“Open it up. I was rather surprised when I saw the result.”
Curious, I did just that. I opened up the file, and the first thing that greeted my sight was the massive [B] that stood by the side of the paper.
I paused for a moment before looking at her.
“What? You don’t look satisfied.”
“…No, rather. I’m a bit surprised.”
Taking everything into consideration, the dive was a mess. A lot of things had changed, and the other members struggled to adapt. There were plenty of mistakes made. I wasn’t safe from those mistakes. Although I did end up clearing the gate, there were certainly things that I could’ve done better.
But despite all of that, for the grade to be this high…
I couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Surprised?”
Grabbing a bottle of whisky, the Team Leader popped it open and began chugging.
I pretended not to notice, waiting for her to finish before she looked back at me and spoke.
“There were definitely mistakes… for instance, you should’ve been firmer with your team about your hunch, and you could’ve carried the board with you, among other things. But that doesn’t change the fact that you still cleared the gate.”
The Team Leader tapped on the file and looked at me directly.
“…Need I even have to mention the fact that the gate was of a higher rank than it was supposed to be?”
“What…?”
I pretended to be shocked here.
I was well aware of the fact. In fact, I had been wondering whether they’d notice this fact or not. In the end, it really did seem like they noticed it.
“Yeah, yeah.”
The Team Leader tapped the file a few more times, leaning toward me as a sweet scent, mingled with strong alcohol, drifted into my nostrils.
She leaned her head closer and took another big gulp of the vodka.
“The gate was meant to be <F>-ranked but ended up as <E>. We got the report just after you returned. I sent a few people to investigate the situation. Thankfully, it was a lower-ranked gate, and taking into consideration the recruits inside, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. While rare, this isn’t unheard of. The good news is you all came back and secured some valuable fragments. The percentages for each fragment have been confirmed. Want to hear yours?”
Before I could say anything, she pointed towards the bottom of the file, where I saw my name alongside several percentages.
92%, 51% and 67%.
I sucked in a cold breath.
That’s…
“Not bad, eh…?”
The Team Leader nudged my shoulder with her elbow as she propped her head over my shoulder to get a better look at the file.
“….”
I wanted to push her away, but held back. I didn’t want to provoke a soon-to-be drunk lunatic.
Her soft voice lazily whispered into my ear.
“Say…? Do you want to sell the fragments to me? Eh… well, I don’t actually need them, but I can probably flip them for good pro—” The Team Leader paused before coughing. “They’ll make for good decoration. Yes, that.”
Her head slowly turned away from me as she tried to whistle. But that was probably the worst attempt at a whistle that I had ever seen.
Nonetheless, there was something that caught my interest.
“If you’re planning on flipping the fragments, where do you do it?”
“Eh? Flipping? Whaaaat…?”
She was most definitely already starting to get drunk.
However, I persisted.
“Do you do it at a Guild or somewhere else…? Somewhere like a black—!?”
“Tutut.”
The Team Leader suddenly covered my mouth with her hand as she leaned her head closer to me and smiled.
“There are things that we can and we can’t talk about. That is one of them.”
“So you know…?”
“I wonder.”
She smiled ambiguously.
However, that smile was all that I needed to see.
‘I’ve been looking for a black market for so long. I finally have some sort of lead. However, it doesn’t look like the Team Leader will share so easily.’
In fact, it didn’t seem like she planned on sharing at all.
I didn’t know why.
Was the black market that much of a taboo topic?
I was quite desperate to get my hands on fragments. So far, I had about eighteen. I needed two more in order to reach the Third Order. However, of the eighteen that I had, fifteen were of low purity. In the end, the only thing I did with them was remove their attributes.
I had yet to use the fax machine to increase their purity.
I planned on buying more fragments in order to guarantee at least twenty fragments with a purity higher than sixty percent.
…And for that to happen, I needed to go to the black market.
But how was I going to get the information out of her?
How was I—
“Hic!”
I suddenly froze, watching the Team Leader pull her head back as she took another swig of whiskey. My gaze shifted between the bottle and her.
Wait a minute…
A thought struck me as I glanced at the many drinks on the table and reached for one with a relatively high alcohol content.
“Team Leader. Team Leader.”
“Ah…?”
I opened up the bottle and poured it into a small cup while offering it to her.
“Please have this to drink, Team Leader. Take this as a token of respect from me.”
“Hoho?”
The Team Leader looked at me and then at the small cup in my hand.
“It looks like you’re finally coming to your senses.”
She looked quite happy. Flattered even.
Taking the cup, she downed it in one go.
“Huak—Ehm.”
The moment the Team Leader downed the drink, her eyes turned bloodshot, and she barely managed to stop herself from gagging. She snapped her head toward the bottle in my hand, eyes wide as she mumbled, ‘95%?! This little fucker… Is he trying to get me drunk!?’
Yes, yes, I was.
I pretended not to hear her, fixing her with the most innocent expression I could manage.
“Is something wrong, Team Leader? Did you not like my token?”
“Token…?”
The malice that had clouded her features softened briefly when she saw my innocent expression, only to return moments later as she grabbed the same drink and poured a cup for me.
“Here, a token from me.”
“Oh, I don’t d—huekk!”
She shoved the drink at me before I could react. Instantly, a fierce burn seared the back of my throat, and my eyes nearly rolled back from the shock.
“Cough! Cough!”
By the time I recovered, the Team Leader was cackling to herself, clutching a bottle in one hand.
Holding onto my neck, I looked around and grabbed another drink before giving it to her.
“…I’m sorry about earlier, Team Leader. It was an honest mistake. Here’s some water for you.”
“Water?”
She looked at the transparent liquid in my hand and then at me. She nodded a couple of times.
“Looks like you’ve got some good sense in yo—Hueeek!”
She nearly choked on the drink.
“Huek! You animal!”
“Kakaka.”
It was my turn to laugh.
Fucking idiot.
That wasn’t water!
“Oh, crap~ I must’ve mistaken the bott—!”
“You treacherous little bastard! Here! Drink up!”
“….!?”
I felt something get shoved into my mouth right after that.
“Hueek!”
“Kakakakaka!”
“Agh… Team Leader. There’s this new drink that’s quite interesting. Want to try it?”
“Huh? No, I—Huee!”
I couldn’t quite remember what happened after that.
Everything just blacked out from that moment forward.
By the time I recovered, I felt a splitting headache as I opened my eyes to feel something soft at the back of my head.
A pillow?
I massaged my face before helping myself up.
How much time had passed?
“Ugh… my head.”
With another groan, I blinked slowly and looked around me. This… It seemed like the same spot from yesterday.
“Wait, what?!”
I hastily looked back to see the Team Leader passed out behind me, her hands sprawled all over as her chest heaved up slowly.
I stared at the scene in shock before checking the time.
8:33 A.M.
“Fuck!”
I had spent the night here.