Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Such a frightening pace and progress. It's almost like somebody predicted the whole thing before taking necessary steps to achieve this."

Reva Rain mumbled after seeing the progress of the White Raven guild. She had been sent here from her guild to see how the White Raven was faring. And she had to say that the newly formed guild was doing better than she had expected.

Reva had a medium stature and adequate feminine features. She had brown red hair and a light scar over her right eyebrow. Her nose was kind of big, making her look not-so-ladylike. She also had larger-than-average lips. Her gray eyes shined with subtle cunning as she scanned the whole area for a unique spectacle-looking artifact.

Reva was wearing a black-gray vest on a loose-fitting brown full-body suit. Her dressing sense was odd. But it never hampered her movements and her work.

"Boss Reva, should we delve deep?"

A dusty blonde girl in an assassin outfit asked. Her leather bodysuit displayed her prominent bust and shapely posterior. She always carried a crossbow on her back, which she didn't like to keep in her storage.

This assassin had weird eyes. It looked like she had no sclera. Her blue iris had taken its place in both her eyes.

"This should be enough, Shalen. We are only here to look. The Escalon guild doesn't make rash decisions. We plan things and act when the time is ripe.

And right now, it's not the time."

Reva said in a cold and callus voice devoid of emotion. Shalen Craft nodded at her superior's decision before adding.

"Should I tell the members of the Escalon guild not to follow the White Ravens?"

Reva looked at the void and pondered a bit before replying.

"Just mess with them a bit. We want to see House Montmorency and House Derringer's reactions. Are you done with your recon from your end?"

Reva asked, removing her spectacles and storing them in her storage space. It seemed that the job was done from her side. Now she only needed to report the findings.

"I am. But I often get confused when you say "mess with them a bit". Because your idea of "a bit" is different than all of us."

Shalen commented about her superior's bad habits and waited for her to answer. Reva chuckled before responding.

"Hmm. Let's see. We will adopt a softer approach this time. Chop off one of their members' arms. This should be just the right level of action to test the waters."

Shalen nodded after hearing a clear-cut order from her superior. Although her expressions didn't say much, the blonde girl was satisfied that the orders weren't ambiguous like last time.

"Alright. Let's go. We don't have time to dilly dally."

Reva said before disappearing from her spot. Shalen followed her lead soon after. It was only after they were gone that a member of the Derringer clan had come to check the area.

The ranker couldn't have recognized Reva even if they had met. But there was someone else in the White Raven who would have recognized Reva Rain immediately.

Reva Rain was the one who had taught Eren the torture methods when he was working for the Escalon guild in the previous timeline. She wasn't called Paladin of Pain for no reason.

But maybe "taught" was not the right word to describe their relationship. She had forced Eren to acquire exceptional torture methods while numbing his feelings for human pain.

***

"Sis Agatha, I have some news."

Viper entered Agatha's office before commenting. The latter was busy analyzing something on her spectral screen when she heard Viper's words. She raised her hand and gestured for the guy to sit in front of her while she finished reading what she was reading.

"Viper, do you know how many adventurers have registered for our first exploration program into Minerva's Utopia?"

Agatha said with bright eyes and a beaming smile on her face. Viper shrugged his shoulders before replying.

"10,000 rankers maybe."

Agatha chuckled before correcting him.

"Try about 95,000 rankers. Hehehe. The number is so big that we'd have to divide the first exploration program into various batches and allot them an exact time slot.

We received 100 Extols each from each of them. Do you know how much revenue we would have generated?"

Viper opened his eyes wide in surprise when we did the quick math of adding two zeros to the already exaggerated number. He was about to say something to Agatha and had raised his hands to do so.

But then his expression changed to one of confusion. He retracted his hands and tapped his right hand's index finger on his pursed lips before raising a doubt.

"What do you mean by "would have"? Those scoundrels didn't pay us?"

Agatha sighed before shaking her head. Her voice was helpless as she corrected him.

"They did. The registration wouldn't have gone through otherwise. But House Derringer and House Montmorency would take most of the cut according to our agreement.

We'd be left with only 67,000 Extols after their cut."

Viper took a long breath and whistled as he released that air just as quickly. He then looked at Agatha with incredulous expressions before commenting.

"Damn. You are indeed in the big leagues, Sis. You are attaching the word "only" to 67,000 Extols, you know."

Agatha smiled mirthlessly at his statement before explaining it to him.

"Well, our boss has a loan of 50,000 Extols on his head. Even though he says he'll manage it, I'd like to clear his account in his absence."

Agatha said helplessly before asking another question.

"By the way, Viper, what news were you talking about?"

Viper clicked his tongue after he realized that he had forgotten to talk about it. He coughed before telling Agatha what he had come here to tell.

"Sis, the White Ravens are ready to take on the very first big mission into Monster Canyon. They had asked me to tell you. They'll be leaving together in the afternoon."

Agatha stopped what she was doing after she heard that. As a manager, she thought she needed to meet and greet the rankers that were embarking on this mission.

Agatha, Viper, and all the other members of White Raven knew the dangers that existed in Monster Canyon. They had also anticipated probe and retaliation from other guilds.

And yet, they couldn't help but be excited to see how their guild's very first team performs in Monster Canyon.

===

AN: Escalon guild has been mentioned in many chapters by now. However, it was first introduced in chapter 354. There's also a statement in the same chapter that was added as Eren's flashbacks, which was said to him by Reva Rain. ;)