Clank—
The door shut, and we all sat in front of a large oval table.
Standing by the end of the table was the Team Leader, his bushy and sharp brows furrowed tightly as he crossed his arms together.
“You guys are most likely already aware of the reason why I called you here, correct?”
No, I don’t.
“Yes.”
“….Mhm.”
Seeing everyone else nod, I also nodded.
But really, I didn’t know.
“Alright then…”
The Team Leader took out a small white controller and pressed on it, prompting the projector installed right above us to light up and flash the wall.
“Given that we had body cams for all of you, retrieving the data and looking through everything, I was able to see everything that had happened during the time when you guys went offline. Most of the things that you’ve said in your reports match what you’ve said, but I’d like to go through your failures with you.”
The Team Leader suddenly turned his attention towards Kyle.
Looking at Kyle, he sighed and shook his head. All it took was one look to see just how disappointed he was.
“This is the first time.” The Team Leader mumbled, watching as Kyle lowered his head. “This is the first time I’ve seen you perform this poorly. From your inability to keep calm, to the fact that you weren’t able to properly assess the situation on multiple occasions. What happened?”
“…..”
Despite the question, Kyle remained silent.
His head remained hung low, and his fists were clenched tightly. This was the first time I had seen him like this.
It was an odd sight to see.
“So…?”
It was when the Team Leader spoke again that Kyle opened his mouth, but before he could get his words out that the Team Leader raised his hand to stop him.
“Never mind. Seeing how much you’re struggling to answer such a simple question, I’ll answer it for you. I can pretty much tell what happened.”
The Team Leader turned his attention towards me.
“He’s your weakness, isn’t he? He’s the reason why you weren’t able to keep calm. This is the first time you’ve entered an expedition with someone you could call family. The mere thought of them dying made you panic, and as a result, forget all your training, correct?”
“…..”
Kyle’s silence spoke louder than words as the Team Leader sighed once more.
“It’s not like I don’t understand, and this could be a good thing for you. Since joining the Guild, all you’ve been doing is clearing gate after gate without any setbacks. Take this setback as a learning opportunity. Dwell over it tonight and come back to me in the morning.”
“….Okay.”
Kyle quietly nodded his head, accepting the Team Leader’s words.
“Of course, you will naturally be punished for your failures. I’ll detail your punishment later.”
The Team Leader then turned his attention towards Zoey and Raymond.
“For you two, I don’t really have too much to say. You were able to remain cool-headed, and taking into consideration the strenght of the anomaly you were handling, your reactions were understandable. However, that doesn’t mean that the two of you were perfect. There are several things that you both failed to take into account…”
From that point forward, the Team Leader proceeded to dissect every little thing that came from the bodycam footage.
He detailed all of the things that they did wrong, alongside the things that they should’ve done.
It was basically a review session.
Everything that was being said was actually quite useful for me, too. I was learning a little bit more about how things worked and the things that one wasn’t supposed to do when going on an expedition.
But still…
’Why am I here?’
I was really struggling to understand this part.
From start to end, the Team Leader only addressed Kyle, Zoey, and Raymond. Not once did he look at me or speak to me.
I felt at a complete loss.
’So…? Did I make a mistake or not?’
I didn’t get to find the answer until a good half an hour had passed.
“Now, onto you.”
With the Team Leader’s gaze finally falling on me, I unknowingly started to tense, expecting to hear something from him.
And I did…
“Why in the world would you write something like kill me? While I do understand why you said it, you could’ve said it in better words, without it needing to be so dramatic. This could’ve gone extremely wrong. Especially in the condition that Kyle was in.”
Ohhhh…
I suddenly started to understand the reason why I was called here.
“Was there a particular reason why you acted like that? Did you need to be so dramatic…?”
“Well…”
I looked at Kyle, who was looking at me, and scratched the side of my neck.
I didn’t really have an answer to this. Back then, I just wanted to write the message as quickly as possible, thinking that Kyle would understand immediately.
In hindsight, I really did mess up.
“…So you don’t.”
The Team Leader nodded quietly before rubbing his head.
“To be honest, I won’t really fault you for this. This is your first time in such an expedition, so mistakes can happen. Next time, however, please assess the situation carefully. Your actions could’ve caused Kyle to die.”
“…I understand.”
He was right, so I had no words to retort with.
Satisfied with the answer, the Team Leader nodded his head again before asking.
“On another note, do you know the reason why your body camera was off? We tried to look through your footage, but the recording stops halfway into the expedition.”
“Oh, is that the case…?”
I was almost tempted to whistle. I did recall that. I was the one to stop the recording. It was simply because I didn’t want them to know about my powers since they could be linked to the system.
“Yes, it appears that your body camera was shut off at some point. We believe that it might be due to some interference by the Twisted Man. However, seeing how Kyle and the others looked unaffected, we’re not sure. Did you turn it off yourself?”
“No.”
Yes, I did.
“I see…”
The Team Leader seemed to fall into deep thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.
“Well, it’s whatever. We still managed to see everything that had happened anyway. It’s just a pity.”
He rubbed his hands together.
“In any case, other than that, you were fairly excellent. Even as a support unit, you were able to perform far above expectations. There’s not much to criticize. I just had you come here so you could understand the situation better and to learn from their mistakes.”
“Oh.”
That made sense…
No, did it?
Something about his words didn’t quite make sense.
“In any case, I’ve finished what I wanted to say. The four of you can go back now. I’m sure you’re tired.”
Tired?
I was close to passing out.
Even with the sleep on the bus, I was still exhausted.
’I can’t wait to go back to the dorms.’
Standing up from my seat, I moved out of the conference room alongside the others and was just about to go back to the dorms when I suddenly paused.
My hand twitched, and my face sank.
“What’s wrong?”
As if noticing my sudden change, Kyle paused and looked at me.
The same was for Zoey and Raymond. They both looked at me with frowns.
Slowly raising my head, I looked at Zoey.
“Actually, there is something…”
It was something closely related to my life and death.
“What is it…?”
“You.”
I licked my lips while staring at Zoey.
“…Do you have any spare chips?”