26 Ground Zero
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – GROUND ZERO
Scarlette thought as she composed herself as she takes a seat on the sofa and her two companions followed in and both are sitting at each side as Scarlette is in between them.
She noticed the heavy atmosphere from the two, especially coming from Ryan as she saw the man who had a dark expression on his face and he seems looked in a daze for some reason.
She didn't have the time to care as she had more pressing matters that need to do.
When all of them are now settled, Ericka takes a seat on the opposite side of the trio.
She took the leaflet that Scarlette lends to her as she laid it out at the table and looked at the trio with a serious expression as she starts to speak.
"When the branch guild master received the report that someone took the mission for the Fordel Village in the main headquarters, he assigned me to study and investigate this so that I can explain it to the ones who took the mission"
Ericka explained it first and Scarlette takes a look at the leaflet that is laid out in front of them.
"First of all, what I want to know is why did the guild approve this kind of mission?"
Scarlette asked the emerald-haired woman as her crimson-lilac eyes are staring at the other with a cold glint and Ericka felt an overwhelming aura coming from the crimson-haired woman.
Scarlette continued; "If a lower rank adventurer manages to take this mission by mistake, it would cause a disturbance! Not just that, there would be any chances that someone would get killed!"
Scarlette gritted her teeth under her veil when she said those words and Ericka flinched upon hearing the crimson-haired woman raised her voice at her.
Both gentlemen shrieked in their seats when they heard Scarlette raised her voice and they knew that Scarlette is enraged right now.
They could feel as well the overwhelming aura that the crimson-haired woman is releasing and they couldn't breathe because of that.
'Shit! This is the first time that I saw Scarlette angered like this! She is usually cold and calm whenever she faced any situation but right now, she is pissed off this time!'
Jeffrey thought as he held his breath and he almost stumbled down at his seat because of the intense pressure that the crimson-haired woman is emitting.
Ryan is in the same situation as Jeffrey, he couldn't help but cover his mouth as he looked at his side and he saw how furious the crimson-haired woman is right now.
'W-what an immense aura that she is releasing! Argh! It feels like my ears are gonna bleed because of the pressure!'
Ryan thought as he stumbled as well on his seat and holding his chest because of the heavy atmosphere.
Ericka, on the other hand, tried her best to looked calm but when facing Scarlette, she couldn't do it and she clenched her chest and took a deep breath.
'Master is right! This woman might be cold and quiet but when angered, it feels like you just summoned a demon from the abyss of hell!'
Ericka thought as she looked at the crimson-haired woman who is still emitting a dangerous aura. She also looked at the other two gentlemen and she saw the same situation.
Scarlette knew that her bloodlust is now emitting around them and she saw how the three people inside are having a hard time to breath because of the pressure she is releasing.
'I went overboard. I hurt them because of my bloodlust and I should have restrained my anger and never let my emotions overcome me.'
Scarlette thought as she sighed and calm herself first.
After some time had passed, the pressure inside the room disappeared and the three people could now breathe normally.
"Ha! T-that was intense!" Ryan said out loud after he could finally breathe.
Jeffrey looked at Scarlette as he asked; "A-are you all right, Scarlette?"
The auburn-haired man asked her and Scarlette just looked at him.
"I'm fine. You?"
Scarlette asked him and Jeffrey just nodded as he took a sit once again.
Ericka felt like her throat went dry because of the pressure from earlier and she composed herself after the pressure has been cleared and she looked at the crimson-haired woman who is sitting at her opposite side.
She doesn't know how to start the discussion as she didn't want to provoke the crimson-haired woman again.
Ericka took a deep breath as she speaks once again; "I know you have concerns regarding this mission leaflet, Lady Overland‒"
"Drop the 'Lady' thing as I am no noble to be addressed that way. Just call me Scarlette would suffice"
Scarlette's words are made of ice when she said that as she cut off Ericka's words. The emerald-haired woman felt shivers when she heard those frosty voices coming from Scarlette.
The crimson-haired woman calmed down a little bit to ease the atmosphere around them and Ericka takes a deep breath once again.
"Ahm…Okay, Scarlette. I do apologize for that. As I was saying, regarding the mission leaflet that you presented to me, I can provide you some of the information that I have gathered since this mission is considered a GROUND ZERO"
As soon as those words came out, Ryan immediately looked at Ericka upon hearing an unfamiliar word coming from her.
"What do you mean by Ground Zero?"
He frowns as he asked and Jeffrey is the one who filled in the answers.
"Ground Zeroes are often called dangerous missions because these are the ones that had a high-risk task to be accomplished. Also, these missions that categorized under Ground Zero are often to be suspicious and they are not posted in the mission board"
Jeffrey explained about the Ground Zero Mission to the chestnut-haired man and Ryan couldn't help but be baffled because this is the first time that he heard something like this.
Jeffrey continues; "Not just that, only a handful of adventurers can do the task and I bet that most of the Ground Zero Missions are given to Scarlette, am I right?"
Scarlette nodded as she crossed her arms around as she speaks; "As Zenon explained, Ground Zero Missions are not posted on the mission board because of the high-risk factor"
She paused for a minute before she continued; "Yes, an adventurer's job is to go on extreme missions that are approved by the guild but there is a limit to what an adventurer can do"
Scarlette looked at her side where Ryan is seated and crossed her arms around as she speaks; "However, that is not the case when it comes to me since I am the highest rank adventurer and Ground Zero Missions are usually handled by me"
The crimson-haired woman explained further and Ryan just nodded as he looked at Scarlette as if the crimson-haired woman had two heads in one body.
'Fantastic! She can speak that normally! How I wished that she would do that from now on so that I could understand her better!'
Ryan thought as he learned something new about this journey with Scarlette.
He looked at the mission leaflet that is laid out in front of them and he frowns upon looking at its details.
"Ah! What kind of setup is this?! A D-rank mission with a reward of 10 million gold coins?! If a lower-rank adventurer happened to saw this, they would immediately grab this mission instead!"
Ryan said his opinions when he saw the contents of the mission that is laid in front of them.
"If this Fordel Village mission is categorized as a Ground Zero, then why is it posted on the mission board?"
The chestnut-haired man questioned the people around him about the mission on hand.
Ericka, who happened to be silent for a longer time manage to speak.
"For that one, I don't know. I only know about this mission early in the morning and when I planned to take that down on the mission board, I got a message through the communication array from the headquarters that someone took the mission yesterday"
The emerald-haired woman paused for a minute as she looked straight to the crimson-haired woman from the opposite side.
"When I learned that Lady—I mean, Scarlette is the one who took the mission, I just waited for her to come here"
Ericka finished her statement and Scarlette had a deep thought about this matter.
For all she knew since she is the one who always handled the Ground Zero Missions, they are not supposed to be put into the mission board.
'However, what is this? A mistake? No, it can't be mistaken because I knew how Ground Zero Missions are being processed'
Scarlette thought as she snapped back from thinking any further and she looked at Ericka.
"Since I am here, would you share the information that you have found out about this mission?"
