"So...? What’s your answer?"
The rat came in boldly, sitting down as if he owned the place.
Holding onto my smile, I found myself unable to respond. The rat seemed to mistake my silence for weakness, the corners of his lips curling wider as the dimples on his face deepened, his beady eyes glinting with a certain satisfaction.
"...I see that you’re still rather hesitant about quitting. But what’s really so bad about quitting? You’re getting a very good job with a good salary. You can say that I’ve been very nice to you. This really isn’t a hard decision."
But it was...
While his words held some truth, they conveniently left out several key details.
I was appreciated in the Guild.
It was clear from the way the Section Chief treated me that he regarded me as some sort of remarkable talent, someone far above the average recruit in his eyes.
The same couldn’t be said for the new Guild. Not only was I a stranger from a distant island, but I was also an unknown talent... hardly a name that carried any weight. It would take time and effort before I could prove my worth to them.
That wasn’t all.
The Guild also provided me with a great budget and a room to create my games.
Creating games was fundamental to me. They served not only as my primary source of income but also as my main means of earning SP.
Although I was no longer obligated to create games, the system was so perfectly designed for it that not making use of it felt like an incredible waste.
Not only that, but I was also keenly aware that creating games wasn’t merely a means for me to earn points.
There was undoubtedly more to it than that, and because of this, I couldn’t bring myself to stop creating them.
I knew...
Very well knew that the system was preparing me for something by creating the games.
’It’s just about finding the reason why I have to make the games.’
But besides that, and the most important point of them all...
I despised talking to strangers and meeting new people. Joining a new Guild would only make me dread going there each day. I knew I’d feel tortured, endlessly overthinking how to start a conversation and struggling to keep it going without it descending into awkward silence.
’Oh god, no.’
I felt shivers just thinking about it.
Unlike with the new Guild, I was already familiar with many of the people here. Talking to them didn’t feel awkward, and while I still preferred to keep some distance, since holding conversations drained me, I could at least tolerate it.
I didn’t want things to regress to how things were when I first started.
I... had only recently started to be more open with the people around me.
’Yeah, it’s just not possible for me to leave the Guild.’
Of course, I wasn’t going to let the Guild Master find out about this. If he knew, then it would make things a little bit more troublesome for me.
"Do you still have the contract with you? You should’ve signed it by now. I don’t have a lot of patience. Just give it to me, and we can be done with all of this."
The rat leaned in, his eyes narrowing into sharp slits as they bore into me. I didn’t respond right away. Instead, I chose to turn the tables and ask him a few questions of my own.
There were a few things that I was curious about.
"Why do you want to get rid of me so badly?"
Was it simply because of his insecurities...? Although I was aware of how jealous and insecure he could be, I didn’t think it would be the main reason for him to push me out of the Guild so desperately.
He could very well be using the ’information’ for his own use instead of kicking me.
And yet—
He seemed extremely keen on trying to get me kicked out.
Why was that...?
There had to be a deeper reason than just insecurity.
My hunch solidified the moment I noticed the dimples on the rat’s face fading as he fixed his gaze on me.
"Why are you dragging the conversation on longer? Are you trying to waste time?"
He looked around, his eyes scanning the place.
I remained seated where I was, face locked onto his.
Eventually, I opened my mouth to speak.
"I’m not trying to waste time. I’m asking you out of curiosity. I want to understand why you—"
"Don’t bother asking."
The rat cut me off, his eyes turning colder. I could tell from his gaze that he wasn’t willing to share any information with me. This made me even more curious. Just what in the world was he trying to achieve by kicking me out?
Why did he seem so desperate too...?
"Hoo."
Taking a deep breath, the rat’s expression relaxed after a short moment. The smile returned on his face shortly after as he leaned back on the chair.
"Sorry for that." He apologized, the dimples on his face returning alongside his calm.
"I’m just a little bit impatient if you know what I mean."
He looked at the table again, his smile growing kinder.
"I’m sure you wouldn’t want your ’secret’ leaking out. If possible, I’d like to hear your decision. Will you stay at the Guild, or will you..." He paused, his narrow eyes widening slightly as he locked his full attention on me. He opened his mouth, but soon after closed it.
He didn’t need to say anything else.
His message was clear.
"....."
A heavy silence settled over us as I fixed my full attention on the rat.
Eventually, as the tension peaked, I leaned to the side, pulled a stack of papers from my bag, and let them fall onto the table with a soft thud.
"Here."
"Ha."
The smile on the rat’s face widened, his dimples so pronounced they were almost nauseating, as he swept his bowl-cut hair aside and reached for the papers.
"See? It wasn’t so hard to get to the point, right? I’ve always known that you were a reasonable pe—"
The rat’s words came to an abrupt halt as he stared at the papers. The silence that had previously swept the room returned, and his eyes trembled for a short moment as he raised to look at me.
"What is this...?"
His tone was calm, but I could sense the anger hidden within it as he tried his best to calm himself down, placing the papers down on the table.
He lifted his head and looked at me.
"...What is this?"
He repeated, his tone colder than before. The dimples were long gone, and the cracks began to show on his face.
"Oh."
I looked at the paper, confused.
I reached forward to look at them until it suddenly clicked.
"Ah!"
I smacked my forehead.
"How silly of me. I completely forgot to sign it!"
Glancing around, I reached for the drawer and pulled out a pen. Bringing the tip to the paper, I attempted to sign it, but—
"Shit! It’s out of ink!"
I put the tip of the pen near my mouth and started breathing over it. This was a great way to get the ink to work again.
Or should’ve been...
"Damn... It’s not working at all."
I looked at the rat, his eyes so cold that they almost made me shiver. I paid no mind to them as I reached for my drawer again, trying to grab another pen, but...
"There’s no other pen. It looks like I’ll need to go ask—"
"Okay."
The rat placed both of his hands on the table, standing up from his seat.
"It seems to me that you’ve made your position clear."
I hesitated, shifting my gaze back to the rat. The cracks that had marred his flawless face were gone, replaced by an icy, detached expression that for a moment sent chills down my spine.
Seeing his current expression, I opened my mouth, thinking of new excuses, but...
"Ha."
In the end, I found myself unable to hold my smirk back.
"You’re right. I had never considered it in the first place. I just wanted to play along for a little longer."
"....."
"What? Did you really think I would just sit here and wait for you to do your nonsense?"
I laughed, staring at his cold expression.
"Listen up, rat bastard."
I no longer held myself back while staring at the rat.
"You can threaten me all you want, but in the end, nothing will come of it. I’m not the Jester or whatever nonsense you’re trying to bring up, and while things might become troublesome for me, in the end, I’ll be cleared of all suspicions. After all, I’m not the Jester."
"You’re not...?"
The rat’s mask fully cracked, his lips turning into a disgusting smirk as he brought his hands to the table and leaned towards my direction.
"I think you’re underestimating me a little. Or more like... you’ve underestimated my influence within the Guild. While you were busy loitering around creating your little games, I created all sorts of connections. Whether the rumor is believable or not, I can make it so that everyone believes me."
He brought his hand closer, his expression twisting.
"This is the difference between the two of us. I have enough influence to turn things my way, while you don’t."
His lips pulled up into a smile as his eyes flickered, the dimples appearing once more.
"Instead of wasting time wearing sunglasses and creating your little games, you should’ve—"
The rat’s words came to an abrupt halt as I took out a small black item and placed it on the table. The moment he caught sight of it, his expression changed, and his gaze turned towards me.
I just smirked.
"So? What ar—"
BANG!
I was never able to finish my sentence.
The moment I opened my mouth, a large fist came smacking against the side of my face, knocking me back.
"....!?"