Bro, I'm not an Undead!

What the hell?!

Tulnas' eyes almost fell out of his sockets as he heard this.

His whole body literally trembled as Silrat finished his sentence, his heart beating so fast that one could hear it thrumming powerful in his chest!

What was this?!

Tulnas opened his mouth to speak but the sheer flabbergastiosis that ran through him disallowed words to exit from his mouth!

His eyes then darted over to the sheet of paper,  which was an Association Declaration and he immediately began reading over everything that was written over it.

Surely!

Truly!

Holy crap!

A stamp from the Association told of these contents' legitimacy!

What the actual flesh!

Many, many thoughts raced within Tulnas' mind as the first thing he then went on to say as he held the paper up with a folded face was...

"Isn't this... isn't this way too premature?! When did you even apply for this, you bastard?!"

Silrat merely smiled as he leaned in his seat.

If this had been a certain foreign entertainment medium, he would have gladly pushed up his glasses.

Skullius watched silently as he saw that one of the two had clearly outsmarted the other.

His input was not needed here, so he played the role of spectator.

"Well, if there's something I understand quite well in this world, Tulnas, it's that I'm not the only one who can recognise the value of something or someone's worth. I'm not raw combatant by nature. I'm more of a...glorified observer. I knew that you of all people, especially with your possessiveness, would pull something like this. Therefore, I gambled on your capabilities," Silrat said.

"Are you kidding me?! You gambled on my theory being correct? For that you risked everything?" Tulnas asked with a spiked voice.

"Of course I did. You were the only channel I could use to get Festos out of trouble. Even the Association couldn't do anything against someone who was charged against the Capital service," Silrat explained.

Tulnas clutched his forehead.

Was he overreacting?

Was this a normal thing that people that did?

Heck no!

"And you even decided for quit your position before Festos has been evaluated as worth the Association's attention?! You realise that being invited for a Potential Aptitude Evaluation doesn't guarantee that they will accept and reward you, right? You could very well have resigned for nothing?! This is ridiculous!"

"I know that more than you do. Trust me. I have backup plan. But do you seriously believe that Festos would be ignored by the Association with his capabilities?"

"..."

Skullius couldn't help but feel weird when being referred to like this.

Tulnas even gazed at him as if to fully gauge what the result would be.

As someone who had travelled a lot to irrigate his burning hubris by witnessing the true powerhouses of the world, especially with his trip to Maqi, Tulnas didn't have a biased view.

In reality, they were more monstrous talents that he had seen in his lifetime.

Some with odd abilities and others with general elemental powers that they utilised in truly innovative and devastating ways.

Such individuals weren't in short supply among the Families in Pelian or the other two nations in Feinheath.

Tulnas could attest to that.

However, even when considering this...

"Probably not," he replied to Silrat's question.

At this moment, his heart finally settled down and he breathed out a defeated sigh.

Becoming the Vice Head of the Guilds Association...

This was huge!

This essentially allowed him to potentially be able to being reform to the entire region if he played his cards right!

With his good relationship with Erkus, this was bound to be a boon and nothing but a boon!

With his large scale campaign during the past few days when using Renialid and the other girls to storm every Cluster in sight, he was sure his Guild had earned an enough amount of repute in at least half of the regions settlements.

Haaa....

"You got me. You really poked me when it counts," Tulnas said with a sigh as he slumped.

'He did own you like a-' the fox's voice echoed within the Tamer.

"Shut up," Tulnas harshly cut off the beast.

"What?" Silrat asked confusedly.

"I wasn't talking to you," Tulnas said as he grabbed the Declaration detailing the specifics of this new position with its granted responsibilities.

"So a new Branch Head will be coming too, huh? Hahaha, Inhone is about to become a bit more fun. Make sure to leave quickly. I want to get this started immediately."

Silrat chuckled.

Just like that, Skullius' position by his side was secured without hostility.

Perfect.

Or perhaps not.

When accounting for the sheer degree of how things could have gone wrong especially with Skullius' sudden disappearance...

Silrat shivered.

Thank goodness it worked out. He wasn't the only one riding off of Skullius.

"Come, Festos," Silrat said as he walked out of the room.

Skullius and Tulnas who quickly stored the sheet of paper followed after the Branch Head.

The trio climbed down a set of stairs to appear within the Guilds Association hall where the atmosphere was becoming bubbly once more as the sun began to set, mercenaries streaming into the building like flies.

Among the many clustered mercenaries, some with Conqueror's Halos and others without, Skullius spotted the EdgeKings Guild members with their dark armours and abrasive attitude that could clearly be felt and seen within the crowded halls along with the Ravenclad Guild.

It seemed that most Guilds would be taking short breaks from activity.

Skullius recalled how the members of the EdgeKings Guild had tried to embarrass him after his return from the party-up with Stylla and chuckled silently.

It felt like forever ago when that happened but look at him now?

The Discount Human's thoughts were rudely interrupted by Silrat who mentioned something that piqued Skullius' interest.

"There's something else I will share with you in the coming days, Festos when it has been confirmed. On our way out of the city, we will leave with another benefactor that I have secured. She will come with her proposal for you soon and I encourage you to think about it carefully before having any thoughts on declining," Silrat said with a serious tone.

"Hmmm? Another benefactor?" Skullius questioned.

"Don't worry. She's essentially proposing another mutually beneficially contract but in my own opinion, it benefits her a whole lot more than it benefits you. Though I'm sure her terms will attract your attention still."

Oh.

"Interesting..." Skullius said.

Another female sockethole with interest in him?

It was funny how UNCoddled was seemingly becoming easy to dodge. Or was it because it was meant to strike good-willed people down so as to corrupt the cursed person's view of the world?

Perhaps.

Nevertheless was interested in this.

Who was this female?

Before he could ask some more though, the trio reached the exit to the Association building where, surprisingly, the City Lord, Terian and Damilla were standing on the street as they conversed with some individuals donning dazzling silver armours!

Two carriages could be seen with a lavish yet sturdy design, a three pointed star being seen on the side to represent the affiliation they belonged to as naturally, Skullius recognised that these were from the Purity.

The Discount Human suddenly stopped when he saw something that made his non-existent heart halt its patterned for a moment.

Of the twelve figures that had disembarked from the two carriages, one of the them who seemed to be conversing with Erkus was eerily familiar!

This man...!

"Shiiiiiiiiiit...! You have got to be kidding me!"

It was then, in this instance of intense surprise, that Skullius unlocked a new swear word to accompany this seemingly unfortunate re-encounter with this individual...