Kremir wanted to blow his top and be angry at Almond and Lily, but his eyes darted to Admiral Rudra as he composed himself and said, “They can’t talk to me like this, Admiral.”
“They can,” Admiral Rudra’s eyes distanced as he coldly said.
A focused pressure oozed from him and directed onto Kremin, causing Kremin to start sweating as he felt as if he was in death’s grasp.
“Someone like you is not fit to be the guild master. I am going to mention this in our meeting tomorrow, so start finding a replacement. You can stay in your own guild and train, but I am going to put an eye out here to monitor you.”
Kremir’s expression turned as ugly as it could. “This is my guild’s matter, Admiral. Why must you be involved like this?”
“Moreover, I’ve already used the Imprint,” Kremin showed the back of his palm as everyone saw this Elemental Imprint’s round symbol with eccentric black curvy lines inside as if the wind.
“I can’t remove this and give it to someone else now.”
“You bastard,” Almond cursed under his breath, feeling pissed. How could he just take away such an invaluable resource that Mira earned after entering HIS party?!
‘I am going kill this old fool when I can, I swear,’ Lily angrily cursed and relayed this to Almond.
Meanwhile, Admiral Rudra frowned and coldly said, “You are a real piece of trash, Kremin. And you asked why I must intervene? I am the commander of GAA! In case you forgot its full form, it’s the Global Adventurers Association. I don’t want someone like you to be at the head of a guild. Your conduct is vile.”
Narrowing his eyes, Admiral Rudra added, “You won’t get scot-free after pulling something like this. I’m going to make sure your petty and vile action will come to light in public and the meeting tomorrow.”
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Almond had also finished assessing Kremin, and indeed, from how the scale of All-Seeing Eyes showed some of the attributes, Almond was sure this guy had a skeleton or two in his closet.
Narrowing his eyes, he suddenly said, “I can remove that imprint from him. Admiral, hold him.”
“What? Stop spouting bullshit,” Kremin frowned, but then his expression drastically changed as Admiral Rudra’s judgment chains of his signature glassy blue energy wrapped around him.
“Are you going to let him make a move on me, Admiral?!” Kremin shouted with an ugly expression.
“Shut up,” Admiral Rudra indifferently replied and also sealed his mouth before turning to Almond. “Do it.”
The Executives saw Kremin looking at them with popping-out eyes, telling them to stop him, but all of them had various helpless expressions.
They didn’t want to offend Admiral Rudra by outright making a move to save their guild master, just like everybody on this planet.
Moreover, it was clear that this was a losing case now that the Admiral was here, and he intended to speak about this in the meeting.
On the other hand, Almond wasted no time.
Just as Admiral Rudra bound him, Almond’s fiery eyes flashed with a glittering golden blade that materialized outside in his hand.
Everyone felt a chill crawling in their back, looking at the sword.
*Slash!*
The sword made a slash, physically cutting off Kremin’s hand and also cutting off the connection he had with the Elemental Imprint.
Kremin released a muffled groan as his eyes turned bloodshot, his mouth still stuffed.
“Admiral, we are going to give this to Mira. Let’s go, Lily. I know where she is.”
The duo left to give Mira good news and return the resource that rightfully belonged to her.
“Listen carefully, Kremin,” Admiral Rudra narrowed his eyes, his voice low but utterly cold, “Rein in your greed and ugly emotions. If you want to get strong and get resources, earn them yourself, or at least don’t take them from your own guild members, especially the younger generation. You foolish bastard.”
All Executives internally nodded in agreement.
“And you all,” Admiral Rudra turned to them, causing everyone to take a step back.
“You just let him do something like that? Can’t you fucking object and send some senses in him, tell him that he shouldn’t do that? You are darn Executives of this guild! You thought it wouldn’t be worth offending your guild master over this, right?!”
Everyone started sweating buckets.
“T-This won’t happen again, Admiral.”
“Yes, Admiral. I promise something like this will not happen again.”
Everyone quickly replied, giving their promises and resolve.
“One of you become a guild master of this guild and start handling its matter. If I see you slacking and making a mess like this fool, I won’t spare you.”
The Executives quickly nodded.
Admiral Rudra turned to Kremin, but this time, he sent his advanced Magic Whisper, relaying his words into Kremin’s mind.
‘Listen carefully, Kremin. I am going to keep an eye on you. You must be angry and pissed, so your mind must be producing hate. But know this,’ Admiral Rudra’s eyes icily glinted. ‘If you did anything even remotely foolish, I am going end your life as soon as possible before you can do any damage to innocents.’
Kremin’s eyes and body trembled as he felt a clear threat to his death.
‘Understood?’
Kremin quickly nodded his head multiple times.
The people were gathering here, especially the other high-ranking officials below Executives.
Admiral Rudra glanced at the Executives and said, “Go calm the commotion outside.”
Almond and Lily didn’t have to go far, and to avoid people, he directly teleported into Mira’s residential area.
Seeing them, Mira was overjoyed, but Almond directly showed her the Elemental Imprint, making her stunned.
“T-This…” Mira’s eyes quickly turned watery as she started tearing and dashed forward, hugging both of them.
“Thank you, thank you so much! You are the best!”
“Alright, alright,” Lily smiled as she patted her back. “Now use the Imprint, and come with us.”
“Yep, you aren’t going to stay here any longer,” Almond said, giving the Imprint to Mira as she backed up and wiped her tears.
“Not here?” Mira sniffed and asked after activating the Imprint.
“Yep, you are now a member of GAA. Screw this guild,” Lily snorted and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
…
The trio arrived back at the courtyard and told Admiral Rudra about taking Mira and making her a part of GAA, of Almond’s official party, like with Julian and Roken.
“Of course. I planned to do that in the first place,” Admiral Rudra nodded.
Kremin was still bound with chains, and his mouth was sealed.
Mira looked at him and quickly looked away, feeling a bit scared.
“Kremin, remember my words,” Admiral Rudra said with a cold snort before releasing the constraints.
Then, with a snap of his finger, his glassy blue aura carried Almond, Lily, and Mira like the wind as they flew up.
Almond popped out his airship, and everyone landed on its deck.
“We are going to the S-rank dungeon now, right?” Almond asked with a grin. “Let’s just take Lily and Mira with us. With my summons and their own experience against Heroic Boss, there won’t be any problem as long as they don’t fight and just observe.”
“Yeah, it’s fine if they can just observe. The party this time is also stronger, and there is someone else who has powerful, tamed magic beasts,” Admiral Rudra smiled. “Let’s go. Everyone should be there already.”
“Yes! Thanks, Mira. If it wasn’t for you, I couldn’t have gotten into an S-rank dungeon so soon,” Lily chuckled. “I really want to see the powers of top adventurers.”
“Me too,” Mira nodded as her eyes sparkled.
“Let’s go to the control room to set the destination and start moving, Admiral. Where is it?”
“It’s in the Hofensof City, the home of the Vasquez Dynasty. Your pet egg is also there in Paloma’s care.”
“Oh, that’s awesome.”
“Darling, can you pop out those fancy chairs on the deck from the control room?”
“Sure.”
Almond and Admiral Rudra went inside the control room and set the destination first.
Afterward, Admiral Rudra did something with his wristwatch as he said, “That fool needs to be taught a lesson and consequences.”
Almond looked at him and heard his next words, which made him laugh.
“Astra, did you record everything that happened in Kremin’s courtyard?”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“Good, now release it on the Internet under Phantom Officer’s account.”
Almond was dumbfounded. “You are the Phantom Officer?”
Almond knew that this Phantom Officer was a very famous account on Eyetube that posted videos as if they were secretly filmed, exposing people’s darkness and crimes occurring before GAA or some other force would swoop in to stop them.
“Technically, it’s Astra AI,” Admiral Rudra chuckled. “But with Arcane Tower and Astra’s combination, we can access any digital medium here and use magitech satellite recorders as well, and editing seamlessly to make it look like someone secretly filmed everything.”
“Damn, that’s awesome!”
…
[Breaking news! The Phantom Officer strikes again! This time, we even have Admiral Rudra on the screen!]
[Guild master of Shadowforge Guild created a new low, snatching rewards from his own guild’s members.]
[Super Rookie Almond’s words resonate with many, embodying the image of an ideal party leader.]