- Who Said?
Just when the older woman was about to reach a decision for what to do, a sudden aura approached. Engnaril appeared in their midst not long later, scanning the situation with a hint of helplessness marring his brow.
After a split moment, he bowed respectfully.
"Lady Anya, Elder Isoltihne…"
He greeted Anya and the older woman, giving the other elders a cursory greeting as well.
"My apologies, there's been a mistake at the border. Leonel Morales, correct? Since this mistake is on me and my department, how about I extend you a Green VIP card? You'll be able to enter and exit Guild territory for a year without fees or due process. It'll just take a day to finish the procedures and then you can go about your business. Will that be okay?"
Leonel's pleading expression had already vanished toward one of neutrality. He already realized that there wasn't much of a point in keeping the act up. The moment this Engnaril appeared, the situation was already far out of his control. Unless he was willing to completely fall out with the Force Crafting Guild and battle it out right here, this was as far as he would go.
Plus, how would that end, anyway? In order to get anything out of it, he would probably have to just plunder the treasure stores of the Guild. If he really did that, he'd just gain himself another powerful enemy.
From what Leonel understood, this Force Crafting Guild was just a small branch. But, it represented the prestige of the main branch as well. No one would be let off after just randomly plundering an entire Guild, unless he could hide his identity.
But, it was already too late for that. He didn't have enough skill to fool all those scanners and sensors just yet, nor did he have the time to invest in creating the Force Crafts or Arts that could. This was why he didn't even bother to try for a disguise this time.
However, if he kept running into trouble like this, it might be a worthwhile investment.
All this said, this so-called 'Green VIP' Engnaril spoke of might be a worthy trade off… if he ever got his hands on it, that is. It was clear that by Engnaril saying 'it would take a day', that they still wanted Leonel to get out of their sights as quickly as possible. And, it didn't take a genius to understand that all of this was for Anya.
Seeing the sudden indifference on Leonel's face, Engnaril's gaze narrowed. He knew well how Leonel had managed to slip through the cracks.
The immigration practices across the universe was actually not much different from what you might find on Earth. Visas, citizenship, green cards, workers permits… Even if they might not always go by the same name, the concepts are the same.
For more stringent worlds like this one, even for a 'vacation', you had to meet certain standards comparable to what most worlds would ask to become a citizen. In that case, the algorithm had a test for youth and talent, obviously preferring people of a certain caliber to enter these walls.
Leonel's talent was so great that even under the modified algorithm, he still managed to get through the screening which led to this situation.
Ultimately, everyone else thought that Leonel was a country bumpkin stirring up trouble. But, Engnaril knew well that things weren't so simple. In fact, if it wasn't because of Anya, he might be forced to fawn over Leonel instead. Still, he had no choice but to pick his battles.
At that moment, though, he felt as though Leonel was seeing right through him, unfazed by his word games and his attempts at pleasing both parties.
In truth, Leonel was infuriated. He valued Respect above most things and right now he felt like his time was being wasted because these people thought it was better to anger him on route to pleasing Lady Anya.
This so-called 'Green VIP' card he would be given, regardless of how rare or nice it was, practically felt like a pat on the head he would receive for being a 'good boy'.
He had followed all the rules, done everything he needed to do, and even up until this point he had yet to lash out at anyone, but it simply didn't matter. Even in a situation where you did everything perfectly and as they should be done, if those with power wanted to find fault with you, they would find it.
So, while Leonel stared at Engnaril emotionlessly, about to begrudgingly accept his proposal since he had no real choice in the matter, he had already remembered these matters in his heart.
"Um, excuse me?"Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
Before Leonel could speak, that sweet voice rang out again. As though moths to a flame, all the elders and Engnaril turned over. All they were missing were tails to wag.
Anya blinked her large, golden eyes. Though it was hard to tell with her veil on, she looked to be at most around 17 years old. Though, she had the voice of a mature woman.
"Did I come at the wrong time? If we can't take our exams today, I can just come back another time."
The expressions of the elders changed. How were they supposed to respond to this? Were they supposed to say that they were barring others from taking their Exams just so that she could do so alone? But saying such a thing so bluntly would cause problems.
Plus, no one had known she was here to take an Exam even if they had some guesses… Until right this very moment. Now it was almost impossible to hide it.
Luckily, Engnaril was quick on his feet.
"No, no. It isn't that, Lady Anya. The problem is that our small branch is most suited to give Black Grade Exams. Even all the elders here had to travel to larger branches to receive their Bronze certifications. So, in order to prepare and be certified for you Bronze Grade Exams, we had to set up a lot of things. As of right now, we couldn't hand out a Black Grade Exam even if we wanted to, that is why we're turning so many people away."
The elders quickly nodded, feeling that Engnaril was truly quick on his feet to think of such an excuse. Plus, it wasn't entirely incorrect either. It had some kernels of truth to it.
But it was then that Leonel's lip curled.
"Who said I wasn't here to take a Bronze Grade Exam? Did you even ask?"