The siren came back on a Monday. Nikola should have figured out something was off. The man came back in a pick-up truck, wearing a brand-new suit.
"Andrew?" Nikola asked, as he tried to feed Timmy his bottle. The baby had cried a lot just a minute ago. His diaper was not dirty, but he had changed it anyway. Now, the only logical thing left to do with the baby was to feed it.
"Boss!" The siren said in his sing-song voice. "I found us a buyer! A firm which makes fertilizer!"
Which was about the same as Emily had told them to do. Nikola nodded.
"We already have the first payment. I took my commission out of it. Ten percent, just like we agreed before I began my search!"
Nikola's eyes widened.
If ten percent equaled a new truck and a suit, with probably enough money left over for one to invest, what was the other 90%?"
Nikola placed Timmy back in his highchair. He was sure that if he found out the correct amount, he was going to faint.
"Here, boss! The contract! I hope you don't mind that I already signed it!"
Nikola took it, flipped through the pages, and when he finally got to the amount, he let out a sound between a chocking sea lion and a newborn kitten's call to its mother.
"I guess you like it?" Andrew asked.
Nikola placed the documents down and then looked at the sky.
"Thank you!" He yelled, which Timmy didn't like.
The baby began to fuss once more.
"Do you have this many mana stones?" Andrew asked. He knew that before he had left, there were about as many in storage, but he guessed that Nikola might want to use some of them to pay for the basic stuff.
"I think I have 100 times as many by now," Nikola said, feeling faint.
"Good! And here's the contract for the mana food! The vampire council is looking forward to sending their trucks to get this amount!"
Nikola took the second stack of papers with shaky hands.
The strange sea lion/kitten sound escaped through his lips once more.
"I think, if we continue so, you will be the richest person on the planet!" Andrew said, rubbing his hands together. "And I will one day be the second richest! Thanks for the ten percent!"
Nikola looked at the papers, then back at Timmy, then at Andrew.
"Do you mind looking after the baby? I need to speak with Dimitri."
Andrew took the vacant seat, staring at the fussing baby.
"You know, you have nothing to fuss about," Andrew told the small boy. "Your father is a rich man now. I bet that we can get you a golden bottle one of those days."
Timmy narrowed his eyes. He was used to being pampered. He had no idea why now was any different.
"Oh? A necromancer? Look, I caught your nose!" Andrew did just that. Little Timmy snorted. "Who is a cute baby? Who is a cute baby?"
Timmy decided that the strange creature with a melodic voice was a friend and stopped fussing.
There was a yell coming from the house. Andrew didn't so much as blink. It was one of those yells a new money person would make when they finally realized that their investments had taken root.
Andrew took Timmy from the highchair and began to feed him milk. Humming all the while.
He liked babies.
And this one seemed to like to be sung to.
****
Dimitri was looking at the documents. He had never seen such numbers on paper before. It was like seeing the numbers google got from all their revenues.
"We are rich!" Nikola yelled, as he jumped in place. "We can live the way we want! I know! We are going to start a soup kitchen in town! And donate to the museum. And…"
And Nikola was still thinking about others before he thought about himself.
"Niki, you do realize that this kind of money might mean trouble?" Dimitri asked him.
Nikola sobered up after that.
"Don't tell me there is an undead mafia?" The brunette asked.
"Well, there is. You work for one of its bosses," Dimitri said, not needing to clarify that he was speaking about a certain deity. "We will need to fork over most of the money for his projects. Otherwise, he will smite you."
"True, that," Tangra's voice brushed Nikola's ear again. "But I want good PR. So, do create the soup kitchen and fund the museum. But when someone asks you what you are, you say this: A humble servant of the great spirit of the sky: Tangra. Also, I would like for you to have a totem made. I am sure that Dimitri can arrange it."
Nikola bit his bottom lip.
"How much do I get to keep?" He asked. It was his mana which had gotten him that wealth.
Tangra chuckled.
"I guess I can fork over 30%. The rest is for me and all the other shamans."
Nikola narrowed his eyes even more.
"And if I don't want to pay?" He snapped, not realizing that he was speaking out loud.
"You have a lovely cabin. A cabin made from wood. Do I need to spell it to you?"
Nikola collapsed on a chair and buried his face in his hands.
"He will give me only 30%!" He moaned out.
Dimitri sighed.
"Well, that is still quite generous. I think we will have a much easier time explaining that in the tax forms."
Nikola nodded.
"Every evil for a good purpose," even as he said that he found it silly. He didn't want to be robbed blind.
But there was no way out.
"And we can do much good with the money," Dimitri told him, as he laid a hand-over Nikola's. "Look, it is best to act and seem poor. Rich people are hounded."
Nikola had to agree. And yet, he was already making plans as to how to get to this amount.
Andrew would need to travel again.
And Nikola needed to pay more to the goblins. Feed them better.
The rest of the mana stone deposits won't mine themselves.