“Is the tea to your liking? I wanted to serve something better, but as this isn’t a place I use often, the preparations are lacking in many ways. I apologize.”
Winfried expressed a casual apology. The World Defense Force, having originated from the United Nations forces of the former international alliance, has its headquarters in New York, USA, where the UN headquarters is located. As the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, she usually stayed at the headquarters.
Each branch had a makeshift office prepared for Winfried, but since she only visited once every few months, it inevitably received less attention than her office at headquarters.
“Not at all! The tea and desserts are all delicious. And I heard you came all the way here from the US because of me. It must have been difficult to find the time…”
Iberis, surprised by Winfried’s apology, put down his teacup.
“I recommended you for the award, so of course I should attend and congratulate you. Besides, General Norris is here.”
General Norris. As this unwelcome name left Winfried’s lips, Iberis and Lucas’s expressions hardened. He was the uncle of Carlos, who had resigned after being caught in a special audit.
“Is it because of former Major Norris? It’s quite brazen of him to hold a grudge against us without even considering his nephew’s wrongdoing.”
“It’s often the one who’s at fault who gets angry first. A few weeks ago, he suddenly called me in a rage, and when I looked into it, it seems former Major Norris has failed to find new employment after leaving the military.”
Winfried agreed with Lucas’s scathing criticism and shared news about Carlos.
“He may have a terrible personality, but he’s still an A-class Esper. Couldn’t he join a decent guild by leveraging his Defense Force experience?”
“Former Major Norris wasn’t aiming for a decent guild, but a large one.”
Not all guilds are equal. They’re ranked based on the grade and number of guild members, financial scale and stability, recognition, and public evaluation.
Naturally, the benefits and treatment at large guilds, equivalent to major corporations, are better. Most freelance ability users aspire to join famous guilds. This inevitably leads to fierce competition. Large guilds also recruit members stringently to maintain their status.
“He wanted to join a large guild? His eyes are set quite high for what he is.”
Lucas clicked his tongue as if finding it absurd. Carlos was an A-class Esper, but in terms of ability, he was in the lower ranks. Plus, he was quite old.
“Why would a large guild take in an A- rank ability user who caused problems at his previous workplace?”
“You’re right. From a large guild’s perspective, former Major Norris isn’t a particularly attractive prospect. The more prestigious guilds consider various factors when hiring members, not just ability but also personality, potential, connections, and so on. Moreover, with rumors that he’s on my bad side, it seems everyone rejected him.”
“On your bad side? Why would such rumors…”
“Well, it seems that initially, Mars Guild had agreed to take him in at General Norris’s request. But then, former Lieutenant General Logan suddenly used me as an excuse to cancel the hiring.”
“What nonsense is that?”
“Apparently, I put pressure on them not to hire former Major Norris… Isn’t that just ridiculous? I was so dumbfounded when I heard it from the General.”
Winfried shook his head as if still finding it unbelievable.
“Did you correct the false rumor?”
“I did explain, but they didn’t seem to believe me at all.”
“Why not?”
“Apparently, interviewers from other guilds also rejected him with similar insinuations as former Lieutenant General Logan. It happened not just once, but several times, so his suspicion turned into certainty. It seems there’s been some talk among the guild leaders.”
Guilds primarily make money by being assigned and conquering rifts that occur in their home countries. But often, this wasn’t enough. Competition between guilds had intensified as the number of ability users steadily increased.
As a result, many guilds turned their eyes to overseas markets or sought to expand into industries like defense. For them, the Defense Force was a very attractive partner.
The Defense Force, which managed vast unowned territories and magical realms around the world as defense zones, had a wider territory than most countries.
Therefore, guilds that failed to establish themselves in their base countries or were aiming for external expansion all hoped to form friendly relationships with the Defense Force.
By carrying out missions with the Defense Force or accepting their requests to conquer rifts, they could receive not only success rewards but also a certain amount of resources like monster byproducts and magic stones obtained from battles. For this reason, there was fierce competition for the annually selected cooperative guild positions.
Given this situation, no guild would want to get on the bad side of Winfried, a central figure in the reform faction, one of the two major factions in the Defense Force. In other words, they had acted preemptively upon hearing the rumors.
“We were beautifully used by former Lieutenant General Logan. Anyway, that’s how former Major Norris failed to find re-employment, and disheartened by the successive rejections, he returned to his family home. I hear he’s since fallen into alcohol and drugs.”
Winfried relayed the recent news about Carlos that she had discovered to Lucas and Iberis, who were listening with serious expressions.
“So General Norris holds a grudge against us because of this? Like nephew, like uncle… What a ridiculous pair.”
Lucas grumbled in a low voice, frowning. He seemed quite displeased that Livio had used Winfried.
“Blood is thicker than water, as they say. Anyway, you’ll likely encounter him at tomorrow’s award ceremony, so ignore him if he tries to start trouble. By the way, have you secured accommodation?”
Winfried seemed to be trying to change the heavy atmosphere as he turned his gaze to Iberis.
“Yes, we’ve booked a nearby hotel.”
“I see. I heard you took leave to attend this award ceremony?”
“Ah, yes. I originally planned to take only about a week off, but somehow it turned into a ten-day absence.”
Iberis replied with an embarrassed expression. He had argued that a week was enough, but unable to overcome Lucas, who was supported by Brenda, he ended up submitting a ten-day vacation request.
“You did well. A week would have been a bit short. You’ve been working non-stop for so long, so use this opportunity to recharge. Do you have any special plans?”
“I haven’t decided yet. It’s been a while since I took a vacation…”
“Hmm, doing nothing and just lounging around isn’t bad, but since you’re in France, sightseeing might be good too. As you know, Paris has many famous spots like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, and Notre-Dame Cathedral. If there’s somewhere you’ve wanted to visit, it might be good to go.”
“I don’t really have any place in mind…”
Iberis mumbled in a small voice. As they say, those who travel know best, and since he never went anywhere except for missions, no particular place came to mind.
Due to his innate homebody nature and his tendency to avoid socializing because of his ability’s characteristics, traveling had become a very unfamiliar activity for Iberis. Nevertheless, if he had to choose…
“…There is one place I’d like to visit.”
“Oh, really? Where?”
“Well…”
In response to Winfried’s question, Iberis hesitated, glancing sideways at Lucas. To be precise, it should be ‘a person I want to meet’. It was about resolving a long-held lingering attachment before clearly defining his feelings for the Captain.
For that, he needed Lucas’s help, but not knowing how to bring it up to him, he had been putting it off day after day, and hadn’t done anything until today.
But he couldn’t avoid it any longer. He didn’t know when he’d be able to leave the N-zone again if not now.
“Where is it?”
Lucas also showed interest in Iberis’s words. He looked ready to take him there immediately if he answered.
“Uh, well. I’ll tell you later. After the award ceremony…”
Iberis trailed off, as if it was difficult to answer here. His relationship with Lucas was an extremely private matter. It wasn’t something to discuss comfortably in front of Winfried.
“Hmm, it seems there’s something between you two that I don’t know about. I won’t pry, so don’t be so conscious of me.”
Winfried, who had been observing them, stepped back perceptively. Taking a sip of the now lukewarm tea, he concluded the conversation.
“You don’t need to worry about seeming like you’re on our side because of this. It’s true that I’m trying to recruit the Major, but everyone thinks it’s just a one-sided love call.”
“Ah.”
“Captain Illum keeps hinting not to use you politically. I’ve put in some effort to prevent others from misunderstanding.”
“…Thank you.”
“Hehe, the Captain cares for you very deeply, Major. I’ll continue to rely on you in the future.”
Winfried looked at Iberis with even more favorable eyes than before. From this conversation, he had noticed the subtle undercurrent flowing between the two. He’d need to confirm with Lucas, but if his guess was right…
Winfried tightened his lips and reached out to pat Iberis’s shoulder. If Lucas had found someone to care for, it was something he would welcome with open arms.
The only thing that worried him was that Iberis was a patient with a terminal diagnosis.
“Lieutenant General?”
Gray eyes widened in surprise at the sudden contact. He looked as if he hadn’t expected Winfried to initiate physical contact.
“Hmm, is it because your health has improved? You feel less cold than before. I hope you continue to recover like this.”
Winfried offered words of encouragement to Iberis, thinking that he should create an opportunity to talk with Lucas alone soon.
