Inside, the interrogation room was dim and barely lit, with its lights flickering. The sunlight from outside of the window shone in the room. In front of Mitchell was a guild official who spoke.
“At the end of the day, you ended up saving everyone. Earning the beast hunter’s certification despite having no formal training on the art and discipline will make our superiors raise their eyebrows. Given that you had the experience, they could simply brush it off…”
“This is why I wanted to escape and forfeit the contract. Beast hunting was not my forte!” Mitchell said on his mind, complaining the verdict of the guild official.
The official, looking at Mitchell's rebellious mood, approached him. ”What’s your problem?” Mitchell asked the official, who was glaring at him.
“That behavior of yours!” The official commented. ”What about it?” Mitchell asked in reply. ”You see, we have seen a lot of hunters that are as talented or far talented as you are. The problem, they don’t last as long. It’s a miracle that you haven’t fell from your hubris, young man!” The official said.
“Whatever, Troy!” Mitchell replied disrespectfully.
This remark, however, agitated Troy, who replied, “I heard that you were planning to abandon the mission like you did before. Remember, there was a letter of pardon that was given just for you. Another of your antics will land you in the sewers. Better get your acts right, boy!”
The warning humbled and silenced Mitchell on his seat. Then all of a sudden, someone knocked from the outside. Troy let the visitor in and said, “The door is open, you may enter!”
“Is this the man?” The woman in blonde hair wearing thick glasses, dressed in a pencil skirt and white blouse asked as she entered. ”Yes, this is the one!” Troy replied to her.
“I am to deliver news of this hunter’s promotion. Here is his medal and the certificate, then a recommendation from the higher office.” The woman said.
Hearing this, Mitchell couldn’t help but smile and replied, “When will I go, Aliyah?”
“After suspension, of course. You still have time!” Aliyah replied to Mitchell, whose high spirits earlier broken.
Troy ordered Aliyah outside of the room and they talked. Unable to believe what he just heard from the higher office, he asked Aliyah, “What on earth are they thinking?”
“I know… Mr. Troy, but the higher office said they are short of men. Rather than wasting talent and firing him, they decided to reward him and make him as a poster boy! His cool yet rough attitude would incite the young to join our ranks,” Aliyah replied.
“I don’t really think it’s a good idea…” Troy shook his head in disagreement.
“I couldn’t agree more.” Aliyah replied.
After the two were talking, three uniformed men from the headquarters suddenly arrived. The black haired man in blue uniform was the one leading his group. Two men behind of him wearing white uniforms were his bodyguards and escorts.
“Why on earth are they here?...” Troy said in surprise.
The officer in the blue uniform who looked proud spoke to Troy, who was standing before the door of the interrogation room. He looked at Mitchell, who was inside from the glass window and then asked, “Why on earth are you putting him there?”
“With all due respect, sir, this is part of discipline. If we don’t discipline our men, they may spell trouble in the future!” Troy replied to the officer.
”Call me Major Galahad. I will be in charge from here on!” Major Galahad introduced himself and continued, “Seeing his potential, the government agreed that he will be transferred to us. The Legion!”
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Troy and Aliyah were surprised at hearing Major Galahad’s words. There were no instructions from the higher government about the matter. Aliyah protested and said, “With all due respect, major, there’s no news of Mitchell Saunders’s transfer to the Legion. He was to be transferred to the PR unit…” ”Screw that order. What matters is we get our man!” Major Galahad ordered his men to enter the room.
Troy stood before the door trying to stop them, “I am sorry, but without clearance I could not allow you in!”
Major Galahad was irritated by Troy’s refusal and called one of his bodyguards. “Give me the papers!”
The bodyguard took an envelope from his bag and handed it over to the Major. Troy was shown about an agreement from his department to the Legion which something he did not knew about.
”What on earth…? I will call my superiors about this!” Troy was shaking at what he saw.
“No need!” Major Galahad shown him the agreement and the signature of president of the head department, Allison Weiss. With this, Troy gave up and allowed the men in. Major Galahad followed them inside.
Observing from outside, Aliyah and Troy can only watch. Mitchell, from the inside, looked happy with the news. Whatever the major and Mitchell were talking about, it seemed like Mitchell wanted to get out as soon as possible.
The Major went out first after their talk and exited through the room. He approached Troy, who didn’t look pleased, and said, “I believe we’re done here. Mitchell Saunders is a member of our Legion. Your guild has no powers over his transfer!”
The major went on his way after his two bodyguards exited the room. Mitchell soon followed and gave the two a smirk, “I guess this is it! Time to exit this place.”
Aliyah and Troy didn’t look pleased and was infuriated with the idea of Mitchell's transfer.
“Until then, see you around!” Mitchell ran to catch up with Major Galahad and the others.
After catching up with the Major, Mitchell was walking beside of him. The Major, excused Mitchell's behavior and asked Mitchell, “You know, our contract is voluntary and you didn’t need to consider working with us. The benefits and perks may be considerable, but our pay is lower. Why choose us instead of your guild?”
“The guild breaks its promises, sir!” Mitchell replied and continued, “Everything is good in the service. In paper, they may be a good place to work. However, reality speaks otherwise!”
Seeing Mitchell's determination, the major said, “We will discuss more about your transfer tomorrow. In the meantime, we will have dinner first. I know a restaurant nearby!”
“Oh, that’s great!” Mitch replied enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city. Hooded men appeared before an old man before a temple. The small temple was surrounded by trees in the wilderness. A narrow road was the only way to the highway that leads to the city.
“I can sense a great change in this place!” The old man said in his mind, looking at the hooded men.
“We apologize for being late!” One of the hooded men said.
“It’s nothing. Come in, all of you!” The old man invited them in.
Inside, the temple was clean and well maintained. It had the architecture with the mixtures of elements from the east and west. The bold designs of the emblems of dragons and other artifacts decorated and entertained the eyes of the hooded men.
“Please, our master is waiting for you!” The old man told the hooded men.
On the farthest part inside the temple, there sat the leader of the religious order of the temple. The hooded men genuflected before him. After a few minutes, the leader told them to stand up. The hooded men obediently followed his word.
“You may show your faces now!” The leader of the temple said.
The hooded men without hesitation showed their faces. Removing the hood, their hair was shaved. Not a single hair could be seen, even at their faces.
The leader of the temple called his attendant. He whispered something, and the attendant took five bottles of wine. Seeing this, the old man who guided the hooded men said to them, “Please, make yourselves at home!”
The hooded men sat comfortably with their legs crossed. They began to talk to each other and were impressed by the temple and with the leader himself. The old man then approached the leader and was whispered about his next task. The old man stood in front of the guests and then said. “We will begin with our initiation rites!” The old man announced to them.
The bald men nodded and then followed the old man to the initiation room. The leader, seeing the men leave, left no expression and took a scroll in front of him. He returned to his studies about the religious acts and rites written in the scroll. However, the leader’s study was interrupted when a messenger arrived. The messenger then said, “I apologize, our Eminence. I had bad news to report!” The Eminence stood up from his seat and approached the messenger. The messenger gave the scroll to him. The eminence, after reading the scroll, dropped it to the ground with shock in his face.
“They are coming, and not even Lord Jingo could stop them!”
The Eminence fell to his knees and prayed silently for the safety of everyone with regards to the omen and sightings of the malevolence that was to come.