Chapter 55: Big Problem
Yenna leaned against the wall outside the guild entrance with her arms crossed, watching the morning foot traffic move through the district while her thoughts were else where.
"I still can’t believe Allen actually approved it," she muttered, her jaw tight. "A royal recommendation from some nobody who showed up out of thin air with zero credentials, and Allen just stamps it and schedules the exam like it’s nothing."
Mila stood next to her, holding a small pastry she had bought from a street vendor on the way over. She took a bite, chewed slowly, then glanced at Yenna from the corner of her eye.
"You’re still on this?"
"Of course I’m still on this," she snapped, pushing off the wall and turning to face her. "This kid walks into the guild hall, drops a core on the counter like he owns the place, flashes a royal seal, and suddenly the Guildmaster himself is rolling out the red carpet? Meanwhile, people like us spent years grinding through the system the proper way."
Mila took another bite of her pastry, completely unbothered by the rant. She had heard variations of this exact speech at least four times since yesterday.
"He did clear a four-shard anomaly though," she pointed out casually. "That’s not exactly something you can fake."
"We don’t know that for sure," Yenna fired back immediately. "He could have had help. Some hidden backup team, a noble family’s private squad, or maybe the anomaly was already weakened by other parties before he walked in. People die in that gate all the time, who’s to say the monster wasn’t already on its last legs?"
Mila looked at her for a second, then shrugged. "Sure, but what if he passes the exam?"
Yenna let out a sharp, dismissive scoff, the sound carrying enough contempt to make a passing merchant flinch.
"There is no chance in hell that happens," she said flatly, staring at the guild entrance. "The Ranker exam isn’t just about raw power. It tests adaptability, decision-making under pressure, and combat instincts refined over years of real experience. You can’t just brute-force your way through it with a shiny weapon and a big mana pool."
She paused, clicking her tongue before a bitter, annoyed look settled over her features.
"He’s lucky those bastards are out on a mission right now," she added, her voice dropping lower. "If they were here, they would have already dragged him outside and taught him what happens when you disrespect a Ranker in the middle of the guild hall."
Mila stopped chewing, her eyes narrowing slightly. She knew exactly who Yenna was referring to, the other senior members of their extended circle who had a very well-known reputation for dealing with arrogant newcomers in extremely aggressive ways.
"You’re not seriously thinking about siccing them on him when they get back, are you?"
Yenna didn’t answer, which was answer enough.
Mila sighed, finishing the last of her pastry and brushing crumbs off her fingers.
"Look," she said, keeping her voice calm and even, "I get it. The whole thing rubbed you the wrong way and I understand why, but maybe you should let this one go."
"You’re a Ranker with a solid reputation, and he’s just some unregistered kid. Even if he somehow stumbles his way through the exam, he’ll be at the absolute bottom of the rankings. He’s not a threat to you."
"It’s not about him being a threat," she shot back. "It’s about the principle. If every noble brat with a fancy letter can just skip the line and become a Ranker, the whole system falls apart. The title becomes meaningless."
Mila opened her mouth to reply but stopped when the sound of hurried footsteps and raised voices drifted over from the direction of the main road.
Both of them turned their heads.
A group of people were half-running past the guild toward the healer’s district, their faces tight with worry while a few guards in full armor jogged alongside them.
"What’s going on?" Mila asked, stepping away from the wall.
A young adventurer rushing past caught her question and slowed down just enough to answer.
"Some knight just rode in through the main gate on a half-dead horse," he said, barely stopping. "He is missing an arm and covered in blood, looks like he’s barely alive. They’re taking him to the healing post right now."
Yenna watched the commotion with a flat, uninterested expression. Knights got hurt all the time, it was part of the job. Getting worked up over every injured soldier dragged through the gates would mean she’d never stop worrying.
"Probably got careless on a patrol," she said dismissively, leaning back against the wall. "Happens every week."
Mila didn’t look as convinced. She watched the crowd for a few more seconds, listening, before turning back. "They said he was wearing a Flint crest."
That got a small reaction, Yenna’s brow lifting just a fraction. The Flint family wasn’t some minor house, they were one of the most powerful noble families in the kingdom. Their knights were well-trained and well-equipped, not the type to get chewed up on a routine assignment.
"Which one?" she asked.
"I don’t know," she replied, already looking for someone who might have more details. She spotted a guild runner heading back from the direction of the healing post, the young woman’s face still a little pale.
"Hey," Mila called out, stepping into her path. "The knight they just brought in, do you know anything about it?"
The runner stopped, catching her breath. "His name is Kenny, he’s a member of the Flint family’s combat division. He rode in alone, his entire squad is unaccounted for."
"What’s his rank?" Yenna asked, her posture straightening just a little.
"Five Shards."
Yenna’s arms slowly uncrossed, the annoyed expression on her face shifting into something much sharper as the number registered.
"Five?" she repeated, pushing off the wall entirely. "A five-Shard knight came back missing an arm with his entire squad wiped out?"
The runner nodded quickly before excusing herself, hurrying back toward the guild to deliver whatever report she was carrying.
Yenna stood there for a moment, her mind working fast.
’A five-Shard knight losing an arm and his entire team,’ she thought, staring toward the healing district. ’That shouldn’t happen. Not on any gate assignment close to the capital. The strongest gates in this region have been capped at three or four Shards for over a decade.’
She looked at Mila, who was clearly thinking the same thing.
"What gate was the Flint family assigned to?" Yenna asked.
"If I remember correctly, it was the new one," Mila said, her voice dropping. "The one that manifested a few miles outside the walls. The King personally assigned it to them last week."
"And the assessment guild report listed it as what?"
Mila pulled a small notebook from her pocket, one she always kept updated with the latest guild postings and gate reports. She flipped through a few pages before finding the entry.
"Initial assessment was four Shards," she read, running her finger along the text. "Standard guild measurement protocol, verified by two separate mage teams."
Yenna’s jaw tightened.
’Four Shards?’ she thought, her eyes narrowing. ’A five-Shard knight with a full squad backing him should have cleared a four-Shard gate without any trouble. Even accounting for a tough boss or bad luck, the absolute worst case scenario should have been injuries, not a complete team wipe.’
"That doesn’t add up," she said out loud. "Either the assessment was wrong, or something changed after they went in."
"Could be another anomaly," Mila suggested, her voice careful. "Like that wolf thing in the two-shard gate. Monsters that feed on enough adventurers can mutate past the gate’s original assessment."
"The gate just manifested a few days ago," Yenna countered immediately, shaking her head. "There hasn’t been enough time for anything inside to feed and evolve. A natural anomaly takes months, sometimes years, to develop."
"Then the mages got the measurement wrong."
"Two separate teams don’t both get the same measurement wrong."
They stared at each other for a second, the uncomfortable weight of the implications settling between them.
’If the gate was correctly assessed at four Shards,’ Yenna thought, ’and a five-Shard knight with a full squad couldn’t clear it, then something inside that gate is way beyond what anyone expected.’
She turned her head toward the guild hall, then back toward the healing district, her earlier frustration about Hajin completely pushed to the side.
"I want to talk to that knight," she said, already starting to walk. "If something inside that gate is strong enough to rip the arm off a five-Shard and kill his entire squad, the guild needs to know about it before they send someone else in."
Mila fell into step beside her, tucking her notebook back into her pocket. "And here I thought you said it wasn’t your problem."
"It wasn’t," she replied, her pace quickening. "But a four-Shard gate that eats five-Shard knights alive is everyone’s problem."