"Mayor… what are you trying to do?"
"Going straight to the point as always, Mr. Rhys Wilder. Why don't you take a seat first and we can talk?"
"..."
Rhys stared at the mayor's smiling face for a few seconds, and yet he might as well just be doing nothing at all. Rhys has not noticed it before serving in the Underworld Corps, but there was sothing really odd about the deputy mayor.
He was smiling while he gestured to Rhys to sit, yes. And by all ans, the tone of his voice was incredibly friendly, and it has always been.
But Rhys was now realizing the type of friendliness the mayor had — it was the type of friendliness that could allow him to take any child in the park with just a single word.
And in this case, Rhys was the child, he had been from the start.
And as he finally took a seat, the mayor's assistant, Dan, quickly placed a can of soda in front of him; ice, still lingering around its cylinder.
Rhys probably wouldn't bat an eye on this, but the can of soda the assistant placed in front of him was the soda he had learned to like while he was in the Underworld Corps.
It was the first thing he drank after a long mission, after a good al, or just to alleviate a certain thirst for sugar.
In short, it was his new favorite drink. And knowing it should be impossible unless they were a part of Rhys's circle back in the Underworld Corps.
"It's just a drink, Rhys," the mayor let out a small chuckle while Dan poured a cup of boiling hot water for him. Not even coffee, but just boiling water.
…Has he always drank that? – Rhys thought. He wouldn't actually know, as most of the ti he visited the mayor, his head was entirely stuck on the floor; no confidence to really look at anyone.
"Now, I can see you've gained an entire life story down there with the suicide squad," the mayor squinted his eyes as he looked at Rhys's missing arm, "Care to tell what happened there, exactly?"
"I… have a feeling you already know," Rhys could really only let out a sigh as a loud pop snapped in the air as he opened his soda.
"I was mortified when I heard what happened to your first crew," the mayor let out a very long and deep sigh as he shook his head, before taking a sip of his scalding hot water; even seemingly letting out a satisfied breath after he did so,
"Now you know why I was so against you joining the Underworld Corps, kid. And now you're even missing an arm… But I suppose you gained sothing far more valuable in return, no?"
"..." Rhys's eyes started to squint.
"A sense of camaraderie," the mayor let out a hearty chuckle as he leaned his back on his chair completely relaxed.
"Did you pay the Explorer Association so I could pass the exam?" Rhys finally asked as he looked the mayor in the eyes, "Why would you do that?"
"Because I was not initially confident you would pass the test, Rhys Wilder," the mayor let out another sigh as he raised his hand. And as Dan saw this, he quickly left the office quietly without even as much as a word.
And as soon as the two were alone, the smile on the mayor's face quickly faded away as he leaned closer to his desk; returning Rhys's stare as a small grunt escaped his lips, "But it would seem my ddling was quite unnecessary…
…just where and when exactly did you gain that kind of strength?"
"How…"
"I'm a politician," the smile on the mayor's face returned, "I have friends in… very high places. And as for what I hope to gain in assuring you pass, well — My entire platform revolves around giving Lowborns equal rights, equal opportunities, and fair results reflecting their performance…
…and you are my chicken in this marathon long overdue."
"You… should choose another chicken," Rhys could really only let out a sigh of his own as he stood up, "For your own sake, Mayor. You've helped through all these years, and the least I can do is give you a warning that…
…I'm taking the wrong path."
"The world has been wrong for so long, Rhys Willder," the mayor shook his head as he stifled a chuckle, "Your wrong path may just be the right one. Like it or not, you are my chicken. And if your path is wrong, then maybe we're all just ant to be wrong."
"Hm…"
"Don't pretend that what I said actually made sense," the mayor scoffed before finally letting out another hearty chuckle, "Also, you should probably leave in a few, today's the day you're going back down there? Right? The Exploration test?"
"You really should stop asking things you already know the answer to," Rhys sighed as he turned around to leave.
"Oh, right!"
Before Rhys could step out of the office, however, the mayor's loud voice entered his ears once more, "If you see my daughter again in the Exploration test, say hi to her for ."
"...You have a daughter?" And perhaps out of all the subtle revelations he had heard from the mayor, this was what shocked him the most, "And what do you an 'if I see her again'?"
"Wh—How could you not know who my daughter is? She told the two of you talked quite extensively back in the Association."
"..." Rhys could really only squint his eyes as he tried to rember if he ever talked to any girl other than his sister, but he couldn't quite—
"Wait," Rhys's eyes started to widen, "You an the receptionist? Hannah?"
"What do you an receptionist? And yes, Hannah," The mayor stood up from his desk, only for his head to almost hit the ceiling as he did so; his suit, barely even containing the muscles hidden within them, "Don't you see the similarity?"
"...No."
"Weird. I've been told that out of all my 30 children, she is the one who looked like the most."
"...You have 30 children?"
***
[Everyone, listen up!]
And true enough, Rhys did truly et the mayor's daughter — standing in front of all the examinees on top of a stage the association seed to have finely set up for all of them. And behind Hannah, was a vaulted hole that has been used by the Old York Explorer Association as an examination ground for all their examinees.
There did not seem to be that many examinees now compared to before they took the knowledge test — perhaps less than half of them.
[As much as you want to be here, I have absolutely no interest to be here and see your annoying faces,] Hannah lazily waved the mic she was holding as she looked at each of the examinees in front of her; her eyes, ultimately landing on Rhys.
"..." Rhys also looked at Hannah from head to toe, and he still could not see any similarity between the two. Hannah was quite… small, even more petite than Lina. Her clothes were neat and extrely professional, and yet her personality seed the complete opposite as she groaned with each word.
[And you!]
And as if Rhys wasn't already attracting enough attention as it is, being the only Lowborn in the crowd, Hannah singled him out by pointing at him.
[I am watching you, 120. Do not do any of your hocus pocus in this test because people have died here.]
The other examinees that weren't already previously talking about Rhys were now surely talking about him. But as always, Rhys has learned how to filter them out as he only focused on Hannah. Just what sort of position did she actually have in the association for her to just do sothing like this, and none of the other staff and employees seed to dare stop her?
[Anyway, as I said, I don't want to waste all of our ti so…]
"!!!"
Rhys felt himself being lifted up in the air. And it wasn't only him, the almost 500 examinees felt themselves very slowly being lifted up as Hannah raised her finger in the air. And soon, they found themselves right on top of the vaulted Hole.
[...I'll change the rules and whatnot of the Exploration test. Originally, you'll be given a certain task, yada yada. But since I am short on ti, I am just going to decrease the difficulty a bit and just have you survive down there.]
And as Hannah started explaining, the large hatch of the vaulted Hole began to slide open.
[Easy, right?] Hannah breathed out,
[You just need to survive for an entire month, moving from one area to the next of my choosing.]
"W…wait, one month!?" One of the examinees scread as he flinched in the air, "What do you an a month? I… We didn't bring any supplies because this was only supposed to last for a day!"
[Well, yes. 1 day for …
…your ti don't matter.]
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