With Aria knowing the situation, she managed to drag Reddy to the association building.

Since they were nearby, it did not take them too long to reach the place.

Reddy did not know if it would be the right thing to do or not, but she tried her best to stop Aria. It just did not make sense to meet with the association president an hour early.

He was a busy person, and with everything going on right now, it just did not make sense for them to disturb him.

The matter wasn't something they could deal with on their own anyway. The political situation would only aggravate further if the association interfered with anything here.

Yet, with Aria dragging Reddy around, there was little she could do with words alone.

She did not want to use force right now, not when Aria was trying her best to help everyone involved.

While Reddy did not know that Aria wanted a piece of the rewards as well, she knew Aria was trying to rectify her mistakes somehow.

Reddy thought the association branch leader would deal with her since he understood the situation as well as she did.

Even though Aria used her 'star' authority to ask for a meeting with the branch leader, Reddy was hoping that he would reject her audience.

Meeting at the predecided time would have been the best thing to do. The announcement was still left, and once they announced the raid, the association would close the dungeon entrance for the preparations.

The entire Westford would be in chaos once that happens, which means even the guards will have their workload increased. But then again, there is something they must take care of… a joint raid like this had not happened in a century.

But this time was unavoidable even though the opponent wasn't a catastrophe like what Westford had faced a century ago.

"Your meeting permissions have been processed. Please follow me."

"Huh?"

When the association employee said that they were granted their audience with the association branch manager, Reddy was stunned.

She didn't understand why the president would decide to have this talk when there wasn't much time left before the announcement.

It was best for them to quickly wrap up the situation with the announcement and then return from their initial recon mission on the ground floor.

They just needed to check the strength of the enemy and confirm whether the adventurers would be able to deal with it on their own without significant casualties.

If their investigation went well, the association would not have any justification to interfere with what the nobles wanted. However, if things get too complicated, meaning if the enemy is much stronger than what they had expected, the association would have the justification to step in.

If the branch manager deals with everything on his own, the association can deal with the consequences and the resources collected. They would have to yield more than they want to to the nobles in this case, but the association would ensure the safety of the rest of the individuals.

-Knock. Knock.

-Knock.

But the final decision would only be taken after a thorough assessment of the threat.

"You may enter." A powerful voice that both the ladies had heard previously granted them permission to enter.

The attendant bowed to the two and stayed to the side as Aria and Reddy entered the office, only to find the branch manager almost buried in a pile of papers.

"Miss Aria… it has not been long since we last met and it seems like we have found ourselves in a new trouble. Oh, please don't mind me and take a seat. I can talk with you while going through these things easily."

Sir Exile was going through the piles of paper at such a speed that simply did not make sense to either of the ladies.

Aria could especially tell what was going on before her eyes right now.

The association branch manager was a swordmaster according to her knowledge, as well as someone who has held this position for a pretty long time.

He must have had great experience with all kinds of paper work, but as humans, there are some things that limit us despite our skills or stats.

"To analyse all that with just a glance and even understanding it completely… you're an amazing one, aren't you Sir?" Aria's eyes were glued to the situation before them.

She had a very special reaction speed, something that resulted from the special <S> rank skill that she possessed, and through this skill, she could see the way Sir Exile's eyes moved through the entire paper.

'He scanned the papers vertically while his eyes read through everything before them at an impossible speed.'

For a moment, she thought that he had a photographic memory or a perfect memory that recorded everything that passed through his senses. But, it wasn't that simple.

As someone who possessed a great memory and high reaction speed herself, as well as someone who had processed through paperwork for many years, his actions were simply out of this world.

"Oh? You can tell what I'm doing right now?" He glanced up for a moment, looked at Aria, at the stunned expression of Reddy looking at Aria, and then continued back with his work with a new smile. "It's impressive that you can follow my movements at all, Miss. It's not something a support unit like you should be capable of."

Reddy instinctively nodded her head. She had no idea what her mentor was doing right now.

In her eyes, some movement was happening and the piles on one side were clearing up, vanishing as if it was some kind of animation.

She had seen this scene in the past as well, and she had not understood it back then either.

It was not possible to follow the movements of a master like him with untrained eyes, so then, what were they to make of Aria, someone much weaker than them, and someone who was still learning about their own powers to have reached that level.

"Hmmm. It must be one of your secret abilities, or perhaps it was the power that created that dark green safe zone on the first floor."

The words stung her like needles to her heart, but the pain was a necessary one.

"Yes…" Aria had powers that she had not revealed to the association during their evaluation process. "The green safe zone was my fault."

The two of them knew it, but since Aria was saying it herself, both of them now knew for a fact that she was the one behind this whole mess and not the nobles who might have somehow taken control of the young master of Khalasi to orchestrate this elaborate plan.

"The new safe zone appeared because of me and I can take it down as well. But I guess you had guessed that much when we requested this meeting."

Aria crossed her fingers and rested her chin on top of it, her eyes reflecting a serious yet restless spark.

"Since you allowed this meeting and are even entertaining us while still drowning in so much work, it means you also have your own plans, right?" Her eyes burned with uncertainty, but she kept her glare locked.

"There's something you want from me, isn't that right?"

The piles on the desk had thinned down since their arrival so, branch manager Exile looked up, a mysterious smirk present on his face.

"You sure are sharp, Miss Aria." His voice was far different from what she had experienced until now. "It's just as you say, there is something I want from this entire situation.

However, before that, we must go to the dungeon first and confirm something."

There were priorities.

Whatever devious plans he was cooking right now required a few safety checks.

"Then why are we wasting time with papers? Let's go to the dungeon ASAP."

The answers lay in the dungeon, and to achieve what all of them wanted, going to the source of all this chaos was the only way out…

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