Finally, despite Hayden's repeated attempts to subtly probe, Karen still didn't explain in detail what she had just been talking about. These random magical gadgets and artifacts weren't really that interesting, so the two of them ended up looking at the herbal medicine shelf instead.
“In recent months, the company has been busy revitalizing the old industrial area and building new production lines, so the human resources department has not been idle.”
While chatting casually, Karen carefully examined the medicinal nettle roots on the shelf.
"As you know, Mitra's HR department is also responsible for investigating and monitoring employees' backgrounds. With more new employees, these kinds of things increase."
Hayden, who was picking up daisy petals from the shelf next door, casually replied, "So you still have time to buy medicinal herbs? Do you have time to make medicine after you buy them?"
Modern people only know daisies as flowers, and some even use them to make tea—Hayden does use them for tea too, but besides that, he can also boil the petals and grind them into powder to use as the main ingredient in ointments for external injuries. Before Angela came to Hayden's side, this medicine was very useful to him as a lone wolf mercenary. Even now, Hayden can use Angela's scent as a material to add to these old medicines, producing other effects.
However, just mentioning this can easily give the impression that magical potions are primarily made from plant and animal materials. In reality, many magical potions also utilize minerals.
"It's because things have finally stabilized recently."
Karen frowned, her eyes fixed on some malachite that could be used to make medicine, but she was clearly distracted.
"The new production line is now running normally, and some new employees are doing quite well. Their backgrounds have all been investigated."
“My family… has also been in charge of a lot of things regarding personnel matters in the new industrial park. I felt like this was an opportunity, so I just used up all my accumulated vacation days…”
"What kind of opportunity?" Since she asked casually, Hayden naturally made up a lie too. "Quitting Mitra and opening a flower shop?"
Karen finally scoffed at this: "That's a good joke."
The two of them carried a bunch of medicinal herbs to the counter and asked the orc shopkeeper to pay.
"The total for you, wizard boy, is seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-four gold coins. I'll waive the change for four."
The old shaman handed the packaged phoenix liver to Hayden, then carefully examined the various boxes, bottles, and bags in his arms before turning to Karen.
"Miss, will you deduct it directly from your account?"
Even though they were both regular customers, the way it treated Karen was quite different from how it treated Hayden. A customer who spends two thousand a month won't receive the same treatment as a customer who spends two hundred thousand a month—that's the reality of capitalism!
"These gems are well chosen." The old orc praised and thanked her as he packed the things she bought. "Old Sok, I've been clearing out all my hidden treasures with discounts lately, but unfortunately, they're still selling very slowly. With you helping me pick them out, I'm relieved. They'll definitely come in handy in your hands, much better than just gathering dust on display."
However, Hayden and Karen couldn't ignore these words. They exchanged a glance, and then Karen spoke first, asking, "Clearance sale? These ores don't have an expiration date. Why are you suddenly clearing out the stock?"
The shaman shrugged and spread his hands: "My only son is getting married, and the expenses are considerable. I plan to sell this shop in the next two months and then move to Belling Bay."
Belling Bay is a small port city more than 100 kilometers north of New Asia, with a fairly developed fishing industry. But that's not the point right now. Hayden and Karen exchanged glances for a moment, their expressions somewhat subtle.
Needless to say, neither of them was happy to see New Yatu's best classic magic medicine shop close down—but that was only part of the reason for their change in expression. The more troublesome part was the reason the orc shopkeeper mentioned: he needed money.
"Hey wizard kid, you're thirty this year, right? Why aren't you married yet?"
The old shaman, however, failed to notice the change in their emotions, and even casually asked Hayden a question.
"Now that you've been living a bit more honestly lately, aren't you thinking about getting married, starting a family, and having children? You should find a virtuous and steadfast woman to settle down with. A bachelor without a family is never a good thing. Or are your standards just too high?"
草
Hayden never expected that the old orc would spread the fire to him, and he was surprised for a moment.
He is indeed thirty this year. Two months ago, he officially became a virgin at thirty, which is truly sad. However, on the other hand, Hayden can't go around telling people that he's created a wind-up wife for himself; after all, it's a rather complicated matter.
After the initial shock, Hayden immediately realized another "minor problem"—given Karen's temperament, she probably wouldn't like to hear people say things like "have children" or "get married soon."
Fortunately, Karen's expression only changed for a moment, and she didn't fly into a rage like she did at Adam's wedding.
"Among all the family-run shops in New Yatu, Mr. Sock, your shop is already considered top-notch."
She paused for a moment before continuing to ask.
"Excuse me, I was just curious, but is your son's wedding so expensive... that you have to sell your shop?"
The hesitant and casual tone was just right, making Hayden think to himself that although Karen had made a fool of herself at Adam's wedding, she was still quite formidable at heart.
Unfortunately, the old orc didn't seem inclined to answer the question in detail.
"Getting married is bound to cost a lot of money. Isn't that how it has always been? In my grandfather's time, the bride's family had to be given thirty cows as a wedding gift."
The shaman casually changed the subject.
“I know what you’re worried about, Miss, but it’s alright. Our in-laws are also in the same line of work as us, respectable people, doing traditional magic business… they run a magic shop in the city center… a very old witch family…”
Hayden finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Huh? A witch's family?"
The old orc shut up, sized Hayden up and down, then quickly paid their bill and ushered them out of the shop. The shop owner, Sok, closed the door behind them and hung up a "Closed" sign.
"That's a bit of an exaggeration."
Hayden, clutching a large cloth shopping bag, complained.
"That's a bit of an exaggeration."
Karen's face darkened. This extremely stubborn individualist clearly disliked anyone saying things like "get married soon" in front of her.
"But that's not the point. If you have any sense, you should know what I'm worried about right now."
She seemed very serious.
So Hayden nodded in agreement: “You’re worried there’s something wrong with the boss’s son getting married. He’s one of the most successful middle-class people in New Jersey, how could his son’s wedding possibly require him to sell his livelihood and his shop? — Yes, I’m thinking about that too. This marriage does sound a bit odd.”
"But Karen, think about it from a different perspective. Boss Sok is a man who has connections in both the legitimate and underworld circles in New Yatu, and he's very resourceful. The only ones who are more successful than him are the gods, and this woman isn't a god. So, who would dare to set a trap for him and swindle his money in their son's wedding? Are they out of their minds? Aren't they afraid of being robbed of their shop by a bunch of orc gang thugs, or even having their people captured, filled with cement, and thrown into the sea?"
It might not be obvious from appearances, but the old orc shaman, who has connections to the black market and smuggling channels in New Yatu, is clearly capable of doing this.
Hayden is a top mercenary, and Karen is a god; they can disregard this level of street violence, but others may not think the same way.
...Even so, Hayden couldn't help but think of the Dark Witch Abigail when he got to this point.
If we're talking about being above all others and below the gods, then that old witch is at the pinnacle of the middle class. Hayden, having dealt with her for six months, didn't think Abigail's personality would lead her into such matters (Hayden had already realized that the little witch wasn't actually a bad person). But Boss Soker just mentioned "the ancient witch family of New Yatu," could it really be related to Abigail?
"Liars, bad people... these things are hard to say."
Karen shook her head as expected.
“I’ve heard a lot of ridiculous things in HR. You know, HR used to make me responsible for attending employees’ weddings…”
“Excuse me,” Hayden said, “but I really have to ask this: after what happened with Adam, why would Mitra put you in charge of witnessing employees’ weddings?”
“Go to hell. Of course they won’t let me do this now, so I said ‘I heard’, didn’t I?” Karen said impatiently. “I heard that a colleague went to someone’s wedding and encountered this: an employee was getting married, and the whole process went smoothly without any problems. The wedding gifts were given, and money was spent, totaling hundreds of thousands. But during the wedding, the bride suddenly fainted and died two days after being taken to the hospital.”
…………ah?
Even though Hayden was quite knowledgeable, he was stunned when he heard this.
“The person is dead, and the money spent on the gifts is gone forever. But after hearing about this, I felt something was strange, so I inquired a little and found out that it was premeditated.”
Karen frowned and said,
"That girl was already close to death. Her family knew about it all along, but couldn't afford the treatment, so they decided to use the marriage to scam some money and also upload their dead daughter's consciousness to the Pure Land of Blessings. The man couldn't possibly be willing to marry a woman he'd only known for a short time who had already lost her body, so the deal fell through."
Hayden was truly stunned.
He had long known that marrying a living woman was extremely risky. Dating costs money, and marriage costs even more; you might not even recoup your investment, and there's a real possibility that a bad woman will run off with all your money—which is why Hayden preferred to use his savings to create a wind-up wife. But even Hayden never imagined that someone could turn something like this into such a mess.
"By the way, did our American Federation still have the custom of giving betrothal gifts in marriage?"
He couldn't help but ask.
"The Federation of America is a nation of immigrants, with ethnic groups and customs from all over the world. Moreover, New Jersey has a large immigrant population from various regions."
Karen sighed, her expression somewhat disdainful.
"As far as I know, East Asian immigrants tend to have a strong tradition of giving dowries at weddings—you're of Asian descent, you must know that, right? Moreover, the Mitra Group originated in West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia, where there's a tradition of giving dowries at weddings, sometimes even to the point of selling daughters. New Jersey has been Mitra Group territory for the past hundred years, so its culture has naturally been influenced."
"As for the orc tribes, it goes without saying. They are mostly immigrants from Africa. Until a few decades ago, many African tribes still calculated the dowry for marriage in terms of the number of cattle. Marrying a daughter from a poor family required two cattle, while marrying a daughter from a wealthier family required twenty cattle, and so on."
Hayden scratched his head. He knew about the custom of orcs giving cattle as a dowry to the bride; after all, it was part of a classical magical ritual. Marriage and wedding ceremonies were themselves ancient magical rituals. Hayden wasn't completely ignorant of them.
"I heard a terrifying story a few years ago in the HR department. A male employee spent a lot of money to buy a wedding house and prepared hundreds of thousands of yuan in dowry. Who knew that the day after the wedding, the bride's father killed the male employee's entire family. But because the bride had already married the man, she naturally became his family member and the only heir. Anyway, everyone was dead, and the company court quickly made a ruling and closed the case."
Giant corporations like the Mitra Group have jurisdiction over their own private land. A minor matter like the death of one family member can be handled by the company's legal department.
However, that's not the focus right now.
The point now is that Hayden was speechless enough after hearing this. He fully understood why Karen suspected something was amiss about the "old shaman's son needing to sell the shop to raise money for his wedding."
Honestly, if Mr. Soker had spent most of his life's savings being swindled out of everything when trying to marry off his only son, and even if his entire family had been killed by the woman, then although Hayden's relationship with him could only be described as acquaintances and friends, but...
"Hmm... okay, I wouldn't be too happy if I knew about this."
Hayden said, frowning.
"Besides, none of us want to lose our herbal medicine shops."
Kallen added.
The two old classmates and good friends looked at each other again and realized that the other was thinking the same thing.
If it were just hearsay, neither Hayden nor Karen would have had the motivation to get involved. There are simply too many cases like this. But since it happened right before their eyes, in their own hands, and they witnessed it firsthand…
...That's a different story.
Ultimately, Karen is indeed somewhat similar to Hayden in this respect. They don't really want to get involved in things they can't see, but when they see something they don't like, they always want to do something about it.
"I'll go and find out what kind of family this woman comes from."
So Karen spoke first.
Hayden could actually investigate this himself, and he could even ask the little witch... but it's better to let Karen handle this.
“Then I’ll go find Mr. Sock’s son and sound him out.”
Therefore, Hayden went on to say,
"I've dealt with him before. It shouldn't be difficult to get him to go out for drinks, a meal, and a chat."
Strangely enough, after making this decision, the two of them felt a tacit understanding, as if they had returned to their college days ten years ago, when they were up to something together.
Adam was no longer Hayden's good brother.
But isn't Karen still his good friend?
This is going to be very interesting.
060: Level Two Character
It's a bit funny, but Hayden and Karen are both very proactive, especially when they're up to something.
Karen waved to Hayden, took to the air, and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Hayden thought for a moment, then walked into another deserted alley and took out his phone.
It was already six o'clock in the evening, the sun had set, and it was getting late. Abigail's Veela bar must have already opened for business. But Hayden decided to ask the little witch for information first.
If the woman's family that Mr. Sock mentioned was indeed a family of witches that had been passed down for generations in New Seattle, Abigail would obviously know this. If Hayden could get the information directly from the old witch, he might save himself a lot of trouble.
However, it took almost half a minute for the Black Witch to answer the call.
"Hello? Wizard? What's up? I'm in the middle of a business meeting."
The phone only showed her voice and profile picture; she certainly seemed very busy.
Someone from the south wants to open a new smuggling route and needs to discuss the details with me.
South? Where? Los Santos? Central America? This little old witch truly lives up to her title as the uncrowned queen of the New Seattle black market.
"It's nothing, it's nothing. I just wanted to ask if you know if there are any other witches in the city center, and that they are a witch family that has been around for several generations."
Since they were busy with important matters, Hayden quickly got to the point.
A witch family in the city center?
Abigail wasn't on video call, but Hayden could still sense that she seemed to be frowning.
"You mean the Magina Magic House on i-5 Street? I know, so what? The Three Goddess Sorceresses are not to be trifled with..."
She paused for a long while before continuing:
"...However, considering the strange puppet beside you, it seems that apart from the real gods, nothing can provoke you. But witchcraft is difficult to guard against, so I advise you not to provoke them. Besides, you probably won't need what they're running."
That's absolutely true. If the opponent were just a witch of Abigail's caliber, Hayden should be able to defeat her on his own. But Abigail said the opponent was a witch family and a witch coven, so according to witchcraft tradition, there must be at least three witches on the other side, or possibly several more. If there are three Abigails, Hayden would be in serious danger; if there are nine Abigails, Hayden would surely be devoured alive if he tried to fight them alone.
However, Hayden believed that even if there were thirty Abigails on the other side, one Vajrapani could kill them all.
Angela would be a sure winner in a one-on-one fight against Vajrapani.
Frankly, it's quite sad. The ladder of power is so clear and distinct, while Hayden basically just relied on the sea for support.
Thanks. You go ahead and do your business.
So Hayden didn't cause any more trouble for the Black Witch, and ended the call after thanking her.
Overall, it wasn't good news for Abigail.