Once he had made up his mind, Ackster saw no reason to hesitate. He gathered his belongings. He put the skeleton refinement tools and the bundles of paper in the box, and then he put the box, along with the instructions for the other skills, inside his bag, where Mio was.
"Are you ready for another training montage, Mio?"
Mio gave a slimy thumbs up before hiding at the bottom of the bag. Ackster wanted to leave the city right away and hole up in the middle of nowhere to focus on his training. But he had obligations to the Guild now that he had decided to accept Wilma's offer.
Since the Guild was probably surveilling him, it wouldn't matter if he told Wilma that he was leaving or not. But they wouldn't know how long he would be away. It would be polite to inform her, and he wasn't only going to the Guild to inform Wilma about his departure. He was also going to ask for another favor.
Unfortunately, Wilma wasn't working at this hour. But, after asking another receptionist for her whereabouts, he found out that she had expected him and was waiting in a meeting room.
Ackster wasn't even surprised.
'Does it count as expecting my arrival if someone else informed her?'
It wouldn't even be far-fetched to assume that the one, or the ones, in charge of watching him had told Wilma that he was headed toward the Guild. Maybe they had even noticed how he had read the secret technique.
'Whatever.'
Ackster couldn't be bothered to care about it. Although he very much disliked the feeling of constantly being watched and having his every move and action be read and analyzed, there was nothing he could do about it. And if it was the price he had to pay to save his life from being one of the many losses in the world's destruction in just shy of ten years' time, he was more than willing to pay it. Hopefully, he would be strong enough to make sure no one dared tail him by then.
But at the moment, it wasn't only a loss to have someone aware of his location at all times, at least if Wilma was willing to humor his request.
He was a little worried that she would ask questions or begin to suspect him to the point where he was no longer a viable candidate for the above S-rank secret special forces. But now that he had access to the Guild's resources – to some degree – he couldn't just let go of this opportunity.
Instead of looking all over the western side of Lill all on his own, he could ask the Adventurer's Guild, the organization with the best information network in the world, for help.
"You're a restless one, aren't you, Dean?"
Wilma greeted Ackster with a smile as she put down the files in her hand as he entered and closed the door behind him.
"I'm not good at wasting time."
"Alright. Good to know. What brings you here today?"
Wilma rested her head on her hands and her elbows on the table as she watched Ackster, her eyes gleaming through her glasses.
"Aside from coming to admire my looks, I mean."
She winked.
"I'm heading out for a while to focus on my training."
"And you came all the way here to tell me that? What an honor."
Wilma didn't even bother pretending to be upset by how Ackster ignored her flirting. They had managed to mend part of the bridge between them, but it wasn't entirely fixed.
"No. I'm here to ask you to tell me if something happens when I'm gone."
"Geez, Dean. Things happen all the time, without break, around the clock. They even overlap. You're going to have to be specific."
"You'll know what I mean when it happens."
"Oho?"
Wilma narrowed her eyes.
"That sounds intriguing. You won't tell me, even if I ask, right?"
"No."
"Shucks."
"I would also appreciate it if the Guild doesn't interfere."
Wilma leaned back and waved a hand to dismiss Ackster's worry.
"An awful lot to ask of an organization you don't trust, no? But it's okay. The Guild has a non-interference policy in place. It's only occasionally that we officially step in. Oh, and the special forces you're up to join are more of a precaution than active troops. But you'll learn all about that in the future."
Ackster wasn't sure what the Guild would think or do with their non-interference policy if an angel came crashing down, but considering Karandiel's fate in the original story, at least what the readers could gleam from it, maybe the Guild hadn't done anything and just let things play out. It did make him wonder what got the Guild involved since they hadn't done much to assist The Hero, either.
"So, my wishes are fulfilled, then?"
Wilma shrugged.
"Some of them, at least. We'll keep you informed, granted you know what you're talking about. And you'll be free to do what you want with the information we give you."
Ackster wanted to accept Wilma's decision with joy. But he couldn't help but be suspicious yet again. He couldn't understand why she so easily acquiesced to his requests.
"Why?"
Since they had been working on their relationship, he decided it might be worth asking about it.
"Why what?"
Wilma smiled mischievously.
Ackster sighed.
"Why did you accept my request so easily?"
"I want to."
"..."
Ackster stared at her with a deadpan face.
"Alright, alright. No need to give me such a sour look. You're making me crave lemons. The short answer is that you've decided to try Nold's secret technique. Because you have, haven't you?"
"Yeah. But is that enough?"
"Well yeah. That's just how important the Guild finds that technique and its potential. In the first place, you aren't asking for that much."
Wilma didn't say anything concrete about the secret technique, but what she said once again helped Ackster confirm that it was a good decision to at least try and learn it, regardless of how scary it was.
"See you later then."
"See ya."
Since he had gotten what he came for, and he was itching to get started, Ackster left the Guild and the city after bidding farewell to Wilma, who waved him away with a pleasant smile.