“Squad Leader…?”
I looked at the man before me in confusion. Did he suddenly lose his mind? He wanted me to be a Squad Leader?
What sort of nonsense was this?
“Wait, what?”
Even the Section Chief looked confused.
And yet…
The moment the man raised his hand, the Section Chief stopped speaking.
It was at this moment that my guesses on the man’s identity became clearer.
’He doesn’t look like him, but I have a feeling that it’s a disguise. Or maybe a sponsor?’
My guess was that the man before me was the Guild Master. From the way he managed to shut the Section Chief with just a simple raise of his hand, this seemed like the most probable conclusion. However, this was all merely speculation from my side.
Unless he confirmed it himself, I could only make the appropriate guess.
He could also be from the Bureau.
“Yes, I’d like you to be the Squad Leader of the trainees. I was originally planning on making Joanna the Squad Leader, considering her resume and skills, but after everything that I’ve heard from…”
The man paused and turned to the Section Chief.
“After everything that I’ve heard from him, I think that you’ll make a good Squad Leader. You’ve also got a bit of experience under your belt, and I’ve also heard that you wanted to gain experience. There’s no better way to gain experience from this.”
This…
I didn’t know how to reply.
In many ways, the man’s words were correct. If I were to become the Squad Leader of the team, I’d be able to learn a lot faster and gain the experience that I wanted.
But there were several things that I was worried about.
Could someone like me lead a team?
…And even if I could, would they listen to me?
’No, that’s not the most important aspect.’
The most important thing was that I didn’t want to reveal my powers. If I were to accept the offer and suddenly become the Squad Leader, there was a chance that they might get me to ’awaken’ my powers or something like that.
That’d be very dangerous for me.
“…Is there something that you don’t like about the proposal? If you have any requirements, we can discuss them now. I’ll let you know that the salary boost from becoming a Squad Leader is quite significant. Bonuses are included.”
That sounded rather generous..
Tempting, in fact.
But still, that wasn’t where my main issue was.
“About that…”
I began speaking.
“…It’s not that I don’t want to be a Squad Leader, but if possible, I don’t want to gain powers or touch whatever those things in your head are.”
“You mean nodes?”
“Ah, yeah. Those.”
The man paused for a second.
Then—
“Huhu.”
He began to chuckle as he looked at me.
The sight made me freeze, and my body tensed. Was he going to…?
“That’s not an issue at all.”
“Hm?”
What? This wasn’t an issue?
I looked at him.
“What do you mean? I thought that everyone needed to have powers in order to enter the gates. If not, then…”
“That’s simply not true.”
The man spoke up, shaking his head with another chuckle as he looked at the Section Chief, who also seemed to find the situation amusing.
I was really confused by their attitude.
’What’s so funny?’
“It looks like you’re unaware.”
The mysterious man leaned back on one of the tables and crossed his arms as he looked at me up and down before pointing at his temple.
“The most important things within the Containment Department aren’t your powers, but your mind. This is the only department where your mind is more important than your powers.”
“What?”
That… did make sense.
But only a little.
I still believed powers were incredibly important when handling high-level anomalies.
“When clearing high-level gates, it is irrelevant how strong you are. Most of the time, the anomalies present will always be stronger than the person entering. Time and time again, we’ve lost very strong and powerful recruits because they couldn’t find the clearing requirements and found themselves getting taken out by the anomaly.”
The man didn’t show much emotion as he spoke.
“Powers can make a team’s job easier, sure, but inside a gate, the mind is your greatest weapon. It’s the mind that clears the game. You need to spot loopholes in the gate’s rules, figure out the key to containing the anomaly. And if things get desperate, there are always items you can use to supplement your powers.”
Turning his head, the man turned to the Section Chief as he laughed again.
“In fact, one of our most competent members doesn’t have any powers.”
“Hm?”
I blinked my eyes. Was this true?
Who?
I kind of found it hard to believe.
But then again, thinking about how I had managed to clear an <A> ranked gate at the start with just a few items, I realized that perhaps… They weren’t wrong.
No, this really did seem to be the case.
“You’ve met her.”
The Section Chief suddenly said, turning his head towards me.
I blinked again.
I met her?
“Who?”
“It’s Team Leader Soran.”
The Section Chief replied, causing me to pause.
A certain face appeared in my memory, and my mouth hung open.
Her?
“…She’s just like you. She doesn’t have any powers. And yet, she’s also our most valuable and competent member.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it.
’What…?’
***
Clank—
The door opened, and the Section Chief and the Guild Master came out. The two didn’t say a single thing as they came out. They just walked in silence and made their way towards the elevators.
It was right as they passed the man area, and there was no one around when the Section Chief spoke.
“…Do you think he’ll accept the offer?”
“I’m not sure.”
The Guild Master replied with a smile.
He didn’t look at all concerned.
In fact, he was still thinking about the conversation he just had with the young man from before.
’I can see why he’s interested in him.’
Something about the man was intriguing. It wasn’t just his gaze that felt empty upon closer look, but it was the way he carried himself. The way he spoke up to him.
’He’s certainly interesting.’
“Oh, and do you think he bought the story about Team Leader Soran?”
“Hm?”
The Guild Master cocked his head.
“Why wouldn’t he buy it? It’s not like it’s not the truth.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Injury or not, she’s still powerless. Been for a long time. It doesn’t change the fact that she’s been clearing gates without the use of her powers.”
“I guess.”
The Section Chief shrugged before they both stopped by the elevators.
As they stopped, another thought crossed the Section Chief’s mind.
“You know, for a moment there, I really thought you were going to snap. You know… when he said he didn’t want to make it exclusive for us. I was a bit worried there.”
“You were?”
The Guild Master smiled and paused.
After a while, his smile faded and his eyes flickered.
The temperature dropped a little.
“…In hindsight, maybe you weren’t wrong to worry.”
“Huh?”
The Section Chief’s face tightened.
But just before he could get his words out…
Ding!
The chime rang and the elevator opened.