By the next morning, the Dark Ogre Gang no longer existed.
Osric and Jayson didn't sleep much tonight, but a lot had to be done, so they met up early at the guild.
After their talk with Franklin last night, Franklin told them to wait there and disappeared for about an hour before coming back and saying it was safe to go home.
'His influence is incredible.' Osric thought.
He wondered just how powerful and influential the Greydell House was over Ashbrook, for Franklin not being able to stand up to them directly.
—
Osric was already sitting at a table in the guild with Jayson, when William and Paul entered.
Since he didn't have the energy to drop by their places earlier, Osric paid a kid to deliver them the message to meet up here.
It felt weird for Osric to pay for something that he had to do when he was broke.
William and Paul sat down and greeted him.
"Yo Boss. How come you sent a messenger kid?" William asked.
"Hey Osric. And I think I get why. Look at the young man next to Osric, William." Paul said.
"Oh! Is he a new recruit, Osric?"
"Yes. This is Jayson. He's a newbie underground arena fighter, but has a lot of talent, a strong body and most importantly, he is trustworthy."
Jayson felt appreciated but a little overwhelmed by that high praise from Osric.
"Thanks, but I'm not that special, sir."
Osric just sighed, while Paul reached out his hand with a smile.
"Welcome Jayson. I'm Paul, the porter of this party."
Jayson shook his hand and nodded.
"Hahaha, he calls you sir, like you're some knight or wise old man." William said to Osric.
Osric just shook his head.
"I told him to drop it, but he insists."
They got to know each other a little through conversation, before Osric brought out a rolled up paper.
"Alright. Let's get to business. I still haven't formed a contract with Jayson. It's one of the main reasons I called you guys here, besides getting to know each other."
Paul looked unbothered, since he was just a porter, he felt that this didn't need his input.
William looked interested and Jayson slightly nervous.
Osric spoke again.
"Okay, as you know, our current shares are 55% to me, 40 % to William and 5% to Paul. This will now change with Jayson joining."
"This might give us less money individually at first, even more so when others join, but in the long run, we will make a lot more with increased efficiency."
He then brought out William's contract as well, since they had to adjust things.
Osric's proposal was as follows—
Paul still had a 5% share, William's went down to 30%, Jayson got a 20% share and Osric remained the highest with his lowered 45% now.
"What does everyone think?" Osric asked, as he looked around.
Paul just shrugged and agreed.
Jayson nodded. "I'm fine with it, as long as you guys are."
He felt a little bad for William and Osric, but he needed the money for his mother.
'My mother comes first, but I will also work my best for Osric.'
William sighed.
"Well, it isn't very pleasant to get less money, but this is part of being in a party."
"I also believe in you Osric, and that we will grow bigger and stronger together."
'I made the right choice in making him my first member.' Osric thought.
"Good. Then everyone sign here."
They picked up the pencil one by one and signed their names.
"So, how are things going with you two?" Osric asked.
Paul answered first.
"Pretty good. Spending time with my wife is the best. And when she's working, I use that time to study on monsters."
"That's good. What about you, William?"
"I plan to go on a mission with that archer I told you about. My goal is to get closer to him and then invite him to come on a mission with our party, so that you can convince him to join us."
"Hm alright. Not a bad idea."
Although Osric wanted to see whether William could recruit someone himself, it was better for him to take control of things.
There needed to be a clear hierarchy.
Currently that was the case, but with more people joining, that would become harder to control.
That was one of the reasons that Osric was trying to grow his reputation.
"Well, it seems things are going good. Let's meet here again tomorrow at the same time."
"Jayson, follow me. We need to talk to Franklin about something."
They bid the other members farewell and walked to the back office.
Paul left the guild and William stuck around to wait for the archer.
'Things are progressing better than I anticipated.' Osric thought.
'Now I will take Franklin up on his offer. Might as well get everything I can get out of his backing.'
'This is to help Jayson and the growth of our group.'
Knock Knock.