Yun
Yep, everyone is looking at us…
I much preferred flying under the radar.Being an S-Rank guide meant people knew about me, of course, but I never enjoyed basking in that sunlight like others.
LikeMercy, over there.
Mercy wasn’t herreal name,of course.Or, at least, that was what I assumed.She was the Guild’s perfect little guide, so they’d probably renamed her just to make her look better.
Who could resist the blonde guide named Mercy who looked as though she could walk any runway?
She smiled brightly as she greeted people, sweet but not too sweet, nice but not too nice.She gave off, ‘you could fuck me if you play your cards right’ in just the right amount to make simps of everyone who came in contact with her.
“You know her?”Carter asked from beside me.
“We’ve met,” I hedged, a discomfort settling deep in my stomach.“Have you met her?”
“By which you mean, has she guided me?”
I blew out a breath and turned my gaze from her, unwilling to answer Carter.The answer was yes, that I absolutely wanted to know about that, but I sure as fuck wasn’t about tosaythat.It made me sound like some scorned girlfriend.
Carter snickered softly.“Yes, she’s guided me before.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“But you were curious.”
“You sure think you mean more to me than you do.”
“You’re not even alittlecurious?”
Yes.“Nope.”
“Yun?”
I managed to hold in a groan before looking up and finding the very guide discussed standing just before me.
And as much as I hated it, she looked even more perfect up close.Usually, from this distance, people could spot the problems.The blemishes, the way one boob was larger than the other,something.It was like when high-def TV became a thing and newscasters stopped looking so good.
Leave it to Mercy to still look fucking perfect.
“Hey,” I said with an awkward wave, smiling as though I hadn’t just been dreading this very interaction.
She hugged me in the same overly friendly way she reacted to me every time we met.It always made me uncomfortable, of course, but it was hard to get too mad at her.She was like an excited puppy—she meant nothing by her actions, and it was my hang-up, not hers.When she moved away, she offered me a bright smile, as though we were best friends.“I didn’t think you’d be coming today.”
“Yeah, me either.”
Truth be told, I’dtriedto get out of it.I hated coming to Guild meetings like this, but Carter had insisted.It seemed even Reject Squad had to show up from time to time, whether they wanted to or not.This was one such meeting, where the higher-ups had demanded both their presence and mine.
I’d rarely gone to these before.Even when part of a squad, they’d always let me off the hook and allowed me to stay back.
Guides weren’t always required, after all.The information presented in these had more to do with upcoming dungeons, with staffing issues, with territory line changes.Those were the jurisdiction of espers, not guides.
However, Carter had absolutely refused to hear any of my excuses when I’d tried to stay back.Instead, he’d just assured me that there would be good food.
As thoughthatmade it better.
So here I was, dressed in simple black slacks and a long-sleeved, white, button-up shirt.It was nothing compared to a few of the other guides around.
