CHAPTER 323: WE HAVE A DEAL.

Klaus Stahlwölfe was a mundane human, but during that battle on the thirty-seventh floor of the Blue Ember hotel, he showed several abilities, including the perfect camouflage used by the Shirogane sorcerers. People don’t gain magical abilities just like that, so the only way to explain it was the power suit he was wearing, the one with a helmet that looked like a demon’s head.

Dante didn’t give it much thought, other than how much he could sell it for. Well, he did consider whether Eidolon would be looking for it, like how they are looking for VOLCAN, but he wasn’t too worried about that. If they couldn’t find him while looking for the latter, there is no way they would find him while looking for the former.

"You want it... back?" The last word felt pretty odd, and it took Dante several seconds to figure out why. "You have something to do with it?"

"I helped create it," Suzuka said, her expression neutral.

"You... helped create it?"

"Yes." She said. "I didn’t have the resources, so I had that man do the funding and some of the research. Since he’s gone, the suit belongs to me."

"Why... not just make a new one?"

"... do you even know how much it costs to create one of those?" She asked, "I managed to retrieve all the prototypes, except for the one Klaus used. I was hoping to assemble a new one from their undamaged parts. At least it won’t cost a small country’s budget to do that."

"I... see..."

Learning how valuable those blue demon suits were, Dante became even more hesitant about giving them up. He weighed his options, and after a minute of thought, he made up his mind.

"You want me to give up something that valuable just as a prerequisite? Nah." "It belongs to me," Suzuka said. "You stole it."

"No, it isn’t." Dante grinned. "I still have its owner, you know? It never belonged to you."

"... that’s a bad habit, you know."

Dante raised an eyebrow at the comment, so the blue-haired girl explained it to him.

"Carrying corpses around." She said. "It’s creepy, too."

"C’mon now, don’t tell me you’re playing the morality card."

The point got across, and Dante understood where the girl was coming from. That said, he wasn’t about to give up one of his most prized possessions just because a girl called him creepy. Not without getting something for it.

"Alright, I will give you back the suit." He said. "But it will be your payment for the commission."

"No?" Suzuka frowned at him. "You can’t pay me with something that belongs to me."

"I already told you, it doesn’t," Dante replied.

She had just admitted that the rich bastard had funded the research and development of the suit, debunking her own claim. Dante was confused as to why she was still holding on to it.

"I guess we won’t be reaching an agreement." Turning back to her workbench, Suzuka picked up her tools. "The deal is off."

"... are you being serious?"

Dante saw right through her tactics, or so he thought, at least. The girl was negotiating, trying to force her conditions without backing down on any of them. In the end, it was he who was making a request, and it was his choice whether to accept her conditions. It shouldn’t matter to her that much if her that much if the deal was no longer on the table, but that’s only if he didn’t have things she wanted.

Whether it’s the chance to examine his armor or the favor she wanted, he had already agreed to two outrageous conditions. He was also willing to give her the blue demon suit, but she wouldn’t seal the deal just because he wanted a discount.

"Are you really going to blow this off over cash?"

"I already told you." She said, not bothering to look in his direction. "My conditions and payment are separate."

"... you’re only doing this because you know I can’t refuse, right?"

"You saw one of my products." Suzuka gave him a side glance, her eyes narrowed. "If you know anything about bionics, you should have realized mine are a notch above anything you’ll find on the market."

"Seriously..."

Though the final price was undoubtedly going to be a ridiculous sum, Dante was sure it would still be less than what he would have to pay if one of the big corporations handled his commission. Not that they would have agreed to it to begin with. At the moment, he had neither the connection nor the resources to work with the big players, which made his choice clear.

"Alright, got it." He said. "I will give you the suit. I will pay the price, too."

"Good," Suzuka replied. "I will start working on it as soon as you deliver the Blue Oni suit."

Dante opened his mouth, intending to ask how much she was going to demand as her payment, but then he gave up. After coming this far, he no longer cared how much it cost. Still-

"I have another request." He said. "Well, it’s more of a condition... for giving up the suit."

The frown returned to Suzuka’s face. Before she could complain, Dante stated his demand.

"I want you to mentor Finn."

"Finn?" Her frown quickly turned to confusion. "The boy with the MLP?"

"C’mon, that’s how you remember him?" Dante sighed. "Kid has great potential," Dante said. "I want to see how much he can achieve."

Suzuka seemed to consider his request, casting her gaze down in thought.

"He does get along with Kizuna..."

"Actually, that’s one thing you two have in common." Dante grinned. "You both build AI friends for yourselves. He doesn’t have a body, though."

"... I see... so that’s why he carries that heavy bag around." Going silent once more, Suzuka pursed her lips. "Fine, I will teach him."

"Great," Dante said. "We have a deal, then?"

"Sure." Closing her eyes, the blue-haired girl sighed. "We have a deal."