Galaxy's First Ruler

Aldrich followed Edmund and Olivia to a spacious room lined with sofas and tables.

Both the men sat down opposite each other while Ms. Wells went outside to bring the required documents herself. It felt like she wasn't the director, but a secretary in front of the men occupying the room. But none could have complained about the situation. After seeing the things that happened a few minutes ago, it was only natural to do so.

Baron Edmund's eyes were down, pointed at the shiny table. He could have seen his face reflected by it if he weren't lost in his thoughts. The scene of a fist and his lance couldn't go away from his vision. Like a video on loop, it kept repeating itself in his memory. And it could have gone for a long time if it weren't for the question asked by the Masked Menace.

"You talked with Matsumoto Sho before arriving here?"

"Yeah… Wait! How do you know I talked to him?"

"Isn't that obvious? Only someone like him could have convinced you to use that kind of Skill on me."

"That… "

Edmund couldn't find any words to explain himself. He had called Sho to get the information on Masked Menace. And the only reply he got in return was to go all out. Even if Edmund hadn't used all his Mana on that Skill, it was still enough to annihilate any Dreamer of Rare Rank or at least heavily injure one. And Edmund's mind was urging him to ask two questions that had been eating him up.

"Are you a Baron too?"

"…"

Edmund didn't get an answer. The silent room regained its state for a moment. But Edmund was dead set on getting the answer to the second one. He leaned forward slightly and asked.

"How much longer were you planning to wait if I hadn't shown up?"

"Actually… I didn't even need to wait for you. Someone had already come upon the scene. If you hadn't shown up, then I am sure he would have taken some action. What had happened would have happened either way."

Edmund heard the reply, and a name came to his mind. He had seen Annie on the ground. How could he have forgotten the person related to her? At their level, it wasn't some mystery to them who the Black Hand was. But that wasn't the reason for the shiver that had run through Edmund's spine.

'I… I didn't even know he was there,' thought Edmund.

Being a Mage type, Edmund's Attributes had leaned towards Correspondence and Perception. And being an Assassin, Logan was equipped with Skills to counter Divine Sense. Even if Edmund weren't a Baron, he would have the highest Perception. And yet the man in front of him could sense an Assassin which he couldn't.

Edmund's breathing was on the verge of becoming rough. And with every moment, he felt more suffocated being in the same room as the Masked Menace. But the approaching sound of footsteps assured him he would get to leave soon enough.

"Don't be anxious… I am sure it won't take as long as you are expecting it to."

Edmund's head snapped towards the voice and saw the deep black eyes through the Mask's eyeholes. He saw himself reflected by those dark-mirror-like eyes and felt like they would bound his soul to the depths of hell if he kept looking at them. The idea of his inner thoughts being laid bare in front of another Dreamer gave him utter fright and goosebumps.

None had gotten a read on the young Baron like this in his 1 year of Dreamer's career so far.

Tick!!!

The door opened and Olivia walked in with a stack of documents and other files. She took a seat between the two men on one side of the table. By the time she noticed something wrong with the situation, Edmund had already taken control of his rampaging emotions.

"I… I would need answers to a few questions," asked Olivia, followed by a big gulp of saliva which couldn't even wet her dry throat properly.

Edmund nodded at her to continue. Aldrich took out a letter from his jacket and handed it over to her. The rookie Dreamer opened the letter and saw the Guild's name. Her eyebrows rose in shock and surprise. Edmund also felt complicated seeing the usually composed lady be so out of her zone.

"This name… " Olivia mumbled.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong with it?" Aldrich asked.

"NO!… "

Both men got taken aback by the sudden scream let out by the young woman.

"Haha! I meant no, there's nothing wrong with it," she explained, with a wry smile.

Edmund saw the corner of her mouth twitching and couldn't help but shake his head.

"As per the rules, the Guild Leader needs to be recommended by a Rare Dreamer or another Guild Leader," Olivia said, looking at Edmund and not Aldrich.

Edmund closed his eyes and the guess that he had buried deep within his heart resurfaced in his mind. And the same got confirmed by another letter taken out by the Masked man presented in the room.

"It's a recommendation letter by Mr. Bernard aka Boomie," said Aldrich, handing over the document.

Edmund clenched his fist under the table and Olivia's eyes went wide hearing the name. With a trembling hand, she accepted the letter and put it into the file without even looking at it. Both Edmund and Ms. Wells seemed to have lost in their thoughts when Aldrich brought them out to reality.

"Is there an issue with it?"

Olivia shook her head, still looking at her file in complete disbelief. From time to time, certain incidents flashed through both Edmund's and her memory. Things that they had guessed and taken to be true with no justification, like Boomie's rogue behavior in Arizona.

"Ah! Yes… We would need the address of the Guild's HQ to contact you in case of Dungeon Break," Olivia feebly said.

"No problem. You should have received an email by now. Anything else?"

But Aldrich didn't wait for an answer. He stood up and nodded at Edmund before walking towards the door.

"Do not disturb me again other than in need," said Aldrich, giving a brief look to Olivia as he passed by her.

Edmund stood up and voiced out his thoughts, "With you and Annie as Baron, we would probably get assigned the same Dungeon as a Party in the future."

There were only three Barons in Edmund's knowledge on Earth. And every time they had reached their time limit, they got teleported to a Dungeon to raid it solo. Edmund and Sho had guessed that it would need at least five Barons to change this pattern. Edmund was hoping for a positive response from the infamous Dreamer.

But the words that he received from Aldrich had rooted him to his place, even after Aldrich had gone for quite some time. The false sense of achievement from before left him ashamed. And after reciting the words many times, Edmund felt a hint of warning of the inevitable doom hidden within them. A drop of sweat trickled down from his chin as he repeated the words to himself.

"Common, Rare, and Baron. Edmund, this is only the beginning. And we have little time left to see its end. The only thing we can do is to get strong as much as we can."