Vol. 7 - Ch. 368 - Meeting with ‹Knight Baron› Category Holders

The second day of dungeon week.Once each of the ‹Eden› members reached LV40, I put a halt on using ‹Training Hall› for a while. We still hadn't set our foot in the Intermediate dungeon however, since Rina, Mert and Misato were still due to clear the Beg-high.

My immediate plan was to take Ester help and quickly take the three to intermediate level. According to my estimation, all members should be ready to challenge the intermediate dungeon within today.

Then we can step-up our game with this pace! For our goal is Intermediate-mid dungeon!

Also, aside from that, we had another matter regarding the interview. The discussion and negotiation with ‹White Saber› was scheduled for tonight.

Once Mert and I recounted our meeting with ‹White Saber› to Sierra and Celestine, both of them had immediately sprang into action.

Celestine brought up the documents from who knows where which had the details about the aforementioned 4 — the members Daise had introduced — like their name, major, academic year, job and few more information. I read through it and held a meeting with others about it.

Still, Celestine, whose middle name should be 'The Enigma,' how on earth did you conjure up these documents when I didn't even have a clue about their names— mainly because I had forgotten to ask their names?

And like this, the mystery surrounding Celestine further deepened, eh.

However when I checked the documents, I was even more shocked.

"Failed? This ‹Knight Baron›?"

Out of the four sheets with records of those four individuals — two of whom were ‹Knight Barons› — three had the word 'Fail' stamped prominently in bold letters.

This was the first time I was coming across a ‘Failed’ candidate, since everyone had ‘Passed’ stamp in their profile so far.

"Yes. The said ‹Knight Baron› was judged unsuitable for ‹Eden›."

‹They were judged...›

This was quite a word that warranted a lot of rebuttal from me, but leaving it aside, it was the fact that Celestine had never been proven wrong until now.

Every one of his actions had ‹Eden› as the foremost priority, which means these people just happened to have such a glaring reason, huh?

It really pained my guts to let go of a ‹Knight Baron›, but it wouldn't bode well ignoring obvious. Best to avoid than later running for cure.

Hmm, I guess I will just meet with this one person directly for an interview. As I was contemplating it, Sierra, who was next to me, voiced her opinion.

"If I may, I would like to talk about these three classmates."

Saying that, she presented the document about the three girls who were from the same class and top contenders for remaining spots. Unlike earlier ones, they all had 'Pass' stamps.

"I recommend these girls. I'm sure they'll be of great help to the sub-guild. Zephyr, the final decision rests on you, but make sure to choose wisely."

"Alright, I will make sure to."

After that, we had a thorough discussion between the four of us and eventually finalized on what to do about the four members seeking transfer, and other contenders from the mass interview.

Now, all that left was the negotiation with ‹White Saber›. Depending on how it goes, this would end our hunt for the ten candidates for the sub-guild.

◇◇◇

"Zephyr-dono, please accept my gratitude for making time for us."

"Hello, and also sorry, I only had free time at night."

"Please, you don't need to. It is us who are imposing on you, so you don't have to apologize for anything."

On the second night of Dungeon Week, I visited the ‹White Sabre› guild to discuss the transference of said ‹Knight Baron›. ——Hmm, I think I spelled it a bit wrong? Well, whatever. In the bigger picture, this was the case.

During the day, I had carried out my plan to clear all the Beg-high dungeons and managed to have Rina and the trio prepared for the Intermediate dungeon.

In return, my schedule was completely filled up and it wasn’t until night I managed to find some free time, and since ‹White Saber› were also hoping we could sort it as soon as possible, a visit had been scheduled for this late.

Well, they were originally meant to visit us but I just happened to have some errand to do nearby, so I decided to sort the matter here. Also, I didn’t bring Rina with me since I didn't think the situation was weighty enough to necessitate Rina's presence, and decided that I could handle it on my own.

The guild rooms of the ‹White Saber› Guild, true to their name, were predominantly adorned in white. The color theme made it appear quite striking even in the nighttime.

Aside from Guildmaster Daise, there were seven other members present. 4 of them were the same people I met yesterday, while the rest 3 appeared to be upperclassmen.

"I know very well how much of a sudden request it was. We should be thanking you instead for even considering it.”

"Please have some tea."

"Thank you."

A student, seemingly a 3rd year, served green-tea-like beverages.

I graciously accepted it and took a sip...... that’s quite an intense flavor it has.

"This guy here is submaster Nisogaron, and the tea he serves is always strong in taste."

"What? if you have any problem, just say it. I won't serve tea anymore."

"Ahh, anything but that. Alright, I am sorry. It would be awful if our sole tea maker retired."

"......Seriously, why does no one know to serve even a single cup of tea?"

The guy who served was apparently the submaster of the guild.

Just as I was wondering why in the world guild’s submaster was serving tea, Daise explained the situation. On the other hand, NIgoran let out a tired grunt in the end.

Eh.... so, this is a muscle-brained guild?

Moving forward, Daise introduced the rest of the seniors.

"Then, let's get straight to the point. I will be direct; is it possible to transfer them to ‹Eden›?"

"Starting with a straightforward question, huh? Well, to be honest, ‹Eden› currently has no openings. Not too long ago, we conducted a large-scale interview process, which ultimately led to a major shift in our plans, redirecting our recruitment efforts toward the sub-guild."

"For our side, they don't mind which one they are getting in. What's more important is how many spots are available."

He spoke, his words coming out quite desperate.

It was already clear considering they had been lying in wait for us in the dungeon. It just shows how much of a thin rope they were treading.

I also tried to ask 'why were you waiting in the dungeon?' earlier, and the reply I received was, "If I hadn't been discreet, then the Imperial Guard and Brave's fa—actually, there's no reason," he said, his words trailing off into incoherent mumbling. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

I couldn't hear him well in the end, so the only thing I could understand was they had a reason to not meet me directly. Considering they couldn't meet with us directly, it's highly likely they've been waiting for us in the dungeon since morning. That just goes to tell how determined they were.

In fact, not just me, their effort and passion had impressed even Sierra and other members as well, prompting an okay to have transferees from ‹White Saber›. Well, we just have limited spots however.

"We only have one spot in the sub-guild, so we are willing to accept one member from ‹White Saber›."

The approval of Sierra and Celestine was about that single 'passed' student.

To my surprise, or perhaps he wasn't holding any expectation for us to invite everyone, Daise proceeded without minding that.

"I see. So there is one spot huh. Boy, that's a life saver."

It seems like even a single spot was a great relief for him.

“Err, but it's the sub-guild, you know?"

"What are you saying? ‹White Saber› isn't some independent guild either, we are just another sub-guild."

Ah, they indeed were. It had almost slipped out of my mind since their guild rank was higher than ‹Eden›.

Whether it was their sub-guild or ours, it seems the same to them, I guess? However this makes me curious about something.

"Can I ask you something? Why did you reach out to ‹Eden›? There are many C-rank or higher guilds besides ‹Eden› while ‹Eden› is just an E-rank. The sub-guild under it would be an F-rank, right? Considerably inferior to ‹White Saber›."

"Huh? Oh please, I don’t think this line suits you, especially after causing such a sensation throughout not just the academy but even the world recently. We don't have any concerns. ——Isn't that right, everyone?"

Eh? So getting transferred to ‹Eden› was their wish judging from the discussion so far.

"Nice to meet you. I am ‹Knight LV75› Aegis from ‹Combat Department Year-2 Class-31›. It's a pleasure to be your acquaintance."

"I am ‹Sacred Knight LV75› Freck-D from ‹Combat Department Year-2 Class-37›."

With a hand on her chest, Aegis-san introduced herself in an extremely polite manner. She was a beautiful older girl with a stunning growth, rivaling even Ester. She was giving a ‘capable person’ like aura.

Her long hair was cascading behind her, which had a slightly wavy shade of silver that was almost white. Her bangs were neatly cut, and she had a portion of them braided into a headband, secured with a pink ribbon at the back. Her eyes were in shades of blue.

She stood tall and had a poised appearance, giving off a strong impression, but it didn't make her appear too stoic; rather, she had a soft and approachable demeanor.

Next to introduce himself was Freck-D senpai.

I don't know what in the world that D means but I assume it must be a part of his name.

I mean, it was a commonplace occurrence for players to often jumble up alphabets and numbers to come up with their names, so it wasn't common in ‹Dungeon Activity›. Their names usually varied a lot, from sounding like they were straight out of an ultra chuunibyou fantasy to sparkly ones. Like there was this ‹The Red Comet Cha— exclusive Zaku VS Gu—dam-san›. (T/N - — is a censor word here. Uncensored words are ‘Char’ and ‘Gundam’.)

However, to this day, I still wonder if that was even a name. There were a lot of names that I couldn't wrap my head around even now. It wasn't even the top however, like there were also cases where names were so convoluted it made it hard to read them. Ah, those were the days.

Incidentally, I was a fan of katakana names. I had come across so many unreadable kanji names that I made sure to choose a readable name. I believe the names should be something to be easily called, and— ack, there goes my habit of straying from the discussion.

Returning back to the topic—

Freck-D had short blonde hair, golden eyes, and a muscular physique, making him appear quite tall. Though he still falls short compared to Daise himself in size. I think he should be somewhere around 190cm.

But his face was, how should I say, kind of giving a showy and attractive guy vibe. Hmm, maybe it was my preconception I had after reading the document?

The other two also introduced themselves afterward, but let's skip those. Out of these 4, Aegis-san and Freck-D were the holders of ‹Knight Baron› category.