Almond found himself in a plain white room inside the guild’s headquarters building with nothing inside except two chairs.
‘Teleport…’ Almond’s eyes glinted. ‘What a handy skill.’
“Sit,” Executive Ken said as he sat down on the chair and gestured for Almond to sit on the chair two meters across from him.
Almond blinked and sat down, “So why are we here? I thought challenges from other guilds were supposed to be common.”
“They are common, but a random newbie defeating our Super Rookie is not common,” Executive Ken narrowed his eyes. “If someone recorded your battle with Xavier and how you defeated him, it’s going to damage our guild’s public image. We can’t let that happen, especially now that Rising Star Tournament is approaching.”
“That tournament has the sponsorship of some of the biggest families and all top ten guilds. There’s a lot of money and resources involved in it, so what you’ve done is quite damaging. Welcome to the adult’s world.”
Executive Ken’s eyes glinted as he added, his voice firm, “Join this guild, and we’ll forget about your mistake since you’ll be able to bolster the image. Xavier losing against a fellow guild member won’t hurt us. We’ll also handle your contract with GAA. As long as you agree, you can join us.”
Almond raised his hand, blinking with a slight smile. “Are you, by any chance, treating me like I’m ten years old? I have to admit, though, your recruitment tactics are impressive: pressure, temptation, and a convenient escape from the illusion of mess you’ve pinned on me.”
Executive Ken felt like a deflated balloon inside, though he didn’t show it outside and just raised his eyebrows. He was about to say something when his wristwatch rang.
His eyes flickered as he opened the mail in private mode, making it appear in his brain via a magic signal instead of a hologram.
“I guess that’s the file you got on me,” Almond commented, his body language leisure as he leaned back on the chair. “Don’t worry, you won’t find anything.”
“Admiral Rudra is personally ensuring that.”
Executive Ken’s eyes shook at the mention of Admiral Rudra.
He let go of his facade and laughed out loud.
Almond laughed together with him.
“You stinky brat, where did you come from?” Executive Ken asked while grinning. “Hell, the file I got didn’t even have your full name.”
“Almond Crowshade, nice to meet you,” Almond smiled.
“So, were you here just to challenge our rookies or what?”
“I was here to meet someone, but I wasn’t allowed to,” Almond wryly smiled. “The reception lady threw me out.”
Executive Ken raised his eyebrow, “It seems that you’ve come here to meet our new Super Rookie. She has been assigned training tasks to complete before Rising Star Tournaments, so random people can’t meet her, not even reporters or GAA members.”
“That I heard,” Almond dryly chuckled.
Suddenly, the door of the room opened with a bang.
Executive Ken and Almond turned at the door and saw Lily standing, her eyes on Almond.
Almond stood up and raised his hand to wave at her while smiling, “Hi-“
*Swoosh!*
Lily’s figure blurred as she moved like the wind and hugged Almond tightly. “I thought this guild was about to do something stupid after I heard that Executive Ken took you away.”
Almond chuckled, “Haha, they won’t do that.”
Lily side-glanced at Executive Ken briefly before closing her eyes and focusing on the hug as she soaked herself in Almond’s presence. “Mhmm, now I am finally feeling better. Let’s go somewhere else and decide some things, like where we are living together from now on.”
Meanwhile, Executive Ken felt a chill when he saw Lily’s icy glance. ‘It seems that our new super rookie is also cut out of some extraordinary mold. Jeez, how can she exude such a resolved killing intent?’
Looking at the duo, he could only wryly smile. ‘Kids these days…’
“Ahem, this is unexpected,” he spoke after a cough, hoping to get their attention. “How about we have a small talk about your….relationship?” Explore more at M V L
“What?” Lily asked plainly as she stood by Almond, grabbing his hand. “Please don’t say anything stupid like I am not allowed or anything.”
‘She doesn’t hold back against her superiors, huh? I guess she got hold of the guild’s dynamic based on her treatment here,’ Almond internally chuckled. ‘Maybe having Lady Aria as her mentor has its exclusive perks.’
“Of course not. I won’t say anything stupid like that,” Executive Ken smiled as he spoke, putting emphasis on stupid as his lips twitched a bit. “But I would like you two to keep your relationship a secret for a bit.”
“Why? That makes no sense unless it’s for stupid things,” Lily fired back immediately with a frown.
Executive Ken’s right eye twitched, but he held his smile and replied, “Well, the boys are kinda fired up because of you and the girls also have a rivalry. You revealing you have a boyfriend is going to dampen some fighting spirits.”
“So it’s really for some stupid reasons,” Lily snorted.
“To be honest, I agree with Lily,” Almond smiled. “But we don’t need to do anything regarding this. It’s not like Lily wants to announce to the world.”
“I don’t mind doing that so that other girls don’t get any ideas about you,” Lily cutely harrumphed. “But I heard reporters can be annoying when they find such things. Almond can stay rational, but I might not if they overstep their boundaries.”
“You are not too known at the moment. Only some channels here are eager to get first and inside news to present to the world when you appear in the Rising Star Tournament,” Executive Ken wryly smiled.
“But I agree with Almond,” Executive Ken shrugged. “I guess I’ll leave you young ones to deal with your life yourself. Walk while holding hands or not, you are free.”
“Thanks,” Almond smiled.
“Then send us off to Shadow Palace, please,” Lily said. “Or we can also walk down this headquarters while holding our hands.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer,” Executive Ken wryly smiled and got up as he stretched his hand towards Almond. “Well, nice to meet you, Almond. I hope you can keep my crude tactics a secret.
Almond shook hands and nodded while smiling, “No problem. Though I was a bit disappointed to see you do that to someone who defeated your Super Rookie.”
“I thought only your class was strong and not mind, so I decided to give it a try. Anyway, I trust you to keep this confined, or my ass would get whooped by Admiral Rudra, hahaha. Now off you go, have fun.”
Just as Executive Ken used his skill, Natalia entered and saw them. In slow-mo, her mouth opened, and her expression changed as she tried to stop them, “Waaaiittt…”
And they were gone.
Executive Ken looked at Natalia and wryly smiled, “Natalia, right? Want me to send you to them?”
“Yes, please Q-Q.”
…
When Natalia was teleported into the Shadow Palace, she caught the lovebirds kissing passionately.
“Goddamn, you thirsty hoes! But anyway, you continue. I’ll take a stroll outside. Adios~”
“…”
“…”
After a short, passionate session of kissing, the duo walked outside to the training field of the hill.
“You can leave the guild, right?” Almond asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“Then let’s go. Admiral Rudra gave me a property here,” Almond grinned. “We’ll do some selling and shopping first before heading there.”