OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 388: End Of Trip



The cohort's celebration ended upon his return and consecutive exit.

Not because he demanded it, but because they saw his face.

It didn't take the smartest of them to understand that something had happened.

While they didn't know of Setrenc, they knew of Emir, their leader.

And he showed a face they hadn't seen before- a smile that was neither genuine nor fake.

As if he was an alien mimicking a human smile, something about it was just eerie.

Even Lyra, the only person who knew about Setrenc, couldn't understand what had happened.

But when he began to cultivate in his room, allowing her to see his memories, she realized the reason behind that errieness.

The man was genuinely excited-perhaps too excited.

He didn't know how to show that emotion in his normal state.

It was in conflict with his identity. A puppeteer who only used his emotions as tools.

Mr. Player had mentioned a mission on the horizon, and as a Seraphim in a room full of Archons, his first instinct should've been to escape...

Yet he might've been the most excited of the lot.

The only planet he stepped foot on other than Earth was a purple one that was intent on killing anything not born from poison.

That trial improved his strength by leaps and bounds, but it wasn't anything adventurous. Just training and running.

This mission however, would take place in societies to which he didn't belong. Planets of higher status.

There were too many unknowns to count, so of course, a man with such a thirst for knowledge would get excited.

But those feelings didn't last long.

Like everything in life, they hit sky-high and then slowly withered away.

When the morning came, he was back to normal, cold and aloof.

He greeted Lyra, met up with the family, and with no delay, they went back to the outpost.

Most of the students were sleeping now, as reported by his men, so they didn't rush and took their time, using it to cultivate.

It didn't take long for them to reach, and when they did, the students were already gathered outside the settlement's gate, waiting to board.

Emir opened the doors of all three APCs and spoke, his voice loudly echoing outside through the speakers:

"Que up and enter in a straight line. I'll give minus credits to anyone who disturbs the uniformity. Is that understood?"

Stepping their foot down hard, almost cracking the pavement, the students saluted and screamed:

"Yes SIR!"

'Hoh...'

[The results are better than expected.]

He chuckled at Lyra's comment, certainly not able to deny it.

[Way better. Looks like that Cub did us a solid.]

[It did, but if we hadn't sent in the Elite cohort, half of the students might've died.]

[Yeah, like always, something happened that didn't in the 'novel,' maybe it's a result of us ending that minor disaster, or maybe it's the third player, who knows.]

[Fate is a fickle thing~.]

[It's a bitch.]

With that conversation over, Emir commanded:

"Board."

And the students complied as if they couldn't wait to return home, rushing onto the APCS while remaining orderly.

Behind the students were Jake and Emma, watching over them with weapons on hand in case anything went wrong.

Nothing did.

Everything proceeded smoothly and all the students took their seats.

[We'll be going now. Good job you two. See you back home, yeah?]

At his telepathic words, Jake and Emma looked to where they believed their leader sat and saluted.

[Thank you, Sir!]

[Thank you, Sir! I expect my salary to increase, Sir! I beg you, Sir!]

One of them was professional, and the other... not so much.

Emir didn't mind that, he actually found it endearing.

Those two were the first friends he made in this world, though... he only considered that after gaining an advantage over them. The binding contract helped quite a bit as well.

[You should stop using all your credits on alcohol; seriously, I still remember the day you asked me to be careful; guess it was you projecting, huh?]

[W-What? What do you meeeaaan? I uhhhh, I drank like ten bottles this week, that's all.]

Chuckling, Emir gave up on setting her straight and appointed Jake to handle her as he always

did:

[Good luck, half-man. Don't let her steal all your money.]

[Don't worry, I got it covered, and thanks boss, I'll need a lot of that...]

Emir nodded as if he could see them, which he did due to the cameras, and announced:

"We're departing."

The APCS closed their doors and began to move.

They followed Lyra's lead while surrounded on both sides by cruisers matching their pace.

There was no Gateway Alliance transport request at that time, so those nine vehicles were all there was.

That meant a higher chance of them encountering pirates and rogues, but Emir didn't worry

about it.

Neither did his two friends, as they saluted their departure with bright smiles on their faces, only returning to their vehicles once the convoy could no longer be seen.

Meanwhile, and like last time, all those 'named' sat in Emir's APC, but unlike that time, the awkwardness in their interactions was gone.

Even Sofia, with her unfeeling personality, wasn't able to shield herself from the comradery that came as a result of the life-or-death battles they experienced.

The change wasn't much, sure, but for there to be a change in the first place was surprising.

And what was that change, one might ask?Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She initiated conversation!

"...Elijah. Tell me how you think I performed yesterday."

Well, it was more a command than a conversation, but it was a step in the right direction.

"...?"

Similar to those next to him, the Reaper looked at her in surprise, only answering after her eyes narrowed:

"Great. Without you, we would've died, no doubt. You protected us at every turn, and most of your shots hit their target. You positioned yourself well in each fight, especially against the Cannonjaw. To be honest, I still can't believe we killed that thing... Anyways, I don't know much about Rangers, so I won't bash you too much, but even I can see that you need to time your reloads better. If you did, then Quinn wouldn't have gotten so-"

"Who are you to say that?!"

Max cut him off, 'defending' Sofia in hopes of gaining her favor.

But the only thing he gained was a glare, so he shut himself up and looked away, escaping her

eyes which spoke more than her mouth ever did.

Elijah shrugged, used to Max's stupidity.

A young master would not be considered one if he wasn't a few chromosomes short.

Despite his irritation, Elijah almost felt pity for him.

So, instead of getting back at the Brawler like he usually would, he decided to include Max in

the conversation.

"You were pretty good too. You controlled an entire section by yourself, allowing us to finish

up quick. Saving that guy was a plus, and your Dragon Roars were on point. Besides that, from what I saw, you always took on more than you could handle, your Rapid Strikes missed most of the time, and you were filled with openings that any higher-ranking monster would easily

exploit."

Ava leaned forward, then snapped her head towards him and asked:

"What about me~? I totally carried yesterday, didn't I?"

Elijah glanced at Max, and he took it as a sign to speak:

"I'd take a rat as a teammate instead of you."

She acted hurt, opening her mouth wide to breathe in a gasp, only to cover her mouth with

both her hands.

Knowing her since childhood, Max didn't care for her act and doubled down:

"Actually, you know what? I'd rather have that gold-eye bastard than you!"

She was truly hurt this time, having deemed Arthur absolutely useless since the first time she

saw him at the test.

"You can't say that!"

Seeing her be so defensive struck Arthur to the core, as he had been quietly listening to their

conversation for a while.

In situations like this, he would usually stay quiet and act like he wasn't there, but this time

was different.

Boldened by his recent victory and confidence boost, he fought back:

"D-Don't act like being with me is so bad!"