Second World

”You canʼt seriously believe that girl, boss?” Bigarm pleaded.

”Silence!” Scarface chided. ”You are embarrassing us.”

He looked at Jack, then turned his stare at Earmouth, before looking back at Jack again. He said, ”what that girl said is not wrong. Whatever the reason is, if the other guilds see us fighting among ourselves. It will give them a bad impression on us.”

”But…” Bigarm wanted to interfere but Scarface gave him a hand signal that shut him up.

Scarface continued, ”accusations on one of our own carry large implications. It is not something to be treated lightly. Since there is another party confirming Unrivalledʼs story, I will say that gives him the benefit of doubt. After all, Earmouth did mention that he was at the furthest end of where Unrivalled was flanking the enemy, he could probably have missed him. And I also see no reason for that girl from Wicked Witches to lie to us, unless all of you think this man is a spy sent by their guild?”

The others nodded. If Unrivalled was a woman, then that was still possible. But Wicked Witches was a guild comprised only of women. There was no way the Mage was one of them.

Earmouth was dissatisfied, he was not willing to let it go, ”but we canʼt just let him…”

”I have spoken!” Scarface said sternly, cutting him from making any further argument. Earmouth could only turn away in a displeased manner after giving a bitter glare at Jack. Bigarm huffed and followed after Earmouth. The others slowly went away as well.

Scarface approached Jack and said, ”Iʼm sorry. Itʼs not easy to manage a group of people. Everyone has what they want. It is impossible to satisfy everyone.”

Jack nodded at him, then haughtily said, ”if you think I am bringing disharmony to the guild, you can just expel me. I donʼt mind. Itʼs no point anyway if I am surrounded by people that donʼt trust me.”

Scarface chuckled, he wasnʼt offended by Jackʼs arrogant tone. He said, ”there is no need for such hastiness. You have the pride of an expert, I understand it well. Give the guild some time, I believe you will come to feel at home.”

”In that case, fine, I will try to bear with it just a little bit more.”

The aides standing behind Scarface were just about to speak out due to Jackʼs ungrateful manner, but Scarface had pre-emptively given them a sign for silence.

”Whatʼs that last part of the meeting anyway? I didnʼt know about it since I left before it started,” Jack decided to try his luck for obtaining the information.

”There is no need for you to worry about it. Our core members are handling it. If there is any need for assistance, we will ask for your help,” Scarface replied with a smiling face.

”All right, just let me know if you need any help,” Jack said with a bland face, but in his heart, he was feeling down by the reply.

”Another thing,” Jack added. ”I will still be available tomorrow if you need anything, but after that, I will be absent for quite a while. I have gotten a quest that might take a long time to complete, so I will be focusing on it.”

”Oh? Sound like a grand quest. Do you need our members to assist you on the quest?” Scarface offered.

”Itʼs fine. The quest was meant to be done in solo,” Jack refused.

”If you say so. I will leave you to your matter then, I still have some issues to be discussed with others,” Scarface said.

Jack nodded. As Scarface left, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. That was a close one, he thought. He was not confident if he had to fight his way out from this place, even if he exhausted all his trump cards. After all, there were the main members of the three guilds here, with some of their allied guilds still lingering in the vicinity. The prospect of fighting all of them and survived was rather unsettling.

He glanced in the direction of the Wicked Witches. He was thinking if he should go there and thank Slim Blade, but decided against it. The other Death Associates members might interpret it as there was indeed something going on between him and the Wicked Witches. Earmouth and Bigarm would surely not letting go of the chance if that happened.

Red Death approached Scarface after he left Jack. ”You donʼt trust Earmouth?” She asked.

”Which part?” Scarface asked back. ”If you are talking about whether he was telling the truth about Unrivalled leaving them behind, I think he was lying. But if you are referring to his claim that Unrivalled was not to be trusted, I agree with him.”

”Then why do you let him go?”