Bro, I'm not an Undead!

“Have you any idea what you are talking about?! This is a—”

“I’m not dense and neither has my wild popularity gone to my head. Please respect the fact that my Guild protects hundreds of thousands of lives on a daily basis. Don’t demean me. I don’t jest when it comes to such sensitive issues,” Tulnas said while cutting off Damilla once again, his eyes turning sharp as he gifted the woman a vicious glare.

Damilla heaved in heavy breaths as her eyes turned into saucers, but she still held her tongue. Her words essentially questioned if Tulnas would give false hope in such trying times, which he clearly wasn’t impressed by.

Once again, Terian took over.

He was equally shocked by this news and yet, he didn’t choose to show outright doubt, but to question the veracity of these words tactfully.

“If you know such a thing, then share it with us. This is an international crisis that has yet to be solved anywhere,” Terian said with a slightly agitated tone.

“I know it’s a crisis. But I also know a thing or two about credit-sharing. The Capital service and the Guilds Association have been under constant competition over credit. The constant losses hurt the Guilds Association more than they hurt you. So… of course, I’m not telling you jack,” Tulnas said with a demeaning rise of his chin, a smirk returning to his face._.

At this, Terian couldn’t hold himself back as a tremendous burst of energy erupted from his body with a sound akin to thunder, a kinetic force pushing away all unoccupied furniture!

A scalding heat followed, blasting everyone in the face!

“You would consider such petty games we play in times of peace when lives are at stake here?! This is not a game! If you truly know how to stop thousands from dying each day then share with us and help save those lives! This transcends your overgrown ego!” Terian boomed with an ugly face painted atop his skin.

Skullius had been flung along with the furniture during Terian’s outburst.

He had been shocked by Tulnas’ words but had already turned to almost giggling in a corner while watching Tulnas dominate the conversation.

He especially enjoyed watching Damilla being put in her place.

He really liked that part.

‘This is a first class sockethole!’ had been Skullius’ exact words.

With the incoming pressure from Terian raging all around the room, Tulnas didn’t flinch or even blink at it as a sturdy, yet soft layer of his mana coated him protectively.

The same was true for Silrat and Damilla but they had reacted much, much slower than Tulnas had and had thus suffered being blown back a step.

“Relax old man. Like I said, I’m not dense. I won’t be sharing this information with you. However, the Guilds Association has already sent word to all the other branches all over the nation to try this method. The Guilds Associations there will handle it how they see fit. We’ve also disseminated the information to our Designated mercenaries where relevant,” Tulnas said.

Designated mercenaries were covert individuals from the Guilds Association Headquarters tasked with sensitive missions concerning internal affairs.

Telling these people was a move to ensure that even areas which had hardships pertaining to information passage and resource mobilisation would be catered for, as Designated mercenaries could simply take over the task.

Tulnas’ words forced Terian to cool off, his intense energy dying down as his face showed a somewhat calm temperament.

Thinking it over, it was an efficient move on the part of the Guilds Association.

It seemed they had truly accounted for many variables.

Silrat finally joined the conversation as it reached this point.

“We should be getting results from other branches soon, though they heavily depend on us. Operations within the Guilds Association are efficient after all,” he said, his intent all but invisible.

Damilla however, had heard an interesting detail from Tulnas’ defence.

“Did you just say ‘try’? As in you’re not sure whether this method of yours will work or not?” she asked.

“Did I neglect to mention that I haven’t tested this method of mine yet? Well, if I did, I’m telling you now. It’s just an idea I had but I’m sure it will work. Also, because it’s just an idea, I have taken it upon myself and my Guild to test it out before all the other Guilds can. I don’t want anyone’s blood on my hands if this fails,” Tulnas said with a straight face.

Terian was dumbfounded and so was Damilla.

It was only now that they realised that before they even got confirmation, they were already believing Tulnas’ words!

Was it Tulnas’ charisma causing this?

‘If it’s just an untested hypothesis, then… No. Erkus will probably agree with Tulnas and grant him every resource he needs to find out about whether or not his conjecture is real,’ Terian said.

Tulnas relished in seeing the faces of Terian and Damilla like this.

He hadn’t mentioned how it was hard to verify the method for stopping the emerging Clusters as it would rein in the forces of other factions once it was revealed.

He didn’t want that hassle at the moment.

Terian drew himself from his thoughts, finally posing a question that even Skullius wondered about.

“If it’s judging this matter after you and your Guild have tested this secret method of yours, that, I can let pass. But, does Festos have any significance in this?”

Tulnas turned to Skullius with a sly smile.

“First of all, Festos here, shares the same cultural interests as me, thus he is absolutely relevant. Unlike most limb men I’ve seen, he appreciates fat, wobbly cheeks that bounce when you smack them just as much as I do. Don’t you, Festos?” Tulnas said.

Silrat breathed out a sigh while Damilla looked at Tulnas with disgust, her upper lip rising as if she was nauseous.

Terian remained expressionless, ignoring this jest, which probably wasn’t a jest in his thoughts.

Skullius looked around in confusion, having missed what Tulnas said entirely.

“And second… is something I’ll only disclose after the mission is done and the credit we deserve has been paid. However, you should know that Festos is very relevant.”

“…”

This bastard.

Even Skullius cursed when he heard this.

Well, nevertheless, the points Tulnas had made were pretty strong.

The tension grew as a decision was soon about to be made.