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Melody stayed silent throughout the meal even though she had been polymorphed back into a human. Feathered Serpent’s companions claimed he wasn’t a god, but if someone could turn her into a tree and let her experience existence through another entity’s perspective…, well, it was clear those companions of his were trying to break her faith.
“Are we all done?” Lindyss asked, looking around at the empty plates on the table. There was a high concentration of them piled up in front of Vur. “If so, let’s go check the results of our exams.”
“Why did you bother taking the exam in the first place?” Mary asked as she got out of her seat. “It was created by the elemental guild alliance; it’s not part of the actual tower design.”
“Really?” Tafel asked. The demon stood up and turned her head towards Lindyss. “Why did we take the exam?”
“For them,” Lindyss said, jerking her head towards Kax and Melody. “I know a lot about you and Vur, but I don’t know how good they are at things. At the very least, the exam should tell us something about their abilities.”
Tafel glanced at Vur before shifting her gaze back onto the cursed elf, who was putting her chair away. “So, why did we have to take the exam too?”
“Because it was something for the two of you to do,” Lindyss said. “Who knows what sort of trouble the two of you’d bring me out of boredom?”
A dark expression appeared on Tafel’s face as she followed Lindyss out of the restaurant. “We’re not little kids.”
“Tell that to Grimmy,” Lindyss said. “He’s the one who sent me here to chaperone you.”
Tafel pursed her lips. “He just told you to come with us,” she said. “He never said you had to babysit us.”
“It was implied,” Lindyss said as she threw a geum pouch at the counter. It landed on the wooden surface with a clunk, startling the employee. She pushed the door to the restaurant open and stepped outside, narrowing her eyes as a bright light shone down from above. She muttered, “For a fake sun, it’s awfully bright.”
The restaurant wasn’t very far from the main building, only taking a few minutes for the group to walk over. Upon entering the building, they saw the other examinees who were also waiting for their results. They were staring at the ground while a man with a mustache stood in the center of the area with his arms crossed, glaring at the seated people. Upon seeing Vur’s group entering the building, the man’s nostrils flared as his eyes widened. “You! Which one of you is Vur Besteck?”
Vur blinked, his foot barely over the doorway’s threshold. “Me,” he said and pointed at himself. “I’m Vur.”
The mustached man walked straight towards Vur, his dress boots tapping against the floor. He stopped in front of the group and looked Vur up and down with a frown plastered on his face.
“Alright, what gives?” Tafel asked and placed her hands on her hips. “Who are you?”
“Me? I’m Ryan Renimaxe,” the mustached man said, “the genius behind party-composition theory.” He squinted at Vur, ignoring Tafel. “I would like for you to answer me honestly, Mr. Besteck. Did you take my exam seriously?”
Vur nodded. “Yes.”
“In that case”—Ryan extended his arms and placed his hands on Vur’s shoulders—“are you interested in joining one of the major guilds? I can refer you to whichever one you’d like.”
“Hang on,” Tafel said, slapping Ryan’s arms off of her husband’s shoulders. “What are you going on about?”
Ryan cleared his throat. “Forgive me,” he said and gestured behind himself towards the counter where a staff member was waiting with a small pile of papers. “I was too hasty. Please, retrieve your exam results and see for yourself.”
Tafel gave the mustached man a funny look before heading over to the counter. After a quick discussion, she retrieved everyone’s exams and returned to the group. She handed out the papers while announcing their grades one by one. “Auntie, ninety-five points. Melody, eighty points. Myself, eighty-five points. Kax….” Tafel paused and raised her head. She handed the paper in her hand to the red-haired man. “Full score.”
Vur held out his hand.
Instead of handing the paper over to Vur, Tafel furrowed her brow and glared at Ryan. “What’s there to see?”
Stella flew out of Vur’s chest and peeked at the paper in Tafel’s hands. “A zero?” the fairy queen asked and turned her head towards the mustached man.
Ryan nodded. “There are only two types of people in the tower who can score a zero: the imbeciles and the ones who’re strong enough to ignore standard convention.” He rubbed his hands together and took a step closer to Vur. “How about it? If I refer you to a major guild, you’ll have the backing of a major faction, and I’ll get a referral bonus; it’s a win-win for the both of us.”
“Not interested,” Tafel said, pushing the mustached man away. She looked at Lindyss. “You’re satisfied with Melody’s and Kax’s results, right? Let’s take the advancement exam and move on.”
Melody leaned over to look at Kax’s paper, and the red-haired man tilted it downwards for her to see more easily. “You’re really smart, huh? Can I see the second page?”
Kax flipped his exam to the second page and handed it to Melody. “You can keep.”
“Thanks,” Melody said and reviewed the questions she had gotten marked as incorrect.
“Are you sure you won’t reconsider?” Ryan asked, encroaching on Vur’s personal space once more. “At the very least, let me treat you to a meal, how about it?”
Mary blinked and took a step forward. “Aren’t you—”
A shriek escaped from Ryan’s mouth as he scurried backwards like a frightened mouse. “W-w-why are you here!?” He glanced at Vur’s group. “Are you with her? No, it’d make complete sense for you to be with her. Good day and goodbye!”
Tafel raised an eyebrow and turned towards Mary as the mustached man ran away. “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing,” Mary said and rubbed her chin. “I barely did anything to him.”
“I don’t think he agrees….”