"How dare he!? How could he?" Azriel stormed past the guild hall as he muttered furiously. Seeing him walk away angrily, one of the guild members couldn't help but say, "What's the matter, Healer Azriel? Did Master Godric say something to make you upset again?"
"What can that old man even say to me? Is he worth it?" As soon as Azriel heard the jeering voice of the beastman, he paused and turned to look at him with a cold look in his eyes.
His words brought a frown on the faces of the beastmen who were yet to be asleep. One of them couldn't help but reproachfully say to Azriel, "What are you doing, Healer Azriel? How can you disrespect Master Godric like that? He is the master of the guild and your elder."
"He is no elder of mine!" Azriel hissed at the man like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I am no longer part of this guild." As he spoke, his gaze fell on Damien, who had just stepped out of the infirmary along with Xavier.
Azriel's lips curled up as he sneered at him contemptuously. "Instead, your respected Master Godric had allowed this good for nothing who treated a low-ranking dog guard to become the healer of this pathetic guild. You might as well rejoice!"
The more he spoke, the more his words became crude and harsher.
"Azriel! What nonsense are you saying?" Given the ruckus that was going on in the guild hall, it was impossible for the guild members to continue sleeping.
Levi stepped out of his room and glared at the elderly healer. He said to him, "Have you forgotten what this guild has done for you? When you had nothing, it was Master Godric who gave you a place to stay."
"Like he did it out of the good will of his heart," sneered Azriel. "The reason he brought me here was because this guild had no healer and he needed my skills to stabilize, and in return, this is what he returned me."
"Azriel!" Gina, who stepped out of the office with Master Godric, roared angrily. She made a violent movement as if she was going to claw his heart out but was stopped by Master Godric.
"Now, now, there is no need to do such a thing," Master Godric said to Gina. He raised his head and smiled at Azriel before calmly saying, "Is it the anger or the sadness speaking, Azriel?"
No one contradicted Master Godric, but Damien could sense that there were many who were not convinced by the words that Master told them.
However, it didn't matter.
Rejection was the first key to acceptance.
Damien clenched his fingers as he looked at the members who were eyeing him warily as if silently determining whether or not he was worthy of becoming the main healer of the guild and taking over Azriel's position.
It's alright, Damien told himself. If he could do it once, he could do it again.
Anyways, it was rather fun to prove others wrong, he thought with a smirk.
Damien was worried about the blatant rejection of the guild, but it didn't come as Gina turned to him and ushered him to a guest room. She said to him, "You must be tired. It will be too long of a journey to return to the Wolfe territory. For now, you should stay in one of the guestrooms."
As she spoke, she caught hold of his wrist and pulled him along with her, ignoring the muttering and mumbling behind them.
"Don't worry too much," Gina said to him. She raised her golden eyes, which glimmered with curiosity and gentle warmth.
"Though the members are a bit rough around the edges, they would not put you in harm just because they are doubtful of your ability."
Damien smiled at her before saying, "There is no need to worry about it. It's only right for them to doubt me, as I haven't proven my abilities." Once it was proven that he was even more skilled than those healers whom they respected so much, Damien was looking forward to seeing the reactions of those who doubted him.