Chapter 211: Group of Trouble
———Orrel———
<2: 01 pm>
“Hmm…” I muttered as I looked at the screen in front of us. Guess our estimates were correct. The obvious ones are of course way above the average.
“Certainly impressive. Two months later and all of you have doubled or more in power. All of you certainly use your time well.” Rico said with slow claps. “Of course, a certain someone has multiple extra months and still isn’t in the top slot. Rather embarrassing.”
Jennla looked away in shame at such a scathing comment. It definitely doesn’t paint a good picture if you are ‘only’ in the top three with a massive advantage. It doesn’t help that Karra is closing in on her.
“All of you already grew extremely fast and hit the threshold where most people would’ve hit a brick wall by now. Not that everyone here has already peaked, mind you, but things will probably slow down by a lot around this point or perhaps a tiny bit later.” Rico said before dismissing the screen. That does imply that everyone can reach the city-blowing level Kenni has done but no more than it. Not the most comforting, but the alternative of escalating to country level or worse is also not ideal. “Of course, I’d expect all of you to have a lot of room to grow. You all got plenty of time.”
She said all of that without a hint of worry. She or someone at the top should’ve been aware of the potential damage they indirectly caused because of this training program, right? Thinking about it, there hasn’t been any statements at all from them, or any hints of acknowledgement. I can’t imagine they’re pressed about such an incident happening inside the institution considering everything they have done in the past.
If some people can connect the dots, then that also has implications for the fighters at the stadium as well, but that is definitely not a problem for us.
———Lerim———
<2: 13 pm>
“It’s kind of a pain in the ass that there are smart people around, actually.” I said while I leaned back on my chair. “It’d be much better if there weren't people around connecting the dots. Do they have nothing better to do?”
“I can’t say I like the idea of people in general being very ignorant.” He said, ignoring my complaints. Must be nice for him to not be in the conversation because he fell off. Been doing nothing but slacking inside this office for a few months at this point. “I don’t think you need to worry about it. It’s simply rumors at best.”
“Yeah, one with way too many people collaborating on it. Just so you know, I don’t like being called a walking nuke.” I never even tried it and people are already assuming things. The most I’ve done is maybe killing multiple of those giant roaming monsters. Heard those could easily wreck a town but what do I know?
“...At least it’s better than being called a gorilla, right?” Does he forget about that rule again?
“Shut the hell up. I don’t want to be called either. Don’t make me actually contemplate nuking the town.” I said while trying to not sound too offended by it. People here are really trying to push their luck.
He wisely shut up after I said that. Just keep at it with your office job and stay in your lane. I’m just gonna stay here and wait to see if any more rescue calls come up.
Good thing there aren’t any annoying local reporters around trying to get a hold of me, not that the emails hadn’t gotten a bit cramped with a bunch of spam from people who figured it out. Just gotta love online detectives, can’t leave anyone alone at all.
Obviously that spectacle on Sunday was part of the reason why everything was thrown into chaos. Government announcements, other countries talking about it. It’s really not something that could be taken lightly, as much as I sorta wanted it to be for my own sake.
Can’t imagine that the other countries don't have at least one of these incidents. Did they just cover it up better than we did? Maybe it happened in the outskirts of society and not in the middle of a bunch of other cities and towns.
“...By the way. Do you know anything about the two young adults?” He suddenly asked. Why ask that now of all times? That whole mess was three days ago.
“I did some digging. Seems to be students from that one big school. You know the one.” Seems like they were just screwing around on the weekends. They went really deep into the dungeon, no specific floors were mentioned, but the massive bag of stuff made it clear it was a whole lot. “They were crazy strong. Not as strong as me, but certainly outclasses everyone here.”
“Certainly a rather confident evaluation. I suppose the fact that they traveled from Pennsylvania to New York should’ve been enough indication.” He remarked. Our town isn’t exactly in the heart of New York, it’s quite close to the border between the two states, so it’s technically not as impressive as he said.
“Anyway. Do you plan on having me do any dirty work? It’s been a while since you gave me any.” I have a bunch of money saved up. The two non-guild related works give me quite a fortune. I still shouldn’t be slacking though. I have a lot of life ahead of me, to retire now would be absurd.
“Nothing at the current moment. Things have been peaceful in the general area. No complaints or anything, no signs of monsters roaming around.” He answered. It seems like after a week or so after that snake rain incident the whole monster rampage thing has been dying down extremely quickly. “Glad to have you around, otherwise things might not be so peaceful around town.”
“That compliment isn’t going to save you if you try to pick a fight again, just so we’re clear.” I said so he doesn’t say any unnecessary things.
“I know that all too well.” He responded before going back to looking at documents. Can’t imagine most of that is all that substantial.
…Alright. I think I have been lazing around here long enough. I don’t want to be outdoors for too long considering the rumors and people being annoying, but I really could use some fresh air.
“I’ll go for a walk. Make sure to call me if something bad happens.” I said before getting up from the chair and getting out of the office.
There were very few people in the lobby as I stepped down and got back to the ground floor, leaving without batting an eye to anyone before getting out of the building.
In lieu of the cold breeze from the air conditioner is the cold winter air. The clouds are gray and make the scenery a bit darker than the current time would’ve suggested.
“Haaah…” I took a long sigh as I kept moving along the sidewalk. Not a lot of people around on the weekdays, and even fewer cars on the road. Which is good for me. I don’t want many eyes gawking at me right now. Best to just avoid interactions before the rumors die down and the worrisome topic gets replaced with another worrisome topic. Stories get cycled in and out way too quickly for anyone to see the resolution. Just keep going and going and never dwell in the implications of the previous incident.
There aren’t really a lot of places I frequent nowadays. The local park has been under repair ever since that snake rain incident, and the nearby mall is probably filled with people. I really shouldn’t go there right now.
I need a place to sit down that’s outdoors and hopefully not a lot of people will be around.
*Ring* *Ring* *Beep*
“What is it?” I said to the caller. Almost thought it was an emergency call but it’s Evari’s number.
“<Sorry to call you. Are you busy right now?>” She asked, not sounding particularly busy herself.
“No. I’m plenty free right now. At this time I doubt there’s many people in the dungeon anyway.” It’s the weekends that tend to cause a headache with how many people going down and getting into trouble.
“<Ah. That’s good. You see. I saw some suspicious people around and I’m not sure what to make of it.>” That’s… a bit random. I guess people from out of town are rare nowadays, but to call me for it?
“Is this really warranted?” I asked since it seems like a very odd thing to call someone over with that kind of tone.
“<Yeah. Their mana fluctuation is weird, for one. Like they’re hiding something? You talked about this before, right?>” I mean, people can hide it if they want. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me on its own. “<Also, they look really out of place.>”
“I see? Guess I can go check that out. Maybe we should talk about this in-person if you’re so worried.” I said just to be extra sure that she’s serious about the whole thing. She isn’t known for bad intuition so I don’t doubt her worries that much.
“<That’ll work. I’m near the guild, where are you right now?>” Ah. That’s slightly awkward but nothing to worry about.
“I’m in the general area. I’ll be there. Later.” I said before ending the call. It seems like something is happening after all. Just my luck.
Alright, time to backtrack and go back to the guild. Here I thought I’d be outside strolling around for at least half an hour or something.
“Excuse me.” Someone called out to me as I was making my way back. I don't want distractions right now, especially from people acting like paparazzi.
“I’m busy. Go somewhere else.” I said while dismissively waving in the direction of the sound as I kept moving.
“Stop right there!” The voice grew louder as I ignored it. I’m kinda in a hurry here.
*Zap* *Block*
“Hey. What’s the big idea?” I asked after turning around and blocking the lightning spell coming my way. That actually stings a little bit. Good thing I noticed that in time.
I don’t even need Evari to be here to know that these three are the people she was talking about. Certainly suspicious. Their mana readings are certainly an oddity. It’s not weird so much as it is sophisticated. Like someone who mastered a breathing technique or running form. It’s gonna look different from how normal people do those things, and might seem odd, but it is more optimal in the long run. “Aren’t you three some stuck-up little bastards. What’s your purpose here?”
“How dare you say such a thing!” A short guy said and changed up his stance as if ready to throw out another spell.
“Calm yourself. We’re here to talk, that attack was uncalled for in the first place.” The tall guy said, stopping his companion from doing anything stupid. “Excuse me. We are individuals from a group dedicated to researching magic itself and how our forefathers have practiced it. We have taken interest in your great prowess and would like to extend you our invitation.”
“Oh. Mage Remnants?” I said that and the three of them immediately froze up.
“Lerim. These were the guys I was talking about!” Evari comes up to me while the three of them are still processing what I just said. I guess that term isn’t exactly widespread.
“Step back. Let me deal with this myself.” I said as I nudged her to get behind me. “So what in the world are three people from a group that hides the existence of magic for centuries at this point doing here? Last I checked, shouldn’t you guys be in your hidey hole, wherever the hell that is?”
“What could you possibly insinuate by saying that?” The woman of the trio asked. The atmosphere becomes quite tense.
“Basically, none of you have the best record of being trustworthy, and considering the current climate when it comes to discussing magic, now is probably the time where all of you are pressed to control the narrative the most, whatever that may be.” I can’t imagine these secretive people to have the best of intention. “Just so we’re clear. I’m not going anywhere, and you can’t force me.”
The three of them seemed to be pondering something after I said those words. Honestly, even if Karra wasn’t yapping about them in the group chat, there’s no way I would trust a group of people like this. Do they really think that an ambush is a good first impression? In fact, I shouldn’t even bother with anything remotely resembling pleasantries in the first place.
“Alright. Enough time has passed. Either scram…” I said before pulling out my sword from the bag. It looks illogical as the giant blade came out of what looked like a small handbag. “Or die.”