In the meantime, there was an angel that didn't like how her first plan completely looked like it would fail miserably.
Pearl, while biting her thumbnail, grumbled. "I did expect that to happen, but they are quick-witted and strong, aren't they?"
"But my second plan would work, since after all, they are still human—"
Vrrrrrrr!!
Unexpectedly, a star came rushing by toward Pearl's direction before pausing straight in front of her.
"What could it possibly be?" She mumbled.
When Pearl held the star with grace, it was quivering like a phone that was ringing in her hands.
She murmured before pressing on the star gently. "Let's see.."
In a flash, a screen that emerged with a message in it, wasn't something that shocked Pearl the most.
Upon meeting her gaze on whoever the sender of this message was, her eyes were immediately wide open with her body completely frozen in fear.
"Oh no.. Did she notice it?" Pearl frowned.
In view of the fact that this message was sent to Pearl, she knew she had to read and listen to whatever this message states.
If she did ignore this, she would get punished by the sender..
Because the sender is..
+
≈Receiver : Pearl June.
—Something wrong had occurred during the middle of Stage #17, and thus, your presence will be needed as you were the overseer of that stage. Please return back to the headquarters upon receiving this message.
≈Sender : Emerald May.
+
..Her superior..
"Ah… This isn't good."
Pearl wasn't at all afraid earlier when she was reading the whole message, yet when her eyes saw who the sender was, her expression changed significantly.
In the end, Pearl let out a sigh before she released the star back to the night sky, watching it leave when she was also preparing to depart as well.
"An order is an order, I can't argue with that."
———
In the meantime…
"Bastard!"
"Moron!"
"Imbecile!"
Was I venting my frustrations on HwanGi too much? He totally deserved it for almost risking his life for something that didn't require his life in the first place.
"JoonChul-ssi.. Did you call me Hans earlier?"
"Huh?"
In spite of my bawling a few seconds ago, HwanGi got some nerves to ask something so pointless.
Obviously, he should be apologizing to me and everyone, not asking whether or not I called out his nickname from his childhood.
..Or was it wrong that I used his childhood nickname? Could it be that his childhood friend is the only one who could call him that, right?
'Ha.. Whatever.'
Eventually, I scoffed before I responded half-heartedly to HwanGi. "Yes, so what?"
"Then could it be that you're truly.. Sans?"
"..."
..Can I just surrender him to the ghosts instead?
'Master, you shouldn't.' Lucifer calmed me down while I was having a moment of animosity toward HwanGi.
..To this point, I was definitely losing my cool because of this idiotic man who I'm trying to save right now.
'He almost died. And yet, all he could focus on was those nicknames.' I growled inwardly.
Furious, of course, I was furious!
"You. Shut your damn mouth." I glared my malicious eyes toward HwanGi.
As I was enraged, I figured it was right to keep HwanGi's lips sealed until we reached the top.
Because I wouldn't know what useless crap would leave HwanGi's mouth the next time he utters something to me.
..And I ain't got the insanity to endure his foolishness.
"..!'
Needless to say, HwanGi seemed to be astonished as well as frightened by my glare overflowing with malevolence.
Swoosh!
In a blink of an eye, I held firmly to the strings that I had attached to the arrow, pulling it back before letting the force push us to the upper floor.
I took a very deep breath. 'Haa.. I need to calm down.'
Rustling..
The cries of the ghosts around us caused us to float to the top much faster since there were only two of us instead of a group of people.
It was thanks to this wind that HwanGi couldn't go further down to the bottom pit, if he did, I would have had a difficult time trying to catch up to him while I was falling in an upward wind current.
Also…
[Imitation of 'Fusillade of Icicles' Lv. 3 has been activated.]
[Imitation of 'Fusillade of Icicles' Lv. 3 has been activated.]
[Imitation of 'Fusillade of Icicles' Lv. 3 has been activated.]
"Looks like the ice drops aren't stopping anytime soon."
"JoonChul-s—"
At that instance, our eyes locked on each other. From what I saw, his glance was the eyes of the one who wanted to help while mine was that of vehement hostility.
Even his expression was showing his worries for me despite him being the one that caused us to be in this kind of situation.
Obviously, I declined. "I don't need your help."
"..."
No matter how much HwanGi was being, his crestfallen expression won't work against me after everything he had done.
…But should I really be extremely malevolent towards him? It would be too much, so I ought to settle down my frustrated tone while talking to him.
Not long after, I exhaled an exhausted sigh. "HwanGi."
"Yes?" He replied instantly.
"Under no circumstances, you must not give up your life."
"Even though the others are in danger?"
"And what are you? A self-proclaimed hero? Face it, HwanGi."
"..."
"What do you think would happen if you died?"
…Is there a need to lecture this idiot? But if it helped to give reasons to HwanGi, then it might be worth an attempt.
"The others would lose their courage, unable to do anything except being saddened. You must have seen what happened when I died, right?"
"Yeah.. I witnessed how your comrades cried for you.."
"That's right. Although me and my comrades have no reasons to cry over you. However, there are still Alaine, Louis and Mya who will be disheartened."
"...Right."
Seeing how he acted like a hero, I should think of something to make him stop sacrificing or hurting himself.
'Huh.. I got it.'
Finally, I smirked to myself as if I found this to be hilarious when I told HwanGi. "And as selfish as I am, I'll leave them."
..What a coincidence. I was planning to leave those guys anyways, so if HwanGi were to choose death, then it would be a farewell to the other half of my guild.
As clear as it was, HwanGi was expressing his dumbfounded shock, directing most of his fury and unbelief at me.
"JoonChul-ssi! How could you do such a thing to them?! Do they mean nothing to you?!"
"I can't afford to be slowed down by half of my team being bummed down, it would absolutely ruin everything."
"But how could you leave them on their own after they tried to resurrect you?!"
"Exactly, I'm a selfish person." I sneered, talking as though their lives were all a joke to me.
"This is not a sick joke, JoonChul-ssi!! Do their lives not matter at all? All those times you spent with them, does it mean nothing to you?!"
Without a doubt, HwanGi seemed to care about others more than himself, and that would pose a huge problem if I don't give him an option not to give up his life easily.
By then, I thought of a response to his numerous questions, staring at him with such a bitter and downcast grin of mine.
"When you live long enough, you will learn to keep your distance between others."
"..What does that..mean?"
..Aren't I taking it too deep in this conversation? More like I'm talking about myself to HwanGi.
I oughta stop before I speak any deeper into my secrets since I don't want my identity to be revealed to the 'Helpers'.
Anyways, I uttered while I tossed the bait to HwanGi. "So remain alive and watch over them. If you're not dead, I promise to watch over them."
"Isn't this too—"
I interrupted him on purpose since I gave no damn to his reply. "But if you're dead, then you know the drill."
"...You..!"
At that moment, I looked at him to give him a wicked smirk, and slowly but surely, I perceived our surroundings to be brightening up a little as though we were getting close to the top.
At last, I spoke while shifting my glance to my front. "Looks like we're here."
———
At the headquarters of where 'Helpers' should be, Pearl had finally arrived as per the urgency from the message.
After entering the building, she speedily went ahead without greeting any one of her colleagues nor her sisters, not once stopping to talk nor gaze at them.
And by doing that, it saved most of her time and prompted her to reach the door to Emerald's office with ease.
"Phew.."
Catching her breath and relaxing herself to prepare for what would happen in there, Pearl proceeded to watch the door opening before her.
Creak…
Once her foot set on the office's floor, she could sense how tense it was inside this room, but still, she kept herself cool-headed.
"Angel of the June Sisters, Pearl greets Emerald." Pearl, being respectful and humble toward Emerald, bowed.
After Pearl, Diamond spoke calmly while she took a sip of her tea. "Pearl, may I ask if that's a new greeting?"
"I'm trying new things, Diamond."
"Speaking of new things, I thank you for the pearl dust you gave me, Pearl."
"Did you find it to be pleasant?"
"Indeed, it makes the tea taste ambrosial."
"I am relieved to hear that."
As they were enjoying their conversation together, Emerald, who was flipping through her paperworks, had finally taken a small break.
"Pearl, how was your time in the 'Arctic' World?" Emerald asked Pearl while observing her closely.
Coughing to clear her throat, Pearl reported. "It was a pleasure to be there."
"Did you do something you must not do?"
"I follow the rules strictly, thus I have not made a mistake."
"..." Emerald's eyebrow raised when she found it hard to believe Pearl's words. "Is that so? I see."
"Yes."
"Then I must have taken quite a lot of your time by urgently calling you here for nothing. You may leave now to oversee the players."
"Oh absolutely not, it wasn't a waste of my time when I got to meet you, Emerald. Then, I'll be leaving now."
"Good luck, Pearl."
When Emerald gave Pearl permission to leave, Pearl swiftly bid her farewell before exiting the room without making any wrong moves.
Creak…
The moment the door closed after Pearl left, Diamond shifted her gaze at Emerald who was still staring at the door.
After that, Emerald asked Diamond. "Was it the right choice to let her go?"
"I dare not say, but you should have punished Pearl for her dishonesty toward you, Emerald."
"I assume this could be a second chance for Pearl, if she dares to lie and manipulate the stages again, she will be punished accordingly."
Clank..
At that time, tea was served to Emerald by Diamond as she poured the tea into the teacup.
Tea brewed by Diamond, left a pleasing and relaxing scent off of it to destress Emerald.
She spoke. "Thank you, Diamond."
Eventually, while Emerald glanced upon the tea that was being flowed down to her teacup, she slowly asked Diamond.
"Does 'The Rebels' interest you, Diamond?"
"Oh? Of course."
"Then I am, too."
"..? That's quite shocking, I haven't seen you this intrigued."
When Diamond was done pouring, Emerald held the teacup and took a sip of it, feeling the tea slipping through her throat so warmly and easily.
"Yes, that could be the reason why I allow Pearl a second chance." Emerald spoke with a pleasant smile.
"I see.."
Afterwards, Diamond placed the teapot down before giving her response. "It's to witness what 'The Rebels' Guild plans to do in those difficult times, is it not?"
"It is exactly as you said. However, it is because I had a feeling that 'The Rebels' Guild will give us a majestic show."
"Despite the millions upon millions of works that the guild had caused for us?"
"They wouldn't be called 'The Rebels' Guild without a reason. In addition, if it offers us no choice but to work, then I would prefer a workaholic atmosphere than an indolent ambience."
"Yes, that would be magnificent to see every 'Helper' doing their duties."
At that point, Diamond agreed with a nod before she expressed a grin, ending their conversation there.
All of the sudden, Emerald muttered to herself. "If possible, I want 'The Rebels' Guild to succeed."