Chapter 161: Forming Factions
Cillian and Melissa soon reached their destination. Melissa’s curious look grew even more intense when the branch of the Whisper Broker came into view, its size equivalent to three of her rented houses combined.
She had been curious about what was inside, but she certainly wasn’t expecting this many people moving around, going from one room to another.
"It’s busy nowadays."
"I have eyes."
"..."
Cillian was about to open his mouth but immediately shut it after hearing her reply, as he was merely trying to make things clear.
Fighting the urge to laugh, Cillian signaled Melissa to follow him, eventually leading her to Leo’s office.
Once inside, they saw Leo sitting down as if waiting for them.
"Cillian, I want to have a chat alone with Melissa if you don’t mind."
’What?’
Somehow confused as to why he had to get out when they had already talked about this situation this morning, Cillian glanced at Melissa and saw her giving him a slight nod while pumping her fist as if to say she could do it.
Having no idea what Leo was planning to do with Melissa, Cillian left the room and waited outside.
...
’I’m on the verge of forming a Circle...’
If there was one thing that Cillian had noticed about Sorcery, it was how hard it was to gain a Circle. The only reason he was on the verge of advancing after months of training was that he knew he had pushed himself to his limit during the recent attack.
If not for it, he might not have been able to feel his Mana Core becoming less chaotic and more organized. Now, if he was on the right path, he just needed to get a feel for how the mana should flow continuously without collapsing.
Then, he attempted getting a Circle.
After half an hour had passed, Cillian saw Leo’s door open, revealing what seemed to have been a successful talk between his father and Melissa.
’Looks like she found a job she’s going to be satisfied with in the meantime?’
Both of them seemed a little too giddy, as if Leo had already taken to Melissa like an uncle doting on his niece.
Leo and Melissa approached Cillian.
"She’s going to be my secretary for the time being. Don’t worry, she’ll mostly handle the jobs in the above world, if that’s what you’re worried about. After that, I was planning to ask Lloyd to build a branch in Xesie’s Territory, where she would handle the matters there."
Cillian wore a stupid expression and asked himself.
’Whoa, whoa. Hold up now. Why is she getting more responsibility than me when it comes to the Whisper Broker? Building a branch in Xesie? That’s just a nice way of saying she’s going to be a branch leader!’
How could a simple talk make it like this?
Leo smiled warmly and said.
"She’s a very talented person. I gave her a task to arrange the files that had been bugging me for almost a week, and she did it in just twenty minutes! Also, she’s your childhood friend! Why didn’t you say something important like that? I wouldn’t have given her that task where I thought she’d fail. Though because of that, she exceeded my expectations."
’She was given a task that was bound to fail, and she still managed to accomplish it rather well?’
Cillian looked at Melissa.
Melissa felt proud of herself. She didn’t even bother to hide it. Not only had she sold herself well to her employer, but the money she would get was enough to cover her needs while supporting her family.
The only problem she had to worry about now was how she should take care of her family while she was away studying at the Academy. They were in the hospital right now, lying in bed after trying to find her amid the chaos of the previous incident.
Thinking about the solution slightly dampened her mood.
Still, she man up.
’I’ll look for solutions as always.’
Seeing that Melissa was satisfied with not being in the Underworld during the chaos that was about to erupt, Cillian didn’t delve into the topic any further.
"Father, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Melissa took the cue as a signal that it was time for the father-son duo to have some time alone together.
"I’ll ask the receptionist if there’s something I can help with in the meantime. Thank you, Sir Leo. Thank you, Cillian. I will never forget this opportunity you gave me."
"Sure."
Melissa then began to leave, making the two look at her for a brief moment before Leo, the one who had answered her, commented.
"Your girlfriend?"
Realizing a few seconds later that the girl and friend are one word, Cillian immediately answered.
"What? No."
Cillian immediately added.
"She’s technically a friend, but not really. I don’t know... Our group wasn’t exactly on good terms with hers back at the Academy, but we started talking more after we helped each other in the maze."
"Hmm..."
Leo suddenly chuckled.
"If you’re already talking, then you guys are already friends. From the way Melissa talked earlier, she already considered you one already. Maybe the others in her group do as well. After all, didn’t you save them from the ’God’ in the shrine? They must be very grateful to you."
"It was the main character—I mean, the dude I’m with—"
"You don’t need to continue."
After their idle talk, the atmosphere gradually became more serious as Cillian finally brought up the matter he wanted to discuss.
"Have you received letters from both the above world and underworld?"
Leo nodded and explained the situation to him.
"I was trying to hide this from you, but after you delivered a message from Finn Montolov this morning, it looks like I can’t hide it anymore. Yes, I received a few letters from families wanting to form a good relationship with us. However, only the Montolov Family has been proactive in the above world. From that, I assumed that the other influential families had already contacted many factions in the Underworld, leaving only a few gangs uncontacted.
"Then, I started gathering information and happened to stumble upon this. There are a lot of factions forming in the Underworld right now without me noticing. And there are two confirmed factions that have formed around a single gang each. There might be more coming in the future. But who knows."
’Forming a faction is fast.’
Cillian pondered inwardly.
"Which two have formed to make a faction centered on them?"
Leo jog his memories before saying.
"Unblemished Gang and The Nighthawks."
Silence ensued for a brief moment as Cillian also jog his memories. Then, he quietly muttered under his breath.
"The Nighthawks and Unblemished Gang... Unblemished Gang?"
Leo noticed that Cillian reacted differently when he mentioned the second gang, before seeing the tips of his son’s lips curl upward.
’Well, well, well.’
He thought he wouldn’t be able to remember this gang for long, believing it would just become one of the many gangs he would remember briefly before eventually forgetting. But it looked like that wasn’t the case this time.
The Nighthawks were a gang that Cillian knew nothing about, but he could simply look through the information in the books.
However, the Unblemished Gang was different.
He knew someone from this gang. Back at the Academy, someone from this gang had asked him to research the Academy Tournament in exchange for a few rewards.
’It’s a small world, Iska. Hehe. Oh, you’re going to regret being the center of attention. I’m going to take everything your guild possesses and throw you all in the dumpster.’
Feeling his excitement rise another notch, Cillian continued talking with his father about the developments in the Undercity.
As long as the events continued to unfold as they should, Cillian should be able to have some fun with them.
That was, as long as no problems arose.