mark asked with a shrug.

At Mark's question, Val Flora did not reply immediately. Instead, she held up the page of the notebook in front of her [Wise Owl]. The [Wise Owl], Odessa, then began reading the contents of the page like a human being.

After reading the contents of the pate, the eyes of Odessa flashed a golden glow several times. At the same time, the mark on Val Flora's neck did the same. It was clear that the owl was communicating with Val Flora through that mark.

But then, Val Flora let out a sigh.

"The estimated downpayment is two hundred and fifty thousand points." Val Flora declared. "At the current exchange rate, it is equivalent to around two thousand five hundred one kilo gold bars."

"So, a one-kilo gold bar is only about a hundred points, huh."

Mark estimated.

"Yes, unfortunately," Val Flora replied. "Before the outbreak, gold had a higher value. But now, it could be considered useless to most people. Even magicians and alchemists that use gold aren't that many."

Hearing that Mark nodded.

"Then, can you determine the value of this?"

Mark said as he showed a [Wind Elemental Crystal] on his hand. It was smaller than a marble as it came from the infected Sylphs that Mark killed before.

Seeing the small crystal, Val Flora was not amazed. She just mentioned gold bars before. However, Mark took out a small toy-like crystal that might not even have any value in her eyes. Nonetheless, Mark was a customer. As such, she accepted the crystal and put it in front of her [Wise Owl].

The [Wise Owl] then started at the crystal. To Val Flora's surprise, the owl stared at it for a whole minute without moving. Finally, its eyes flashed several times.

Val Flora froze.

"W-w-w Pure Wind Elemental Energy Crystal worth a hundred thousand points!!!"

Val Flora blurted out in shock.

"Hey, you're breaking character."

Mark reminded the shocked woman in front of her.

Val Flora froze once more. This time, because of embarrassment.

"Ahem. My apologies." 

Val Flora coughed as she handed the crystal back to Mark with utmost care. She was afraid that she would drop the crystal and get blamed for it if it broke.

"Is it that shocking?"

Mark asked.

"O-of cou-! Ahem... Yes it is."

Val Flora was red in the face. She could not hide her agitation as she stared at Mark that did not seem to care about the crystal on his hand. She then began to explain.

"Magical energy crystals are always in high demand but low in supply. However, I never saw something like that. All elemental crystals I had seen so far were rough and filled with impurities. It could not be helped as magical energy on Earth is very thin, and pollution is everywhere. Crystals with perfectly sphere shapes, are to say, none existent. Not to mention an attributed magical energy crystal with pure energy. That was why I accidentally showed disgraceful conduct in front of you. Once more, my apologies."

"I see." Mark nodded. " Well, I actually thought that it would fetch a higher price."

"Sadly, it was not my role to price things."

Val Flora replied with an apologetic tone. It seemed that she also thought that the crystal should be valued higher. However, the pricing was not her call.

"Then, this crystal can be used for payment, right?"

Mark stated the obvious.

"Yes." Val Flora nodded. "Though I don't know why you would willingly use such a valuable thing as a payment for this, a single crystal would not be enough."

"I know."

Mark replied as he took out two more [Wind Element Crystals]. One was smaller than the other two, though.

Val Flora's eyes turned to dots.

"You know that you're breaking character again, right?"

Mark warned.

However, this time, Val Flora was really shaken inside. She just mentioned the rarity of the item Mark intended to use as payment.

Yet, he actually had three and Mark was still unfazed about giving the three crystals out. By his behavior, it was very likely that he had more.

Val Flora had never seen such a customer in her whole life.