Chương 20: Lifestyle Guild

"Ugh...do we really need to be here?"

"Endure it. We're here on official business. Do your jobs right and on time, then we'll be out here as soon as possible."

"Yes, Captain."

Along the rocky road, a vehicle drove forward, carrying several people in it. These people wore unique sets of uniforms that had a mixture of white and blue themes. Badges could be seen attached on the right side of their chest and each person carried some hint of dignity on their person.

Looking outside the vehicle, they could see the bright sunlight illuminating the breathtaking view of the Blue Jewel Valley. There were lush trees surrounding them, the atmosphere was damp but not uncomfortable. This place exudes the kind of beauty that could not be seen in civilizations made out of concrete, yet for some reason, the people who are in the vehicle couldn't bring themselves to admire the place fully.

Some of them wore impassive expressions while others openly wore displeased an expression on their faces. From this, it was clear that they did not like where they were going.

Inwardly, some of them lamented the fact that such a beautiful place like this now serves as a prison for criminals. What makes it worse is that they are forced to come here on official business.

If they were to be asked, none of them would even want to waste even a single second on this place. The wise decision was to stay as far away as possible. But like what was mentioned earlier, they have to, or else, they'll lose their jobs.

After a couple more minutes of traveling, the vehicle approached the tall and sturdy walls of the Risk Management Center. The Captain and his crew scrutinized the walls, seemingly in deep thought as they did so.

"...tch, it looks fine the way it is. They're just wasting time by calling us here." One of the crewmates complained out loud after a brief inspection.

The Captain of the crew looked at the guy who complained and said: "You're awfully complaining a lot for someone who's just new to this whole thing."

Instantly, the man froze and his face paled facing the cold and impassive expression of his Captain.

"S-Sir I just-"

"Shut the fuck up." The Captain coldly remarked, causing the guy's mouth to instantly close shut. "I don't want to hear any of your shit. You're already under close observation due to your behavior. Run your mouth again and I might just decide to leave you in the RMC. Let's see if your clan can bail you out of there."

"..."

Despite wanting to retort to the statement, the guy wisely chose to keep his mouth shut instead and lower his head in submission. He's not about to challenge his Captain's authority, especially now that they're on official business.

The guy heard someone snorting behind him and it incensed him, but he didn't dare to raise his head. He could still feel the glare of their Captain on him.

"As I was saying before. We're here on official business." The Captain started his briefing. "This branch of the Risk Management Center called us to inspect the protective formation of this place. According to the reports, our responsibilities would be centered around maintenance."

"Should we find that the formation needs repair, we shall also fix it as soon as we can."

"Now, I know all of you aren't fond of this place." The Captain roamed his eyes on his team before continuing, "I understand that. Frankly, I too don't want to be here."

"But this is included in our job description. We are part of the Heavenly Seal Branch of the Lifestyle Guild. The formation built around the Risk Management Centers isn't meant to protect its prisoners. Instead, it protects us and the innocent lives within the nearest civilization to this place."

"Should any of the prisoners succumb to their failure, they would turn into a 'Node' - an entrance which Demons could then use to infiltrate Prime Earth and slaughter many lives. Maintaining the protective formation around this place bolsters its defense, meaning that we will be lowering the risk towards the innocent lives out there."

"Like I said before, we're here on official business. We will go in, do our jobs cleanly and properly, then get out. Just like you, I don't want to be here any longer than necessary so I am expecting everyone to be on their best behavior and do their responsibilities properly. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Good! Now, do your last-minute Inventory check and we will enter the facility."

The team then moved according to the orders of their captain. They performed a drill to check their tools and once they confirmed that they had everything, the Captain told the driver to enter the facility.

As soon as they entered, they could immediately feel how the atmosphere changed around them.

The crewmates gulped, sensing the tension in the air. Those who were more sensitive to their environment felt the sheer desperation and madness in this place. It made their skin crawl.

As the vehicle parked and the crew got the order to come down, some of them felt hesitant to do so. Even their Captain looked solemn about the idea but went ahead and did it anyway.

Once they got out of the car, they were approached by a squad of wardens who looked quite intimidating. Each warden wore a hardened expression. They also looked incredibly alert, like their war instinct could be provoked by a single wrong move.

Leading these intimidating soldiers was a tall man biting on a cigar. He was bulky and scary, the scar on his face was certainly not helping with people's initial impressions of him.

He had cleanly swept black hair, thick brows, a squarish jaw, a bulky nose, thick lips, and a tanned skin complexion. He's built like a bear, he's also wearing a fur cape on top of his military uniform.

"Welcome to the Risk Management Center: Blue Jewel Valley Branch." The scary man said, his voice carrying a deep bass that almost shook them to their soul.

"Greetings, General Brightstone." The Captain greeted politely facing the freakish man.

"I serve as the Chief Warden here so Chief Lucas or Chief Brightstone would do," Lucas replied, exhaling a puff of smoke as he spoke. "It's been a while, Little Gustavio. I heard that you have a brat now?"

The Captain smiled and replied: "Indeed, Chief. My wife recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I'm surprised you heard about it..."

"You forget that your wife was one of my students. She's the one who told me." Lucas shrugged, causing the Captain to smile wryly. "Anyway, so that means that makes him Gustavio IV, then?"

The captain had to prevent himself from choking after hearing that question. He certainly wasn't expecting the Chief to know about this weird quirk of their family, yet here he is.

"..."

Seeing as how the Captain was having a difficult time replying was all the confirmation Lucas needed.

He bellowed out a laughter which could almost be heard echoing to the entire center. He even nearly dropped his cigar from how hard he was laughing.

The Captain wanted to find a hole that he could use to bury himself alive. He certainly wasn't expecting to be grilled like this, not especially in front of his team. He felt like his reputation had taken a full-on dive in the mud.

"My bad, my bad!" Lucas huffed the last bits of his laughter. "You have one hell of a weird family I tell you that. Anyway, the pleasantries are over. Let's move on to official business. Follow me to my office."

After saying that, Lucas turned around and started walking deeper into the territory of the center where his office was. The crew was then escorted, well...more like surrounded protectively by the squad of wardens.

Before they could go far, however, Lucas suddenly halted his steps and faced them. With a hardened expression, he told them:

"Oh and uh, do try to not wander around too much here." He warned. "Keep a tight leash on your curious nature because that might kill you here."

"This place is filled with crazy motherfuckers, if you can't tell that already." He continued, "As much, as I couldn't care less about your well-being, I don't want you brats to die here. It'd be a pain to explain that to my supervisors so consider yourselves warned."

"On the other hand, if you're confident about your abilities, feel free to disregard my warnings. You won't be in trouble even if you accidentally killed one of these fuckers lurking around here."

"But remember, if you can kill them, they sure as hell can kill you too. And unlike you, most of the crazy fuckers here have nothing to lose, so consider that before doing some meandering."

"Anyways, I won't be held responsible if you lose your lives here. After all, I've already warned you. If you want to ensure your safety, make sure that you're always around a warden or two. That's the best advice I could give you."

"Well, then...let's go."

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