’He just had to be here...’
Adrian involuntarily rolled his eyes the mont he heard John’s voice. He understood John’s need to be involved in the process thus far, but this took things to the extre. His frustration with John’s constant involvent was getting unbearable now.
Judging by John’s constant pestering, Adrian thought it would be wise to leave the guild altogether. However, the excitent around the Super Rookie died down significantly, which made it difficult for him to jump ships.
The guilds, who once would have given an arm and a leg to hire Adrian and his team, wouldn’t take his demands seriously anymore. In other words, his prospects of taking over the Misty Swords were much better than starting over from scratch.
John was well aware of Adrian’s market value crash. That’s why he was pushing Adrian’s terms of working together with the guild to the limit. In his eyes, it was an excellent way to ta the raging bull, and John wasn’t going to let it slip out of his hands.
As for Michaela, it didn’t seem she agreed with how John was doing things. Earlier, he used to value her contribution and intellect to form even the basic steps for the guild to proceed, but not anymore.
Since the eting with the investors and the board of directors, John has been treating her worse than ever before. But he didn’t seem to care about that. All he could think about was recovering the losses, both in money and reputation, no matter what it took.
"What are you doing here?" Adrian asked, clearly annoyed with John.
"Ensuring you don’t screw up this operation as well," John replied stoically and pushed Adrian with his shoulder.
Well, John tried, but Adrian didn’t budge at all. Aris’s protective instincts kicked in as she began growling at John, who took one look at her and spat on the ground.
"I told you not to take her with you, didn’t I?" John remarked, disgust leaking from his voice. "We don’t need monsters in our guild. Especially bitches who keep barking up the wrong tree-"
Smack!
John lay on the forest floor, his eyes wide with disbelief. He gently caressed his stinging cheek, still trying to comprehend what had just happened.
Adrian stood over him, his hand still raised from the slap he had promptly delivered to John. anwhile, the DRA officers and the Moon guild mbers watched the exchange with stunned silence. Their presence only made the situation even more humiliating for John.
John gritted his teeth as realisation donned on him. He was technically Adrian’s boss, he couldn’t do that to him. Besides, John was a well-known figure who commanded respect, but most importantly, never, not once, had anyone dared to lay a hand on him, let alone slap him.
But as he stared into Adrian’s eyes, he noticed there wasn’t a shred of regret in them. At that mont, John felt a bit of Adrian’s anger directed at him for the first ti, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
"You dare to slap !?" John yelled back. "Do you have a death wish-"
"Yes, I did," Adrian cut him off, leaning closer. "And I would do it again without remorse if you do not apologise for what you said about Aris."
"Like hell, I’ll ever-"
Smack!
Adrian’s hand ca down again without hesitation. Another sharp slap hit John right in the face. Sophia couldn’t help but snicker at the absurd situation. Aris was filled with gratitude for seeing Adrian defend her.
But for Michaela, she could only stare as her face went pale and her eyes widened, unable to believe what she had just witnessed.
"Adrian, stop!" Michaela finally found her voice, stepping forward but stopping shortly when Adrian glared at her, unsure what to do. "I’ll apologise on his behalf, but don’t make a scene here."
Despite her request, Adrian didn’t budge. His eyes were solely on John as he stared back at him. Clearly, he wasn’t interested in anything but an apology from John.
However, as the guildmaster, John had a certain status to maintain. He couldn’t let soone, even Adrian, bully him to a corner like that. His reputation would be in tatters if he did.
"You can’t do this!" John yelled again, as defiant as ever.
"Watch ," Adrian whispered, his voice low and dangerous. "You still need more than I need you. Sure, no other guild would take with my crazy demands, but guess what? I can start a new guild anyti.
He continued, "I have the money and the resources to do it. What will you do once I’m gone? What will you tell your investors when they co down on you? So be the submissive bitch you are and apologise to Aris before I do sothing worse than just a light slap."
John was stunned, but soon, his face turned red with anger and embarrassnt. He didn’t think Adrian would even think of doing sothing as reckless as creating a new guild from scratch, and that’s why he was acting so boldly before him.
But now that he knew what Adrian was planning to do, John tucked his tail between his legs. Michaela thought it was the right decision to end the quarrel.
If Adrian were to create a new guild, he wouldn’t have had any difficulty getting investors on board, even with a significant hit on his reputation.
On top of that, DRA would most likely still support him despite their strained relationship. After all, he had helped them considerably. On the other hand, John and the Misty Sword would continue to lose their reputation and most likely never recover from the losses.
’Just apologise, for fuck’s sake!’ Michaela thought as she couldn’t make the decision for John.
"...I’m sorry."
"I couldn’t hear you?" Adrian retorted, mocking John.
"I said, I apologise-"
"Why are you telling that, though?" Adrian shrugged, pointing at Aris with a nod. "She’s the one whom you should be apologising to."
John stared at Adrian with gritting teeth as he got up, walked up to Aris, and said, "I would like to apologise for my behaviour."
"...it’s alright," Aris replied, looking at Adrian.
"That’s good," Adrian said, changing the subject. "Actually, it’s fortunate you’re here. I was worried because we didn’t have anyone to carry our stuff, and I think you’ll be great at it since you’re always dealing with burdens anyway. You don’t mind, do you?"
"...no," John replied through gritted teeth.
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