“Yes. From our guild other than me Jin and Captain Daeho are also included.”
” I know Jin, and who’s Captain Daeho?”
“He’s the captain of our guild’s second attack squad. I think he went abroad for a while, but will probably be back soon because of the mission.”
Captain of the second attack……in short, all the Guardians Guild aces are on the list.
I was still puzzled at why I was included on such a list.
“Deputy guild leader sounded like this was a serious issue. Do you know anything about it?”
“I think it’s probably because of the consultation process between the Awakeners.”
“Consultation process? What’s that?”
“Uh… The explanation is a little complicated….”
Yerin answered after thinking for a while,
“Whenever there is a rift that the Angels has judged to be dangerous, they sometimes call in the Awakeners. No one knows exactly what criteria are used to make the list. Most of the time, experienced and talented Awakeners were chosen. Sometimes it’s ambiguous like your case.”
As Yerin said, it was very ambiguous, there might be a lot of people who have better skills and experience than me.
“But the problem is, the Angels’ side just pick anyone. People from different guilds are mixed up. Most of them are people who have huge pride in their skills and experience. Do you think such people can fight as a team?”
“No.”
I answered with a nod.
Yerin sighed quietly and went on to explain.
“Phew… So in the past, they couldn’t make a proper command system, and there were a lot of casualties inside the crack.”
To work as a team, there needs to be a leader, on whose command everyone will move unconditionally.
History has proved how influential a single commander can be in battles, and how even the strongest army could collapse like a sand castle without a proper commander.
Awakeners were no different, either.
“So to prevent such a disaster from happening again, when the Angel list gets released, everyone gets together and goes through a consultation process in advance.”
“Um… I understand what’s consultation process from your explanation, but I don’t understand why it matters with Lia and I being on the list?”
“It’s not a problem being on the list. It’s a problem because you guys are listed as the members of the Guardians Guild.”
“…??”
I looked at Yerin with a lot of question marks on my head.
Yerin opened her mouth with a grimace as if it was difficult to explain.
“Didn’t I tell you most of the people on the list are talented Awakeners? So, most of them belong to famous guilds. On the contrary, there are times when a lot of people of the same guild are on the list, which increases the guild’s rating.”
“Is it something like winning medals in olympics?”
“Well, something similar.”
“Then, isn’t that a good thing for the Guardians Guild? Including me and Lia, there are 5 people, right?”
“Phew… It’s not that simple of a problem.”
Yerin sighed again.
“The consultation process I said earlier, is not done between individuals, but between the guilds’ representatives. For example, on behalf of you and me, the Guardians Guild is in talks. And, there’s an implicit rule during that consultation process.”
“An implicit rule?”
“Even if it’s just a group of guild representatives, the number is not small, so the consultation won’t go on smoothly. That’s why it was decided that the guild with the highest number of members on the list will lead the consultation. The leading guild usually has the right to decide on ambiguous situations.”
“Oh… So five people are a lot, right?”
“So far, four people have been the most from a single guild.”
“Then, 5 is a lot.”
“Under normal circumstances, the Guardians Guild must be the one who should be leading the consultation process….”
Normal circumstances
I could sense some uneasy feeling at Yerin’s lingering words.
And I could quickly realize that the cause of the uneasiness was Lia and me.
“As the deputy guild leader said earlier. There’s someone who’s unhappy about you two being on the list…”
“…we are the problem?”
Lia, who was listening quietly, said with a startled voice.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that there are people who think Sihyeon and Lia aren’t fit enough to be on the list.”
Yerin quickly soothed Lia.
I asked Yerin with an uneasy look.
“Yerin, what happens then?”
“I don’t know because there had never been this kind of situation before. But one thing is for sure, there will be opposition for Guardians Guild leading the consultation.”
“Um…”
“And they’ll use this as an excuse and sideline our guild in the consultation process. There will be a lot of trouble if we get sidelined. We may get assigned to a dangerous position or maybe forced to do a difficult task….”
Hearing Yerin’s explanation, I could see that the current situation is not going in our favor.
A mission in which Guardians Guild’s ace Awakeners participate, if there were any unfavorable conditions, it may increase the burden on the mission, and if any of the guild members were to get injured, it would be a huge loss for the guild.
Now, I could understand the seriousness in Deputy Guild Leader Hayong’s voice earlier.
‘Why! Why the hell did those Angels put me on the list…?’
The anxiety made me resent the Angels.
As I was cursing the Angels, our vehicle arrived near a large building that appeared to be our destination.
I parked my car in the parking lot next to the building and headed toward the entrance.
There, I was greeted by a very familiar person and a person who I hadn’t seen for a while.
“Hey, brother!”
“Huh! Why are you guys late?”
It was Jin, and Kang Heseop, the guild Master of the Guardians guild.