Chapter 298: Poaching [2]

The sun shone bright in Malovia.

A nice breeze wafted through.

"Hmm."

Hermes sat by a metal chair, calmly enjoying a cup of coffee.

’It’s been a while since I’ve been to this place. The coffee tastes just as bad as I remembered.’

He looked at the sign above the cafe.

[Sweet Coffee]

It was the place he used to frequent in his younger days. It was also the Section Chief’s favorite place.

Hermes was feeling great today.

Recalling the expressions of everyone present as he handed over the official offer, he couldn’t help but smile.

’...If the two of them end up doing good in the Guild, it’ll reflect well on me as well. This is a win-win.’

He was also not worried about the Guild’s feelings or the way some of his juniors looked at him.

The amount of money that had been offered was no small amount.

It would certainly help them find suitable replacements.

"And if they end up being good replacements, in the future, I’ll offer them even more money."

They’d serve as a good feeder Guild.

Thinking about it, Hermes chuckled as he took another sip of his coffee. His face scruched up a moment later, but then, noticing something, he looked up.

A figure stood on the opposite end of the table.

Two clear dimples forming in his cheeks.

Hermes placed the cup down and looked at the young man in front of him curiously.

"You are...?"

His gaze eventually fell on the uniform he was wearing, and it all suddenly made sense.

"Right. You’re someone from the Guild."

He smiled while extending his hand over the seat.

"Have a seat. While I don’t recognize you, it doesn’t matter. Since I used to be a part of the Guild, anyone from here is my junior. Have a seat and order yourself some coffee. It’s on me."

"Thank you."

The young man wasn’t reserved.

Sitting down, he ordered himself an espresso.

The sight made Hermes smile.

"I guess you’re not reserved. I like that."

The dimples on the young man’s face became more pronounced.

"Thank you."

The coffee arrived shortly after. The young man stared at it without touching it, watching as the fumes coming from the middle of it drifted in the air.

Hermes watched everything curiously before eventually breaking the silence.

"So...? What are you here for? I’m sure you’re not just here to have some coffee with me."

"Oh, no."

The young man put up an embarrassed look before taking out several papers and handing them over.

"This is my current resume. I just wanted you to see it."

"Hm?"

Hermes’s flickered before he reached forward to grab the resume. He looked at the name.

Myles Holms...

He gave it a quick skim before putting it back down.

"Not bad."

He genuinely praised. The statistics and everything were praiseworthy.

However....

"Not yet good enough. Our Guild is looking for something better. You’ll need to grow a little bit more in order to satisfy our standards."

"...Oh."

Myles looked a little sad by the feedback, the dimples on his face fading slightly.

Hermes slid the paper over the table.

"Still, this is not bad stuff. You’ve at least caught my interest. I’ll keep an eye on you, and if you do end up standing up in the future, I’ll present you with an offer as well."

Hermes expected Myles to look happy after his words.

But on the contrary, he looked even more disappointed. This made him frown.

"What’s wrong? Is there something that you don’t like about my words?"

"Hm? Oh...!"

Quickly snapping out of it, Myles shook his head.

"No, no. Not at all."

"Then...?"

"Then, ehm..."

Biting his lips, Myles looked back at Hermes. Eventually, he came clean.

"While I do appreciate your words, I don’t think it’ll be possible for me to stand out in the future."

"Hm?"

What was he talking about?

With the statistics he had just shown him, he’d stand out in most places. What could he—

"There’s someone in the Guild who is currently performing much better than me. With him here, it’ll be impossible for me to do well."

"What?"

Hermes stopped being relaxed, his body leaning closer to the table.

"Tell me more about this."

"Rather than tell you..."

Myles reached for his phone and tapped on the screen several times before handing it to Hermes.

"Here."

Grabbing the phone, Hermes looked at the statistics presented on it.

’Let’s see what he’s talking about. Surely it ca—’

His thoughts caught in his mind as he looked at the phone. He had to blink a couple of times to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things, and as his lips parted, he turned his attention towards Myles.

"This... Is this true?"

"Yes."

Myles lowered his head, nodding slightly.

"It’s true."

"....."

A deep silence followed right after as Hermes stared at the phone. Placing it down, he stood up shortly after.

"I’ve got some things to do. It was nice chatting with you. I’ll make sure to keep an eye on you. Keep up the good work."

"Thank you, senior!"

Myles stood up and bowed.

He remained like that until Hermes was completely gone. It was only in that moment that his face completely frosted, and his innocent facade crumbled.

In its place was an extremely cold expression.

Taking his phone back and staring at the statistics, he eventually turned his phone off.

"...He should be gone after this, right?"

***

"Hmm."

I blankly stared at the ceiling above me. There were a lot of things that I needed to think about, but the most important thing at the moment was the new medicine.

The episodes were starting to occur more and more often, and the Second Order medicine was no longer helping me as much as it used to.

"Let’s see."

I opened up the Third Order shop.

The moment I did, my heart nearly leaped out of my chest.

"This..."

The prices... They were absurd.

"An item costs around 300,000SP?"

Wasn’t that like 3,000,000$? Ridiculous!

And that was amongst the cheapest items that were present in the Third Order shop. Looking at my own balance, I felt like crap. Let alone the Third Order shop, even the Second Order shop was too expensive for me.

Thankfully, I wasn’t here for the items.

I was here for the medicine.

And soon, I found it.

———

(Recommended)

[Advanced Lumenol]

: Halts the spread of Fractures for a week, providing immediate relief and preventing new Cognate Shard growth. Even has the chance of slowly recovering from fractures on Node. Process may be slow and painful.

Consumable.

Price : 2500 SP

———

Looking at the price, I nearly had a heart attack.

However, the moment I read the description, all resentment and anger passed away.

"Chance of slowly healing fractures on Node? Not just stopping them...?"

My heart raced before I knew it. My breathing grew heavier at the same time.

This...

This was exactly what I needed.

This was—

Trrr! Trrr—!

Jolting me out of my thoughts was a sudden ring. Confused, I took out my phone.

But...

"Hm?"

It wasn’t ringing.

Then...?

"....!"

My expression changed as I took out another phone. An old flip phone.

Seeing it vibrate in my hand, for just a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

Oh, shit...