The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

This interview is endlessly draining the representative’s energy. If we don’t reach the target profit despite all this effort, I’m going to be furious.

Finally, the long-awaited final destination, the beach at the far end of the village, came into view.

In just a few minutes, the sun would be about to set. The golden sun was tilting towards the horizon. We made it just in time.

Unahar was still surfing.

Even from a distance, I could see his eyes widen when he spotted me.

Swoosh!

The spray of water he caused made me feel refreshed too. He changed waves and smoothly glided over with skillful maneuvers.

The speed of the board gradually slowed, and as he reached the shallow beach, he lightly jumped off and skillfully flipped the board to rest it against his side.

Standing in front of me, dripping water onto the sand, he greeted me.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

We exchanged warm smiles.

There wasn’t much to say, but as family, that was enough. A comfortable distance. We were happy with each other’s smiles.

However, the sight of his half-naked, water-soaked figure was a bit overwhelming even for me. I wondered if the camera lens might shatter from not being able to handle it.

I awkwardly averted my gaze and pretended to check the camera.

Unahar chuckled knowingly.

The smile of a man who knows he’s handsome is cheeky and smug, but still, it’s nice to look at.

“Were you alone?”

“No. …With the subordinates group.”

“All women?”

I gave him a mischievous look. Unahar grimaced slightly, looking embarrassed.

“They just followed me.”

“Like I wouldn’t know. Wherever three or more women gather, your name inevitably comes up.”

Unahar denied it with his eyes, but I brushed it off.

Actually, Unahar might be secretly pleased. Knowing his personality as I do.

“Anyway, I gathered the last member for the interview. Are you going to go like that?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Put on the sandals. We just need to get to that flower field on the cliff.”

Thinking of our beloved Lilith, who could do no wrong, and the scoundrel clinging to her, I climbed up in a good mood.

I hadn’t informed them in advance about my arrival. To capture the natural scene of the two together—

As I entered the field of blooming yellow canola flowers, I saw Lilith and Gio intertwined.

Lilith had her back to me, so I couldn’t see her face.

But Gio, with a flushed face and tightly shut eyes, couldn’t bring himself to touch Lilith with his thick hands, focusing solely on the kiss.

“……”

It was the first time I had witnessed it directly. Before, I had always looked away.

As if escaping reality, I would smile at whatever Lilith said at the moment and then erase it from my mind…

I turned away silently.

Unahar, who had been watching the scene in a daze just like me, came over, flustered.

I abruptly threw the camera at him and started rolling on the ground, pounding the earth with my fists and feet.

“I don’t want to do the interview… I don’t want to! I don’t want to!”

Unahar, now the impromptu cameraman, carefully looked down at me, making sure his wetness didn’t get on the camera.

“Rudel, you’re being recorded right now. Is it okay to start the interview?”

I didn’t listen.

Seeing me in such distress, Unahar must have felt responsible for comforting me.

He looked down at me with a hesitant smile and said,

“Didn’t you also kiss Akata?”

“What?? How do you know?”

“No, I just said it randomly…”

I answered needlessly. I just rolled on the ground again.

“You’re such a daughter-fool.”

“Who’s my daughter?”

“Lilith.”

As the characters developed parent-child relationships, such jokes began to emerge.

Yeah, let’s think rationally.

I am the dignified representative and the leader of Agasa’s guild. I stopped rolling on the ground and forced myself to pull it together.

Gio is a hundred, no, a thousand times better than other guys. Gio is deserving.

But? I don’t like it. I’m not ready to let Lilith go yet.

Suddenly, the thought occurred to me that Akata might show up here and see me. I got up, brushed off the dirt, and walked away wearily.

Unahar asked from behind, “What about the interview?” but I shook my head.

I just wasn’t in the mood to handle the shooting.

All the energy I had saved for our kids was gone.

So, I decided to leave the responsibility of the final interview footage to Unahar.

* * *

In the flower field, Unahar, Lilith, and Gio sat.

Ignoring the petals tickling his bare skin, Unahar focused the camera on Gio.

“Gio, what were your thoughts when you first woke up from captivity?”

“What, did you forget? I already told you everything back then.”

“Do you think we’re like you? We’re in the middle of an interview now, and I told you earlier that you have to explain it again, even if we already know it, so the viewers can understand.”

“I don’t want to tell them. Who are they, anyway?”

Gio grumbled as he brushed the pollen from his hair.

He still didn’t understand anything about this world or the outside world. Unahar took a deep breath, feeling his blood pressure rise.

Ultimately, Gio refused the interview out of annoyance. Lilith ended up speaking on his behalf.

“I explained it to Gio, but he didn’t seem to understand properly.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him that Rudel hated the Champion Challenge and the game so much that she destroyed everything! She convinced everyone to stop playing, and now we can do whatever we want.”

“…That’s how you explained it?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that good enough? Gio doesn’t need to understand complicated things!”

Lilith looked at Gio with an adoring gaze, as if he were the cutest thing ever, while he scratched his neck.

Unahar decided to give up on understanding these two.

He stared at the camera screen with empty eyes and finished the explanation for the viewers.

“So, Gio remains faithfully the lovable fool. Anyway, as for how Gio is doing lately…”

Thanks to his impressive looks, Unahar maintained a news anchor-like atmosphere throughout his explanation.

“He says he’s been working out hard. He used to find it such a hassle, but it seems he actually likes exercising.”

Despite no longer needing to train so intensely, Gio, being a fool, continued his workouts out of habit.

“He’s strong. Impressive!”

Lilith always followed him around, cheering and praising him.

As a result, Gio worked even harder to maintain his muscular build, unchanged from before.

“Can I touch it?”

Lilith tilted her head innocently, asking with a pure expression.

“Wow, it’s hard. Like a rock. But also soft.”

With an innocent face, Lilith ran her hand over Gio’s chest, and he turned a shade resembling an erupting volcano.

“I-I, um, wh-where did I say I was going? I need to use the restroom! Pause mode! …Oh, right, I can’t do that anymore.”

Even when Lilith smiled brightly and suggested touching or kissing him, Gio had nowhere to run.

No, he would never run away for the rest of his life.

As Rudel would put it, “What kind of blessing did he earn just by waking up after being imprisoned?”

“Gio!”

Someone called out to them from below the cliff.

Akata and Kanel arrived, carrying a load of food as if on a picnic.

The original plan was for all six members of Agasa to gather in the flower field for a picnic, but Rudel had exhausted herself and returned, leaving just the five of them without their guild leader.

In truth, this was only the surface reason; Rudel also intentionally stepped back to avoid making Unahar uncomfortable by seeing her close to Akata.

“Gio, eat more of this. Which flavor do you like the best?”

Akata busied herself offering various foods to Gio, who happily accepted anything edible.

Unahar watched the scene with astonishment, as if witnessing one of the world’s great mysteries.

With Lilith on his left and Akata on his right, Gio had become surrounded by the game’s most beautiful creatures.

“How much has Lesia’s baby grown?”

“It grew by 0.7 cm upwards.”

“That’s all in one day?”

As expected, Lilith adored the unique baby of the world. Her biggest interest these days was imagining how the baby would look as it grew.

“Babies resemble both their mom and dad. Sometimes they look more like one parent.”

Hearing that, Lilith, while chewing on a strawberry, imagined something for a while. Then her face lit up as she looked at Gio.

“Gio, wouldn’t a baby that looks like you and me be so cute? Right!”

Gio stared at Lilith, mouth agape.

After a few seconds of silence, blood started to drip from his nose.

“Oh no! Are you okay?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah…”

Lilith quickly wiped his nose with a napkin, while Akata fussed beside them, telling him not to tilt his head back.

During this commotion, the camera briefly lost focus and then shifted to the two men across from them.

“How embarrassing…”

“Ditto.”

In that moment, they understood Rudel’s earlier flustered reaction. Unahar and Kanel, feeling secondhand embarrassment, decided to leave.

There was no need for them to linger and stare.

After all, they were family already.

The lengthy interview was 97% complete. The remaining 3% was Yudirei’s segment, which was yet to be included.

Now only the grueling editing process awaited. But Akata noticed that Rudel seemed relaxed, so he asked why.

“Oh, I’m going to have the employees at Mijon Company handle it.”

“That’s a good idea. But are you sure it’s okay?”

“Those folks are just getting paid without doing much right now.”

Akata gently embraced Rudel from behind, whispering in her ear.

“Then how about we take a little break?”

“Hmm… Unfortunately, there’s not much time to rest.”

Rudel playfully pushed Akata’s hand away and said instead,

“We need to prepare for a trip.”

“A trip?”

Akata feigned ignorance.

“Aleon suggested we go on a trip. I already got permission from Blance and Shemarin. They said they would cover for me while I’m gone.”

His face brightened rapidly, like sunlight streaming in.