"Do you still have to pretend?" I asked Vivian, looking into her eyes. "Others might not know who I am, but you definitely would. So, that medic misunderstanding was all a ruse, huh?"
"I take it, it's going to be a problem. I have no idea what you are talking about, but since you are handsome and my type, I will listen over coffee, my treat," Vivian denied, going around everything I accused her of by feigning ignorance and hiding behind the pretext of guild rivalries. They ran thickly on this Earth. It's the main reason why Examinees don't ally with other Examinees in the exam.
I wasn't buying Vivian's act one bit, as the Wyatt brothers' scandal was a trending tea-time topic. After all, it had so many twists, turns, and tragedies. I am sure the people attending the Zenith Training Institute couldn't get enough of discussing it by the cooler or in the restroom when the Grim Web clearly wasn't.
It was getting so out of hand that the Zenith Guild was willing to pay to buy my silence. Yep, the very guild that mercilessly threw its late employee's orphans onto the street was loosening its purse strings. That should tell you that it was simply not possible for someone related to the Zenith Guild in any way to not have heard about the scandal.
Not to mention the buzz about the Grimlock chosen by the Grimmyth outside of it. Forget the Grim Web, everyone brought it up in their day-to-day conversations once a day. Not to mention, my grim community has several million followers, even though it only sells my book on how I became a Grimlock. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that most people on this Earth knew about my existence as the guy who became a Grimlock outside of the Grimmyth.
Yet, here she was telling me she had never heard about the Wyatt brothers' scandal or the miracle of the Grimmyth choosing a Grimlock on Earth. And she also wants me to believe her word for word?
My mind immediately thought of insults to hurl at her, but I chose to handle this gracefully. I didn't want to harm my public image. I recently came to learn that I am a minor celebrity of sorts, and everything I did was under scrutiny.
The topic that I helped catch goons carrying illegal gion weapons was already trending on the local Grim Web community and among the top hundred trending globally. Someone recorded the whole thing and posted it. Watching it, some people were calling me irresponsible and saying that I could have handled the situation better instead of shouting and creating panic. Making excuses like, what if the goons had taken hostages during the chaos?
I know I can't please everyone, but I can't give others a loaded gun to target me on the Grim Web. So, even though I was mad, I decided to deal with Vivian honorably.
"I believe you, but rain check on the coffee though," I said, turning to leave and pausing a little to look at Vivian, and advised, "Don't join the Zenith Guild, focus on card crafting, your petrified hair armaments are very promising."
Before she could respond, I left. I really believed that Vivian's petrified hair armaments were promising because, together with her grim cypher and gion tattoo, she was creating keratin-based stone armaments that were as hard as diamond and as ductile as steel. Not to mention, her manipulation allowed her to shape them into intricate and detailed designs, prioritizing their structure and durability. The basic sword and shield she made for Nadron were way better than the ones found in the market. They would effortlessly be a hit in the market.
"I will," Vivian shouted from behind. I just waved without looking back and joined Mary, who was with Captain Marcel. She didn't seem to like his company.
"Who captured the flag?" I asked Mary, skipping the small talk. Her frown only got harder as she answered, "Norlin Lynn."
"Lynn?" I blurted, turning to find her in the crowd. But she was already surrounded by recruiters, guardians who ditched their candidates to recruit Lynn into their organisation.
Following my line of sight, Mary continued, "She could have completed faster if she hadn't avoided eliminating other examinees. That girl is very strong. I now understand why she asked you not to participate in the exam."
"You guys know her?" Marcel asked, only for us to blatantly give him a look asking, why are you here? He brushed it off with a wide and bright smile, saying, "Hey, don't be like that—"
But seeing our deadpan eyes, even he gave up and got to the point. "Have you given any thought about what you will do after your six-month internship in the city's research institute?"
"I have a few plans, but nothing's set in stone yet," I answered without thinking, finding that Marcel, unlike his nephew, was the kind of guy who could become friends with anyone—strangers, his subordinates, even kids.
"How about adding an internship at my Gion ship to the pool? We are grounded for the next six months, but I would love to have you on board for my next expedition. So, will you consider it?" Marcel asked, staring into my eyes, avoiding Mary's intense gaze that basically screamed, die!
"What's the role and pay like?" I asked, even though I had no plans to enter the Grimmyth anytime soon. It didn't hurt to listen to what he was offering.
"You will be a grim raider intern and with the standard pay scale for an intern," Marcel said proudly, but seeing my expression turn deadpan again, he quickly corrected, "Or whatever role you like, we can discuss it later."
"Sure, I will think about it," I agreed, planning to keep my options open, as one cannot guarantee what can happen. Take my garrison reserve registration for example. Not to mention, six months was a long period of time.
"Great, let's exchange Grim IDs," Marcel said as his grim cypher flashed in his pupils, and mine did too, exchanging our Grim IDs.
[Grimlock Marcel Laos's Grim ID saved in your Grim Web community.]
Mary's stare at Marcel grew intense with every passing second, especially as we exchanged Grim IDs, until Marcel excused himself.