章節 68: Horrible Misunderstanding

'Aaahh, acting is so hard, meeting new people is scary.'

Barely breathing as shivers run down from every end of your limbs like a NASCAR championship held within your frightened body. You clench Goyang as hard as you can to prevent any suspicious move. This is your first day of work and it's really nerve-wracking.

Within a soundproofed room, together with three other people beside Lues, a briefing for the Moose Squad. An expert 'scourge and retrieve' special force led by an A-rank genius Tactician, Ratatoskr. The reason why she doesn't wear the peaked cap is because of her broad-palmate antlers not allowing her to do so. They only have four members as opposed to what a normal squad usually has, which already proves how professional they are. Both you and Lues are sent to this squad for the leader to evaluate the newbie on the field.

"Without further ado, our mission will involve retrieving a high-grade Artifact at the site of ancient structures deep within the Calamities' territory." Ratatoskr conjures a holographic map with numerous delicate circuits, recreating the destination in a smaller scale of reality. She then points to the middle area with a huge crater surrounded by a tall building rotten from many tears of the past. "Our target is a 2 meter columnar object, the chaotic energy within the abyss-shell is a clear trait of the target. According to data, this Artifact is classified as a wild M.A.D."

At first, you only saw Ratatoskr as that short and cute senior in a high school setting, the one who has to manage everything and isn't taken seriously. But this isn't high school, this is a company that pulled mortal of Neamh together from the brink of chaos and this is a group where only the elite gather. Though she may not don the same cap as you because of her broad-palmate antlers, the cap doesn't make the midget, the midget makes the cap.

You also notice that she wears this plastered smile of sorts, every moment your eyes would meet there's that immediate smile. It makes you nervous.

From your experience in this world, you already knew that a fake smile meant something sinister went on inside their head. Lues and Chronos are the prime examples of this, it seems like your dream of getting guided by a cute senior Tactician will be impossible looking at how she really wants you out of her sight.

Maybe showing an interest in the mission will soften your leader, especially as it also entices your curiosity as of late. "May I happen to know what the M.A.D signifies to?"

Ratatoskr shoots a blank stare into the floor for a brief moment before winding you in her view with a big forced smile on her face.

Your eyes are wide open, staring at her with rather serious manners. Mostly because you're nervous and end up looking very intimidating while contemplating your action— 'Shit! Did I screw up!? She must be thinking about how an uninformed newbie such as me managed to get into her professional squad! Even Dyaus Pita doesn't care if I'm a primordial, she might already notice that I'm not a primordial from the first glance we met on the test range!'

Your face pales as your stare sharpens—and so does Ratatoskr who starts to squint and sweat.

'Dear god, she wants to boil me alive.'

The leader finally regained her composure despite looking very obnoxious. "Ehem!" She starts pointing up as a gesture of explaining. "M.A.D is an abbreviation for Massive Augmented Destruction, it is one of the most dangerous categories for an Artifact ever created by mortal or immortal alike, in the hope of—"

Amidst the important explanation, a stare as sharp as an atomic needle pierces your weak mental aptitude from the dark grey-haired Aekha. As strange as it is, it's scarier to be glared with hatred by your new coworker than a literal psychopath and monster, it makes you wonder what have you unknowingly done to make them hate you before even throwing a conversation or two.

"Uhm, Miss Pitka? Are you listening?"

'Shit! I'm too focused on trying to find out why the reindeer lady is glaring at me to the point of ignoring most of the explanation…! Not only that I didn't show respect to the senior, I also accidentally glared back which was also included as a hostile act to her team member!'

"I-It seems like both you and Woez are having a really dangerous first impression of each other that I—"

Dense killing intent suddenly encapsulates the whole room with crimson red. An angry presence of a blood-red vampire menacingly showing her discontent to the reindeer girl with a frown grin shaped like a croissant. "Little girl, I hereby suggest you to use your eyes for a better purpose, unless you don't want to keep it."

Woez flinches as she retracts her glare into somewhere else, which is good because you didn't want to get kicked out from the building because of your partner suddenly killing someone.

The door opens to reveal a man in a gas mask and alchemical machinery on his back. "Yo! What's up!"

The very same person who didn't flinch from your act back on Kauhu Forest, now stands tall in front of you. You can see the purple stare through the lenses of the mask, gathering the visual information as he tries to match your appearance with the one on his memory. Silence ensues as he shifts his gaze into Ratatoskr.

This is dangerous, he might start hating you for extorting and to the point of getting him being smashed by the lion to the ground, he might have a grudge with you. Seriously, what are the odds of gods for putting all misfitted people in one spot, popping the hatch when the steam of blood sullies this building hot enough like a kettle at a boiling point.

'I need to think of every counter and excuse to prevent any conflict…!'

He finally let out a speech, "Who are these two?"

'Bruh.'

"You buffoon!" barks Ratatoskr like a military commander to her troops as she plants her team member's head onto the solid floor with a loud shockwave. The former place for his head has been replaced by two straight legs, reminiscent of a certain pocket monster from a certain videogame. "Where is the salute!? And why this late!?"

Many vials fall from the heavy contraption sticking on Blast's back, some create tiny fireworks and some corrode or even damage the floor. A glass clear bottle also falls from the machine as you can hear a faint and feminine "EARTHQUAKE!?" sound from the bottle.

His hands gesture of him trying to speak as his voice is muffled by the concrete floor strong enough to withstand an explosive, but definitely not a loli taller than you with wide moose antlers sticking out from her head.

Ratatoskr sighs after a second passes to focus back on what she ought to do.

"Ehem! Let's get on our way, I'll brief it again on the chopper. Obrez! Un-plant Blast and move!" She then shifts her gaze to both of you with her usual stiff smile, the area of her forehead is grey as she emits an ominous aura. "I hope you can get along with the team."

"Lues, we're screwed!" you say telepathically to your partner in crime.

"Huh?" she replies. "What are you talking about?"

'SHE DOESN'T GET IT!'