The moment the Section Chief and the Team Leaders entered the room, the mood within the restaurant changed. It turned a lot more somber and serious.
And this was in spite of the relaxed expression on the Section Chief’s face.
“What? Why is everyone looking so gloomy? Come on… They’re not that terrifying.”
He looked back to the other Team Leaders and cocked his head.
“On second thought…”
He pursed his lips.
“Just a little. Not too much though. Err… You know what, I guess they are a little terrifying. Ugly too.”
The Section Chief flicked his head away, ignoring the sudden wave of glares directed his way.
“Well, leaving that aside. Please do enjoy your dinner. We’re not here to spoil it yet.”
Yet?
What did that mean?
“Have fun. If you have any questions, ask them later. Let us have our moment too.”
And with that, the team leaders, alongside the Section Chief, headed towards a certain table by the far end of the room. All eyes were focused on them as they moved.
From that point, the atmosphere changed as the previous carefreeness of the place seemed to be gone. In its place, people started to speak with lowered voices, and the drinking toned down.
’What’s going on…?’
I turned to the only figure I could turn to.
Myle-No, rat. Yes, rat seemed to be a more fitting name for him.
“Oh, well… I’m not too sure myself.”
The rat answered while scratching the back of his head and showing his usual dimples.
“I’ve only been here for a little bit. I’m not particularly familiar with the situation, and I’ve only seen our team leader like once.”
“Your team leader?”
“Yeah, her.”
Myles nudged toward the distant table, subtly pointing out a woman with short black hair and dark eyes. At first glance, she looked completely laid-back, a packet of cigarettes neatly tucked into her breast pocket as she leaned back on both hands.
Some sort of conversation was going on there, but she didn’t look at all interested.
“She’s your team leader?”
She looked kind of young. Well, at least early thirties.
“Yeah, apparently. Word is she was one of the fastest in the Guild to make Team Leader. Supposedly, she’s incredibly good at her job. Some even say she’s the next in line to be the Section Chief once he retires or kicks the bucket.”
I blinked slowly.
“Kick the bucket?”
“Yeah…”
The rat sliced his finger across his neck.
“Like that.”
“…Oh.”
That was a bit…
“It is what it is. This is how it usually works in this line of work. You never know who might die. The same goes for the Team Leaders and Section Chiefs. You’ve just got to do your best in order to survive.”
The dimples on his face widened as he said those words.
’Ah, goosebumps. I’m feeling goosebumps.’
Something about his smile and words made me shiver.
I had to take a quiet breath to calm myself down.
’He might be different from the game. There’s no guarantee he’s the same. You might just be overthinking.’
Of course, just because it was possible that I was overthinking, it didn’t mean that I was going to let my guard down.
It was for that reason that I decided to call him rat inside my mind.
It was to serve as a reminder of what he could be.
“Either way, I think I might know what this could be about.”
“You do?”
No, wait…
Thinking about it, I probably knew as well. The two of us had talked about it not too long ago.
“You probably know it too, actually.”
As expected. It was that.
“It’s regarding the potential Thrall-Class entity, the Twisted Man. It looks like the situation is headed that way. We’ll see. It might also be that the department has figured something out. We should hear about it soon.”
“Mhm.”
Though I tried my best to act calm, a knot was slowly forming in my stomach.
Potential Thrall-Class entity…
’I… feel a sinister presence within the land that you reside in. I advise you to tread with caution. This is no kind or reasonable being.’
As the conductor’s words echoed once more in my mind, the knot only grew stronger as I silently swallowed my saliva.
It couldn’t be that, right…?
The conductor was an <A> ranked anomaly. For even the conductor to feel something from whatever this was… I knew that the situation was a lot more serious than it was currently known.
’…I really need to stay out of this situation.’
For my own sake.
But more than that, I was actually worried about Kyle.
What if he were suddenly tangled in this situation? That would be terrible.
Kyle was one of the only people that I could call family within this world. If anything happened to him, then…
’No, I need to find a way to not have him get involved in this situation.’
I had just raised my head to look around when the Section Chief stood up.
“Alright.”
He clapped once, gathering the attention of everyone present.
Almost immediately, all noise fell.
Although he was a bit of a lunatic, he was quite well respected within the department. Just a few words from him and everyone stopped talking.
“Seeing the current atmosphere and hearing some of your conversations, I can pretty much tell that all of you are aware of what’s going on.”
The Section Chief’s eyes swept the surroundings, going straight to the point.
“Yes, we’re currently dealing with a big situation. Yes, we’ve gathered all of you here to discuss that very same situation. And yes, it’s… going to require everyone here to participate.”
Everyone?
…I didn’t count, right?
“After discussing it with the other Team Leaders, we’ve decided to launch a sector-wide expedition. We’ll be forming multiple teams, and many of you will be assigned to different areas where we’ve detected suspicious activity. Your task will be to investigate these situations.”
Immediately, whispers filled the room as everyone talked amongst each other.
’Guild-wide expedition? Isn’t that rare…?’
’The situation must be a lot more serious than I expected.’
The more I heard the whispers, the more my mouth twitched, and the more the conductor’s words resonated with my mind.
The sense of dread only heightened.
“We’ve already made a list of groups that we plan on sending and their locations. We’ll be starting the investigations tomorrow, so all of you better get some good rest today.”
The Section Chief’s room turned serious as he scanned the room.
And then…
For some weird reason, his gaze settled on me.
Yes, me.
I stiffened on the spot as I felt a sudden sense of dread.
This sense only heightened when I saw a smile slowly creep up on his face as I shook my head.
’No, this bastard… He couldn’t be—’
“That aside, there’s someone that I’d like to introduce to you all.”
As if noticing where he was looking, several eyes fell in my general direction.
“Following the recent reports and trends that we’ve received, the Guild has finally decided to take things seriously.” Pausing, with a deadpan expression, the Section Chief looked around and pointed both of his fingers to his chest before pointing them towards our direction.
“We… at the Guild, hear you.”
What sort of fucking nonsense was he saying?
“For all your troubles. For all your sleepless nights. For… everything… We’re here for you. No, he’s here for you.”
“….?
“His name is Seth Thorne. Remember that name.”
No, please forget it.
Oh god… What the hell was going on?
This felt like some sort of nightmare.
“He’s the newest member of our Guild, and he’ll be taking a very important position within the Guild. A position that all of you have been asking for many years.”
I shook my head.
Don’t do it…
The Section Chief suddenly smiled, his voice growing cheery.
“If you have any troubles or are suffering from PTSD, he’s your man! Do pop up in his office to say hello once in a while! He’s our newest Trauma Counselor!”
This motherfuc—