Chapter 266: Side story- 6 Years ago Kellen and the Captain part 1
Kellen Woods knew that this might be his last chance to make it big.
He knew that coming to the front lines was going to be a big deal, and that it was going to be hard, but he didn’t think it would be this hard.
Cursing under his breath, he did his best to pack up his sleeping bag quickly, ignoring the way it didn’t fit into the tiny bag even after he’d folded it several times. He could hear the snorts and laughter behind him from the other Field Guides but he didn’t pay any attention to them.
It didn’t matter that he was sleeping outside since his tent had collapsed two nights ago. It didn’t even matter that he was pretty sure someone had cut a hole into his sleeping bag last night and that he’d shivered as soon as the sun had gone down. None of that had mattered.
That was because today was the day. He was going to get that damn contract. Because if he didn’t?
He wouldn’t be able to remain on the front lines anymore.
It’d been nearly four months since his last contract. He’d been here for nearly a year and still people didn’t give him contracts that often. He had to fight tooth and nail to get the scraps other Field Guides wouldn’t take. That usually meant more dangerous contracts.
Ones that could result in death if one wasn’t careful. Ones where the Espers he would be in charge of would be a little too handsy. It was already hard given that his compatibility rating was so low, and he was C Class Guide, but the others weren’t making it any easier for him.
His teachers had warned him. He hadn’t come in unprepared, but damn it, it was worse than even they had said. He’d hidden the fact that he was a Woods as best as he could. Made sure that whenever a higher up Esper or Guide was around he was gone, especially if it was someone like his Uncle Tom, who was the head of the D.E.C.
The D.E.C. practically ran the area. If word got out that some no name C Class Guide knew the head Esper in charge? Kellen could already imagine how bad his treatment would get. Forget slashing his sleeping bag, they might even just beat him to near death and toss him into a gate.
If you paid someone enough, they would turn the other way. Kellen had already seen it happen plenty of times.