Chapter 77: Team, Defective Product
"Guide? Those actually exist?" he asked, sounding like an excited kid seeing a myth come to life.
I nodded.
The chubby boy stood up next. He scratched his head and gave a short, awkward laugh before speaking.
"Uh, I’m Denny Fultz. A Rank 1 Shield Tamer."
Mira groaned immediately.
"A Rank 1? Why is someone like him even here? He’s going to drag us down—"
"Miss Mira."
Zephan’s voice was soft, but something about it chilled the room.
"This is a team mission. I hope you can act accordingly. If you keep acting like this, you won’t pass, even if the mission is successful."
His pressure bore down on her.
Mira gritted her teeth and looked away with a sharp "Tsk."
After that, the three triplets introduced themselves.
"I’m Selene. I’m a Rank 2 Wind Mage." The first one, who had pinched Mira earlier, spoke with a calm but clear voice.
Mira remained quiet, her arms crossed.
She spoke with a groan only after Selene elbowed her lightly. "Mira. Rank 2. Flame Fencer."
"Ellyn. Rank 2. Blood Siren," spoke the third triplet who had been silent until now.
It was a solid line-up.
The fact that two of them had evolved classes proved they were strong.
Then it was my turn.
"I’m Alan Veritus. A three-star mage."
Mira’s head snapped toward me.
"A three-star mage? That’s just Rank 0! Are you serious?"
She looked at Zephan like he’d lost his mind.
"He is weak and he sounds young on top of that. Why are you accepting kids like him? Is the Underworld Administration stupid? Letting someone like this take a mission... what the hell."
Then she narrowed her eyes at me.
"Hey, how old are you?"
"Sixteen," I replied with the age I registered as Alan Veritus.
Her mouth dropped.
"Sixteen?!"
She rounded on Zephan, fully flaring up now.
"You lunatics! He isn’t even nineteen! Why are you letting him take the Cursed Spirit Hunter license test? Are you insane?!
"What are you going to tell his parents if he is harmed or worse, if he dies on a mission? Will you answer them? Will you bring him back? You fucking pieces of greedy shits."
She was nearly shaking by the end.
I stared at her behind my mask, confused.
’Wasn’t she just angry because I’m weak? Why does she suddenly sound worried about me?’
Mira was about to lash out again when the sensible triplet—the one who had earlier pinched Mira to shut her up—stopped her.
She looked at Zephan seriously.
"You shouldn’t let Alan take this mission. He is a child."
"I can’t stop him. It’s his choice. If you’re worried about him, then protect him yourself," Zephan said with a shrug and a smile.
Before anyone could argue further, Zephan looked at Lars.
Though Lars couldn’t understand our words, he felt the room’s tension, and he picked up on the fact that it was his turn to introduce himself.
He stood up.
"I’m Lars Møller. Rank 2 Martial Adept," he said.
"Oh? Another Rank 2."
Zephan looked around and smiled.
"We’ve got quite the lineup this time. Four Rank 2s. Two Rank 3s. Why did you all pick this mission? That’s a bit unusual."
The quiet triplet, Ellyn, said nothing.
Mira scoffed and leaned back, arms crossed again.
"Our youngest has strong intuition. She said we should take this mission," Selene answered for all three.
Zephan nodded slowly.
It wasn’t the most scientific answer, but Exorcists believed quite a lot in their intuition.
Zephan turned to Lars, asking for the reason why he chose this mission.
I had already given Lars the gist of Zephan’s question, so Lars responded in Danish.
"I was late arriving at the venue. This was the only mission left with a seven-person team, so I picked it."
Even though he spoke Danish, all of us corrupted by [Knowledge] understood him as if he’d spoken in our native tongue.
Zephan chuckled.
"Well, that makes sense," he said, then turned his gaze toward the last person in the room who hadn’t spoken yet.
She had been quiet this entire time, sitting in the corner of the couch nervously.
Her white hair fell to her shoulders, stark against her hoodie, and her crimson eyes were fixed on the floor.
"This is Calliope. A Rank 3 Healer," Zephan explained when she remained silent.
His words landed like a stone dropped into still water.
Mira stiffened.
Selene and Ellyn had moderate reactions, but they were also shocked.
Denny Fultz, the chubby Rank 1 Shield Tamer, stared at Calliope with round eyes.
Even Lars straightened his posture a little.
Zephan gave the group a second to digest the information, but no one said anything, so he continued.
"Since she is quite strong, you don’t need to worry about getting injured during this operation."
I looked at Calliope again.
She looked like she was in her late teens, maybe nineteen at most.
’She is Rank 3?’
A 9-star Mage (Rank 2) of Life-element alignment could become a Healer after advancing to Rank 3.
’At her age?’
Most Exorcist beings took decades to reach Rank 2.
On average, they would be 25+ before becoming a Rank 2, and only a small fraction ever advanced past that rank.
Reaching Rank 2 before you were twenty meant you were talented.
Reaching Rank 3 before the age of twenty puts you in the realm of geniuses.
"She is a Rank 3? Is that a mistake?" Mira asked, not even bothering to hide her disbelief.
"It’s not a mistake. Her identity’s been verified by the administration," Zephan replied with the same smile he always wore.
"I don’t think I can trust your Underworld’s administration."
Zephan ignored her jab.
Denny Fultz, the chubby Rank 1 Shield Tamer, spoke up, "Uhm... I’ve never heard of her before. Someone who reached Rank 3 before twenty should be quite famous."
He was right.
Everyone who reached Rank 3 before the age of twenty could take the test to enter Wageah.
Those who passed would go to that world through special summoning.
Even those who failed became celebrities on earth.
After all, reaching Rank 3 was a pipe dream of most people, and these geniuses reached it during their teenage years.
Yet none of us had ever seen or heard of Calliope.
’Is she a defective product?’
I frowned as I stared at her nervous countenance.
Among Exorcists, those who couldn’t fight were called [Defective Products].
Sometimes they froze during combat.
Others had deep-rooted trauma.
Some feared blood or the pain of hurting others.
Whatever the reason, if they couldn’t use their power properly, they were deadweight on the field.
I glanced around the room.
Mari’s eyes were also fixed on Calliope.
She had the same expression I did. She was thinking the same thing.
But to my surprise, she didn’t voice her thoughts, and instead looked at her as if feeling pity for her.
"Alright, one last thing before we leave," Zephan clapped once, his voice cutting through the awkward silence.
Everyone turned toward him.
"There’s a chance this is just a normal mission. But given Ellyn’s intuition—"
The youngest of the triplet raised her head when her name was mentioned.
"—and the fact that all of us higher-ranked Exorcists just happened to end up on the same mission, I’d like to think this is [Fate]."