"Hahaha! If it isn’t the newest star in the Guild!"
The woman looked to be in her mid-forties. She wore a dark blue cardigan with a red scarf neatly draped over her shoulders. As she turned to greet , her light-brown hair swayed gently.
She smiled brightly.
"I’ve been aning to et you, but you’ve been dodging my invitations. I’m glad I finally managed to get you to co here."
I was on the 28th floor of the building.
The marketing departnt.
I’d always planned to avoid this place, but things changed the mont I received a certain ssage.
But more importantly...
’The stares feel very burdenso. Feels like I’m in a zoo all over again. Damn articles...’
Massaging my face, I nodded at the woman in front of .
"Hello."
Judging by the title in the email I’d received, she was Rosa Madalyne, the Head of the Branch Guild’s PR departnt. Because this business didn’t just consist of taking care of anomalies and Gates, a PR departnt was necessary in order to manage the reputation of its mbers.
Aside from that, they handled another important thing.
"You’re here for the sponsorships, right?"
"I am."
"That’s good, but before that..."
Departnt Head Rosa spun around in her chair and pointed towards a certain office.
"Let’s go over there. I’m sure the stares around are starting to feel burdenso."
I’m glad you noticed.
"Thank you."
I was the first to enter the office. The Departnt Head told she’d join after gathering a few things, and as I took a seat, I looked around. The room was fairly spacious, with a soft gray carpet, bright overhead lighting, a monitor at the far end, and a large table with eight seats.
A stereotypical eting room.
Leaning back in the tal chair, I tapped lightly against the armrest. I was curious.
’Just how many sponsorships did I receive, and how much are they offering? Should I receive them? The email also ntioned sothing about my squad...’
This was the first ti sothing like this had happened to , and I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait for long.
Clank—!
Shortly after, the door opened, and three people entered the room.
"Ugh, I’m so tired."
"Thomas, did you manage to fill out all the reports?"
"No... I’ve still got several ones to finish up."
It was the Departnt Head and two n who seed to be a little bit older than
. Perhaps in their mid-thirties. While the two n carried two large boxes in their hands,
the Departnt Head carried a thin laptop with her.
As if they were already familiar with the room, they each took a seat and calmly sorted
through the boxes.
"Seth."
"Yes?"
I looked up at the Departnt Head as she sat opposite .
"Let introduce myself again. We’re part of the PR team in charge of our Section. In short, we’re in charge of all the ’image’ matters related to the mbers of the Guild, be it main or branch. Whatever plan you have for the future, it’ll have to go through us first. Oh, and if you fuck up, we’re the ones who clean up after your ss."
The Departnt Head seed satisfied with her introduction as she took out a pair of thin, oval glasses and put them on. A faint smile crossed her lips as she opened her laptop.
Her fingers danced across the keyboard, and after a short while, she paused, her head lifting to stare at .
"Not bad. I can work with this."
Words of praise suddenly flowed out of the woman’s mouth as she looked at in satisfaction. What’s gotten into her all of a sudden?
"I think I ntioned it before, but I’ve been looking forward to working with you. Our Guild’s super rookie."
"Excuse ?"
Super rookie?
"There’s no need to be modest. We’ve all seen your feats in Malovia. We’ve also studied all of your achievents prior. You sure are sothing."
One of the assistants beside the Departnt Head spoke. He had short brown hair and green eyes.
Thomas Chamberlain? That’s what the na tag on his shirt said. The other one said, ’Jas Cole’. He was on the chubbier side and had blonde hair.
"A lot of the people in our team have been talking about it. So say it was all luck, while others think it’s skills. Personally, I think it’s a bit of both. There was so luck, but you can definitely see you’ve got the skills."
Thomas seed to be rather talkative as he rambled about all sorts of things. I just quietly listened to what he had to say and occasionally nodded.
I had no idea about what he was talking about, but I still occasionally added a few words of my own.
"Ay, stop talking already. We’ve got work to do."
The Departnt Head ca just in ti to save . Checking her watch, she looked at Thomas.
"Quickly get a cup of coffee. No, two..."
Thinking for a mont, she lowered her head and mumbled in a tone just enough for to hear,
’Would two even be enough? I don’t think we’ll be sleeping tonight...’
My mouth twitched. What’s with the ’we’?
Surely not, right?
It turned out to be even worse than I’d expected. It wasn’t so much that I was receiving a flood of offers, but that there was simply far too much that needed to be handled. Especially when it ca down to the upcoming ranking announcent.
"The chance that you might get ranked is slim to none, but that’s not really the point of attending such an event. One of the most important things when attending the event is to push your image out there. It’s also a great way to build connections. There are many high-ranking mbers of other Guilds, including officials that you can get in touch with, and even sellers that can sell you anything you need."
"Does that include fragnts?"
"Fragnts...? Well, I guess so."
The Departnt Head gave a strange look, as if silently asking, ’Why would you need fragnts? Can’t you just request them from the Guild?’
I coughed, pretending to be oblivious.
Thankfully, the Departnt Head had sothing else in store for .
"Well, everything aside. This is the last thing that I wanted to ntion, and probably the thing that you were most looking forward to."
Reaching for one of the boxes on the table, the Departnt Head pulled out a few files and slid them across the table toward .
"These are the sponsorships."
My gaze montarily halted on the files and then the Departnt Head. Taking note of her expression, I paused. Why did she look so troubled?
"It’s my job to look through them and give you a rundown of the offers. I can say that they’re all great offers, but..."
But?
"One of them seems too good to be true."
"Pardon?"
"Have a look."
The Departnt Head slid one of the offers over to .
Looking at the file, I didn’t hesitate and reached out for it. As I began reading, the Departnt Head’s crisp voice echoed in the background.
"I’ve gone through the terms again and again. I tried to find so kind of loophole or trick, but there isn’t one. Everything presented here is legitimate. This offer is several magnitudes higher than anything else you’ve received so far. But that’s not even the strangest part of it."
Pausing, the Departnt Head’s brows creased tightly.
"R.W. Tech."
My hand brows slowly rose as I looked at the numbers and the offer presented to . This wasn’t just good. It was ridiculously good.
Just what sort of...
"In the history of the company, they’ve never sponsored anyone outside of one Guild. They’re known to only pick mbers from that Guild. And..."
Taking a look at , the Departnt Head’s brows were even more furrowed.
"...You’re the first one they’ve chosen. The first person they’ve ever invested in who isn’t from Obsidian Bastion. One of the Big Five Guilds."
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