章 15: Ellery's Home
Edited by: ASaltedFish
This chapter was sponsored by Yaaslin, Shi, and the many others who helped complete the Ko-fi goal when I was posting my first story! Thank you, I really appreciate you :D <3
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After two hours of negotiations, the contract was finalized. Aster, Marshal Caecius, and Adjutant Ito were able to sign the contract with the representatives of each organization's signatures.
With many witnesses that day, Aster and Ellery became the most protected citizens of the Zevaria Empire, even more so than the Imperial family of the Empire.
While the meeting was going on, Aster's profile on the Guide Association was updated. This caused waves on the Starnet. Various news sites rushed to talk about the emergence of the strongest guide in hundreds of years.
Many people stalked the Guide Association's website looking for new guides to see if they could buy stabilizers from them or even request guiding services.
On the site, the only information they saw was the same as what everyone in the meeting room saw, as well as a picture of Aster when he got his retest done. He did his best to take a similar picture of Ellery, but he seemed awkward in the photo. Still, no one seemed to notice that because all they could look at was his current rank and potential!
Also, why did they have two quantum beasts listed under the same person?! Was this a glitch in the system?
After the meeting finished, Director Yun Da-Eun gave a statement about Ellery Aster.
The statement basically confirmed the authenticity of Ellery Aster having two quantum beasts. As for why, she wasn't sure, but the Guide Association would be trying to figure it out, humanely, of course. In the meantime, Ellery Aster would be selling two different kinds of stabilizers on his site. There would also be a pre-order option if someone wanted to buy in bulk. It would go up to A-rank for normal sales and pre-orders, but if an S-class or higher needed stabilizers, they would need to contact him privately because he would only make them if someone requested them. Also, if they need guiding services, they have to schedule an appointment.
It had to be noted though, that the guiding services would be done at the Guide Association for his protection. He would also be guiding Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito at the Guide Association.
It was quite normal for Sentinels to go to designated guide clinics or, if they were in the military, at their base to get guided. A guide and sentinel could make an appointment with a clinic and meet up there.
It's just not safe for Aster to do this.
Once everyone read the statement from Director Yun, they all flocked to Ellery and Aster's website to wait for him to update it. Everything was already sold out, but it was only Sol's stabilizers so they knew that Ellery didn't have the chance to change it yet.
When Aster finally got home, he took off the formal attire he wore to the meeting. Once he showered and changed into his comfortable casual clothing, he gave a sigh of relief that it was all done.
He was also hyper-aware of the people around his house, but he couldn't complain. They were protecting him. They even made sure that the paparazzi and other spectators couldn't get close to his house.
As for his neighbors, they had to have proof of living nearby to get into the area. It was an inconvenience to a lot of people, but Ellery was reluctant to leave this house. Aster understood this because this was Ellery's childhood home. Ellery was born and raised in this house. His parents and older brother once lived here with him. All three of them had died, leaving Ellery behind, but he could not give up the house no matter how painfully beautiful his memories of his family were.
If Ellery were to leave too, it would be like forgetting his family. His parents died on the battlefield together, protecting the citizens of the Zevaria Empire. His brother also did the same, leaving behind his wife who he had yet to have children with.
Ellery also didn't have any other relatives because his grandparents on both sides already passed. His parents were the only children in their families too.
Aster didn't have the heart to tell him to find a different place to live. This house was all he had left of his family…
[It's quite inconvenient to live here now, huh…] Ellery mumbled to himself because he was thinking about how difficult it was to get here. He also saw people who had lived here for years having to go through security just to get to their houses.
"Whatever you decide to do, I will respect your wishes." Aster was worried about Ellery, but he didn't know what else to say.
[Thank you… I need time to come to terms with it. As much as I want to keep living here, I know it's not possible. Still, I want to stay here just a little bit longer. People can call me selfish, but I have so many memories of living in this house. A lot of my parents' belongings are still here. I wanted to preserve their memory and their lives so much, I just kept everything they left behind. I've been unable to enter their room in fear I might cry and find it hard to cope with their passing.]
He didn't have many of his brother's belongings because his brother left when he entered the military, taking all of his things with him. His brother's widowed wife should have most of his belongings and half an urn of his ashes. Ellery had the other half of his brother's ashes.
He wasn't sure if she packed his things away or threw them out because they were too much to hold on to, though.
From what he could see on social media, she still hadn't married or dated anyone, even though it had already been a couple of years since Ellery's brother died in combat.
[I'm sorry, I just need a bit of time to myself.]
Ellery was silent for a while, so Aster decided to update the online store. There were already millions of comments that Aster ignored because he didn't have the time or patience to read through all of them.
He split the store into two sections, one for Sol and one for Lune. He had pictures of both of them, so he put them around the store's page in random poses, making the once minimalistic online store a bit more fun.
The people who had at least medium compatibility with him or Ellery had weekly and monthly limits for their purchases. Not only that, he also was able to get the reselling of his stabilizers banned. If they found his stabilizers in another store or in auctions, he and Ellery could take legal action against the people trying to sell his stabilizers for profit.
With the increase of people wanting to buy his stabilizers, he also changed the quantity he sold every week deciding to sell 160 D-ranked stabilizers. 80 of them were Sol's, and the others were Lune's. To follow this pattern, he also sold 120 C-grade stabilizers, 80 B-ranked stabilizers, and finally, 40 A-ranked stabilizers. Anything higher than that was to be made upon request.
He also included a pre-order page. If someone wanted to buy in bulk, they could order there, but the bulk order was limited to a maximum of 30 stabilizers and could only be done once every six months. This greatly limited how much people could buy and how much he needed to make.
The button to request for guide services was still there, but only those B-ranked or higher were given top priority. As for those with lower ranks, they would only be guided if Aster was their only and last resort. Lower ranks only having Aster as their last resort were very rare, and so far, there hadn't been a case like that. Also, he would only be accepting sentinels who have medium or high compatibility with him for guiding services, which was quite normal for guides.
Once he updated his online store, he quietly saved the changes and muted the reviews and comment section. He didn't want to stop the netizens from engaging in conversations, but he also decided he didn't want to look at it. Luckily, his DMs connected to his online store were only open to those who were requesting services from him.
Eventually, he was going to hire some moderators to go through all of the comments and reviews and make sure they were relevant to his online store… Yeah, that was a good idea. He also needed to hire a manager to help him manage the store and his appointments…
Aster realized he had a lot more work to do.
It wasn't impossible for him to manage the store by himself, but the Starnet connected the entire Zephyrus Galaxy. That meant, as long as someone was connected to the Starnet, they could buy from him. Not only that, some sentinels were desperate for guide services, even if it meant they would have to spend thousands of star coins just to get to him. No sane sentinel would bat an eye when it came to spending money on guide services, especially if their lives were on the line.
Not only that, even the most rural planets in the Galaxy were connected to the Starnet through their terminals, so even if they couldn't get guiding services, they could at least get stabilizers to live another day. This wasn't done too often, though, because most sentinels joined high-paying but dangerous jobs like the military.
According to the data from the three major countries in the Zephyrus galaxy, more than 70% of sentinels were in the military. With billions of people living in this galaxy, even if sentinels made up 30% of the total population, that was still a large number of people. That was why guides, who made up 20% of the population, were seen as treasures and valuable members of society.
There were going to be a lot of people eying his store, buying his stabilizers, and requesting his services, which was why he was going to need people to help him manage it. Most S-ranked guides also had people managing and working for their stores, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Aster hired people.
Well, these were plans for the near future. He couldn't hire people while he still lived in this house, so the first thing he needed to do was find a better location to live.
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MakusCorner
MakusCorner Grandpa Marky: Hey everyone! I want to thank RanDom_Chipmuck and Sealunis for their donations! It's going to my grocery bill haha. The Ko-fi goal is almost complete again tho! Y'all are amazing <3
Anyway, that's it from me! I will see you all in the next chapter :D have a lovely day/night my beautiful grandchildren!
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