An Extra’s POV

"Huu… I forgot to ask how they managed to get here in the first place."

As Richard collapsed back on his seat, he muttered words to himself while allowing the faces of everyone he just met to burn into his memory.

This way, he wouldn't be able to forget them no matter where they met in the future.

'They're all strong and capable. That man especially… Sebas….' Richard pictured the handsome man in his mind.

'He has the aura of a leader!'

More than anything, Richard desired to pick him as his successor. He could already tell that the man was more than capable of it.

'Should I talk to him about it? Try to make him a sweet offer, maybe?' He shook his head as his wry smile widened.

"Nah, that would definitely piss off the Royal Council. I shouldn't try to poach such an asset of theirs—especially when I'm trying to establish good relations with them."

Still, it was such a shame.

'Having someone like that to bridge the gap between Adventurers and the Alliance… wouldn't that be something?'

Richard decided to stop thinking about it, else he would be tempted to throw caution to the wind and ask the man anyway.

'I suppose my options have now been cut down to four potential candidates.'

Out of those four, he already singled Lux out due to her passive attitude. Britta was also very hot-headed and brash, lacking a lot of the emotional maturity that made a great leader, so she was out as well.

'I mean, there's a reason why I still didn't consider her for the position when she was the only competent around.'

That left two real choices; Jet and Sherlock.

'Sherlock is still too young, but he has a lot of potential. If I start early, I could groom him into a capable leader.'

an Adventurer—Richard wasn't sure if he would have

leaves Jet as the optimal

enigmatic, but he was already well-received by most of the Adventurers. His fame and power was nothing to sneeze

Zephyr in him.' Guildmaster Richard nodded as he remembered how he heard the loud declaration of

decision will be made after the Conquest.' He smiled widely and felt himself drift into

**********

[Meanwhile]

back, huh?

his eyes, he found himself staring at Esme's

only an inch or two apart. The moment he finally processed what was happening, he became so startled that he nearly jumped out of the room that

Rey yelled, already creating some distance between himself

y-you been

it didn't help in the slightest. He also found himself stuttering, which further showed how flustered

Esme shrugged, almost as if the whole thing wasn't that big a deal. "I got bored waiting and wanted to see if I could remove the

towards her bed, collapsing on it

admitting it just like

something like that? I've been begging you to show me

I even flustered? It's not like

made a smug look, rubbing her hands together. "I think I was pretty close back there. You just had to

left the room. Instead, he simply shared his senses

really do anything. He only had

passive protection, so you wouldn't have been able to pry open the mask

his mind. 'What if she found

could have found a way around that." As if reading his mind, Esme replied with

unfounded confidence was

not even sure it's my

"It is."

response had an aura of seriousness about it despite her smile. She seemed to have a sense of

It scared Rey.

That's… there's no way you could know