After a simple pork belly party had ended, I stepped outside briefly upon Rashid’s call.
“You.”
As soon as I stepped out, Rashid grabbed me by the collar without preamble. Even though he just grabbed the edge of my coat, my whole body was yanked.
He really was someone whose sheer strength alone was always astonishing, no matter when you saw it.
“Home. How. Do you. Know.”
“Together we’ve even taken showers, so… kek…!”
Rashid grabbed my collar even harder. Since I was grabbed by such a tall guy, I ended up dangling in mid-air.
As if a dried fish.
“To Nelly. What. Did you. Do.”
Rashid glared at me dangerously. It was the moment when his already formidable face became even more terrifying.
At this point, if I didn’t answer right, it wasn’t just my neck but all my limbs might get torn off. It was clear that now was not the time to mess around.
“Don’t worry too much. Other than buying her meat, I really did nothing else.”
And when I say buying her meat, it’s not like I took her to some far-off restaurant with Nelly. It wasn’t safe to do so since it might be mistaken as child abduction.
So, I chose to grill the meat at home. I even bought a new burner and griddle just for that.
“Why don’t you just ask Nelly yourself?”
“….”
Rashid stared at me silently. Then, as if changing his mind, he let go of my collar.
I was now officially cleared of all suspicion.
“You. Go. Back.”
But even though the suspicion was gone, Rashid’s distrust of me did not dissipate. He was still eyeing me warily.
“You even ate the meat I cooked, and now you’re kicking me out? That’s a bit much for a friend, isn’t it? That’s a little hurtful.”
“I. Have no. Friends. And. I don’t. Want them.”
Rashid refused to have anything to do with me. Not just me—Rashid always acted this way with everyone.
He always chose to be alone.
“Are you planning to continue acting this way even after you enter the guild?”
“I. Don’t. Care. It’s my. Business.”
“If you do, you won’t last long. School and the guild are entirely different places. You should open up more. As a social person…”
Bang!
Rashid’s patience ran out as I kept nagging, and he hit the wall with his enormous fist.
Crack!
Even just a single swing of his fist caused the wall to fissure and collapse. It wasn’t just broken—it turned into dust.
If that fist had been aimed at my head, how would I have fared? Probably I would’ve shattered like a watermelon hit with a baseball bat.
“I. Don’t. Care. It’s my. Business.”
Rashid gave me a low warning with a voice that conveyed he wouldn’t hesitate to use that fist on me if I kept nagging.
But I decided to keep talking regardless.
Since Rashid wouldn’t really hit me. He isn’t the kind of person with that kind of guts to begin with.
“Come to think of it, it seems you haven’t told Nelly yet that you’re planning to enter the guild.”
“…”
“Are you going to keep this hidden even from the only family you have?”
The reason Rashid was planning to leave school immediately and enter the guild was entirely for the sake of money. To escape this crumbling house.
At the center of this decision was Nelly. Rashid had made the judgment that he couldn’t let Nelly continue living in this old house like this.
But what would Nelly think about it? Her brother, leaving a good school all because of her…
Of course, a mature girl like Nelly would never approve of her brother leaving school.
That’s why Rashid couldn’t tell Nelly the truth.
“Even if you hide it now, it will eventually come to light.”
Once you join the guild, you’ll start by moving from this house, drastically changing your living environment. Nelly wouldn’t miss that.
“Besides, Nelly is a pretty smart kid, isn’t she? I’d say it’ll take about a week at most for her to notice something is up.”
“…”
It wasn’t that Rashid made this decision for a bad reason. He took these actions out of care for his family.
Who in the world could criticize Rashid for what he’s doing? In fact, we should be encouraging him under these circumstances.
“So, I happen to have a fairly good idea in mind.”
Because he was in such a difficult situation, I readily decided to help Rashid. If a partner is in trouble, I can’t just stand by and watch. Although it’s not much, it should help somewhat.
“You. Don’t want. Help.”
But Rashid turned his back on me without hearing my proposal out.
I clicked my tongue and said toward Rashid’s broad back.
“Tsk. Clinging stubbornly to the end, aren’t you? Is this the time to be picky about hot and cold rice? Or is it because you can’t bear to let me go?”
This was my final question to Rashid. If he planned to reject it even now, I’d let go of any intention to keep holding onto Rashid.
Just relax and take the practical test with Moon Shin-chung.
“I. Don’t. Trust. Anyone.”
Rashid hadn’t changed his mind. And with that, he turned and walked back inside.
Click!
He even locked the door from the inside.
“Wait, you should give me back the burner and griddle. You weren’t planning to take them and leave, were you?”
Bang bang!
I knocked on the iron door several times.
“…”
But I couldn’t hear any response from inside.
It seems he really took them and left.
*
I can’t just let this go and surrender the burner and griddle like this. Since they’ve taken that much from me, I need to give it right back to them.
Right after dawn the next morning, I immediately pulled out my smartphone and called somewhere.
“Dear me. What’s wrong so early in the morning? Did you change your mind or something?”
This was none other than a call to Ryu Jung-min, the Guild Leader of Yoenweol Guild.
“The reason is different. I’ve something I’d like to ask, that’s why I’ve called you.”
“At this hour?”
“I needed to because it’s urgent.”
“Alright. Anyway, I didn’t really have anything to do until I start work. Go ahead and speak.”
Ryu Jung-min’s permission to continue our conversation rang out, and I decided to get straight to the point.
“It’s regarding the guild contract.”
“Contract?”
“According to the rules, first- and second-year students from Han-yul Military Academy can’t receive contract proposals, right?”
“Formally, yes. That’s why people use the loophole of withdrawing from school.”
To join a guild as a student of Han-yul Military Academy, you must be at least in the third year. If you want to enter earlier, you have to leave school.
At first glance, it might seem more profitable to abandon school and join the guild quickly, but as soon as you sit at the negotiation table, such thoughts will likely change.
Because the amounts of initial payments differ.
You can think about it as the employment market. It’s the same as how the starting salaries for university and high school graduates differ.
Here in the world of Awakeners, it is much the same story.
Anyway.
I decided to move on to my next question.
“What happens if the fact that someone is stepping down to sign a contract gets out to the school?”
“Of course the school would disapprove, right? A student leaving the school to join the guild is not something they’d be happy about.”
“That could be a big blow if it’s a student with a big name.”
“That’s how it goes. That’s why no guild could get their hands on Arna during the last endurance testing. There were too many guards around and also many reporters present.”
Arna is so famous that the guilds cannot easily approach her. If you even attempt to get close to her, reporters would immediately follow, and many stories would be circulated.
Imagine if news spreads that a guild proposed a contract to Arna, merely in her second year, breaking the rules. That guild would undoubtedly face fierce public criticism.
Moreover, the principal of Han-yul Military Academy is Lee Min-ho, the man who can skillfully manipulate the media. As long as he’s in charge, it’s unlikely Arna will move to another guild.
Arna is no different from the goose that lays golden eggs. Lee Min-ho will try every way to keep her in the school.
“Then what is it you want to say? You didn’t call me so early just to ask a question like this, right?”
“….”
“Don’t beat around the bush—speak up.”
He was no ordinary leader of a renowned guild. He immediately figured out that all my preliminary questions were just bait. Was this the power of experience?
I had no choice but to lay bare my real intentions.
“Actually, I called because I have a request to make of you.”
“—A request? From me?”
“Uh… It’s not something that difficult…”
At regular intervals, an alarm sound interrupted our conversation. Another call was coming in during our conversation.
“May I switch the call briefly?”
“Sure, take your time. Just don’t make me wait too long. I’m a busy person, too.”
“I’ll finish quickly.”
I paused the call with Ryu Jung-min and answered the call that had just come through.
Who could it be at this hour? An unknown number.
Click.
“About time you picked up. Who were you talking to so early in the morning? Were you this popular all along?”
It was a dry voice that made me yawn before I even processed what was said.
It was the engineer, Yoo Ji-woo, from the Technical Division.
“What’s up?”
“What’s up? What possible reason could I have to call you like this?”
Tick tick!
I heard the sound of metal clinking through the speaker.
Then Yoo Ji-woo informed me.
“We just finished it. The spoon.”
