In addition, auto repair shop equipment was ordered: a lift, tools, jacks, and the like. Naturally, furniture had to be ordered.
Richard sadly sold a small amount of shares, as his bank account hit rock bottom too quickly. Ordinary people demand good pay for their work. Even considering the cost of materials and labor, the order from Rich Group was still a substantial sum.
Several teams worked on the construction project at once to meet the extremely tight deadlines.
***
Richard's schedule returned to normal: aerobics, studying, fencing, and charms training. He prepared for his fourth-grade high school exams with the tenacity of a cramming student.
Another Wednesday in mid-May began as usual, but classes with a physics tutor were suddenly interrupted by John.
- Mr. Richie, your father is calling you urgently.
- John, what happened?
"Mr. Richie, a man from Her Majesty's Secret Service has come to see Mr. Gerald. Father asked for you."
"Secret service?" flashed through Richard's mind. "What does this have to do with me? Or is it because of the platinum? Damn it, not that! How do I handle a situation like this? This sucks..."
Richard descended into the living room with a feeling of intense anxiety. Outwardly, maintaining a stony calm, he cast an indifferent glance at his guest-a robust man of about thirty-five years old.
The guest was tall, with short, thick black hair and gray eyes. He was dressed in a classic black suit.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Richie said politely.
The father greeted his son with a warm smile and said:
- Richie, may I introduce you to MI6 agent Mr. Alex Blade. Mr. Blade, this is my son, Richard.
"Pleased to meet you, Lord Richard Rich," the intelligence agent bowed his head politely.
- Nice to meet you, Mr. Blade.
Richie, carefully hiding his excitement, sat down on the sofa next to his father, opposite Alex.
"Blade... Something familiar," Richard thought. "I think back in school, in literature class, in the previous world, they made us read classic stories about transmigrators, and there was one of the first stories like that with a main character who had the same last name."
"Sir," the boy addressed the agent in a joking tone, "are you by any chance familiar with Richard Blade, who traveled through parallel worlds with his consciousness using special equipment?"
Mr. Blade visibly tensed up and asked in a steely tone:
- How do you know about my father and the Dimension X project?
Richard, who was extremely surprised and did not expect such a response to an innocent joke, fell into a stupor for a few moments.
- Sir, it was just a revelation. It happens to me sometimes.
"The Prophet..." Mr. Blade whispered apprehensively.
"Please forgive Richard, he sometimes has flashes of insight," Gerald said politely. "Geniuses are so difficult..."
"Yes, yes, Lord," Mr. Blade agreed feignedly.
"Richie, Agent Blade has come to us on important business. Mr. Blade, if you don't mind, could you briefly brief Richard on the matter?"
- Hmm... So, a farmer named Krivi reported to the police that he had caught an alien on his property.
- Cough-cough-cough...
Richard choked with laughter. To hide his amusement, he coughed and covered his mouth with his fist. Under his father's reproachful gaze, the boy bashfully closed his eyes and said:
- Sorry, the air went down the wrong way.
"Nothing," Mr. Blade grinned knowingly. "I laughed too when I heard about it. But our staff verified the information, observing the Creevy family farm for a while, and then confirmed that Mr. Creevy has someone of short stature living at his place. They reported it to management. Supposedly, Mr. Creevy captured some kind of magical creature."
"What does this have to do with us?" Richard looked at the agent with genuine bewilderment.
- Son, the Krivi are our long-time tenants.
"Correct, Lord Rich," Agent Blade confirmed with a nod. "Actually, this is something the wizards should handle, but to contact them, you'd need to report to either the Prime Minister or the royal family. Since this matter involves the Rich family, the leadership has decided to report to you."
"Uh-huh, I see," Richard said with relief, realizing it wasn't the platinum. "Since the 'alien' was invisible to the agents, but the farmer can see him, and he didn't call the Aurors, but the police, I'd guess Mr. Creevey is a Squib and doesn't know about it."
"Most likely," Mr. Blade agreed, once again demonstrating his knowledge of the wizarding world. "What are you planning to do, Lord Rich?" he asked Gerald.
"We wouldn't want wizards meddling in our affairs. Let Richard go with you and see what kind of alien this is. If a farmer was able to knock it out, it shouldn't be dangerous."
- Dad, are you seriously suggesting that I quit my tutoring and go to some farm to catch aliens?
Richard crossed his arms over his chest indignantly.
"Richie, Creevey, we're tenants. I wouldn't want our family name tarnished by mentioning aliens. It won't be a big deal if you skip your homework for half a day."
"Wonderful!" Richard's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Simply brilliant! And what am I supposed to do with the alien?"