Hearing Nathan's question, Manong Cardo suddenly fell silent and seemed to be thinking back to how things started.
He opened his mouth and started to talk.
"Hmm, I was actually just taking a casual walk earlier, just like what I usually do at noon. When I got tired and was about to head back to my place,"
He turned his gaze to the kid sleeping on a nearby bench and continued with a hint of anger in his voice,
"I saw this kid being cornered by the man wearing a suspicious outfit in that alley."
Manong Cardo pointed at the alley where Nathan found them and where he killed Lorenzo, the murderer.
"Back in the day, I was also a proud policeman. Because of that, seeing such a scene, I can't just stand by and do nothing."
When he arrived at this point of the story, Manong Cardo let out a helpless sigh.
"Sigh, unfortunately, I was not strong enough to do anything. On the other hand, I was even stabbed in the end and almost lost my life."
After letting out one last sigh, Manong Cardo stopped talking and just stared on the ground with a bit of regret.
Seeing him like this, Nathan did not bother him anymore as he already heard what he wanted to hear.
At this time, as they both fell silent, a ring sounded inside Nathan's head.
Taking a look at it, he saw that the system has released a new mission.
'I just finished a mission and now another one came.' he thought, sighing.
Taking a look at it, Nathan raised an eyebrow as a look of intrigue showed on his face.
[Ding!]
[You have received a new mission!]
[First Subordinate]
[Details: As a tycoon, cultivating loyal subordinates is a must to be able to further expand and to do more things.
Mission: Invite Manong Cardo to be your loyal subordinate.
Reward: Subordinate Affinity Function Unlock]
…
"Interesting."
That was the first word that came out of Nathan's mouth after reading the mission description.
Without even having to really look at the description of the new unlockable function he can already see its uses.
To be on the safe side, Nathan still decided to inquire about this reward with the system.
"System," he called,
The cold mechanical voice immediately sounded in his head,
[Yes, host.]
"Can you explain to me about this Subordinate Affinity Function?"
[Understood. Subordinate Affinity Function is a convenient tool for the host in managing your future subordinates. With this, host can see his subordinates' affinity and feelings about their boss, you.]
Putting his hand on his chin, Nathan nodded knowingly.
"It really is just as I had expected."
Next, Nathan told the system to continue.
[Also, through this function, host might be able to tell at which department an individual subordinate could possibly excel. To know more about it, please complete the mission and claim the reward.]
Hearing all that, Nathan can't help nodding in satisfaction.
"Hmm, just these functions are enough for me to realize the great benefits of this time's mission reward could possibly bring me." He said.
As someone who's been planning to start his own organization, Nathan thought that the arrival of this function is quite timely.
"With this, I can also be confident with the plan that I have for Mount Tralala."
Saying that, the smile on Nathan's face thickens.
Turning his head to the side, he saw Manong Cardo, who seems to have recovered from his emotions and is looking at the child sleeping on the other bench.
Nathan called him.
"Manong Cardo."
"Huh?"
Manong Cardo turned around to look at Nathan, only to see him staring at him with a serious expression.
"Is there a problem?"
He asked unsurely.
Shaking his head, Nathan denied,
"No, don't worry. It's just that, I want to talk about something with you."
"Oh, what is it?" Manong Cardo curiously asked,
Nathan thought about how he should ask Manong Cardo in his head carefully but after thinking about it, he decided to not beat around the bushes and just say it directly.
So with a serious face, he said, "Manong Cardo, do you want to become my subordinate?"
Manong Cardo was attentively listening to Nathan as he saw that he is full of seriousness.
But when he heard what Nathan just said, he was dumbfounded.
After a few minutes of repeating Nathan's words in his head, Manong Cardo came back and looked strangely at him.
"Did you just ask me to be your subordinate?" He said,
Without hesitation, Nathan nodded.
"That is right. So, are you willing?"
"Wait, wait, are you seriously asking me that?"
"Yes, I am."
At this time, Manong Cardo realized that Nathan was indeed serious with the things he just said.
Puzzled by this, he asked, "Why? I don't think there's any reason for you to invite an old drunkard like me to be your subordinate, right?"
Hearing that, Nathan sighed.
From the previous result of the appraisal when Nathan used it on Manong Cardo, he has already seen the potential within this 'old drunkard' as he called himself.
Because of that, with eyes full of sincerity, Nathan disagreed with what he just said.
"That is wrong Manong Cardo. To be honest with you, you have a lot of potential. It's just that, you need someone to bring out that potential within you and that is me!" He said with certainty.
Nathan is talking about Manong Cardo's soul talent of course.
It's just, he did not go into lengths of explaining things to him since that will surely need a long talk.
Also, he still has to make sure that Manong Cardo is someone that he could trust before he talks to him about such 'supernatural' stuff.
Anyway, with expectant eyes, Nathan looked at Manong Cardo, waiting for him to answer his invitation.
When he just heard Nathan saying that he has a lot of potential, Manong Cardo can't help but think of a few things from his past.
'Is it really such a coincidence that I'm hearing this words again now that I'm this old?' he thought with a wry smile.
After a minute passed, Manong Cardo suddenly closed his eyes.
When he opened it again, his eyes now had this firm resolve in them as he gaze at Nathan.
Then with rising momentum, he said,
"I accept."