The talk over «Duel» had co to an end, with the deciding date being next Tuesday. It would be the dungeon week then, and that was the duration for classes to be closed. Today was Wednesday, so that made it a countdown of 6 days.
In the anti, there were so things I must tackle as well. And... oh—my train of thoughts stopped as soone called out to .
"It's been a while, Zephyr-dono."
"Hmm? Indeed, long ti no see, Dias-senpai. ...Is it , or do you beco taller?"
"...Hahaha, honestly, even I have no idea when my body will stop growing."
After the eting was over, Yuri-senpai, Dean and I had a discussion over a few things before they quickly left the place. Everyone was a busy person, and they'd attended as notaries, so it wouldn't be good to appear on more frequent terms with either side.
So, perhaps seeing unoccupied, Dias-senpai walked over to where I was. As usual, his tall stature was quite impressive. In fact, he even appeared to have grown taller. I asked, just in case I was only seeing things, and it turned out, his growth spurt was still going strong.
At first, when we had just beco acquaintances during Aegis's integration to our guild, he was quite a stiff tone person. Though, after our gradual conversation over chatroom, he was now more casual. Now, we're quite on familiar terms.
Ningron-senpai, his sub-guildmaster, followed behind him, though I wasn't keeping up with him, so we're just on greeting terms at best.
"So, what brought you here, Dias-senpai?"
"Don't 'what brought you here' . Just what is going on? Why was I suddenly nominated to be the guildmaster if «Eden» won? I don't get anything at all."
Ah, well that just happened along the flow.
"But, it isn't a bad deal, is it? And you didn't turn down the offer either."
"Haa... that, I guess..."
In fact, there was quite a story between him and «Temple Saber» that I found out from Aegis. To put it concisely; Dias-senpai was a mber of «Temple Saber» at first, but following the faction dispute, he was made to beco the guildmaster of the subordinate guild.
Now, it wasn't detrintal to be the guildmaster of a subordinate guild. Academy, too, evaluate one's achievent on an individual level. That said, however you sugarcoat it, the cold truth was he had been demoted.
But, even when that happened, Dias-senpai never stopped caring for «Temple Saber» and their mbers. When so of them had to leave the guild due to the rank drop, Dias-senpai worked hard to find suitable places for them to be accepted. He was a person with a strong sense of responsibility. And this was clearly reflected in his job «Man of Justice», a high-ranking mid-tier job which was a part of the «Noble» category.
Though Celestine didn't say it outright, in its current shape, «Temple Saber» was a guild on its path to fall. If they lose this Duel, they would absolutely hit the bottom of the barrel. After all, they truly had staked their entire fortune just to get back «White Throne».
It was apparent, once they lost this Duel, «Temple Saber» would be dissolved. I had seen the two guildmaster and sub-guildmaster's desperation enough to reach that conclusion.
Now, here cos the problem. Who would be willing to accept «Temble Saber»'s mber after everything that had happened so far.
Once the king of the highest heaven, now an ant on a mortal plane. It was obvious this would create heart demons among many. And adding on that they'd lost to a freshn guild, their pride would be in pieces. The defeat might even turn so into insufferable beings. Just what would happen to them when they'd nothing except their equipnt left to them?
In that case, it would be easier to substitute them wholesale. You know, like how presidents are switched... Though, in this situation, it’s like switching the entire company?
Anyway, the gist was to just toss them into a subordinate guild to prevent dissolution. And, unless the mbers of the subordinate guild had approval of their guild master, they could never leave it. So, then Dias-senpai would have the high ground against them. It would be like putting the collar on «Temple Saber».
"You disliked their current trend, didn't you? Dias-senpai."
"Oh, you bet. Well, we also can't just leave a debt for juniors to take care of. Hehehe, just you wait. I will make sure they pay their due effort, and rebuild a proper foundation for the guild before our graduation."
Well, at least Dias-senpai's spirit was on fire. It appeared he already had his plan to revive the «Temple Saber» from its one foot into a grave situation. He was as big-hearted a man as his height.
"Then again, we have quite a good number of folks with advanced jobs, and no one is going to wager soone's equipnt either. The manpower would still be there, so it's not like we start from zero."
"Now that you said it, that's indeed the case."
I get what Dias-senpai wanted to say. It wouldn't be easy, but with responsibility of the guild falling into his shoulder, Dias-senpai didn't appear intimidated one bit.
.
.
.
Afterward, I bid Dias-senpai my goodbye and traced the path to our guild room.
"Rina~, you there?"
"Zephyr-san! Yes, The Rina is here!"
Rina's spirited response promptly followed back as I stepped inside the guild room. I had called her in to explain the result of the negotiation, since it was her forte.
A beaming smile blossod on her face when she saw . Hmm, her cheeks had gained a faint scarlet hue, too, for so reason... Was I seeing things? Anyway, she appeared in a cheery mood, so much that she even playfully called out her na in response.
"How is the day for you, Zephyr-san? Here, take a seat. I will brew tea. I recently managed to find quality black tea."
Then, she pulled , and guided to sit right by her side. ...Not across, but next to her
After affirming that I had taken my seat, she rose up, and began brewing black tea, her steps buoyant, reflecting her bright mood. She served it alongside cookies.
A fragrant aroma imdiately tickled my nose. She must have gone through tea leaves ticulously, and just from the aroma alone, I could tell it absolutely was on par with Celestine and Shizu's brewing skill. —Oh, and speaking of Celestine and Sierra, they'd already returned back—or maybe, disbanded was the right word? Since it appeared they'd their business to attend.
I gratefully accepted the black tea, and took a sip, enjoying its aroma. Hmm, delicious. Black tea had beco my favourite after having been served by Celestine, so I was assured of my taste. It deserved full marks!
"How is it?"
"Fantastic. It's aroma, in particular, is quite intoxicating."
"O-oh, I am glad to hear that."
A sweet smile tugged on Rina's lips at my honest evaluation, and then she explained to how she got the black tea. I wasn't sure if it was just , but I felt the distance between us had shrunk.
I think it began when I praised her for her brilliant performance in the inter-class competition. I had exhausted every single word of praise from my vocabulary. Ever since then... it's been, just, like that? Like... she would approach with brimming enthusiasm, closing distance.
From our chit-chat, I learned a while ago that brewing black tea was her hobby. It's quite unexpected for a young lady of the Duke household. I wouldn't brag about it, but I had acquired quite a taste in black tea ever since I ca to this world, so I laid my honest praise.
Oh, and speaking of, black tea was one of the frequent topics to discuss. She would often co around, telling how she had acquired new tea leaves from so other place, and would create a tea-ti like now.
Honestly, I did find these monts pleasant.
...Ah, It was such a calming situation that I nearly forgot my purpose. Once we were well into tea ti, I changed the topic to our earlier conversation. Well, I wouldn't have minded to keep the tea ti ongoing, but explanation was necessary.
"Oh my, it sure has beco quite a big event, huh. What would you like to do?"
As perceptive as ever, Rina quickly caught up to the core of the situation. ...No, wait a minute. Was it , or do I feel like the ti was dragged before we could move to this topic? ...Nevermind, must be my imagination.
Anyway, I had asked Rina to take over the negotiation, like always. And for the second part—
"How many marks does Nico have right now?"
"...Nico-san?"
H-huh? Suddenly, I noticed a bit of change in Rina's attitude. ...Or, was it just ?
"Y-yea. I want to know how many Interdiate-mid dungeons she has cleared."
"......I think she has two."
The two ans Nico had acquired two «Conqueror's Mark».
"If you're inquiring about Nico-san's dungeon status, you must have a plan to bring her into the dungeon?"
She had it right. This was indeed my intention. We barely had a few days till the deadline, so I wanted to use everything to increase our chances for a certain gold chest drop. And ti was of essence.
"In that case, I would like to tag along then."
"Huh?"
I wasn't expecting to hear this, and reflexively take a look at her, our eyes staring into each other. Her eyes were drawn into absolute seriousness.
"I would like to take this chance to have a look at the Interdiate-high dungeon. Besides, we have barely explored the dungeon together recently. And then, in the inter-class competition, we were on opposite sides! It's just... unfair that everyone has their chance to fight with you, but I am being left out!"
"H-hey, Rina. Calm down, okay?"
Instead of calming, the more she lined her words, the more her outburst continued to rise up.
I gently held by her arms, and pacified her.
"M-my apologies. I, I can't believe I had been so... rude."
Phew, she had finally cald down. I had no inkling she had been holding that much discontent inside her. It was sothing I couldn't overlook. We might have such monts like this, but she was right. She, alone, had been left out. And that had been becoming her source of aggravation.
"Err, you know, I should apologise too. You're correct. How about it? Would you like to co along with us for dungeon exploration tomorrow?"
"Will it not affect your plan?"
"It would be fine. And there's no reason why I would not want to explore the dungeon with you."
Recalling back, most of my recent dungeon exploration had always been with fellow advanced job party mbers, too.
When she saw nodding unhesitatingly, the beaming smile blossod once again.
"Thank you very much, Zephyr-san."
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