"We will be departing shortly. If any of you have left anything or need to go to the bathroom, do so now before the buses start. We won’t be making any stops on our way back to the Guild."
Hearing the Team Leader speak, I merely glanced in his direction before putting earphones on, allowing the music to filter through my ears.
It helped me drown out all the noise.
Not that there had been much noise to start with. Everyone in the bus sat in silence, gazing out the windows, not uttering a single word.
It was like this for everyone.
Perhaps it was because they were tired, or perhaps because of the events that had transpired, but no one was in the mood to speak.
Neither was I.
As such, even when the Team Leader asked again, he was only met with silence.
"Alright, then..."
The Team Leader turned to look at the driver and ushered him to go.
"Looks like we can go. You can start the journey back."
The bus began to move shortly after, and the scenery outside the window began to change.
"....."
I leaned my head against the glass window, staring at the scene outside absentmindedly.
There was a lot that I needed to think about. For one, I needed to think about the next steps that I needed to take from this point forward.
’I just managed to gain quite a lot of SP. I should be able to buy enough meds to last me a while. No, in fact... I should be able to buy the more effective versions in the Second Order shop. I wonder how much those are... I still haven’t gone through to the Second Order shop due to how absurd the prices there are.’
Ever since getting access to the medicine from the shop, I found the disease that had been plaguing me for quite some time finally settle down.
It had been a good while since I had last been affected, and it felt nice to live without worrying about some rare disease taking over my life.
No, in fact, it felt great.
It felt... like for once, I was actually living.
’...Still, I know this is just for now. It won’t be long before the drug stops working for me. I need to earn more SP and find better and more effective medicine.’
On any normal occasion, I’d question the things that I was swallowing. Not only did I not know what the pills were, but I also didn’t know who was behind this system.
I knew that I couldn’t trust them, and yet, I was helpless in the face of the cure.
I could only helplessly earn more SP and improve my strength.
This was the only thing I could do in order to ensure my survival. Slowly, I planned on finding out more about the system and what its real goal was. For now, my own survival was my main priority.
Everything else came later.
There were also two annoying things that I needed to take care of.
Some weird cult, and the conductor.
Just thinking about the other two ongoing quests gave me a massive headache.
I had no clue where to start with either, and each day that passed was a day closer to the time limit of such quests.
’...I really do need to think of something before it gets too late for me.’
But these were all thoughts for later.
Looking at the scenery outside, my eyelids slowly started to close, until eventually the world around me turned dark.
Exhaustion had finally taken over.
By the time we arrived back at the Guild, several hours had passed. It was dark outside, and the air felt chilly. Enough to make me shiver.
"Huam.."
Yawning slightly, I looked towards the Guild, the lights still bright from the people working overtime. The building stood out quite a bit, and the entrance was packed with people going in and out of it.
I could even see some people in armor going in and out of the place.
’They’re probably from the other departments.’
I was actually quite curious about the other departments. Were their lives as hard as those from the Containment department?
...Or was it harder?
’No, there’s no way. If their lives are harder, then you might as well just kill yourself. What’s the point of living if you’re just sending yourself to your own death?’
"Huam."
Yawning again, I entered the Guild and made it all the way to the elevators that soon brought us towards the familiar office area.
The Team Leader stopped not far from us, turning his attention in our direction.
"I know everyone is tired, so I’ll make this quick. The anomaly has been taken by the Guild and is currently being put under containment. Naturally, rewards will be distributed in accordance with the involvement in the situation.
Scanning the members, the Team Leader’s gaze fell on Kyle, Zoey, Raymond, and then... me.
I knew where this was headed, and I felt excited.
Rewards?
Who didn’t like rewards?
Considering the amount of money I had received just from finding the crack, I couldn’t imagine just what sort of rewards I would get.
’Maybe I can ask them for money. No, but would that be the best thing?’
What would happen if I were to ask for something else? Like fragments... I was sure the Guild had spare fragments. Maybe if I asked, I’d be able to get some. I could just go with the excuse that I wanted powers, too.
’I don’t know, but it might just work. Then again, if I do find some sort of black market, I could buy the fragments with money, so...’
The only issue was whether I could gain access to the black market.
"You four... As the primary participants in this expedition and the ones who assisted the Guild in containing the anomaly, you will receive the greatest share of the rewards. However..."
The Team Leader paused, his tone turning somber.
"...That doesn’t take away from the fact that you made a lot of serious mistakes during the expedition. For that reason, penalties will also be applied to you."
With both hands behind his back, he turned around and nudged us towards a certain room.
"Follow along. There’s a lot that the five of us need to talk about. Especially, Kyle... There’s quite a bit that I need to talk with you about."
The Team Leader didn’t wait for any of us before moving ahead and entering a distant conference room.
I looked at his fading back with a lost look before turning my attention towards Kyle, who held his head down, his expression a mix of acceptance and sadness.
In the end, he raised his head back up and headed towards the conference room.
I wanted to say a few things to him, but seeing the sort of expression he was making, I understood that it was best to keep quiet.
I ended up following them from behind.
’I’m not included in the penalties list, am I?’
I really hoped not.
After all, I did practically all of the work...