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Kang Heseop, who had thick eyebrows, a beard, and a sturdy physique, and Nam Jinhyuk, who looks relatively slender, came toward us.
“Hello, guild master.”
“It’s been a while, Sihyeon.”
I greeted guild master Kang Heseop happily and only briefly nodded my head towards Jin, who was next to him.
The two, who quickly finished their greetings with Yerin, turned toward Lia’s side.
Kang Heseop asked me with an awkward expression.
“Is this person Lianne, who will be escorting Sihyeon”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Uh… Is she American? Should I greet her in English? He… He..l?”
Lia greeted him first as he tried to speak with a stutter.
“Hello, my name is Lianne. I came here to help Sihyeon. You can call me Lia.”
“Oh! You’re using an interpreter ring. I’ve heard it’s a very precious item….”
Jin quickly recognized the interpreter ring in Lia’s hands.
Kang Heseop also looked at the interpreter ring curiously, then coughed and managed his expression.
“Hmm! Nice to meet you, Miss. Lia. I’m Kang Heseop, the guild master of the Guardians Guild. I’m sorry for asking you to come here all of a sudden. Since we don’t have time, I’ll get right to the point. Do you know why you were brought here?”
“Yes. On our way here, I heard the details from Lady Yerin.”
“Then, this will be quick. Now, we have to get things straight on Miss. Lia’s affiliation. On the list, it says you belong to the Guardians Guild. Even though it might be temporary, is it okay for you to be a member of our guild?”
Lia answered Kang Heseop’s question after glancing at me.
“I’m here to help Sihyeon. If belonging to the guild helps Sihyeon, of course, I’ll be glad to be a member of the guild.”
Kang Heseop looked surprised at the determined answer of Lia.
Then he turned his head back to me.
Kang Heseop understood the meaning and nodded his head.
Then he said with a smile.
“All right. From now on, you’re a member of the Guardian’s guild.”
“Is that it? Don’t you need to know any other things about me?”
“Not now. You don’t have to worry. It’s my job as a guild master to protect the members of my guild.”
Kang Heseop answered with confidence.
Jin, who checked his watch, told Kang Heseop that there was not much time left.
“Guild master, I think we should get moving.”
“Oh! It’s already time. We shouldn’t get into trouble for being late for the meeting. Come on! Let’s go up quickly.”
As Kang Heseop hurried, we followed him in a hurry.
On the upper floor of a building, there was a large conference hall, which was crowded from the entrance.
As we approached the place, countless eyes turned toward us in an instant.
Kang Heseop did not care about the harsh gaze and made his way through the crowd without hesitation.
We entered the conference hall after a brief verification process by the security personnel.
In the center of the large conference room was a large circular table.
There were people sitting around the table,  who seemed to be representatives of each guild.
As we showed up at the entrance of the conference room, the buzz spread like wildfire in the large conference room.
– Murmur.
Looking at the people’s expressions, I could confer that it was not a friendly atmosphere.
Once again, Kang Heseop did not care about the reactions of the people around him and strode to the designated seat at the circular desk.
The four of us who followed him also settled on our respective chairs.
The murmur died down slowly, however, soon, tension filled the conference room.
Even I, who was sitting away from the center could feel the pressure.
As the pressure kept building over time, a man in his 50s entered the conference room.
He stood in the position of host and began to look around.
“Hmmm… I think all the representatives are here. We will proceed with the meeting on time. I’m from the Awakener Society, and I’ll be the host of today’s meeting.”
Starting with his introduction, the host rambled on about the agenda of today’s meeting.
The host explained, really hard, pointing to the large screen in front of the round table, but the guild representatives looked reluctant as if they were not interested.
“Well, before we start the full-fledged meeting, I would like to talk about some awakeners in the recent Angel list.”
Just as the host was about to proceed with the meeting, a man sitting at the round table slowly raised his hand.
He looked like an uptight man with a sharp gaze.
The host who didn’t see this coming was surprised and asked in a trembling voice.
“Um, Astora Representative? Sharing opinions will be in the later half of the meeting…”
Astora.
As soon as I heard the name, an unpleasant feeling filled all over my face.
Before the people around me could notice, I reverted my expression to its original state.
“Mr.Host. Before we begin the meeting, I think we must address the elephant in the room.”
“….”
“I think most of you here know what I’m trying to say.”
“Well…”
“Hmm!”
Many people’s coughs could be heard in the conference room
Soon, the room was filled with silence.
Astora Guild representative did not stop there, he rose from his seat and continued the conversation.
“You might have already checked the list of awakeners called by the Angels’ side this time, haven’t you? You might have probably noticed something very strange in that list.”
Astora Guild Representative looked at Kang Heseop with a sly smile.
His face was smiling, but not his eyes.
“Did the Guardians guild check the list?”
“Yes.”
“Was there anything strange?”
“I don’t think so.”
– Mumble.
– Mumble.
In response to Kang Heseop’s answer, there was a brief buzz in the conference room.
Astora Guild Representative waited for the buzz to subside with a relaxed expression.
“Oh… that bi*ch…”
“Yerin! Please! Watch your language!”
Yerin muttered swear words and Jin, who was next to her, was surprised and warned her.
“When I checked the list, there were as many as five awakeners from the Guardians Guild, right? What do you think of this?”
Kang Heseop answered sarcastically to the sarcastic question.
“I think it’s a great sign for our humanity that such talented people are gathering under a great guild master. I was also astonished by the fact three people has been selected from a guild like Astora for the mission. I’m a bit worried.”
Astora Guild Representative’s expression turned cold at Kang Heseop’s playful response.
He turned from Kang Heseop and looked at the other guild representatives.
“Everyone! I did some research before I came here. Yoon Daeho, Seo Yerin, Nam Jinhyuk… I’m sure you’ve heard of these three. They’re very active awakeners. But when I checked the other two, Lim Sihyeon and Lianne, I was surprised.”
This time, not just my, but everyone’s faces were distorted.
“That double-faced bi*ch. Why is he proudly saying that he did a background check?”
Yerin spoke while cursing once again, but this time, Jin did not stop her.
Regardless of our reaction, the Astora guild representative continued to explain.
“The Awakener with the name Lim Sihyeon has at least few records of doing Rift activities, whereas the Awakener with the Lianne, has not even a single record of doing any Rift activity. Do you want to send your members with such newbies, who don’t have any roots, on an important task convened to us by the Angels themselves?”
“Right!”
“That’s a valid point!”
Several guild representatives responded agreeing to Astora guild representative’s remarks.
The rest of the guild representatives nodded slightly and seemed to agree with everyone’s opinion.
Despite the rising tense atmosphere, Kang Heseop reacted calmly.
“I didn’t make the list, why are you complaining to me. If you have any discomfort take it to the Angels.”
“What an irresponsible remark. Who will take responsibility for the damage caused by two unverified people if they join the mission?”
“What do you want to do? If you’re dissatisfied, go and argue with the Angels.”
“That’s not it. We need to take care of the affairs of the Human world by ourselves. So, of course, it would be fair if the two who don’t have enough experience should voluntarily give up their duties. Don’t you think so, everyone?”
“Right!”
“Of course, it’s right to give up on your own.”
Gradually, the conference hall went into an atmosphere where the Guardians Guild and all the rest of the guilds were having a confrontation.
I understood what Deputy Guild Leader Hayoung was worried about, now.
Astora guild’s representative intends to get into an advantageous position by throwing us under the bus.
It was obvious that Lia and I didn’t have much experience in Rift activities, so it would be difficult to reverse the current atmosphere.
What should we do about this?
When I was thinking about what to do with this situation.
Kang Heseop said mutteringly.
“Oh. Why should we give up our spot for you guys being a wuss….”
He murmured, but everyone in the conference room could hear it because his voice was loud and clear.
Several people rose from their seats in anger at Kang Heseop’s remarks.
“What the…? What do you mean by that?”
“Do you want a fight?”
“That’s rude!”
“Apologize for your remarks!”
Kang Heseop’s expression did not change despite strong protests from everyone.
Rather, he calmly responded by pointing to Astora’s representative.
“I think we need to take turns. How about we start with the guy over there? The spineless guy who dared to do a background check on my guild members.”
“Is that your answer?”
Astora guild representative gave a deadly look.
Kang Heseop also responded without backing down.
Seeing the two, the host, who was sweating profusely, tried to mediate between the two.
“Oh come on, calm down and take your seat first.”
Despite the host’s desperate efforts, the atmosphere did not get subdued.
On the contrary, the atmosphere of the meeting room intensified as if a fight would break out at any second.
In a situation where everyone was getting dragged into the atmosphere, Kang Heseop’s words quickly drew everyone’s attention.
“If you’re that worried, how about checking it yourself?”
“……what did you say?”
“Check it out for yourself whether our guild members are good enough or not.”
Those who strongly protested at Kang Heseop’s rude remarks also looked dumbfounded.
“After checking, if you guys find any problems with their skills, I’ll get down on my knees. Instead…!”
“…….?”
Kang Heseop stood up from his seat while emanating a sense of intimidation.
Looking at everyone who was staring at him, he gave a warning while roaring like a wild animal.
“If you didn’t find any problem with my guild members’ skills… every one of you will be paying the price for the rude behavior you showed to my family today.”
“Gulp…”