Everyone watched as the guild insignia appeared on the trio's shoulders. As soon as it finished forming, cheers erupted throughout the hall, and the atmosphere became festive. Haruto looked at Sylvie and Bane, both equally bewildered by the sudden jubilation. Jack then motioned them towards an office room, and V closed the door behind them.
"Don't worry, they're all happy because technically some of them are now promoted a rank. So, young lady, to answer your question..."
Now they were all focused. Sylvie, being the bookworm she was, was eager to know secrets no one outside of the Vanguard knew, not even other guilds.
Jack leaned back and closed his eyes as if recalling a movie reel of memories. "It started at a past Initiation. We had gotten word that a kid with strange yet potent magical abilities was going to be at that year's exam. Naturally, we weren't worried, but the King specifically requested that I be one of the proctors just in case. Normally the position would be a waste, but considering the King asked directly, I couldn't refuse. I thought it was going to be a normal exam but couldn't have been more wrong." They were all hooked, waiting for the details.
"Once the exam started, it was night and day with talent, but the kid was in a league of his own. Somehow, he was able to cancel out everyone's magic or disrupt it in some way. Yeah, that kid is now known as Vanguard Goddrick. Once we noticed, we made sure to pay close attention. It turned out to be a good instinct. We weren't sure if it was due to the stress of combat, nerves, or what, but he lost control of his own powers." Sylvie understood immediately. "That's a walking disaster. Magic that can cancel or disrupt magic and goes wild. It could bring an entire kingdom to its knees!"
Jack looked at Sylvie and nodded as she hit the nail on the head. "That's exactly right. You're quite perceptive for someone your age. Must be a trait that runs in your family. But yes, somehow Goddrick lost control over his magic. We still, to this day, have no idea what happened, but he did. It took myself, the King, and Motar to calm his abilities."
None of them could speak or breathe. What kind of monstrous talent would take two Vanguard members and the King himself to stop? It was unheard of!
"The King took it upon himself to make sure it never happened again. That incident caused a ripple effect. The creation of duel domes, for one. This gave the King insurance so that no one's magic could ever go rampant. When it happened, half the Kingdom was affected. Even the palace, which is now built of Dragon scale. Not to mention almost 200 initiates lost their abilities, and 50 actually died."
"That brings me to the next topic, the guild itself. Once that incident happened, the King set in place a variety of countermeasures. One, he replaced me as the Number 1 Vanguard and promoted Goddrick to that position for the sole purpose of making sure he could train and mentor him himself. Of course, this ruffled the feathers of some Vanguards, but they understood.
The second was creating this guild. He created this guild, and aside from one other, I've been the only Guild Master. The goal is to find and bring in abnormal magic wielders to this guild so they can be monitored and trained according to their specific magic. It's why we have the lowest numbers of any guild."
Haruto never expected a revelation like this. Since the start, the way people treated Jack, the insane power, their low-key nature—it all made sense now.
"That's why my sister doesn't know, because she wasn't a Vanguard member at the time. It makes sense." Sylvie looked deep in thought.
"So, your guild is a sort of Magical Black Ops." This time Bane had spoken, but he seemed bothered by Jack's words. "The goal is to control anyone out of the ordinary?"
Jack saw where he was going and decided to cut it off. "Make no mistake, we don't aim to control anyone. Everyone here signed a contract of their own accord. Tell me something, young prince. Everyone here has the destructive power of about 10-15 normal guild members put together. But there are some who aren't even allowed to leave the guild. A prime example would be Kimi, who you met earlier… Take a guess at what her ability is… don't worry, I'll wait."